Author Archives: Barry

Happy Holidays from SEGAbits – deck the halls with SEGA ornaments!

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Happy holidays from all of us at SEGAbits! We’re truly thankful the have such an awesome community, and look forward to what 2013 will bring. As a special holiday treat, we’ve made some SEGA themed ornaments for fans to print, cut out, and hang on their Christmas tree, or whatever plants they may have sitting about their house. Directions: Below are the two pages in thumbnail form. Open both in new tabs, hit print, glue them back to back and cut out the four ornaments. Using a hole puncher, or the pointy end of an ornament hook, make a hole in the top of the ornament. Then, if you did it correctly, you’ll have four cool SEGA themed ornaments. It’s that easy!

Again, a very happy holidays and all the best in 2013 and beyond.

– The SEGAbits Team

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SEGAbits contributes to 1UP.com cover story – “A Dream Deferred: When Sega Got Out at the Right Time”

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Gaming website 1UP.com has posted their cover story for the week, entitled “A Dream Deferred: When Sega Got Out at the Right Time”. The story covers the Dreamcast’s exit from the market, and argues why it might have been a good decision in the long run. 1UP writer Ray Barnholt reached out to SEGAbits earlier in the month for our thoughts on the Dreamcast’s demise, and the finished article features quotes from our very own Shigs and -nSega54-! Head on over to 1UP.com to read the article, and feel free to share your thoughts both there and here.

Again, a big thanks to 1UP and Ray Barnholt for thinking of us when it came to the opinions of SEGA fans!

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Classic Game Room names indie Dreamcast game Gunlord game of the year

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Leave it to Mark of Classic Game Room to still believe in the SEGA Dreamcast! In his top ten games of 2012 video, Mark named the Dreamcast indie game Gunlord from NG:DEV.TEAM as his favorite game of the year. Other notable titles mentioned by Mark: Under Defeat HD (an HD title, but originally an arcade and Dreamcast game), Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (which beat Forza Horizon and F1 2012 on the list), and Yakuza: Dead Souls. Truly a SEGA fan after my own beer- I mean, heart.

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Editorial: SEGA sues Level-5 over patent violations

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The internet has gone into a tizzy over the news that SEGA has taken game company Level-5 to court, claiming Level-5 has infringed on two patents held by SEGA. SEGA claims that the Level-5 developed Inazuma Eleven games infringe on a patented mechanic which allows players to move characters with their fingers or a stylus. The lawsuit, if won, could prohibit sales of all eight Inazuma games on the DS, Wii, and 3DS, as well as win SEGA 900 million yen (roughly $11 million). Internet sites from Joystiq to Kotaku are reporting on the story, though in my opinion they are jumping the gun when it comes to the details of the lawsuit. For starters, following the news, Level-5 responded by stating that the first Inazuma Eleven game was released in 2008, while Sega didn’t file its first patent until 2009. Level-5 also claims that the second followed in 2011. “As a result of examining these discrepancies,” Level-5 stated, “we’ve concluded that there is no patent violation.”

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SEGA CD Month – My Life With SEGA ventures into Soul Star

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SEGA CD month heats up with Soul Star; the pseudo 3D space shooter set thousands of light-years away….

“Across a yawning gulf of space and time, the six planets of the Soul Star system perform a peaceful celestial dance around their youthful suns, unaware of the horror soon to come. A horror in the dreaded shape of the Myrkoids, an alien species older than the stars themselves, with a unified mind far colder than the space between those stars. The Myrkoids – killers of worlds – descend upon unsuspecting star systems, sucking them dry and draining every planet of its internal energies. They leave nothing in their savage wake but empty husks drifting lifelessly in space.”

C’mon, tell me you’re not curious?

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Buy any version of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed at Gamestop, get a free Hot Wheels Danicar

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Update: I visited a local Gamestop to learn more about the offer. Since I had my heart set on the 3DS version, I asked to pre-order the game. I was told the game was set for a February 12th, 2013 release date and that I could put down anywhere from $5 to the total cost of the game to pre-order. I put down $5 and then asked for the Danicar. The cashier was surprised I knew they existed, and asked the manager if I could have one. It was then that I learned stores were told that only those buying the game would get a car, but it wasn’t made clear if pre-ordering also meant the customer gets a car. Since, in the managers words “they had a lot” of the Danicar, I could have one. In short, buying the game now for the 360, PS3 or Wii U will get you a car (if they have them in stock). Pre-ordering for Vita may or may not get you the car, but given the game releases next week, you’ll just have to ask nicely and perhaps putting down the full amount for the pre-order will sweeten the deal. Same goes for the 3DS version. End update.

Back in October, SEGA unveiled Danica Patrick’s in-game model and made the announcement of an exclusive Hot Wheels SEGA-branded Danicar. Where could fans get the toy? Who knew! All we were told was that “the ‘Danicar’ will also be available as an exclusive diecast vehicle available this holiday season with purchase of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed at select retailers.” Awesome! A month passed, the game released and… no Danicar. No sign of it at any store. Some fans, such as myself, waited until release week hoping to learn which “select retailers” would have the freebie before making a firm pre-order. No news turned up, so the Danicar was forgotten, fans bought the game and a month passed. Then, fans over at The Sonic Stadium forums discovered the toy car on ebay, with a “Gamestop Exclusive” label and as such, turned to Gamestop to see what the deal was. Some stores were genuinely confused, directing fans to stores like Toys R Us where they can find Hot Wheels cars. Other stores had the cars, but weren’t quite sure what to do with them. As of Sunday, it seems, stores are now giving the cars away with copies of the game.

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed 3DS likely delayed until February

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It’s not racing, it’s racing delayed! Via The Sonic Stadium comes news that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for the 3DS has most likely been delayed until February 2013. While the game released to 360, PS3 and Wii U in mid November, and the Vita version is due December 18th in the US, the 3DS version has been missing in action. SEGA hasn’t done a very good job in letting fans know when to expect the 3DS version of the game, and as such many have relied on retailers like Amazon and Gamestop. Both sites list a February 2013 release date, and a recent post from Nintendo Europe seems to confirm the delay as the 3DS version is listed with a February 2013 date.

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Sonic, Eggman and Neff make the blu-ray cover art for Wreck-It Ralph

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Disney has just revealed the cover art for the blu-ray releases of Wreck-It Ralph, and look who made both covers! Sonic stands alongside main characters Ralph and Felix in the gold bordered Ultimate Collector’s Edition release, with SEGA villains Eggman and Neff on either side. Meanwhile, the standard blu-ray release features Sonic, Eggman and Neff amongst other video game icons. Price and release date have yet to be revealed, but expect them to go for above or around $20 on release and to hit in March/April of next year.

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SEGA and Creative Assembly partner with Games Workshop to create Warhammer games

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SEGA’s Total War series is the king of PC war strategy games. Warhammer is the king of tabletop miniature war strategy games. So could Creative Assembly, the developer of the Total War series, developing Warhammer video games be a match made in heaven? SEGA seems to think so! Today, SEGA has announced a partnership with Games Workshop, the company behind Warhammer. The SEGA blog laid out the deal, stating that a “new high-calibre development team has been set up at Creative Assembly’s UK studio to work alongside the existing Total War, Alien IP and Mobile teams on the first Warhammer title in the deal, scheduled to launch from beyond 2013”. Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly promised “we’ll be doing the Warhammer universe justice in a way that has never been attempted before. We’re bringing those 25 years of experience and expertise in extremely high-scoring games to bear, delivering a Warhammer experience that videogamers will absolutely love”.

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Spiral Knights developer releases Spellwood to Android and iOS

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From the SEGA Blog comes news that Three Rings, the developer behind the awesome Spiral Knights,  has released Spellwood to Android and iOS devices. Spellwood is a Scrabble-style word puzzle game which offers up single player and two player modes. What makes the game unique, when compared to most other mobile titles in the genre, is that it has characters and a story mode with RPG elements as well as the aforementioned single player mode. In the single player mode, you play a fuzzy little word wizard who takes on over 90 adversaries with different levels and styles of play. Two player mode has you taking on friends as you would in any other mobile puzzle game. The game is priced at $1.99 and is now available on iOS for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Google Play for Android smartphones and tablets.

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SEGA CD Month – My Life With SEGA investigates Rise of the Dragon

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32X month is behind us, and SEGA CD month has begun! A.J. kicks things off with a fun, and affordable, SEGA CD classic!

It’s Sega CD month, gang! First up, we’re playing Rise of the Dragon. This is the graphic adventure game that is often compared to another Sega CD classic, Snatcher. While it does bare resemblance, thanks in large part to the cyberpunk influences, this isn’t some knock-off; Rise of the Dragon has it’s own identity. So strap in, ladies and germs….

The dragon is rising.

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SEGA Five: Why you should own a 32X

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As November comes to a close, so does our 32X month. Our My Life With SEGA video series has featured the ill-fated add-on in weekly video reviews, and I thought it would be fitting to end 32X month with an extra special SEGA Five. I’ll admit it, I was a 32X hater until not too long ago. When the add-on released in 1994 I didn’t quite understand what it was. The Genesis already took cartridges, and CD’s thanks to an add-on, so why was yet another add-on being introduced? To be fair to myself, I was only 10 years old at the time, and before I completely understood what SEGA was trying to do with the 32X, the add-on was dead. A few years later I began to understand what the 32X was, and thought it was a complete joke.

A giant plastic mushroom that only offered up an additional 36 titles to Americans, and even then a bulk of the games were not worth owning? HA! Much later, the Angry Video Game Nerd tore the 32X to shreds and finished it off with an arrow. Again, I laughed. But soon, I became acquainted with sites like the SEGA Junkyard blogs (see our SEGA Network links in the right column to check those out) and in turn began to appreciate aspects of SEGA that I originally only thought negatively of or outright ignored. In October 2009, I finally gave in and bought a 32X used (with all cords, amazingly) off ebay for $30. It was one of the best SEGA purchases I ever made, and I’ll tell you why.

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Jet Set Radio tags iOS and Android today!

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Via the SEGA Blog comes news that Jet Set Radio has officially released to iOS and Android devices. Priced at a competitive $4.99 (4,49€/£2.99/AU $5.49), and weighing in at 523 MB on iOS, the game is essentially 1:1 with the XBLA, PSN and Vita versions. Mobile exclusive extras include touchscreen gestures when tagging and the ability to snap photos with your device and tag within the game. After the break, check out a gameplay video of the game in action on an iPad!

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32X Month – My Life With SEGA scrapes his knuckles in Chaotix

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32X month is coming to a close, so what better way to finish things than with the 32X’s most popular exclusive: Knuckles’ Chaotix!

Yes, it’s the 32X exclusive that left many gamers confused and somewhat disappointed. How could this be? After the the one-two punch of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, both of which were a tremendous success for Sega’s 16-bit juggernaut, I find it hard to believe this game met with such a lukewarm response….

Was it deserving? Let us a break out that ‘shroom one more time before we put 32X month to bed.

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Happy 14th Birthday, SEGA Dreamcast!

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Fourteen years ago today, in Japan, the final SEGA console released: the Dreamcast. Of course, being an English speaking blog, we tend to put more emphasis on 9-9-99. Still, 11-27-98 is just as, if not more, important than any other Dreamcast launch date simply because it was the first. Also, it is the day before my birthday. A-hem! Anyway, Japanese launch titles included: Sonic Adventure, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Godzilla Generations, July, and Virtua Fighter 3tb. July and Godzilla Generations never made it outside Japan. Considering Famitsu gave Godzilla Generations a 20 out of 40, and Western import reviews were even worse, it seems those outside Japan weren’t missing out on Godzilla.

To celebrate, enjoy the hilarious Japanese Dreamcast commercials starring Senior Managing Director of SEGA Hidekazu Yukawa. The man truly was the Segata Sanshiro of the Dreamcast era, though he acted the complete opposite. Yukawa appeared on the Japanese Dreamcast box, he had his own game, his own merchandise including a cell phone charm, and even appeared in a cameo in the Shenmue demo “What’s Shenmue?”. You can see a complete playthrough of that after the break. Happy 14th Birthday, SEGA Dreamcast!

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