SEGA News Bits: SEGA Teases Possible Sonic Crossover Games?

SEGA put out a new survey that asked fans a ton of questions of what they would like to see the company do. One of the questions that stood out to Sonic the Hedgehog fans was the on about what franchises people would be interested in seeing Sonic crossover with. The list included Adventure Time, My Little Pony, Pixar, Capcom, Looney Toons, Disney, Nintendo, and Dragon Ball Z. As you can see this list of franchise both upset and delighted most Sonic the Hedgehog fans.

We all know this isn’t the first time Sonic the Hedgehog has had a crossover game, right now the blue blur is still crossing over with Nintendo’s Mario franchise with their Mario & Sonic Olympic titles. We sit down, discuss the franchises listed and even get to the bottom of where this survey came from! Like our video content? Don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube.

SEGA News Bits: SEGA to Shut Down Sonic Runners

Sonic Runners has traversed a rocky road, after personally disappointing us in 2015 and ending up a financial failure in SEGA’s eyes. Now, SEGA Networks has confirmed that the game will be shutting down in late July. In this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George break down what they think caused Sonic Runners to be killed, if we can expect to ever play the game after its servers shut down and what lessons SEGA could learn from the game’s failures. It’s not all negative, as we also talk about what we liked about the game and give it a fitting eulogy.

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SEGA News Bits: 7th Dragon III: Code VFD First Impressions

On this SEGA News Bits we will be giving you our first impressions on 7th Dragon III: Code VFD a JRPG exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS. The video covers the first few chapters of 7th Dragon III: Code VFD and gives you a feeling on what to expect July 12th, 2016 when the game launches in North America.

7th Dragon III: Code VFD features music by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) and is co-produced by Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star & Skies of Arcadia), which are a couple of big names to make die hard SEGA fans happy. Give the video a play and tell us what you think in the comments below. Like always, if you want to see more don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube.

Multiplayer Showcase looks at Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing

Multiplayer Showcase is the review show where you get to see me and some friends of mine play multiplayer games that have been long forgotten and give it a proper analysis by sharing our opinions on the game in a roundtable discussion to see how things have held up for gaming’s past brightest stars and lowest points.

This episode compares the boxing gloves to the green shells with the Mario Kart-inspired Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. I never got to play this game much with friends locally. I’ve certainly played it online some time ago, but as you might recall, there are limitations added when playing online, so playing with a group of people with everything unlocked lets everyone dig in for some four player action coupled with SEGA nostalgia.

SEGA News Bits: Shinobi movie adaptation reaction

Way back in December 2014 it was announced that SEGA was planning to move many of their classic franchises into the realms of movies and television. Stories International, a joint venture between SEGA and Hakuhodo DY Group launched in 2011, would manage and maintain these brands and work with external studios and creatives to make SEGA franchise based movies a reality. Now, we have news that Shinobi is the first of these SEGA franchises heading to the big screen with Marc Platt (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Drive, Josie and the Pussycats) and cohort Adam Siegel producing. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry break down the story, take a look at Platt and Siegel’s background in the motion picture industry, and speculate how a Shinobi movie might play out.

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SEGA News Bits: Strike Harbinger First Impressions and Exclusive Gameplay Footage

Get ready, as our Strike Harbinger coverage continues! In this SEGA News Bits, Barry talks George through what it was like playing an early arcade build of Strike Harbinger during its debut at Galloping Ghost Arcade‘s SEGA Week. Created by the game development and design studio HitSparks Games, which is co-owned by Lead Game Designer Chris Tang and Senior Artist Kiyoshi Okuma, Strike Harbinger takes inspiration from classic SEGA titles including Space Harrier and Phantasy Star. The game is not due out until 2017, but this early first look at the game shows a lot of promise! Featuring unique controls and RPG-style elements, there is a lot more to Strike Harbinger than you’d think. So click play above and hear what Barry thought of the game and see some lovely 1080p 60fps gameplay footage courtesy of the developers.

More SEGA Week coverage is to come, including even more Strike Harbinger details and footage, so stay tuned! If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.

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Swingin’ Report Show #86: Strike Harbinger Game Designer and SEGA Tournament Champion Chris Tang

On this episode of the Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Barry sits down with game designer and gaming tournament champion Chris Tang at the Galloping Ghost Arcade’s SEGA Week. SEGA fans may know Chris best 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. Now, Chris is hard at work on a new game inspired by classic SEGA titles like Space Harrier and Phantasy Star. The game, titled Strike Harbinger, combines the fast paced forward flying gameplay of Space Harrier with the RPG and combat elements of Phantasy Star while utilizing a unique control structure that evokes Virtual On.

Strike Harbinger – developed by Chris’s company HitSparks Games – was revealed Saturday, April 30th at Galloping Ghost Arcade where I had the pleasure to meet Chris and the game’s Senior Artist Kiyoshi Okuma, whose past work includes Gauntlet: Legends, World Series Baseball 2K2, The Sims 2 and Darkspore. I also had the honor to be the first member of the public to play the game, and following that experience I chatted with Chris about his life as a tournament gamer, his career, and his plans for Strike Harbinger. 

Want more information on Strike Harbinger? Stay tuned for an upcoming SEGA News Bits as well as a SEGA Week writeup!

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SEGA News Bits: Atlus and SEGA Europe Localization Discussion

Life as a SEGA and Atlus fan in Europe has been tough. Between SEGA Europe not releasing titles like SEGA 3D Classics Collection, 7th Dragon III: Code VFD and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X and Atlus severing ties with NIS America, the promise of new games appears hopeless. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry put themselves in the European state of mind and discuss the latest on SEGA Europe’s localization woes and what the Atlus and NIS America break-up could mean for the future of the Persona and Etrian Odyssey franchises.

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SEGA News Bits: Mega Drive Classics on Steam to support hacked ROMs

Just over a week ago, SEGA Mega Drive Classics on Steam was announced to have a free update that adds additional features to games you may already own. Features include a new hub from which you can access all your games from a virtual bedroom complete with a TV and a games shelf. While that is neat and all, what really caught our attention was the mention of modified and hacked ROMs being supported. If the game is in the collection, you are free to mess with the code and share your creations with the Steam world. Pretty crazy, right? Join George and Barry as they discuss this strange turn in SEGA being cool with us messing with their games. Check the updated SEGA Mega Drive Classics out today and tell us what you think of it in the comments below!

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SEGA Memories: Looking back on Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic

s5Remember when Knuckles used to ride a pterodactyl? Remember that time Eggman was called “Kintobor”? And who could forget how Super Sonic was Sonic’s evil split personality? What’s that? You don’t remember? Well then, you’ve probably never seen Fleetway’s unique spin on the Sonic universe before.

Whether you’ve read it or not, most people are at least a little familiar with Archie’s long running comic series based on the blue blur. However, as a poor little English boy, I grew up with quite a different set of comics in my youth. In this installment of SEGA Memories, I look back on this unique moment in Sonic history.

Review: SEGA 3D Classics Collection (Nintendo 3DS)

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SEGA 3D Classics Collection is the latest in the long line of compilations that SEGA loves to produce. For years the company has to rereleased various titles in a neat packages for convenience, often times Genesis titles from the golden days. Examples include both Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems Collection, SEGA Genesis Collection, and SEGA Smash Pack. However, few of these compilations were released on handheld systems, and often times arcade games would get the short end of the stick. So SEGA 3D Classics Collection is a bit special in this case since it has several games that you don’t normally see in these compilations like Power Drift, Puyo Puyo Tsu, and Maze Walker.

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SEGA Talk: Our Ideal Sonic 25th Anniversary Game (Feat. Matt from Tails’ Channel)

Welcome to our newest video series, SEGA Talk! Like SEGA News Bits, SEGA Talk features hosts George and Barry discussing all things SEGA. However, instead of detailing the latest in SEGA news, we bring on a guest to take part in a round table SEGA discussion. To kick things off we are joined by Matt from Tails’ Channel to share what we think the ideal Sonic 25th anniversary game would be.

Want the SEGA Talk crew to tackle a topic? Submit topics and questions for future SEGA Talk episodes, as well as suggestions for guests, using our handy contact form or you can leave a comment below or on the YouTube video.

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SEGA Retrospective: From Wonder Boy to Monster World to Adventure Island and beyond

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Over the years, video game franchises have come in many styles. Platforming, fighting, puzzle, shooting, the list is never ending. But one thing many franchises have in common is that they have to start somewhere, setting up the foundation for future titles to follow up and improve on. However, on occasion, something happens down the line that causes the franchise to become twisted, causing things to become complicated. Copyright issues might make the prospect of new titles impossible so spiritual successors might be necessary (For example Bayonetta being the successor to Devil May Cry), or the franchise suffers from an identity crisis when localized like with Puyo Puyo, or games having inconsistent releases cause confusion like the infamous Final Fantasy I to VI problem.

By far one of the most curious cases is with a franchise called Wonder Boy (Aka Monster World).