Author Archives: cube_b3

DCJY InsideOut & Rummage Review: Sonic Adventure 2 10th Anniversary Birthday Pack

by

Well GagaMan is at it again (actually he was at it a while back, we’re just late with sharing it), in order to celebrate Sonic’s 20th Anniversary on time. DCJY dusted off their copy of Sonic Adventure 2: Birthday Pack and gave those who still haven’t owned it a definitive look at one of the most cherished Dreamcast Collectibles.

The review is even more spectacular, it echoing my own personal perspective towards the Gamecube (well that’s what the next Generation of Sonic fans grew up on).

Whether you like it or not a new Generation of fans have grown up on it, with just as much nostalgia for it as we have for the old games _ Master Gaga.

Hit the Jump for the Review it is worth watching

Continue Reading ➜

3 Comments

SEGA BANDAI Ltd – Revisited

by

Ever fantasize about an alternate world where something that could have happened, but never happened, but if it had happened, would have made the world a different place today?

You know the butterfly effect or the FireFly Effect? Well SEGA fans should have quite a few alternate reality fantasies, and one of those events might have been the Sega Bandai Merger:

The year was 1997. And Sega, the Dreamcast still a twinkle in Segata Sanshiro’s eye, was in a bullish mood. While its rivals were focusing their efforts on winning the video game war, Sega was looking beyond.

It didn’t have Nintendo or Sony in its sights. It had the Walt Disney Company.

Sega wanted to take the humble video game company and turn it into an international multimedia powerhouse. Movies, TV shows, comics, toys, the works, you name it, Sega wanted in on the action.

To achieve this, though, the company couldn’t go it alone. It didn’t have the money, the properties or the know-how. So it had to team up with somebody else. And that somebody, it was decided, would be Bandai.

Read the Entire Article at Kotaku.

3 Comments

GameArts Founder Passes Away

by

Last Friday was a sad day for Japanese role-playing game fans. G-mode CEO Takeshi Miyaji, who was also well known for starting up game development company Game Arts, passed away on the July 29. Miyaji was 45 years old.

You may be wondering why this was posted on a SEGA website, but if you go through the developer’s Gameography, you’d find that a majority of their games have found homes on SEGA consoles. Grandia 2 is still one of the best reasons for owning a Dreamcast (it was ported to the PS2, post-Dreamcast days but was inferior to the DC version).

The loss of Miyagi San is a loss for the game industry and fans like us who grew up on true Blue games.  Miyaji San started Game Arts back in 1985 alongside his brother Yoichi Miyaji, who is the current CEO of the company. Game Arts is well known in the gaming community for creating games like Silpheed (Sega CD), and Gun Griffon (Sega Saturn), as well as the Lunar and Grandia series. A few staff members of Game Arts also helped develop Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii.

Rest in Peace Takeshi Miyaji, our hearts go out to his family and friends.

8 Comments

Udon releases Valkyria Chronicles Art Book

by

I think any gamer who has played or seen Valkyria will attest to the fact that the games unique water colors art style was one of the main draws for the game. I first remember when I saw screen shots of the game I was baffled as to whether they wear concept arts or in game screen shots it wasn’t until I saw the game in motion till I realised this was actually in game.

Anyway SEGA released an Art Book showcasing the beautiful art of the game with the developers and artistis discussing as well. Additionally the art book shows art that didn’t make it in the game such as the swim suit costume for Silveria (cause no art book is complete without objectifying the characters).

So this art book was released a few years back in Japan but Udon has just released a translated copy.

Check out some of the pages from the book at Kotaku.

2 Comments

Sega-16: Celebrates 7 years with a Relaunch

by

I would like to apologize for my lateness as we are over a week late in reporting this but better late than never. SEGA-16.Com has relaunched and they are looking great.

For those unaware, SEGA-16 is the best site for preserving and digging deeper into the best era of SEGA, the 16-bit Era. Over the years they have interviewed corporate legends such as former SOA presidents Tom Kailnske and Michael Katz, along with devs like Mark Cerny and Peter Moriawec and even former allies like Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins.

If you want to be a top notch, hardcore, know it all Mr.SEGA Man, than SEGA-16 is where you start your reading.

Unfortunately it will probably take them sometime before all their features are back online.

5 Comments

Sturmwind Delayed

by


Redspotgames has been busy the past year with their usual promotions and sponsorships at Forumla events (yes, they promoted Rush Rush Rally Racing by sponsoring a BMW driver!) But wasn’t their next big release due this month? Whatever happend to Sturmwind? Well, it has been delayed. Why you ask?

After an internal evaluation as well as constructive feedback from fans, redspotgames and Duranik have decided to put even more efforts into ‚Sturmwind‘. Unfortunately this means that both parties have to announce a delay of the release of the game. The new street day will be 11-11-11.

The option to cancel the preorder has also been made avaialble (although no money will be deducted until unless the product ships, so why would one want to cancel it?)

For more information regarding the delay read the press release at redspotgames.com

4 Comments

Get Ready for SONIC GOLF in 3D

by

Yes, Sega has decided to shove the fastest video game character in the slowest sport.

What’s more surprising is that this isn’t new apparently the game was released in time to celebrate Sonic’s 15th Anniversary remember the fantastic year where we got Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis (GBA), Sonic Riders, Sonic Rivals and ofcourse best of all Sonic the Hedgehog 06.

Yes, Sonic Golf was released in 2006 for Cell Phones and now 5 years later it is getting a 3D entry in the series for NEC Casio’s CA-o1 series.

Source Andriasang 
Further Reading: Sonic Wikia

Special thanks Deefy via Forums

No Comments

SEGA Recycles 79% of 16-bit compilations

by

Sega is readying themselves to re-re-re-release another bunch of 16-bit classics, which prompted Sega-16’s Ken Horowitz to compile a list of games all 3 current gen compilations (Sega Genesis Collection, Sonic Ultimate Collection & the upcoming Gold Collection) share.

It is intresting to note how oddly some titles have been dropped in future compilations for example Streets of Rage 3 is absent in the Gold Collection.

Horowitz also provides his own analysis as to why there is so much redundancy in the compilations and ends his post with something SEGA fans would love…

Give us collections featuring 32x & CD games!

Check out his insightful feature over here.
Check out the list of games here

5 Comments

Gun-Lord Concept Art & Screen Shots

by

NG:DEV:TEAM have released the first screenshots of their upcoming Neo Geo and Dreamcast platformer GunLord on their Teaser Site. The images are stamped with the words “ALPHA VERSION” to give us an impression that things might still change.They show off a very interesting art direction, the likes of which we’ve never seen on the Neo Geo or the Dreamcast. Very dark and surreal tones are displayed along with very eerie creatures throughout to give a cryptic feel to the game. The tone is set even more forcefully by what seems to be the game’s theme song by Rafael Dyll of Soniq Factory.

Not sure of what to think of the whole Green Alien though, I guess it would help differentiate Gun-Lord from Contra and Metal Slug but still, humans would be nice too.

Source: Dreamcast-Scene

2 Comments

Redspotgames surveying to cancel PSN port of R4

by

A Message from Senile Team:

On account of the recent PlayStation Network (PSN) account leaks, publisher redspotgames has started a survey to poll consumer confidence in Sony’s online platform. Is your trust irreparably dented, or will you be happy to hand over all your personal information to Sony as soon as PSN is up again? Speak up and your vote could help decide whether Rush Rush Rally Racing will go portable. And you can even win some goodies!

Tick the boxes here

So what does this news have to do with the Dreamcast-Scene? Well the Sceners who no longer wish to use Sony’s PSN service can inform redspotgames, and if the right amount of people have lost interest in R4 for Playstation, Senile Team would stop developing it, which would free up resources for Age of the Beast and you know what that means right?

4 Comments

Round Table: Our thoughts on SEGA asking Bomber Games to pull Streets of Rage Remake Offline

by

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/pF2WjhuWPhE” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

After eight years of development, Streets of Rage Remix hit the internet a few weeks ago, only to be promptly removed by SEGA.

While it’s called a remake, its actual content is closer to a remix, developed on Bomber Game’s very own engine. Featuring 19 playable characters across the classic trilogy Streets of Rage games; 64 types of enemies; 83 remixes of classic techno tunes; and 103 stages, the game has clearly had a lot of love put into it, as Bomber Games strived to make the most complete homage to Streets of Rage possible.

Shortly after its release, SEGA contacted Bomber Games and forced them to take down the game. SEGA later issued a statement regarding the matter:

“SEGA is committed to supporting any fans that take an interest in our games, and where possible we do so by involving them in Beta tests and other development, marketing or research opportunities. However we need to protect our intellectual property rights and this may result in us requesting that our fans remove online imagery, videos or games in some instances.”

-nSEGA54’s- Opinion

Can’t say I knew much about Streets of Rage or even the existence of its fan remake. This issue though of a company demanding a fan game be taken down is nothing particularly new; I remember Square-Enix got some internet heat when they did this type of thing a while back. Companies have their own reasons for “protecting” their IP, and and money’s often a big part of it.
And money was likely the biggest factor here, as shortly after this remake was pulled, Streets of Rage 2 was re-released for the iPhone. SEGA would clearly rather you buy Streets of Rage 2 than to play a fan-made remix online.

As always, though, I can’t help but wish that these types of decisions were made with a bit more tact. It always winds up seeming like a slap in the face to the fan community, and that sort of thing just doesn’t look good in the press.

Cube_b3’s Opinion

SEGA contacting Bomber Games for undisclosed reasons leading to Bomber Games shutting SOR-Remake downloads, has been blown so out of proportion that it has given the game ten times more publicity than it would have ever received (BomberGames website has received so much traffic that they’ve exceeded their bandwith and have gone offline). Every one is talking about it and the game has already gone viral so everyone who wants it can simply google it and find it.

The only problem is the game isn’t a remake it is more like Streets of Rage Recycle, don’t get me wrong I play the game almost everyday while I wait for my TV shows or Movies to download it is the perfect way to kill time and has more replay value than any beat em up I’ve played with unlockable characters, art work and cheats but it can’t be compared to the orignal Ancient/Overworks Master Trilogy (well it is better than the original).

Also note their are plenty of other Streets of Rage fan remixes and even original games (that means they make original backgrounds, sprites and music) I suggest checking them out they may not be as expansive as Bomber Games take on Rage but they will keep you satiated.

No Comments

SEGA responds to Streets of Rage Remake pull

by

“SEGA is committed to supporting any fans that take an interest in our games, and where possible we do so by involving them in Beta tests and other development, marketing or research opportunities,” explained the publisher. “However we need to protect our intellectual property rights and this may result in us requesting that our fans remove online imagery, videos or games in some instances.”

I guess it never occured to SEGA to protect their intellectual property when Bomber Games asked for permission to produce the Remake or when they allowed Secret Level to Remake Golden Axe.

After the Jump check out SEGA protecting their IP from a terrible reimaginig by Bottle Rocket.

Continue Reading ➜

8 Comments

SEGA Tunes Vol.4 “Making Arcades Friendly”

by

Before we start playing the tunes we’ve prepped for you this week, here is a quote from the Suzuki Sama

“The bad kids would be hanging around the game center, playing games.

Video games were a mother’s enemy. That was the image then — “mother’s enemy” — because kids would stop studying.

I wanted to eradicate that.

 I wanted to change the dark, underground image of kids smoking and gathering in dark rooms playing games. I wanted to give it a lively image, bringing gaming to a brighter place — from inside to outside, darker to lighter place. But, you have to change the consumer. The people who play games in dark places will always play games in dark places.

So we had to attract people who would play games in bright places. In other words, I wanted to make games for a new market.

Here I thought Blue Skies in Games Started With Sonic.

Continue Reading ➜

6 Comments

GeistForce Beta Acquired by Assembler Games

by

Geist Force was one of the earliest Dreamcast games that was shown as a tech demo at TGS and E3 prior to its launch. Reportedly 80% complete, it ultimately failed to impress former President Bernie Stolar and his team, so it was quietly cancelled.

Recently a former Sega Employee registered at Assembler Gamer discussed DreamPast in great detail. Along the way he revealed he had a copy of Geist Force, which Assembler acquired for 700$. Currently the Assemblers are working on bringing the game to the masses.

For More Information Watch This Video, Sorry embeding has been disabled.

Continue Reading ➜

5 Comments

SEGA Tunes Vol.3 “End of the Millennium”

by

The long, long struggle of ancient times finally ended…
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.
Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.
And the world continued for thousands of years…

Phantasy Star: End of the Millennium is an epic journey of Self Discovery and finding purpose in life and most importantly, learning the value of love and friendship. Arguably one of the most memorable games from the Genesis in terms of Graphics and Gameplay was your typical JRPG, featuring the usual dungeons and the old school 2D top down camera angle. What elevated the game to the next level was the deep and fleshed out story, complete with the finest character development in video game history.

This tale of epic proportions was paired with some classic tunes that, nearly 2 decades later, fans fondly remember and remix. While there literary are thousands of remixes and arrangements out there, we share some of our favorites with you today.

Continue Reading ➜

7 Comments