Phantasy Star Online 2 collaborating with slice of life anime YuruYuri

YuriPSO2Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan is going collaboration crazy, this time announcing a collaboration with the slice of life comedy anime/manga YuruYuri.

The collaboration will feature four of the main characters: Akari, Kyoko, Yui and Chinastu. Also announced to be featured in the game is the series’ heroine, Majokko Miakurun. The collaboration will also have a bunch of exclusive costumes to collect.  You can check some of the items in the image below.

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The update is set to go live the second half of November. As for the West, SEGA has been silent about Phantasy Star Online 2 release date. Here is hoping they stop pretending a 2 year plus wait since it was announced at PAX is reasonable.

“Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime Episode 3 is out, here are our impressions

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Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls is back once again, with the third episode now being available on Crunchyroll!

This episode sees the girls spend more time in the main area of the SeHaGaga Academy, as opposed to being focused on a game like last time. The majority of the episode focuses on the girls chatting about what they’ll do upon leaving the academy, with Dreamcast brainstorming ideas for SEGA Saturn. They eventually decide on Saturn becoming a weather girl, and also become fascinated by the idea of her getting married to a baseball player; this actually results in a reference to the relatively unknown Home Run King! They also try and convince Mega Drive to give the job a go, which results in a surprisingly moving scene, as Mega Drive “bugs out,” and begins discussing… rabbit death. Well, OK then!

Retro SEGA themed console boxes will hold your trading cards

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Are you a Collectible Card Gamer (CCG)? You know, like Magic: The Gathering or even Pokemon? If so you might be interested in the variety of deck boxes, collection boxes and even card sleeves based on retro SEGA consoles that are offered by Amazon Japan. With SEGA Saturn’s anniversary coming next month, I think i’ll order myself a SEGA Saturn themed deck holder.

They  have them based on a variety of SEGA’s retro consoles, sadly nothing older than the Mega Drive and no handhelds. Hit the jump to check out the gallery.

Alien: Isolation’s first add-on pack set to release on October 28th

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SEGA has announced the first Alien: Isolation add-on pack, titled “Corporate Lockdown”, is set to release October 28th. The first of five planned add-on packs, “Corporate Lockdown”, adds three new maps to the game’s Survivor Mode. Each add-on pack will feature new playable characters, offering a different perspective on the main campaign’s story. In “Corporate Lockdown”, players take control of Seegson Executive Ransome who takes on three new challenge maps: ‘Severance’, ‘Scorched Earth’ and ‘Loose Ends’. After the break, check out an additional screenshot from the add-on pack as well as SEGA’s full press release. Also, make sure to check out My Life with SEGA’s Alien: Isolation video review.

Get a sneak peek at Codemasters and SEGA’s upcoming arcade racer “Showdown”

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Via Arcade Heroes comes early information on an upcoming arcade racer from Codemasters and SEGA Amusements titled Showdown. An Arcade Heroes reader spotted the game during a location test at a local arcade and snapped several photos of the game. The cabinet shares many similarities with GRID Racing, a previous collaboration between Codemasters and SEGA Amusements. It is speculated that this is an arcade port of the 2012 Codemasters game DiRT: Showdown. It looks like the game will have two styles of play: “Wild Racing” and “Demolition”. Also, the game features the ability to enter numeric codes on a keypad to unlock bonus content. The IAAPA trade show is just around the corner, so we’ll likely have more news on this game soon!

Taxman and Stealth celebrate Sonic & Knuckles’ 20th anniversary with a Sonic 3 & Knuckles proof of concept

Today marks the 20th anniversary of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles, and to celebrate, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered developer Christian Whitehead shared a proof of concept prototype from the Taxman & Stealth personal vaults featuring Sonic 3 & Knuckles running on the Retro Engine. Of course, this is presented unofficially, so don’t jump to the conclusion that a Sonic 3 & Knuckles remastered is on the way anytime soon. Still, awesome to see that they’ve done work on the much requested title, even in an unofficial capacity. The Taxman himself shared this link in Sonic Retro’s forums, stating that “this isn’t an official announcement of any Sega project, nor to we intend to work on this as a fan-project. It’s simply a proof of concept from our vaults that has been kept to our chests for some time.”

You can learn more about the technical side of the project in Stealth’s latest blog post!

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SEGA and Relic reveal Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault pre-order incentives


 
SEGA and Relic Entertainment have released a new trailer and have revealed pre-order incentives for Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault, which is due for release on November 18th, 2014 for Windows PC digital download platforms. The content consists of an all-new company known as the “Fox” Company, a band of Rangers led by Captain Monte Durante which sits alongside the game’s existing three Companies. Check out the trailer above, and read the full press release after the break!

“Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime Episode 2 released, Impressions

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The next episode of the Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls anime has been released, and can be found over on Crunchyroll!

This episode sees the girls enter the world of Virtua Fighter, in which they are tasked with winning a whopping 100 matches to win Credit Medals! Each of them are given one Virtua Fighter move each, and must work together to win credits; as for whether they do work together, well you’ll just have to watch!

One thing I will say is that this episode certainly keeps up the fanservice with cameo appearances, and there’s even a sly dig at the palette-swapped bad guys of beat-em-ups past. And I know a certain SEGAbits contributor is going to be very happy to see the final opponent, who even gets the privilege of a speaking role!

It great to see the series continues to impress, and I’m excited to see what antics to Girls get into in the next episode!

See the episode here! 

Go behind-the-scenes with the Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal development team

SEGA has uploaded a new behind-the-scenes video to the Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube account, taking fans behind-the-scenes with the Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal development team. Shattered Crystal, the Nintendo 3DS Sonic Boom title, is unique in that it is the first fully original handheld Sonic title since 2008’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

While Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Lost World on the 3DS were pared down versions of what home consoles had (albeit with unique stages and layouts), Shattered Crystal is a separate title from Wii U’s Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric with a unique story, stages, and an exclusive character named Sticks the Badger. In the above video, Sanzaru Games, Inc. delves into how they’ve collaborated with Sonic Team and Big Red Button, as well as how the 3DS and Wii U titles will connect.

Yeah, they even have a sports tape gag at the end.

SEGA in the Charts: Alien: Isolation debuts in 2nd behind FIFA 15 in the UK

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How about some good news for a Monday? Via VGChartz and SEGAbits forum member Nirmugen comes news that Alien: Isolation launched in the second position on the UK charts, behind FIFA 15 which remains the best-selling game in the UK for three weeks running. Given soccer’s football’s appeal in the UK, it’s quite impressive that a SEGA title managed to chart so highly – especially after speculation that Aliens: Colonial Marines may have tainted the public’s interest in the Alien franchise. However, it should be noted that despite the quality of Aliens: Colonial Marines [watch and/or read our review], the game still managed to surge back into the charts as early as January 2014.

How to unlock Oculus Rift support for Alien Isolation

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SEGA demoed Alien Isolation at E3 running on the Oculus Rift, then after stated that the game wasn’t going to ship with Oculus Rift support. This was partly true considering that the game that shipped didn’t have a selectable  Oculus Rift mode, but the code is still in the game. Here is how to unlock it.

1. Find the Alien Isolation DATA folder.
2. Open ENGINE_SETTINGS.XML
3. Edit the stereo options to the following:

<Setting name="Stereo Mode">
    <Quality name="Rift"   precedence="4"/>
    <Quality name="Off"   precedence="4"/>
</Setting>

Now set the Oculus Rift to ‘extended mode’ and in the Oculus config utility make sure you pause the service. Boot the game up and it should work. More information can be found in this detailed Reddit thread.

SEGA in the Media: The Price is Right for a Sega-Vision in 1977!

Way back in 2011, we featured an article on the Sega-Vision, a big screen projection TV sold to consumers in 1977. While a post I made at SEGA Memories detailed patent drawings from 1976, and our post in 2011 featured the commercial, today we have another bit from the Sega-Vision’s past! Courtesy of a reader named Matthew, I was linked to a YouTube upload of a full episode of The Price is Right taped on June 29, 1977, and guess what item appears? If you guessed the Sega-Vision, you’d be right – or is that the “Seega-Vision”? Unfortunately for our lucky contestant, she wasn’t so right. In fact, she was wrong and lost the item when it came to guessing the retail price. Thankfully, as SEGA fans we finally get to know the retail price of a Sega-Vision in 1977: $1,895.

Bayonetta 2 demo is up on the eShop right now

Nintendo Europe just suddenly released this new Bayonetta 2 trailer on their Youtube channel that ends with a neat bit of info: a demo will be put on the eShop at 2 PM UK time on October 9th. It also so happens to be just past that time, meaning that the demo should be up on the eShop right now. At least if you live in Europe, where the eShop has updated already.

The demo hasn’t been announced yet for the US, but chances are that it’ll be available there as well whenever the eShop updates in that region. The demo will take up 725MB of your Wii U’s space. As for the full game, it will be out in Europe and the US just a mere two weeks from now on October 24th.

Update: The demo has now been uploaded to the US eShop as well.

Sneak peek at Archie Comics Sonic Boom issue 1

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Courtesy of the L.A. Times “Hero Complex section, comes a sneak peek of Sonic Boom #1. A new, ongoing somic books series from Archie comics based on the upcoming Cartoon show on Cartoon Network and video games on Wii U and 3DS. Outside the usual norm of “light-hearted action adventure” that the regular series has, this series will be strictly comedy-based with some adventure elements added in as well. Expect plenty of slapstick and fourth wall gags a’plenty. Sonic Boom issue 1 hits comic book shops on Oct 29. Click over to the comments section for links to the preview pages.

SEGA Hard Girls Anime “Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” Debuts!

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The new SEGA-based CG anime, Hi☆sCool! SeHa Girls, has officially landed! The new series’ first episode is now available on Crunchyroll, and sees the characters, human representations of the SEGA Mega Drive, SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast, introduced to one another as they enter the SeHaGaga Academy, with one goal; graduate!

It seems like a bizarre concept for an anime, and that’s probably because it is. But suffice to say, if you’re a SEGA fan there’s plenty to enjoy here. There’s numerous SEGA references, unsurprisingly, and some neat jokes worked into them, such as the OutRun guy still having “20 years left on the loan” for that flashy Testatrossa – ouch! There’s some joking about regarding the heroes of Golden Axe, and some hilarious internet shenanigans with Dreamcast too!