Author Archives: George

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie To Release In 2018

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real_life_eggman_by_sonicblaster59.jpg[Photo by: sonicblaster59]

SEGA-Sammy Holdings’ CEO Hajime Satomi sat down with The Wordlfolio for a interview discussing many things including the latest restructures and entertainment resorts. But he did let slip that Sony Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog movie would be coming in 2018. Could he be mistaken? Doesn’t sound like it, this is what he said about the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog film:

“Sega Sammy Group is currently planning with Sony Pictures to create a live-action and animation hybrid “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie scheduled for release in 2018. Like with this CG animation production, we would like to expand our business into other entertainment areas beyond what we are currently involved.” – Hajime Satomi, CEO of SEGA-Sammy Holdings

They did ask about rebuilding SEGA’s brand image and he slightly touched on it but basically didn’t give any new information . Why? It’s his son, Haruki Satomi, that is the CEO of SEGA Games which is trying to repair SEGA’s brand image. One of the ways is obviously reaching a new audience through new mediums, hint why Sony Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog movie is important aspect to the future of SEGA’s brand.

As for Sony’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie, is 2018 too long of a wait?

[Via: Sonic Stadium]

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Valkyria: Azure Revolution Battle Demo Gameplay

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Valkyria Chronicles Remaster in Japan came with a Valkyria: Azure Revolution battle demo (first print copies), now that some people have gotten their hands on it we can finally see some gameplay. Valkyria: Azure Revolution will drop the turn based strategy formula in hopes of a more real time, action based approach.

Valkyria: Azure Revolution looks really nice though, still using that canvas engine look but I do think some of the characters movements look a bit stiff. Tell us what you think of SEGA’s new approach with this title. Valkyria: Azure Revolution comes out in Japan on this Winter, only on PlayStation 4. No Western localization has been announced (yet).

[Via Gematsu]

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Yakuza: Kiwami has sold over 200k units in two weeks

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YakuzaKiwami-2.jpgNew Media Create sales show that Yakuza: Kiwami has sold over 200,000 units, in (less) than two weeks. The newest chart shows sales ending in January 31st, placing the game at number six (PS4) and eight (PS3) place. Its a slight drop off from number one and two spots it took on its debut week. Sure the game didn’t move as many copies as a brand new Yakuza entry, but Yakuza: Kiwami is a remake of Yakuza 1 and 200,000 units at full price is pretty good for a Japanese title. This is obviously counting both Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 platforms.

This is a big step up from how Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition performed back in 2012, which did under 100,000 units in its first two weeks on both PlayStation 3 and Wii U.  While these sales are only for Japan, we already know that other Asian markets have gotten a shipment of an additional 200,000 copies but don’t know how many where sold to consumers. This is also the first time for the franchise that a PlayStation 4 version sold better than on PlayStation 3.

To check how it ranks up on its debut week with all the other Yakuza games, hit the jump.

[Source: NeoGAF]

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SEGA considers Sonic Runners a failure

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SonicRunnersFailureSEGA Networks has now put up a list on how their mobile games are doing including which ones have became big hits and which games are considered failures. Sonic Runners is down at the bottom, now considered a failure by the publisher.

According to SEGA, the game has been making less than 30 million yen (about $260k USD) per month while brand new IPs like Masayoshi Kikuchi‘s (Jet Set Radio creator) Sen No Kaizoku  (War Pirates: Heroes of the Sea) has become a big hit. All signs point to Sonic Runners being a big flop, and with negative fan feedback it might be too late to get consumers interested again even if SEGA changes the game.

Check out the breakdown on all the games after the break.

[Source: SEGA-Sammy]

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo outsold Mario in North America

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Even though 2015 wasn’t a big year for Sonic the Hedgehog video games, fans still flocked to Sonic the Hedgehog merchandise and according to Nintendo’s Amiibo sales report the Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo was one of the top selling Amiibos in America for 2015. It was so popular that it beat Nintendo’s own Mario and Pikachu Amiibos! Don’t let your friends tell you that Sonic isn’t popular anymore because sale numbers say otherwise. Who would have thought that Sonic could sell on a Nintendo platform, just had to make it a Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo?

So click play and listen to grown men talk about plastic video game toys. If you like what you saw don’t forget to like, share and subscribe. Thanks for the support. Tell us in the comments if you have a Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo!

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SEGAbits Celebrates Six Wonderful Years

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6-pakCartIts crazy to think that we have had this site constantly running for six years now, with a lot of support from not just our staff and web developer but also our readers. I’m glad to say that our past year as a website was great, we saw a surge in traffic and we’ve been seeing a spike in our forum activity (if you haven’t, join!).

So what can you expect from SEGAbits for the rest of 2016? We are working on updating our forums with new software (trust me, they are going to look great), we will be doing original content for upcoming SEGA game anniversaries, we will continue bringing you some of the best SEGA interviews, and of course we will continue to make a ton more SEGA News Bits throughout the year. Did I mention SEGA news? We will definitely be doing that. We are also hoping to get new writers to contribute and hopefully become a influence on the future direction of the website.

But outside of this, what do YOU want us to be doing and focusing on? What features would you like the site to have? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you again and here’s to another great year!

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Metacritic ranks SEGA as their #1 publisher of 2015

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SEGAMetacriticPublisher2015While SEGA didn’t release a lot of games during their 2015 year, the critics seemed to like the games they did release. From their SEGA 3D Classics to niche Japanese titles like Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX.  Metacritic ranks SEGA as their #1 publisher of 2015, beating the likes of companies like Sony Computer Entertainment, TellTale Games and yeah, even Nintendo. It seems that people already are calling this unfair due to most of the titles being re-releases, but their really good and add new content. I suggest people having issues with this to ask Metacritic to change the rules. When was the last time you could say ‘Metacritic ranks SEGA #1’?

Here are the list of publishers and how they ranked:

  1. SEGA – 77.1%
  2. Telltale Games – 74.6%
  3. Sony – 74.4%
  4. Activision Blizzard – 72%
  5. Devolver Digital – 73.5%
  6. Nintendo – 71.7%
  7. EA – 71.9%
  8. Bandai Namco – 69.5%
  9. Ubisoft – 69.9%

Seems that SEGA’s new stradegy of releasing fewer titles but making sure the titles that are released are of ‘good to great’ quality might be the solution to rebuilding their brand. This year we have (in the west) games like Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, Yakuza 0 (maybe), 7th Dragon III: Code VFC, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, Total War: Warhammer, SEGA 3D Classics Collection, and even that rumored Sonic 25th Anniversary game. If all goes as planned, SEGA might top the list again. Metacritic ranks SEGA #1, how do you feel about this?

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Play Fatal Smarties, a new scrolling shooter for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive

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At this year’s Global Game Jam a group of indie developers had a special treat for SEGA retro fans, a new scrolling shooter called ‘Fatal Smarties‘ made its debut for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

The game was developed by four students that represent the University of Southampton. The students tried to think out of the box for this co-op game, having an interesting mechanic where one player shoots and the other navigates the on screen characters.

The game was developed on a deadline during the Global Game Jam and seems very promising. Want to try it out on an emulator or flash cart? Get the rom here.

[Via: RetroCollect]

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Sonic the Hedgehog amiibo outsold Pikachu and Mario in North America

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amiibo-store-shelf.jpgSEGA’s blue blur is very popular not only in North America but also with Nintendo gamers, so much so that he ranked in number five on their amiibo sales chart in North America. Sonic beat the likes of Mario, Pikachu Pac-Man, and Mega Man. The most popular Amiibo in North America? Link. Surprised?

Here is the North American sales of amiibos:

1. Link
2. Bowser
3. Toon Link
4. Mewtwo
5. Sonic
6. Pikachu
7. Classic Mario
8. Pac-Man
9. Mega Man
10. Ganondorf

These charts come from Nintendo themselves . They have announced that they have shipped over 31 million amiibos, including 9.9 million in the third quarter alone. Check the best selling amiibos from Japan Europe after the break.

[Source: NeoGAF]

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SEGA Games That Are Celebrating Big Anniversaries in 2016

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SEGAbitsAnniversary2016

SEGA has created some highly popular and cult classic series of games that have stuck with people over the years. While most of you guys already know that Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his big 25th Anniversary this year, many other games get ignored because they aren’t as relevant as they used to be. Today we will list those mostly ignored video game franchises we all love. Did your favorite game make our list?

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Phantasy Star Online 2 Reborn: Episode 4 Update Goes Live

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Reborn-Episode-4-LogoSEGA hasn’t given up on Phantasy Star Online 2, at least in Japan. The game’s newest update, Reborn: Episode 4, is a big deal for the franchise. The game will launch with the new update on a new platform, the PlayStation 4 and the older versions will also get a reprint on store shelves. Not only that, SEGA also recently launched its anime series based on the franchise.

File Size on the patch:

  • Launcher: Version 04.00.00
  • Client: ver. 4.0001.0
  • Patch Size: 3.7 GB (PC) / 1943 MB (Vita)
  • If Pre-patched: 575 MB

Reborn: Episode 4 will include a new story chapter in the Phantasy Star Online 2 storyline. This time you get to explore earth, Tokyo in the year 2028. Phantasy Star Online 2 hits PlayStation 4 in Japan on April 20th, SEGA still has no plans on releasing this outside of Japan.

[Source: Bumped]

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Classic Virtua Fighter figures now available for pre-order

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FIGURE-016527_08Are you a big fan of the low polygon models used in the original Virtua Fighter? Today is your lucky day because Figma’s classic Akira and Sarah figures are now available to pre-order at AmiAmi. Each figure will cost you 3,560 yen (about $30 usd).

Each figure comes with:

  • Main figure
  • Base
  • Standard expression part
  • Shouting expression part
  • Hand parts

The figures will have a ‘variety of hand parts’ so you can pose them to fit your needs. Not to mention the screaming face. Look at the gallery after the break. According to Figma, they will be making Player 2 variants soon, you can see those figures in the image above. The figures are set to ship this upcoming September, so this is a long pre-order.

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Valkyria: Azure Revolution gets new screenshots in Famitsu Magazine scans

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We posted some of the information on Famitsu Magazine’s Valkyria: Azure Revolution  feature story, which revealed that  legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda joined the team. Now the high quality scans of that Famitsu article have hit the internet, showing off more in-game screenshots.

Part of the article was to show our new enemy, called Maxim, an Imperial officer who used to be experimented on with Ragnite. Maxim now possess the use of magic, which he uses on the battlefield.

Check out the screens below and tell us what you think of the game so far.

[Via: DualShockers]

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Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir tops Japanese sales chart on debut week

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OdinSphereLief
Atlus seems to have made the right choice bringing back Odin Sphere, as Liefthrasir has topped the Japanese sales chart on its debut week. The game took the number one and two spots, with the PlayStation Vita coming in at first with 43,394 sales and a close second on the PlayStation 4 with 42,263 units sold. That’s right, the PlayStation Vita is still big in Japan.

As for the PlayStation 3 version of the game, that came in at tenth place with 9,771 units sold. That means that all together Odin Sphere: Liefthrasir sold over 95,428 units in Japan in the span of three days. Impressive for the region and it being a remake. Odin Sphere: Liefthrasir hits North America on June 7, check out the limited edition release.

Hit the jump to see the full sales chart.

[Via: NeoGAF]

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Valkyria: Azure Revolution’s soundtrack being done by famous JRPG composer Yasunori Mitsuda

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ValkyriaAzureFamitsu2Famitsu’s latest issue has a nice spread with some new details about Valkyria: Azure Revolution. They revealed a new nemesis named Maxim (pictured above) and showed off what is being called “Battle Demo 1.0” which is set to come with first print copies of Valkyria Chronicles Remaster.

Also confirmed is that the game’s music is being done by legendary JRPG composer Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Shadow Hearts). Valkyria: Azure Revolution hits Japan this winter, nothing confirmed for the west.

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