Author Archives: George

SEGA & M2 announce new Shoot ’em Up ‘Ikusaba’ & M2’s SEGA Classics coming to Arcades – JAEPO 2020

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In the recent Japan Amusement Expo, where companies show the upcoming Japanese arcade platforms and cabinets, SEGA and M2 had a brand new shoot ’em up to show going by the temporary name of Ikasaba. While there are some screenshots shown, not much is known about this upcoming shooter. M2 is set to put out more information in the near future.

M2’s Ikusaba is set to launch in Japanese arcades on SEGA’s ALL.Net P-ras MULTI Version 3 (APM3) this upcoming Fall 2020. Its one of the upcoming 11 titles that were announced for this platform, check out the other titles:

  • Guilty Gear Strive
  • Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Ignition APM3 ver.
  • Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r]
  • Otoshoo DX
  • Umihara Kawase Fresh!
  • Rolling Gunner
  • Koihime Enbu RyoRaiRai Version3
  • Goonya Fighter
  • Sega Classics (temp. name) (1st game: Fantasy Zone)

[Source: Siliconera]

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Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming to Steam

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If you have a gander at the online manual for the North American release of Phantasy Star Online 2, you will notice that the PC version is listed as coming to Steam along with Microsoft Store version.

Launch PC game version

When the download is complete, you can proceed to launch the game by doing the following:

  • Steam
    • Open the Steam client and search for “Phantasy Star Online 2” under the “Library” section, then click “Play.”
    • If you opted to create a desktop shortcut, simply double click on the shortcut to launch the game.
  • Windows 10
    • Open the start menu and search for the “Phantasy Star Online 2” app shortcut.
    • If you opted to create a desktop shortcut, simply double click on the desktop shortcut.

As you already know, this weekend will be the start of the Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta, from February 7 to the 9th only on Xbox One.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 won’t be region locked, at least for now…

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We are getting closer and closer to the release of the Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta, which launches on February 7th. While Phantasy Star Online 2 is only officially coming out in North America (at least this Microsoft published servers), some European fans have asked if they will be blocking players from outside of the North America:


Quite frankly, I don’t see why Microsoft doesn’t just open this server to anyone that wants to play it in English. I mean, technically anyone can join the Japanese servers and is it bad to have a popular game? I think it would be good for Microsoft’s brand more than anything.

[Via: Siliconera]

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Phantasy Star Online 2 closed beta starts February 7, 2020

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If you are excited for the Western Xbox One closed beta, which starts on February 7th and goes through the 8th, then you’re in luck since we got more details about the event including ‘exclusive closed beta missions and items’. According to Microsoft you will be able to pre-load the game on February 3rd, if you want to start playing the first nano second the game goes live. You can sign up for the closed beta via the ‘Xbox Insider Hub’. 

Closed Beta Test Schedule

  • Starts: Friday, February 7th, 5 PM (PST)
  • Ends: Saturday, February 8th, 11:59 PM (PST)
  • Official Website: Opens Friday, February 7th, 10 AM (PST)

The beta will also have ‘Urgent Quests’ during the closed beta which include the following missions:

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Yakuza 7 launch day numbers weakest in main series, 20% drop from Yakuza 6

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Yakuza 7 (Yakuza: Like a Dragon in America) is changing a lot of things that were considered bread and butter for the franchise. This includes a new lead character and a change from real time action to turn base combat. Unsurprisingly this has lead to a drop in launch sales. Does this mean that this whole new direction has been a failure? Not really, it will depend on how the game sales overtime and we still have to launch it outside of Japan. Who knows, in the West, this being a soft reboot might help it.

 

Check out the tweet by Game Data Library on Twitter for a sales chart:

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SEGA introduces ‘Sonic 2020 Initiative’, to announce Sonic the Hedgehog news on the 20th of every month

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Guys, the year is 2020, its the future and in this future a handful of announcements aren’t enough. SEGA has officially launched the “Sonic 2020” project, a new initiative to announce various new Sonic the Hedgehog-related plans and information throughout the year.

What’s the first bit of news on January 20th? Well, of course the project itself. I bet Sonic Team are patting themselves on the back for this one. The Sonic Channel also released some art for the announcement which features social media assets and even 21 character icons. The press release for this does mention that SEGA will hold various Sonic the Hedgehog events in 2020; so keep an eye out.

I’m no Detective Conan, but don’t be shocked if we get a musical event with Tee Lopes and Crush 40, since the Sonic the Hedgehog social media has been releasing remixed tunes.

[Via: Gematsu]

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Round Table: How SEGA Can Improve in 2020

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We are in a brand new decade and SEGA has had a huge turn around in the last five years since they announced their last big rebuild and bought Atlus. It seems that SEGA’s Road to 2020 was a success in a lot of aspects. But like every company, there are always weak points that haven’t quite been ironed out.

On this Round Table we will discuss how SEGA can improve in 2020, if you have any ways that you think SEGA can improve in this new year, let us know in the comments below.

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon To Get Seven Free DLC Packs, First DLC Details Revealed

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If you are excited for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which comes out later this year in America, you probably already know that these games have had free DLC updates since the release of Yakuza 3 and this new game isn’t any different.

While we don’t know the release schedule of these DLC items in the West, we do know the release schedule for the Japanese release (they start releasing tomorrow):

  • January 23, 2020
  • January 30, 2020
  • February 6, 2020
  • February 13, 2020
  • February 20, 2020
  • February 27, 2020

The first pack that SEGA is releasing is called the ‘Support Pack Vol. 1’ which will add a new ‘Cleanup Crew’ costume and the following support items:

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Atlus & SEGA Creators Talk 2020 and Future Goals

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The Japanese gaming website 4Gamer & Famtisu runs a piece every year talking to Japanese developers about their yearly goals, every New Years. This time it seems a bit special considering we are going into a brand new decade, 2020. Or is it 2021?

Most of the answers here from Atlus and one SEGA developer comes from the Famitsu article and was translated by Gematsu.

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Let’s Remember Sonic Unleashed 11 Years After Release – Twitter Edition

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SEGA’s Sonic Unleashed was a very important game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it was the birth of a brand new ‘boost Sonic’ formula that would extend to Sonic Colors, Generations and even the latest Forces video game. At the same time it was also the start of focusing on Sonic and abandoning the friends that became mainstay since the release of Sonic Adventure.

To celebrate, I asked on Twitter what our audience thought about Sonic Unleashed, all these 11 years later. First we had a 3 hour long poll that got 459 votes and hot takes from fans:

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Persona character designer creates a new character for Project Sakura Wars

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We heard not that long ago that SEGA and Atlus are working on a new game for next generation consoles, but it seems that development teams are already working together. It was announced that Persona character designer Shigenori Soejima actually worked on a unique character for Project Sakura Wars, introducing Hakushu Murasame (pictured above).

She was revealed during a Project Sakura Wars Japanese stream, where it showed her talking to her student, Sakura Amamiya and Seijuro Kaimiyama. She plays a competent, composed character through the presentation. We also know she will be voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro who played Elizabeth from the Velvet Room attendant and made her debut in Persona 3. While Hakushu Mursame is getting the attention, it seems that Ken Sugimori (Pokemon) is also making a character for the game, which is shown off in this new video.

You can check out the two hour Project Sakura Wars stream right here. So this project has the redesign done by Tite Kubo (Bleach), Shigenori Soejima (Persona), Ken Sugimori (Pokemon), and even Noizi Ito (Fire Emblem Heroes)? That’s quite the art team.

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Space Channel 5 Getting 20th Anniversary Greatest Hits Album Featuring Over 50 Tracks

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While it doesn’t seem to get a lot of hype online, it seems that SEGA is bringing back Space Channel 5 with the release of Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash and now with a 20th Anniversary album release featuring over 50 tracks from the series’ greatest tunes across two CDs. The release promises remixes, drama tracks and six new tracks from the upcoming VR title.

You can see the album cover above, which shows off Ulala sporting her new Space Channel 5 VR yellow outfit, which seems to be her new ’20th Anniversary’ color? The 2 CD disc will feature a booklet with commentary from composer Naofumi Hataya and narrative designer Takumi Yoshinaga. You can get the import via iam8bit for $39.99, if you are interested.

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Streets of Rage 4 will hit Xbox Game Pass next year

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We already posted that the Yakuza games are coming to Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass, which we posted. But now we got another SEGA classic coming to Xbox Game Pass… Streets of Rage 4! You can check out the full Game Pass line-up so far in the screenshot above.

It seems that Microsoft is going all in with their Game Pass, are you interested?

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Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Kiwami 2 coming to Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass

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SEGA has just announced at X019 in London that SEGA America and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio will be bringing three Yakuza games not just to Xbox One and Xbox One X, but also the Xbox One Game Pass. If you don’t know what Game Pass is, its basically Microsoft’s SEGA Channel or Netflix service where you pay monthly to play all the games you want in a revolving number of titles.

This is huge news, now if only SEGA could port these games on the Nintendo Switch, then everyone will be happy!

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