SEGAbits is back from attending Anime Expo, and we have some exciting stories to share from SEGA and RGG Studio’s Essence of Fandom: Like a Dragon & Yakuza Experience, an event dedicated to the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise and its passionate fans. If you missed out on the event, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered with a detailed recap filled with photos and our impressions of this amazing experience. Huge thanks to SEGA and RGG Studio for providing VIP access!
Thanks to the generous folks at Atlus, we recently had the opportunity to delve into an early hands-on demo of Metaphor: ReFantazio, their upcoming RPG slated for release on October 11, 2024, at Anime Expo. Developed by Studio Zero, renowned for their work on the Persona series, this title promises to captivate both longtime fans of Atlus and newcomers alike. Want to know our thoughts on our experience playing the demo? Hit the jump and find out!
If you were unable to attend Anime Expo this year, no worries as SEGA has officially released the teaser for SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS: Dark Beginnings in high definition.
Serving as a prolouge animation to the upcoming game, past and present collide in a frantic chase for truth and understanding! Shadow is haunted by the memories of battles fought and lives lost. But these nightmares aren’t just lingering pain! They’re prompted by a force Shadow thought was destroyed.
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS: Dark Beginnings will be released with 3 episodes this fall!
Today, ATLUS released a new trailer for their upcoming fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio. The trailer was first revealed to attendees of today’s Anime Expo 2024 panel, “ATLUS Presents: The World of Metaphor: ReFantazio featuring Katsura Hashino & Shigenori Soejima.”
This story-focused trailer offers viewers an early peek at the turbulent events that kickstart the player’s journey in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Metaphor: ReFantazio will launch on October 11, 2024 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Steam. Physical and digital pre-orders are available now.
The original role playing Master System title that started it all, Phantasy Star will be receiving a table top roleplaying game powered by Esper Genesis, a comprehensive sci-fi roleplaying rules system you can use to build, customize, and expand your game, with the only limit being your imagination.
The Phantasy Star Tabletop RPG is a cooperative, storytelling game where you and your friends take on the roles of heroic protagonists in a boundless universe based on the popular Phantasy Star video game series.
The table top role playing game will be available in 2025. You can check out further details and sign up to the mailing list on the official website.
The upcoming second remake of the classic arcade horror rail shooter set to be released by Forever Entertainment and Microids has been officially rated on the ESRB website with an M rating featuring the usual blood and gore.
Here is the description from the rating summary:
“This is a rail shooter light gun game in which players assume the role of an agent in search of a missing colleague in Venice, Italy. From a first-person perspective, navigate through the city while using pistols to shoot and kill zombies and mutant creatures. Killing creatures often results in decapitation and/or dismemberment, with large blood-splatter effects. Combat is often fast paced, accompanied by gunfire, screams of pain, and large explosions. A handful of sequences depict civilians attacked and killed by enemy creatures.”
With the game being officially rated on ESRB, we may not have to suffer like G did as The House of the Dead 2: Remake might be just around the corner. Once an official announcement trailer releases, we will be sure to cover the news here!
Jet Set Radio’s renegade Rudie, Beat, makes a triumphant return to the world of Super Monkey Ball as a playable character across all game modes while sporting his new look from the upcoming Jet Set Radio game! Get ready to glide, grind and roll with Beat as he joins the monkey gang’s search for the Legendary Banana.
The SEGA Pass is included with the Digital Deluxe Edition of Banana Rumble and will also be available as a separate bundle to purchase. Individual characters will also be available a la carte. All content is scheduled to be released over the coming months.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch family of systems June 25, 2024. Pre-order your copy here!
Axel, one of Crazy Taxi’s iconic cabbie drivers, makes his way to Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble as part of the SEGA Pass DLC.Axel joins AiAi and friends, causing chaos along the way!
Axel will be playable across both Adventure Mode and Battle Mode, with unique stats to help him on the courses. Plus, for Axel only, all in-game bananas will switch to coins in homage to the franchise so you can rack up some insane money.
The SEGA Pass is included with the Digital Deluxe Edition of Banana Rumble and will also be available as a separate bundle to purchase. Individual characters will also be available a la carte. All content is scheduled to be released over the coming months.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch family of systems June 25, 2024. Pre-order your copy here!
Today, during Summer Game Fest 2024, SEGA had officially unveiled a new trailer for SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS and announced that the game will be set to release digitally and physically on October 25, 2024 and is now available to pre-order for PlayStation®5 (PS5®), PlayStation®4 (PS4®), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch™ family of systems, and PC starting at $49.99 USD.
The game will also have a Digital Deluxe Edition which allows fans to play the game three days early and includes additional iconic music tracks from previous Sonic and Shadow games, a Terios skin based on Shadow’s original concept, behind-the-scenes art, an additional level and Shadow Skin, and more!
Sonic fans can also pre-order the Physical Day One, Digital Standard or Deluxe editions of SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS ahead of launch to receive a legacy skin for Sonic, based on his look from Sonic Adventure™! Players who pre-order the Physical Day One Edition will receive Gerald Robotnik’s Journal, a 28-page logbook chronicling Gerald’s innermost thoughts and drawings while he created Shadow the Hedgehog and the Ark Space Station, in addition to the legacy skin for Sonic.
Hit the jump for more details on SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS from the official press release including pre-order bonus, key features and more!
The crossover tradition continues in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble as Sonic and friends joins the adventure.
Not only Sonic and Tails are returning as playable characters, but Knuckles and Amy joins Banana Rumble. Each with unique stats and Gold Rings as in-game pick-ups.
The Sonic Superstars will be available as part of the SEGA Pass included in the Digital Deluxe Edition, as a separate bundle, or a la carte.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble will be available exclusively for Nintendo Switch on June 25, 2024. Pre-Order the Deluxe Edition on the official website.
RGG Studio dropped some major news regarding a live-action series adaptation of Yakuza/Like a Dragon series by announcing Like A Dragon: Yakuza for Prime Video set to be released on October 24th.
According to Variety, The series’ story is set in two time periods, 1995 and 2005, and follows the life, childhood friends and the repercussions of the decisions of a fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity.
The screenplay and story are by Sean Crouch and Nakamura Yugo, with a Japanese screenplay by Yoshida Yasuhiro and Yamada Kana. The six-part crime-suspense-action series is directed by Take Masaharu and stars Takeuchi Ryoma as the lead character, Kiryu Kazuma.
It will upload to Prime Video in two batches of three episodes on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, with subtitled and dubbed versions in 30 languages.
We had a couple of live adaptations of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series through Japan and other media. How do you guys feel about this one? Will you watch it when it airs? Let us know in the comments below!
ATLUS today announced they will host a panel titled “ATLUS Presents: The World of Metaphor: ReFantazio” featuring Katsura Hashino & Shigenori Soejima at Anime Expo 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The panel will be held at the Petree Hall on Friday, July 5, 2024 from 10:30AM to 11:20AM PT.
We will be covering as much SEGA/ATLUS games and events at Anime Expo in person this year. Be sure to follow our social channels for more updates. Check out further details on the Metaphor: ReFantazio panel by hitting the jump!
SEGA announced they will have a panel at the biggest anime celebration in Los Angeles, Anime Expo 2024. The panel will focus on everyone’s favorite brooding hedgehog, Shadow, including his origins, his story in SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, and more.
Hosted by popular voice actor Zeno Robinson (Hawks in “My Hero Academia”, Hunter in “The Owl House”, and more) the panel will feature Takashi Iizuka (Sonic Team Creative Officer), Kirk Thornton and Stephanie Sheh, (English voices of Shadow and Maria), as well as Alan Wan, Kevin Molina-Ortiz, and Christopher Luc (Directors of Studio Giggex), as they discuss all things Shadow. The panel will also be answering fan submitted questions surrounding Shadow, Sonic, and more.
The panel will begin on Saturday, July 6 at 12:30 PM PT in Petree Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Be sure to follow us on our website and social media pages as we will be attending Anime Expo covering SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS and many other SEGA titles on the showfloor!
Today, SEGA has officially revealed Sonic Rumble, the newest addition to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, releasing this winter. The upcoming Sonic mobile game invites players to enter a twisted toy world created by the notorious Dr. Eggman.
In Sonic Rumble, players will take control of toy figures to compete in thrilling 32-player battle royale challenges, racing against each other to collect the most rings and prove themselves to be the fastest in the toybox. With iconic characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe available for customization, players can create their own unique avatars and dive into the action-packed gameplay.
Fans can look forward to the upcoming closed beta, set to take place from May 24 – May 26, 2024 which you can apply on the official website. What is everyone’s thoughts on this upcoming Sonic mobile game? Let us know in the comments below.
Today, Sonic Mania Plus is now available on mobile for the first time, exclusive to Netflix Games for free!
Sonic Mania Plus is a true, classic Sonic experience – gorgeous pixel graphics featuring a variety of new original Zones along with iconic favorites from Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
Play as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles, as well as two characters seen in past titles: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who return with their own unique abilities.
You can download Sonic Mania Plus on Google Play here.
