So this turned up on twitter earlier: https://twitter.com/SumoGroup_ltd/status/1664231598231900160 Seems a bit strange for Sumo, Sega and by all appearances, Sony, to be promoting a game that hasn't been released in any form for 14 years, that has been unavailable to purchase due to expired licence rights. Stranger still, the cabinets at the event have vanilla OutRun 2 branding, but are clearly not running the original Chihiro version of the game, and instead based on the 16:9 output, and the fact they're playing SP levels, seem to be running OutRun 2 SP DX on Lindburgh, or maybe an even newer build of the game on newer hardware. Would they just print up a run of hats and promotional material such as banners like that for a game they had no legal way of releasing anymore? Especially in conjunction with a bunch of Playstation branding? Doesn't add up, does it? ...and before anybody claims it's probably 15+ year old promotional stuff they've had in storage: Those T-shirts have labels featuring the new Sumo Group logo - Sumo Group have only been the parent company since the end of 2017, and I can't find any evidence of them using that particular logo before 2021. It is OutRun 2's 20th birthday this year (and Sumo Digital's, coincidentally...) Just saying...
Dude… that’d be sick. Good eye on this. My only experiences with OutRun 2 are the 360 and PSP versions, with the 360 one being back when I was a dumb kid who couldn’t appreciate it. Now I just load up the PSP one on my Vita when I’m in the mood, and even with that cutdown port, I love it. This would be a great move, Sega! Ignore my username, I’m not biased in any way. (And it’s not like the arcade’s title screen was my profile pic for a year.)
Bit of a weird one, given I don't think Sumo Digital were involved in the arcade versions. It was a charity event celebrating British racing games, so there might have been a load of old stuff there (and Sumo are also talking about celebrating 20 years of existing), but yes, odd they'd make new merchandise.
Multiple people in the UK arcade scene have created hacked versions of SP SDX for it to run smoothly on standard cabinets, often converted from the other less popular Lindbergh racers (R-Tuned + Sega Race TV). I believe Andy Geezer was the first to do it here back in 2011, and Mo Patel sells loads of them nowadays through Videotronics. With that in mind I would be very surprised if Sega had any official involvement with this event. But you never know, perhaps the estranged international amusements arm doesn't care and is up to something with Sumo - they did previously work with them on the arcade version of All Stars Racing, and have recently turned a blind eye to people converting older Sega racers to run on PCs (!).
Could it be the hacked version of DX in the cabs: Certainly, but it could equally be a build Sumo is working on. There are plenty of racers they could've had promos for (and there are a few flags for at least one of the Sonic racers dotted about), but a bunch of new promo material to represent a game neither Sega's consumer division or Sega Amusements have been able to release for years due to a elapsed third party licence? You can't just DO that - it's a legal minefield.
... in which developers from Sumo Digital state nothing is happening, and the piece concludes saying the best way to play it is either the PC version or original arcade machines. I get that also could be exactly what they'd say if there was, but I still think people should keep their expectations low here.
Sure and it happens great and we don't get a remaster its hardly end of the world stuff., It does seem a little strange that Sumo was showing off Outrun 2 and Retrogaming did a feature on the game . Though Mag's have to plan features months in advance, I guess
The feature is truly lovely, but as the features editor of Retro Gamer I'm going to have to play spoiler. While we do often time our covers to tie into current gaming events (see last month's Zelda cover), that wasn't the case with OutRun 2. Martyn pitched it to us way back in February, and we thought it was a good cover option - it's one of the greatest arcade racing games ever, and it's thematically nice going into the summer months. We didn't know Sumo was going to be showing the game at an event, and if there's anything else happening with OutRun 2, we're certainly not aware of it. Also, thanks for your support in subbing to the mag. For anyone who hasn't picked up Retro Gamer this month, we've got features on OutRun 2 and Clockwork Knight 1 & 2 as well as a supplement on Sega arcade games, so there's a good bit of Sega content. If you can't find it in shops, it's available to order on Magazines Direct.
OutRun2 shirt and hat please. *cough*AndAnOutRunCollectionWithAllTheProperArcadeGamesOnItPlease*cough*
Just saw this now, and I have to agree that the new merchandise and cabs do make me think something might be up. I really do hope we see an outrun 2 rerelease someday. Even if it's just an arcade rerelease I'd be happy that there's been progress somewhere on the rights for OutRun.
I've always wondered if OutRun 2 could be rereleased without the Ferrari license, by way of making new fictional car models to replace everything. Could be fun, they could even have great in-joke model names: Naomi, Chihiro, Hikaru, Lindbergh...
"OutRunners 2" If you're having to replace car models, you might as well make a new game. Might be entertaining to fill up the roster with Lamborghinis instead, but I guess that's not really OutRun.
On the subject of OutRun2. A new barcade opened in Glasgow with a pretty random assortment of machines, one of which is this bootleg version of OutRun2SP that I've never seen before: As it turns out it was pretty unplayable. The lag was horrendous, the 1P side of the machine also suffered from frame skipping, and the force feedback on the wheel kicked in at random. It was also quite obvious it was running a hacked version of Coast to Coast's SP mode (the menus using the gear stick rather than the view buttons to switch between options, the start button being used to select instead of the pedal, the name entry not letting you enter a ̶B̶U̶M̶ name). Anyone else came across one like that?
