New ratings posted on the ESRB web site confirm that Dreamcast title Sonic Adventure will be making its way to Xbox 360 Live, Playstation Network and PC sometime in the near future. The ratings database currently lists both Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX, each earning a rating of "E for Everyone." Sega, however, has not yet officially announced the title.

In an interesting twist, Sonic Adventure previously appeared in the database of Korea's Game Ratings Board, alongside of another hugely popular Dreamcast title; Crazy Taxi. While Crazy Taxi has not yet been rated by the ESRB, it is probably safe to assume we'll be seeing it there eventually.

Could this be a sign that more classics from the Dreamcast's library will be showing up as digital titles on 360, PS3 and PC? Based on Sega's recent and publicly revealed shift towards digital distribution, we're leaning toward "yes." The question is, however, what titles will we see appearing next? Shenmue? Powerstone? Jet Grind Radio? Phantasy Star Online, perhaps? There are certainly enough great games to choose from, all yearning to make the leap to modern day platforms.

Hopefully, we'll be seeing some official announcements and additional product reveals at the E3 expo this year, which kicks off in about one week. In the meantime, make your predictions now so you can say "I told you so" when all our hopes are ultimately realized or crushed.

It seems that Sega is on a bit of a roll lately with product announcements. This one seems to have flown in under the radar, until a press release by Sega today. The latest in the Sonic franchise, Sonic Colors was announced for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS systems and slated for a holiday 2010 release. In this new addition to the franchise, Sonic races through theme park inspired worlds to rescue a colorful alien race of Wisps from Dr. Eggman.

In what might be a somewhat refreshing twist on the classic Sonic gameplay, the various colored Wisps double as power-ups, allowing Sonic to perform feats such as drilling through the ground or shooting through a level as a laser beam. In addition to the press release, a short (okay, REALLY short) reveal trailer was also posted.

Feel free to drop by the forums, where this announcement is already being discussed. Thanks to Mysterious-G for the news.

With just four days left on Sega's recently launched countdown site, a leaked copy of Famitsu has bypassed the remaining suspense and revealed to us Sega's upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive action title: Virtual-On Force. Surprise!

Okay, it's not the news many of you were hoping for, but Virtual-On isn't so bad either. Unlike Sega's previously released Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, an Xbox Live Arcade port of the original Dreamcast title, Virtual-On Force appears to be a full retail title. The game is said to have online play, 2-on-2 battles, co-op modes, and a single player mission mode.

For those of you who were hoping for a hint of Sega's plans for the 10th anniversary of PSO, hang in there. We still have about six months before that date comes around and we'll continue to keep our eyes and ears out for anything that might indicate what Sega has up its sleeves.

Sega Sammy, the holding company behind Sega, posted its financial statements today for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. Despite consumer games sales that dropped 7.5% from last year's numbers, the company posted an operating income of over $68 million in this division, thanks in large part to strong sales from some of its top titles.

Leading the pack of top sellers (to no surprise) was Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, racking up a monstrous 6.53 million copies sold. Also listed in the reports were Aliens vs. Predator (1.69 million), Bayonetta (1.35 million), Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing (1.07 million), Phantasy Star Portable 2 (600,000) and Yakuza 4 (560,000). In total, the company shipped out 26.75 million units during the fiscal year.

Sega is estimating that it will ship out nearly 10 million less units during the current fiscal year. In place of the volume, it will be looking to improve profitability while continuing to reorganize its Western operations. All in all, the company posted profits of $219.9 million, a flip-flop of last year's $248.4 million loss, and estimates slightly higher profits for the fiscal year ending in 2011.

Sega Japan has launched a teaser site, counting down to what appears to be a new Xbox 360 exclusive action game. While it doesn't actually say anywhere that the game is a 360 exclusive action title, the site's address, next-360action.sega.jp, seems to imply just that. Translations of the page seem to indicate that they will be releasing small hints on a daily basis, leading up to the full announcement.

Could this new mystery title possibly be a new Phantasy Star game? We've already been suspecting that one would be announced at some point, after vague hints dropped around the time of the PSU PC server shutdown. While it's probably best not to get our hopes up too much, a new Phantasy Star title could easily fall under the action genre (or action RPG, specifically). The fact that the 360 version of PSU is the only one still online in both Japan and the US also slightly reinforces this possibility.

Regardless, we'll be keeping an eye on the daily hints to see if they cough up any details that give us a better idea of what to expect. In the meantime, start placing your bets on what game they'll be announcing when the countdown reaches zero, an event that should take place around May 23rd.

Gamestop is running another big sale and this time, they're showing Phantasy Star fans a little love. For a limited time, you can pick up a new copy of Phantasy Star Portable for $19.99 (limit one per customer). Used copies are available even cheaper at $14.99. In addition, they are offering 25% to 50% off on a number of other titles for the first 1,000 customers.

The deal doesn't stop there, though, as there are some coupons floating around that can help you save even more. Some of these will stack, so see how good of a deal you can come up with. Here's a list of coupon codes (and if you have an edge card, don't forget to use that for an additional 10% off as well):

25DEAL - 25% off orders of $100 or more

25PRE - 25% off all in-stock pre-owned games

SAVER - Free shipping on orders over $25

The sale is available for a very limited time and ends on 5/13 at 11:00am CST. If you've been looking for an opportunity to pick up PSP for cheap (and perhaps some other games too), this might be your chance! Be sure to drop by the Off Topic forum's Video Game Deals thread to discuss this and other great game deals!

Gamestop - 25% - 50% off Select Titles!

Develop 100 has released their 2010 list of the world's top 100 most successful game development studios. The list, which ranks studios by key UK sales data, was topped this year by Nintendo and Infinity Ward. Also making a top-ten appearance was Sega Japan, ranking in at #6, just in front of #7 Capcom. So, which title attributed to Sega's success in this year's rankings? Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, which had sold 5.6 million copies by the end of 2009.

In an interesting twist, the studio ranking in just above Sega in the list, Foundation 9, was the developer behind Sega Superstars Tennis and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (as well as numerous other Sega-published titles).

In Develop 100's profile of Sega, they mentioned that, despite its high ranking, the company is enjoying more success as a publisher, noting titles like Bayonetta and upcoming Alpha Protocol. It should be interesting to see how the rest of 2010 pans out for Sega as it continues to reorganize its operations and focus more on digital distribution.

To see the entire list of top 100 developers, head on over to Develop 100.

MCVUK has posted a recent interview with Sega America's newly appointed VP of Sales and Marketing, Alan Pritchard. In the interview, Pritchard talks about Sega's western re-structuring, as well as their new push toward digital distribution.

When asked if Sonic 4, an episodic Sonic sequel scheduled to hit XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare this summer, was representative of Sega's new digital direction, Pritchard said the following:

"As you can imagine, we’ve got a locker full of great IP from old Sega formats that we can potentially bring to market.

Strangely, the packaged goods side of the business are screaming out for a packaged version of Sonic 4. So it is interesting to see that some of the titles we plan to release on digital, will have great appeal to the other side of the business.

There are a number of digital releases that we have slated for the next 12 to 18 months, most of which haven’t been announced yet. As you can imagine, there’s a world of old Sega IP that we can bring to market."

Hopefully, this means we are in for some interesting news at E3 this year. While it would be great to see another Phantasy Star title coming down the pipeline, there are also a number of great Dreamcast titles and other IP that have been long overdue for a comeback. Have any predictions of your own? Hit the comments and let us know.

It's hard to imagine that there are still brand new Dreamcasts floating around out there somewhere, but Amazon apparently found a stash of them. Perhaps they were buried in a time capsule, or part of some kind of liquidation after Sega's recent restructuring, who knows?! The important part is that they exist, and you can buy one.

As of right now, Sega's iconic video game system can be yours for the price of $88.99, sold and shipped by Amazon.com (not a third party). While the price may seem a bit steep for an 11-year-old piece of gaming hardware, let's face it, we're talking about one of the greatest consoles of all time here.

Better hurry, though, as this is quickly becoming mainstream news and is beginning to show up all over the net. These probably won't last very long. Hit the link to check it out, or the Dreamcast will take control of your home electronics and attack you with a passenger jet (as seen in this commercial):

New Sega Dreamcast - $88.99 @ Amazon.com (UPDATE: SOLD OUT!)