Author Archives: Nuckles87

Announcing an update for the SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest!

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This post has been a long time coming. I’ve been trying to get around to writing this for a while, but things seemed to keep getting in the way. But not today! I’ve got a few announcements regarding this contest that will hopefully give everyone more of a reason to participate.
First of all, I am pleased to announce that we’ve added some additional prizes to the contest. The grand prize winner will now also receive:

 

  • The Eyes of Bayonetta artbook and DVD combo
  • The Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack.
  • Two rare, E3 exclusive Castle of Illusion pins
  • A rare, E3 exclusive Castle of Illusion lanyard.

These prizes will be in addition to the Valkyria Chronicles Design Archive, the Jet Set Radio soundtrack, a free SEGAbits t-shirt, rare sets of pins for both Jet Set Radio and Valkyria Chronicles 2, and a free commission from Sonic comic artist Tracy Yardley! Four runner ups will also be receiving the new Castle of Illusion pins, in addition to the Valkyria Chronicles and Jet Set Radio pins.
Finally, I would also like to announce that we are extending the length of the contest to August 10th, due to how long it took me to announce these new prizes. If you have never heard of this contest, check below so that I can tell you all about it!

 

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SEGA Tunes: AJ takes a look at Flashback: Quest for Identity

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AJ Rosa decided to take a look at two of his favorite songs from Flashback’s CD soundtrack. Take a look!

It’s kind of funny looking back on all those advertisements for Flashback on Sega Genesis that graced several gaming magazines in 1993. “It’s a CD-ROM game on a cartridge.”

That was a bold statement for sure, but once my brother and I laid eyes on those fluid cinematic cut-scenes, rotoscoped animation and hand-drawn backgrounds, our minds were totally blown. The music was something else. Synth-based minimalism that brought to mind images of a future where space travel is effortless, civilization is prospering, all while something dark and sinister builds underneath its glossy exterior. It gave me that very same feeling as when I watched Escape from New York or Blade Runner. Those scores may be simplistic in instrumentation, but there’s no denying their power to engage and affect an audience….

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Is Ecco the Dolphin getting a 3D makeover on 3DS?

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Looks like Sonic the Hedgehog won’t be the only Genesis game getting a 3D make over. If PEGI’s ratings website is anything to go by, Ecco the Dolphin will soon be coming to 3DS with a new 3D coat of paint. I hope this sells: its superior sequel Tides of Time would be a real sight to behold in 3D.

The game hasn’t officially been confirmed by SEGA, but given the track record of the ratings boards in predicting SEGA’s 3DS digital titles as of late, I am definitely willing to take this at face value. Is it too much to ask for this to use content from the SEGA CD version, SEGA?

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E3 2013: Total War Rome II Hands-On

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I have a confession to make: I am not very good at real time strategy. I have always been more of an action gamer, so strategically placing units and managing resources are not things I have much experience with. That said, I do have a few dozen hours of experience with Total War: Rome, so when it came time to choose between Company of Heroes 2 and Total War: Rome 2 this E3 I knew there was only one I could write about with any degree of competence. Though I will make it clear now: if you are looking for detailed impressions of the many changes made to Rome 2, look elsewhere, as the only other Total War game I have ever played was the original Rome and I was a very casual player.

Have to say, I’m happy with my choice. From what I saw in the presentation, Rome 2 looks like it will be a pretty serious improvement over its predecessor. Your cities are a lot more detailed now: instead of your cities simply changing their appearance as they grow, the cities now actually grow and evolve. The changes made to your cities can now be seen visually as they develop over the course of the game’s 200 year campaign. In addition to this it sounds like city management will now be more streamlined. Rather than having to micromanage each individual city, you can now manage all your cities from your capital.

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E3 Hands-On: Bayonetta 2 UPDATE Touch control impressions

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I will confess, SEGA’s line up does not exactly blow me away this year. I am out of my depth when it comes to PC strategy games and as much as I love Sonic, I need more to sate my SEGA hunger. After experiencing other E3 lineups that had the likes of Vanquish, Shinobi, Anarchy Reigns, Yakuza, and House of the Dead Overkill: Director’s Cut, the line up at the SEGA booth this year feels sparse and not quite as exciting.

Thank God for Bayonetta.

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SEGA Memories: My First E3

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There is nothing quite like your first E3. Before I first went to E3 back in 2010, the event seemed like this wondrous and mythical place, like Narnia. A place that you read about and see pictures of, but never a place you actually go to. In 2010, thanks in part to some incredibly good luck, spurred on by a personal loss that made me decide to go out and see the world, I stepped through the wardrobe and raced off to something I had been dreaming about going to since middle school, but never in a million years thought I would be able to actually see.

It all started just a few weeks before the event. I had just lost someone dear to me and I was anxious to find something to do with myself. That’s when Sharky contacted me and told me that SEGA was interested in inviting SEGAbits to E3, but no one on the site would be able to attend. SEGAbits had caught my interest a few months after its debut, but I had decided not to apply for because I knew I wouldn’t be able to write for it regularly. After hearing  that they might be getting an invite to E3, I jumped at the chance and offered myself up as a part time writer and as someone who could cover E3 for them. I quickly wrote up a review of House of the Dead: Overkill, and kept my fingers crossed that it would pan out. Unfortunately, it didn’t. SEGA had sent out the industry passes to other people, and I resigned myself to being a faraway spectator of E3 again. No big deal, this was how these things normally worked out anyway.

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Sonic Talk Episode #21: Tracy Take Two

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It may have taken several more weeks and one more recording session than expected, but we’ve finally got Tracy Yardley on Sonic Talk! As they say, good things come to those who wait, and that is definitely true for anyone who was looking forward to this. No need to skip through to the interview either, as we have Tracy Yardley! for the entire show, so just sit back and enjoy. Or not. We won’t judge you.

Today, in addition to the Yardley interview, we (sorta) discuss Sonic coming to the Ouya, the Sonic Lost World game play trailer, finally having a 3D Sonic game on a handheld, and the fact that the third Sonic game is in fact not coming this year.

Check out the high res version of a special piece of art Tracy did for us below. If you want a chance to commission him for a piece of SEGA art, you can enter into our SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest.

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Announcing the SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest!

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SEGA has created some of the most beautiful games and iconic characters that gaming has ever seen. As such, SEGAbits would like to celebrate SEGA’s legacy of creativity with the Summer of Art contest! We will be taking submissions from across the world from fans expressing their SEGA passion! Not only will we be taking art, we will also be taking poems, original music and short videos! The more creative and passionate, the better! Just, you know, don’t get weird.

The contest will run until July 15th. The winner will receive:

  • A set of Jet Set Radio pins, given out by SEGA during PAX East and E3 2012
  • A set of Valkyria Chronicles 2 pins, given out by SEGA exclusively at PAX Prime 2010
  • A Jet Set Radio music CD
  •   A copy of the Valkyria Chronicle Design Archive
  •   A free commission of a SEGA character drawn by Archie Sonic the Hedgehog artist Tracy Yardley
  •   A free SEGAbits t-shirt

Select pieces of art and music will also be entered into our banner art rotation and featured in Tuesday Tunes.

Four runner-ups will also be receiving Valkyria Chronicles 2 pins and Jet Set Radio pins.
To help inspire you, SEGAbits will be posting an article full of concept art every Sunday! If we get enough submissions, we may also post some samples of what we’ve been receiving. Continue reading for guidelines on what will be accepted and how we will be taking submissions. We may be updating this contest with additional prizes as they become available. Stay tuned!

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Sonic CD & Sonic 4 heading to Ouya

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The Android powered, crowd funded indie console Ouya will be receiving optimized ports of Sonic CD and Sonic 4 Episodes I & II on June 27th, SEGA revealed today. These three games mark the first time SEGA has supported the console, and at the moment these are the only games currently planned for Ouya. When talking to Game Industry.biz, SEGA of America’s director of mobile business David Zemke had this to say about other titles heading to the platform.

“At this time, that’s what we have planned,” he said. “We’re always looking for other titles and there may be some future titles that we’d like to bring over. For us, we’re always trying to bring the best gaming experience to the right platforms. It’s a delicate mix of how and when to do it.”

These games will go on sale for $6.99 each, though it will be possible to download these games for free beforehand and play the first few levels. Will this mark the beginning of wider support from SEGA for the platform? We will just have to wait and see.

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Third Sonic game isn’t coming this year

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Despite what Nintendo of Germany’s press release said last week, SEGA has confirmed to IGN’s Richard George that the third Sonic game will not be arriving this year. This means that the third game in Nintendo’s three game deal may be more than a digital title or a spin off. It also means that this exclusive deal won’t be ending for a little while. Will Nintendo fans be getting another main Sonic title next year? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

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Nintendo Germany says third Sonic title coming this year

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According to Sonic Stadium, it was confirmed in a Nintendo Germany press release yesterday that the third Sonic title in the SEGA/Nintendo partnership will be coming this year. According to TSS, the press release said:

Today, they (Sega) revealed further details of the second of three titles, which the two companies will release exclusively on Wii U and 3DS. All three games will be released this year.

Three Sonic titles arriving in a single year? Provided they are all new releases, this could be the largest number of Sonic titles slated for a single year since 2010. What kind of game could this third release be? It is unlikely to be another platforming adventure and a sequel to the All Stars franchise so soon after the last entry seems extremely unlikely. SEGA’s announced SKUs for the Wii U does leave room for one more packaged title provided SEGA is publishing, but it could very well be a digital title. Perhaps Nintendo fans will finally get their taste of Sonic 4 Episode 2, or maybe even an all new digital title.

We will just have to see. Hopefully, more will be revealed as we get closer to E3.

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SEGA Tunes: Outrun 2019’s Victorious and Feel the Beat

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Screw the people who criticized the Genesis’s sound capabilities: they’ve clearly never heard Outrun 2019. This is the sort of soundtrack you want to listen to when your cruising down a road at 500 miles per hour! 2019 is one of the better examples of Genesis music I’ve heard, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Outrun has a heck of a legacy when it comes to video game music, especially since the original game probably has one of the best SEGA arcade soundtracks out there.

Hope you enjoyed Victorious! Please go below the fold for another awesome track, Feel the Beat.

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SEGA’s stock reaches six-and-a-half year high

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For much of the last 6 years, SEGA’s stock price has been known as a “penny stock”, or a stock traded below five dollars a share. In recent months, however, this has begun to change. The stock price has been soaring, finishing on a new fifty-two week high every week, if not every few days. Today, SEGA’s stock price has reached its highest point in six and a half years, closing at exactly $7.

Now, keep in mind that a stock price typically says very little about a company’s health. From my very limited experience, I find it says more about investor confidence then anything else, not just in a company but in the stock market in general. Nevertheless, I’m sure SEGA’s recent fiscal report, an improved forecast and promises to pay out dividends have not hurt their stock price’s speedy rise. It should be interesting to see where it goes from here.

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SEGA Tunes: Sonic Adventure’s Run Through the Speed Highway

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You know what had an awesome soundtrack? Sonic Adventure. Even if you hate the cheesy rock tunes of Crush40, it is hard to deny that Adventure’s soundtrack was by and large pretty awesome. Some of the game’s best tracks were those that went well with the blistering pace of Sonic’s levels. Case in point, “Run Through the Speed Highway”, the first theme of Speed Highway. Enjoy!

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SEGA Memories: Wacky Worlds

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These days, gamers can be quite adamant about the legitimacy of video games as an art form. I certainly wouldn’t disagree: a case can be made that making great video games requires just as much creativity as any book or movie. But I think what often gets lost in this pursuit to prove that the video game is a form of artistic expression is the fact that video games are also, essentially, toys. Especially games from the 80s and 90s, and Wacky Worlds was one of my favorite toys from the 90s.

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