Podcast

Swingin’ Report Show #82: Interview with Brian Silva of Visual Concepts, Midway, Accolade and more!

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Video game designer and voice actor Brain Silva joins us on our latest episode to discuss his work on Bubsy and Bubsy II, Floigan Bros., Hydro Thunder, and H2Overdrive as well as many other games created during his time at Accolade, Visual Concepts, Midway, Blizzard Entertainment and Specular Interactive. Brian also discusses several unreleased games including Hydro Thunder 2 for arcades, Congo: The Secret of Zinj for Genesis and SNES, and Floigan Bros. for the original Playstation!

Brian currently works at Specular Interactive, having helped create the arcade titles H2Overdrive (Hydro Thunder‘s spiritual successor), Project HADES, Dirty Drivin’, and Batman. Learn more about Specular Interactive by checking out their website.

Also, make sure to check out Brian’s website where you’ll find some excellent design docs for Floigan Bros. and Crank the Weasel.

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Swingin’ Report Show #81: Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Countdown

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Join George and Barry as they count down the final hour of the record breaking Shenmue 3 Kickstarter campaign! It has been as wild month, from the game’s E3 Sony stage announcement, to the ups and downs of Awesome Japan’s handling of the campaign. Hear our thoughts on how the Kickstarter was managed, the new tiers, and the recently revealed details of what we can expect in the finished game. Also in this episode, the recent comments from SEGA Games president on the company regaining the trust of gamers.

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Swingin’ Report Show #80: Interview with Aaron Webber, Sonic the Hedgehog PR & Social Media Manager

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He’s back! After leaving SEGA of America in 2014, Aaron Webber has returned as the PR & Social Media Manager for the Sonic the Hedgehog brand. Since returning, Aaron has been making waves on the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, catching both fan and media attention with his sly wit and deep knowledge of the franchise.

Aaron was kind enough to sit down with us for an hour in his first interview since returning to SEGA to talk about his new role, SEGA’s move to LA, his approach to interacting with fans, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, his favorite Sonic games, and answers to some burning canon questions!

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Swingin’ Report Show #79: Shenmue 3 E3 Reveal & Kickstarter

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We’re still pinching ourselves, because we can’t believe this is real life. Yu Suzuki is finally set to make Shenmue 3, having just announced the long awaited game at E3 and launching a Kickstarter to fund the project this week. On this episode of the Swingin’ Report Show, George and Barry discuss their reactions to the news, share opinions on the Kickstarter, and tackle the misconceptions of Sony’s involvement. We also speculate what Suzuki has planned for the third game based on past interviews and recently revealed details.

Check out Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter at kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3

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SEGAbits & Sonic Retro present Boom Talkalaka #4: Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Emergency Broadcast

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SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s new Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.

In this emergency broadcast, Barry and David discuss SEGA’s surprising reveal of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice for Nintendo 3DS. That’s right, the games aren’t over yet! Oh… but the comics are, as we also discuss the sad cancellation of Archie’s Sonic Boom comics which will occur with issue 11. We also discuss the premiere of the TV series in Europe and *SPOILER ALERT* discuss a shocking revelation that alters the very fabric of Sonic Boom’s reality!

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Swingin’ Report Show #78: Interview with Sam Mullen, Localization Producer, SEGA of America

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On this episode of the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show, we’re joined by SEGA of America Localization Producer Sam Mullen! In his role at SEGA, Sam has managed the localization process of several Japanese titles including Binary Domain, Rise of Nightmares, and the Hatsune Miku titles. Currently he is working on SEGA’s line of 3D Classics titles which include arcade and SEGA Genesis favorites as well as Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX for the Nintendo 3DS.

Learn about what the process of localization entails as well as what to expect from SEGA’s upcoming 3DS titles in this week’s show! Oh, and see a surprise cameo from former Brand Manager Aaron Webber who happened to be at SEGA of America HQ while we were recording this episode.

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SEGAbits & Sonic Retro present Boom Talkalaka #3: TV and Comics and Crossovers, oh my!

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SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.

In this episode, Barry and David discuss an early version of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric under the working title Sonic Synergy and take a look at concept art of elaborate in-store Sonic Boom displays. Also covered are the latest TV show episodes, the second comic book arc, the upcoming Worlds Unite comic book crossover, and we share our thoughts on the future of the new branch on the Sonic the Hedgehog tree.

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Swingin’ Report Show #77: Interview with Greg Johnson, co-creator of Toejam and Earl

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Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is a Kickstarter campaign from Greg Johnson, video game designer and co-founder of ToeJam & Earl Productions. On this week’s Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Greg joins us to talk about how he plans to bring the funky aliens back in a new game, and how he and Mark Voorsanger pitched and developed the original three games of the series for SEGA.

Learn how Toejam and Earl made the transition from Greg’s subconscious to video games, what it was like working with SEGA throughout the 90s, his thoughts on the sequels Panic on Funkotron and Mission to Earth, and how Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is set to reimagine and build upon the famous first game. If you’re a game developer, or simply want to know more about how games are made, this episode is a must listen!

Show your support for Greg and his team, check out the Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove Kickstarter today!

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Swingin’ Report Show #74: Drift Stage – Interview with Super Systems Softworks

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show returns for 2015, featuring brand new interviews with talented people connected to and inspired by SEGA! On our 74th show we’re joined by Super Systems Softworks, developers of the 80s and 90s inspired racer Drift Stage. Chase Pettit (Programmer), Charles Blanchard (Art), and Hugh Myrone (Music) talk about the genesis of the project, their inspirations, and their plans for the final version of the game. We also take a trip down memory lane, talking about our favorite and least favorite racing games, as well as memories of SEGA-AM2’s classic OutRun.

Visit Drift Stage’s Kickstarter page, give the demo a try – and if you like what you see, back the game!
Demo: supersystems.itch.io/driftstagealpha
Official Site: driftstagegame.com

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SEGAbits & Sonic Retro present Boom Talkalaka #2: The Boom, the Bad and the Ugly

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SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s new Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.

In the second episode, Barry and David review the latest episodes of the TV show through to “Eggheads”, 2014’s final episode, discuss the direction the comic book is taking, and Barry shares his thoughts on the 3DS and Wii U games.

Give the show a listen and in the comments tell us what you think! If you have any questions or comments you want David to read on the next episode, leave your message here with the subject line “Boom-Grams”: http://segabits.com/contact/

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