Last week we shared details and screens from the SEGA AGES release of OutRun for Nintendo Switch. Now we have a cool trailer showcasing the game! Available now in the Japan, the game is due out in the west in 2019. This version of the game will run in 60fps with widescreen support, standard and gyro controls, and more!
Back in early 2014 we shared the news that the Blake J. Harris book CONSOLE WARS: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation would be releasing as a documentary and then a movie, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Since then, the book released and we not only reviewed it, but we also had the honor of interviewing former SEGA of America president Tom Kalinske, former director of marketing Al Nilsen and the book’s author Blake J. Harris. We also covered the Console Wars Comic Con panel, providing exclusive video of the event. Suffice to say, we loved Console Wars.
Since then, however, Hollywood has been silent on the documentary and movie front… until now! Via Variety comes news that the book will no longer be adapted into a movie, but instead a limited series. Rogen and Goldberg will executive produce, and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (writer of Kong: Skull Island) will direct with Mike Rosolio set to write the pilot (the latter two will also serve as executive producers). We don’t know where the series will air yet, but recent Rogen and Goldberg projects premiered on Hulu and Amazon Prime.
Today is the 50th birthday of Ryo Hazuki, fictional star of SEGA and Yu Suzuki’s ongoing Shenmue series. Ryo’s birthdate is given as November 29th, 1968, making him 18 at the time of Shenmue. In fact, Ryo’s 18th birthday is the same day that Lan Di murdered his father. Oddly, this fact really isn’t mentioned in the game (to my knowledge) but knowing this really makes those fateful opening moments all the more heartbreaking for Ryo. Assuming Ryo survives the events of Shenmue III and potential future sequels, he would be 50 years old today, four years older than his father who was murdered at 46.
If you’d like to know what Ryo is currently up to, back in 2010 on The Saturn Junkyard blog I wrote a pretend interview with Ryo asking him about his SEGA Saturn to learn how he was able to own the console ten years before it was actually released. Ryo let slip a few details of his current situation.
Happy birthday, Ryo!
Happy Thanksgiving! On this SEGA News Bits we’re mixing things up by looking back on the past year and talking about what we’re thankful for as SEGA fans and what we’re looking forward to for the future of the company. We hope all our viewers (even the thumbs down guys) have a safe and happy turkey day.
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Way back in early 2015 we reported that SEGA Networks has acquired Demiurge Studios. Demiurge was known for their work in porting games, creating multiplayer maps and developing mobile games. Since their acquisition by SEGA, the studio released Puzzle & Glory and Crazy Taxi Tycoon (formerly titled Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire). The studio’s latest release, SEGA Heroes, is a match three puzzle RPG game combining various SEGA franchises. Free to play and available now, the game can be found on the App Store and Google Play and is available globally (though we have heard some regions are still waiting).
Tokyo Game Show 2018 may have been back in late September, but SEGA has just nows released a video from the event sitting down with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka to discuss the upcoming Team Sonic Racing. Iizuka talks about the inspiration for the team gameplay, the music and more! For those who missed the news, the game has been delayed to May 21, 2019 and it appears Sumo Digital is still hiring track and vehicle handling designers meaning the game is still very much in active development and there is a concerted effort to make the game the best it can be.
Pre-order Team Sonic Racing today!
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch
Screaming Villains is offering up another FMV classic following the successful remaster of Night Trap. Double Switch, seen by many as an attempt to improve and perfect the Night Trap formula, is now available to pre-order from Limited Run Games for the PlayStation 4. Unlike most Limited Run Games releases, the standard edition is a timed pre-order window with no stock limit. You’ll have until November 16th to pre-order. Meanwhile, there is a limited collector’s edition which, at the time of this posting, is 50% sold out. You can pre-order that here!
SEGA fans know this game best for its SEGA CD version, but the remaster will put that one to shame with crystal clear video and improved gameplay, as well as bonus content.
We spoke to Tyler, head of Screaming Villains, on a Swingin’ Report Show podcast. You can check that episode out here!
On this SEGA News Bits Extra we discuss the return of the king… King Boom Boo that is who has his own spooky track in Team Sonic Racing! We also talk about Sonic’s cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Phantasy Star‘s SEGA AGES release and the original Persona game appearing on the PlayStation Classic.
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We’ve been a little hard on Team Sonic Racing here at SEGAbits, but we do so out of love. Following up from the great Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and excellent Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Team Sonic Racing felt a little flat. In dropping the other SEGA characters and making it Sonic-only, I felt that SEGA really needed to go the extra mile to appease fans. Go nuts with the callbacks to Sonic’s racing past, feature long lost characters like Fang, give us tracks that mash-up classic and modern eras. Unfortunately, from what we’ve seen the roster is limited and the tracks feel pretty basic.
Thankfully, with the announcement of a delay to May 2019, we could see a little more TLC put into the game and today’s reveal just might be an indication of that. Released on the Sonic social media accounts is a preview of the music from a new track “Boo’s House”. What’s great about the track design is that it evokes Sonic 3‘s Sandopolis and Sonic Adventure 2‘s Pyramid Cave. The track is home to Sonic Adventure 2‘s boss King Boom Boo and the music is a remix of Sandopolis by Tee Lopes & Jun Senoue featuring Tei Sena on violin. Suffice to say, this reveal makes me very happy and I hope we see this level of fan service applied to other tracks in the game.
The embarrassingly titled sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, releases next month. While the follow-up to the arcade and video game reference packed original is trading nostalgia for hip and trendy internet references, at least we will get some video game cameos. SEGA mascot Sonic the Hedgehog appeared a few times in the first movie, and he returns here with dialogue once again provided by Roger Craig Smith.
Footage of the cameo had been floating around the past few days, but it was a truncated and cropped version of the above video. Fans online have noted how great the animation on Sonic is, and I totally agree. He looks and sounds great! Such a shame a year from now we have that Sonic movie releasing where he will be in the real world and voiced by a different actor. Oh well, enough negativity from Old Man Barry… enjoy the clip!
The full line-up of 20 games which will be included on the PlayStation Classic plug and play has been revealed, and surprisingly there is a reason for us to share the news! No, there aren’t any SEGA games included but an ATLUS title did make the cut. Included in the PlayStation Classic will be the first game in the Persona series, Revelations: Persona.
Shenmue III is seemingly still on track for a August 27, 2019 release date, and leading up to the big day we now have a Steam page up for the PC release of the game. Little new information is revealed, however there is a new screenshot of Ryo playing mini-games that looks quite nice. In the background is seen Excite QTE 3, and Ryo is playing QTE Title.
SEGA’s own online merch store SEGA Shop is now a year old. Since the shop’s debut, they’ve expanded beyond Sonic and SEGA Genesis themed items to include Yakuza, Altered Beast, Shinobi and others. The latest addition is a lineup of Jet Set Radio themed merch. Items include a t-shirt, a denim jacket, hoodies, patches, a water bottle, glasses, a graffiti stencil and a smart tablet case.
Via Arcade Heroes comes the news that SEGA Amusements will be debuting a new arcade racer at next month’s IAAPA 2018 trade show in Orlando, FLorida. The game is titled ATV Slam and, as the title suggests, is an ATV racer. This appears to be a new IP created by SEGA, as Arcade Heroes could not dig up any information on the game outside of this announcement. On our end, it appears to be a new IP as well.
On this SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast Barry is joined by Aki-At, developer of indie game Brock Crocodile, site contributor and one of the original three Swingin’ Report Show hosts, to interview Matt Phillips the creator of the Mega Drive/Genesis indie game Tanglewood. Matt’s past experience includes work at Traveller’s Tales, Crytek and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Learn how Tanglewood came about and how one goes about making a new game on 30 year old hardware.
Learn more about Tanglewood and purchase the game for Steam and SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.
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