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E3 Hands-On: Castle of Illusion Remake

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Back in late 1990 Sega wowed players with a great platformer starring Mickey Mouse known as “Castle of Illusion”. It had great graphics, sound, and challenge for its time. To this day, it’s the game Mickey’s most well-known for. 23 years later, Castle of Illusion is back again thanks to Emiko Yamamoto and Sega Studios Australia. It features graphics that give it the look of a $60 game, while still being the simple but challenging platformer we’ve grown to love.

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SEGA Memories: My First E3

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There is nothing quite like your first E3. Before I first went to E3 back in 2010, the event seemed like this wondrous and mythical place, like Narnia. A place that you read about and see pictures of, but never a place you actually go to. In 2010, thanks in part to some incredibly good luck, spurred on by a personal loss that made me decide to go out and see the world, I stepped through the wardrobe and raced off to something I had been dreaming about going to since middle school, but never in a million years thought I would be able to actually see.

It all started just a few weeks before the event. I had just lost someone dear to me and I was anxious to find something to do with myself. That’s when Sharky contacted me and told me that SEGA was interested in inviting SEGAbits to E3, but no one on the site would be able to attend. SEGAbits had caught my interest a few months after its debut, but I had decided not to apply for because I knew I wouldn’t be able to write for it regularly. After hearing  that they might be getting an invite to E3, I jumped at the chance and offered myself up as a part time writer and as someone who could cover E3 for them. I quickly wrote up a review of House of the Dead: Overkill, and kept my fingers crossed that it would pan out. Unfortunately, it didn’t. SEGA had sent out the industry passes to other people, and I resigned myself to being a faraway spectator of E3 again. No big deal, this was how these things normally worked out anyway.

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Sonic Talk Episode #21: Tracy Take Two

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It may have taken several more weeks and one more recording session than expected, but we’ve finally got Tracy Yardley on Sonic Talk! As they say, good things come to those who wait, and that is definitely true for anyone who was looking forward to this. No need to skip through to the interview either, as we have Tracy Yardley! for the entire show, so just sit back and enjoy. Or not. We won’t judge you.

Today, in addition to the Yardley interview, we (sorta) discuss Sonic coming to the Ouya, the Sonic Lost World game play trailer, finally having a 3D Sonic game on a handheld, and the fact that the third Sonic game is in fact not coming this year.

Check out the high res version of a special piece of art Tracy did for us below. If you want a chance to commission him for a piece of SEGA art, you can enter into our SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest.

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Announcing the SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest!

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SEGA has created some of the most beautiful games and iconic characters that gaming has ever seen. As such, SEGAbits would like to celebrate SEGA’s legacy of creativity with the Summer of Art contest! We will be taking submissions from across the world from fans expressing their SEGA passion! Not only will we be taking art, we will also be taking poems, original music and short videos! The more creative and passionate, the better! Just, you know, don’t get weird.

The contest will run until July 15th. The winner will receive:

  • A set of Jet Set Radio pins, given out by SEGA during PAX East and E3 2012
  • A set of Valkyria Chronicles 2 pins, given out by SEGA exclusively at PAX Prime 2010
  • A Jet Set Radio music CD
  •   A copy of the Valkyria Chronicle Design Archive
  •   A free commission of a SEGA character drawn by Archie Sonic the Hedgehog artist Tracy Yardley
  •   A free SEGAbits t-shirt

Select pieces of art and music will also be entered into our banner art rotation and featured in Tuesday Tunes.

Four runner-ups will also be receiving Valkyria Chronicles 2 pins and Jet Set Radio pins.
To help inspire you, SEGAbits will be posting an article full of concept art every Sunday! If we get enough submissions, we may also post some samples of what we’ve been receiving. Continue reading for guidelines on what will be accepted and how we will be taking submissions. We may be updating this contest with additional prizes as they become available. Stay tuned!

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My Life with SEGA vs. Spy vs. Spy

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On this week’s 2-Man Scramble, Mickey Mac and I enjoy a Master System classic; Spy vs. Spy. Based on MAD Magazine’s infamous comic strip, created by Antonio Prohías way back in 1961….

While I have fond memories of this game, Mickey Mac has gone so far as to call this “the friendship killer”. Can our friendship survive Spy vs. Spy?

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel! After the break, check out the promo video for what My Life with SEGA has planned for July!

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Find out how to get a SEGAbits themed shirt

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[This is a pre-order, last day to order is 6/10/13]

I usually get messages from users asking how they can support and help the site. Honestly, the first few years we launched the site we tried advertisements, but it’s hard to run a site on such things for multiple reasons I won’t get into. Now, we run a great ad-free website and frankly I like it better this way. But it still costs money to do things, especially things we want to do for the future of the site. So if you want to help, pick up a SEGAbits shirt. You get a shirt, we get some cash to give you more ad-free content. Everyone wins!

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Fighters Segamix: Virtua Fighter 2

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Welcome to the first round in our new video series “Fighters Segamix”. In this series, we will be focusing on the rich history of fighting games on SEGA systems as well as SEGA fighting games themselves. In this first episode, we have both in Virtua fighter 2 for the SEGA Saturn. Note that while I love fighting games, I’m not the best player. I’m not gonna be winning any Evo tournament anytime soon. Still, I can usually tell who’s balanced and who’s cheap right away (especially in the next episode).

Don’t have a Saturn? You can pick up Virtua Fighter 2 on XBLA and PSN for only $5. As you can see in the video, you can also play Virtua Fighter 2 in Yakuza 5 (only available on PS3 through import).

Should I include brawlers like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe into the mix? Let me know in the comments.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

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Sonic Talk #20: Yardley an episode

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We have an interview with Tracy Yardley!…..or…we HAD one, but for some reason, the audio messed up so bad, we just couldn’t use it. But, don’t worry, we’ll have him on next episode and there’s still plenty for Shigs and Nux to talk about including the X-Box One, Sonic Jam on Game.com, the “World’s Collide” Sonic and Mega Man crossover and more!

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Presenting “My Life with SEGA: The Next Level”, a short film by A.J. Rosa

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They took his game. The Holy Grail of SEGA Saturn titles….Panzer Dragoon Saga. Now, A.J. Rosa must go up against an old friend and a swarm of henchmen in order to reclaim what is rightfully his.

Starring Shawn Morgan, Mickey Mac, Doug Beamer and Alex Gonzales. Written and Directed by A.J. Rosa.

WARNING! This video contains action violence, adult language, obscure references and severe ass-kicking. VIEWER DISCRETION is STRONGLY ADVISED! Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

After the break, check out, download, and print out the kick-ass My Life with SEGA: The Next Level poster.

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Review: The House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels (iOS)

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Despite SEGA West whittling down the number of franchises they’ll be focusing on, the longtime classic franchise The House of the Dead has been kept alive (no pun intended, seriously) as of recent thanks to rereleases of arcade classics and expanded enhanced ports of the franchise’s most recent title The House of the Dead: Overkill. The 2009 Wii release became a cult classic, featuring a crazy re-imagining of the light gun shooter as a grindhouse flick complete with over the top gore, 70’s film stock effects, and gratuitous language. In 2011, The House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut released to the PS3 with enhanced visuals and new modes and stages. We thought that was it for the Overkill titles, but we were wrong. Dead wrong. SEGA has released The House of the Dead: Overkill once again, this time on iOS and Android devices. Enough with the introductions, let’s tear into this f***er!

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