Author Archives: Barry

Hardcore Gaming 101 Sega Arcade Classics Vol. 2 and Fan Jam books available now

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If you haven’t checked out the excellent book SEGA Arcade Classics Vol. 1 by Hardcore Gaming 101, you really should fix that. The book is an excellent guide to SEGA’s arcade history, spotlighting not just games but their many sequels, revisions and home console counterparts. While volume 1 covered the early days, there was so much more to be covered. Thankfully HG101’s Kurt Kalata is giving us another volume with SEGA Arcade Classics Vol. 2, which is now available to purchase just in time for the holiday season! Per the description, covered games include golden era arcade classics like Pengo, Zaxxon, Congo Bongo, and Flicky; racing titles, ranging from classics like Monaco GP and Turbo, up through Hang-On and Rad Mobile; beat-em-ups like My Hero and Arabian Fight; SEGA’s super scalers Subroc 3-D and Buck Rogers and the Planet of Zoom; overlooked classics like Spatter, Ninja Princess, Bonanza Bros., and Aurail; and the long forgotten Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game.

Also available is The Hardcore Gaming 101 and Sonic & Sega Fan Jam 2016 Fanbook, which was produced in conjunction with SEGAbits (hey, that’s us!) for the Sonic & Sega Fan Jam 2016 event in Savannah, Georgia of which we are a sponsor. The book features a sampling of HG101 articles highlighting a range of SEGA games, including Streets of Rage, Sakura Wars, ToeJam & Earl, NiGHTS, Puyo Puyo, and Virtua Fighter. Also included are reviews of two games: Segata Sanshiro Shinken Yuugi, the Saturn minigame collection starring SEGA’s ultra manly spokesman, and Segagaga, the Dreamcast simulation game where you attempt to run SEGA as a company to save the realm of video gaming! Also included are reviews of three lesser known Master System games: Ghost House, Maze Hunter 3D, and Kenseiden. The Fan Jam book is available in two flavors: the standard edition with a Master System-inspired cover and a variant cover featuring Sonic and several SEGA all-stars.

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Contest: Numskull Designs Sonic Green Hill Zone Christmas Jumper/Sweater Giveaway

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Thanks to our amigos at Numskull Designs, we have a holiday competition kicking off today on Twitter! To celebrate their line of 2016 Christmas jumpers (the European way of saying sweaters), we’ve teamed up for a Twitter giveaway where one lucky fan will win a Sonic Green Hill Zone Christmas jumper/sweater.

To enter, all you need to do is follow SEGAbits and Numskull Designs on Twitter and retweet the contest tweet. One winner will be chosen and the contest is open worldwide. The contest ends on Friday, December 16th at 11:59PM CT and a winner will be announced the following day.

Good luck to all who enter, and even if you don’t end up winning don’t fret. We always have competitions cooking here at SEGAbits. Plus, aren’t we all winners in our own ways?

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SEGA News Bits: Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 6 Are Coming West Reaction

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SEGA punched us square in the jaw with a reveal at the Playstation Experience event that both Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 6 will be coming in the summer of 2017 and early 2018 respectively to the Playstation 4. Combined with the fact that Yakuza 0 is due out just next month, we think it is safe to say that Yakuza is back, baby! On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry react to the news and share their thoughts on both the past and the future of the series. New to Yakuza? Learn just where to start and what games to check out. In the comments below, tell us your thoughts on the news!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us. Give us a sub, if you are already subscribed you can always like the video.

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SEGA News Bits: First Look at the Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book

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Cook & Becker’s Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary art book is now up for pre-order, and on this SEGA News Bits George and Barry share their thoughts on the upcoming book. Take a look at several images of the Special Collector’s Edition of the book and learn some details of what we might expect to find in the book.

Are you a Sonic collector with original official art? Contact Cook & Becker as they are looking for potential rarities to include in the book!

If you like our SEGA News Bits segments, make sure you subscribe to us on YouTube. Thanks for watching!

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First look at the official ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary’ art book from Cook & Becker – available for pre-order

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Thanks to the next-gen art dealers at Cook & Becker, we have a first look at the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary art book via an in-depth gallery of images as well as a full press release. So let’s get down to it! The art book, the first ever official art book and design history for the long running series, encapsulates 25 years of history. The book will be made available in a limited Special Collector’s Edition as well as a Standard Hardcover Edition. The Special Collector’s Edition features an outer box, a special inner sleeve that folds into a display stand for the book and an exclusive newly drawn matted art giclee print by Sonic Team’s Yuji Uekawa. The Collector’s Edition is limited to 2,500 copies and sells for $120/€120 respectively. As a pre-order bonus, Cook & Becker offers a 10% discount on the Collector’s Edition if it is ordered before February 2017. The Standard Edition, meanwhile, retails for $45/€45 and consists of the book itself.

Let’s talk about the book! Officially licensed, the book (310mm H x 275mm W) will feature 200+ pages of images and text, including interviews with key Sonic designers including Yuji Naka, Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Uekawa. As seen in the image gallery below, you can expect to find concept art, promotional art, 3D renders, box art and – as revealed in our recent article – original official art and rare collectibles submitted by fans (pending approval from Cook & Becker and SEGA, of course).

After the break, check out a full press release detailing the book as well as a gallery of several images showing off the ins and outs of the book as well as the Special Collector’s Edition. Don’t forget to pre-order the book today at the official Cook & Becker site!

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Attention Sonic the Hedgehog collectors: Cook & Becker are looking for rare original official art and collectibles

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If you haven’t already heard, next-gen art dealers Cook & Becker plan to release a “Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book”. The book will cover the history of Sonic and will include design sketches, official character illustrations, in-game art, pixel art, rare promotional art and game box art. While SEGA has provided Cook & Becker with many great art assets from the company archives, as is the case with original art spanning 25 years there is always more out there in private collections.

Cook & Becker reached out to us asking if we would ask you, the fans, to lend a hand if you can. As the book enters the final stages of design, there is little under a month left before the window closes on what can appear in the book and we are asking any fans with cool rare retro merchandise, rare original promotional art and rare manual scans to reach out to Cook & Becker via their contact page or email maarten [at] candb.com. Cook & Becker is looking for high res photos and scans of what they may not already have. They will credit anyone in the book that sends in material that gets included. I know, for example, that there is some really great original art from the late SEGA Genesis-era artist Greg Martin in several collections.

It should be noted that Cook & Becker are NOT looking for fan art, only rare and original official pieces of artwork and collectibles. More news on Cook & Becker’s book to come, so stay tuned!

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Data Discs shows off upcoming Panzer Dragoon & Revenge of Shinobi vinyl releases

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Data Discs have announced their next two SEGA vinyl releases, and both are sure to please fans of classic SEGA music. First up is the 1995 SEGA Saturn classic Panzer Dragoon, presented as a double 180g LP cut at 45rpm and housed in a single pocket 425gsm mirror board sleeve with accompanying lithographic insert and silver laminated OBI strip. If all that sounds too technical for you, you can see just how lovely it is in the photo above and in the gallery below. The release features the complete score from the late Yoshitaka Azuma, along with three bonus tracks of alternate synthesizer versions. Three editions are available (all priced at £22.99) including a 180g 2xLP on frosted clear sky blue and grey vinyl limited edition, a 180g 2xLP on sky blue vinyl and a 180g 2xLP on classic black vinyl.

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Survey Results for What Franchise Fans Want Revived

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This past week, SEGA of Japan put out a survey asking fans what brand they are most invested in, who their favorite character is, and which franchise they want to see revived. Now that the survey has ended, the results were posted and there were quite a few surprises! In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry discuss the results and share their thoughts on the fan submitted entries. Did your favorite franchise make the cut? Check out the video above and once your done sound off in the comments below.

If you like our SEGA News Bits segments, make sure you subscribe to us on YouTube. Thanks for watching!

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Unboxing: Sonic X Collection 01 Seasons 1&2 DVD

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Discotek Media’s release of Sonic X Collection 01 Seasons 1&2 released to DVD today, and upon opening it I was pretty impressed with the packaging so I thought I’d do one of those unboxings kids love so much. The release contains the first 52 episodes, which were divided into two seasons in the West, and contains only the English dub. A second collection containing season 3 is due out December 6th.

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Latest Yakuza 0 trailer shows off all the fun you can have in 1980s Japan

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The Yakuza series handles some pretty heavy themes, and Yakuza 0 will be no different. But that doesn’t mean that the series is all dark and gritty! As evidenced by SEGA’s latest Yakuza 0 trailer, the game will feature many off-the-wall mini-games to distract you. Players will be able to do everything from date, call up girls on the phone, dance, sing, play classic SEGA arcade games like Space Harrier, OutRun and Hang-On, and even bet money on catfights.

If you like the wacky side of SEGA, check this trailer out and don’t forget to pre-order Yakuza 0 for Playstation 4 – the game releases physically and digitally in the Americas and Europe beginning Jan. 24, 2017.

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8 minutes of Daytona 3 Championship USA arcade gameplay

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Arcade Heroes continues to release Daytona 3 Championship USA information from IAAPA 2016, this time offering up over 8 minutes of footage of the game in action! The video gives us a good look at how races play out and how the player facing cameras function. We also get to see damage to the cars and the car’s reflective surfaces. For more information on Daytona 3 Championship USA make sure to read the preview over at Arcade Heroes.

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SEGA Amusements releases Daytona 3 Championship USA teaser trailer

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We’ve been talking a lot about Daytona 3 Championship USA over the past week here on the SEGAbits front page, but now we finally get a look at the game in action thanks to a teaser trailer from SEGA Amusements! As seen above, the latest Daytona USA game features the same joyous music and colorful graphics as the original but upped to modern graphical standards. The music is, to my ear, a new arrangement of the classic “Let’s Go Away” from Takenobu Mitsuyoshi who has been rumored to be returning for the project.

Fans should spot some easter eggs including Sonic carved into the cliff and a sign for Virtua Inn in the Virtua Fighter logo style. Give the video a watch and let us know your thoughts in the comments below or in our dedicated forum topic. Learn more about how the game plays, and some other new details, in the preview from Arcade Heroes.

Via Arcade Heroes preview, Daytona 3 Championship USA is slated for a March/April 2017 release. Expect to see a more complete software package at the AMOA/AAMA Amusement Expo in March or maybe at the January UK arcade expo.

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Get a first look at the Daytona 3 Championship USA arcade machine

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The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) 2016 conference kicks off this week, and while the conference starts today the floor show doesn’t open until tomorrow. In the meantime, attendees can see exhibitors setting up their booths which means we get sneak peeks at new arcade machines. Daytona 3 Championship USA is probably the biggest reveal at the event, so it only makes sense that we get a leak. Thanks to Arcade Belgium, we have a look at the 8-seater setup of the game. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t running and the photo isn’t the highest quality, so we can’t see the game in action and are unable to confirm if the AM2 logo appears on the machine. I did notice that in the lower left of the machine there are what appear to be sponsor logos, and one kinda-sorta looks like the AM2 logo, but there’s no way to tell from this photo. Also, it is worth noting that recent AM2 games did not feature the studio logo on the machine. Fans shouldn’t fret, however, as we had learned from a reliable source that much of the original Daytona USA team worked on the game.

More information, including a trailer, should be hitting soon!

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Classic SEGA Ads: Xbox One S commercial rips off classic Dreamcast commercials

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With the holiday season approaching, Sony and Microsoft are pushing their latest upgraded consoles to the masses meaning a lot of money is being spent on advertising. One ad which caught my attention was a recent Xbox One S commercial dubbed “Portals”. The ad kicks off with the new white console and then has the camera fly inside the machine to pass through several rectangular portals, each portal containing a game’s universe. There are a few moments where they cut away to people playing the Xbox One S before jumping back inside the machine to show some more video game universes before pulling out and showing the console once again. Cool ad right? I swear I’ve seen this before.

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Sonic Boom season 2 to premiere on Boomerang, airing later on Cartoon Network, this November

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In a press release that dropped today, details of Sonic Boom season 2 were revealed. The second season will premiere on Boomerang Saturday, November 12th at 6 p.m. ET. For those who don’t have Boomerang and fear that the show has left Cartoon Network, fear not! The press release states that the Boomerang premieres will replay on Cartoon Network starting Nov. 19.

Sonic Boom season two will consist of fifty-two 11-minute episodes. The press release teases various plots including “cases of mistaken identity, androids from an outlandish land, real live urban legends, a haunted lair, familiar faces (Shadow and more characters from the Sonic game universe), plus epic conflicts with powerful, new foes”. Viewers can also expect “potent crystals, mercurial mecha, slick scuba gear, stylin’ space suits, sharp snow supplies, custom cars, total team spirit, and of course, constant clashes with the offensive Dr. Eggman and his compelling creations”.

After the break, check out the full press release! Are you looking forward to season two of Sonic Boom? Sound off in the comments below.

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