It’s Labor Day weekend here in America, and only a week until the Dreamcast’s 12th birthday! So I thought it would be fitting to present to you a weekly five that is light on the labor for me, and Dreamcast related for you. Thus, we’re talking a look at five great Dreamcast adverts that ran on American television. So let’s get started, less reading more watching!
Since 2009, It has become a yearly tradition for me to throw a Dreamcast birthday party by way of Dreamcast gaming, a live stream, chit chat, drinking and pizza. This year will be no different from last year: Starting at 11am Eastern Standard Time (5pm GMT) on Friday, September 9th, I’ll be kicking off the party at twitch.tv/dreamroom. We’ll play a ton of games, chat, reminisce and celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Dreamcast’s American launch. We’ll check out the original launch titles, play some wacky imports, go on a Dobuita shopping spree and I even have a few surprises.
So mark your calendars and keep your eyes on The Dreamcast Junkyard and SEGAbits as the big day nears!
SEGA has a lot of exciting boxed retail releases on the way, but how about the downloadable games? I’m happy to say that there are a number of great titles heading to XBLA, PSN and mobile devices! In fact, dare I say this, as a whole I am more excited for the downloadable releases than I am the retail releases. Recently, SEGA has had a big upswing in the quality and quantity of retro rereleases. What’s more, SEGA will also be offering long awaited games via online marketplaces and are set to debut new IPs via this route. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll be highlighting five upcoming downloadable titles that we’re excited to play!
From The Sonic Scene comes two special screens from Sonic Generations. The first, seen above, reveals a new stage for the 3DS version of the game: Sonic Adventure’s Emerald Coast! While I had thought they would have gone with a stage from Sonic Advance instead, I much prefer this. Unless, of course, this is actually Neo Green Hill from the first Sonic Advance with the whale thrown in. I’m interested to see if they copy the modern layout verbatim, or offer up something new. The second image, which can be seen after the break, might be a spoiler to some, as it appears to be from the opening cutscene. Want to see it? Continue on!
Obviously, I love me my SEGA. Why else would I be writing for this place? But just because I love them, doesn’t mean I can’t be a little bit peeved with them when it comes to a few things. In this week’s Weekly Five, I’ll be going down my list of areas in which SEGA is slacking.
From SEGA Press and Sonic Stadium comes eleven new screens from the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations. But wait! These aren’t the same ol’ stages that we’ve known about, this is a brand new reveal! Straight out of Sonic & Knuckles comes Mushroom Hill featuring both classic and modern gameplay, set in both the green act 1 and the autumn colored act 2. It looks like classic Sonic will be taking the green sections of the zone, while modern Sonic will be taking the orange sections. Many of the gimmicks return including bouncy shrooms (I can hear the “boing” sound now), mechanical pulleys and helicopter plants. Check out the screens after the break!
From vg247.com comes information from SEGA CEO Mike Hayes concerning Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Remember that game? Regarding information on Episode 2:
Information on Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 will arrive “very soon,” Sega West CEO Mike Hayes has told VG247. Hayes couldn’t comment further when asked how far out “soon” was, adding that we should “look out for that one.”
My guess is once Sonic Generations arrives, after November 1st, or perhaps on September 9th? Remember, that was when the first Sonic 4 episode was announced as “Project Needlemouse”. Speaking of the first episode, Hayes shares a great bit of news for SEGA fans who like it when the company makes big money:
“It did very well and it continues to do well,” Hayes told us in a phone interview this afternoon.
“Particularly when it gets a little shot in the arm with some promotion or some price activity, sales are quite phenomenal. Its downloaded clearly over a million units, so its sold particularly well and continues to sell.”
Over a million is pretty impressive, though I have to wonder how many “copies” the game sold when it initially launched before the first sales began. Regardless, Sonic 4 Episode 1 looks like quite a financial success. Here’s hoping Episode 2 fixes the problems found in the first episode and sells another million and more!
[Source: vg247]
You got it! From Gameswelt.de, and uploaded to Youtube by a Sonic fan (I can only assume) comes the first gameplay footage of Chemical Plant Zone, in both classic and modern flavors. Oh yeah, that means Chemical Plant music remix! These are only snippets of the stage acts, so those weary of full act spoilers don’t need to worry too much.
Thanks to forum user ezodagrom for the heads up!
[Source: Gameswelt.de]
Despite being over ten years old, VMU games can still be fun! Sure they pale in comparison to modern day handheld devices, but even back when VMUs were new they couldn’t compete with the handhelds of the early 00’s. The main purpose of a VMU was to save your game data, the fact that they could play mini-games was the cherry on top. While the VMU didn’t change the world, at least SEGA didn’t advertise it as the standout feature of the console (subtle dig at the Wii U). While I don’t carry a VMU about with me like I did back in ’99, I still make it a point to occasionally pick up some CR2032 batteries to bring my VMU back to life. What follows are my personal favorite VMU games.
Want to play these yourself, but don’t have all the Dreamcast titles that offer these extra features? Check out Blue Swirl’s VMU Tool. An awesome application for the Dreamcast which allows you to make a number of (safe) modifications to existing VMUs as well as download game saves and VMU games from the entire Dreamcast library. It even has a VMU emulator, for those too lazy to play an actual VMU.
As a child of the late 80’s and early 90’s, two of my biggest obsessions were Sonic the Hedgehog and The Simpsons. Despite having very little to do with each other, both franchises were at their heights in the early 90’s. Sonic’s first game saw release in the summer of 1991, just as The Simpsons were nearing the end of their second season, debuting a number of episodes that came to define the series and showed that they had greatly improved upon the so-so first season. The Simpsons had also invaded the world of video games in 1991, with the release of Konami’s The Simpsons Arcade and, of note to SEGA fans, a number of Master System, Game Gear and Genesis titles. 1993 saw the release of The Simpsons Comics series and Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog, both still in print to this day, a rare feat for licensed comics.
It was only a matter of time before The Simpsons and Sonic crossed paths by way of The Simpsons propensity to reference popular culture. In this week’s SEGA in the Media we take a look at all the moments Sonic appeared on The Simpsons!
Thanks to gaming site andriasang we have some more Chemical Plant zone screens, showing off exciting new portions of both classic and modern acts. The screens show off both classic and modern Sonic running about underwater, modern Sonic grabbing onto a hook and taking a ride through a large water pipe, classic Sonic avoiding the badnik Grabber and riding through the iconic Chemical Plant transport tubes. Looks like the fan-favorite zone will be filled with a number of gimmicks, looks like fun! Check out more screens after the break.
I make it no secret that I am a big time Dreamcast fan. It is the SEGA console I own the most games for (around 120 last time I counted) and every September 9th I take the day off from work to host a nine hour Dreamcast marathon. There are many reasons why I love the console, but the number one would have to be the exclusives. Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and Crazy Taxi 2 are fantastic games and have yet to appear on any other console, and I’m totally cool with that. It’s a perfect reason for my Dreamcast to remain hooked up next to my current generation consoles.
But as time goes on, SEGA has been porting more and more Dreamcast classics to other consoles. Great for the gaming community, bad for the Dreamcast. Less exclusives mean less of a reason for gamers to pick up a used console. I know it sounds like I’m being overly dramatic, however this past May I did witness a kid turning down the purchase of a Dreamcast due to SEGA’s recently released Dreamcast Collection. As such, I thought I’d share five lesser known Dreamcast games that remain exclusive to the console and show no sign of receiving a rerelease. If you want these, you need a Dreamcast.
I had always thought that Square Enix only churned out Final Fantasy action figures. But apparently they do more than just Cloud and Yuffie, they also have produced stunning figures of characters from Metal Gear Solid, Batman: Arkham Asylum and even SEGA’s own Vanquish. Revealed at Comic Con is this amazingly detailed Sam Gideon. I mean, just LOOK at that thing! Makes my Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters figures of the 90’s look like crap by comparison. Of course, with great details and articulation comes a great price: figures in the Play Arts Kai line retail for around $40-$50. Thats more than I spent on my copy of Vanquish! Of course, the figure looks great, so I could easily see the price being justified. Just think of it as a statue and the $50 doesn’t seem so bad.
No longer are blurry scans the only way to see Sonic Generations Metal Sonic and Chemical Plant zone. SEGA of America has just updated their Flickr account and added a load of screens including new CG renders of Modern and Classic Tails as well as new shots of Chemical Plant and the Metal Sonic race taking place in Stardust Speedway. Oh, and they’ve also added the 3DS package art, though it isn’t very exciting. To see all the images, head on over to SEGA’s Sonic Generations Flickr page.
SEGA has a massive stable of iconic characters. From the normal (Ryo Hazuki) to the bizarre (ToeJam and Earl) and everything in-between. But what about the characters you never see? They’re just as iconic, yet they have never had a face to put to the voice. In this week’s five, we will be shining the spotlight on the best unseen SEGA characters. The characters who can define a game without the need for a visit to SEGA’s character design department.