Author Archives: George

Shining Series artist releases his art book ‘Tony’s Artworks From Origin’ tomorrow

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TonysArtOriginRegardless of what you think of Tony Takas art since taking over the Shining franchise’s art duties all the way back in 2004, he seems to have acquired a massive following in Japan. While the Shining series has had trouble selling copies of their games, it seems that Japan responded positively to Tony Taka’s character designs. So much so that there is a ton of Shining series merch being sold, more so than the actual games. Tony Taka has even released a couple of Shining related art books as well, this will be more broad artwork he has done in the past.

AmiAmi will be selling the “Tony’s ART works from Origin” book which is set to feature various character designs from his career including magazine covers and vocaloids he has designed, including a long form interview looking at his history these past 20 years. The book will come in A4 page format, will have a hardcover backing and clear slip on box. The book will set you back 5,000 yen ($46), will have 100 pages and feature 80 illustrations. The details of the book also brag that about 30 of the character designs in the book got made into figurines. Good for you Tony Taka, I guess.

Hit the jump to check out preview pages of some of the artwork that will be in the book:

[Via AmiAmi]

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Sonic Mania delayed on PC until August 29th

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If you are unlucky person, such as yours truly, then you will probably have to wait until August 29th to play Sonic Mania. That’s right, Sonic Mania on PC has been delayed until August 29th, all other console versions will launch on August 15th as normal. I guess I will have to purchase the game on consoles, digitally, to play it without it getting spoiled. I’m pretty sure SEGA and the people working on Sonic Mania didn’t want to delay it, its just how game development go.

The news was given out during the Sonic the Hedgehog live stream over at Twitch. Another bit of news was that 26 copies of the Sonic Mania Collectors Edition will be signed by Takashi Iizuka and Kazuyuki Hoshino of Sonic Team. Good luck with that one. Aaron Webber did say that all Sonic Mania PC pre-orders will get Sonic the Hedgehog on steam for free, which happens to be the non-Chrisitan Whitehead remake. It sucks, its nice that they are trying to give out a free game but is it enough? Sound off in the comments, what is your thoughts on Sonic Mania being delayed only on PC?

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Ristar joins SEGA Forever line-up

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Ristar3Sonic Team’s Ristar might have only had one game, but it was a pretty damn good one. The stretchy armed platformer featured fantastic music, vibrant and colorful world. The game was also more of a slower platformer, having Sonic Team take a break from Sonic the Hedgehog games was a nice change of pace. If you never played the game, I feel like you should try it on a better emulator than what is being offered right now on SEGA Forever, but if a mobile phone is all you have then you can give the game a try for free, with ads. If you like what you played, you can always keep it ad-free for only $1.99. I have downloaded and played it a bit, the emulation on this title is a bit better, but still having issues with sound (on my Android device).

Download:
PlayStore – iTunes

It seems that Ristar had a sneak launch, while SEGA Forever teased the game, they haven’t officially announced it coming out. No trailer like they did for The Revenge of Shinobi last week and no tweet (as of writing this). If you want to learn more about the future of the SEGA Forever line of games, check out our interview with Danny Russell (Mobile Games Community Manager at SEGA).

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic Mania Competition Mode Reaction

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The good people over at SEGA just teased the all new competition mode for the upcoming Sonic Mania, which will allow two players to have head to head races throughout the in-game levels. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we go through all the rules of the new Sonic Mania competition mode, talk about the multiplayer modes from past Sonic the Hedgehog titles, discuss the fact that Sonic Mania competition mode will squish the aspect ratio, and much more. We also have a couple, minor news stories added in the video; like the first pictures of the Sonic Mania collector’s edition in the wild and the rumor that SEGA’s Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is the announcer in Sonic Mania’s competition mode! Let us know what you think of Sonic Mania‘s competition mode in the comments below. Only a week left until Sonic Mania officially releases!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Looks like Rez Infinite is coming to PC tomorrow

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A eagle eyed NeoGAF poster by the name of Grief.exe spotted a tweet by @deadendthrills stating that he was extremly excited to finally bring Rez/Rez Infinite to PC which would support 4k with double the texture quality. Sadly he deleted his tweet, possibly due to Enhanced Games, Rez Infinite publisher teasing something for tomorrow.  How much do you want to bet that their announcement is the release of Rez Infinite on PC? Some believe that the tease is actually wrong and means September 9th, which I doubt. But we shall see.

For those not in the know, it seems SEGA has licensed the Rez IP and let Tetsuya Mizuguchi work on the franchise with other publishers.  The first attempt was Rez HD on Xbox Live which was published by Microsoft Studios, then last year we had Rez Infinite which added more content and supported PlayStation VR. No idea if the PC version will support VR out of the box, but I’m assuming it will. What are your thoughts? Will you be picking up Rez Infinite on steam if it comes out tomorrow?

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ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl pre-orders go live

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The ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl has opened its pre-orders via the official Funkotron Shop! The vinyl set will set you back a cool $44.95 plus shipping. It seems like a ton of money but the vinyl set comes with a ton of things! The ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl set comes with:

  • 2xLP (ToeJam Red and Earl Orange)
  • Soundtrack on CD
  • Digital Soundtrack code
  • 24 page comic-style art book

While its cool that the package comes with the digital code and CD, it would have been cool to get a cheaper package with only the art book and vinyl. You can check more details about the ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove vinyl set over here. All orders are mean’t to ship this fall, keep that in mind. If you didn’t know, ToeJam & Earl: Back tot he Groove is a new entry to the ToeJam & Earl franchise being headed by creator Greg Johnson, the game was funded by Kickstarter on March 25, 2015. The game is set to come out sometime in 2017 on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game is being published by Adult Swim (the channel, yeah).

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic Mania Special & Bonus Stages Revealed

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While last time we talked about the first screenshot of Sonic Mania’s special stages, but now SEGA has come back with footage showing a few of the special stages along with introducing the new (and I use that word lightly here) bonus stages and even reveal time attack. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our thoughts special stages, discuss critics given online about the bonus stages and gush over time attack mode. According to SEGA this is the last big reveal for Sonic Mania, what with the game coming out in August 15, so hopefully you enjoy our big last SEGA News Bits for the game. Let us know what you think of all the new features SEGA showed off for Sonic Mania, in the comments below.

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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SEGA releases free DLC schedule for Yakuza Kiwami

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SEGA has revealed that Yakuza Kiwami will be getting four content packs post launch, something that they have been doing with the series since Yakuza 3. The add-on content will be received as game updates, after its released, so no need to go into the PSN store, and deal with adding the content to your account.

If you hit the jump you can see all the cool free DLC content for Yakuza Kiwami like playing as shirtless Kiryu, having Majima’s iconic snake skin jacket and more. Remember that Yakuza Kiwami retails for $29.99, Amazon Prime pre-order is only $23.99 for the steelbook version!

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic Forces to have Jet Set Radio, NiGHTS & Monkey Ball DLC

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We posted about the Sonic Forces Day One Edition leak earlier today, labeling it as a rumor. If you didn’t hear the news, Sonic Paradise found an Amazon and Xtra Life store page for a Sonic Forces Day One Edition which was set to have customizable avatar items as pre-order DLC that are said to be based on in-house SEGA IPs such as Jet Set Radio, NiGHTS into Dreams, Super Monkey Ball and Puyo Puyo Tetris. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our thoughts on pre-order DLC, guess what the items from these franchises might be, talk about other SEGA franchises that should get cameos in Sonic Forces, and more. So tune in and let us know in the comments below what you think of the Sonic Forces Day One Edition! What other franchises from SEGA would you like to see cameo in the game?

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Sonic Mania – Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 music track released

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The road to Sonic Mania continues and the Sonic the Hedgehog social media accounts are slowly releasing new content to keep fans hyped for the game’s release on August 15. Today we got the Sonic Mania – Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 musical track, a popular stage from Sonic CD.

This takes the track and gives it that Tee Lopes oomph and it really sounds great. You have to give credit to Tee Lopes, I’ve been loving every single Sonic Mania track so far and I’m very excited to see what the full OST has to offer.

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The Revenge of Shinobi joins SEGA Forever

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The Revenge of Shinobi comes to SEGA Forever’s mobile line-up. This is a new “censored version” that has been around since the SEGA Vintage Collection era, which changes Joe Musashi’s face in the title screen due to the face basically resembling Sonny Chiba. Some hardcore fans take issue with this change because the original ‘Sonny Chiba copied face’ seems angry and bold while the edited version of Joe Musashi looks rather sad. Its also funny to note that the SEGA Forever trailer above even makes a joke about it being changed.  You can see bothf faces below (Left original, right the new one):

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The Revenge of Shinobi isn’t new to censorship, considering that the game has been heavily changed in the past due to copyright infringement on popular IPs such as Godzillia, Spiderman and even Batman. The Revenge of Shinobi is considered to be one of the best sequels of all time, adding much more depth than the original arcade Shinobi ever had. The Revenge of Shinobi also featured a critically acclaimed soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series) which should be enough to download and try it. The only thing is, have they fixed the audio in the emulation? Like all SEGA Forever titles, the game is free to play with ads and $1.99 to keep ad-free forever.

[Google Play | iTunes]

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Etrian Odyssey V launch edition comes with soundtrack and art book

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Atlus USA has begun teasing the Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth launch day edition which will include extras like a physical 24-page art book, six-track CD and a outer box to hold all your goodies including the game. Like always, these ‘Launch Day’ editions cost the same as the regular game. Amazon has the game for pre-order, if you have Amazon Prime the game will cost you $31.99.

The 24-page art book will have art by series artist Yuji Himukai who has also done artwork for Persona Q and Fire Emblem Heroes. While the soundtrack CD only has six tracks, but they are composed by Yuzo Koshiro who composed the Streets of Rage series, The Revenge of Shinobi, and many more. Etrian Odyssey V is set to come out this fall.

Is the Etrian Odyssey V launch day edition juicy enough to get you to pick it up? Where you planning on getting it anyway? Let us know in the comments below.

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Persona 5 has shipped over 1.8 million units world wide

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persona-5-listing-thumb-01-ps4-us-30jun16SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi confirmed that Persona 5 has shipped over 1.8 million units world wide during he’s latest Sega Nama broadcast. The last time that numbers got reported, the game did 1.5 million back in April. Persona 5 was also released in Korea on June 8th, so that could have given the game a bit of a boost in sales.

Persona 5 is now the best selling game in Atlus’ history and has also critically acclaimed. We even gave the game a positive review, so if you haven’t jumped on the Persona 5 ship, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

[Source: Gemastu]

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SEGA teasing new update for Border Break Zero Plus

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SEGA-AM2’s Border Break: Sega Network Robot Wars debuted way back in September 9, 2009 and since then it has been regularly updated, while still being played competitively in Japan. The game has received over 16 huge updates that all came with name changes. The new version of Border Break is being titled Border Break Zero Plus, the earlier version was being called ‘Border Break X Zero’. As you can tell, the Border Break franchise has been a huge hit for SEGA in arcades.

SEGA is getting ready to show off Border Break X Zero at an official event being held at Tokyo Big Sight International Exhibition Center at hall 1000 on July 30th. The Japanese Border Break X Zero site also teases that some stores will be participating in showing off the new versions of the game, in a Japan tour that SEGA has planned. I gendered at the schedule with Google Translate and it seems to be opening with a VR demonstration, then moves on to a lottery giveaway and then later will have a competitive tournament with the newest Border Break X Zero build.

It is a little sad that we didn’t even get a console or even a PC port (considering the arcade version is played with a mouse) and was kept as a Japanese only arcade release. Would you play the game if it ever came out outside of arcades?

[Source: Border Break Site]

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Yakuza 0 is 30% off for PlayStation Plus members

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Yakuza 0 fighting stylesYakuza 0 is having a sale for PlayStation Plus members, giving them a discount of 30%! So how much will the game end up costing you? $41.99 and the sale ends on August 1st, so if you want the game digitally and want it for a discount price you should bite on this sale. If you are unsure about the game, you can always check out our Yakuza 0 review (plot spoiler: Its great). You can also get the physical version for $47.99 on Amazon if that is more to your liking.

Yakuza 0 is also a good entry game for anyone that has never played a Yakuza title and with Yakuza Kiwami coming out in the end of next month, its the perfect time to join the Yakuza family. Sake is on us, give the game a shot if you haven’t!

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