Author Archives: Barry

Discotek Media reveals Sonic X Japanese Language Collection release date and packaging

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As part of their A Very Discotek New Years livestream, Discotek Media laid out their plans for 2023 as well as some new announcements. Last year the company revealed that at long last the Japanese language version of the Sonic X anime would receive a release in 2023. Now we have a release date window as well as work in progress cover and disc art! The two disc set, which collects the entire series in standard definition on blu-ray disc (which they call “SD on BD”) will release in April of this year with packaging that will sit nicely alongside their already released English collection. The release will also feature bonus content including openings, endings, storyboards and the original pilots.

Once the series goes up for pre-order, we’ll be sure to let you know!

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SEGA News Bits Live: Cosmic Smash VR & Knuckles

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On this SEGA News Bits Live, Barry has some beef with action figure scalpers! Also, Cosmic Smash is apparently back as a VR game, plus a quick look at the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection.

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SEGA creates CSVRS teaser website and social accounts – possible Cosmic Smash VR reveal?

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UPDATE: Since SEGA shared the news, England based VR developer Wolf & Wood quote tweeted SEGA’s tweet with an eye emoji and the #csmashvrs hashtag. While they are not confirmed to be the developer, it seems pretty obvious that they are developing the game. Wolf & Wood’s VR titles include Hotel R’n’R, The Exorcist: Legion VR and A Chair in a Room: Greenwater. Their games have released to platforms that include PSVR, SteamVR and Oculus. You can check their website out here!

Several social media accounts for a SEGA project titled CSVRS have appeared, directing users to a teaser website (csmashvrs.com) with a countdown clock ending 20 days from now. The teaser site for CSVRS presents trippy music over a grid of circles with different images appearing within, including eyes, tunnels and a game of Pong being played.

All signs point to a revival of Cosmic Smash, the Japanese arcade and Dreamcast exclusive game from Sega Rosso. The name “CSVRS” points to it being a VR game. Worth noting, SEGA of Japan has not teased this yet, so it is possible it is a SEGA Europe creation much like how SEGA Hardlight handled a sequel to ChuChu Rocket!.

We will share more news as we hear it!

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SEGA Talk #112: Thunder Blade (1987)

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On this SEGA Talk, we return to the 1980s and take to the skies in the super scaler Thunder Blade! We discuss the development of the “taikan” arcade machine, the downgraded SEGA Genesis and Master System ports and the M2 developed Nintendo 3DS port that returned Thunder Blade to greatness.

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SEGA Talk #111: Shining Force II (1993)

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On this episode of SEGA Talk we break the ancient seal to talk about Shining Force II, a sorta sequel to the first Shining Force game. We dive deep into development, look at characters and strategically try to say Japanese names. All this and more on SEGA TALK!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show LIVE: Our Favorite and Most Disappointing Games of 2022

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We’re only a few weeks into 2023, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look back and talk about our favorite and most disappointing SEGA and ATLUS games of 2022! Special guest Sonic Yoda from SEGA Driven will also be featured, selecting HIS (and by extension Europe’s) favorite game of 2022. Also, Patreon picks and Discord member picks!

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Enjoy The Ride Records reveals Sonic The Hedgehog 2: Music From The Motion Picture on vinyl

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Enjoy The Ride Records, who have previously released the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie soundtrack to vinyl, and the sequel to audio cassette, have announced a 2XLP vinyl release for the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 soundtrack! The release is set to drop at noon ET this Friday, January 13th on their website. The records are in hand and are set to ship mid-January, so no long pre-order waits!

After the break, learn more details about the release and check out some photos.

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Bitmap Books cancels The unofficial MD/GEN: a visual compendium, no thanks to SEGA

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Bitmap Books has been hard at work on their next visual compendium book, this time centering on the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, but today they have announced the project is cancelled. Past visual compendium books have been a mix of official and unofficial releases.

SEGA fans might remember years back Bitmap Books covered the Master System, in fact we newsed, interviewed, backed and reviewed Bitmap’s endeavor. While the Master System book was officially licensed, their now cancelled Mega Drive book was unlicensed. According to Bitmap, they attempted to obtain the license, SEGA declined and they then attempted to go the unlicensed route.

Unfortunately, SEGA threatened legal action and now the project is cancelled. Given Bitmap Books is in the UK, I have to wonder if this is another case of SEGA Europe being jerks to well intentioned publishers. Some years back, The Dreamcast Junkyard attempted an unofficial book acting as a checklist for every Dreamcast release. SEGA Europe told them to take it down or suffer legal action.

You can read more here, and hey if you work for SEGA and are reading this: rethink this. It is a shitty way to treat publishers covering video game history.

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SEGA Talk #110: The Grinch Christmas Special (2000)

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This time on SEGA Talk we humbug the holidays away as we talk all things The Grinch! We talk about his humble beginnings and how his story became a Christmas phenomenon! Also did you know there was a Grinch SEGA Dreamcast game?

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show LIVE: Sonic 2022 in Review

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As the year winds to a close, join us as we chat about all the Sonic the Hedgehog happenings in 2022! From the second movie to Sonic Origins, and Sonic Frontiers to Sonic Prime. What were the highlights and the lowlights, and what could SEGA learn going into 2023? We’ll discuss all this in a round table discussion featuring SEGAbits writer Dakota and Sonic Retro writer David the Lurker!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, join in the conversation, get Q&A priority, become a guest on the show and more!

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SEGA Talk #109: Conduit 2 (2011)

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We dive back into the conspiracy world of The Conduit, with High Voltage Studio’s sequel Conduit 2. We dive deep into the conspiracies that shaped the game, the changes made and look at the bizarre cliff hanger for the sequel.

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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Sonic Prime sneak peek gives us the story of how Sonic met Tails, Roblox premiere announced

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Sonic Prime, the Netflix animated series which sees video game Sonic entering a multiverse of realities, is set to release December 15, 2022. However, fans can get an advance look in two places! First, the embedded video above, which details a scene in which Sonic meets shatterverse Tails. The scene is interesting, as it details the moment Sonic met Tails, which matches up with the same scene that played out in this year’s Sonic Origins. Ian Flynn, scenario writer for the game’s cutscenes, had said at the time that the meeting was the new game canon of the historic event. However, the fact that Sonic Prime, which is releasing less than a year after the game, is retelling the story is a clear sign that SEGA is serious about Sonic canon connecting across media. Heck, we might see other game events referenced in the series, which is exciting!

So how does one see the first episode before the Netflix premiere? Roblox of course. That’s right, the first episode will be shown on Saturday, December 10th at 10am EST in Sonic Speed Simulator. Weird venue, but cool. Will you be checking out the premiere?

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3D After Burner II to be delisted from 3DS eShop on December 21st, 2022

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M2 has announced that the Nintendo 3DS SEGA 3D Classics title 3D After Burner II will be delisted from the Japanese eShop, along with Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3 FINAL STAGE. The delisting is also likely to affect storefronts worldwide, though M2 has not confirmed this. The reasoning? Nothing has been said, but it is likely a licensing issue. Given the eShop will close anyway in 2023, it’s only a few months early, but still worth knowing about so you can grab 3D After Burner II before it’s gone!

[Thanks gosokkyu!]

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SEGA of America moves to new offices in Irvine, California

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Back in 2015, SEGA of America went through a great deal of change with the biggest physical change bring their move from San Francisco to Irvine, California. We reported the news back when it happened, and even mourned the San Francisco HQ that the social media team invited us to visit. The 2015 move saw SEGA move out of their own space and into the existing ATLUS USA offices, and seeing as we had to dig around for the details ourselves it was clear that it was not a celebratory move. However, as 2023 approaches SEGA has revealed that they are moving once again and this time it comes with a press release and everything!

The move isn’t as big as San Francisco, as the new office space is just 3 minutes from the old one and still in Irvine, however as the press release details this is SEGA of America’s new headquarters first and ATLUS is coming along for the ride. The 31,700 square foot space is within the Innovation Office Park, in building 140, suite 100 specifically, and will facilitate up to 235 employees. Congrats to SEGA on the new location, and once you’re settled DM us an invite.

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Sonic Frontiers advances to final round in The Game Awards’ Players’ Voice Award

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Over the past week, Sonic Frontiers has been sweeping the vote in The Game Awards’ Players’ Voice Award, with SEGA’s game advancing to the final round. Now, with just a day left, Sonic’s best game in over a decade is less than 20% behind Genshin Impact, a free-to-play game that wasn’t even released in 2022. Sonic deserves this win, so click on over to vote for Sonic Frontiers!

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