SEGA News

New Sakura Wars will be shown soon, in “surprisingly good quality” according to Toshihiro Nagoshi

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For a while, New Sakura Wars (aka Shin Sakura Taisen) has been in limbo since it’s initial April announcement back at SEGA Fes 2018. Since then, there’s been nothing concrete over what the game is about, with only rumors such as a planned Q1 2019 release date and possibly appearing on Playstation 4 and Xbox One being the closest things to concrete information. But it seems like a proper reveal will happen soon. According to SEGA’s Toshihiro Nagoshi, development on New Sakura Wars has been positive so far, specifically noting how the staff have been “fired up” over the project and how the game is in “surprisingly good quality”. Because of this, it won’t be long until something is announced in the future.

While the reassurance is always welcome, nothing specific has been dropped at this time. So we’ll still need to wait just a tad longer for what New Sakura Wars will be about.

[Source: SEGA Nama, Gamestalk]

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Sonic Forces Soundtrack now available to stream on Spotify

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Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Sonic Forces, so to celebrate SEGA Japan has now released the Sonic Forces on Spotify. The OST in separate collections, most of the tracks appear in the ‘A Hero Will Rise‘ collection which has 87 total tracks. The other collection is the ‘Vocal Traxx – On the Edge‘ collection which has 10 total tracks.

As for what I think of this being a ‘one year’ surprise, eh? Like, you would just assume that SEGA would put these soundtracks on streaming services because its easy money for them. Like is this really worth waiting a whole year for? Personally would have liked to see Sonic Team release a patch and fix up some of Sonic Forces in-game issues. Shoot maybe add a couple of free DLC chapters fleshing out the story more. I know there is no patch that will make the game amazing, but a patch fixing bugs and other things would have gone a long way in the PR front for SEGA. But I guess a soundtrack is nice too.

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Go behind the scenes of Team Sonic Racing with Takashi Iizuka

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Tokyo Game Show 2018 may have been back in late September, but SEGA has just nows released a video from the event sitting down with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka to discuss the upcoming Team Sonic Racing. Iizuka talks about the inspiration for the team gameplay, the music and more! For those who missed the news, the game has been delayed to May 21, 2019 and it appears Sumo Digital is still hiring track and vehicle handling designers meaning the game is still very much in active development and there is a concerted effort to make the game the best it can be.

Pre-order Team Sonic Racing today!
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

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SEGA’s Hideki Sato talks about creating the Mega Drive to beat Nintendo

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It seems that SEGA Japan’s former President (2001-2003) and hardware designer Hideki Sato is getting quite a bit of attention from the media lately. A few months ago he discussed what it was like going against Sony and the PlayStation brand, now he is talking about the creation of the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, which he reveals was created to beat Nintendo (no, duh?). If you didn’t know Hideki Sato was behind the creation of the SEGA SG-1000, SEGA Master System, SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, SEGA Saturn, and the SEGA Dreamcast.

The Famitsu interview seems to be exclusive to its magazine but Siliconera translated some important bits where he discusses the SEGA SG-1000’s rough launch and how it helped the Mega Drive’s early development.

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SEGA renews Virtua Fighter logo and files new trademark for ‘Battle Genesis’

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SEGA has filed to renew the Virtua Fighter logo trademark and at the same time have filed a trademark for a brand new IP being titled ‘Battle Genesis‘. Both the Virtua Fighter logo and Battle Genesis are being trademark to be used for coin operated machines and arcade game use. For sure, the title ‘Battle Genesis’ sounds like some sort of versus game itself. What do you think it is?

As you have probably guessed, fans online are excited at the idea of a new Virtua Fighter entry, but SEGA Europe has already dashed their hopes with a tweet confirming that SEGA doesn’t have a new entry planned.

[Via: Siliconera]

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Double Switch remaster for PlayStation 4 now available to pre-order from Limited Run Games

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Screaming Villains is offering up another FMV classic following the successful remaster of Night Trap. Double Switch, seen by many as an attempt to improve and perfect the Night Trap formula, is now available to pre-order from Limited Run Games for the PlayStation 4. Unlike most Limited Run Games releases, the standard edition is a timed pre-order window with no stock limit. You’ll have until November 16th to pre-order. Meanwhile, there is a limited collector’s edition which, at the time of this posting, is 50% sold out. You can pre-order that here!

SEGA fans know this game best for its SEGA CD version, but the remaster will put that one to shame with crystal clear video and improved gameplay, as well as bonus content.

We spoke to Tyler, head of Screaming Villains, on a Swingin’ Report Show podcast. You can check that episode out here!

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Virtua Fighter’s Akira to appear in Smash Bros Ultimate as assist trophy

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It looks like Super Smash Bros Ultimate will continue to pay tribute to the innovative Virtua Fighter franchise. During the release of Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo announced that Virtua Fighter’s Akira and Jacky outfits would come to the games via DLC. Now Virtua Fighter’s Akria will appear in the game when it launches as a assist trophy. It has also been confirmed that Shadow the Hedgehog would be returning once again as a assist trophy as well, which would mark his 3rd appearance as a assist trophy. Very surprised he didn’t get a echo fighter treatment.

Nintendo also announced a ton of new content for the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate release on Nintendo Switch, so check that out. Sadly not a lot of it is SEGA related, so not posting it here.

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SEGA News Bits Extra: New Team Sonic Racing Track Revealed & First Persona on PlayStation Classic

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On this SEGA News Bits Extra we discuss the return of the king… King Boom Boo that is who has his own spooky track in Team Sonic Racing! We also talk about Sonic’s cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Phantasy Star‘s SEGA AGES release and the original Persona game appearing on the PlayStation Classic.

Thank you to our Patreon community for the support and consider joining the community yourself if you enjoy our content! Your support keeps SEGAbits going and you get exclusive access to a weekly video series, Q&A priority, advance video and podcast access and more!

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Arcade Review: House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn – True Horror Returns

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A classic SEGA franchise brand that spawned many sequels, spinoffs, movies and a vast global following of core and casual players since its debut in arcades in 1997. It has been 12 years since we have seen a House of the Dead game in the arcades worldwide and with SEGA CEO Haruki Satomi wanting to win older fans trust again when it comes to their brand, we finally managed to get a sample of that trust with a new entry to the classic arcade horror shooter. House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn, announced back in January 15th 2018 for Japanese arcades, is now in the west and we got a chance to play and complete it! The House of the Dead has risen beyond the grave once again but does this latest entry live up to our expectations. Hit the jump to read our review of House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn.

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SEGA AGES Nintendo Switch team reveals they are working on NAOMI Arcade emulation, not specifically Dreamcast

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According to a brand new SEGA AGES team interview, they have revealed that they are actually working on SEGA NAOMI emulation, not technically Dreamcast. If you didn’t already know, the SEGA Dreamcast is actually based on the SEGA NAOMI arcade board and was designed for companies to easily port their arcade games over to the SEGA Dreamcast. You can check out the full release of arcade titles to hit the SEGA NAOMI board here, but some highlights include Crazy Taxi, Dead or Alive 2, The House of the Dead 2, Samba De Amigo, Virtua Tennis , Power Stone, Marvel vs Capcom 2, and a lot more.

The team has said that these SEGA NAOMI titles will only happen if the first volume of SEGA AGES vol. 1 sells well on the Nintendo Switch. They have also said that they have a specific SEGA NAOMI arcade title in mind to launch the new series. What SEGA AGES NAOMI title would you want to see hit the Nintendo Switch?

[Source: GSK]

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SEGA Genesis Classics hits Nintendo Switch on December 7

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It looks like the Nintendo Switch version of the SEGA Genesis Classics compilation will hit the console hybrid portable this December 7, 2018. Looks like they really wanted to hit that holiday period. The collection will feature over 50 SEGA Genesis era titles.

Hot on the heels of the Sega Ages titles announced last week and set to launch during the Tokyo Gaming Show, SEGA continues a winter of bringing great classics to the portable Switch. Retro fans can now finally play the Genesis / Mega Drive collection on their way to school or work, in their lunch break or basically anywhere on the go! Sega Genesis Classics / Sega Mega Drive Classics has over 50 retro favorites to experience across every genre: arcade action, shooters, beat’m ups, puzzlers and hidden gems, with a raft of modern features. Exclusively for the Nintendo Switch players can now compete in same-screen local coop mode and use each Joy-Con individually if desired. Familiar features like online multiplayer, achievements, mirror modes, rewind and save states are all part of the collection for everyone to revisit and enjoy.
You can check out the list of games included after the break.

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Team Sonic Racing track reveal scratches that fan service itch – enter “Boo’s House”!

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We’ve been a little hard on Team Sonic Racing here at SEGAbits, but we do so out of love. Following up from the great Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and excellent Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Team Sonic Racing felt a little flat. In dropping the other SEGA characters and making it Sonic-only, I felt that SEGA really needed to go the extra mile to appease fans. Go nuts with the callbacks to Sonic’s racing past, feature long lost characters like Fang, give us tracks that mash-up classic and modern eras. Unfortunately, from what we’ve seen the roster is limited and the tracks feel pretty basic.

Thankfully, with the announcement of a delay to May 2019, we could see a little more TLC put into the game and today’s reveal just might be an indication of that. Released on the Sonic social media accounts is a preview of the music from a new track “Boo’s House”. What’s great about the track design is that it evokes Sonic 3‘s Sandopolis and Sonic Adventure 2‘s Pyramid Cave. The track is home to Sonic Adventure 2‘s boss King Boom Boo and the music is a remix of Sandopolis by Tee Lopes & Jun Senoue featuring Tei Sena on violin. Suffice to say, this reveal makes me very happy and I hope we see this level of fan service applied to other tracks in the game.

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SEGA in the Media: Sonic makes a cameo in the upcoming sequel to Wreck-It Ralph

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The embarrassingly titled sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet, releases next month. While the follow-up to the arcade and video game reference packed original is trading nostalgia for hip and trendy internet references, at least we will get some video game cameos. SEGA mascot Sonic the Hedgehog appeared a few times in the first movie, and he returns here with dialogue once again provided by Roger Craig Smith.

Footage of the cameo had been floating around the past few days, but it was a truncated and cropped version of the above video. Fans online have noted how great the animation on Sonic is, and I totally agree. He looks and sounds great! Such a shame a year from now we have that Sonic movie releasing where he will be in the real world and voiced by a different actor. Oh well, enough negativity from Old Man Barry… enjoy the clip!

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SEGA AGES Phantasy Star gets new release date for October 31st

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Previously, SEGA AGES Phantasy Star was planned for a tentative September release date, but was quietly delayed as the SEGA AGES versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV filled in that month instead. However, now we have official confirmation as to when SEGA AGES Phantasy Star will be released, and it’s much more sooner than expected. The game is currently planned for this Halloween, October 31th 2018. An odd and sudden choice, but this is likely a side effect of these SEGA AGES delays causing the original scheduling to be messed up.

The game is slated for a ¥925 (roughly $8.50) pricing, and like the other SEGA AGES titles will come with an assortment of bonus features. In addition to the original game, players will have access to other features such as the ability to listen to both the PSG and FM sounds, an optional mapping system for dungeons, an “easy” mode for novices, and a special encyclopedia called the “Monster-Codex” that allows you to view the sprites, stats, and descriptions of different enemies.

[Source: Game Watch]

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