Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation Story Trailer revealed and Sakura Taisen Blu-Ray Box Collection set for release this Spring

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In the recent Sakura Wars official live stream, SEGA unveiled a brand new trailer and key visual of Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation set for release in April 2020. The Animation takes place after the events of the Shin Sakura Taisen game with the New Flower Division team being transferred to Europe by Seijuro Kamiyama, and Sakura Amamiya was appointed Deputy Commander.

Kamiyama returns home temporarily to the Flower Division who all struggle every day, but there is an unknown girl beside named Clara, who is the only survivor of the Moscow group that was destroyed after a major accident . Sakura welcomes Clara, who was commissioned by Kamiyama and transferred to the Flower Division. Meanwhile, a group that claims to be “Moscow Assault Force” suddenly appears in the Imperial City.

The trailer also reveals a new Assault Force team hailing from Moscow (Mossika Hussarge, Valerie Kaminsky, and Leila with character designs by Mika Pikazo) who will all be appearing exclusively to the anime. In addition, there will be a Blu-Ray collection of the Sakura Taisen OVA (Original Video Animation) series set to release in Japan on March 18, 2020 for 35,000 yen ($320.84). The original OVA series served as prequels and side stories to the games and is a nice collection set if you have been a fan of the series. Hit the jump to check out visuals of the animation and more!

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Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta starts February 7, 2020

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If you are excited for the Western Xbox One closed beta, which starts on February 7th and goes through the 8th, then you’re in luck since we got more details about the event including ‘exclusive closed beta missions and items’. According to Microsoft you will be able to pre-load the game on February 3rd, if you want to start playing the first nano second the game goes live. You can sign up for the closed beta via the ‘Xbox Insider Hub’. 

Closed Beta Test Schedule

  • Starts: Friday, February 7th, 5 PM (PST)
  • Ends: Saturday, February 8th, 11:59 PM (PST)
  • Official Website: Opens Friday, February 7th, 10 AM (PST)

The beta will also have ‘Urgent Quests’ during the closed beta which include the following missions:

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic Movie Theme Song Reaction

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Usually the music is the best part of any Sonic thing, but does this hold true for the theme song for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie? On this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George reaction to Let’s Go Fast from Yiffy the Wizard, Dr. Boatz, Lil’ Flim-Flam and Yakkity Gak. I think I got that information correct, right?

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SEGA Talk Podcast #34: Seaman (1999)

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The often requested episode of SEGA Talk is here! Barry and George discuss Seaman, Yoot Saito’s strange SEGA Dreamcast experiment. Learn how the idea came about, the speech recognition tech that made the game possible, what Yoot has been up to since and more!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

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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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Yakuza 7 launch day numbers weakest in main series, 20% drop from Yakuza 6

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Yakuza 7 (Yakuza: Like a Dragon in America) is changing a lot of things that were considered bread and butter for the franchise. This includes a new lead character and a change from real time action to turn base combat. Unsurprisingly this has lead to a drop in launch sales. Does this mean that this whole new direction has been a failure? Not really, it will depend on how the game sales overtime and we still have to launch it outside of Japan. Who knows, in the West, this being a soft reboot might help it.

 

Check out the tweet by Game Data Library on Twitter for a sales chart:

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SEGA introduces ‘Sonic 2020 Initiative’, to announce Sonic the Hedgehog news on the 20th of every month

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Guys, the year is 2020, its the future and in this future a handful of announcements aren’t enough. SEGA has officially launched the “Sonic 2020” project, a new initiative to announce various new Sonic the Hedgehog-related plans and information throughout the year.

What’s the first bit of news on January 20th? Well, of course the project itself. I bet Sonic Team are patting themselves on the back for this one. The Sonic Channel also released some art for the announcement which features social media assets and even 21 character icons. The press release for this does mention that SEGA will hold various Sonic the Hedgehog events in 2020; so keep an eye out.

I’m no Detective Conan, but don’t be shocked if we get a musical event with Tee Lopes and Crush 40, since the Sonic the Hedgehog social media has been releasing remixed tunes.

[Via: Gematsu]

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Round Table: How SEGA Can Improve in 2020

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We are in a brand new decade and SEGA has had a huge turn around in the last five years since they announced their last big rebuild and bought Atlus. It seems that SEGA’s Road to 2020 was a success in a lot of aspects. But like every company, there are always weak points that haven’t quite been ironed out.

On this Round Table we will discuss how SEGA can improve in 2020, if you have any ways that you think SEGA can improve in this new year, let us know in the comments below.

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SEGA Europe staff members share their memories on Shinobi in this SEGA AGES Shinobi interview

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SEGA Europe Staff members, Danny Russell (Mobile Community Manager), Luis De Mendonca, (IT Support Manager), Marta Camilo (Senior Website Designer), and Tom Perry (Jr. Graphic Designer) share memories on the arcade release of Shinobi, which debuted in the arcades in 1987.

They reflect on subjects like how far they could get through the game with one credit, fighting difficult bosses, and give tip advice on how to get through difficult situations.

What are your memories on the arcade release in Shinobi? please share them by leaving us a comment below. SEGA AGES Shinobi will be available purchase on the Nintendo Switch Eshop on January 23, 2020 for only $7.99.

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon To Get Seven Free DLC Packs, First DLC Details Revealed

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If you are excited for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which comes out later this year in America, you probably already know that these games have had free DLC updates since the release of Yakuza 3 and this new game isn’t any different.

While we don’t know the release schedule of these DLC items in the West, we do know the release schedule for the Japanese release (they start releasing tomorrow):

  • January 23, 2020
  • January 30, 2020
  • February 6, 2020
  • February 13, 2020
  • February 20, 2020
  • February 27, 2020

The first pack that SEGA is releasing is called the ‘Support Pack Vol. 1’ which will add a new ‘Cleanup Crew’ costume and the following support items:

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Console Wars documentary to premiere at SXSW this March

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From Blake J. Harris, author of the book “Console Wars”, which we covered extensively when it released back in 2014, has announced that a Console Wars documentary will be debuting at the 2020 SXSW film festival. The documentary has been long in the works, but always took the backseat to news of the upcoming movie turned streaming series that is also in the works. Running at 93 minutes, the documentary description reads as follows:

Console Wars
Directors: Jonah Tulis, Blake J. Harris
In 1990, Sega assembled a team of misfits to take on the greatest video game company in the world, Nintendo. Console Wars goes behind the scenes to meet the men and women who fought for both sides in this epic battle that defined a generation. (World Premiere)

Here’s hoping a trailer releases in advance of the screening, and we learn more of a wider release. Congrats to Blake for seeing a release of the documentary!

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Shenmue III “Battle Rally” DLC arriving on January 21, 2020

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Ys Net and Deep Silver announced over Twitter that Shenmue III‘s Battle Rally character racing DLC will be available for download on January 21, 2020 for only $7.99/£6.49.

Players will be able to earn exclusive items by finishing first in Battle Rally races. You can also play as characters other than Ryo, including Wuying Ren and Zhen Wei.

The DLC will be available for those with the season pass, Complete DLC Collection, on its release date and others without the season pass can purchase the Battle Rally DLC through the PlayStation Store and Epic Games Store.

[Source: Siliconera]

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SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Switch to feature Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2

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In the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu revealed that SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Nintendo Switch will include “Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” which is a unique mode that was originally playable in the original Sega Genesis release by inserting a Sonic & Knuckles cartridge on top of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cartridge using the platform’s “Lock-On Technology.”

As previously mentioned, SEGA AGES Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will also include additional actions, “Super Sonic Mode,” online rankings, and other features. A release date for the title has yet to be announced. We’ll keep everyone posted as more news surface!

[Source: Gematsu & Ryokutya2089]

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SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo Tsu releasing on January 16th in Japan

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SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo Tsu has finally got a definitive release date. This popular arcade game from Japan can be yours on January 16th, for a price of ¥999 on the Japanese Nintendo Switch eShop.

This SEGA AGES release of Puyo Puyo Tsu comes with the original arcade game, in addition to a new Kachinuki Mode, where players have to fight every opponent in the tower starting from the bottom and working your way up. Players will also be able to read up on the descriptions of every character, and have the option to change the colors of each individual Puyo color with six choices. Like with past SEGA AGES releases, there will also be online compatibility, with leaderboards and online match making.

[Source: Official SEGA AGES page]

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