SEGAbits Presents Arcade Adventure: Arcade meetup at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL on 9/9/2023

Start working out those thumbs, because we’re announcing SEGAbits Presents Arcade Adventure! Meet up with fellow SEGA fans at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois on September 9th, 2023 to play hundreds of arcade games in the world’s largest arcade!

Let us know you will be attending by clicking “Yes” on this form
(this is not a ticket or official commitment, it is simply a gauge for us to know how many will be attending)

This event requires no advance ticketing or advance access, simply show up to the arcade and pay them $25 for all day play. The arcade is open from 11am to 2pm the following day, and you are free to come and go as you please – just hang on to that receipt. The meetup will take place between 1pm and 9pm and will feature impromptu tournaments, arcade and world record attempts, the chance to play the ultra rare SEGA R-360 (subject to operating availability) and the chance to meet and hang out with fellow SEGA fans. Oh yeah, and isn’t a certain SEGA console turning 24 years old on that day? Well, join us as we also wish the SEGA Dreamcast a happy birthday!

For those unaware, Galloping Ghost Arcade is HUGE. Want to play The House of the Dead 1 through 4? How about Monkey Ball with that ridiculous banana joystick? Or maybe you’ve always wanted to play SegaSonic the Hedgehog starring Sonic, Ray and Mighty? They have all those, plus nearly every super scaler game, Sonic the Fighters, Virtua Fighter, Fantasy Zone, Ghost Squad, L.A. Machineguns, Gunblade NY, Shinobi, Altered Beast, The Revenge of Death Adder, All-Stars Racing, and many, many, many more! Heck I’m just naming off a handful of the SEGA titles. There are close to 1,000 games!

We have additional perks for our Patreon supporters which will be announced soon. Hope to see you there!

Artwork credit: Pseudochel

Rare 1980 SEGA Samurai arcade cabinet found and restored

This is an odd story. An arcade auction in Texas ended up auctioning off a rare 1980 SEGA Samurai arcade cabinet without even being aware of it. Patrick Scott Patterson, who reached out to us to share the news, was bidding on a Mr. Do! arcade cabinet that was a converted SEGA Samurai cabinet. Because nobody was aware of the cabinet’s past life, Patrick was able to win the machine easily. Throughout May 2023, Patrick stripped off the forty year old paint to reveal the artwork for Samurai. Once the project was completed, Patrick had himself a Samurai cabinet with all the lovely artwork intact.

SEGA Talk #119: Shining Force III (1997)

SEGA Talk takes a journey into the last Shining Force game by the original developers, Shining Force III! Not just the first game, but also scenario 1, 2 and 3. We also discuss the fan translations, development and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

Red Moon Lost Days is an indie RPG/visual novel for the SEGA Saturn

In the days of old, the long long ago times of 2009, professionally pressed indie games for SEGA consoles were both a rarity and a luxury. There were, at most, two or three games a year for consoles like Master System, Genesis and even the Dreamcast. Nowadays it seems that a new indie game is releasing every few weeks with all the bells and whistles of an official release, including color manuals, pressed CDs and cartridge labels. But, through all that time, rarely (if ever) was the SEGA Saturn given attention. That is why the game Red Moon Lost Days caught my attention.

SEGA Talk #118: Angry Birds & Rovio Retrospective (2009)

We slingshot this episode and talk about… Angry Birds!? Yes, the early 2010’s mainstream mobile phenomena is now a SEGA brand. On this episode we talk about our feelings about the buyout, mobile games and the weird history of Rovio Entertainment!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

New details on SEGA’s acquisition of Rovio, including plans for console and PC games

As we previously reported, SEGA’s parent company Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. (SSHD) entered into an agreement to acquire Rovio, and SEGA Europe has since made a voluntary recommended cash offer to the shareholders of Rovio to tender all their shares and the option holders of Rovio to tender all their options in Rovio to SEGA Sammy Holdings. Basically, SEGA will be acquiring Rovio.

SEGA Talk #117: SEGA 32X (1994)

SEGA Talk takes a x-treme dive into SEGA’s short lived add-on, The 32X! We look at the creation of the device, why it came to be, what games are worth playing, and why it didn’t do better. Buckle up X-SEGA fans, its a bumpy ride!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

SEGA News Bits Live: Jet Set Radio 3 & Knuckles

On the season finale of SEGA News Bits Live, Barry dishes on the Jet Set Radio 3 leaks, talks about the Knuckles Paramount+ series and covers the past month of SEGA news.

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

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LEGO announces Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration with new product line

SEGA and the LEGO Group announced a collaboration today that will bring beloved characters and environments from the Sonic universe to brick form. The LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration includes four sets of varying sizes and complexity, allowing fans of all ages to build and play in iconic locations.

The sets include Sonic’s Speed Sphere, Tails’s Workshop and Tornado Plane, Amy’s Animal Rescue Island, and the famous Green Hill Zone. Fans can enjoy building and playing with Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Eggman in LEGO form.

The Sonic the Hedgehog LEGO sets are set to be released later this year, and fans (myself included) can’t wait to get their hands on them.

Paramount+ Knuckles series begins production with directors, cast and synopsis revealed

On April 17, the official Sonic movie Twitter account revealed that the Knuckles series for Paramount+ was in production. The reveal included a clapper board with the series logo, the reveal that Sonic movie series director Jeff Fowler was returning and a sly inclusion of Knuckles treasure hunter hat as first seen in the 1996 Sonic the Hedgehog anime movie.

SEGA in talks to acquire Rovio, developer of Angry Birds, for $1 billion dollars

As reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed a day later by Rovio themselves, SEGA’s parent company Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. is in talks to acquire the Finnish mobile game company Rovio for a staggering 1 billion dollars. Rovio gained worldwide fame with its smash hit franchise Angry Birds which took mobile gaming by storm at the dawn of the App Store and has since expanded into a multimedia franchise.

The acquisition could mark a strategic move for SEGA, as the company could tap into Rovio’s expertise in developing addictive and globally popular mobile games. The acquisition also grants SEGA access to Rovio’s vast user base and provides an opportunity to cross over SEGA owned franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog. Interestingly, Sonic and Angry Birds crossed paths in a Sonic Dash event in 2015.

We will likely learn more about the deal this week, and in the meantime we can only imagine what a Sonic Angry Birds game will play like…

SEGA Talk #116: Bangai-O (1999)

Missiles locked-on! FIRE! We dive deep into Treasure’s mech shooting, missile blasting, originally Nintendo 64 having, cult classic Bangai-O! Find out what unexpected game influenced the creation and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

The Hedgehog is Dead – SEGA releases The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, free for PC and Mac

We did it. Sonic is finally dead.

At least in the context of this year’s April Fools from SEGA. To celebrate April 1st, SEGA has released a murder mystery game in which players solve Sonic’s murder. Titled The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, the game is free to download and play right now on PC and Mac platforms! Check it out and let us know what you think of the game in the comments below.