I’m hosting this week, joined by Sharky and Aki-at as we discuss the news of the week, traditional Muslim values, debate about zombies and much more. Oh, if you are looking for the stage layout of Chemical Plant Zone that we are talking about, its right here.
[audio:http://www.segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/Swingin_Report_Show_16_Comical_Pants_Zone.mp3]
Most people that bought a 3DS seem to be waiting for software, what better way to wait than to play some of the best SEGA published software on the Game Boy Advance? Today I’m going to give you my top 5 favorite SEGA GBA games. Ready?
From vg247.com comes information from SEGA CEO Mike Hayes concerning Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Remember that game? Regarding information on Episode 2:
Information on Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 will arrive “very soon,” Sega West CEO Mike Hayes has told VG247. Hayes couldn’t comment further when asked how far out “soon” was, adding that we should “look out for that one.”
My guess is once Sonic Generations arrives, after November 1st, or perhaps on September 9th? Remember, that was when the first Sonic 4 episode was announced as “Project Needlemouse”. Speaking of the first episode, Hayes shares a great bit of news for SEGA fans who like it when the company makes big money:
“It did very well and it continues to do well,” Hayes told us in a phone interview this afternoon.
“Particularly when it gets a little shot in the arm with some promotion or some price activity, sales are quite phenomenal. Its downloaded clearly over a million units, so its sold particularly well and continues to sell.”
Over a million is pretty impressive, though I have to wonder how many “copies” the game sold when it initially launched before the first sales began. Regardless, Sonic 4 Episode 1 looks like quite a financial success. Here’s hoping Episode 2 fixes the problems found in the first episode and sells another million and more!
[Source: vg247]
If only my granny was… No actually I’d hate that.
Well Sega certainly is pushing this game an interesting way.They seem to be taking the anti-casual route, which is a similar strategy to the one they used to push games like MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii. I know that this is just a marketing strategy but I can’t help giving a little smile of agreement; I’m generally not a fan of motion controls at all, but they are made far worse by the over saturation of dancing and mini games aimed at the casual crowd.
As for Rise of Nightmares, it looks like a fun little game. I see it as a bit of a tongue in cheek distraction more than something compelling but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I do hope the humour from the trailers carries across to the game itself.
Rise of Nightmares is exclusive to Kinect and will release on the 6th of September in North America (the 9th in Europe).
Sega and Platinum Games are having another burst of character reveals lately. Today’s character is Oinkie, a morbidly obese bloke with a stumpy little snout of a nose and of course belly physics, like a pig… Geddit? His special move seems to involve him turning into a green scaly thing. Totally in keeping with the pig theme right? (Not sure what kind of pigs they have over there in Japan.)
Personally I’m still holding out hope for a Bayonetta and Sam Giddion reveal! That would be pretty sweet!
Anarchy Reigns will release on Xbox360 and PS3 in January 2012.
Sega have released another gameplay clip of 7th Dragon 2020 on the 7th Dragon youtube channel. This clip shows off another random battle segment. I quite liked that one move with the demonic eyeballs! I’m a sucker for old-school style JRPGs so I’ll be keeping my giant demonic eye on this one.
The latest in the J-League Pro Soccer Club! series comes at a rather quiet time for the Japanese market with sluggish sales all round. However, the series that has declined since its heydays, still continues to be big seller for SEGA, so how has the latest edition been doing and what other SEGA title continues to chart? Continue to see if J-League Pro Soccer Club! 7: Euro + managed to make it to the number one spot.
[Above is the game themed soft case and headphones]
SEGA’s next entry in their 7th Dragon series is called 7th Dragon 2020, and will be on the PSP instead of the DS this time around. If you are one who knows how to read Japanese, you might want to consider importing this game, looks pretty fun.
But what does the limited edition come with?
How much will this pretty package set you back? 8,820 yen ($115). Pretty penny indeed. Game is released in Japan on October 27th. No plans to bring it over to America.
[Source: Siliconera]
THQ today announced that they will be closing two of its Australian studios, resulting in close to 200 people losing their jobs.
SEGA, who has been hiring recently for their Australian studios, have two positions open. Art Director and a Senior Engine Programmer are what they are looking for, but the studio has confirmed that they are talking to SEGA Executives about getting more positions filled.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of yet another great Australian developer, and are sorry to see THQ’s studios close their doors after so many years of game development. We will be speaking to the SEGA executives to explore our short term hiring strategy to reflect the sudden influx of talent in Australia. We hope to be able to announce the potential for taking on more staff soon.” – Marcus Fielding, Studio Director at SEGA Studios Australia
SEGA now owns the largest studio in Brisbane, SEGA Studios Australia. Now lets see if all the new talent will mean an amazing title!
[Source: MCV]
Check it out, two brand new characters have been revealed for Platinum Games’ and Segas’ next new IP, Anarchy Reigns, an online beat’em’up reminiscent of Spike out or even Powerstone.
One of the most interesting things about this game is by far the character designs; usually in games where there are many characters, like fighters and brawlers, you see a lot of less-than-impressive character designs but in Anarchy Reigns there are some really awesome designs which could easily pass for protagonists for their own games.
Above is ‘Durga’ who seems to fall somewhere between comic relief and crazed bad guy. He also has guns on his knees! Hit the jump to check out ‘Garuda’, another great character, a cross between a ‘SHMUP’ ship and a transformer.
Last Friday was a sad day for Japanese role-playing game fans. G-mode CEO Takeshi Miyaji, who was also well known for starting up game development company Game Arts, passed away on the July 29. Miyaji was 45 years old.
You may be wondering why this was posted on a SEGA website, but if you go through the developer’s Gameography, you’d find that a majority of their games have found homes on SEGA consoles. Grandia 2 is still one of the best reasons for owning a Dreamcast (it was ported to the PS2, post-Dreamcast days but was inferior to the DC version).
The loss of Miyagi San is a loss for the game industry and fans like us who grew up on true Blue games. Miyaji San started Game Arts back in 1985 alongside his brother Yoichi Miyaji, who is the current CEO of the company. Game Arts is well known in the gaming community for creating games like Silpheed (Sega CD), and Gun Griffon (Sega Saturn), as well as the Lunar and Grandia series. A few staff members of Game Arts also helped develop Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii.
Rest in Peace Takeshi Miyaji, our hearts go out to his family and friends.
SEGA has released just under 6 minutes worth of footage for their Playstation Vita version of Virtua Tennis 4, and the title still looks as good as its console version. The trailer only showcases some match footage and tries to show how the touchscreen function will work in the newest Virtua Tennis title.
[Source: TheSixthAxis]
Rise of Nightmare’s achievements hit the web, some of the achievements being creeper “Watcher” and others being typically what you expected “Iron Fist.”
There is one issue though, most of the big achievements are locked, so we won’t be able to see them till the game releases. Hit the jump to see the achievements.
Sony just announced a new ‘annual’ program they will be launching called “PSN Play”. Basically if you pre-order a ‘PSN Play’ title, you will receive a free PSN theme. If you purchase the title before a date (this time around it’s September 19th) you will get a free piece of DLC for that game.
But, if you get all of the ‘PSN Play’ titles, you will get a free unreleased game. This time around if you buy all four titles above by September 19th, you will get Payday: The Heist for free. If you have Playstation Plus, you get 20% off on top of that. Do want. Renegade Ops is out September 13th on PSN.
[Source: Playstation.Blog]
SEGA Australia has a new junior product manager. Khiet Chu, who has 3 years of experience. He’s previously worked with Corporate Express Ltd as product coordinator.
“We are pleased to have Khiet on board and his passion for gaming and previous work experience will make him a strong addition to our team.” – Neroli Baird, marketing manager at SEGA Australia
It is good to see SEGA expand, especially in countries like Australia. Let’s hope they get more studios.
[Source: MCV]
