Sega Launches Casual Games Portal

Sega's tossed its hat into casual gaming with the launch of an online portal called PlaySega for the U.S. and Europe.It'll feature a variety of free web games, including arcade, word, card, puzzle, quiz, Sonic-themed, and sports titles. In addition to providing original games created exclusively for the site, like Ice Shuffle and Aquatic Word Burst, PlaySega features a port of its Sonic At The Olympic Games mobile release, as well as several games from Brain Assist, a Brain Age-styled title for the Nintendo DS. Each game offers leaderboard achievements and an opportunity to earn PlaySega Rings, the site's virtual currency. With PlaySega Rings, users can customize their site and profile pages with decorative items and backgrounds. Users can also invite friends to view their favorite games, high scores, and achievements. Sega plans to eventually implement a paid VIP area, where users will be able to access and play more web games, such as additional PlaySega-exclusive titles and Sega classics like Columns, Puyo Pop, Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Super Monkey Ball Tip 'n Tilt. "Sega fans and new gamers alike can now come together in one place and enjoy some of our most exciting vintage and new titles," says Sega of Europe's network business director Nick Pili. "There was a story out there recently that we have a locked vault full of retro Sega classics in Japan. Well, it's true -- and we've been given full access to a lot of the properties in it."