Author Archives: Barry

Check this out: The Story Of Digital Pictures – The FMV Studio Behind Sewer Shark, Night Trap, Double Switch & More

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YouTube Channel Wrestling With Gaming has produced some pretty great gaming documentaries, and his latest one takes a look at Digital Pictures which is the studio behind FMV games including Sewer Shark, Night Trap, and Double Switch. The series creator, Yahel, reached out to SEGAbits for permission to use our 2014 interview with Digital Pictures co-founder Tom Zito, and having seen Yahel’s previous videos we were more than happy to give the thumbs up! So check the video out and make sure to watch his backlog at Wrestling With Gaming, including some great SEGA installments covering VR, Bleem!, and the Saturn and 32X.

Keep up the great work, Yahel! After the break, check out our full original interview with Tom Zito.

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Forever Focusing On High Quality Ports

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SEGA Forever is seeing a change in 2018 and beyond, and it’s good news: high quality ports are the future! On this SEGA News Bits we look at this change and what games to expect in the future. What are your thoughts on the new direction? Let us know in the comments below.

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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What to expect from SEGA Forever in 2018 – Changes are coming!

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SEGA Forever, SEGA’s mobile initiative to bring classic SEGA games to smart devices, has updated the SEGA Mobile blog with details of what we can expect from the collection in 2018. Over the past 8 months, 18 titles have been released under the SEGA Forever banner, including emulated titles and native ports. Interestingly, it is noted in the post that the native ports (Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Crazy Taxi, and Virtua Tennis Challenge) have been the most played.

As such, SEGA has decided to make changes to SEGA Forever to appeal to gamers most interested in that aspect of the project. While emulated titles will still release, including some surprises, the main plan will be to release more native ports. As such, the amount of titles regularly released will reduce (no doubt due to the amount of work a native port requires when compared to emulation) however the next titles in the lineup will release soon. The post also notes that over the course of 8 months, there have been over 40 million downloads. Impressive!

You can follow SEGA Forever on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and check out their official website.

Read the full post here, and in the comments below let us know your thoughts on this shift in focus!

[Source: SEGA Mobile Blog]

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Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire changes its name to…

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The Crazy Taxi social media accounts have announced that Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire will be changing its name to… Crazy Taxi Tycoon. The game can now be found on the App Store and Google Play under the new name. No reasoning is given, however I’m certain it has to do with how difficult “Gazillionaire” may be for people to spell and the fact that it doesn’t quite tell you what the game is all about. Crazy Taxi Tycoon is more on the nose and a welcome change.

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SEGA manages to squeeze into the Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 teaser trailer

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The teaser trailer for the sequel to 2012’s Disney animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, titled Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2, has released. The first film was covered by us quite a bit, as SEGA had a sizable presence as Sonic the Hedgehog, House of the Dead, Altered Beast and other franchises made cameos and Sonic himself made the poster and home video release cover art. Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 will see Ralph venture into the internet, leaving the world of arcade references for jokes about eBay and iOS games. To be honest, I am not liking the direction the sequel is taking. A large part of what made the original so fun were all the classic game references, and I just don’t see cameos of popular websites to have any nostalgic value.

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SEGA hosting 24 hour charity stream for Gameblast 2018 – starts today!

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Later today, at 6pm UK time, SEGA Europe and Hardlight employees will be hosting a 24 charity stream for Gameblast 2018. The event, which you can learn more about here, aims to raise money for charity through streaming SEGA games, hosting other activities, and giving away swag. A special guest includes Hellena Taylor, the lead voice actor of Bayonetta, who will join the team as they play Bayonetta. Proceeds go to SpecialEffect, a UK based charity which uses video games and technology to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities.

The stream goes live in just a few hours as we post this, so make sure to check it out and show your support!

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Shining Resonance Refrain coming west this summer on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC

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In January this was a rumor we shared, and now it’s confirmed! Shining Resonance Refrain is coming west this summer on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC. The game will release as a Draconic Launch Edition featuring a collectible metal slipcase, priced at $49.99 USD / $64.99 CAD. We did a SEGA News Bits video on the initial announcement of the game back in November of last year, noting that the developers considered this a “worldwide product”. It’s great to see that this plan came to fruition, as the Shining series has been MIA in the west for far too long.

Stay tuned to SEGAbits for pre-order information, including an exact release date, and you can visit the official site shiningresonance.com as well. After the break, check out the full press release!

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IDW Sonic the Hedgehog villains Rough and Tumble revealed

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IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic books are due out with one issue per week in April and then monthly after that, and in the lead up to the new series we have our first look at the villains Rough and Tumble via Kotaku. Set to debut in issue three, these skunk brothers (Rough is the little one, Tumble is the big one) are described as “independent agents” and “more bullies than masterminds” but “tough enough to maybe become someone’s henchmen down the line”, according to associate editor David Mariotte. The character creation process is also touched on in the article, noting that SEGA has final approval on new creations.

IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog #1 releases April 4th! After the break, check out some additional images of the new villains.

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New Sonic the Hedgehog toys and figures coming from Diamond Select Toys

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Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles have announced that they have teamed with SEGA to create a line of Sonic the Hedgehog collectibles for, in their words, fans “young and old” (which to me translates to modern and classic Sonic). The first products will be unveiled at the International Toy Fair in New York City which is in just a few days on February 17. Product categories include Gallery PVC dioramas (9-inch scale PVC sculpted statues), Minimates block figures, Vinimates vinyl figures (4-inch block-style figures) and PVC mini-figures with collect-and-connect racetracks.

The new products are expected to release holiday 2018. We’ll be sure to share images of the new products as soon as they leak from the toy fair!

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Battle Racers board game Kickstarter launches

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A new officially licensed Sonic the Hedgehog board game has just hit Kickstarter, titled Sonic the Hedgehog: Battle Racers. Developed by Shinobi 7, the board game sees 2-5 players using re-painted miniatures to race past Badniks and bosses, while collecting rings in a sprint to the finish. While the game will see a commercial release outside of Kickstarter, there are bonuses to entice collectors. The bonuses, however, come at a cost as the only tier is $100 + shipping.

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Yakuza 6: The Song of Life delayed, demo release date announced

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We have good news and bad news. The good news is SEGA will be releasing a demo for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life on February 27th. The demo will allow players to bring their save into the full game upon release, so you can start your adventure early. The bad news is that the game will be delayed a month, releasing April 17, 2018. The move was cited as a tough business decision, but claims this gives more time to line things up for launch. The change puts Yakuza 6 4 days away from God of War, which some fear will hurt sales. However I personally think Yakuza has enough of a dedicated fanbase and the games are different enough that it really won’t be a big deal. Plus, does God of War have a premium edition that comes with drinking acoutrama?

You can still pre-order Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Essence of Art Edition for PlayStation 4, so if you haven’t already then get on it!

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Rare unreleased SEGA arcade game “Ribbit!” playable at the Galloping Ghost

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The largest arcade in the world, Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL, has appeared quite a bit on our news page thanks to their continued efforts to make as many games playable as possible in their ever expanding lineup of machines (at well over 600). Their latest addition is a unique title from SEGA’s arcade past: 1991’s Ribbit!. Developed and published by SEGA for the System C Hardware (an arcade board most notably used for Puyo Puyo, Columns and SegaSonic Popcorn Shop), the game plays similarly to Frogger where 1-2 players control frogs in four directions with the goal being to eat all the small bugs but ignore the larger ones.

Unfortunately, the game played too similarly to Frogger and it is said Konami threatened a lawsuit which lead to the game not seeing a full release. How Galloping Ghost got their hands on the board is a story they say will be told soon. In the meantime, fans of obscure arcade games can head on over to the arcade and play this hidden gem now! Worth noting, the team at Galloping Ghost placed Ribbit! into an original Frogger cabinet and had custom side art, marquee and control panel art made at Galloping Ghost Reproductions.

After the break, check out a gallery of images and I’ll be sure to write up an arcade game review of the game the next time I head over there!

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Sumo Digital working on unannounced karting game – is Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing 3 in the works? [Update: Nope]

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Update: Sonic social media and PR man Aaron Webber said the following on Twitter: “Hi guys – saw rumors floating today about another SART game. Just wanted to confirm it’s not a thing!”

Developer Sumo Digital held a year end presentation and it appears there was a bit of a leak, as the presentation slides made their way online. The presentation details Sumo’s past, present and near future, and on the slide detailing current projects there is something that may be of interest to SEGA fans. Listed as being “in development” is an “unannounced karting game” which will feature “established global IP” and “original development”.

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Shining Resonance Re:frain rated by Australian Classification board – is the game releasing to the west?

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Shining Resonance Re:frain, the PS4 remaster of 2014’s Shining Resonance, could be releasing west based on a recent rating on the Australian Classificationboard website. Listed as being published by Sega of America, this is not out of line with previous SEGA titles rated for the region. The game is currently due out in Japan on March 29.

We did a SEGA News Bits video on the initial announcement of the game back in November of last year, noting that the developers considered this a “worldwide product”. So it looks like they are getting their wish with a western release! More news as we hear it. Now if only SEGA announced the new Virtual-On for the west…

[Source: Gematsu]

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