Author Archives: George
A TSA officer told Peter Moore: “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox”
This is a funny post today on ‘Today I learned’ subreddit, the section is for people to post facts that they just learned today. This one being SEGA related, I thought it would be fun to share. The source is this wikipedia entry.
‘Moore disclosed to GamingSteve.com that at a security checkpoint at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, a TSA security agent said “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox.”‘
If there is anything I agree with here is that Shenmue does have one of the most vocal fanbases ever. Do I think it was bad to move Shenmue 2 to Xbox? Not necessarily, I thought it was bad not releasing the Dreamcast version along with the Xbox version.
SEGA Memories: Space Channel 5 premieres in Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza
Back in the Dreamcast era, SEGA would have big promotional events for their titles. Yes, even niche stuff like Space Channel 5, which most publishers wouldn’t spend too much advertising dollars on. SEGA on the other hand had a huge E3 booth for the game, but after when the game was nearing its ‘debut’ they decided to premiere the game to the public, like it was a Hollywood picture. How would they do that? Premiere the game at an event over at Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza!
Atlus games go on sale on PSN and Steam
So you found out about SEGA acquiring Atlus and want to try a few of their games to see what they are all about? Don’t worry, they are having a sale on some of their games over on PSN and Steam.
PSN:
- Demon’s Souls: $14.99
- Game of Thrones: $14.99
- Persona 4 Golden: $19.99
- Rock of Ages: $4.99
- The Testament of Sherlock Holmes: $22.49
Steam:
The sale ends tomorrow on PSN and on the 5th on Steam. So go and get what you want before that. I recommend Persona 4 Golden!
SEGA-Sammy’s Finicial Report: Consumer division beats expectations, generates profit
It seems that SEGA-Sammy is on track. In recent earnings they continued to generate profit as a whole thanks to their amusement and pachinko slot machines, usually their consumer business loses money. Not this time, SEGA’s consumer business reported a income of 1.12 billion yen (about $11.35 million). What lead to SEGA’s sudden turn in profits?
- During the three month period, their biggest title was Total War: Rome II, which moved 800,000 units. Considering the fact that this report ends on September 30th, that would mean the game was on sale for less than a month!
- According to the report their digital titles for Windows PC, mobile phones and smartphones ‘remained favorable’. Phantasy Star Online 2 saw 3 million registered accounts during August and 800,000 people downloaded the mobile game ‘Chain Chronicle‘ .
SEGA-Sammy as a company saw their operating income jump up 57.1 %, ranking in 12.4 billion yen. If you are one of the people that invested in SEGA-Sammy stock, congratulations!
SEGA Cinema: House of the Dead
*Warning movie is rated R: contains gore, terrible acting and nudity*
**Is the YouTube video blocked in your country?**
No worries, download the full episode here.
Welcome to another installment of SEGA Cinema, where you sit back and watch a flick with your buddies here at SEGAbits. This time we are watching Uwe Boll’s classic ‘House of the Dead‘. That’s right, just in time to celebrate your Halloween night.
We suffered through this, now you have to too!
[MP3]
Binary Domain to be free to PSN Plus members in November
Binary Domain will be free to US PSN Plus members in the month of November, hopefully this will allow new users to experience the game that was pretty much ignored by many as another ‘Gears of War‘ rip-off.
If you didn’t already know, we here at SEGAbits are big fans of Binary Domain (and Yakuza everything).
SEGA Memories: A look back at Toys ‘R’ Us’ 1996 holiday video game catalog
Its almost that time of season where most kids are waiting to tell their parents what modern day war shooter they want under their Christmas tree. Its also the time where older folks, like ourselves on the site, think about our previous holidays and how we used to make our parents waste hoards of cash to buy our affection. Wasn’t that great? Well this week on Monday Memories we will look at the 1996 holiday Toy ‘R’ Us video game catalog. I remember these where awesome as a kid, it was like window shopping for games in my underwear.
SEGA’s latest teaser ends up being more Samurai & Dragons
We posted a few days ago that SEGA was teasing something for the Playstation Vita. We didn’t know much outside of the platform (due to HTML code) and the phrase ‘The New Story will Begin‘. Guess what the new game was? It was a teaser for the fifth season of Samurai & Dragons and we have the trailer above.
If you have played Kingdom Conquest, that is pretty much what Samurai & Dragons is for the Playstation Vita. It seems that SEGA is trying to enter this whole free-to-play market. SEGA is set to start the new Samurai & Dragons on November 1st.
Check out the Sonic Lost World US commercial
As a SEGA fan, I love a good SEGA ad. I don’t know why, but they just stick with you. Everyone remembers the catch phrases like ‘Welcome to the Next Level’ and ‘SEGA does what Nintendon’t’.
So here is the new commercial airing in the United States for Sonic Lost World. Like? Dislike? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Mac Senour talks about how SEGA almost passed on Gunstar Heroes
Imagine now if SEGA never published Gunstar Heroes, the first game by then brand new studio Treasure Co? That was almost the case according to a brand new interview with Mac Senour over at SEGA-16.
“12 people looked at it and passed before it got to me. If I didn’t pick it up, he was going to be rejected. I played it for five minutes, maybe less, and threw the controller on the floor and said “this is game of the year.” Every one in earshot laughed.” – Mac Senour
According to Marc, the only thing he asked the developers to change was a boss character that was basically Hitler. Those Japanese people, they love putting Hitler in all their media.
“I was the last guy; if I said no then it would have been canceled. They spoke no English, so I had to go through my contact at SOJ, Henry Geison. Henry and I became friends when I was developer tech support.” – Mac Senour
I know the gaming industry was way different back then, but I seriously don’t know how more than twelve people could pass on a classic like Gunstar Heroes?
Earthworm Jim joins Boogerman in his 20th anniversary kickstarter
Seems that some kickstarters (sometimes) run on pure nostalgia, case in point: Boogerman. Do you remember this 90’s not so classic video game? I mean, I get nostalgic when I see the box but I know the contents inside that box were garbage.
Boogerman wants to celebrate its 20th anniversary in style, so they are featuring a better 90’s hero in the game’s co-op mode: Earthworm Jim. Who doesn’t love the worm?
Boogerman 20th Anniversary kickstarter says that the game is a brand new HD adventure by the original creators. Worth funding? Let us know in the comments.
Bayonetta: Bloody Fate gets a theatrical trailer
SEGA is releasing their animated film, Bayonetta: Bloody Fate in theaters over in Japan by the end of next month. If you where a fan of their 2010 action game Bayonetta, you will want to see this trailer.
The animation studio behind this film is Gonzo who also did Afro Samurai. If that wasn’t enough, the director for Afro Samurai will also be doing this film. Expect it to be over the top. It comes out in Japanese theaters on November 23rd.
Toejam & Earl 3 for Dreamcast unearthed, founder starting fundraiser to release beta to public
We already know that SEGA got ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth out on Xbox, but the game was originally being worked on for Dreamcast. This isn’t the only game, lots of early SEGA 3rd party games where mean’t to be Dreamcast titles, like Shinobi and Gunvalkyrie. Seems like the unfinished Dreamcast versions of these games never see the light of day, thankfully there are people that find them. That is what happen here.
The person that found the rare gem is a forum member from Assemble Games that goes by the handle ZakhooiTM. Mr. ZakhooiTM is starting a fund raiser to get the code online, for all public to freely download and try. You can find more information here. Above is over 30 minutes of gameplay from the beta and after the jump we have 2-player mode footage. Enjoy
Alien: Isolation leaks, Bioshock inspired first person shooter by Creative Assembly
Seems that today is all Alien: Isolation as a source by Kotaku spills the beans on the upcoming Creative Assembly Aliens shooter being called ‘Alien: Isolation‘. According to the source, the game is inspired by Bioshock and Dishonored. Also according to the source, SEGA is taking critical reception of Aliens: Colonial Marines seriously and are doing what they can to make Alien: Isolation a great game. Even though Isolation hasn’t been formally announced, it has already been met with delays. I assume this is why the game didn’t show up at Gamescom or other gaming events this year.
The source says that you play as Amanda Ripley, who is the daughter of Ellen Ripley. Amanda Ripley is mentioned in the Aliens special edition as having died while Ellen was frozen in space, so her character is part of the Alien universe. Besides this mention, she doesn’t appear in the Alien extended universe (yet). Unlike Aliens: Colonial Marines, you won’t be taking down armies of Aliens in endless waves. The source says that you spend most of the time in the station and fight only one alien for “most” of the game.
Doesn’t mean there won’t be clones and other soldiers to shoot at though. Vents, lockers and melee weapons play a big role in Isolation. Keep in mind this information is six months old. Much of the game could have changed. Alien: Isolation is said to debut on both current and next generation consoles.