Author Archives: MadeManG74

SEGAbits at Tokyo Game Show 2017: A Certain Magical Virtual-On Hands-On Preview

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What started seemingly as a one-off (potentially joke) crossover between a popular anime and SEGA’s Virtual-On has turned into a potential resurrection for the much-loved Virtual-On series.

The playable build I got my hands on started with a tutorial, where I got my first experience of A Certain Magical Index. Honestly it’s quite jarring to turn on a Virtual-On game and be met with what looked like high-school students talking in high pitched voices with a long-winded introduction to the game. The characters seem very out of place and different to the usual Virtual-On style and I was initially a little jarring. Thankfully when I got to actually control Temjin, I found the game surprisingly familiar. I still don’t like some of the new designs for mechs, but for the most part it manages to gel nicely with the old games.

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SEGAbits at Tokyo Game Show 2016 Preview: Valkyria: Azure Revolution (PS4/PS Vita)

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SEGAbits attended Tokyo Game Show 2016! At the event we saw several upcoming SEGA games, presented through stage events and, in some cases, hands-on demos. One of many games we had to opportunity to play a demo of was Valkyria: Azure Revolution. Let’s get this out of the way first; this game plays nothing like Valkyria Chronicles. At all. Don’t entertain the idea that it might be a semi-sequel. Rather, this game plays like an odd mix of action RPG and squad based tactics.

With that out of the way, the demo at Tokyo Game Show consisted of attacking several enemy camps and a final boss fight with a mechanical spider. You controlled a squad of four characters with varying strengths and abilities, after being given a brief tutorial on when and how to use the various tools at your disposal.

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The Last Boss: White Fang

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Now, when you think of a game based around Die Hard, you would think the last boss would be Hans Gruber. Not so in Sega’s Die Hard Arcade though, this time you get to beat White Fang (better known as ‘The last guy from Die Hard Arcade’) into unconsciousness with the Presidential golf clubs. This Die Hard also features killer death robots that shoot laser beams, and giant Mexican Wrestlers called ‘Jocko’ so that kinda sets the tone for things to come, really.

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The Last Boss: Michael Jackson vs Stray Dogs

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When I heard that the new Michael Jackson video games for Wii, DS and Kinect were going to be dance games I was hugely disappointed. “What else would you expect them to be?” you may ask, and that is a fair question. I knew it was unlikely, but a small part of me was hoping that we would see some kind of follow up to the classic Sega title Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. That game had it all; a Michael Jackson soundtrack, scrolling beat-em-up action and some great boss fights, not least of which was the legendary Stray Dogs. Yes, there was a video game where you used Michael Jackson to kick the ever-living shit out of a bunch of dogs.

Why this game doesn’t have a sequel is beyond me…

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Phantasy Star Universe: Guardians Advanced Content and Ambition of the Illuminus out now and FREE!

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A new (and FREE) expansion pack for Phantasy Star Universe on Xbox 360 has just been released for download, and not only that, but SEGA has seen fit to give away Ambition of the Illuminus (formerly 800 points) away as well to celebrate!

The Guardians content will offer players new missions, new weapons and new customisation options, breathing some new life into the online game. The expansions can be downloaded from the XBLA Marketplace site, or from your 360 console.

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Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: UK’s Dreamcast Magazine – September 2001

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Welcome back, true believers, to another trip down memory lane. This time it’s back to September 2001 by way of Dreamcast Magazine!

Dreamcast Magazine was an unofficial UK based mag, and as you can see, it stuck with SEGA’s white box of wonder until the bitter end. Unlike last week’s look at SEGA Megazone during the lead up to the Saturn, this magazine is from the darker days, when the Dreamcast console had been discontinued and releases were beginning to slow down to a trickle. You can tell a console is struggling when the magazine cover article is a game that was never intended for it. As you will all know though, the Dreamcast went out with a hell of a bang, and was still giving us a number of great titles to play.

Hit the jump to see tears of both joy and sorrow from the end days of Dreamcast Magazine.

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Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: SEGA Megazone – July 1995

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Ahh the Halcyon years of gaming before the internet. When gamers roamed the earth, waiting eagerly each month for a new issue of their favourite magazine to get the latest news and reviews for upcoming games. Let’s take a look back at a classic SEGA periodical with the July 1995 issue of SEGA Megazone Magazine. If you think this is nifty, wait until you hit the jump and see the rest of what the magazine had in stock. There will be boobs…

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Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada says SEGA failed at Globalization.

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“We have to appeal to customers with different preferences. Sega did not succeed. Konami did not succeed. Namco Bandai did not succeed. Western publishers have not succeeded in selling in Japan. Nobody has succeeded at globalisation,”

Bold claims from Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada. He goes on to say;

“But it hasn’t succeeded because it was always based on Japanese direction. It was Japanese people who commissioned the western developers to make games.”

“It is important that what’s in America should be handled by Americans… The same goes in Europe and in Japan. These people who are deeply rooted in their own cultures can engage in their own dialogues. The mistakes I have seen so far are when Japanese people try to do everything the Japanese way, using Japanese workers in different areas of the world.”

An interesting point of view, but with SEGA’s great successes in Europe and America in recent years do these claims have much weight behind them?

[SOURCE: Next-Gen.biz]

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Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown Location Tests Underway!

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SEGA has begun location testing Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown cabinets, and videos have been surfacing on Youtube and Nicovideo. Check out the great Taka-Arashi vs Jacky match above! You can see some new gameplay additions as well as costumes and items (it took me a while to realise it was actually Jacky in the gold!).

Sega has also announced that the game will utilise Twitter in an arcade gaming first!

Hit the jump for some more info, vids as well as some notes on the location tests.

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Rumour: More Digital Dreamcast games and New Genesis Collection?

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Well this is certainly interesting if true.

Fudzilla is reporting that SEGA’s recent announcement of Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure may just be the start of a cavalcade of Dreamcast games making their way to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. They even go on to say that Jet Set Radio could be the next cab off the rank, which would be great news!

In addition to this, they also claim that another Sega Genesis/Mega Drive collection may be in the works, featuring some of the titles that were not included in the first pack. Interesting if true, so fingers crossed for some more Retro-Goodness!

SOURCE: [Fudzilla]

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Conduit 2 will support Wii Motion Plus

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In a press release earlier today, SEGA has announced that Conduit 2 will be supporting the Wii’s Motion Plus peripheral to allow for unmatched accuracy and responsiveness.

In their press release, SEGA has stated:

The Conduit series is famed for its detailed control system allowing players to customise and configure their controls, including look sensitivity, turning speed, the dead zone and much more. Conduit 2 will use Wii MotionPlus to create the most responsive control system ever, as well as improved edge tracking and transitions to pointer control.

Unlike Red Steel 2, Wii Motion Plus will not be required to play the game, but will instead be optional. Conduit 2 will be playable at this year’s E3.

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