SEGA News Bits: IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #5 & #6 Discussion

On our last IDW Sonic video, we asked if you wanted more and you did! So here it is, our SEGA News Bits discussion of IDW Sonic the Hedgehog issues 5 and 6. We’ll be covering these as arcs moving forward, and on this episode we’re taking a look at “The Fate of Dr. Eggman”. How is the writing and art, and what’s the big twist? Click play to find out!

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Attention SEGA Master System fans: Funimation licenses 1987 anime Zillion – home video release coming in October

Good news, Master System fans! Funimation has licensed the 80s anime Zillion! Zillion is a 1987 sci-fi anime from Tatsunoku Productions than ran for 31 episodes. It centers around White Knight J.J. and his fellow White Knights Apple and Champ as they defend the earth colony Maris from the evil Nozas, an alien race intent on wiping humans off the face of the planet. The White Knights battle the forces of evil with their signature weapon, the Zillion Weapon System, a Master System light gun (complete with the cord) capable of destroying the Nozas, who are otherwise invulnerable to human weaponry.

Valve leaks player counts for Steam games, how are SEGA games doing?


Earlier today, Valve accidentally leaked player counts for all the games on their store. I can hear all the publishers gasping at once. So how are SEGA games actually doing on Steam? Well as expected PC centeric games like Company of Heroes 2, Empire: Total War and Total War: Rome II top the list. The first sign of ‘SEGA Japan’ on here starts at number 8 with SEGA Genesis Classics pulling in 1,514,485 players.

On the other hand the most popular Sonic the Hedgehog title being confirmed as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed which had 1,232,451 users, the second best Sonic game is Sonic Adventure 2 with 416,851 users. Sonic Forces didn’t seem to get much traction on PC with only 34,165 players as of the leak, getting beaten by the underrated Puyo Puyo Tetris with 47,388 players. Virtua Sanus over at ResetERA has listed all the number for SEGA games.

Yakuza: Kiwami 2 demo goes live on Western PSN Stores


SEGA has just launched its 10.01 gigabyte demo (better than Yakuza 6‘s 36GB demo) for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, which can be downloaded on both America and European PSN stores.

The demo lets you play as our baby boy Kazuma Kiryu, where we can explore the city and retrace the steps of The Grand, Goro Majima’s old place and aid people in their daily struggles. So typical Yakuza-ism. The demo also allows you to try play spots such as darts, karaoke, golf and more.

SEGA has also put up digital pre-orders for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, if you pre-order early you get to unlock an exclusive PlayStation 4 theme. There is also a ‘Special digital edition’ that is available for a limited time that comes with a special item pack that contains a Demonfire Blade weapon, Hostess Ono Michiyo, Sotaro Komaki R Clan Card, Jo Amon R Clan Card, The Comedian suit outfit, and 1 million yen to spend. You can pick up Yakuza: Kiwami 2 on PlayStation 4 this upcoming August 28!

[Via: Gematsu]

Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo now available for PlayStation 4 – digital pre-order bonuses available

On the fence about buying Yakuza Kiwami 2 (what the hell is wrong with you?) or just can’t wait to play the game? The Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo has landed on the PlayStation Store! Pre-orders have also opened for the digital version on PSN, with an exclusive “Dragons” theme and the “Special Item Pack” which includes: Demonfire Blade weapon, Hostess Ono Michiyo, Sotaro Komaki R Clan Card, Jo Amon R Clan Card, The Comedian Suit Outfit, and 1 Million Yen.

Login today and check out the demo and digital pre-order content!

Sonic Mania Plus developer diary video discusses the upcoming release’s art and design

SEGA has released part one of a two-part developer diary in anticipation of the upcoming Sonic Mania Plus, an enhanced physical release of last year’s Sonic Mania. The first part features Sonic Team creative director Kazuyuki Hoshino and Sonic Mania Plus art director Tom Fry discussing the inclusion of Mighty and Ray, the new aesthetics of Encore Mode and more.

It’s great to see Sonic Mania Plus getting behind-the-scenes videos and we can’t wait for the second part! You can pre-order the game today for Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon, and in turn support the site.

Cook & Becker announces Space Channel 5 fine art print

Cook & Becker (who once joined us on a Swingin’ Report Show to discuss their Sonic the Hedgehog art book) have just announced a new SEGA-inspired art print! The latest SEGA art print is inspired by the Dreamcast classic Space Channel 5. Created by artist Veronique Meignaud, whose past work includes Dishonored, Far Cry, Wakfu and Child of Light, the print features star reporter Ulala in stunning futuristic colors.

Those who subscribe to the Cook & Becker newsletter can reserve a low or specific number edition, with the window closing on Sunday, July 8th at 23:59 CET. After that we presume the prints will go on sale to the public. You can browse Cook & Becker’s SEGA selections here.

Shenmue I & II releases August 21 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC – pre-order today!

SEGA has released a new trailer for Shenmue I & II, as well as new screenshots and revealed an exclusive poster and release date. The game releases soon, August 21, 2018, and both European and American versions come with a two sided poster and a reversible cover. As revealed yesterday, save data will carry over from I to II, however save data from II will not carry over to the upcoming III. I do hold out hope that III will at least have some way to check for a save file from the remasters and give some sort of bonus for players.

Pre-Order Shenmue I & II:
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | PC

Bitmap Books SEGA Master System: a visual compendium Kickstarter launches

UK based Bitmap Books have been around for a while, producing high quality art books featuring classic game consoles. “SEGA Master System: a visual compendium” is their first foray into the world of SEGA, and to make the book happen they’ve turned to Kickstarter. The book will feature pixel art, product design and graphic design associated with this iconic 8-bit system. The book is also officially licensed by SEGA and is the first book of this kind to be released for the Master System.

Backers can choose between digital, softcover or hardcover and add-ons include post cards, a poster, a t-shirt. Also included with each book will be 3-D glasses and a bookmark. If you want to support the book, check out their Kickstarter campaign.

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI Liberation D×2up for per-registration on the American Play Store

The upcoming mobile game, Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2, is a big game for the working relationship between SEGA and Atlus. This is the first Shin Megami Tensei title being developed by SEGA since they purchased Atlus back in 2013. The game now has a Google Play Store page that lets you pre-register for the game. This means that when the game does finally release, you will be alerted with a notification.

Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 (what a mouthful) is a Pokemon Go style AR game that allows you to capture up to 160 different demons and contains anime storytelling elements.The game is also set to launch with a competitive PVP mode. According to the Play Store page, the game will be fully in Japanese with English subtitles.

Jim Carrey will play villain ‘Robotnik’ in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie

According to Deadline exclusive sources, Jim Carrey has now negotiated with Paramount Pictures to star in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog CGI/Live Action movie. Jim Carrey is set to join James Marsden and Tika Sumpter in the Jeff Fowler directed movie later in 2019. As for me using ‘Robotnik’ in the title, its sorta mocking Deadline for using it then later in the article uses Dr. Eggman. According to everything I have read from sources, they will be using Dr. Eggman as a name in the movie. But what would you prefer?

Jim Carrey has sort of been off the movie radar as of late, with his last couple of movies coming in 2016 with The Bad Batch and Dark Crimes. Both films being smaller, indie affairs. It will seem that if this whole deal is true, Jim Carrey will return to mainstream film making via the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Personally don’t see the point of using Jim Carrey, but you know how movie studios are with big name celebrities joining these sort of projects.

Hideki Sato talks about creating SEGA Saturn hardware and Sony asking SEGA to go third party

SEGA’s Hideki Sato is a big figure in SEGA history, he was the mastermind behind all of SEGA’s major console hardware including the SG-1000, SEGA Master System, SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast.He later served as SEGA President from 2001-2003. Earlier this month he was part of an ‘oral history research project’ that is documenting the game industry in Japan. The transcript is over 150 pages long and all in Japanese. I can’t read Japanese, can you?

Well it seems that Gryson on the SEGA-16 boards knows some Japanese and he translated some of his favorite tid-bits, I’ll include the one about how he changed the SEGA Saturn to respond to PlayStation and of course the story about how PlayStation CEO

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown free on Xbox via Games with Gold in July

If you are an Xbox gamer, you are in for a real treat. For the month of July, if you are an Xbox Gold member you will be able to download the following games:

  • Assault Android Cactus (July 1- 31)
  • Death Squared (July 16-Aug.15)
  • Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (July 1-15)
  • Splinter Cell Conviction (July 16-31)

Though if you look through the YouTube video, it seems most Xbox fans are not happy with the games being chosen and I guess a lot of these Xbox fans put more value on the price of the games being given away instead of how good the games are. Basically they are disappointed that they are doing Xbox 360 games and not Xbox One.

But of course these games are playable on Xbox one via backwards compatibility

[Source: .Major Nelson]