Author Archives: Barry

SEGA Five: Bein’ bad – SEGA style

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Admit it. When a game gives you the option to be bad, you go for it. Unlike the stupid real world, video games have no repercussions. While game designers may not intend for you to do these bad things, or there are in-game penalties, in the end it’s just a game so you can be bad to your heart’s content, hit the reset button and return to playing the game as it was intended. In this week’s Weekly Five, we celebrate Friday the 13th with five SEGA games which allow you to be (you guessed it) bad.

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Sit on a Master System while you play a Master System

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From gameblog.fr comes this crazy piece of fan art. French video game blogger Subby-kun and his wife Subbinette converted a couch into a Master System, complete with controller pillows. I’d make an Xzibit Yo Dawg meme image for this, but you can pretty much imagine how it would go. This isn’t their first piece of video game hardware furniture either, they’ve also created an NES bed. No clue what their next project is, but I’d love to see a Dreamcast futon. After the break, check out more images of this crazy couch!

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Sonic 4’s Episode Metal game length revealed?

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Sonic 4 rep and on-again-off-again moustache wearer Ken Balough has possibly revealed Episode Metal’s length. Ken spoke of Episode Metal in an interview and stated the following: “You’re going to unlock about 25% more game”. This percentage is interesting. Does Ken mean that Episode Metal is 25% the size of Episode 1? Episode 1 consisted of 17 acts. 25% of 17 is 4.25 acts. Episode Metal’s teaser promised “Four Exclusive Levels”. So with this in mind, Episode Metal might actually end up being shorter than a typical Sonic 4 episode. It could consist of four reworked acts/levels, each act taking place within a different zone. Either the four zones found in Episode 1, or three Episode 1 zones and Stardust Speedway or an Episode 2 zone. Fans disappointed in this news may be happy to hear that Ken also revealed “there’s more cutscenes in Episode Metal than all of Episode 2”. So while Episode Metal may be short, it will have a good deal of story. Also, it’s basically free so don’t complain!

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Japanese Sonic 4 site updates – reveals Oil Desert Zone and more

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SEGA of Japan’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4 site has updated to reflect yesterday’s news, however there are a few new additions. For one thing, the unnamed desert stage will be known as Oil Desert Zone. Simple, but it fits. The site has also added twelve new screens of the zone, showing off new gimmicks and badniks. The site also has a cleaned up version of yesterday’s trailer, in true HD and without the Gamestop watermark. Other additions to the site include the confirmation of the $15 price tag, unchanged from the first episode. Also, there are badnik profiles and a story tab that shows Little Planet approaching Earth. The story text is in Japanese, so any readers who know the language, if you can translate it that would be “boss” of you.

Update: Added nine more images, courtesy of Andriasang.com, the images include more Oil Desert screens, high res “box art” and screens from Episode Metal.

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Sonic 4 News: Metal Sonic playable in episode 1, sand zone revealed and release dates!

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Gamespot’s On the Spot internet show has just revealed that Metal Sonic will be playable in Sonic 4 Episode 1. Dubbed “Episode Metal”, the new play mode will be unlocked for owners of both episodes. Episode Metal promises: a playable Metal Sonic (duh), four exclusive levels and promises that fans will “discover the rebirth of Metal Sonic”. So a Sonic CD side story, perhaps? Ken Balough likened it to Sonic & Knuckles Lock-On technology. The episode 1 stages are reworked and are promised to bridge the gap between Sonic CD and Sonic 4. The show also revealed a new trailer showing off a sand zone that up until now was only seen in a single screen leaked on XBOX.com. Release dates were also given for the game: May 15th – PS3, May 16th – Xbox 360, May – PC, iOSn Tegra devices, June – Android, July – Windows phone. You can view the full video here, skip to 29:00.

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Editorial: Gaming sites who failed at reporting last Friday’s news.

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Last Friday we learned the sad news that SEGA West was restructuring, downsizing and canceling certain games. I think we’ve all discussed the news enough, what I wanted to focus on in this editorial are the gaming sites who did an awful job of reporting the news. For whatever reason, unpaid fans who write for blogs do a better job reading press releases and reporting on them than big name sites like Kotaku. I also wanted to draw attention to a general gaming blog, toplessrobot.com, who did an equally awful job in reporting on the news.

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Sonic 4 Episode 2 XBOX avatar items now available!

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Face it, your avatar looks like crap. It needs something, like a Tails hoodie or a miniature Snowy the Polar Bear. Well SEGA and Microsoft want you to look your best for when Sonic 4 Episode 2 releases, so they’ve released a ton of new avatar items for you to play with! The new items include: An item monitor hooked up to a SEGA Genesis, complete with a Sonic 4 Episode 2 game case and cartridge for you to play, male and female logo shirts, male and female Sonic and Tails branded hoodies complete with ears and spikes on the hood, a half-pipe special stage for your avatar to run in, Tails and Metal Sonic plush dolls, a badnik buddy two pack, a Metal Sonic mask, a Flicky capsule toy and a full body Tails suit. If you have an XBOX account, you can head on over to the online store now to see samples of these items in action. The item monitor and Genesis console item has an especially funny animation. After the break, a gallery of all the goodies!

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Check out this Sonic the Hedgehog hack, the prequel “Dr.Robotnik’s Creature Capture”!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2dFzO_LEAFE#!

Ever wonder how Eggman captures all those little animals and stuffs them into a capsule? A recently released hack of Sonic the Hedgehog answers this question with “Dr.Robotnik’s Creature Capture”! The game has you, as Robotnik aka Eggman, running about the first Sonic the Hedgehog’s stages catching animals with a net and placing them in a capsule. Once the capsule is full, you must find the sign post and turn it from Sonic to Robotnik, thus setting the stage for Sonic the Hedgehog. Hurry and fill that capsule before Sonic begins his own game! So in essence, it’s a prequel.

You can find the game at sonicresearch.org, so give it a play and if you’re inclined to leave them a comment, let them know SEGAbits sent you.

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New Alex Kidd and Monster World Collection Screens Show Off Slick Menus!

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A little over a week back, we featured screens of two new SEGA Vintage Collection releases. One bundles together three Monster World games, including the newly translated Monster World IV. The second collection brings together three SEGA classics: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, The Revenge of Shinobi and Super Hang On. Thanks to Siliconera, we have even more screens to show of the collections. The coolest of these screens shows off the Alex Kidd menu, which confirms that Hang On will be the arcade version, thus making the collection a sampler of Master System, Genesis and arcade SEGA classics. After the break, take a look at even more screens including more menu shots!

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Bayonetta Saved Anarchy Reigns? SEGA Comments!

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Following SEGA West’s announcements, many SEGA fans were immediately left wondering what the new direction means for lesser known and new IPs like Rhythm Thief and Anarchy Reigns. While we don’t know the status of the former, we can comment on the latter. Gaming news site GamingBiz.com reached out to SEGA over the weekend asking what the status is of Anarchy Reigns and SEGA responded:

Anarchy Reigns may appear to be a new IP, but it is actually building on the characters featured in 2009’s MadWorld. In anticipation of the July release, which is still scheduled, expect a series of trailers reminding fans of the MadWorld connection. Also, we know it’s no secret that Bayonetta has been revealed as a bonus character. Given Bayonetta’s popularity, we believe that giving her representation in marketing and on the revised boxart will increase awareness of Anarchy Reigns.

A new title and revised boxart? That’s quite a big change for the game, but it makes sense. SEGA wants to focus on popular established IPs, so putting more emphasis on the game’s MadWorld and Bayonetta connections is a very smart move. This also appears to mean that Bayonetta will not be a DLC character, but rather a guest character much like how Banjo-Kazooie were called out on All-Stars Racing box art. Read the full article at GamingBiz.com and don’t trust everything you read on a day like today, even if it doesn’t sound so crazy.

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The Weekly Five: The Shenmue HD Wish List

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To wash the yucky taste of today’s big news story out of our mouths, let’s focus on something positive. Recently, SEGA has been hinting at an HD Shenmue 1 and 2 rerelease. Given the latest announcement of putting more focus on digital releases, Shenmue HD could become even more of a reality. As SEGA has yet to release an official announcement, we can do what Shenmue fans do best and speculate! This week’s Weekly Five will take a look at what we want to see in a Shenmue rerelease. Let’s begin, shall we? [insert sailor joke here]

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SEGA West Restructuring, Downsizing and Canceling Certain Games

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Ah, it’s Friday. Let’s check the news. Wonder if we’ll see a Sonic 4 trailer today… wait. What the fuck is this?! Pardon my language, but some breaking news!

SEGA Sammy announced today that it will carry out “structural reform” of consumer business. SEGA Sammy also said it will “streamline” video game operations in the west to “create a smaller company positioned for sustained profitability”. Part of this streamlining will include cutting the number of SEGA games produced and canceling some titles already in development.

The statement read as follows:

The Sega consumer business is expected to post operating loss due to the challenging economic climate and significant changes in the home video game software market environment in the US and Europe.

It is essential to streamline [our] organisation in the field of home video game software, while shifting to a structure that corresponds to a change in environment, including strengthening development in the field of digital content.

We decided to narrow down sales titles to strong IPs such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Football Manager, Total War and Aliens which are expected to continue posting solid earnings. In accordance with this, we are cancelling the development of some game software titles.

SEGA will still post profits of £152m for the 12 months ending March 2012. However, it will see a one-off “extraordinary loss” of £54m. This money will be spent on cutting back and restructuring. No word on what games are being cancelled or just who will be laid-off. Is this the end of crazy unique SEGA games? Or are the more risky games being relegated to digital services, and only the big IPs will get disc releases? Freak out in the comments section.

Update: According to IGN, with information said to come from sources within SEGA, all non-franchise titles will be dropped:

Earlier today, four franchises were overtly announced as being safe: Sonic, Football Manager, Total War, and Aliens. Our sources have revealed that any currently announced game that isn’t included on that list will not be published by SEGA, leaving a decent amount of the publisher’s upcoming publishing roster in jeopardy.

What does this mean for upcoming games like Rhythm Thief? At this point, it’s anybody’s guess. The source goes onto report that North America’s QA team has been axed entirely, with staff cuts also being made in the following departments: marketing, social, design, and development.

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Check It Out: Sonic the Hedgehog Medley Performed Live!

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Full disclosure: I know the bass player in this video, he’s marrying my wife’s best friend. But regardless of whether I know him or not, it’s a good set! I was there live the night they played this. The group is called Beta Test and they perform in and around the Philadelphia, PA area. The night they performed this, March 3, 2012, they also played music from Super Mario Land and the Zelda series. I asked my wife which set she liked most and she said the Sonic one. I asked if she was just saying that because I was the one asking, but she said she honestly liked the Sonic music the most! If she had said “Mario”, it would not have been a good night.

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XBLA Monster World and Alex Kidd Vintage Collections Revealed

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Thanks to the spoileriffic xbox360achievements.org, two XBLA SEGA Vintage Collections have been revealed! Unlike past Vintage Collection releases, these bundle three games in one. The first collection is Alex Kidd & Company. A weird collection, the release combines Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Revenge of Shinobi and Super Hang-On. Because, you know, those all go well together. Thankfully, this odd assortment will have some cool features: an option to turn on the original Japanese dialogue in Alex Kidd, a 3D mode for Super Hang-On and in-game juke boxes.

The second collection is really exciting: Wonder Boy’s Monster World trilogy! The Monster World collection has Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy in Monster World and the long awaited english version of Monster World IV. Screens reveal an awesome 3D menu of a Monster World themed room, complete with an arcade machine and two Genesis consoles. Both collections will have leaderboards, achievements, recordable and downloadable game sessions and new trial modes. SEGA has not officially announced the titles, nor have they mentioned a release date, but they’re sure to soon. After the break, check out the many screens!

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Rumor: Two More Virtua Fighters to Cameo in Dead or Alive 5

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Akira isn’t the only SEGA fighter looking to kick some Tecmo ass. A NeoGAF member claims to have hacked into the Dead or Alive 5 demo code and discovered alternate costume data. This data, in turn, revealed what very well could be the final roster. Given that we’re a SEGA fan site, I’ll skip the Dead or Alive characters and get to the characters we really care about, the Virtua Fighters! Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan will be joining Akira Yuki as crossover guests. Very exciting, if it proves to be true. What do you all think?

Akira and SEGA All-Stars Fighters with Dead or Alive releases September, 2012.

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