Author Archives: Barry

SEGA Talk #69: Feel the Magic/Project Rub (2004)

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On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry take you back to the year 2004 with Sonic Team’s sexy Nintendo DS launch title Feel the Magic: XY/XX or Project Rub or I Would Die For You… Wait, what? Learn about the game’s many names, the development and legacy of this forgotten Sonic Team gem.

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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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Unboxing: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Animation Legends Blind Bag Part 4

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It has been so much fun making these Animation Legends unboxing videos where I sift through fifteen cels from one of my favorite childhood cartoons Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. This time, I also take a look at the 1985 Ewoks cartoon with a small five cel blind bag. On a bittersweet note, Animation Legends have announced that they are close to selling out of their Sonic cels, which means this might be the final video in the series.

BUT if you want to own some original art of your own, now is the time to check out their Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cels and promo code SEGABITS10 saves you 10% on your order and in turn, Animation Legends sends more cels my way to review.

Though with Sonic selling out soon, I might have to shift to Back to the Future: The Animated Series and start a BTTF fan site called GIGAwatts.

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Chinese Exclusive Astro City Mini Revealed, Red Buttons and Gold Limited Edition

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You thought SEGA was done releasing variants of the Astro City Mini? Think again! China will be seeing a release of the machine, featuring a red joystick and buttons as well as an accompanying controller. Also available will be a limited edition gold unit, though if you ask me it looks more like an old yellowing arcade machine which I guess has its own charm. No word on if the games lineup will be the same as Japan, but we will report back once we hear something.

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Has SEGA Ever Officially Called Sonic the Hedgehog “Sonic 1”?

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I want to talk about Sonic 1. Specifically, the term “Sonic 1”.

Following the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992, fans began to call the first game “Sonic 1”. The name is an easy way to differentiate the original 1991 game from Sonic the Hedgehog the comic series or the junior novel or OVA or 2006 game or 2020 movie or even the character himself. Fans have even given the Master System and Game Gear Sonic the Hedgehog the name “Sonic 8-bit” to make things less confusing.

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Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown revealed as Virtua Fighter eSports – New artwork released

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Back on April 2 the title Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown was leaked and today we have some additional information. As suspected, the game is the name for Japan’s Virtua Fighter eSports. Artwork for the game, seen above was published on the Japanese PSN while the Asian PSN has the game listed as Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown for PlayStation 4. This name change is no different from Japan’s Puyo Puyo eSports and Puyo Puyo Champions, the latter being the name for all other regions.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Movie News: Knuckles, GUN and Robotnik Revealed!

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The sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is currently shooting in Canada and those lucky enough to be living in or visiting Fort Langley have been seeing a lot of what will end up on screen. We’re a bit late to the news, so I figured a roundup of what has been revealed is in order. First up, as seen above, Knuckles is confirmed to be in the movie as revealed via CGI stand-ins used for lighting and framing references. Designs for Sonic and Tails appear to be retained, and it also appears that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will be using the Sonic Boom rule of Knuckles being taller than all the other animal characters.

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SEGA Talk #68: Altered Beast (1988)

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SEGA Talk goes back to 1988, as we alter our inner beasts to talk about the SEGA 16-bit “classic” Altered Beast! One thing is for sure, this game is heavy metal in a cartridge (or arcade)! Sit back and let’s talk all things Altered Beast!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

[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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Leak: SEGA planning Sonic Colors Ultimate for Switch, PS4 and Xbox

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Twitter user @Kutairo_ discovered an interesting listing on the website for the German dubbing studio for Sonic games. Under 2020 is project titled Sonic Colours Remaster, and additional details state December 20, 2020 as the project date and the category as “Game Localization – SIDE – SEGA”. At the moment, the project is still listed, so this is looking legit. But, to be on the safe side we are filing this under rumor until more details are known.

A Sonic Colors remaster would make a lot of sense, given it is one of the few Sonic games to not see a release outside its original console. The 2010 Wii release was a hit with fans, and the game is deserving of more exposure, so here’s hoping the remaster is real and perhaps we see Sonic Colors debuting on all major platforms alongside more 2D and 3D Sonic games in time for the 30th anniversary.

Update: The German dubbing website iksample.de is now down, no doubt to remove the leaked information. We did, however, save a screenshot which can be seen after the break.

Additionally, The Sonic Stadium is reporting that French online game retailer Sogamely had listed Sonic Colors for Switch, PS4 and Xbox One priced at €35 (about $40 US) and titled Sonic Colors Ultimate – Limited Edition. As such, we are shifting this from “Rumor” to “Leak”.

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SEGA Talk #67: Somari the Adventurer (1994)

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Mario Lives! After his death on March 31, Mario has been resurrected as Somari the Adventurer! On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry discuss this legendary bootleg game that brings Mario into the world of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System. Learn about the development, release and legacy of the Mario adventure SEGA and Nintendo don’t want you to see!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

[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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Today marks 20 years since SEGA left the home console business

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Back in 2018, SEGA hit a milestone as a company when on December 18 they had been in the third party business for as long as they were in the first party home console business. The first party period spanned 6,470 days (a little under 18 years) and ended officially on March 31, 2001. As such, today marks 20 years since SEGA left the first party home console business, a period which eclipses the time from SEGA’s debut of the SG-1000 in Japan on July 15, 1983 to that fateful day of March 21, 2001.

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SEGA’s Daisuke Sato would like to remaster Binary Domain, Yakuza Kenzan and Ishin

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In an interview with French website GameBlog, Yakuza series producer Daisuke Sato spoke about his desire to remaster 2012’s Binary Domain. Sato, who directed the game, said he personally would like to see it remastered and in doing so he would “make a few changes” and “redo some parts”.

Sato also cited the success of Ghost of Tsushima as a good reason for releasing remastered versions of the samurai era Yakuza Kenzan and Ishin in the West. Sato said that he had wanted to remaster the two games long before Ghost of Tsushima, but remastering Yakuza 2-5 was the priority and they missed the opportunity. However, Sato added “if anything, Ghost of Tsushima has helped Western gamers become more interested in samurai, so I should think of it as now is a more opportune time to release these titles.”

Sato ended the interview expressing a willingness to explore more genres in the future after the success of the JRPG-themed Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

[Source: GameBlog via Video Games Chronicle]

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SEGA #1 on Metacritic’s Annual Game Publisher Rankings List

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Metacritic has released their list of the publishers with the highest average metascore for games released in 2020, and it comes at no surprise that SEGA is NUMBER ONE. While other gaming news sites have shared this story and acted like it’s insane to even thing SEGA is number one, no doubt because of some nonsense about how Sonic ’06 was bad 15 years ago or something, we here at SEGAbits have seen SEGA’s 2020 output and can easily see why they’d take the top spot. Release good games, get good results!

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SEGA Talk #66: Valkyria Chronicles (2008)

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On this episode of SEGA Talk, Barry and George suit up and join the Gallian Revolutionary Army; exploring the 2008 SRPG classic Valkyria Chronicles. Sit down, grab some popcorn and let’s take a magical trip to Europa! Squad 7, move out!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

[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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Steamforged Games announces Sonic The Card Game, releasing 2021

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Steamforged Games, creators of tabletop games including several licensed video game board and card games, have announced Sonic The Card Game. From their website: “Sonic’s the name, and speed is the game—literally! Join the beloved blue blur in a competitive card racing game where you’ll collect power-ups and rings to win. It’s fast family fun you’ll race through again and again.”

Little else is known, but once we learn more about the game we’ll be sure to news it! Thanks for the tip, Berto!

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Unboxing: SEGA Astro City Mini DX Pack

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After two and a half months of waiting, my package from Japan containing the SEGA Astro City Mini DX Pack has arrived! Check out the full unboxing above for a close up look at all the cool bonus goodies SEGA included in this 60th Anniversary item.

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