New Shenmue 3 teaser trailer finally released

With Gamescom going full swing tomorrow, PlayStation youtube channel has released a teaser trailer (And the first trailer since the project was announced way back!) for Shenmue 3. Featuring predominantly Ryo and Shenhua, we get to see the trailer kick off from where Shenmue 2 finishes and some delightful enviroments are showcased. I must admit for the budget of over $6 million, that is some fine looking areas the team have come and I can’t wait to get the chance to explore them. Let’s hope we get to see more of the game with Gamescom opening to the public tomorrow!

What did you think of the trailer? Comment below with your thoughts!

Sonic Forces joins the list of games to be Xbox One X Enhanced

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If you guys missed the news, Xbox One was getting another, more supped up console version mean’t to run games at 4k. Pretty close to what Sony did last year with the PlayStation 4 Pro, only that the Xbox One X seems to have better specs (and a hundred dollar more price tag). Microsoft is now preparing their marketing teams to hype up fans into upgrading to Xbox One X, one of the ways is to play enhanced versions of your favorite past and future titles. Looking through the list, the only SEGA title listed as a Xbox One X Enhanced is the upcoming Sonic Forces. No surprise as Sonic Forces will also take advantage of the extra power on the PlayStation 4 Pro.

So what will Sonic Forces do with the extra power of the Xbox One X? No idea, since there isn’t specifics on Major Nelson’s announcement post. Though he does say he will be updating the list and details as time goes on. You can check out the full list of Xbox One X Enhanced games here. As a Sonic fan, are you interested in the Xbox One X if its the best way to play Sonic Forces (outside of a PC)?

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 6 Launch Day & Premium Editions Revealed

SEGA has recently revealed the Yakuza 6 Launch Day and Premium Edition versions, with a release date of March 20, 2018! On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss the two editions, what you get and our thoughts on SEGA doing more of these big physical releases. Its no surprise that we are big SEGA fans and love these sort of premium edition releases, so you can hear us gush over the news for about 6 minutes. Are you getting Yakuza 6? Which version?

Yakuza 6 Launch Day Pre-OrderYakuza 6 Premium Edition Pre-Order

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life Gameplay Trailer released, pre-orders now open

SEGA has released a new trailer showing off various aspects of Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life gameplay. Take a look at how cutscenes will play out, epic in-game brawls, menu systems and mini games.

In Yakuza 6, Kazuma Kiryu will find out exactly how much people are willing to sacrifice for family – be those ties through blood or bond – when he investigates a series of shadowy events that involve the ones he holds closest to his heart. Fresh out of a three-year prison sentence, an older and weathered Kiryu comes to find out that his surrogate daughter, Haruka, has gone missing from the orphanage he looks after. The trail leads him to his old stomping grounds in Kamurocho, where he discovers that she has been struck by a car and now lies in a coma. To make matters worse, Kiryu learns that Haruka now has a son that he must look after. With baby in hand, Kiryu journeys to the seaside town of Onomichi, Hiroshima to unravel the truth about Haruka, her son, and a sinister secret that the Hiroshima yakuza are harboring.

Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life is now available to pre-order in two impressive launch editions. The Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life After hours Premium Edition comes with an art book, two drinking glasses, whiskey cubes, coasters and a collector’s box for $89.99. The Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Standard Edition, meanwhile, comes with an abridged art book which doubles as the game case and sells for $59.99. Both are available to pre-order now and release March 20, 2018.

SEGA announces Yakuza 6 release date and premium edition

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SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza 6: The Song of Life will launch both digitally and physically in the Americas and Europe on March 20, 2018. SEGA has also priced the game at $59.99. Nothing surprising there. But SEGA did confirm that people that pre-order get a launch copy that includes a hardcover art book that doubles as a disc holder. Pretty neat.

Giveaway: Sonic Mania Introduction Manual

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We’re giving away twenty Sonic Mania Introduction Manuals, courtesy of SEGA. One of the ways to win a Sonic the Hedgehog manual is to comment on this post letting us know your favorite piece of fan service added to Sonic Mania. Five comments will be chosen as winners, make sure your comment has a valid email address (the email field is private). The contest starts from the day this post is live and ends on August 19, 2017 at 6:00PM PST.

To increase your chances of winning we will also be giving away five Sonic Mania Introduction Manuals on the following social media sites:

Due to the high amount of manuals that I will have to ship out, this contest is only open to people in the United States.

Rez Infinite Review – Techno Enlightenment (PC)

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Rez is a one in a million game. A vision so confident, so bold, and so focused only comes around every decade or so. Released on the Dreamcast in late 2001 in Japan, ported for all regions on the PlayStation 2 in 2002, rereleased in HD for the Xbox 360 in 2008, remastered for VR on the PlayStation 4 in 2016, it’s now fully featured, fully formed on Steam and Windows in 2017. Rez Infinite may not technically be in the SEGA family on account of series rights apparently now owned by Enhance Games, but the legacy started with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s concepts makes it only fitting to honor it here.

It’s a modern marvel, at once distinct, yet familiar; unique, yet clear in its inspirations; as awe-inspiring as it is clearly dated. Standing head and shoulders above its contemporaries in concept, presentation, and vision, no game comes close to it; before or since.

For the record before you hit the jump, there are certain features of Rez Infinite for the PC that I will not, and cannot review. Trance vibration is functional but I do not have the controllers for it, nor will I talk about the VR features of the game. The screenshots are also a lower res 720p than 1080p, apologies. Now, let us dive into synesthesia, and experience Mizuguchi’s masterpiece.

Shenmue III to be published by Deep Silver

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It’s a bit late here on the east coast at time of writing, but it’s never too late to report on new goings-on with Shenmue III. The latest development is that publisher Deep Silver has partnered with the YS NET team to publish the game worldwide. Deep Silver has published several renowned titles, including Saints Row, Metro, as well as assisting with SEGA-related titles like Persona 5 in Europe, and Yakuza Kiwami later this year in the same region. At time of writing, a press release regarding this development has not been released, but once it has, we’ll work to update this article with updated information.

Other news includes definitive schedules for Gamescom-related events. If you’re heading there this year, then August 23rd and 24th will be the dates to mark for a Yu Suzuki meet & greet.

Japan Racing Association x Puyo Puyo collaboration “UmaPuyo” announced

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SEGA and Japan Racing Association have teamed up for a new collaboration called UmaPuyo (literally “Horse Puyo”). The Japan Racing Association being Japan’s horse racing division since 1954, hence the association with horses. While the collaboration may seem random, SEGA has had a history with horse racing games, notably the Starhorse series of arcade game, so there’s some logic to something like UmaPuyo.

There are two minigames for UmaPuyo. First is a racing game called UmaPuyo Race where you can select your character and horse and race off. The objective is to get first place by clearing out Puyo consecutively, the more Puyo cleared the faster your horse will run.  UmaPuyo Jump is a jump platforming game where you guide a Puyo using your mouse cursor and collect horses. There are a total of 20 horses, each one based on a real-world horse that appears in the Japan Racing Association horse races. You can play both on the official Umabi website.

While on the surface there’s nothing special about this collaboration, the former game UmaPuyo Race has a contest associated with it. Every time the player wins a race, the player will get a raffle. To enter, the player needs to follow @Umabi_Official and share their victory on Twitter. Once entered, they will have an opportunity to win a cash prize of  ¥50,000 ($455.00). 5 winners will be chosen at an unspecified later date.

Special thanks for @AFKei with help translating this information.

[Source: 4gamer and Umabi.jp]

AtGames SEGA Genesis Sound Issues Fixed via Fan Hack

If you guys have heard us discuss the AtGames SEGA Genesis plug-in-play boxes that they reship to stores every year, you probably noticed that we are harsh on them for having bad emulation. One of the worse offenders from the company is the in-game sound from their unit. You can even check out a full review from My Life With SEGA where he demonstrates how bad the sound really is.

It seems that this fix will work with both AtGames Genesis machines with a SD slot and the newly released Brazilian TecToy Mega Drive since both of these machines share the same processor. It seems TecToy will apply this as an update on their devices while AtGames hasn’t said anything. Maybe they don’t care?

How to:

  • Download latest version of MDI Hack
  • Put both files from the rar inside the games folder
  • Go to main menu and choose Neto_Boot_Loader.BIN, play it as you would any game.
  • Done: No more bad sound

You can check out the differences in sound from the video above. Thanks for Usagijojo on our Discord for bringing this up. Give it a try, its not perfect but its a lot better than what you had.

SEGA Confirms No DLC Planned for Sonic Mania

SonicManiaDLCNoThe Sonic Mania fever is spreading online and now that fans have finished the game they want more. I would assume that this is a good sign, you always want gamers that complete your game to want more. Its the sign of a fun, well put together package. While some Sonic Mania fans have been asking for DLC, Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka finally came out and confirmed that there isn’t any plans for it. That’s right, Sonic Mania is leaving the potential of DLC cash on the table to deliver a complete package for only $19.99. While some might say, if they really want to be like the olden days, why not a physical release? I’m there with you. I hope Sonic Mania is successful enough digitally (which it looks like it might be) to get a physical release. I mean if Shovel Knight, Rocket League and other smaller published games can do it, so can SEGA.

As for as Sonic Mania DLC, if it where to happen, what would you want the developers to add? Personally sold on the idea of having a playable Metal Sonic, what about you guys? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via: GoNintendo]

Night Trap 25th Anniversary Edition Review – The Definitive Package (PS4)

Night Trap is an odd little gem that has a cemented history in gaming. While the game has garnered mix reactions over the years, those that have played it will all tell you that its the leader of FMV games from the 90s, being one of the most popular games in the genre. 25 years after the initial release, Night Trap is finally getting a remastered port for modern platforms including PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One. Today we give you our review of Digital Picture’s Night Trap, brought back to life 25 years later.

Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special gets English fan translation and in-game improvements

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Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special is a strange little title, since the game was actually developed by SEGA for the SEGA Game Gear. That’s right, this was a joint effort by Atlus and SEGA, way back in 1994! 

Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special story according to this Hardcore Gaming 101 article:

“… Last Bible Special was only released for the Game Gear, and is much closer to the Megami Tensei series in terms of gameplay. The dungeons are now first person again, removing it heavily from the other Last Bible games. Instead of the usual historical theme, the setting seems to be in biblical times, with a heavy Christian slant – you’re given orders by someone who looks much like a Catholic bishop, and the backgrounds are adorned with ornate stained glass windows. And good lord, do they look good. While the static screenshots may look boring, the scrolling is much smoother than even the Super Famicom games…” 

The team not only translated the game, it also added in-game improvements:

“Here is the complete English translation patch for the Game Gear title, Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special. Not only has everything been translated, but some improvements to the game have been made as well, such as making the enemy encounter rates more reasonable and incorporating faster turning in the dungeons (as it was very slow by default). We hope you enjoy this release! Consult the read-me included with the patch for more information about this project.”

You can download Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special over at romhacking.net, if you enjoy it make sure you share the release with other SEGA Game Gear fans. I mean, the fans behind the project did put a lot of effort and its nice to see them getting attention they deserve.

Sonic Mania Review – Classic Sonic Returns! (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

I have no doubt that many reviews released today for Sonic Mania, releasing August 15 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and releasing August 29 to PC, will chart the ups and downs of the Sonic franchise, make mention of the recent Sonic Boom games, and make the assertion that Sonic has not been good for a long time. I also have no doubt that reviews like my own will smugly mention such reviews in an attempt to show how I’m coming at Sonic Mania from a more educated and informed place. Really, I just wanted an intro paragraph and now that that’s done we can get to what we’re all here for: my review of Sonic Mania!