Review: Yakuza 4

I remember reading about the first Yakuza game (Ryū ga Gotoku in Japan) way back in 2005. I was super excited to find out that SEGA was going to bring it over. Since then the series has seen significant growth, spawning three direct sequels and three spin offs. When the original failed to catch on in the west, there was a lot of doubt that the franchise would ever come to the west again. Now we are all the way to the fourth main entry for the series. It’s great that SEGA has continued to bring the series over to the west despite the failure of the first game, but four entries in has Kazuma Kiryu finally worn out his welcome? Read on to find out.

Captain America Super Solider box art looks like this

If you are like me, you have probably stayed up sleepless nights hoping that SEGA would release box art for Captain America Super Solider. Well, today is your day. Here they are.

Wait, you don’t own a Playstation 3? Well we have the other 3 console versions down here at the bottom. Game is hitting retail shelves on July 11th.

[Source: Buzzfocus]

ESRB rates Monster World IV for XBLA and PSN

Damn right! Monster World IV wasn’t released here in America and it feels good having something like this to look forward to. The game originally came out on the Genesis/Mega Drive, so expect some of those glorious 16-bit graphics.

The info comes from ESRB, who rated the title for both XBLA and PSN. If you remember we posted a rating story for this game before, Australian rating. Can we pretty much confirm it now?

Oddly enough Wiiware wasn’t on there, even thought it has gotten Monster World games, including this one in Japan. Odd?

[Source: Joystiq]

Virtua Tennis 4 on Playstation 3 gets exclusive content


SEGA has just confirmed that the Playstation 3 version of Virtua Tennis 4 is getting exclusive playable characters. These include Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Pat Rafter. As well as two minigames. The first one is Pin Crusher which is made for regular controllers in mind and the other is Net Blitz which is Move exclusive.

There is also a minigame being made for PlayStation Home Central Plaza that will launch with the start of the French Open. To check out the message SEGA sent out, hit the jump.

PSN: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & Yakuza 4 dynamic theme coming next week


[Sorta related]

The next Playstation Store update will have a few SEGA items most of you might be interested in. First Playstation Plus members will get Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for free, its a week exclusive. So those of you who are not members can get it on April 12th for $4.99.

For Yakuza 4 players, the Yakuza 4: The Men of Yakuza 4 Dynamic Theme will be out by the next update. Playstation Plus users get it for free, regular members can nab it for $2.99.

Talking about Yakuza 4, we should be having our Yakuza 4 review up tomorrow. Don’t miss that.

[Source: Playstation.Blog]

Super Monkey Ball 2 coming to Windows Phone 7


Seems that SEGA is kin on supporting Windows Phone 7, last game they announced was Sonic 4 and now they are announcing Super Monkey Ball 2. The game will be released on April 6th and cost $4.99.

If that wasn’t enough for users, you can try the game before you buy. The full game will come with over 115 courses, so might be a steal for the price of entry.This is most likely the iOS version for WP7.

[Source: Appmodo]

VF5 Final Showdown update hits arcades next month

The new issue of Arcadia teases a new Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown update. They gave out some information.

  • The release window for the new update is April. Most likely to released before Golden Week.
  • The bound system will be reworked, no longer allowing you to bound a character more than once. Issue with the current build is that wall combos can take off up to 50% of your health, now when it’s down the second time they won’t bounce as high and stay closer to the ground.
  • All characters will be tweaked for better balance. Here is a promotional video teasing new the changes.
  • VF.net service will be upgraded. The match videos users create will now have info displayed if you turn on the ‘frame data display.’

This is all the information that we know about the newest update. We here at SEGAbits are still waiting for our console port. Lets do this SEGA. Hit the jump to see the top 10 played arcades according to Arcadia.

SEGA announces co-op shooter Renegade Ops


SEGA announced that it will be publishing Avalanche Studios‘ (Developers of Just Cause) Renegade Ops  later this year. The game will be a downloadable title on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PC digital download.

“Renegade Ops is SEGA’s first new IP on the digital space and we are thrilled with the remarkable visual look and extensive features that the game has to offer. It has been a great opportunity to work with a team as successful as Avalanche Studios,”- Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA.

The game will allow players to play co-op offline 2 player split screen or up to 4 players online.  The game has you trying to stop Inferno, a madman trying to take over the world.

For the press release, hit the jump.

XBLA has After Burner Climax and Crazy Taxi 50% off


Microsoft is holding a sale for XBLA, called ‘Extreme Shopping’. It will start today, March 29th and end on April 4th. There are a ton of games on sale, two of the SEGA games happen to be After Burner Climax and Crazy Taxi.

Each will cost you 400 MS points, half off what they originally cost. If you would like to see the rest of the games on sale, hit this link.

UK Resistance closes its doors

[1996 – 2011]

UK Resistance was a comedy site started by SEGA fan Commander Zorg. The site has a long history and was one of the sites that influenced me to start my own SEGA blog. You know, tap away at keys and bore you all.

UK Resistance has really been all over the place for awhile, but started off as a SEGA news and reviews site. Goodbye UK Resistance, you shall be missed. Why did the site shut down? Check out the video. Announcement is a bit too close to April 1st for my liking, might be a prank.

[Source: UK:R]

Round Table: Our favorite SEGA advertisments

SEGA has been around the gaming business longer than most companies and when they came into the home console business they changed the game. Especially in the 90’s with their marketing campaigns that really expanded the demographic for video games.

Now we tell you what our favorite advertisements are, you can share yours as well in the comments.