Persona 4 Golden out now to buy and play on Steam


As you know, we posted before that Persona 4 Golden was suppose to be coming out on Steam and announced as part of the PC Gamer Show. Well, the PC Gamer Show just started, as I’m typing this and it seem Atlus got trigger happy because the store listing for Persona 4 Golden is already up to purchase! The game will cost you only $19.99, with a extra $5 dollars getting you the ‘Digital Deluxe’ Edition that comes with a digital art book and soundtrack.

Persona 4 Golden coming out to anything outside of the PlayStation Vita is a huge deal, since it was exclusive for so many years. Not only that, this port is on a platform not owned by Sony, which might come to a shock to long time Persona gamers.

Rumor: Nick Robinson says SEGA is working on Super Monkey Ball 3 via voice actor interview

YouTuber Nick Robinson went out of his way to interview Brian Matt, the voice actor for Super Monkey Ball games (announcer) back in the old days and sorta, maybe hinted at SEGA working on Super Monkey Ball 3? We actually discussed Brian Matt in the past hinting at a future Super Monkey Ball announcement. According to Nick Robinson, the voice actor is under an NDA, so you can view the interview at the top where he tries to dance around questions during the interview (Starts at 7:14) with Nick trying to fill in the blanks with his thoughts.

So this confirms that the original Super Monkey Ball announcer is working with SEGA, where he has recorded one session. According to the voice actor one of the lines he remembers doing was ‘Sad Emoji’ and ‘Happy Emoji’, which makes you wonder if this is joke lines to record or will be used in the next game. A lot of the interview is speculation since the voice actor isn’t allowed to confirm what the actual game is. I will let you watch the video and make your own opinion for yourself.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Announced, Coming Q1 2021 To PS4, Xbox One, Switch & PC

It looks like Alex Kidd isn’t dead after all, we got a Steam Page for Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, which is set to be a remake of ‘Alex Kidd in Miracle World’ for the SEGA Master System. The game is set to release to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. The game has redone graphics with some ‘dream like’ bloom effects added in. The game is being developed by Merge Games and Jankenteam and being published by Merge Games. So far no console releases have been talked about. It also looks like the retro graphics will be there too, much like the remake of Wonderboy: The Dragon’s Trap.

“A legend returns in stunning new detail with Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX! Fire up your power bracelet and relive a platforming classic alongside new modes, levels and features! “

Merge Games is a independent company founded in 2010 who have also done a physical copy for Streets of Rage 4 recently. Looks like they learned from DotEmu and want to jump in the ‘revive SEGA brands’ idea. What do you guys think of this? Good? Bad?

Persona 4 Golden shows up on SteamDB listing, could be announced at the PC Game Show (UPDATE!)


Pixelbuster on Twitter has found the following SteamDB listing for Atlus’ acclaimed PlayStation Vita exclusive Persona 4 Golden. We first got the news that Atlus opened up a Steam page and confirmed that they will be showing off new products at PC Gaming Show 2020. We do know that Atlus used to have a rule that if they ported a game to another console, that they would have to add new features. Seems that this has been dropped with the release of Catherine Classic on PC. It seems we might be getting even more ports of older Atlus classics if Persona 4 Golden gets announced soon.

At this point it would be a huge missed opportunity not to just release Persona 4 Golden on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch as well. Why not? The PC Game Show 2020 will air on June 13th, so we will probably get this confirmed really soon.

UPDATE: So what we know for sure is that its a game by Atlus, oddly enough SteamDB people have come out and said the following “This is not confirmed to be Persona, it did not leak on SteamDB. Take these rumors with a grain of salt.” It seems that ‘Code Fusion’ has a support page for this game, on half of SEGA, so there is also that.

SEGA News Bits: SEGA Game Gear Micro Announced Reaction

SEGA has announced that their big revolutionary news in this week’s Famitsu issue is going to be the Game Gear Micro. While it was as huge as a lot of people where speculating online, its still technically new SEGA hardware and its a type of device that no other company h as tried before. This new Game Gear Micro also really lives up to its name. Check out our video for all the latest information we know and come back later for more information as it releases.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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

SEGA files patent for touch screen technology that learns from the player

It seems that people have been digging deeper into what SEGA’s big revolutionary tech news that is suppose to be announced during Famitsu’s June 4th issue. It seems a lot of people have been spreading rumors, one that gained traction was that SEGA would rebrand and release the ‘SEGA Series X’ (Xbox Series X) in Japan. Of course we got a confirmation that it isn’t true. There have also been rumors about SEGA finally bringing they’re full back catalogue in a ‘Microsoft Game Pass’ type service and even rumors of SEGA releasing a new console.

It looks like another thing it might be is a fully programmable touch screen controller if this patent is true. According to the abstract information:

An information processing device includes: a controller that generates a game image of an object disposed in a virtual game space; and a touch panel that displays the game image. The touch panel detects an input of a user’s touch operation on the game image and outputs, to the controller, a detection signal indicating the detection of the input. The controller determines a contact surface area at an indicated position on the touch panel indicated by the user’s touch operation based on the detection signal. The controller determines, based on a size of the contact surface area, whether are first operation or a second operation has been inputted. The controller performs a first control related to the object in response to the first operation, and a second control related to the object when the second operation has been inputted.

From what this looks like, it will be a sort of control scheme that can be updated and learn from the player. The idea would be that the ‘SEGA touch screen controller’ will pick up how far your hands can reach, where you like items to be clicked and sort of make it a universal thing making users jumping from game to game a lot easier? A few things to note, this filing isn’t that “new new” as it was filed in January 2020. Of course its still recent.  Could this be SEGA’s huge revolutionary tech? We will be finding out in less than 48 hours. What do you think?

[Via: MyNintendoNews]

Sega Shiro battles and reveals Sega Hatan’s true identity in latest commercial

SEGA’s 60th Anniversary advertising campaign has been one of my favorites in recent memory with the SEGA Shiro adverts. The first one was alright, but the second add really added a lot of backstory by tying the new character nicely to the original Segata Sanshiro ads. Now above we have the third ad, this time having Sega Shiro facing off Sega Hatan (a play on words for SEGA Bankrupt) and reveals the true identity…

No plot spoiler but really liking the Star Wars lore vibes with this new series and loving every ad they have been releasing. Its cheesy, fun and full of little throwbacks to the old Segata Sanshiro ads. Here is a good quote from the ad:

“And forget about me already. I am the symbol of the old Sega… From now on, you must protect the new Sega.”

SEGA’s 60th Anniversary might really cement the idea of SEGA moving ‘forward’ especially if these ‘new revolutionary tech’ announcement is true.

SEGA ‘Revolutionary’ tech news won’t be them releasing & rebranding Xbox Series X console in Japan says ‘key opinion leader in China’


Famitsu has been teasing ‘Revolutionary’ SEGA news that should be coming out in a few days, we posted an article and video about the news with some speculation. One of the speculations we had in our video was that SEGA could be rebranding the Xbox Series X in Japan as a SEGA console and promote it themselves considering how bad Microsoft’s branding has been in the nation. It seems we weren’t the only people to bring it up that we got subtweet by @ZhugeEX on Twitter. We have at least confirmed that it would be this outlandish speculation, but don’t worry we have other outrages speculations in our full video.

A key opinion leader in China says they have seen the latest Famitsu issue and that they can confidently say that the news is not what has been rumored. (The rumor being that Microsoft would work with Sega to rebrand and launch Series X in Japan). Is something else.”

What could the news be? We will find out in a few days but it does seem some SEGAbits Discord users have brought up a good point about SEGA rebranding their logo with the ‘eye’ back in 2017, which teased ‘eye tracking technology’ that we never saw as a commercial product. People predicting this is what SEGA will show off, makes sense. But what do you think the big announcement will be? Let us know in the comments.

‘TMNT of Rage – The Final Shell Shock’ the ultimate Streets of Rage TMNT rom hack arrives


The modding community for retro games is great and now we have a new project released by eskayelle which includes a final set of modes for the long modded ‘TMNT of Rage’ series. The game’s story has you playing an alternative universe where you have to take down Mr. X and the Syndicate as everyone’s favorite turtle brothers.

According to Romhacking.net the game features:

  • A throwback to the old 90’s arcade splash screens starts off your gaming experience.
  • A six sequence ending specific to this game, the first for any SoR2 hack out there, incorporates redesigned images from the classic TMNT II and III NES games. These images also put some artistic spins on the palettes / color schemes for a bit of extra fun.
  • Those bumbling buffoons, those moronic mutants, Rocksteady and Bebop, have now joined the Syndicate! Dumber than advertised, but stronger than ever, get ready to go toe to toe with them, Bebop making his first appearance in a Genesis / Mega Drive game.
  • An updated story in attract mode complements the new ending sequence.
  • A new title screen takes greater advantage of the Genesis / Mega Drive’s palette options.
  • Thanks to Yoni, gone are road apples in favor of a nice slice! Try not to smile the first time you hear Mikey calling out “Pizza Time!” as he grabs some grub.
  • With the additional Re-Shelled patch, play the game on a Terraonion MegaSD (or with any emulator that supports MD+ functionality) to enjoy that sweet soundtrack from eskayelle’s TMNT MD+ Remix. Grab that soundtrack here!

You can also check out the post by eskayelle here talking about what he changed and added.

Wayô Records releasing Grandia Memorial soundtrack on CD, Vinyl and Music Box; including ‘Saturn Marble Green’ Edition


It looks like Wayô Records has added another fan favorite JRPG soundtrack to their arsenal, Grandia. Last time we covered their limited release of the Skies of Arcadia soundtrack. Just like their pervious release, there will be a few limited edition versions including the really cool ‘Saturn Marble Green’ Edition which has the green marble look of the ‘SEGA Saturn’ release of Grandia. Problem? Its only limited to 500 units!

Here are the versions you can buy:

But if you are a big spender and all these versions are too cheap, you can get the ultimate ‘Grandia Music Box’:

“This collectible Grandia Music Box, arranged by Noriyuki Iwadare himself is an unique artifact of pure nostalgia that will revive your adventurer memories from the Edge of the World!”

This Grandia Music Box will put you back 252,00 € tax incl.(USD: 274.60). Of course Wayô Records has world wide shipping.

Unreleased ‘Breach’ port for SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive has been unearthed

The site GamingAlexandria has posted some assets from the unreleased SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive port of Breach. This whole project was compiled and preserved by David Ashley.

Thankfully if you wanted to try out the beta port of ‘Breach’ on your original hardware, you can download the rom and assets here. If you didn’t know Breach was the first installment of a trilogy of sci-fi strategy games developed by Omnitrend Software who are mainly known for their 1983 text adventure game ‘Universe’. Lots of people would describe Breach as a early version of X-Com. You can read more about this ports development via GamingAlexandria’s in-depth post. According to our sister site, SEGA Retro, the game was last seen again at Winter CES 1993.

 

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim physical & digital sales reaches 130,000 units in Japan

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is one of the games that I have been looking forward to since it was announced way back in TGS 2015, since it was being developed by Vanillaware ( Odin Sphere, Dragon’s Crown and Muramasa: The Demon Blade). The game has been postponed and delayed. When it was first announced there was two versions: PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita; since then the Vita version has been cancelled. The game came out (with whispers considering how acclaimed the studio is) in Japan November 28, 2019 and since then Atlus Japan has confirmed the game has sold 130,000 units.

That means that it sold only 30,000 units in the last four months considering that Vanillaware confirmed in January that the game had sold 100,000 units. Is this good for the game that has been in the works for such a long time? I couldn’t tell you. As far as a western release, Atlus hasn’t announced a release date yet.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix will launch west on May 15 for Nintendo Switch, demo out now

SEGA has confirmed that the Nintendo Switch game Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix will launch May 15th in the west. The company has also confirmed that this title will launch as digital only, at least for now.

SEGA has already opened digital pre-orders for the game which includes two versions: The base game for $39.99 (101 Songs) and a Mega Pack for $59.99 which includes six downloadable content packs. Five of the six downloadable packs have already been released in Japan. But that isn’t all, SEGA has confirmed that if you pre-order the game you will also get early access to the “Theme Song DLC Pack” which includes playable versions of previous Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA theme songs like (will be free to all users after June 12th):

M2’s Shoot ‘Em Up Game Ikusaba is launching this fall in Japanese arcades

During the live stream of the Famitsu Dengeki Awards in Japan, developer M2 (SEGA Ages, 3D Classics Collection) announced that their previously announced shoot ’em up game ‘Ikusaba’ will be heading to arcades this fall. During the event M2 director Naoki Horii showed off the game’s first two stages, suggesting those stages are nearly done.

M2 also discussed some of the system, including that the game will have four different ships, with different pilots. Instead of dying and losing a life, in this game you will die and move on to the next character until you run out. As we covered this game last time, Ikusaba is a temporary title. The game was also set to get a demo at a Japanese event this month but due to the virus pandemic all events have been withheld but the game is still set for release this fall. This game is suppose to be added via SEGA’s ALL.Net P-ras MULTI Version 3 (APM3) arcades.

SEGA to shut down SEGA Heroes servers on May 21st

SEGA and Demiurge’s SEGA Heroes mobile game is one of the few titles I pop in everyday to collect all my rewards so I could fill out my SEGA roster. Its not ground breaking but the diversity of SEGA IPs really got me into it. Sadly, I will have to say goodbye to this mobile title as Demiurge studio has now become independent from SEGA. SEGA had previously worked with Demiurge on the Aliens: Colonial Marines DLC Bughunt, the same year they made their smash mobile title ‘Marvel Puzzle Quest‘ in 2013. After that, SEGA stepped in to purchase the studio.

Demiurge and SEGA’s games weren’t all hits either, the first title that the studio brought out to mobile was Puzzle & Glory in 2015, which got a soft launch in Canada and then a year later they closed the game down. Then in 2017 came the mobile title known as Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire that was then changed into Crazy Taxi Tycoon which was a top-down endless business management simulator and idle clicker game.

Now the last game they did was SEGA Heroes. But why has Demiurge studios bought the studio back from SEGA and want to go independent? According to this interview with the studios co-founder, they want to get out of the mobile market and work on supporting AAA studios like they did before they made Marvel Puzzle Quest. If you look at their history of games they worked on (which dates back to 2004), they worked on console games.

SEGA has also made a notice about the game closing, you can read that here.