Rumor: Archie Comics cancelling Sonic the Hedgehog comic series

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Over the past week there has been rumors circulating that Archie Comics would be losing the license to Sonic the Hedgehog, effectively cancelling the long running series. The rumors began when fans noticed that the Archie store was deeply discounting back issues and trade paperbacks by 75% and both Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe were dropped from the subscriptions page. The deep discounts are no sign for alarm, Archie has discounted sales all the time, but the missing subscription pages are a big red flag.

Daytona 3 Championship USA drops the number, is now Daytona Championship USA

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Earlier today, SEGA Amusements shared a trailer for their upcoming Daytona USA sequel Daytona 3 Championship USA. Upon the trailer’s release, fans were quick to notice that the logo and title had been altered to be simply Daytona Championship USA. I’ll admit, I caught it when I made the initial news post but I brushed it off as being either a mistake on SEGA’s part or a localized name for the game in the UK. But after a bit of clicking around on the SEGA Amusements website, it does indeed look like they have dropped the “3” in favor of a more simplified name.

No reason for the game has been given, but I’d guess they felt that the second game was so long ago (19 years) and not as well known as the original that the “3” just complicated things. Dropping the numbers on franchises seems to be a thing seen across the board, with home console games and movies dropping numbering. The game is still the third Daytona USA, and it will feature three new tracks in addition to the three original Daytona USA tracks.

SEGA Amusements releases Daytona 3 Championship USA Three-Seven Speedway trailer

In anticipation of tomorrow’s EAG International Expo in London, SEGA Amusements has released a new trailer for Daytona 3 Championship USA showcasing the return of the classic Daytona USA track Three-Seven Speedway. From the trailer above you can see some changes they’ve made to the classic track, including a change from classic to modern Sonic carved into the hillside and the lack of the slot machine – an unfortunate element that had to be dropped so that the game could appear in as many arcades as possible due to gambling restrictions in certain regions. But hey, it has the layout and the iconic music and we can’t wait to play it when Daytona 3 Championship USA begins to appear in arcades later this year!

Yoot Saito to host Classic Game Postmortem for Seaman at GDC 2017

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What?

The 2017 Game Developers Conference is just a little over a month away, and just last week it was announced that Japanese game designer Yoot Saito is set to host a behind-the-scenes look at the hit Dreamcast game Seaman in a Classic Game Postmortem. Yes, that’s right, I said “hit”. Despite the quirky nature of Seaman, it went on to become one of the most popular Dreamcast games in Japan – even outselling Shenmue!

The postmortem is set to be an hour long, and given Saito’s unique ideas for games it is sure to be an incredibly interesting discussion. The conference runs from February 27 to March 3, and date and time for the Seaman postmortem are still to be determined. You can learn more about the postmortem and GDC 2017 here.

Puyo Puyo Tetris available to pre-order for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch

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Following the announcement that Puyo Puyo Tetris is coming to the Americas and Europe to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, we now have pre-order listings to share! Puyo Puyo Tetris can now be pre-ordered for $29.99 on the PlayStation 4 and for $39.99 on the Nintendo Switch. Amazon Prime members get 20% off, making both a very good deal.

It has been noted by SEGA staffers that should Puyo Puyo Tetris sell well, Puyo Puyo Chronicles for Nintendo 3DS could follow.

Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition available to pre-order for Nintendo Switch

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Sonic Mania is coming to Nintendo Switch, and now you can pre-order the Collector’s Edition of the game for the upcoming home console. As with the other Sonic Mania Collector’s Editions coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC the list price is $69.99 and Prime members save an additional 20%. The edition comes with a deluxe collector’s box, a 12″ statue with SEGA startup audio, a SEGA cartridge cast with golden ring and a metallic collector’s card with download key.

If you’re going with the Switch version, you can pre-order the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition here. The game is due out Spring 2017, and Amazon lists a placeholder date of May 31, 2017.

Sonic Mania announced to release to Nintendo Switch

Following the Nintendo Switch conference, and Nagoshi’s presentation which offered little information on upcoming games, SEGA shared some cool announcements. Puyo Puyo Tetris is coming to PS4 and Switch in the Americas and Europe, and Sonic Mania is confirmed to be releasing to the Nintendo Switch in the spring of 2017, in addition to the already announced PS4, Xbox One and PC platforms. This makes the Switch the only handheld version of the game, in a sense. However, one downside is that there appears to be no collector’s edition of the game for Nintendo Switch owners, unless of course SEGA reveals one in the coming weeks.

More information as we hear it.

SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi takes the stage at Nintendo Switch conference

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SEGA game designer, producer, director, as well as the current Chief Creative Officer of Sega Corporation Toshihiro Nagoshi took the stage at Nintendo’s Switch presentation to… well, say that he was there and that SEGA had Switch on their radar. Nagoshi said: “SEGA sees a tremendous amount of appeal in Nintendo Switch and will intend to be present on the platform, and similarly I as an individual creator sense a new kind of appeal with this game hardware. We will consider new games for Nintendo Switch and will present them soon. This new hardware is taking on a new challenge and has a lot of appealing points and I would like to take advantage of this new concept and I would like to create a new interesting game.”

SEGA News Bits: SEGA Registers ShenmueHD.com Reaction

Following the discovery that SEGA Europe registered ShenmueHD.com, we learned that SEGA had also registered ShemnueGame.com (misspelling intentional) and ShenmueRemastered.com. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry enter the dojo to discover what this all means. Is SEGA planning a rerelease of Shenmue and Shenmue II? Give the show a watch to hear our findings!

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.

SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 0 First Impressions

SEGAbits received an advance review copy of Yakuza 0 for the Playstation 4, and in anticipation of the game’s release Barry grills George on what he thinks of the game so far. Being a prequel and the first game in the franchise to hit the PS4 in the west, Yakuza 0 will undoubtably be the first time many players experience the franchise. How does it play? How does it compare to past games in the series and past SEGA titles like Shenmue? Watch and find out!

Yakuza 0 releases January 24th, pre-order today to get the “The Business Edition”.

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.

SEGA News Bits: Sonic 2006 being remade for PC by fans with Unity, demo first impressions

Sonic 2006 is being remade in Unity by a small team headed by Gistix. A demo, playable on PC, has just released showcasing their progress in the form of the game’s original demo. We downloaded it and now talk about it in the first SEGA News Bits of 2017! Download the Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) Unity demo for yourself here.

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.

Sonic: Mega Drive trade paperback releasing this summer

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Sonic: Mega Drive is fast becoming one of Archie’s most popular Sonic the Hedgehog comics series. Fans enjoy the classic Sonic steeped storytelling of Ian Flynn, the beautiful and hilarious art of Tyson Hesse and of course the colors of Matt Herms and lettering of Jack Morelli. Archie, meanwhile, has enjoyed the success the two (soon to be three) one shot specials received in sales – the first installment became the first Archie Sonic comic to sell out!

Fans who were late to the Sonic: Mega Drive party, or who just want a handy collection of all three comics, will be happy to learn that Archie plans to release a trade paperback of all three July 18th, 2017. The paperback is available to pre-order now on Amazon, or you can order it from your favorite comic shop. It’ll be great to have the full story in one handy book, and no doubt there will be bonuses including a covers gallery, pencil sketches and more!

Hyperkin teasing RetroN 5 SEGA Master System & Game Gear converter

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Via RetroCollect and posted on the Hyperkin Facebook page comes news that the company plans to release a 3-in-1 adaptor for the RetroN 5 which will allow gamers to enjoy SEGA Master System cartridges, cards and Game Gear cartridges. The reveal was made at CES in Las Vegas, and the adaptor is a standalone cartridge that will work on the RetroN 5 multi-system emulator which was released back in 2014. No additional information is known, but once we hear something we’ll be sure to post an update. No word if this will also work on a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

 

SEGA Channel Retro Stream Highlights: A Brief History on David Gonterman

Thanks to Sonic Retro‘s David the Lurker, who is so steeped in Sonic the Hedgehog lore that he is writing Big’s Big Fishing Adventure 3 and named the island seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, we present to you a highlight from a SEGA Channel Retro stream in which David the Lurker regaled the listeners with a brief history on David Gonterman.

Who is David Gonterman? Why he is only the most famous Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction writer of the mid to late 1990s. He has written several crossover stories involving Sonic, Power Rangers, Doctor Who and Sailor Moon, and has injected himself into the action. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Watch the video above to learn more of this strange period in Sonic history.

Indie games coming to classic SEGA consoles in 2017

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Happy 2017 from SEGAbits! As everybody is coming back from the holiday season, we are beginning to look ahead to what we have in store for 2017. Our latest SEGA News Bits video ran through the official SEGA games releasing this year, and now we thought it would be helpful to share what games we can expect to see hitting classic SEGA consoles in 2017 from the indie game community. Thanks to SEGAbits Forums member Berto, we have a helpful topic which compiles all the upcoming SEGA indie games for 2017.

In addition to this list, Berto has also compiled a handy list which links to the respective crowdfunding campaigns, pre-orders and ROM/ISO download links. So what indie SEGA games are coming in 2017?