Author Archives: Ben

Yakuza: of the End release date hits TBA status

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[…Hm…yeah, I can understand why this might be an issue]

In a move that’s not all that surprising given the devastating earthquakes in Japan, SEGA has decided to move Yakuza: Of the End from its March 17th Japanese release date. No new date was given.

This is not a first for SEGA, who cancelled Propeller Arena’s release back on the Dreamcast due to the September 11th terrorist attacks. That game never saw release, a fate that hopefully won’t be shared by Yakuza: of the End.

Last year’s entry in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 4, a game which doesn’t involve a zombie apocalypse, will be releasing this week as planned in Western territories.

[Source: Andriasang]

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SEGA Sequels: Disappointing SEGA Sequels

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Last week, SEGA Sequel Saturdays took a look at 5 of my favorite SEGA Sequels and why they managed to overcome my usual “sequel hatred” to become games that I really enjoyed. This week, it only seemed natural to look at the other side of that; to write about 5 of my least-favorite sequels and why I feel they failed to deliver. So, without further ado, let’s jump into episode 8!

(As always, feel free to throw in your own two cents via the comments section.)

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Japan: Super Monkey Ball 3D fails to chart

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Though the majority of the 3DS’ launch titles continue to have a presence on the weekly Top 20, SEGA’s Super Monkey Ball 3D, which released in Japan post-launch on March 3rd, failed to make the charts.

In other words, it failed to sell 6,527 copies in its first 3 days on the market, likely not a great sign. Maybe it’s time to try a new franchise, SEGA?

Super Monkey Ball 3D is notable in that it takes a stripped down approach to its multiplayer, removing an entire list of fan favorites in favor of just a racing and fighting mode.

Hit the break for the full sales chart, which covers 2/28-3/6.

[Source: IGN]

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SEGA Sequels: My top 5 SEGA Sequels

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Maybe it’s because I view video games each as “experiences” as opposed to just looking at them as “games,” but I’m definitely judgemental of sequels when they’re announced.

Let me try to put this into perspective. If I’m enjoying a game, I dig everything about journeying from its intro all the way to the final save screen after the end credits. Gameplay is definitely an important aspect of what makes me consider a great game *great* but it’s not the only aspect. For me the sense of discovery that a new experience brings is another major reason I love playing video games, and it’s the reason I often don’t care about sequels. I just find it a rarity that a sequel that’s not at least five years away from the original (or on new hardware) has the capability to replicate that same sense of discovery for me.

Then there are times when I’m surprised.

There have been many SEGA sequels over the years that have been able to break through the barriers that usually prevent me from enjoying sequels as much as the originals. I’m looking at my top 5 in this week’s SEGA Sequel Saturdays, Episode 7.

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Four SEGA titles make IGN’s list of “so bad it’s good” voice acted games

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If there’s one thing I know a thing or two about as a SEGA fan, it’s wonderfully bad voice acting, and apparently Adam Sutton at IGN Australia feels the same way. The article’s a tribute of sorts to games with voice acting so bad that it actually enhances the experience, and SEGA’s all over it: 4 of the 10 games, in fact. Hit the break to see which games made it.

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Suzuki speaks on Shenmue III: “Of course I want to make it.”

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It seems we’ve come a long way from the days when Yu Suzuki was prevented from talking about Shenmue III in any form with the media. Shenmue III discussion began again earlier this year in an in-depth 1up.com interview with the iconic developer. Today the subject once again came up, during a GDC interview conducted by Sega superstar Mark Cerny.

The talk, which took the form of an on-stage interview, covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from his decision not to work on Virtua Fighter 5 (“I don’t want to continue the same games and series. I always want to be making new games”) to his interest in both the 3DS and NGP, to the imminent death of the arcade industry, to, eventually, Shenmue.

“Of course I want to make it,” he said. “Sega I think is going to let me make it, I think it is just up to the budget.”

So it seems that SEGA would need somebody to help front the money.

Regarding Shenmue Online, he regretted that the project was cancelled but expressed interest in once again returning to it if given the opportunity.

Though the discussion was only a small part of the interview and what was said wasn’t particularly surprising, websites such as Gamespot have used it as the main draw of the story, and it has generated a sizeable number of enthusiastic comments.

All this media attention can only be a good thing.

[Source: Gamespot]

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Anarchy Reigns Media Blowout

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SEGA of America has announced via their blog that a press event was recently held for Platinum Games’ upcoming Anarchy Reigns. Today, the embargo has lifted, and those lucky enough to have gotten to experience the game are now releasing their previews.

Above you can see two great videos. Both feature Atsushi Inaba and loads of new gameplay footage. The second video shows off much more of the game, while the first video focuses more on Inaba. Both are worth watching if you have any interest in Platinum Games’ upcoming brawler. SEGA of America was also gracious enough to release a slew of new screenshots, eight to be exact, which can be checked out on their Flickr page.

SEGA says they’ll continue to add to their blog as more previews are released, so we’ll keep this updated if any others surface.

Update:

1up’s preview.

Eurogamer’s preview.

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SEGA Sequel Saturdays: Sonic Adventure 3

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Welcome to SEGA Sequel Saturdays, Episode 6. This week I’m going to take on the challenge of creating another Sonic Adventure, the series in which Sonic broke free from his 2D universe and into full, uncompromised 3D gameplay. We have had many Sonic games since Sonic Adventure 2, but each has been a fairly radical departure from where Sonic’s 3D escapades began back on the Dreamcast. In this episode I’ll look at how a Sonic Adventure 3 could be great, assuming SEGA wouldn’t just be using the “Adventure” name for sales purposes, but actually making another game fully in the Sonic Adventure template. As always, we welcome and appreciate your craaaaaaaazy responses in the Comments section below.

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New Conduit 2 Trailer Shows Off Multiplayer Modes

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Today IGN has posted a trailer for Conduit 2, this one giving us a (somewhat surprisingly) brief look at the multiplayer modes, likely one of game’s bigger selling points. The trailer’s only about a minute long, but you can hit the break for some of what you can expect from the game’s multiplayer if you don’t want to watch it for yourself.

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Xplay gives us a taste of Yakuza 4

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SEGA senior producer Yasuhiro Noguchi stopped by Xplay to show off what’s presumably the demo for Yakuza 4. He walks us through the various characters and tells us a bit about what to expect as far as bonus content is concerned. Yakuza 4 is set to be released on March 15th in North America and March 18th in Europe.

[Source: Xplay]

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SEGA Sequel Saturdays: Shenmue

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I’d like to start our fourth episode of SEGA Sequel Saturdays by congratulating Yu Suzuki, who will be honored with the Pioneer Award at at the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards, and I figured that it would be appropriate to devote this week’s to Shenmue, a series that’s near and dear to the hearts of many a SEGA fan.

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SEGA Sequel Saturdays: Craaaaazy Taxi

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We’re at episode 3 of SEGA Sequel Saturdays, and for this go-round, I’m taking a look at Crazy Taxi, a series that many SEGA fans (especially those old enough to have been to something called an “arcade,”) have fond memories of. Though the home console ports got old for me after about a weekend, there’s just something about the first entry in this series (I never really got into the other two) that screams “SEGA!” and it’s a series I’d love to see brought back, though only if it really expands upon what the earlier entries offered.

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Valkyria Chronicles 3 debuts at #2 in Japan

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The latest weekly sales charts (January 24th-January 30th) out of Japan paint a nice picture for Valkyria Chronicles 3, which managed a series-best debut of 102,779 copies sold, good for second place behind Nintendo’s The Last Story. This was a little better than the first week sales of Valkyria Chronicles 2, which managed around 94,000 last year.

It’ll be interesting to see what SEGA’s future plans are for the franchise, with Sony’s new PSP system lingering on the horizon.

[Source: IGN]

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SEGA Sequel Saturdays: JET SET RADIO!!

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[The one, the only……..Jet Set Radio]

Few franchises have managed to achieve such iconic status with only two installments, but the Jet Set Radio series (Jet Grind Radio for the first one in North America,) was one that managed to do it. The series represented all that was great about Sega during the Dreamcast era: their incredible ability to take risks and deliver groundbreaking and inventive experiences that you simply couldn’t get anywhere else.

What better series to get a sequel than this one? Here’s how I’d do a sequel if I were in charge.

Fly like a butterfly through the break to read more and comment with your own thoughts/ideas.

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Inaba: Platinum Games would like the “challenge” of making a sequel

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As a developer, Platinum Games has, from the start, focused on creating new IP. That’s not to say that doing a sequel down the road isn’t ever going to happen, Platinum Games founder Atsushi Inaba told Famitsu this week.

” It’s not that we don’t want to make sequels. We’re strongly attached to the things that we created ourselves, after all,” Inaba explained.  “If asked ‘which,’ we tend to take up original productions, but we’d also like to challenge making the kind of sequel that expands the worlds.”

Though some may have been disappointed that Anarchy Reigns wasn’t actually Bayonetta 2, (not me, though,) it seems that people looking forward to a sequel to one of their favorite Platinum Games titles shouldn’t give up hope entirely.

[Source: Andriasang]

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