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Classic SEGA Ads: So you want to live in a comic book?

July 19, 2014 by Nuckles87

SEGA of America’s nineties advertisement strategy can be summarized thusly: come up with the most batshit insane thing you can and run with it. Anyone looking for proof need look no further than this…thing they produced to sell Comix Zone. I kind of get what they were going for, since old comic books often have over-the-top, melodramatic dialogue and bizarre storylines, but this is more like a crazy depiction of some weird cult than anything to do with super hero comics. Unless there was a weird cult in Comix Zone, since I’ve never been able to get much further than the second level.

Looking back though, does that really matter? I don’t think so! This is a fun, quirky little ad that encapsulate SEGA’s attitude more so then the game it’s advertising. It wouldn’t have sold me on Comix Zone back in the day, but it certainly makes me miss what video game advertisement used to be like. I’ll take this over a slick trailer filled with review scores any day.

As a little bonus, I thought I’d also include a print advertisement for Comix Zone, seen in comics and magazines. It’s a little blander, sure, but it also gets to the heart of what the game is a bit more. Check it out after the break!

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Comics to Cartridge: Comics that inspired Comix Zone

July 17, 2014 by George

[Sketch Turner drawn by RainDante]

It’s quite obvious that Comix Zone is a 16-bit video game tribute to the comic book medium. It takes several aspects from a variety of popular comics throughout history and uses them in its own way to create a unique world. Here are some that I’ve noticed during play. Since the developers never talked about stories in comics that influenced them, some of these could only be coincidence.

Let’s have a look.

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SEGA Channel Retro: CorvidDude’s Windy Valley Mod Interview Plus Abyss Odyssey Blind Playthrough

July 17, 2014 by Bartman

The live show is already over, but you can check out the archived stream above as well as more content below and after the jump!

This week’s live show on SEGA Channel Retro is a tour through the Windy Valley Beta Mod that was released recently for Sonic Adventure DX. We’ll also have CorvidDude, the author of the mod bringing his insight on restoring the level from the AutoDemo.

If you want to check out the mod for yoursel f, you can hop over to CorvidDude’s YouTube channel and check the links in the description of this video.

I’m joined by Overlord, GeneHF and OverlyEquippedin our little venture as we also check out the latest Sonic title, Sonic Jump Fever as well as catch up with Sonic Dash with Andronic. Also say hello to me as I try to roll eggs with Billy Hatcher in SEGA Superstars. Finally I take a blind look at Atlus and ACE Team’s latest offering, Abyss Odyssey.

Sonic Adventure DX: Windy Valley Restoration Mod with CorvidDude [Twitch] [YouTube]

Sonic Jump Fever, Sonic Dash, SEGA Superstars [Twitch]

Abyss Odyssey [Twitch] [YouTube]

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Swingin’ Report Show #67: Mega-Bit Figures Inspired by SEGA Genesis Interview

July 16, 2014 by Barry

This week on the Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Barry and George are joined by Nate Mitchell – head of Squid Kids Ink and creator of the So Analog line of figures featuring old entertainment media with eyes, arms, and legs. Nate’s latest project is Mega-Bit, a SEGA Genesis game cartridge inspired line of So Analog figures featuring officially licensed SEGA classics.

To make his SEGA toys a reality, Nate has created a Kickstarter with SEGA’s approval. Those who support the project receive some awesome incentives including limited edition figures featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, and Shinobi. Support Nate and his Mega-Bit toys today!

Following the interview, Barry and George share their thoughts on 3D Fantasy Zone II and Alien: Isolation‘s recently revealed DLC starring the cast of the original film.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

My Life with SEGA Season 3 begins with a pulpy SEGA Genesis classic – Comix Zone

July 16, 2014 by AJ

My Life with SEGA is back, and in HD! That’s right, it’s retro gaming in high-definition.

In the season 3 premiere, I go back 18 years to re-experience a 16-bit piece of art, ripping through page after page of aliens and mutants in Comix Zone. Developed by Sega Technical Institute, this brawler from the mid 90’s was praised for it’s glorious presentation, but scolded for its late arrival and brief playthrough.

Now that Comix Zone is old enough to move out, how does it hold up today? Click it. Watch it. Love it. Damn! That sounds kinda’ dirty, doesn’t it? Oh well.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

SEGA Tunes: Comix Zone’s Road Kill plays Grunge music

July 15, 2014 by George

It’s no secret that Comix Zone‘s Sketch Turner was design around a grunge rock musician. Grunge music started in the mid-1980’s in Seattle and slowly spread thanks to labels like Sub Pop. It didn’t become commercially successful until the first half of the 90’s thanks to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and of course Stone Temple Pilots.

Howard Drossin, the composer behind the soundtrack for Comix Zone put a band together called ‘Road Kill’ (named after Turner’s pet rat and humble side kick).

SEGA Retrospective: Turn the page, it’s Comix Zone Week!

July 14, 2014 by George

Welcome to Comix Zone week, where we will be giving you a whole week’s worth of Sketch Turner love. If you have a copy of this SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classic, give it ago for nostalgia’s sake and stay tuned all week long for new content. This fabulous game was first made available in 1995 for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. It was later ported to Windows PC, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and PSN. Its also been featured in both Sonic Mega Collection Plus and Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Check out our full overview of Comix Zone after after the break!

This is Saturn looks back on the SEGA Saturn Action Replay 4M Auto

July 9, 2014 by TrackerTD

In this episode of This is Saturn, I look at something that’s not a video game! Shock, horror!

Rather, we look at the Saturn’s most well-known and most common Action Replay device, the 4M Auto. I was first introduced to this through My Life With SEGA, and made it my goal to get one – and after some delivery shenanigans that involved it being sent to the wrong person, I finally got one! It can do a whole lot beyond the typical cheat device setup of most Action Replays, but is it actually a worthy investment? Watch, as I try and answer that question for you!

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!

Swingin’ Report Show #66: Interview with Roger Craig Smith, voice of Batman, Sonic the Hedgehog, and many more!

July 8, 2014 by Barry

This week on the Swingin’ Report Show, hosts Barry and George welcome a guest who has helped shape the sound of SEGA’s speedy mascot – Roger Craig Smith, voice actor of Sonic the Hedgehog! Roger is also well known for voicing Batman, Captain America, Chris Redfield, Ezio Auditore, and more. Recent projects include Batman: Arkham Origins which features the recently released “Cold, Cold Heart” DLC pack and SEGA’s Sonic Boom which spans video games and a television show which release later this year.

Join us as we talk with Roger about voicing Gotham’s Dark Knight and Green Hill’s Blue Blur. Roger also provides details on how he got into the business, and has some great advice for aspiring voice actors. Yes, we even asked him about his work on Valkyria Chronicles and his earliest work as Sonic at Alton Towers.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

SEGA Channel Retro: Independence Day Stream Archive

July 4, 2014 by Bartman

Originally broadcast the day before today, I check out a couple of fan favorite SEGA games on the original Xbox console in favor of America’s 4th of July celebration. Watch me play the first hour of Jet Set Radio Future and take notes on how I try to woo the ladies of OutRun 2. Finally I stretch my freedom as far as possible by playing Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 which released on the Triforce Arcade Hardware, which was a cross production between Nintendo, Namco and SEGA.

You can check out our live streams on our Twitch channel or catch the archives on our YouTube channel. You can also expand this article to check each listing for each video, with our Twitch videos reaching 60 frames per second. Also be sure to check out highlights of our previous streams in the related posts!

SEGAbits at Too Many Games 2014 – “Surviving the Dreamcast Apocalypse” panel and more!

July 4, 2014 by Barry

SEGAbits made its very first convention appearance this year at TooManyGames in Oaks, PA. In addition to walking the convention floor, Barry the Nomad, Patrick aka Kori-Maru (Website of the Dead), David the Lurker (Sonic Retro) and A.J. Rosa (My Life with SEGA) held a panel discussing the life and death of SEGA’s swan song, the Dreamcast. The same panel also included a presentation from Sonic Retro, covering the history of Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s Hidden Palace Zone – with rarely seen footage of Sonic 2‘s release and early efforts to remake the lost zone. We also met with several fellow SEGA fans, gave away a pile of rare SEGA swag, and did we mention the panel was standing room only? SEGAbits Does.

Also featured in this video is a convention walkthrough with the crew, and a one-on-one bout between Patrick and A.J.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

Swingin’ Report Show #65: TooManyGames 2014 Gaming Convention Wrap-Up

July 3, 2014 by Barry

Last week’s assault on TooManyGames in Oaks, PA was a big success! Our panel, “Surviving the Dreamcast Apocalypse: SEGA Fans in the 21st Century”, was packed to the point of standing room only. The panel itself went very well, with a great round table conversation about the Dreamcast’s demise and SEGA’s future, an exciting new episode of My Life with SEGA, a fascinating look at the behind-the-scenes of Sonic 2‘s Hidden Palace Zone, and tons of SEGA prizes. This week’s episode of the Swingin’ Report Show features Barry, A.J., and Kori-Maru’s thoughts on the convention, a bit of gloating about retro gaming purchases, and that awkward feeling of meeting people from the internet in person for the first time. Unfortunately for George, he wasn’t there, but he lives vicariously though us in our lively post convention wrap-up.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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#Sonic23on23 Celebration Round-up

July 3, 2014 by Nuckles87

A golden birthday only happens once and we at SEGAbits wanted to make sure there was some fanfare! That’s why we teamed up with Sonic Stadium and Sonic Retro for an entire week of articles, features and videos, with the intent of looking back at Sonic’s past, analyzing the present and looking forward to the future. For those of you who may have missed some of it, we thought we’d post a run-down of all the content the awesome staff of our three sites created.

Enjoy!

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Editorial: False Positive: Sonic, the Media, and Wrongly Diagnosing the Problem

July 2, 2014 by GX

The Sonic franchise has an image problem. It remains disrespected, discredited, and broadly misunderstood for years, not because his titles are consistently good, but rather because the good titles are often swept away and ignored in favor of snark towards past failures. In this sense, games writers might as well joke about airline food or women drivers. I’m not a marketing wizard, nor do I claim to have all the answers, but I do think it is important to highlight what the problems are and are not. At the very least, the culture could stand to be snarky and dismissive about something that happened six months ago instead of six years.