Author Archives: Barry

SEGA and Atlus E3 2017 lineup revealed

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SEGA and Atlus have officially announced their lineup for E3 2017, and while there are no major surprises there is a diverse lineup of great looking games! Yakuza and Sonic take center stage, with Yakuza 6, Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces on display. Atlus, meanwhile, will have 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Etrian Odyssey V, Radient Historia: Perfect Chronology and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux to play. SEGA Europe also has a booth, where they will have Total War: WARHAMMER II and additional Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces kiosks.

Worth noting, the upcoming Valkyria Revolution and Yakuza Kiwami appear to have no representation at this year’s booth. Valkyria Revolution makes some sense, as the game is due out in just three weeks, but Yakuza Kiwami is due out in two months. A kiosk for the game would have been nice, but it appears SEGA wants to focus on 2018’s Yakuza 6 which is a bigger game for the company.

SEGAbits writers will be attending E3, so expect coverage from us from the show floor. After the break, check out the full press release!

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Sonic Mania Chemical Plant Zone revealed in new gameplay trailer

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SEGA has revealed another returning classic Sonic stage to appear in Sonic Mania, Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s Chemical Plant Zone. Often cited by fans as the favorite stage in their favorite game of the series, Chemical Plant is not new to modern gaming as 2011’s Sonic Generations featured the zone in the console version of the game. The Sonic Mania remix features new music from Tee Lopes and several new gimmicks including bouncy goopy rivers, sticky walls and teleporting bubbles. SEGA has provided us with screenshots and additional footage which you can see after the break.

Sonic Mania is now available for digital preorder and is set to release on August 15th for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Yu Suzuki announces Shenmue 3 release date delayed to second half of 2018

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Yu Suzuki has announced, in a message to Shenmue 3 Kickstarter backers, that the game has become bigger and more beautiful than he initially expected. As such, the development schedule has been revised and the release of the game has shifted from the end of 2017 to the second half of 2018. This pushes the release date back 6-12 months. Suzuki mentions that new technologies have allowed the team to discover new possibilities and expressions, and promised that details of the revised schedule will be detailed in a backer report later this month. Suzuki closed the video message by thanking backers for their understanding and continued support.

The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter was initially revealed on the Sony stage at E3 2015 and upon completion of the campaign in July 2015, the team had raised $6,333,295. That amount increased to $6,762,419 following a “slacker backer” campaign held on the shenmue.link website for those who missed the campaign. Development was said to begin early 2017, so fans like myself were not expecting the game to meet the December 2017 deadline. To be honest, it’s good news to hear an announcement of a delay, as it relieves the team the pressures of rushing a much anticipated game and gives fans warning of a delay a full 6 months before the originally anticipated release.

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic & All-Stars Fighters and Football Concepts Reaction

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Concept art for proposed Sonic & SEGA All-Stars games were found online via the creative agency Funsolve Limited, who have also worked on Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Had they been approved by SEGA, the games would have been Sonic & All-Stars Fighters and Sonic & All-Stars Football/Soccer. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry take a look at this concept art and discuss the proposed games. Should SEGA have made them? Will SEGA still make them?

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

 

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SEGA releases new Sonic Forces music track – give it a listen!

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SEGA, via the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube account, has released a music track from the upcoming Sonic Forces. The track, titled “Park Avenue” was heard briefly in the gameplay teaser, but now we’re hearing the lyrics that only were heard at the tail-end of that teaser. SEGA PR had this to say about the track:

Hit that beat, Sonic! Today, SEGA® dropped a brand new music track featured in Sonic Forces, the upcoming Sonic game that lets players experience fast paced action as Modern Sonic, catapult past perilous platforms as Classic Sonic, and use powerful new gadgets as your own Custom Hero Character. The energetic, upbeat music is the background music for the Park Avenue Stage featuring the Custom Hero Character.

Composed by Tomoya Ohtani, the track is upbeat and features lyrics that evoke both Sonic Adventure 2‘s Knuckles stage tracks and Sonic R. Personally, I think it’s great to hear vocals back in Sonic games. What do you think of the track?

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Sonic Mania screens and high res trailer screenshots gallery

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A ton of Sonic Mania news hit yesterday, and following the bevy of information we’ve assembled the released press screenshots as well as a selection of screenshots taken from a high resolution version of the pre-order trailer. Some interesting images include new classic Eggman art, a look at Stardust Speedway and of course a tease of what we assume are the fully animated in-game cutscenes.

After the break, check out the gallery!

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Sonic Mania Steam price revealed, release date confirmed to be August 15

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Steam has just listed the pre-order price for Sonic Mania, and it appears to be much in line with what fans expected. The game will sell digitally, on Steam for PC, at $19.99 with a pre-purchase incentive price of $17.99. One would assume that this price will carry over to the PS4, Xbox One and Switch versions.

The Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition, available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, is currently priced at around $60 with discounts and Amazon Prime pre-order incentives applied. Minus the price of the game, this would place the “SEGA Genesis” style Collector’s Box, 12″ Classic Sonic Statue featuring SEGA Genesis Base, Metallic Collector’s Card and SEGA Cartridge Cast with Golden Ring at around $40 total. Not bad when you consider the statue alone would likely retail for more than $40.

Update: It was pointed out on Twitter that Sonic Mania‘s release date has been confirmed to be August 15, as previously revealed. The date appears when checking out.

What are your thoughts on the price? Which platform do you plan to play on?

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Space Channel 5 Ulala Figma figure announced – Chu, Chu, Chu!

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Figma, the Japanese action figure company, have announced their latest collaboration with SEGA – a stunning Space Channel 5 Ulala figure. The figure is slated for December 2017 and will feature Ulala with microphone and gun accessories and three Morolians. The listed price is ¥7,800 (around $70), which is a bit steep when compared to past SEGA Figma releases, but some stores do list items with discounts. The main release will feature Ulala in her silver Part 2 attire, but if you want the orange original you’ll have to order from Goodsmile. Goodsmile lists their variant at ¥7,222 before tax and states that preorders will be open from 30th May 2017 (Tue) from 12:00JST until 29th June 2017 (Thu) at 12:00JST. The silver version is also available at Goodsmile for ¥7,222 but Amiami has it for less at ¥6,280.

What do you think of Figma’s latest release? Are you annoyed like I am that they still haven’t listed the Jet Set Radio Beat figure that was revealed back in July of 2016?

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Reveals New Startup Logo Reaction

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Remember the iconic “SE-GA” startup chorus or the SEGA scream? How about the more recent manly voiced “SEGA”? Well the manly voice is going away and in its place, an eye! That’s right, SEGA are unveiling a new intro for their games and on this SEGA News Bits George and Barry react to the change and run through the history of SEGA startups.

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

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Sonic Mania releases August 15 according to new Steam Store trailer

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According to several Steam users in select parts of the world, a revised Sonic Mania trailer has appeared listing August 15 as the game’s release date. While the US store has not shown anything new, the European and some South American Steam Stores show the date. The date would mean we have two and a half months to wait before the game releases, and it also means the game would not make the end of Sonic’s 25th anniversary on June 23. We’ll share more as he hear it!

Pre-order the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition today, available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Yoot Saito hints at a Seaman return

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“Don’t Panic!” That’s what the t-shirts read in a tweet from Seaman creator Yoot Saito (it’s also on the cover of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but I doubt there is a connection). The tweet reads “Seemingly, a new project is being started. Guess what from the web-address on their back.” with the web address linking to www.seaman.ai which is currently shown as being under construction. We’ve covered a lot of Seaman news over the past five years, with the most notable headlines being “Nikkei reports that Seaman’s being revived on the 3DS” in 2012, “Nintendo trademarks point towards a new Seaman game” in 2013 and “Devolver Digital wants to make a new Seaman game” in 2015.

Could the mystery project be a remaster, a sequel, a Nintendo exclusive or a team up with a developer like Devolver Digital? Perhaps a Kickstarter will soon be launched? We’ll have to wait and see.

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SEGA News Bits: Everything We Know About Shenmue HD

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The Shenmue HD remaster rumors are back, and on this SEGA News Bits George and Barry discuss the latest news and detail the long history of Shenmue HD leaks and rumors. Could there be a pattern emerging from all the remaster rumors? Is a Shenmue HD release imminent? Watch the video to hear our thoughts!

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

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Survey: Tell us your favorite Persona 5 character

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We’re running a special survey for Persona 5 to find out what characters are fan favorites! All you need to do is start the survey, seen above, and make one selection or write in a character from the game that is missing from the list. The survey will run until this Friday, but we ask those who want to take it to take it sooner than later.

So what are you waiting for? Take the survey already!

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This is how SEGA’s games will start moving forward

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SEGA is synonymous with many things, but the most notable would have to be the startup logo. In the console days, systems like the Master System, SEGA CD, Saturn and Dreamcast had their own startup logo. But once the game began, you’d be treated to the SEGA logo. How the SEGA logo appeared often differed from game to game, but in the later years – especially once SEGA went third party – things became more uniform. From around 2005 to the past year we had the swoosh and deep voiced “SEGA” logo for most games. Most games featured this, though there has been exceptions (Alien: Isolation, Yakuza 0, Puyo Puyo Tetris to name a few). According to Sam Mullen, Senior Localization Producer for SEGA products at Atlus USA, the swoosh and low voice is no more and the above eye is the new logo ident moving forward.

The eye first appeared in a SEGA of Japan video titled “Branding Movie”, seen after the break, which should have a subtitled version coming soon according to Sam. The video shows SEGA’s Chief Product Officer (and Monkey Ball and Yakuza creator) Toshihiro Nagoshi on a computer looking at the human eye. He then reflects on SEGA’s games and identity as he drives around Japan looking out the window. We see people interacting with SEGA products in their daily lives. We then see Nagoshi analyzing the brand with staff through meetings and tests and then the words “Amazing SEGA” appear on screen before the eye ident closes things off.

Clearly SEGA of Japan have put time and energy into this new startup, the question is what is the reasoning for the change? What do you think of the new startup? Sound off in the comments below.

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Endless Space 2 releases today for Windows and Mac

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The Amplitude Studios developed Endless Space 2 sees its full release today on Windows and Mac. The turn-based strategy sci-fi game is a sequel to 2012’s two-time Unity-award winning Endless Space. As of July 2016, Amplitude Studios is a fully owned subsidiary of SEGA, meaning Endless Space 2 is a franchise fully owned by SEGA!

While the game has been available via early access since October 2016, today marks the full official release. The game is available on Steam and Amazon, and is available in two digital editions: the standard edition of Endless Space 2 for $39.99 and the Deluxe Edition of Endless Space 2 for $49.99 which includes a digital soundtrack, the “PATHFINDER” hero ship skin and “PATHFINDER” academy heroes Brunem Berto-Lancellum and Kinete Muldaur.

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