Author Archives: Kori-Maru

SEGA launches Fast. Friends. Forever. Campaign for Sonic fans

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Today, SEGA has launched the new Fast. Friends. Forever. campaign for Sonic the Hedgehog fans to show the importance of friendship, teamwork, inspiration, and loyalty. The initiative focuses on how Sonic and his friends demonstrate these values both in and out of the games.

The Fast. Friends. Forever. campaign will also continue throughout the year with variety of events and activations including:

  • A four-panel digital comic series by Sonic’s community of friends featuring talented artists from around the world. The first release drops August 9, followed by 14 more issues in the upcoming months.

  • The Sonic Symphony World Tour featuring Sonic and friends alongside popular music from the games. Tour stops include Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dusseldorf and more! Details HERE: https://www.sonicsymphonytour.com/

  • Season two of TailsTube starring Sonic’s best friend and sidekick, Tails.  Get ready for a bunch of new stories that are fun and educational!

  • A dedicated website showcasing all of Fast. Friends. Forever. activities, as well as character bios, spotlights, digital comics, and more! Details HERE: https://www.sonicthehedgehog.com

LEGOLAND is also offering a FREE kid’s ticket, with purchase of an adult ticket, good at any LEGOLAND Theme Park or LEGOLAND Discovery Center in North America through the end of the year. Terms and conditions apply. For more information, go to LEGOLAND.com/SonicSuperstars

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Chaos Creators Presents: Sonic EXPO; Event Kickstarter Page Now Available

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Another Sonic the Hedgehog fan event is on the horizon this fall with Sonic EXPO, a new and upcoming Sonic fan convention taking place in the heart of Dallas, TX on November 11 and 12 in 2023 and will be held by the experienced Chaos Creators team, known for their Arts Festival held in 2022.

Sonic EXPO will be a celebration of our collective enthusiasm for Sonic the Hedgehog. Fans will be able to meet their favorite Sonic voice actors and industry guests in person such as Ryan Drummond (Sonic), Lisa Ortiz (Amy), Jason Griffith (Sonic & Shadow), Pete Capella (Silver) and Johnny Gioeli, the singer for Crush 40, with more guests to being announced! The expo will also feature panels, a live rock concert, and a Sonic themed Artist Alley & Vendors.

The team released a Kickstarter page where you can support the event with way past cool tier rewards to choose from and details on location. If you are interested in Sonic the Hedgehog fan events, Sonic Expo is an experience you won’t want to miss. Don’t forget that we also have our SEGA themed event, Arcade Adventure, which will be held at the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois on September 9th, 2023 with tons of SEGA arcade games to play!

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Calling All SEGA Enthusiasts: Ask Your Questions to Former Designers Yumiko Miyabe and Akihito Hiroyoshi

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Fellow SEGAbits writer, Dakota, and I are planning to make a trip to Japan from September 17th to September 28th for Tokyo Game Show. During our trip to Japan, we plan to interview former SEGA designers, Yumiko Miyabe, known for her work as Art Director for the Space Channel 5 series, and Akihito Hiroyoshi, known for his work as character designer for SEGA AM2 classics such as Arabian Fight and the Virtua Cop series.

Our exclusive interview will delve into their remarkable careers in the gaming industry, exploring their early beginnings, the notable games they helped design at SEGA, and even their current hobbies. We warmly invite you to participate by submitting your burning questions for Yumiko Miyabe and Akihito Hiroyoshi. We will keep everyone updated on the interviewing process. If you have any questions for them to answer, let us know either in this Twitter thread or leave them here in the comment section below.

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Samba de Amigo Party Central Shakes Its Way On Meta Quest 2 & Meta Quest Pro

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During the Meta Quest Showcase, SEGA announced that Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be arrive for Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro later this fall. Pre-orders for the game are available on the Meta Quest Store.

As a special bonus to those who pre-order the game ($29.99 MSRP) up until launch will also receive the following unique in-game accessories they can use to dress up their Amigo:

  • A virtual replica Meta Quest 2 VR headset
    A pair of virtual replica Meta Quest controllers that replace the player’s maracas

Samba de Amigo will also be arriving on Nintendo Switch on August 29 with pre-orders now available here.

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Samba de Amigo: Party Central Releases On August 29th for Nintendo Switch; Sonic & SEGA DLC Announcement

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Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be partying its way for Nintendo Switch on August 29th and SEGA has also announced today that the digital editions of the upcoming rhythm action game are now available to pre-order for Nintendo Switch on the Nintendo eShop.

Those who purchase the Samba de Amigo: Party Central Digital Deluxe Edition ($49.99 MSRP) on the Nintendo eShop will receive the following:

  • The Standard Edition of the game
  • Sonic Music DLC Pack that includes fan-favorite tracks such as “Open Your Heart” from Sonic Adventure™, “Reach For The Stars (Re-Colors)” from Sonic Colors™️: Ultimate, and “I’m Here” from Sonic Frontiers™!
  • SEGA Music DLC Pack has you setting the festivities on fire with popular tracks from SEGA’s history: “Bakamitai (Taxi Driver Edition)”, “Go Go Cheer Girl!” from Space Channel 5™️: Part 2, and “Rhythm Thief Theme” from Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure™️!
  • Special costumes inspired by Sonic and Tails from the Sonic the Hedgehog™ series; Space Channel 5; Super Monkey Ball™️; and Puyo Puyo™️!

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Samba De Amigo: Party Central announced for Nintendo Switch, Releasing June 2023

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While news leaked earlier today on social media, Nintendo Direct has officially dropped the news that SEGA’s iconic rhythm action game series, Samba de Amigo, will be making a comeback on the Nintendo Switch titled Samba de Amigo: Party Central with Amigo sporting a new attire for the upcoming game.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will include 40 musical hits from the world’s most popular genres including EDM, pop, Latin, and more along with a wide variety of mini-games and challenges to enjoy; a ton of unique costumes and accessories to unlock and wear; and new online features – including an 8-player World Party mode.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be released on the Nintendo Switch June 2023!

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Sonic Colors: Ultimate – Now Available on Steam

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Heads up! SEGA has officially surprised us with the release of Sonic Colors: Ultimate on Steam which is now available to purchase.

Along with the release of the remaster, other Sonic titles on Steam are on sale starting today until February 13 at 10:00 a.m. PST / 1:00 p.m. EST / 6:00 p.m. GMT between 30% and 75% off as part of the Sonic Franchise Sale. All Sonic Colors: Ultimate SKUs will also be 30% off during the sale.

You can find a breakdown of the regular pricing for Sonic Colors: Ultimate on Steam after the jump.

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Sakura Wars 2 Receives Fan Translation for SEGA Saturn; Demo Available for Download

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Translated by the same team behind the original Sakura Wars game for the SEGA Saturn, the sequel, Sakura Wars 2: Thous Shalt Not Die, will be receiving a fan translation for the SEGA Saturn. The project was worked on last summer for a year in a half. Not only that the game will be translated, the team has released the special edition demo of the game for everyone to try out.

Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die, is the sequel to the original game developed by Red Company and SEGA for the Sega Saturn and was released in Japan in April 1998 and ported to other systems, including the Dreamcast in September 2000. The game takes place one year after the first game following Ichiro Ogami and the all-female Flower Division of the Imperial Combat Revue as they fight against new supernatural entities in Tokyo as well as hostile political forces led by Keigo Kyogoku.

Not only Sakura Wars 2 is getting a fan translation, the third game in the series is also receiving one as well. It’s only a matter of time that all four main Sakura Wars games will be available to play.

Here is the link to the demo and screenshots to check out to below.

 

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SEGA Unveils Sonic Frontiers Prologue: CONVERGENCE Cover

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Today, SEGA revealed the cover for an upcoming digital comic, Sonic Frontiers Prologue: CONVERGENCE. As a prologue to Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Frontiers Prologue: CONVERGENCE is a two part digital comic prologue and dives into the events taking place for Sonic, Tails, Amy and Dr. Eggman right before they begin their journey to the Starfall Islands in search of the Chaos Emeralds.

Part 1 of the comic prologue will launch next Tuesday. Sonic Frontiers will launch starting at $59.99 on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch™ family of systems and Steam on November 8.

Source: Sonic Official Twitter

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Bayonetta 3 Release Date Revealed

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Publisher Nintendo and developer Platinum Games announced today that Bayonetta 3 will launch on October 28 for Nintendo Switch with a new game play trailer along with an introduction of the new playable character, Viola, who is ready to unleash hell on the Homunculi with her sword and her capricious companion, the feline demon Cheshire.

Bayonetta 3 will launch with “A Trinity Masquerade Edition” with a full-color 200-page art book, and display the whole Bayonetta trilogy with three reversible game cases, one for each title, that combine to form stunning panoramic artwork. More details regarding the Trinity Masquerade Edition will be announced in the future.

In addition, Nintendo announced it will launch the original Bayonetta as a standalone physical release on September 30. A limited number of copies will be available to pre-order via select retailers and available at launch in the My Nintendo Store at a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Source: Gematsu

 

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Check out Sonic Origins: Speed Strats Series; An Informative Series Covering Past Sonic Titles to Newcomers

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SEGA recently published two episode of Sonic Origins Speed Strats by Strategy Guide PR, bringing players up to speed on all things Sonic Origins, the remastered multi-game collection of the original Sonic titles. The series covers the original Sonic collection with information on each game on lore, objectives and game play mechanics featured exclusively in Sonic Origins.

This series also will help newcomers understand the original roots of the Sonic the Hedgehog series which I think is perfect timing after the release of Paramount Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie. If you missed the first episode, you could check out the video here.

Sonic Origins will launch digitally, starting at $39.99 USD on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch™ family of systems and PC on June 23.

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The Unofficial SEGA-centric Fan Event Returns After 4 Years; Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam REMIX Event & Kickstarter Pre-Sale Dates Details

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After four years of absence, Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam returns for another exciting gaming event celebrating the legacy of SEGA video games and will be the essential experience for fans of Sonic the Hedgehog, Yakuza, Persona, Virtua Fighter, Super Monkey Ball and other SEGA games old and new! As always, there will be games, special guests, artists, content creators, panels, contests, and much more. It is a not-for-profit event and this year’s theme will be inspired by SEGA’s focus on revitalizing classic IPs for the modern audience, hence the term “REMIX” in the title. While previous events took place in Savannah, GA, over the years, this year’s event will take place in Marietta, Georgia at the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta & Conference Center on Saturday, November 12th with a Kickstarter badge pre-sale launching on Tuesday, May 17th with amazing reward tiers.

Here are the guests announced for the event so far:

Industry/Voice Actor Guest

Corey Marshall (Shenmue)
Eric Kelso (Virtua Fighter, Shenmue, F-Zero GX)
Lisle Wilkerson (Virtua Fighter, Crazy Taxi, Shenmue)

Sonic & SEGA Fan Community/Content Creators

Sam Procrastinates (Sonic Community)
Chaomix (Sonic Community)
SomeCallMeJohnny (YouTube)
AntDude (YouTube)
Skye Rocket (Music)
Victor McKnight (Music)
TreasureHuntingSonic (Sonic Community)

More guests to be announced soon. You have questions regarding the event or like to receive updates, you can follow the event through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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SEGA and Gamefam announces Sonic Speed Simulator for Roblox

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UPDATE: Check out gameplay footage on GameFam Studios Twitter

Today, Gamefam and SEGA announced Sonic Speed Simulator for Roblox, bringing the iconic blue blur to the platform for the first time ever. This marks the first time a world-renowned AAA gaming character has been officially featured on the platform.

Sonic Speed Simulator is the fastest game in Roblox and players will be able to level up and gain speed by running through multiple unique worlds while racing against friends to earn rewards. Players can also expect regular weekly updates and earn an exclusive community Sonic the Hedgehog skin once the game has received 10,000 “likes” from players.

Hit the jump to view the press release and screenshots.

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The House of the Dead: Remake Review – A Decent, Yet Deadly Fun Remake (Nintendo Switch)

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The House of the Dead series has been regarded as one of SEGA’s successful arcade franchises over the years with the first title debuting in arcades worldwide in 1997. What makes this series so special to many of us SEGA fans are the following things: Horror elements with blood & gore, fast paced action, and of course, its cheesy voice acting; most notably, The House of the Dead 2 being the most popular titles in this long running franchise. Many of The House of the Dead titles have seen near arcade perfect ports on multiple consoles from Dreamcast to PlayStation 3 with the exception of the original game that started it all, which was only ported to the SEGA Saturn and Windows PC in 1998. 

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New House of the Dead: Remake reveals new gameplay footage and release date

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It’s been quite some time since the announcement of The House of the Dead Remake published by Forever Entertainment, the same publishers behind the Panzer Dragoon Remake. Today, Forever Entertainment released a new trailer for the upcoming arcade light gun remake that reveals new gameplay footage featuring cutscenes, creatures, and the infamous voice acting from the original game remade from the ground up. The trailer also revealed the release date of the game which is set for April 7th with pre-orders opening on March 31st for the Nintendo Switch.

What did you think of the new trailer of The House of the Dead: Remake? Let us know in the comments below.

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