SEGA News

SEGA releases over an hour of Hokuto Ga Gotoku gameplay

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For SEGA fans that are big fans of the First of the North Star (Hokuto Ga Gotoku) series, SEGA of Japan have now done a long form stream showing off over an hour of gameplay. As you can tell from the gameplay, Hokuto Ga Gotoku is very much a licensed Fist of the North Star game built on top of the Yakuza 0 engine. This isn’t the first time that SEGA has done something like this, Yakuza Kiwami was built this way. I just find it weird that they kept a lot of the same UI design from the Yakuza series, would have been cool to see reworked maps and other UI designed by the manga creator instead of just reusing the Yakuza look.

Hokuto ga Gotoku is coming out on PlayStation 4, in Japan on March 8 with a standard and “Century’s End Premium” edition. SEGA hasn’t mention anything about this game coming out outside of Japan… fingers crossed!

[Via: Gematsu]

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What could SEGA’s “16th January” lightbulb tease mean? [Updated]

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Today, both SEGA and SEGA Europe Twitter accounts (why are they have separate accounts still is best left for another article) shared a teaser image of “16th January” and a lightbulb. What could this mean? While it could mean anything really, there are a few clues here. For starters, this image comes from SEGA Europe. The ordering of days before month is a dead giveaway. The lightbulb, meanwhile, is commonly used to evoke an idea. How does one get to an idea? By thinking. The SEGA Dreamcast had the well known slogan “It’s Thinking…”. Could the lightbulb be the idea that the years of thinking is leading to? Could this be SEGA’s tease for impending Dreamcast ports? It’s possible. [Update: Or not? Read on!]

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SEGA AM2’s Border Break leaves arcades, heads to PS4

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SEGA announced today via a live stream that the long running SEGA AM2 developed arcade game, Border Break, would be coming to PlayStation 4. Finally! The third-person mecha action arcade game hit the scene way back in September 9, 2009 and since then has had over 16 huge updates. The latest one being called Border Break X Zero, that came out earlier this year.

Border Break will be a free-to-play game download and also get a physical release over in Japan. Of course, this was just announced via a live stream so we don’t know if this game would make it over to the States. Since I’m a massive SEGA-AM2 fanboy, I of course, really want this game to come out over here. The first Beta for Border Break starts next month, so it seems this port has been in the works for awhile! What a great surprise.

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SEGA Master System Fist of the North Star gets English translation patch

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If you are one of the many people excited for the upcoming PlayStation 4 Fist of the North Star (Hokuto Ga Gotoku), you might have something to play while you wait. If you didn’t know SEGA has created and published several Fist of the North games in the past, their first title was Hokuto No Ken (Fist of the North Star in Japanese), which released on the SEGA Master System (Mark III in Japan) in 1986. The game did make it outside of Japan as Black Belt, dropping all licenses to the manga. SEGA would later release a sequel to the game, which we got as Last Battle.

Fist of the North Star (SMS) Translation

As far as the Fist of the North Star Master System game, the title was actually one of the early games programmed by famed Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka. Looking at all the past SEGA published Fist of the North Star video games makes me want SEGA to port the 2005 arcade/PlayStation 2 game by Arc System Works. Please SEGA? While its cool to have a English patch, I don’t think you really need it to play the game.

The SEGA Master System version of the game will also be playable in the upcoming PlayStation 4 game, as an unlockable. No idea if the new one will make it over stateside. I guess we can only hope.

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Retro-bit SEGA USB and Bluetooth Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast accessories revealed!

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Last month we shared the news that Retro-bit would be creating USB, bluetooth and classic controllers for the SEGA Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast, with the products debuting at CES 2018. Well CES 2018 is happening now, and images of the Retro-bit SEGA products are online! The community section of the RGT 85 Facebook page and Madlittlepixel show us just what we can expect from the new line of products. After the break, let’s check out the images and see what we can see!

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Phantasy Star Online 2 celebrates 1.5 million downloads on PlayStation Vita

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SEGA has announced a Phantasy Star Online 2 milestone for the PlayStation Vita version of the game, amassing over 1.5 million downloads since the game debuted on the handheld in February 2013.  I assume these also counted the physical print version of the game that have been printed in the past.

To celebrate the milestone, Phantasy Star Online 2 will have a commemoration campaign later this month. More details to be announced later. Of course Phantasy Star Online 2 has been released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, iOS, and Android. Only in Japan. There is also Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud coming to Nintendo Switch in Q1 2018.

Like always, wish this game made it west. Oh well, you know.

[Via: Siliconera]

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Amiibos allow you to instantly unlock costumes in Bayonetta for Nintendo Switch

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Amiibos allow you to instantly unlock costumes in Switch Bayonetta

Nintendo’s UK site has posted an article for the upcoming Bayonetta 1 + 2 Nintendo Switch port. The article is a fairly generic press release with no new news until one drops down to a small blurb at the end.

By tapping in compatible amiibo (sold separately), you can instantly unlock a number of Nintendo-themed costumes for Bayonetta to wear, weapons to use and more!

The Nintendo costumes in Wii U versions of the games required one to save up Halos and buy them at Rodin’s shop. Now you can simply spend your Dogecoins on Nintendo amiibos and unlock your design outfit when you fire up the game the first time. It’s okay, we know you’re going to unlock the Star Mercenary outfit first. For reasons.

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Miles “Tails” Prower character designer Yasushi Yamaguchi creates new artwork to celebrate the character’s 25th anniversary

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Seen above (click for high res version) is new art from Yasushi Yamaguchi aka Judy Totoya, the character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog’s trusty sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower. Yasushi’s design came out of an internal competition at STI where numerous designs were submitted, including a rocket-powered turtle named Boomer, but in the end Yasushi’s two-tailed orange fox named Miles Prower won out. As Tails turned 25 years old with the 25th anniversary of the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in November, 2017, Yasushi decided to create new art to celebrate. Yasushi also revealed some facts about the character’s creation, seen after the break!

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works teases never before seen production materials from Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and more

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, an upcoming book from Read-Only Memory, is the followup to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Successfully backed on Kickstarter late last year, Read-Only Memory sent a new years update to backers and boy is it an exciting one! Read-Only Memory received a large amount of production materials from SEGA of Japan, including several never-before-seen pieces from popular Dreamcast games. Included in the haul are:

  • Game mechanic sketches, environment concepts and high end renderings for Sonic Adventure
  • The complete design document for Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio, including some amazing graffiti artwork concepts
  • A very early proof of concept video for Space Channel 5
  • Character studies and production artwork for Phantasy Star Online
  • Storyboards, character designs and environment artworks for Shenmue

Read-Only Memory will spend the coming weeks sorting through all the materials and identifying pieces to include in the book, with the final cut of the book to be laid out in a few months. Also revealed is that photoshoots for the Hardware Showcase chapter of the book will be taking place in the next few weeks, featuring everything from consoles to the fishing controller to the Samba de Amigo maracas. If you’re the proud owner of a Dreamcast hardware rarity you think should make the final cut, please do drop Read-Only Memory a line!

We here at SEGAbits can’t wait to get our hands on the book, and in the meantime we’re working to get Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory back for another Swingin’ Report Show podcast.

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Gunstar Heroes joins the SEGA Forever mobile lineup

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The Treasure classic Gunstar Heroes has been added to the SEGA Forever mobile lineup, available to download now on Google Play and the App Store. If Gunstar Heroes on iOS sounds familiar, it’s because the game released to that platform 7 years ago. Those who have previously downloaded the iOS version of the game will be able to restore their purchase for the premium SEGA Forever version. A new addition to the mobile version is cross-platform local multiplayer over Wi-Fi. You can interact with the SEGA Forever team on Twitter at twitter.com/segaforever and follow them if you’re so inclined, as they post some pretty cool stuff.

We’re a bit late in newsing this, as the game released to around the busy holidays, but better late than never!

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Indie games coming to classic SEGA consoles in 2018

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New year, new indie games! As we return from the holiday season, we look ahead to what indie developers have in store for our classic SEGA hardware in 2018. Thanks to SEGAbits Forums member Berto, we have a helpful topic which compiles all the upcoming SEGA indie games for 2018. Keep Berto’s topic bookmarked, as he will be updating it throughout the year as new games are announced.

Clicking on the games names after the break will bring you to the respective crowdfunding campaigns, pre-orders and ROM/ISO download links should they be available. So what indie SEGA games are coming in 2018?

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 trailer shows off new gameplay mechanics

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The trailer above was shown off during the live stream for Valkyria Chronicles 4, which shows off a lot of the in-game mechanics SEGA has been talking about recently. The new trailer also shows off a brand new stage features such as environmental effects like fire and blizzards which can block areas in the map, making the user rethink their strategy during a match.

Another new features shown in the trailer is a “Dummy Tank” that is basically a decoy. Out side of that, it seems to have a lot of what we all loved from the first game and that isn’t a bad thing. Valkyria Chronicles 4 hits Japan on March 21, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and later on for Nintendo Switch. While we in the West will get the game sometime in 2018 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

[Source: Siliconera]

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Hokuto ga Gotoku Limited Edition PlayStation 4 announced

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While I put SEGA in the title, this was actually shown off by Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia. This Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 is set to hit Japan this March 8th, 2018. The limited edition console will be sold on the Japanese Sony Store and come in 500GB for 33,480 plus tax ($296 USD) or 1TB model for 38,480 plus tax ($340 USD).

  • PlayStation 4 console (Jet Black)
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 top cover
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original theme
  • Hokuto ga Gotoku PS4 original designed package
  • DualShock 4 Jet Black controller
  • Monaural headset
  • Power cable
  • HDMI cable
  • USB cable

Yeah, it does seem that the Hokuto ga Gotoku limited edition PlayStation 4 won’t be coming with a copy of the game. It seems to be a normal think for Japanese limited edition consoles. Seems like a good move for a publisher like SEGA but not so great for consumers. SEGA has yet to announce Hokuto ga Gotoku localization, but they already announced Catherine: Full Body? What gives?

[Source: Siliconera]

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Sonic Forces Releases ‘Free’ Super Sonic DLC For a Limited Time

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If you guys forgot, we did a SEGA News Bits video on the Sonic Forces day one patch that had a Sanic shirt and Super Sonic. The Sanic shirt was released on November 27th for free. Well, now SEGA has made the Super Sonic transformation DLC live, at least in Europe. The page says it comes out on the 22nd, so expect it on the US PlayStation Store tomorrow.

“Speed through the levels faster than Sonic… as Super Sonic! Get the SUPER SONIC DLC for SONIC FORCES now to transform into Super Sonic across 20+ Modern and Classic Sonic. Collect the right amount of rings and Super Sonic will spring into action, giving you the ability to sprint across stages at break-neck speeds.”

According to the product description, you can’t participate in rankings with the Super Sonic DLC. If this was the end of this news story, I would say that SEGA did a great job, but sadly it isn’t. According to the Nintendo eShop page for the DLC, Super Sonic will be $2 paid DLC after January 23rd. I usually don’t mind companies adding new things to games and charging, if its worth it. But here are my issues with this…

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Nintendo Switch Top 20 Selling Games of 2017 Includes Sonic Mania, Puyo Puyo Tetris

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bestsellingnintendoswitchThe Nintendo Switch store has posted up the highest selling Nintendo Switch software for 2017. According to Reset Era post, this includes both digital and physical. The top 20 best selling Nintendo Switch games was mostly dominated by Nintendo games. No surprise there but it also included SEGA games like Sonic Mania and Puyo Puyo Tetris, while Sonic Forces didn’t make the top 20 list. According to people on the forum, Pokken DX sold over 500,000 units, considering Sonic Mania did better than that game its safe to assume it did over half a million digitally on the e-store.

Hit the jump to see the top 20 Nintendo Switch selling Nintendo Switch games of 2017:

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