OutRun 2 to Hit Console at E3 2004

Report suggests OutRun 2 will finally be announced for console next week. More on Sega's E3 line-up inside.

Speculation will end as Sega's instant arcade classic, OutRun 2, gets an official console announcement next week, according to a report on Spong.

The news claims that high-ranking Sega insiders have confirmed the imminent announcement of OutRun 2 for home consoles, joyfully shattering previous playdowns by the company that the title would probably remain arcade only. More excitingly, the report offers that the game will finds its place on Xbox, and possibly PS2 as well.

This fantastic news for Sega fans comes as the company is preparing its E3 line-up announcement in a week or so. Sega officials have already stated there will be some "awesome surprises" among the six or so new titles to be on show - for both hardcore and casual fans.

Clearly "casual fans" refers to last Monday's SEGA SuperStars announcement - while OutRun 2 looks set to be the fantastic E3 Sega 'surprise' we've all been waiting for.

The return of the Shining series, including two new Shining Force games for PlayStation 2 - all from Tosihiro Nagoshi's Amusement Vision studio - are also a strong possibility. SpikeOut, the Xbox arcade roaming beat-'em-up conversion from the same studio, is pretty much guaranteed to be on show in a couple of week's time.

According to the report, the home version will be "significantly enhanced" from its original arcade guise, offering additional tracks and a "massive challenge" mode - along with online play for both consoles.

If the news proves to be true - and we have a sneaky feeling it will - it's evidence that Sega fans can look forward to a bright future, despite recent doom mongering. However, we would stress that, while the news report cites this next Monday or Tuesday (3/4 May) as the expected announcement date, we're guessing on something emerging closer to the end of next week.

Either way, we can expect a strong E3 showing from Sega at the very least... stay tuned for all the details.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com