Author Archives: TrackerTD

Introducing… This is Playstation, a show all about the best 32-Bit system!

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Hey dudes! Are you ready for the most radical gaming show this side of 1996? It’s THIS IS PLAYSTATION!

Yes, an all-new show dedicated to the sleekest, most powerful 32-Bit system on the planet; the Sony Playstation! To give this thing quite the test drive, we’re booting up some “RIIIIIIDGE, RACEEEEEEER”! It’s gonna be a gnarly time, with plenty of driving, drifting, and 90’s techno jams! So gear up dudes and dudettes!

This is Playstation is a video series created by AWESOME teenager Liam ‘Radicool’ Ashcroft, aiming to “swood” look at Sony Playstation gaming, all whilst doing some TIGHT skateboard tricks offscreen!

…Now, bow to your new Sony Overlords. This is a hostile takeover. 

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“Miracle Girls Festival,” new SEGA rhythm game announced for Playstation Vita

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Well, here’s something; Famitsu has revealed a new rhythm game from SEGA (and presumably Dingoo), Miracle Girls Festival (Working Title). The game is due for release on Playstation Vita this winter, and takes the form of an anime crossover game, similar to the likes of Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax; except, well, it’s a rhythm game.

The anime confirmed to have some form of representation so far in the game are:

  • Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova
  • Engaged to the Unidentified
  • Go! Go! 575
  • Kiniro Mosaic
  • Nourin
  • Nyaruko: Crawling with Love F
  • Tesagure! Bukatsumono
  • Vividred Operation
  • Wake Up, Girls!
  • Yuru Yuri

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Plenty of SEGA merchandise inbound at Comiket Special 6

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Running from March 28th to the 29th in Japan this year is the “Comiket Special 6 – Otaku Summit 2015,” a massive event packed with stuff for, well, ‘otaku.’ However, SEGA have announced they will be in attendance at the event, with a corporate booth to sell merchandise. And when they say “sell merchandise,” they aren’t kidding!

SEGA has shown off some of the items available for purchase at the event, a snippet of which we’ve included below. It covers a huge range of SEGA stuff; Fantasy Zone, Space Channel 5, Sakura Wars, and Virtual On all get nods, along with some obvious faces such as Sonic, and the usual console themed stuff (including a rather nice SEGA Saturn bag). Also slated to be available at the event is merchandise for the SEGA feat. Hatsune Miku Project (plus Mikudayo, the terrifying Project Mirai mascot costume that became something more) and the much-loved SEGA Hard Girls. 

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This is Saturn celebrates one year of SEGA Saturn reviews with SEGA Touring Car Championship

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It’s been one whole year of This is Saturn! To celebrate, Liam takes a look at SEGA Touring Car Championship, in the newest episode of This is Saturn; the Season One finale! 

AM Annex’s very own arcade racer for the Model 2 board and Saturn has been very much maligned throughout it’s stay in SEGA’s history, often criticised for supposedly lacking playability. But this is Liam’s show; and considering his love of the similarly maligned Gale Racer, is there something in Touring Car that can shine through likewise? Or is this one better left in the scrapheap?
Find out, in this episode of This is Saturn!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

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This is Saturn celebrates AM2 Month with Fighting Vipers for SEGA Saturn

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Kicking off 2015 in style, This is Saturn celebrates SEGA AM2 month on SEGABits with a look at Fighting Vipers!

One of the very first episodes of This is Saturn covered Fighters Megamix, a crossover between Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers; however, the original release of Fighting Vipers actually has some considerable differences to its representation in Fighters Megamix, and so it’s time for Liam to head back to Armstone City to punch some more people in the face, all whilst discovering the true significance of… Pepsi?

And what’s this about a sequel?

So, an overlooked classic, or a poor attempt to recreate the success of Virtua Fighter? Find out, in this episode of This is Saturn!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel

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SEGAbits at Weston Super Sonic 2015: The Write Up

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It was that time again, this morning of January 17th 2015; to go on another 3 hour drive for a Sonic convention! Perfectly fine by me of course… but then, I wasn’t the one driving. This time, I was heading down to Weston Super Mare, a town right next to the British coast; and I was right next to the British coast, as today at the Grand Pier, Sonic fans arrived for one awesome convention; Weston Super Sonic ’15!

And don’t worry folks, my convention photography is still pants! 

As I arrived at the venue and greeted a few friends, I found myself already caught up in an event for the day; watching the first round of the quiz! For those unaware, JonoD of VGMAwesome and Jamie Eggeman of the Sonic Show (yes, Eggeman!) have had a long running rivalry in Sonic trivia quizzes; such led to the unfortunate destruction of a First4Figures Knuckles statue, somehow. Anywho, the questions got more challenging than I thought they would; particularly when “what corner of the box is the barcode for Sonic 1 in?” was asked. Fun times overall; that said, since I was a bit late the first round was soon over.

Once that was over, I bought my first piece of merchandise; an A4 print from Duncan Gutteridge, the incredible artist that produced artwork for some of the Sonic Adventure Gamebooks in the 90’s, as well as the Sonic 1993 calendar; the print I bought was from the book “Metal City Mayhem,” and is easily one of my favourite pieces of Sonic artwork; I’ll need a frame ASAP! I later returned to Gutteridge to buy an A3 print; both prints were signed, to boot!

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Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric patch is live [UPDATE]

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A patch for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric has gone live, and apparently it’s quite hefty, weighing in at roughly 1030MB! That puts this update at just over a gigabyte!

The news of the patch comes from multiple Twitter sources, confirming an update had indeed gone live; and now, one member of the Sonic Stadium forums has claimed the update clocks in a just over a gigabyte. That’s a pretty insane file size for a patch (though still not quite as bad as Ubisoft’s recent Assassin’s Creed patches…)! As for what the patch actually fixes, it is as of yet unconfirmed; early claims are that the Knuckles Infinite Jump glitch is finally gone, and that the visual performance in co-op mode has been improved somewhat. We’ll update here as details become more clear.

Thanks also go to Feniiku on Twitter for helping us confirm the release of the patch.

UPDATE: The patch is currently only live in Europe, from the looks of things. 

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Sonic the Comic Editor Deborah Tate will be attending Weston Super Sonic

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Upcoming UK Sonic convention Weston Super Sonic has finally reached the end of its illustrious guest list, with the announcement that Sonic the Comic editor Deborah Tate will be in attendance! 

Deborah was responsible for editing over 100 issues of the UK Sonic comic series, running from Issue #39 to #166, and was also responsible for many staples throughout the series’ life such as the Graphic Zone, Photo Zone, and reshaping Amy Rose’s look and character. This is no mean feat; to say she contributed hugely to many Sonic fans’ childhood is a huge understatement!

If that wasn’t enough, the convention has announced they’ll be making several more event announcements next week!

We’re in the home stretch now folks; don’t forget to stay tuned to SEGABits if you can’t make it, as we’ll have all the details from the day!

Weston Super Sonic is on 17th January in Weston-Super-Mare, and is ticket-only. All tickets have been sold, which is nothing short of impressive to say the least.

Once again, for more details be sure to check the official Weston Super Sonic page.

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“Sonic Runners” officially announced, smartphone game due in 2015

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Takashi Iizuka has officially announced Sonic Runners, the rumoured game we previously reported on, during a Sonic event as Tokyo Joypolis.

The game is set to come to smartphones, with 2015 being mentioned as a release window, and is being developed by Sonic Team once again. That being said, very little is currently known about the game; more details are apparently set to be released in January. Whether Sonic Team have anything else in the works for next year is currently a mystery, but to be perfectly honest, I would like to think they’ve spent the past year or so since Lost World’s release doing more than a smartphone game, and one that it’s currently tentative in just about every way. It can at least be assumed “smartphones” refers to both Android and iOS versions of the game being on the way.

Once more details come out we’ll report on them, so stay tuned for Sonic Runners news!

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This is Saturn gets festive with Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams for SEGA Saturn

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Jingle Bells, Sonic smells, Saturn all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in Opa Opa today…

Terrible rhyming aside, it was recently Christmas, and this calls for This is Saturn to get festive with the much-loved NiGHTS demo, Christmas NiGHTS! But are those who love it just looking through frosty, but rosy-tinted nostalgia lenses? Or is this demo really more than meets the eye? Find out, on this special Festivus episode of This is Saturn!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

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“Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” Episode 12 AND Episode 13 are here as the series concludes, Impressions

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Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls episodes 12 and 13 are now up on Crunchyroll, as the series reaches it’s end!

The girls aren’t far off graduating, with Medal counts into the 80s… except for Saturn, who’s only got 78. Before the next lesson can begin however, Center-Sensei is hacked into once again; and this time, things get really messy, with him turning into Black Asobin, an evil sod who promptly takes all of the credit medals the girls have accumulated; Saturn keeps one for some reason, a rare moment of good luck for her. The only way they can reclaim their medals is to enter Black Asobin World, a theme park of doom and stuff… this is beginning to sound like the Dreamcast’s Illbleed. Thankfully, the biggest threats here are SEGA games, not demon Sonic the Hedgehogs.

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“Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime Episode 11 is out, Impressions

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Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls episode 11 is now up on Crunchyroll, and it’s time for a crossover once again!

In this episode, the girls enter the world of the Shining series, something I will right off the bat say I have next to no clue about. In slightly more familiar territory, the girls are also told by Center-Sensei (who I’m going to stop referring to as Asobin as that’s just the disguise he seems to be using) that they’ll get 15 medals if they beat the boss of the area wearing a special Phantasy Star Online 2 costume. As such, the girls enter into Shining Force Cross Exlesia to go slay some stuff.

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Sonic Boom and Mega Man X join the upcoming “Worlds Unite” Archie Comics crossover

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IGN have revealed that the forthcoming crossover event “Worlds Unite” will feature characters from the Sonic Boom and Mega Man X universes, as well as the normal Sonic and Classic Mega Man universes!

The mini-series will be written by Ian Flynn, with covers by Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante; no interior artist has been announced as of yet. From the looks of things, the mini-series will indeed see all four universes meet; that platform Sticks is standing on in the promo is the Item-1 of the Classic Mega Man series.

Archie Action editor Paul Kaminski said the following:

“The Sonic Boom comic series is part of the latest multi-media initiative from Sega, which includes video games, toys, and an all-new TV series on cartoon Network! Mega Man X has been a staple of video game culture for decades, and we were thrilled to begin exploring that futuristic universe in 2014’s Dawn of X storyline in the Mega Man comics! How will the slapstick antics of the ever-paranoid Sticks the Badger measure up against the futuristic action of X and the Maverick Hunters? Pick up Worlds Unite, starting this spring from Archie Action, to find out! And this is only the tip of the iceberg…”

Worlds Unite is set to kick off in Spring 2015, and you can be sure I’ll be grabbing it as soon as possible; thank goodness for import shops!

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Let’s Get Scratchin’! “Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime Episode 10 is here, Impressions

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“JET SET RADIOOOOOO!” Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls episode 10 has gone up on Crunchyroll, so “let’s look at the funk-” I mean, episode!

Today’s episode sees the girls enter the world of Jet Set Radio (or Jet Grind Radio to those of you in the US)! Asobin gives them two tasks to complete; pull off a cool trick for 5 medals, and be the first to reach a specific goal and spray graffiti of what they want to be in the future, for 15 medals! Mega Drive is unsurprisingly none too happy about the idea of skating, and attempts to fake illness; it fails, and thus the girls enter Shibuya-Cho.

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“Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime Episode 9 is out, with Chain Chronicle

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Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls episode 9 has gone up on Crunchyroll, which means it’s time for my to roll out some impressions!

This week’s episode sees the girls enter the world of Chain Chronicle. If you don’t know what Chain Chronicle is… well, join the club, as before this episode I honestly had no idea either; my SEGA knowledge only extends so far, sadly! For those unaware, it’s an RPG for smartphones and Playstation Vita in Japan, and apparently SEGA and mobile games publisher gumi inc. are teaming up to distribute it elsewhere, meaning soon it might actually land in Western territories. Anyways, initially the girls harbour some reluctance to enter the smartphone as opposed to the TV, and a not-so-subtle dig is taken at the smartphone-isation of gaming today, including what I can only guess is a joke about the fate of SEGA for good measure!

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