Online video series Did You Know Gaming has featured SEGA on past episodes, such as their Sonic the Hedgehog retrospective, and their latest episode takes a look at SEGA’s console swan song the Dreamcast. The video does a nice job putting all the interesting facts revealed over the year in chronological order, touching on the Tom Kalinske’s dealings with Sony during the 1990s, Microsoft’s early involvement, and how piracy both hurt the console and then later helped the indie scene.
I’ll admit, I thought I knew everything about the SEGA Dreamcast, but there were a few factoids I was unaware of like the “potato” chip gag. Was there anything in the video that surprised you?
Looking back, the SEGA Saturn ad campaign in America was nowhere near as memorable as the Genesis and Dreamcast era campaigns. While the Genesis ads were funny and subversive, and the Dreamcast ads were magical and, dare I say “dream-like”, Saturn’s ads were both weird and forgettable. While some ads did stick in many people’s minds, I’m not sure it was for the right reasons. The “Fly Plaything, Fly” commercial, for example, was a risky move that didn’t pay off. SEGA did indeed beat Nintendo years prior, but in no way did SEGA’s Saturn topple Sony’s Playstation. As much as a Saturn fan that I am, I have to concede that it was the Saturn that was “not ready”.
Other Saturn era ads, like this week’s featured commercial for SEGA-AM2’s Virtua Cop, went with the gritty “is this a game, or is it real life” route. While 3D games were quite impressive at the time, and Virtua Cop is a fantastic game, it was far from being “a little too real”. In fact, those who bought and played the game would discover that Virtua Cop, much like AM2’s other games at the time, existed in a quirky arcade-like world where over the top things like a seemingly endless army of identical henchman and criminal leaders in helicopters shouting “meet your maker!” are common occurrences in the life of a cop. Had SEGA played up the frantic over-the-top gameplay of Virtua Cop, showing that the game is far from “a little too real” and was in fact like nothing you have ever played before, then maybe they might have had a better ad.
After the break, check out some Virtua Cop print ads from around the world! Could somebody explain that “Bum Bum Bum” ad to me?
Hucast, the folks behind DUX, Redux: Dark Matters, and Ghost Blade, have recently announced another indie title slated for the SEGA Dreamcast. The game, given the odd title of Alice’s Mom’s Rescue, is a pixel art platformer in which Alice (potentially of Wonderland fame) must rescue her mom from a giant raven. The game will feature three worlds with twenty five stages, and gameplay includes battling evil animals and using magic mushrooms to change Alice’s height. The game will support 240p, RGB cable, S-video, and VGA and is due to release on March 23rd, 2015.
The game is up for pre-order in two styles, a 2-disc limited edition in a DVD case featuring the game, the soundtrack, and a 12 page manual for 42.95 euros and a standard edition which features the game in a jewel case with a 4 page manual for 24.95 euros. Check out screens from the game in the gallery below, and see the game in motion over at Vimeo.
Perhaps the most exciting news last year for Nintendo 3DS owning SEGA fans was the announcement that the second wave of SEGA’s 3D Classics were heading West in early 2015. Revealed to be releasing monthly, think of it as a SEGA Arcade Game of the Month Club, Nintendo Life has discovered that After Burner II will be kicking off the collection in Europe on January 15th and that the games will be priced at £4.49/€4.99. An American release date has not been discovered, but it will likely be the same or just a few days apart from the European date.
It can be assumed that 3D Fantasy Zone, 3D OutRun, 3D Fantasy Zone II, and 3D Thunder Blade will be released between February and May, making the first half of 2015 a retro SEGA fan’s dream come true!
It has been an interesting year for SEGA games. During the first few months of 2014, Western SEGA fans had very little when it came to new games, while those in Japan enjoyed the puzzle mashup Puyo Puyo Tetris and the Yakuza spinoff Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin!. Thankfully, those in the West had Alien: Isolation and Platinum Games’ Bayonetta 2 to look forward to, and in early February it was revealed that Sonic Boom would be releasing to the Wii U and 3DS. Another reveal came, much to the delight of the Hatsune Miku fanbase, with the announcement that Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd was set for a Western release in November. Meanwhile, fans of Relic Entertainment and The Creative Assembly’s real time strategy PC titles were treated to Total War: Rome II DLC and Company of Heroes 2 standalone expansions Ardennes Assault and The Western Front Armies.
Suffice it to say, the year has been mixed but not a disappointment. While certain blue hedgehogs failed to give us a good game, fans who step outside their comfort zone of Sonic and traditional SEGA games will find several great titles from SEGA. What are these great games? Read on to find out what our favorite SEGA games of 2014 were in our annual year end round table!
Sad news as 2014 winds to a close, we have learned that voice actress Christine Cavanaugh had passed away on December 22nd. Her obituary, which was posted by the LA Times today, does not give any cause of death but the focus really should be on celebrating Christine’s life and her incredible work.
If you don’t know Christine Cavanaugh’s name, you’d undoubtably recognize her voice as she not only performed Bunnie Rabbot in ABC’s Sonic the Hedgehog, but she is also well known as the original voice of Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory, Chuckie from Rugrats, Marty Sherman from The Critic, and Oblina in Ahhhhh Real Monsters. Film and TV audiences will best recognize her as the voice of Babe in 1995’s Babe as well as playing a major supporting role in the classic The X-Files episode “Small Potatoes”. You can see Christine’s many roles at her IMBD listing.
Our thoughts are with Christine’s family, she will be missed.
SEGAbits and Sonic Retro team up to bring you a podcast focused on SEGA’s new Sonic Boom franchise! Hosted by Barry the Nomad of SEGAbits.com and David the Lurker of SonicRetro.org, Boom Talkalaka features discussion of the many aspects of Sonic Boom – from comics and episodes of the cartoon, to the video games and toys.
In the second episode, Barry and David review the latest episodes of the TV show through to “Eggheads”, 2014’s final episode, discuss the direction the comic book is taking, and Barry shares his thoughts on the 3DS and Wii U games.
Give the show a listen and in the comments tell us what you think! If you have any questions or comments you want David to read on the next episode, leave your message here with the subject line “Boom-Grams”: http://segabits.com/contact/
Today marks a big day for fans of Phantasy Star, as it’s the 27th anniversary of the original game and the franchise as well. On December 20th, 1987, SEGA’s now iconic RPG released to the Sega Mark III. Following the original’s release, three numeric sequels released to the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis and further installments released to numerous other platforms. The series has come a long way since 1987, and it’s amazing that it continues to this day with the releases of Phantasy Star Online 2 and Phantasy Star Nova. But rather than focusing on the newest installments, and grumbling about how we still can’t play them in the West, let’s take a trip back to the Fall of 1988 when SEGA’s The Team SEGA Newsletter previewed Phantasy Star for the Master System.
Back in July we shared the news that the unreleased SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game It Came from the Desert was finally seeing release by way of the efforts of Watermelon Games and the original developers Cinemaware. The game, originally slated for a 1990 release, was deemed by publisher EA to be too difficult and was troubled by a game crashing bug. Watermelon Games promises that both issues will be fixed.
Until now we did not know the price of the game, and as our headline suggests, well now we do! For $55, shipping not included, fans of long lost 16-bit titles will receive the limited edition release which will contain a case and slipcover, manual, poster, and of course the cartridge. Cinemaware promises that this price is final and will not change, and that more news is to come after the holidays including the start of pre-orders in January 2015.
SEGAbits Plays gets into the festive mood as Barry and George play Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch and the Official Dreamcast Magazine demo disc Volume 10 for the SEGA Dreamcast. Join us as we destroy Whoville, fly about as a little toy Santa in Toy Commander‘s Christmas missions, and explore various demo disc oddities. Wait, was that an anti-smoking advert?
If you want to own one of the greatest SEGA arcade games from the 2000s, better buy it now as we are hearing reports that After Burner Climax will be delisted from PSN and XBLA (and potentially iOS) on December 24th. This information comes from XBLA news tweeter lifelower, and the information is believable given OutRun Online Arcade was also delisted not too long ago due to an expiring contract with Ferrari. Retro Collect speculates that After Burner Climax is being pulled for the same reason as OutRun Online Arcade – it is likely SEGA’s contract with Boeing and Northrop Gruman, plane whose jet models are used in the game, expires at the end of the year.
We’ll find out for ourselves if this delisting is a sure thing, and in the meantime if you don’t own the game yourself it really is well worth owning. Pending delisting or not! You can find the game on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network for $9.99 and on the App Store and Google Play Store for just 99¢.
Variety reports that SEGA has begun planning the development of classic and modern video game franchises for film and television. SEGA has tapped Break Media executive Evan Cholfin to lead the efforts at Tokyo-based Stories International, a joint venture between SEGA and Hakuhodo DY Group launched in 2011.
The first titles SEGA plans to move forward with are “Altered Beast,” “Streets of Rage,” “Shinobi,” “Rise of Nightmares” and “Crazy Taxi”. Plans are for English-language live action and animated spinoffs. “Virtua Fighter” and “Golden Axe” are also being considered.
SEGA also has a minority investment in All Nippon Entertainment Works through a stock deal. The deal with ANEW will help the Stories group expand its efforts by gaining access to twenty Japanese rights holders with connections to films, TV shows, books, toys and manga.
With the news of a joint venture with Sony Pictures to produce a Sonic the Hedgehog movie, SEGA will have a big presence in Hollywood in the coming years! In the comments, let us know which confirmed franchise you’re most looking forward to.
In late October, SEGA released the first piece of the Sonic Boom franchise by way of the Archie comic book series of the same name. Despite the much touted TV series and video games, the comic book was our first official trip into the Sonic Boom universe. In my review of the first issue, I noted that I really enjoyed the fun, loose, self-referential nature of the comic book series. I compared the Sonic Boom comic to Archie’s early Sonic the Hedgehog issues. My exposure to the franchise continued with the TV series, which I also enjoyed, noting that the series felt very much like DiC’s 1993 series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. By this point, I was feeling fairly positive about Sonic Boom. And then the video games released.
