SEGA will be holding a celebration next month in Akihihabara, Tokyo on April 14-15, where they will celebrate their history by including new and old SEGA game in a museum style event.
But that isn’t all that they will have, they will also host Q&A panels, have merchandise stands, competitions, and special guests. But even better, SEGA has also stated that they will have a “surprise announcement” at the event. They are teasing this as a announcement that is “unique to SEGA.” You know what that means? We’ll be disappointed. Sounds like a event I wish I could attend.
But maybe, just maybe, this could be the official announcement of Virtua Fighter 6. We can dream, can’t we?
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super excited for the upcoming House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn; so of course I had to make new video discussing all the new information that came out of the recent location test, talk about my impressions about what we’ve seen and speculate if its coming outside of arcades. Like always, I want to hear what you think, so leave a comment below and thanks for watching!
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A few days ago we posted about SEGA teasing a brand new arcade title. Today they have revealed that the title is “Sen Sen Sen Ki” which will be a new action card game. SEGA is set to do location tests at SEGA Akihabara #2 and #3 from January 26 to the 28th. There will also be a survey, which will take player feedback before the game launches later this year.
Sen Sen Sen Ki is a completely new franchise that will have digital card battles with modes such as ‘party battle’ and ‘dual turn’ systems. Some of the classes already confirmed for the game include:
House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn was just announced four days ago and its already already getting location testing in Japan. Thankfully for us, Throwback Tokyo has captured some of the first footage of the game in action for us that live outside of Japan. The game shows off a cutscene featuring the new main protagonist Ryan Taylor and returning protagonist from House of the Dead 4 Kate Green. It seems from the little dialogue that we have gotten that this game takes place after the events of House of the Dead 4, making it a direct continuation.
Just like the past House of the Dead games, the game is voiced in English and has Japanese subtitles (instead of getting Japanese VO). For those of you wondering, yes, the voice work is super cheesy just like the classics. Personally, you can’t have a good House of the Dead game if it doesn’t feel like a cheesy B movie and so far from the little footage shown, this game is hitting its marks. According to other online users that went to play House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, SEGA had a survey asking users if they would be interested in a console port. I will have to say, hell yeah!
While SEGA has just announced House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, that doesn’t mean its everything they have up their sleeves for their arcade division. SEGA has also launched a site teasing an upcoming arcade game announcement. So far the only clue on the site is the word ‘senki’ which roughly translates to ‘military campaign’. This countdown is set to finish on January 19 at 15:00 JST, so we will know what it is in a few days.
The unannounced game seems to be fantasy themed since we see an hour glass and a king’s throne with floating islands. At first I thought this could be a sequel to an old arcade game like SEGA-AM2’s Quest of D, but I’m pretty sure their new arcade game Soul Reverse is suppose to be a spiritual successor. If I had to take a guess, I can see this being a arcade sequel to Shining Force Cross (also a lot like Quest of D) which came out in 2010. The image just gives me the vibe from that game. But who knows, could be a new IP.
I guess we will find out soon enough. What do you guys think this upcoming SEGA arcade game will end up being? Let us know in the comments below.
The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show is back with returning guest Chris Tang! Chris is a game designer and gaming tournament champion, and was recently inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame. SEGA fans know Chris as the winner of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles Rock the Rock competition in 1994, and before that Chris was a finalist in 1990’s Nintendo World Championships. Since then, Chris has worked on games at Atari and Capcom, including Gauntlet IV, Primal Rage, Street Fighter III, Rival Schools and Power Stone. Chris is also the yearly announcer for the Tetris World Championships and originator of the BOOM! Tetris for Jeff meme.
Currently, Chris is hard at work on Flight Armor Project: STRIKE HARBINGER (working title – subject to change), a new game inspired by classic SEGA titles like Space Harrier. The game combines the fast paced forward flying gameplay of Space Harrier with the RPG and combat elements of Phantasy Star while utilizing a unique arcade control structure that evokes Virtual On. The game is developed by HitSparks Games, and features the work of senior artist Kiyoshi Okuma, whose past work includes Gauntlet: Legends, World Series Baseball 2K2, The Sims 2 and Darkspore.
I sat down with Chris for an update on the development of Flight Armor Project: STRIKE HARBINGER, including the incredibly fun two player mode, and to discuss more of his past career, his work as an announcer for the Tetris World Championships and his recent induction into the International Video Game Hall of Fame.
SEGA-AM2’s Border Break: Sega Network Robot Wars debuted way back in September 9, 2009 and since then it has been regularly updated, while still being played competitively in Japan. The game has received over 16 huge updates that all came with name changes. The new version of Border Break is being titled Border Break Zero Plus, the earlier version was being called ‘Border Break X Zero’. As you can tell, the Border Break franchise has been a huge hit for SEGA in arcades.
SEGA is getting ready to show off Border Break X Zero at an official event being held at Tokyo Big Sight International Exhibition Center at hall 1000 on July 30th. The Japanese Border Break X Zero site also teases that some stores will be participating in showing off the new versions of the game, in a Japan tour that SEGA has planned. I gendered at the schedule with Google Translate and it seems to be opening with a VR demonstration, then moves on to a lottery giveaway and then later will have a competitive tournament with the newest Border Break X Zero build.
It is a little sad that we didn’t even get a console or even a PC port (considering the arcade version is played with a mouse) and was kept as a Japanese only arcade release. Would you play the game if it ever came out outside of arcades?
A new SEGA racing game in Japan is currently being playtested in Japan. Based on the Super GT sports racing series, SEGA World Drivers Championship continuesSEGA’s track record of producing sports racing games. Notably this is the first time SEGA of Japan has made a racing game for arcades since 2008/2009 (Not counting Initial D.), such as SEGA Race TV. Similar to past SEGA arcade racers of the past, most notably Daytona USA, players can race through three different courses and multiple players can play using separate cabinets. A notable difference however is the usage of cards with different cars, which can be used in the arcade game to use different cars sponsored by companies like Toyota, Nissan, and Honda.
However, a really notable technical aspect about this game is the engine. It is the first title by SEGA that utilizes the Unreal 4 engine used in recent console, arcade, and PC games to provide both great effects and ease of development for working with multiple pieces of hardware. With SEGA being on board with working on a well respected engine, it’s possible more games using the engine will follow.
The playtest is scheduled in SEGA’s entertainment buildings in Akihabara and Ikebukuro in Tokyo and Toshima respectively, on July 28th, 29th, and 30th.
We’re back! SEGA Talk turns its high beams on and takes a closer look at SEGA AM3’s classic arcade and Dreamcast game Crazy Taxi. Despite its seemingly simplistic premise, Crazy Taxi offered up a lot of depth and has seen a long and successful history as a franchise with games still being released as of 2017. What are our memories of the game? What was the development history? How do the in-game cabbies compare to real life cab drivers? All this and more is talked about on SEGA Talk!
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
Data Discs’ release of SEGA soundtracks continue with their newly announced Altered Beast vinyl record. The Altered Beast vinyl record will be the 12th release in the series, which isn’t counting their upcoming Sonic Mania release. While I’m not a huge fan of the Altered Beast game, I am a big fan of it the game’s soundtrack which I feel is a rather nice, but short collection of tunes. The Altered Beast vinyl record will ship with one LP containing the game’s full SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive soundtrack. Every copy will also include an Altered Beast poster containing artwork from the game’s cover.
The Altered Beast vinyl record will be released in three versions:
Clear with Orange Splatter (Limited Edition)
Opaque Orange
Classic Black
The release will cost £19.99 (about $26 USD) and go on sale on June 30 at 11 AM PST. If you plan on picking up the limited edition versions, I suggest you get on a bit early before 11 AM on June 30th and check this link. What is your opinion on Data Discs’ release of Altered Beast? What other SEGA games would you want to get a vinyl record release? Let us know in the comments below.
I really lucked out when I ended up buying a house 15 minutes away from the Galloping Ghost Arcade. Opened in 2010 in Brookfield, IL, Galloping Ghost Arcade has fast become the largest arcade in the world with 599 games available to play. Yesterday, that total hit 600 with a Mystery Monday reveal of SEGA AM3 and LucasArts’ Star Wars Arcade. This Model 1 game released in 1993 to Japanese arcades and remained an exclusive. Few machines are known to exist, with only three listed on Aurcade as being publicly playable in the US. The game is best known for its SEGA 32X port, which is a faithful home version of the game. However, having now played both I have to say that the arcade version feels much bigger and livelier, with a higher polygon count, more ships and more hazards. Interestingly, I did not notice the Y-Wing as being playable in the arcade version, with the one and two player co-op modes both piloting the X-Wing fighter.
SEGA has posted a new Initial D Arcade Stage Zero trailer showing off gameplay using the iconic Toyota AE86 car. The cool thing about the Initial D Arcade Stage Zero gameplay trailer is that they also show the player shifting, pumping the gas, slamming the breaks, and turning the steering wheel as you see how it effects the game. The trailer is also pretty long, showing a full race including a in-game track that features some very Japanese ‘Engrish’ vocals. Outside of that, Initial D Arcade Stage Zero is sporting some non-spectacular graphics, but I don’t think that’s the selling point with this game. Did I mention that the drifting looks fun? Because it does.
This isn’t the only trailer Initial D Arcade Stage Zero got, SEGA Japan released two at the same time. The second trailer is rather shorter clocking in at just under a minute and a half. This Initial D Arcade Stage Zero trailer highlights its versus mode, car customization, arcade cabinet, gear shift, and much more. For fans of the series, this game is exclusive to arcades with no plans of it coming to consoles. Yeah, its a bit sad. If you wanna see the second trailer hit the jump.
SEGA and Arc System Works are teaming up for a limited time Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and Border Break X Zero (which is still being updated since its debut in 2009) crossover event in Japanese arcades. The event will start on April 24, 2017 and end on May 24, 2017.
The Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 promotion will have the players log in using their SEGA ID, which will unlock the following Border Break X Zero goodies in Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2: A set of four in-game titles, collaboration icon set (see gallery for photo), Collaboration plate (gallery for sample), and weapons like the M90 machine gun and ‘ACHAT missile’. Check out more on that via Arc System Works’ Japanese blog post.
As for the Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 items available in Border Break X Zero, that is a bit harder to decipher considering SEGA only posted the image below in the gallery. It does look like you will get custom titles, icons and even Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 themed custom character portraits. Check out more info on the crossover via SEGA’s blog post. While SEGA-AM2’s Border Break arcade game never made a splash outside of Japan, it has been highly successful for SEGA as it launched a ton of updates (Border Break X Zero being about the 15th update), but also has gotten a huge art book (which was brought over to America via Udon Entertainment), two full novels novels, and even a manga. What are your thoughts on this crossover? Do you think SEGA should consider bringing Border Break X Zero to the west?
We are getting closer to SEGA Amusement’s release of Daytona Championship USA, briefly known as Daytona 3 Championship USA before it was renamed. We even did a video discussing the name change, if you want to hear more about our opinion on it. Most fans have been wondering when they can get their hands on Daytona Championship USA and it seems if you live in Hollywood, Florida, you can play it now at Dave & Busters. They seem to have the ultra awesome 8-player linked deluxe cabinet that makes me truly envious, since I don’t live in Florida.
It also seems that SEGA Amusement already has a product page for Daytona Championship USA, for those businesses or people that want a cabinet of their own. They come in 2-Player, 4-Player and 8-Player variants. As for how much a Daytona Championship USA cabinet will cost you, I couldn’t tell you. The product page just has a contact thing to get a quote. As of today there aren’t any plans on bringing Daytona Championship USA to home consoles, I assume that’s something you would have to bother SEGA about. Now I wait for Daytona Championship USA to be spotted somewhere in California, so I can drive sky high.
Welcome to another episode of our SEGA Talk podcast, where we pick a SEGA game and have a talk on various subjects regarding said game. On this episode we discuss SEGA-AM2’s iconic rail-shooter Space Harrier! George and Barry talk about the games’ development, success, and our personal thoughts on how the game has stood the test of time. If you are a big SEGA or Space Harrier fan, give the podcast a listen. You might learn a few new thinks regarding Space Harrier’s history and even if you don’t, its nice to support us… Right? Let us know what you love about Space Harrier in the comments below!
If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!
