Years of the Dreamcast Part 3: Shenmue


Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2

After watching the Shenmue trailer on my Dreamcast’s demo disc, and after seeing the outrage that the cancellation of Shenmue 2 received, I decided to pick Suzuki’s epic up. The actual game wouldn’t win me over so easily, though. Shenmue was unlike anything I had ever played. It was slow and rigid. The character couldn’t jump or do anything particularly interesting. What kept me coming back was the world and the story. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The cinematics put Sonic Adventure to shame. The storyline was almost like a movie.

SEGA Steam sale has Alpha Protocol for $2

SEGA is having a massive Steam sale right now, having titles like Alpha Protocol, Total War franchise and Aliens vs Predator.

How much is SEGA charging?

  • Alpha Protocol – 90% off$2.00 (reg. $19.99)
  • Aliens vs. Predator – 75% off$4.99 (reg. $19.99)
  • SEGA Genesis Collection – 75% off$7.45 (reg. $29.96)
  • Dreamcast Collection – 75% off – $7.45 (reg. 29.96)
  • Total War: Shogun 2 – 50% off$24.99 (reg. $49.99)
  • Total War Mega Pack (14 items) – 66% off $17.00 (reg. $49.99)
  • SEGA Collector Pack (All SEGA Steam games) – 86% off$79.99 (reg. $224.64)
Some good deals to be had. If you guys recall my review of Alpha Protocol, I thought the game was alright. It has its moments and those moments are worth experiencing, especially at two bucks. 
[Source: Steam Page]

 

Aliens Infestation Trailer

Those poor aliens. Here they go and make a nice home for themselves and some darn Space Marines have to come in and start shooting them all down. What did they ever do to deserve th- oh yeah. NM then.

Aliens Infestation will be available on October 11.

The Rest of the Dreamcast Collection Finally Announced for PSN and XBLA!

Took them long enough, but SEGA has finally set a release date for the XBLA and PSN versions of Space Channel 5 Part 2 and SEGA Bass Fishing. Via the SEGA Blog, we now know that both titles will be released digitally on October 4th for PSN and October 5th for XBLA. Both titles, as well as Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi, have been available since February via the XBOX 360 disc release of The Dreamcast Collection. I reviewed it way back in March, rating it a B-. SEGA Bass Fishing is a fun and faithful port, but without the fishing controller it isn’t a “must play” game. Space Channel 5 Part 2, however, is an A+ release in my opinion. It’s a perfect port, widescreen support is very well implemented, and the game is a fantastic sequel brimming with catchy tunes and funky dancing. If you pick up one Dreamcast Collection game, make it Space Channel 5 Part 2.

By the way, wouldn’t the week of September 9th have made for a better release date?

[Source: SEGA Blog]

Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary Trailer

Sega’s popular (in Japan) puzzle series Puyo Puyo marks it’s 20th anniversary this year and Sega is putting out a new Puyo Puyo game for PSP, 3DS, DS and Wii this year (again, in Japan). Western Sega fans may know this game more when it was Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Don’t expect to see any of these Puyo Puyo games reach the states as the market for them here doesn’t exist.

[Source: GoNintendo]

Footage of Binary Domain at TGS 2011

SEGA’s up and coming third person shooter has promised to feature large scale boss battles and the above video is a demonstration of one. Showcasing the giant spider mecha that has been seen in previous trailers but never shown in gameplay videos, check out this impressive big boss battle as the player has to take out the machines legs using rocket launches whilst dodging the mecha’s gun turrent and missile attacks. But that’s not all, click after the break to see two more videos showcasing other areas in the game.

[Thanks to Pao for the tip!]

Shining Force Cross Raid trailer for Ver B

Still exclusive to SEGA’s Japanese arcades, this current trailer for Shining Force Cross Raid continues to show the improvements AM2 is hoping to bring in the way of new bosses that range from a giant black dragon to a large clunky robot. They also hint at a new area and costume items the players will be able to collect to further customise their characters. The trailer shows plenty of battling and platforming that the Shining Force Cross titles have come to be known for.

SEGA titles appear in CESA awards for TGS 2011

SEGA managed to help themselves to two awards at the conclusion of the Tokyo Game Show. Both Binary Domain and Phantasy Star Online 2 were 2 of the 11 that picked up Future awards at CESA’s annual awards. The award is handed out based on popularity and is perhaps a good indication for what to expect from sales for both SEGA’s futuristic shooter and large scale online adventure game.

[Thanks Suzuki Yu for the tip!]

The Sega Hype Giveaway!

Shigs here. Wanna win some neat crap I got at the San Diego Comic Con? Then you’d better have some writing skills!

Are you talkin’ about Sonic Generations? Are you bursting to play Aliens? Maybe chomping at the bit for Binary Domain? How about grooving for some Rhythm Thief? Tell us in one Paragraph in the comments section why you’re hyped for a particular 2011/2012 Sega game and you’ll get a chance to win these 3 prizes…

1. A copy of the San Diego Comic-Con Edition of Sonic #226 autographed by Ian Flynn. One of only 1,000 copies made!

2. A pair of Sonic Generations buttons.

3. A full set of the 3 poster prints given out at the Sega Arcade.

Rules:

One winner will be chosen by me based on the quality of the writing.

All comments need to be made by Tues, Sept 27. The winner will be announced on Sept 28.

One paragraph! I have a lot of entries to read, so keep it short but sweet.

Only one comment per entry. One entry per person. That means if you comment more than once, you’re out.

I will ship to any country that allows giveaways. Some countries may be prohibited depending on laws.

Segabits staff members are non-eligible.

The winner will be announced on the front page on Wednesday, Sept 28. The winner will need to PM me on our forums.

Good luck and believe the hype!

By the way, are you a Sonic fan who wants a second shot at 2/3rds of these prizes? Would you rather have an “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” animation cell instead of the Sega posters? Then head to The Sonic Stadium.

Review: Renegade Ops

Gameplay is Renegade Ops‘ strongest point. (Which feels like it should be a given, considering it’s a videogame. In this day I often get the feeling gameplay takes a back seat to plot and graphics, as it attempts to pretend it isn’t a game we’re playing but an interactive movie.) For me, gameplay always comes first, because I like my games fast, fun, action-packed and challenging. I’m happy to report that Renegade Ops has all of these qualities in spades.

The Weekly Five: Rise of Nightmares X The House of the Dead

I’d think any true blue SEGA fan has a special place in their heart for The House of the Dead franchise. Being an arcade lightgun classic, and spanning three console generations, The House of the Dead has produced a number of sequels, spin-offs and even ventured outside of the video game world by way of two horrible films. When Rise of Nightmares, SEGA’s latest Kinect title, was revealed at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, little was known of the game aside from “save your wife from an evil scientist”. Was it internally developed? Was it a House of the Dead title? We just couldn’t tell based on the short and creepy trailer. But now that time has passed, and the game is in stores, we have all the answers. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll take a look at five reasons why I think Rise of Nightmares sits well alongside the beloved House of the Dead series, despite not carrying the series title, and why HotD fans should check the game out!

Project Draco is basically Panzer Dragoon Kinect?


When Project Draco was announced last year at TGS, everyone in the press, including us, thought it was meant to be the spirtual successor to Panzer Dragoon. Not only did the game sound like Panzer Dragoon, a rail shooter with Dragons, but it also had Yukio Futatsugi (known for his work on Panzer Dragoon games) leading the project. It seemed that Microsoft wanted to kill our hopes by saying the game had nothing to do with Panzer Dragoon. But how does it play? We find out this year, since it was shown in playable form for the first time.

“This is totally Panzer Dragoon Kinect. Yukio Futatsugi, who you may remember from Phantom Dust and Panzer Dragoon, is heading up a new team called Grounding Inc., and has brought together various team leads from the former Team Andromeda for this one.” – Says 1up.com

So they already had Yukio Futatsugi, but they are making a team and getting more lead members of Team Andromeda (who did Panzer Dragoon series)? Even though I think the new art style is inferior to the older Panzer Dragoon games.

The game will let players ride up to 5 dragons, have over 150 secondary skills and will have multiplayer (support up to 3 players). Not only that, the game awards the players who get high scores with rare food that you can feed to the dragon to level it up.

Years of the Dreamcast Part 2: Good Things Never Die



To Read Part 1, go here.

In July, reality finally caught up with me. Something had possessed me to join the SEGA forums. Because I hated being told that my name was already taken, and I figured the Knuckles name must already be taken given he’s such an awesome character, I decided to cut to the chase and just leave the K out of my name. Upon joining the forums, I discovered the Dreamcast had been canned and, being a teenager, I immediately latched on to the first online petition I saw. Those were the days. Keeping a thread ever present at the top of the forum whenever I got home from school or my friend’s house. Arguing with older, wiser, more realistic individuals like the naïve teenager I was, a large part of my Dreamcast experience came from defending it from bashers and supporting a petition that SEGA probably never even saw, let alone cared about.