Author Archives: Barry

Pokémon GO releasing to the Dreamcast VMU in 2017

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The creator of Flappy Bird for the Dreamcast VMU, known as guacasaurus_mex on Instagram, has been hard at work on cool fan made VMU games since we last featured him. His Flappy Bird follow-up, Street Race, featured six OutRun-style tracks and a unique grayscale graphics trick which has to be seen to be believed. His latest project dives back into the smartphone remake world with a Dreamcast VMU version of Pokémon GO. Due to the time it takes to draw all the Pokémon, and laziness, the game won’t be ready until 2017. However guacasaurus_mex does promise a randomly generated map grid, in place of a GPS map, and a timing-based mini game to throw Pokéballs. More info on the game, including the release, as we hear it.

Note: Yeah yeah, I know. Any Pokémon GO article in gonna get us clicks, but to be fair we don’t make any money off of site traffic nor do we have ads. At least we didn’t try and tie No Man’s Sky into SEGA… yet.

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Data Discs announces seventh SEGA vinyl release: Golden Axe I & II

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Data Discs has announced the seventh in their line of SEGA vinyls, the soundtrack to the iconic arcade games Golden Axe and Golden Axe II. Featuring awesome artwork on the sleeve as well as two lithographic prints, the records themselves will be pressed in a translucent gold or classic black vinyl. A third limited edition will feature a purple swatch effect, seen in the photo above. Fans of SEGA art should enjoy the albums cover, which is said to be rare artwork from the Japanese release of the game sourced from SEGA’s archives.

The records are completed and ready to ship, priced at £19.99, however Data Discs requires two weeks to fulfill all orders. Sales begin on Saturday, August 27th at the Data Discs website.

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Pre-registration opens for SEGA’s mobile game War Pirates – created by Jet Set Radio director Masayoshi Kikuchi

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Way back in December 2015 we reported that SEGA had quietly launched War Pirates on Android. Known in Japan as Sen No Kaizoku, War Pirates is a turn based naval combat game mixed with city building starring pirates, and was created by Masayoshi Kikuchi – best known for his work on the Jet Set Radio and Yakuza franchises. The free-to-play game has been testing for a while now, but it seems thing are finally ramping up to a full release as a pre-registration page has opened, allowing future players to sign up to obtain a special character. War Pirates is set to release soon to the App Store and Google Play store.

While we know mobile gaming is the red headed step child when it comes to SEGA gaming platforms, we do hope once it releases people give it a fair chance. I mean, a pirate game from the director of Jet Set Radio sounds pretty cool, right?

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Opening & Eating 15 Year Old Cans of Sonic the Hedgehog Pasta

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Courtesy of Justin Todd – whose Sonic collecting can be followed on instagram under the username @treasurehuntingsonic – we have a video unboxing (uncanning?) of Franco-American Sonic the Hedgehog Pasta with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce! These two cans date from around 2000/2001 and are the second and third, and so far final, iterations of the Franco-American Sonic canned pasta. The first version of the can was featured on the latest episode of our own Fastest Food Alive Sonic the Hedgehog promotional foods video series.

What does Justin find when he opens these 15 year old expired cans of pasta? Learn for yourself by watching the video! Follow Justin on Instagram for more Sonic goodness and join the Sonic the Hedgehog Collections group on Facebook, where this video debuted.

If you enjoy our videos, make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube where we post a grab bag of SEGA and Sonic content. Thanks for watching.

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Puyo Puyo Chronicle announced for Nintendo 3DS – just in time for the franchise’s 25th anniversary!

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The latest issue of Japan’s Famitsu magazine has revealed a new installment in the Puyo Puyo franchise, due out later this year. Titled Puyo Puyo Chronicle, the game is described as a puzzle RPG timed to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary. The story involves the franchise’s heroes Arle and Carbuncle entering an alternate world, in which they must work with a girl name Arie to return to their own world. Graphics will be in 3D and players will be able to explore freely – so apparently no sprites or pre-set paths. Outside of the RPG mode, the game will also feature traditional Puyo Puyo play, featuring seventeen different rules found in past games.

The game will also feature a mode called “Boss Fight With Everyone” in which players team up with a party of four via local connectivity to battle a boss. The game also promises over sixty sub-quests. In terms of packaging, a special Anniversary Box has been announced, which will contain a soundtrack, a vocal track, a drama CD and a 25th anniversary theme for your 3DS. The game is set to release in Japan on December 8th of this year. Sadly, no word of an American release, and given SEGA’s Western track record with the franchise it is unlikely. Then again, 7th Dragon III: Code: VFD happened, so never say never.

[Source: Siliconera]

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SEGA News Bits: Streets of Rage Turns 25 Years Old

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On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry split a trash can chicken and look back on SEGA’s iconic beat ’em up franchise Streets of Rage. Known as Bare Knuckle in its country of origin, Japan, Streets of Rage was SEGA’s answer to Final Fight. Now, 25 years later, many would argue Streets of Rage completely overshadowed the very franchise it set out to compete against. Enjoy the video, and after watching why not play some Streets of Rage? In the comments below, tell us your favorite franchise memories.

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube and never miss a video.

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SEGA 3D Classics Collection European release date revealed

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On a special SEGA Central Live, the SEGA Europe community team released the long (too long, in our opinion) awaited release date of the boxed and digital European release of SEGA 3D Classics Collection for the Nintendo 3DS. That date… will be revealed on an upcoming live stream next week! Just kidding, the game will release to Europe on November 4th, 2016.

It was also confirmed that the game is coming to Australia, though no additional information was given.

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Contest: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X Giveaway – Demo available today, game releases August 30th!

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SEGA’s Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X, releasing August 30th to Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita, can be sampled today via a demo that just launched. To celebrate the release of the demo, we’re teaming with SEGA to give away a Hatsune Miku wall scroll and art cloth – with the cloth featuring work by Shirow Miwa. The artwork on each piece is awesome, I especially love the pose on the wall scroll featuring a Miku salute. To enter, all you need to do is follow SEGAbits on Twitter and retweet the contest tweet. two winners will be chosen, with the cloth and scroll given to the winners of our choosing, and the contest is open to the Americas and Canada. The contest ends on Tuesday, August 16th at 11:59PM CT and winners will be announced the following day.

Good luck to all who enter, and even if you don’t end up winning remember that we’re all winners since the game releases August 30th and we have a free demo available now!

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Fastest Food Alive: A Look back at 1995 Sonic the Hedgehog Franco-American Pasta

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Fastest Food Alive returns as we look at more food promotional items from Sonic the Hedgehog’s past! On this episode, Franco-American’s Sonic the Hedgehog Pasta with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce is on the menu. SEGA’s partnership with Franco-American, a subsidiary of Campbell’s, kicked off in 1995 and carried through to 2000. Click play on the video above and take a trip down memory lane as we check out this food promotion and give a short history lesson on canned pasta.

If you enjoyed the video make sure to like, share and subscribe to us on YouTube if you haven’t already. Thanks for the support!

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Sonic Mania Easter Eggs and References

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We’ll admit it, we’re having Sonic Mania withdrawal. After playing the game for ourselves at Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th Anniversary Party, we can’t stop pouring over our footage of the game in action. As a result of this, we caught several cool Easter Eggs and references hidden within the game. Here are all the ones we spotted! Did we miss any? Sound off in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss a thing!

Music Credit: jaxcheese youtube – Studiopolis Zone (Sonic Mania) – 16-bit Genesis-style cover

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Yakuza 0 set to hit the Americas and Europe on January 24, 2017 – pre-order now!

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A press statement from SEGA has just released, detailing the release information for the upcoming western localization of Yakuza 0. The prequel game to the longtime running franchise is set to hit the Americas and Europe on January 24th, 2017 on the Playstation 4  both physically and digitally, and will be priced at $59.99. Show your support for localized games and physical release by pre-ordering Yakuza 0 today! If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get 20% off the game, which is a pretty sweet deal.

After the break, check out the full press release as well as some new screens.

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Yakuza 6 to release in Japan on December 8th – Watch the new trailer now!

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Released last night is a brand new trailer for the upcoming Playstation 4 game Yakuza 6! The trailer reveals several things including the release date, December 8th, and the price of 8,190 yen. The game’s full title is Yakuza 6: Inochi no Uta which translates to “Poetry of Life”. For those wondering if this is the end of the road for series star Kazuma, the trailer carries the message “The final chapter of the legend of Kazuma Kiryu.” It is unknown if this means the franchise will debut a new hero in subsequent games, or if SEGA plans to put the franchise to rest after this game. Though given how reliant SEGA of Japan are on the franchise, a new hero or more prequel titles like Yakuza 0 are probably more likely.

Check out a large gallery of screens and renders after the break, and let us know your thoughts on the game in our dedicated forum topic or in the comments below!

[Via: gematsu]

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic Mania Hands On Impressions

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We played Sonic Mania, and now we’re going to tell you what we think! In this SEGA News Bits, George and I (Barry) rest our aching feet just hours after the Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Party in San Diego to share our reaction to the Sonic Mania reveal and give our thoughts on how the game plays. Do we have another Sonic 4 on our hands or is Sonic Mania the true successor to Sonic 3 & Knuckles? The answers are obviously “nope!” and “hell yes!” in that order.

Special thanks to Neo Hazard for letting us use his footage, you can check out his channel here! Also, thanks to Bartman for being the one to play the game in our footage. You can find Bartman’s YouTube channel here!

If you enjoyed this episode of the SEGA News Bits, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss an episode!

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Take a look at SEGA’s Sonic Mania press materials

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Friday night in San Diego at Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th Anniversary Party saw several reveals, most notably being a brand new 2D Sonic game titled Sonic Mania. George and I were there, and we shared our thoughts on the event itself in a recent SEGA News Bits, with more videos from the event to come. Unfortunately, as is the case with being on location, it’s tricky to news things immediately. Thankfully, we had our website designer Will on writing duty posting up stories as soon as they hit.

Now that the dust has settled, I managed to obtain SEGA’s press materials for Sonic Mania to offer our readers some more details on the game. Per the press release, seen in full after the break, the game is confirmed to have select returning zones from Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic CD, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. This is excellent news, as fans of Taxman and Stealth know full well that Sonic 3 & Knuckles has been a tricky title, likely due in large part to rights disputes over the game’s music. But given that these reimagined stages will have newly composed music by Tee Lopes, new music means no issues.

While we knew who was developing the game, the press release also lays things out in a more official capacity stating that SEGA of America is developing the game in collaboration with PagodaWest Games, Christian “Taxman” Whitehead and Simon “Stealth” Thomley (of Headcannon). Also confirmed is that this will only be a digital release, and will hit PS4, Xbox One and PC. While at the event, we did ask if a physical release was in the cards but SEGA representatives sounded very iffy. Perhaps if fans make some noise we might see one? Also, additional platforms are also possible, but none are being talked about at this time.

Check out the press release and screens after the break!

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Party Impressions

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Pre-recorded just hours after Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th Anniversary Party wrapped at the San Diego House of Blues, it’s Barry and George’s first impressions of the night! Hear how the event went down, from the literal all the way around the block line to the game announcements to the final curtain call. How did the audience react to the return of Taxman and Stealth? Why do people faint when they hear the opening guitar licks to Crush 40’s “What I’m Made Of”? Where was the computer room? These questions and more are answered in this very special episode of SEGA News Bits!

If you enjoyed this episode of the SEGA News Bits, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss an episode!

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