Author Archives: Big Elk

Sega in the Media: Pro wrestler knocked out with a Sega Dreamcast!?

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Hey! First article I get to write in 2023! FINALLY!

Pro-wrestling fans who tuned into to Impact Wrestling’s recent No Surrender event on February 24th, 2023 were in for quite a shock when it came time for the match between Joe Hendry and Quinn “Moose” Ojinnaka. Joe pulled out all the stops in this climactic battle, using a variety of unlikely objects as weapons against the mighty Moose, including a remote controlled toy car, a computer keyboard, and a Sega… Dreamcast?

Yeah. You telling me you would’ve have done the same if you were in his shoes?

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New Genesis/Mega-Drive fighter Insane Pain releases; on sale now

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The new developments on Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive just keep on coming. This time, it’s the new cyberpunk themed 2D fighter Insane Pain, with its impressive pre-rendered 3D graphics and blood and gore effects. The Germany based developers Blast Process Games have released the game in its ROM form on their itch.io page and are preparing an online store in their website to sell physical copies of the game along with collectable trading cards and t-shirts with the game’s characters.

Make sure you check in after the break for more information.

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Golden Axe II, Alien Storm, Columns, and Virtua Fighter 2

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On Thursday, December 15th, Sega has added 4 more of their own Genesis classics to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack online subscription service. Alien Storm, Columns, Golden Axe II, and Virtua Fighter 2 are immediately accessible after updating the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online app to it’s latest version. Japanese players get the same four games in their own update as well, and this is despite the fact Virtua Fighter 2 Genesis did not originally release in Japan. (Although it was developed by Sega of Japan.)

Of course, these four games are all some of the usual mainstays in Sega’s many Genesis compilations, including the Sega Genesis Classics Collection also available on Switch and other consoles, (Golden Axe II is also on the recently released Sega Genesis Mini 2) so chances are many of you are already quite familiar with these games. If you still wanna hear me ramble on about what these games are, then make yourself comfy and check in after the break.

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Cancelled Genesis/Mega-Drive prototype ROM Segapede/Astropede now released to the public

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Anybody remember that canned prototype of Segapede (later called Astropede) that was being developed at Sega Technical Institute and later shown publically for the first time ever by former Sega of America artist Craig Stitt? That was just a video of the pitched prototype in action, but now Craig has found a development ROM in his own archives and well known game development archivists Hidden Palace have released that rom to the public. Now, instead of just looking at the pitch video, you can try it for yourself.

You can go to Hidden Palace’s web page for Segapede to download the ROM for use in your favorite emulator or Genesis flash cartridge. There, you’ll also find a long write-up of the history of Segapede’s development and cancellation and a bevy of hand drawn concept artwork. Just keep in mind there’s not much to do in the game because it was an early prototype.

So do you think this might’ve become a cool game? Tell us what you think in the comments below. (Assuming you’ve clicked into the article instead of just seeing this on the main Segabits page wall.)

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Yuzo Koshiro/Ancient working on new shooter for Genesis/Mega-Drive

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Genesis/Mega-Drive fans are about to be eatin’ good for a while with all the lovely new games, re-releases, and other interesting projects in development for the console. It’s almost like it’s out of retirement. That’s about to  look much more true now that a longstanding developer that’s actually made games for the console in its heyday is now working on a new one for the first time in about 28 years.

Revealed in a tweet by Yuzo Koshiro, who needs no introduction among Sega fans, he and his development studio Ancient (Developers of Streets of Rage 2 and Beyond Oasis on Genesis) are now hard at work on a brand new horizontal scrolling shmup for Genesis. While we don’t know how far along in development this, as of now, untitled game is, Koshiro-san makes it clear this is being made in the spirit of actual official Genesis releases from the 90’s and 80’s and that it will be his first time composing music for a new Genesis game since Beyond Oasis from 1994. (Known as The Story of Thor outside North America).

Hear more about Koshiro-san’s intentions after the break.

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Gley Lancer official cartridge release coming from Retro-Bit; Pre-orders open now

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Retro-Bit sure is on a roll now. Hot off their recent announcement of their Valis Collection, Retro-Bit has now announced their official western cartridge debut for Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer, one of the most beloved shumup classics released exclusively on Mega-Drive in Japan only. Pre-orders are now open from several different stores in both North America and Europe until December 27th, 2022. North American Genesis fans can pre-order from Limited Run Games and Castlemania Games. European Mega-Drive fans can pre-order from Nedgame, Xtra Life, Dragonbox Shop, Spel & Sant, and Strictly Limited Games.

(They’ve also announced pre-orders for Battletoads & Double Dragon for SNES the same day, but that’s not Sega Genesis, so lets ignore that.)

Check in after the break for more information and a nifty trailer.

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Streets of Rage 2 New Era fan port updates old game with new features

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There aren’t many widely celebrated classics on Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive quite like Streets of Rage 2. The beat-em-up classic exclusive to Sega’s 16-bit juggernaut still holds up perfectly well the way it is, but some fans have set out to modernize the game in Unity 3D with some amazing new enhancements, made through reverse engineering.

Streets of Rage 2 New Era is a brand new fan-developed port of the original game for PC and Mac that builds on it with new 4-player multiplayer, widescreen, and even online co-op. It is a complete experience currently at version 2.0 at the time of this writing. The game requires you to have an original Streets of Rage 2 ROM file in order to play. This is only to get around the legal issue of making the game freely available while Sega, the rightful copyright holders, still sell Streets of Rage 2. New Era does not rely on emulation to run or enhance the game. It recommends that you buy Streets of Rage 2 on Steam where, along with every other game in the Sega Genesis Classics Collection, it comes with a freely accessible ROM file ripe for the taking in that collection’s installation files.

Check in after the break for extra info. Otherwise, head to the game’s web page to download the game.

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Lost Sega FMV game “The Sacred Pools” discovered; now available to download and try

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An unreleased Segasoft game named “The Sacred Pools” has finally been found and dumped online for all to try. According to The Gaming Alexandria, who made and released this discovery, The Sacred Pools was developed as an “Erotic Thriller” sci-fi FMV (Full-Motion Video) game for Sega Saturn, PC, and PlayStation (I did not stutter, thank you). It was actually shown at E3 in 1996, where it was slammed by press, causing Segasoft to quietly shelve the game despite all the work that was already done on it. Now, in late 2022, the game was released online with help from former Sega of America employees Joe Cain (Game tester) and David Grey (Associate producer on The Sacred Pools). The latter had held onto several CD-Roms, each containing alpha builds of the game for Saturn, PlayStation, and PC, which were all thankfully preserved online with no trouble and now playable on some emulators and on real hardware.

See more of the brief history on this game after the break.

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The Valis Collection Genesis/Mega-Drive reprints from Retro-Bit announced; pre-orders open now

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Retro-Bit have returned with a new reprint of Genesis/Mega-Drive cartridge classics. Today they have debuted the Valis Collection, a special box set of the 3 Valis games originally developed by Telenet Japan and published on the Genesis by Renovation. This collection comes officially licensed by the current rights holders to Telenet Japan and Renovation’s games, Edia. Each game can also be bought separately as well, but buying the full collection compiles each one into a special box packaged with an exclusive acrylic stand of the three heroines of Valis III. The collection is very reminiscent of Retro-Bit’s Toaplan Collection from 2020. Pre-orders are now open for North America through Castlemania Games and Limited Run Games until November 27th 2022. Pre-orders for PAL versions will open for Europe at a later date from different retailers. Check out Retro-BIt’s own page on the Valis Collection for the most up-to-date info, including pre-order links and an FAQ page.

UPDATE: Pre-orders have just opened for Europe at Strictly Limited Games, Dragonbox Shop, and Spel o Sant. Links to all three will be added below following the break.

Check past the break for info on each individual games.

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Final pre-order run of Analogue Mega SG coming on Oct. 28th

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In a brand new announcement from Analogue, the creators of FPGA consoles like the Mega SG and the Analogue Pocket, their last ever pre-order run of the Mega SG will take place on October 28th. After this, there will be no more. This will also be your last chance to order a Super NT from Analogue, which is their FPGA Super Nintendo clone. Both will be available for $199, excluding shipping, and will ship in “Q4 2023”. 

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Sonic Hacking Contest 2022 is live right now

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As of Monday, October 20th 2022, Sonic Hacking Contest 2022 is now open, with all the many fan hacks and mods developed by some of the most creative Sonic fans out there ready to try. There are tons of mods from every Sonic game from the original Genesis classic to Sonic Forces, all of which change up each game in many creative ways. Some of them even create a brand new experience off of the foundation of a classic Sonic game you may be well familiar with already from start to finish. Even if you don’t have time to try every game for yourself, (And there are already so many that you most likely don’t have that kind of time. After all, I’m still going through some games from this year’s Sonic Amateur Games Expo.) many online content creators have been streaming these games throughout the week, including favorites like Blue Vivacity, Sam’s Procrastination Station, SomeCallMeJohnny, MegaGWolf, and up-and-coming YouTube personality Chaomix. 

Since this is a contest, the creators of each of these mods are also being judged on their creations. Everyone is encouraged to vote for each of their favorite mods in a variety of prestigious awards, so if any of them has you particularly impressed, make sure you vote for it in whatever award it may be nominated for. 

See beyond the break for a few of my personal highlights of this year’s mods. Otherwise, click here to check out the website to download these mods for yourself or to see who is currently streaming.

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Unreleased Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet online features finally running unofficially

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Dee Dee Planet cover art

The unreleased Sega Dreamcast game Dee Dee Planet has now had it’s online servers finally brought to life thanks to the efforts of the fan-run Dreamcast Live online service. Due to the game having been cancelled, it’s online multiplayer has never once been playable by the public until now. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download a version of Dee Dee Planet that’s been patched for Dreamcast Live functionality from Dreamcast Live’s downloads page. One of Dreamcast Live’s founders, and prominent Dreamcast superfan and preservationist, pcwzrd13, had previously gotten a hold of a nearly complete build of Dee Dee Planet last year, and now Dreamcast Live user Shuouma had been able to create server code for Dee Dee Planet using the server code from Chu Chu Rocket, one of the games previously brought back online through Dreamcast Live, as Dee Dee Planet was designed to use a very similar online server setup already.

Chances are many of you have no idea what Dee Dee Planet is, so check past the break for a brief history of both Dee Dee Planet and Dreamcast Live.

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Alisa Dragoon, Beyond Oasis, and Earthworm Jim

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On Thursday, September 15th, Sega added three more classic Sega Genesis titles to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack lineup, after skipping a month from their usual bimonthly update. Subscribers can now play Alisa Dragoon, Beyond Oasis, and Earthworm Jim on Nintendo Switch. Japanese players get all the same 3 games in their own update at the same time. Each game will be immediately accessible after updating the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online application on your Switch to its latest version. You can learn more about each game within this article.

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Radiant Silvergun has surprise release on Nintendo Switch, then is swiftly pulled from North American eShop

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In a surprise announcement from the September 13th Nintendo Direct video showcase, the Treasure-developed Sega Saturn classic Radiant Silvergun was just released onto the Nintendo Switch eShop, courtesy of publisher Live Wire Inc.

Well, to many of you, this may be a surprise. However, Treasure had actually teased a re-release of a “highly requested” game from their storied past for their 30th anniversary celebration in June of this year. Two weeks ago, during Tokyo Game Show, the exact game was leaked online through some unused images on the Happinet website, who hosted several company’s’ games at their own booth. For anyone unaware of of all this, you are likely pleasantly surprised.

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New music album/Windows 95 simulator developed for SEGA Genesis by Mike Yedley

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A musical album released in the form of a game cartridge or ROM might sound like an odd concept, but quirky homebrew developer and musician Mike Yedley has done just that, and it’s not even his first one. Not too long ago, he debuted his second Genesis music ROM on his itch.io page, called “mikeyeldey95”. Being a ROM, it can be run in your favorite Genesis emulator or on original hardware with a flash cartridge such as any of the Mega Everdrive line of cartridges. In a very interesting twist, this album also doubles as a retro Windows 95 desktop simulation, full of fun easter eggs and mini-games. You can change the desktop background and color scheme, explore a web browser (This game has no way of actually connecting to the internet), and even explore an MS-DOS environment. There are 11 main songs total, but exploring a bit more can uncover several hidden songs, including some full PSG tunes.

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