Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD releasing west October 29, 2019 to PS4, Switch and Xbox One

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Well that was fast! Earlier today Famitsu revealed a Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz remake for Japan and now we have an official confirmation of a release for Europe and the Americas for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on October 29, 2019. A PC Steam release will come later in the winter of 2019. Per the press release, the game will include: Complete with updated graphics, optimized control schemes for each platform, a brand-new mini-game Decathalon mode where you complete a set of 10 mini-games in a row, and online leaderboards.

The game will release digitally and physically, with a $39.99 price point.

Pre-order Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD
PlayStation 4 | Nintendo Switch | Xbox One

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Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz remake Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball releasing to PS4, Switch and PC

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Just two weeks ago, we talked all things Super Monkey Ball and shared our wishes for a new game in the series. Well it looks like our wishes are being granted, as Famitsu has announced a remake of the Wii game Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz titled Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball. The game, sporting new graphics and potentially gameplay refinements and additions, is due out October 31st in Japan to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, with a PC Steam version also in the works.

No word yet on a western release, but we will share news as we hear it!

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Phantasy Star Online 2 anime returns with Episode Oracle in October 2019

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We already knew that Phantasy Star Online 2 was getting a brand new anime being titled Episode Oracle that is suppose to cover the Phantasy Star Online 2 in-game story from Episode 1 through 3, plus some original story bits. We now know that the anime will launch this October.

While Phantasy Star Online 2 had a anime that was a 100% original story, this one is more tied to the game which makes me a bit more interested in giving it a try. The series’s first season will run 25 episodes.

As you know we will be getting Phantasy Star Online 2 will finally hit North America for Xbox One and PC in 2020. Are you going to give the anime a chance or wait for the game to come out?

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New Aleste game “Aleste Branch” announced, being developed by M2

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Those that are a big fans of shmups and SEGA consoles, you might be familiar with the Aleste series by Compile, such as with the Master System version of Aleste or MUSHA on the SEGA Genesis. Well good news, because the developers at M2 are planning on reviving the series, under the title Aleste Branch. Not much has been revealed, but what is confirmed is that similar to past games, you’ll be controlling a female pilot named Eleanor Wiesen, and a teaser of what the game’s space ship will look like. According to Famitsu, the character designs are being handled by artist Eiji Komato.

Though not much information has been revealed, it’s promised that more information will be revealed by September 7th, while the appearance of the full ship will be revealed on July 28th at Wonder Festival 2019.

[Source: M2, Famitsu]

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SEGA games Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone coming to the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine Mini

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While SEGA has been busy prepping for the launch of the Mega Drive Mini, it seems they aren’t done quite yet with the mini console craze. The TurboGrafx-16 Mini (aka the PC Engine Mini) by Konami announced back in E3 has revealed 24 TurboGrafx-16 and and 26 PC Engine titles, effectively mixing both American and Japanese libraries into separate categories. Notably for SEGA fans, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini will be packaged with the TurboGrafx-16 versions of Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone, both originally developed by NEC. Space Harrier will be categorized under the TurboGrafx-16 section, while Fantasy Zone will be categorized under the PC Engine section.

The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine Mini is currently slated for a March 19th, 2020 release date globally, so if you’re interested in trying out this mini console, pick one up next year!

[Souce: Official TurboGrafx-16 Website]

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Review: SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium

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In the last few years we have been getting more officially licensed SEGA books than ever before, with each of these books offering readers a unique slice of SEGA history. While most of the books have a unique take or format, it seems that most of these books try to center around SEGA’s most popular console, the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. It seems a lot of publishers aren’t very interested in covering SEGA before this time period, that is until Bitmap Book’s Master System: A Visual Compendium.

Continue Reading ➜

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 receives price drop and a Complete Edition on all consoles

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Valkyria Chronicles 4, the latest installment in the long running turn based RPG series by SEGA, is now available at a permanently reduced price of $29.99 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam with every DLC included. You can pick up the Valkyria Chronicles 4: Complete Edition digital package, available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, which contains all add-on content released for the game, all for $49.99. If you happen to own the base game already, a convenient all-in-one DLC pack is also available for $24.99.

Valkyria Chronicles 4: Complete Edition contains add-on scenarios ranging from high-difficulty maps to entirely new story content, including:

  • A United Front with Squad 7
  • Edy’s Advance Ops
  • The Two Valkyria
  • Expert Level Skirmishes
  • A Captainless Squad
  • Squad E, to the Beach!

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Fan restoration of Archie’s Sonic Universe #95 releases – read the full issue now!

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Fans of Sonic the Hedgehog comics went through a series of ups and downs during the final years of the Archie Comics run of the series. From reboots to cancellations to an outright end to the series, the long running series deserved a better finale. The spin-off from the main series of comics, Sonic Universe, came to an end with issue #94 wrapping up a Chaotix story arc. However, fans were promised a new arc with issue #95 focusing on the members of the Freedom Fighters. Of course, issue #95 never came to be however the penciled and partially inked issue was made public. Using these elements, a group of fans took the incomplete work of Adam Bryce Thomas, Jim Amash and Ian Flynn and inked, colored, wrote and lettered the full issue. The issue is available to read now, and can be found here!

Most exciting, to me at least, is that the end of the restored comic teases that Sonic the Hedgehog #291 – the conclusion to Genesis of a Hero – will be the next Archie Sonic comic to be restored. This will complete the four issue flashback arc that would have acted as a fitting end to the series.

Oh, and my fingers are crossed for Mega Drive: Overdrive to be restored next.

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Rumor: “Tasty Good! Super Monkey Ball” rated in China/Taiwan for PS4, Switch, and PC

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The rumors of a new Super Monkey Ball continue to come in. Two months ago, SEGA of Japan trademarked “Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball”, Tabegoro roughly translating to “Good to eat”, “tastes good”, etc., though for the sake of this article it will be unofficially called “Tasty Good!”.

Now more fuel in the fire has been added, as the official Chinese/Taiwan ratings board Game Software Rating Regulations has seemingly revealed more information about this supposed game via the official Chinese title “現嚐好滋味！超級猴子球”. It will be developed and published in house by SEGA itself, not outsourced similar to other revivals in recent years, and it’s planned for the PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC, with an icon seemingly displaying the title also in the documents. No other information about what exactly Tasty Good! Super Monkey Ball is, such as whether it’s a sort of remake or an original game, has been revealed at this time. Guess we must wait until SEGA officially announces the game to know more.

[Source: Game Software Rating Regulations]

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Female co-star casted for New Yakuza, more details on the game coming August 29th

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SEGA hosted an audition last month for the upcoming Yakuza game with nearly 1,000 women auditioning for the role as the game’s protaganist Ichiban Kasuga female co-star. Narrowed down to 10 finalist, Eri Kamataki came out on top and will play the role of the female co-star.

At the female co-star announcement event, Yakuza series general producer Toshihiro Nagoshi stated that more details on the new Yakuza game will be announced on August 29th. Excited to see more details on the new Yakuza game next month and what are your expectations on the game? Let us know on the comments below.

Source: Gematsu

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New Dreamcast documentary speaks with Masayoshi Kikuchi (Jet Set Radio), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Rez), Rieko Kodama (Skies of Arcadia), and more

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To celebrate the upcoming 20th year anniversary of the SEGA Dreamcast, the Japanese YouTube channel Archipel has decided to go talk to Japanese creators that worked on software for the Dreamcast. This is just the first part and the people they got from SEGA is pretty crazy:

Hiroshi Iuchi (Ikaruga), Kenji Kanno (Crazy Taxi), Masayoshi Kikuchi (Jet Set Radio), Rieko Kodama (Eternal Arcadia/Skies of Arcadia), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Space Channel 5 / Rez), Tetsu Okano (Segagaga), Yoot Saito (Seaman), and Hiroaki Yotoriyama (Soulcalibur)!

Its nice to see some of these creators sit down and talk about their time working on the very iconic Dreamcast, pretty excited to see part two of this documentary series. If you haven’t seen Archipel’s content, you should totally check out other documentaries they have done.

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SEGA Talk #21: Super Monkey Ball (2001)

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On this episode of SEGA Talk we look back on a very important game in SEGA’s third party era: Super Monkey Ball! We discuss the arcade original Monkey Ball, the console port and its sequel, the development history, gameplay and the future of the franchise.

Make sure to leave us a positive five star review on iTunes, it always helps!

Support us on Patreon! Get an exclusive pre-show, early access, your SEGA memories played at the end and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Play Music – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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Shenmue III will not have a Steam key option on launch for backers

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Poor YS Net has upset some PC fans when they announced a few months ago at E3 2019 that Shenmue III would be Epic Store Exclusive. This lead to people getting upset that after the Kickstarter was done, the studio asked fans what PC service they would want keys on and most people said Steam; it seemed that the studio got a better deal from Epic Games Store.

YS Net has confirmed that there will be four versions of Shenmue III which includes the PlayStation 4 physical, digital and of course the same for PC. But for PC both physical and digital will come with Epic Game Store. But if you want the game on Steam, there will be an option for it if you select ‘delayed steam key’, which means you will have to wait about a year from launch to be able to play it. Yeah, this will obviously piss off backers, especially those that paid extra (100+) for a beta they never got! You can also change the platform to PlayStation 4 if you don’t want to deal with all this nonsense.

But don’t worry, if you are angry YS Net is allowing users to get refunds for Shenmue III backers that expected a Steam Key day one. They still don’t have a way of doing it and will update us on how to request a refund soon. Here is the statement after the jump:

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA announces Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega 39’s for Nintendo Switch

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SEGA has taken a small break from Hatsune Mike Project Diva games over the years, with the last one coming out in 2017 with Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX (a arcade port). It seems that SEGA is back with the announcement of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega 39’s for the Nintendo Switch. SEGA promised that the game will come out early 2020 over in Japan.

The trailer confirms that the game will feature 101 songs (91 songs from Hatsune Miku x Sega project, including Mirari spinoff songs and 10 new songs for this game including the theme) are making into the game, over 300 costumes and full cast including: Rin/Len, Luka, Kaito, and Meiko.

If you own Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone and DX, you will be able to play all the new Mega 39’s songs via a DLC update that will hit in 2020.

[Via: Siliconera]

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