Leaked earlier today courtesy of Xbox Wire in Germany, Microsoft finally announced its free Games With Gold for Xbox in June. Free games are available for those with Xbox Live Gold and thanks to backwards compatibility, Xbox One users get four games to play.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia is included if one is in the mood for 2.5D stealth platforming action. Considering the game is still fairly popular, it might be worth looking into.  Those are the Xbox One titles for next month. Xbox 360 players get Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, one of the best kart racers out there, and LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. Overall, June’s Games With Gold present over $159 in value with up to 6630 Gamerscore to earn.

Update: The video is no longer available.

Sumo Digital, developer of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and other games from acclaimed franchises such as Driver and Split/Second, is working on a game from a “one of the most successful driving franchises of all time”, according to a job listing that’s looking for a “”vehicle handling and performance specialist”.

“Sumo is looking for someone with great experience and a passion for tweaking the physics and performance characteristics of a wide range of vehicles in a successful driving franchise to join our team of Stig Fantasists in Sheffield,” the job ad reads. “A background of successful game design experience is important, as is an understanding of (and passion for) car handling, set-up and the console racing genre.

“If you’re auto-obsessed and want to contribute to one of the most successful driving franchises of all time, get in touch ASAP – we want to talk to you.”

There’s several guesses being through about, obviously, but there’s a good chance that this might be a new Outrun or- fingers crossed- Daytona sequel.

Either way, stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated.

Via: CVG

The PlayStation Store has been officially updated for PlayStation Plus subscribers, which means you can now download Sega’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the PS Vita today, absolutely free. This bonus edition will include an extra character with Metal Sonic and a bonus track, Outrun.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed follows pretty much the same kart-racing formula we all know but with a twist. Each stage will be composed of multiple sections which can be traversed by land, sea or air. This means transforming your kart into a plane or boat and back to win. For those interested to know how the game is, you can check out our official review of it here.

PS Plus subscribers can also look forward to a number of discounts and deals on currently available titles like Hotline Miami (PS Vita/PS3), Ducktales Remastered, Proteus, Diablo 3 and many more. Stay tuned for more updates in the following weeks for PS Plus subscribers.

For all the “great” games that Xbox Live is offering with its Games With Gold program (and we use that term loosely), PlayStation Plus subscribers in North America will be able to take advantage of some significantly high profile releases for December. Best of all? They’re all free of charge.

For PS3 gamers, there’s Gearbox Software’s Borderlands 2 which released last year and has a string of amazing DLC (with more to come) to go with its excellent campaign and co-op features. GRID 2 is a stellar racing game from Codemasters that released earlier this year, while Dyad is a critically acclaimed downloadable tunnel racing shooter.

PS Vita owners get a somehwat limited selection with one of the free games being Urban Trial Freestyle but then there’s also Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which revisits the surprisingly good kart racing of its predecessor and adds other vehicles to the mix for a more varied experience. What are your thoughts on the free games for December? Let us know below.

(Source)

The company will also publish next-gen software, though details are still scant on what that involves.

As it stands, while Sega, along with Gearbox, may be under threat of a civil action lawsuit for Aliens: Colonial Marines, the game did manage to sell 1.3 million copies across all three platforms it released on. But almost tragically, it shifted about the same number (1.36 million) for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which is a far superior game.

That’s just how the cookie crumbles, we suppose.

Developed by Gearbox Software and TimeGate, Aliens: Colonial Marines was released to almost universal loathing, most especially due to its hilarious and multiple bugs.

Even better, not only is this the first time being at number one since its release, but it’s the first Wii U third party title to ever reach that position.

In second, there’s Nintendo Land (last week’s number one) followed by New Super Mario Bros U, ZombiU and Assassin’s Crred 3.

This will undoubtedly come as good news to Nintendo, as the Wii U has been struggling to break into the top 10 charts for a while now and hasn’t quite dominated like the Wii’s titles. Then again, there’s more of a prevalence of hardcore to semi-hardcore titles compared to the exercise and sports titles of before. So there’s that.

It’s developed by Sumo Digital and is the sequel to the 2010’s Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

The game is published by Sega and the game lets you use characters from different Sega franchises and race against them.

The line up on the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed grid sees SEGA favourites – including Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr Eggman and AiAi – return to battle against newcomers that include Gilius Thunderhead of Golden Axe and Vyse of Skies of Arcadia.

The PS Vita version is said to be identical to the PS3 version. The game has been received with good critical acclaim.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay
• 3. Story
• 4. Characters
• 5. Reception

Development

The PS3 and Vita version are said to run on the same engine and maintain a solid 30 fps framerate, and the engine is codenamed Sumo. The 3DS version is built from the ground up.

The game features fully transformable vehicles which change from car to plane to boat mid race, and also over 20 legendary All-Stars each with their own transformable vehicle.

It also has over 25 tracks and arenas which challenge you on land, water and air. The online mode is said to be competent as well with racing capability up to 10 players online, or you can also challenge your friends in four player split screen.

On November 14 Sumo Digital posted on the official forums for a DLC challenge which was met successfully. [reference]

“I’ll set you a challange. Without any policing from the SUMO or SEGA crew, if you can all agree on three characters by the 1st of December and prove there is sufficient interest of at least 1000 unique people *per* character, I will present the result to SEGA. I can’t promise anything will happen as a result, but since you’re starting it…”

Seven characters were chosen Ryo Hazuki, Hatsune Miku, Segata Sanshiro, Vectorman, ToeJam & Earl, Bayonetta, and Ristar, and only one has been approved so far.

Sega has also announced a Bonus Edition for the upcoming Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed title. [reference]

The Bonus Edition boasts a brand new track and character, as well as a handful of various collectibles, available whilst pre-order supplies last.

OutRun Bay is the featured track, featuring all of the standard Sonic Transformed race modes as well as challenges and time trials specific to OutRun Bay, inspired by Sega’s classic arcade game OutRun.

Gameplay

As the game’s name suggets it’s a mascot-based kart racer and you can choose any character from various Sega franchises. You have the ability to transform the vehicles into car, boat and plane modes.

The weapons are also quite ingenious with explosive hot rod engines, freezing snowballs and swarms of wasps that appear at the front of the pack.

here are power-ups, secret routes, and a myriad of expansive tracks and obstacles throughout the game. It looks to be good ol’ fashioned racing at it’s best – something which should feel even more fun when played online.

Sega released a new trailer which shows the World Tour mode, taking on different Challenges, including a few interesting boss battles, and being able to play against up to 10 players online.

Some screenshots from the game:

Story

There’s no story here but the game is all about racing and using the characters from various Sega franchises to defeat each other.

Sonic and the All-Stars cast line up on the starting grid once again to battle for supremacy in the ultimate race.

You can compete across land, water and air in incredible transforming vehicles that change from cars to boats to planes mid-race.

Master your driving skills as you drift, barrel roll and boost to overtake your rivals, or use your weapons tactically and unleash your All-Star move to gain the winning advantage.

Characters

There are a lot of confirmed and unconfirmed characters in the game, here’s some of them. [reference]

1. AGES (Dreamcast VMU; new in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed)
2. AiAi (from Super Monkey Ball)
3. Amigo (from Samba de Amigo)
4. Amy Rose (from Sonic the Hedgehog CD)
5. B.D. Joe (from Crazy Taxi)
6. Beat (from Jet Set Radio)
7. Danica Patrick (NASCAR driver from Stewart-Haas Racing)
8. Doctor Eggman (from Sonic the Hedgehog)
9. Gilius Thunderhead (from Golden Axe)
10. Gum (from Jet Set Radio)
11. Joe Musashi (from Shinobi)
12. Knuckles the Echidna (from Sonic the Hedgehog 3)
13. Mee Mee (from Super Monkey Ball)
14. Miles “Tails” Prower (from Sonic the Hedgehog 2)
15. Nights & Nightopian (from Nights into Dreams)
16. Pudding (from Space Channel 5)
17. Ralph (from Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph Movie)
18. Reala & Nightmaren (from Nights into Dreams)
19. Shadow the Hedgehog (from Sonic Adventure 2)
20. Sonic the Hedgehog (from Sonic the Hedgehog)
21. Ulala (from Space Channel 5)
22. Vyse (from Skies of Arcadia)
23. Your Avatar (exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox 360)
24. Your Mii (exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii U & 3DS)

There are also upcoming/DLC characters:

25. Alex Kidd
26. Metal Sonic

Danica Patrick is also one of the characters in the game.

Reception

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has scored well among many critics. It’s sitting at 82% in Metacritic and the developers should be pleased with the critical reception.  [reference]

Lot of critics have given it a high score including Joystiq, Gaming Age, and ZT Game Domain.

Now the question remains: What is wrong with this trailer, aside from the kids playing and making odd faces to reflect the conditions they’re “immersed” in? Not much actually. But man if those kids aren’t annoying, totally unnecessary and totally disposable.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is currently out now for all major platforms. Check out the launch trailer above and see if it’s worth a buy.

About Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed:

Game Overview:
Sonic and the All-Stars cast line up on the starting grid once again to battle for supremacy in the ultimate race. Compete across land, water and air in incredible transforming vehicles that change from cars to boats to planes mid-race. Master your driving skills as you drift, barrel role and boost to overtake your rivals, or use your weapons tactically and unleash your All-Star move to gain the winning advantage.

Publisher: Sega

Platforms: PS3, PSV, X360, 3DS, PC and WiiU

Release Date: 16/11/2012 (PS3 PSV X360)
TBA (3DS PC)
30/11/2012 (online) (WiiU)

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

And it’s not just limited to Platinum Games, who are releasing Bayonetta 2 exclusively for the console along with The Wonderful 101. Or Vigil Games, who have announced Darksiders 2 to be coming to the console with tons of new content and previously released DLC packs.

Electronic Arts, Bioware and Sega will also be translating their efforts to the console with Wii U editions for Madden NFL 13, Mass Effect 3 and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Check out the trailers before.

As is often hyped, we’ll be seeing the usual suspects: additional content, Wii U specific mechanics and the ability to transfer the game from your TV to your Gamepad and continue playing.