Gameplay is Renegade Ops‘ strongest point. (Which feels like it should be a given, considering it’s a videogame. In this day I often get the feeling gameplay takes a back seat to plot and graphics, as it attempts to pretend it isn’t a game we’re playing but an interactive movie.) For me, gameplay always comes first, because I like my games fast, fun, action-packed and challenging. I’m happy to report that Renegade Ops has all of these qualities in spades.
I’d think any true blue SEGA fan has a special place in their heart for The House of the Dead franchise. Being an arcade lightgun classic, and spanning three console generations, The House of the Dead has produced a number of sequels, spin-offs and even ventured outside of the video game world by way of two horrible films. When Rise of Nightmares, SEGA’s latest Kinect title, was revealed at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, little was known of the game aside from “save your wife from an evil scientist”. Was it internally developed? Was it a House of the Dead title? We just couldn’t tell based on the short and creepy trailer. But now that time has passed, and the game is in stores, we have all the answers. In this week’s Weekly Five we’ll take a look at five reasons why I think Rise of Nightmares sits well alongside the beloved House of the Dead series, despite not carrying the series title, and why HotD fans should check the game out!
To Read Part 1, go here.
In July, reality finally caught up with me. Something had possessed me to join the SEGA forums. Because I hated being told that my name was already taken, and I figured the Knuckles name must already be taken given he’s such an awesome character, I decided to cut to the chase and just leave the K out of my name. Upon joining the forums, I discovered the Dreamcast had been canned and, being a teenager, I immediately latched on to the first online petition I saw. Those were the days. Keeping a thread ever present at the top of the forum whenever I got home from school or my friend’s house. Arguing with older, wiser, more realistic individuals like the naïve teenager I was, a large part of my Dreamcast experience came from defending it from bashers and supporting a petition that SEGA probably never even saw, let alone cared about.
We are a little less than 24 hours before SEGA has their first TGS conference, so its about time I posted this. Most of the staff and some of the community users will be having a Mumble chat together and you can join. All you have to do is download Mumble here.
Once you install it, open it up and go to Server>Connect>Add New. Once you get there, fill out the box with the following:
The Dreamcast turns twelve years old. Poor white dream machine is hitting that awkward age, so we decided to give it a few sex tips. Remember, never talk to those slutty Sony children or the happy Nintendo kids. This podcast has me, nSega, Barry, and Shigs talking about our fondest Dreamcast memories, which Sonic Adventure game was truly better, plus some Shenmue craziness and much more. Let the nostalgia rise.
[audio:http://www.segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/Swingin_Report_Show_20_Dreamcast_Turns_12.mp3]
Today celebrates the North American launch of the Sega Dreamcast. Hard to believe that it really has been 12 years, but it was on September 9th, 1999 when SEGA’s final console had its North American release, and the gaming landscape arguably hasn’t been the same since.
There are of course many ways that I can, as a writer for a SEGA-driven website, choose to honor the system. In the end, though, I’ve decided to shed some light on Dreamcast games that don’t often make any lists, that aren’t looked back fondly upon, that will likley divide up even people who read this editorial. But these are games that were not met with warm reception, even back in the day, but that I loved anyway. Someone’s gotta remember them, right?
We all know about Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue, Sonic Adventure, and Jet Set Radio. I don’t think there is a self-respecting SEGA fan alive who doesn’t know what all the best Dreamcast games are. But the Dreamcast’s library is large, and I’ll bet there are five games out there many of you have not played. This list is devoted to those games, the most overlooked awesome games on the Dreamcast!
Years of the Dreamcast is my first stab at autobiographical writing. It is long and is largely a tribute to the Dreamcast’s effect on my life. For those of you brave enough to read a bit about my boring life, my hat goes off to you. I hope you enjoy reading about my Dreamcast experience, and are willing to share yours with the community as well.
Believe it or not, I didn’t really get into gaming with the SEGA Genesis. Or the SNES. Or any other old school console for that matter. Sure, I PLAYED games on my Genesis and Game Gear back in the day, like Sonic, Lion King, and Ecco, but as soon as the Genesis croaked in 1996 I nearly left gaming all together in favor of other interests, including something that got me to buy a Genesis in the first place: Archie’s Sonic comics. I completely passed over the 32 bit generation, something I now sincerely regret given SEGA had some of its best games during that era.
It wasn’t until 2000 that a game console again caught my interest: a SEGA Dreamcast in a Target demo kiosk. I had been playing the N64 and Playstation in kiosks for years, and as much fun as I had had with them, this new system, this Dreamcast, felt like something special. The game on display, Sonic Adventure, was immediately playable. There was no wandering around or collecting of trinkets required to progress: an entire level was immediately opened up to me after the title screen.
It has been 12 years since that sweet white dream machine landed on American shores and blew us away with a stellar launch line up. Gaming has changed quite a bit, most of it thanks to stuff started by SEGA with the Dreamcast.
Even though we still get plenty of games, I think we can all agree on one thing; It’s not the same without having a SEGA console. Can you believe that SEGA hasn’t released a console in 12 years? I feel old.
Happy Birthday Dreamcast.
In this episode we sit around talking about the recent announcements of Yakuza Black Panther 2, Yakuza 5, and show our appreciation for buff men without shirts. We go over this weeks news and answer viewer questions, even if they are a bit odd this time around. We are also on iTunes now, having some issues with the RSS still, but you can subscribe. Remember to leave us pretty reviews.
It’s Labor Day weekend here in America, and only a week until the Dreamcast’s 12th birthday! So I thought it would be fitting to present to you a weekly five that is light on the labor for me, and Dreamcast related for you. Thus, we’re talking a look at five great Dreamcast adverts that ran on American television. So let’s get started, less reading more watching!
Since 2009, It has become a yearly tradition for me to throw a Dreamcast birthday party by way of Dreamcast gaming, a live stream, chit chat, drinking and pizza. This year will be no different from last year: Starting at 11am Eastern Standard Time (5pm GMT) on Friday, September 9th, I’ll be kicking off the party at twitch.tv/dreamroom. We’ll play a ton of games, chat, reminisce and celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Dreamcast’s American launch. We’ll check out the original launch titles, play some wacky imports, go on a Dobuita shopping spree and I even have a few surprises.
So mark your calendars and keep your eyes on The Dreamcast Junkyard and SEGAbits as the big day nears!
With the news that a downloadable version of Sonic CD would soon be making it’s way to LIVE/PSN, I figured it was as good a time as any to review this “classic” Sonic game. Now, I say classic in quotation marks because frankly, I believe a lot of the praise of this game comes mainly from it’s nostalgia. Most folks remember Sonic CD because of several things. The anime intro/ending, the incredible music and of course, the battle with Metal Sonic. But does anyone remember it for it’s level design? No? There might be a good reason for that. Continue Reading to see why.
[Artwork for the first PSP game, Black Panther]
Nagoshi teased that he had some big announcements coming up in the end of the month, but thanks to Famisu we already know what they are. SEGA is going to have a pretty nice TGS line-up.
First of all Nagoshi has his own studio to make Yakuza titles called “Ryu ga Gotoku Studio.” Ryu Ga Gotoku is the name of the Yakuza series in Japan, it means Like a Dragon.
The first game that the Yakuza team will work on is Black Panther 2, a sequel to the handheld Yakuza spin-off. It will be called in Japan “Kurohyou 2 Ryu ga Gotoku.” This title will be playable at TGS and is set to be released in Japan in Spring 2012. Also its for the PSP. Odd, wonder if this has to do with the ‘rumored’ Yakuza title for Vita.
In the end the magazine says that they are also working on Yakuza 5. I guess we might get more details about this come the press conference.
We will post scans when we get them.
[Source: AndriaSang]
Since we got a new logo, we will also need a new podcast image to go with it. The lovely Barry The Nomad was kind enough to put up two designs.
The two are there above, tell us which one you like the best.
