Aliens vs Predator & Mario & Sonic make February NPD top 20

What a good few weeks it’s been for SEGA in sales? With dominating the UK charts with several high profile releases, Alien vs Predator spearheaded that attack, so it should come as no surprise that it sold extremely well in America too. Now whilst not doing as well as it has done through out Europe, the 360 version of the title did manage over 190,000 in sales. Although the PS3 version is no where to be seen.  The Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games did over 100,000. No doubt SEGA will need to be sending out more to retailers sooner than later.

It’s not all good news though, as Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing failed to make the top 20, but like all good Sonic game, it could probably be a slow burner.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Vanquish OXM preview scans

OK, they are not really scans, more like pictures. We lied, give us a break, scans sound better than saying “Vanquish OXM Preview pictures.”

“However, this has to be the most intense game we’ve seen since Gears of War 2.”

Am I the only one that thinks the Gears of War games are slow and not very well designed? Can’t go into the dark? Really?  The game is looking great, lets hope its nothing like Gears of War.

[Thanks NiGHTS]

Kazuma Kiryu approved razors

Kazuma Kiryu is a manly  man, who supports manly products like jugs of beer and razors. I mean, Kazuma is the only 6 foot Japanese man and the only Japanese person who grows facial hair.

Kai group is now using Kazuma’s mug to sell their latest razor called “Kai Razor.” He will be used for adverts, retail videos and stands.  I think Kazuma needs his own agent.

[Source: AndraSang]

More Yakuza 3 cut content discovered

Seems that SEGA has decided to cut quite a few more things than just a trivia game and some hostess bar sections. What was cut? An example was that when you reach Chapter 4, 9 out of the 40 side missions do not appear. That is quite a cut.

I don’t know what to say to SEGA, its bad enough that the franchise failed due to their poor marketing skills, but now they really want to make the game sell no copies what-so-ever. All the ‘fans’ are being slapped in the face with cuts, then they release it on the same day as Final Fantasy XIII and the same month as God of War III?

Come on!

[Source: Kotaku]

SEGA to support Playstation Move

Sony has shown off their Playstation motion controller at GDC, known as the Playstation Move. At the same event they demoed some games and even gave a list of developers that have signed up to support the Move.

One of the developers on the list was SEGA, which is not shocking since SEGA has talked about supporting both Playstation Move and Project Natal since E3.

[Source: Siliconera]

Famitsu scores Yakuza 4 a 38/40

Yakuza 4 has been reviewed by the people at Famitsu and scored an impressive 38/40, broken down it got 9,10,10 and a 9. That is one point higher than what Yakuza 3 scored.

In the same issue they reviewed God of War: Collections (33/40) and Darksiders (32/40).

[Source: Scrawlfx]

Aliens vs Predator sells over 100,000 units in the UK

Aliens vs Predator has seen tremendous success for SEGA across all of Europe, but in particular, it’s sold very well for SEGA in the UK, not dropping out of the top 5 since releases three weeks ago, that title now resides number three in the British all formats charts. So it should come as no surprise to know that the title has done over 100,000 units and to be exact, that was just the Xbox360 version. ELSPA sales awards for February hands the silver award to the 360 version of AvP for getting past the 100,000 mark but another SEGA title also went for gold, as the Wii version of Sonic Unleashed sold over 200,000 units for SEGA in total since its release. All in all, a good few weeks with plenty of hits for SEGA, let’s see if they can carry on this fine form.

[Source: ELSPA Silver Awards] & [Source: ELSPA Gold Awards]

Mega64: A Yakuza 3 Short Film


Mega64 now takes their ‘mocking ways’ and pokes fun at Yakuza 3’s western localization because bringing over a complex Japanese game like Yakuza needs changes for us, non-Japanese, to understand.

Yakuza 4 beer jugs? Yes, please!


SEGA has added a new promo item for their Yakuza 4 bandwagon and that wagon is getting full. Check it out, Yakuza 4 beer jugs, called “Legendary Jugs.” Yes, I love me the jugs.

To get the jugs, you will have to go to the restaurant called Watami and get fliers, scan and see if you win one of the hundred Legendary Jugs. Wonder how much they will cost on ebay?

[Source: AndriaSang]

Aliens vs. Predator gets 4 new maps via DLC


Aliens vs Predator has gotten 4 new maps, well new if you didn’t get the European Collectors Edition. So, its new if you have not played them I guess. Two of the maps are “Docks” and the other is “Machine” both for regular Multiplayer modes. The other two are only for Survival mode and those two maps are called “Outpost” and “Hive.”

How much will the pack cost you? 560 MS points ($7). Not too bad of a price, would be nice if it came with some extra skins. No date has been given, just saying they will be out soon. Also, they are only confirmed for Europe at the moment.

[Source: SEGA]

Review: Aliens vs. Predator

A lot of people are very worried when it comes to licensed games or when it comes to resurrecting a franchise. I don’t blame them; I was the same way when I heard that Aliens vs. Predator was coming back. After having a couple of weeks of hands on time, is it what I expected?

The Toys of Alpha Protocol

Sega Europe has recently shown off a great new video for upcoming RPG, Alpha Protocol. As we’ve known for a while now, the game is touting a lot of freedom and flexibility in creating your character and tackling the various missions. This trailer reinforces that goal, showing off a great range of weapons and gadgets to use and lots of customisation options so you really can tailor make everything to suit your goals.

Alpha Protocol is due for release on May 28th.

[Source:  Sega Europe Blog]

SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show: Episode #2


Alright, so we did promise to make the show a weekly thing, the only problem is that recording the past 2 weeks lead to nothing; mostly because of my awesomely lame internet company.

This week I sat down with Aki-at and SEGA Uranus to discuss some SEGA news and Shenmue. I understand that my volume sounds low, we are sorry about that. Seems to do it to the person that records, we promise to fix this issue next week.

[Download] [iTunes] [RSS]

Hit the jump for the show notes…