Author Archives: George

UK Charts: Virtua Tennis 4 debuts at #23

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Virtua Tennis 4 debuted this week at #23 on the UK charts. The game was only tracked for one day, so it isn’t a bad debut. We will have to see what happens next week. The 23rd spot is the all format charts, so it puts together all releases.

Individual charts they ranked:

  • Xbox 360: #24
  • Playstation 3: #13
  • Nintendo Wii: #27

Is it surprising that Virtua Tennis 4 preformed better on Playstation 3? Not really since it did have extras on that console, I guess PSN being down didn’t effect consumers’ choices too much. At least in the UK.

[Source: Chart-Track]

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Sonic joins Namco’s Taiko No Tatsujin Plus

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Sonic the Hedgehog has had his fair share of crossovers in the blue blur’s lifetime. Two of the most iconic have been the Mario crossovers, which include the Olympic titles, and Super Smash Bros Brawl. This time Sonic and its music will be featured in Namco’s upcoming drumming game Taiko No Tatsujin Plus.

So out of all the Sonic games that they could have picked to feature tunes from, which title did they end up choosing? Sonic 4: Episode 1. Ah, most likely just a crossover to promote their downloadable title.

Takio no Tatsujin Plus is an iPhone/iPad game. So it’s a good way to cross promote.

[Source: Siliconera]

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How PSN Store downtime will affect SEGA

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I have seen lots of sites covering this news, even some of them being SEGA related sites like this one. But none of them seem to point out how the PSN store will be affecting SEGA. Lets have a overview please.

SEGA was really pushing Virtua Tennis 4 for the Playstation 3. It was first announced for the console last year and even got some cool exclusive content on disc. So why does PSN store being down effect it? SEGA promised exclusive demos for PSN. The first demo hit the PSN store on April 19th, given that it is a few days from when PSN went down, I doubt many people got a chance to try it.

SEGA was set to release their PSN version of Streets of Rage 2 port on May 3rd (tomorrow) to PSN plus users and a week later for all users. Issue is that PSN Store is down. Also set to make its debut was the SEGA Genesis dynamic theme (to America, already out in Europe).

Sony held a conference on Sunday saying that online play, Playstation Home, Trophy synching, and other related abilities will be restored during the week. As for the Playstation Store, it should be up “within the month”.

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Digital distribution helped SEGA enter new territories

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[By the way, PSN is still down!]

SEGA announced last year that they had a whole team dedicated to digital distribution. James Schall, SEGA’s digital distribution manager, spoke about how they have reached new territories due to ESD (electronic software distribution).

“A few years ago the digital team was bolted on to the side of other departments, with a couple of people at most working on the project. Now we have a specific ESD team of six looking after PC titles. Digital enables you to reach out to new territories.” – James Schall, Digital Distribution Manager

Not an expert, but since SEGA doesn’t have too many PC titles I think 6 people handling the job is pretty ample. Maybe I’m wrong? I think digital teams over at SEGA will just get bigger as the market grows on consoles, but after the PSN thing happened, will you rely on a network?

[Source: MCV]

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Operation G.H.O.S.T. arcade cabinet

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SEGA’s sequel to Ghost Squad is real, so real that here are your pictures of the cabinet you will be playing it on. Sure, it isn’t the best looking cabinet and we have not had screenshots released of in-game yet.

Pretty sure this game will get a US and Europe arcade release, seeing as how Ghost Squad was quite popular here. Maybe if we complain enough we will also get a console port? Worth a try!

[Via: Arcadeheroes]

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Toys”R”Us has Virtua Tennis 4 for $32.49

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So money is tight, SEGA knows and has priced the HD console versions of Virtua Tennis 4 down to $50 dollars on launch. Not enough for you? You can get them at Toys”R”Us for $32.99! What about the Wii? A sexy $25.99. Nice!

Click here to see prices

The game is getting pretty good scores in Europe and there is a playable demo on PSN… well, you could have played it if PSN was up!

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ICO & Shadows of the Colossus creator tweets about being a SEGA fan

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Fumito Ueda is one of my favorite people in the industry and runs one of the best teams at Sony, Team ICO. They are working on the upcoming (and excellent looking) title, The Last Guardian.

Fumito Ueda talked on twitter about how he has been a massive SEGA fan since they released the Mark III in Japan. I have actually heard about him being a big SEGA fan and actually being friends with Ryuta Ueda (who worked on Jet Set Radio, Panzer Dragoon series and Yakuza series). They even have the same last name… weird?

Something about Team ICO’s games always reminded me of Panzer Dragoon… I could never put my finger on it.

[Source: AndriaSang]

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ESRB has rating for Crush 3D

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When Crush was released back in 2007, it didn’t get that much hype, even though it ended up being one of my favorite games on the PSP. Now it will get a second chance on the Nintendo 3DS. We posted about it coming awhile back, now ESRB has rated the title.

This is a puzzle platformer in which players collect marbles to activate exits and complete each level. As players run and jump through each colorful environment, they can toggle between 2D and 3D perspectives to navigate platforms. Players’ ‘cartoony’ character cries out and loses a life if he falls off tall platforms or is struck by roaming enemies (e.g., giant blocks, slugs). In some sequences, players can use large blocks or balls to squash giant cockroaches; defeated bugs emit large splashes of yellow liquid that stain the ground.

Now all we need is a press release, official release date and we can finally get hyped. The game got a E 10+ rating. That means you should get 4 copies for each one of your children.

[Source: ESRB]

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Yukio Sugino talks about what makes SEGA great

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Yukio Sugino had an interview in the latest Famitsu magazine, where he talks about the past, present and future of SEGA. One of the quotes that I loved was when he described what made SEGA great.

“Sega’s philosophy has always been that creativity is our lifeblood and we try to reflect that not just in what we make, but in all aspects of our work. Staying consistent with this spirit is what’s allowed us to approach the world of entertainment in such a broad scope.” – Yukio Sugino

He goes on to talk about a lot of great stuff, about how they used to make games with world wide appeal and not just split it up into regions. So what about not having hardware? Yukio Sugino says it’s hard to go from a hardware company to software.

Continue Reading ➜

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Free-to-play mobile Phantasy Star game out in Japan

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Mobage members from Japan today will be able to get their hands on Phantasy Star Eternal Hunters, a free-to-play mobile game.

The game has you playing as a hunter, who has to investigate a crashed ship. You have to gather reports and all that hunter like stuff. The game changes it up by changing enemies depending on where your GPS location on your phone says you are.

To celebrate the launch, SEGA has released a tie-in item for Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity. The only way to obtain the item is to defeat and gather reports from monsters in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo. After you kill them, they will give you a code. Item pictured below.

[Source: AndriaSang]

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Fan game Golden Axe Myth up for download

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Here is a game we totally missed coming out, possibly due to all the news about Phantasy Star Online 2, Sonic Generations and SEGA taking down Streets of Rage Remake.

The game is supposed to be a fan prequel to the originals. It was created using Open Beats of Rage engine, so it’s technically a mod to that engine. Check out the fan game, it’s not as well put together as Streets of Rage Remake, but still a fun play through for fans.

[Download Here]
WINDOWS

[Via: Destructoid]

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New Hatsune Miku project reveal on the 28th

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SEGA is set to reveal a new Hatsune Miku project they have been working on, most likely to be Project Diva 3. Could this be the first entry to the series on the NGP?

I guess we will find out in a few days. Isn’t it great? Another Japanese game we won’t get in the west. I guess you should be happy that Sony hasn’t sued all import stores.

[Via: The forums]

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