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SEGA partners with ‘goGame’ to publish Japanese mobile games globally

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SEGA has now moved forward in their next step for mobile publishing by partnering up with goGame, which is a company SEGA Networks has a large stake in. They will be launching ‘goPlay’ a publishing platform for mobile developers (mostly being aimed in Japan). The idea is that there will be tiers of services the developers can purchase to fit their needs.

While stuff like localization, customer support and other features offered with this service cost money, there is a free option that includes access to SEGA’s Noah Pass ad network of over 100 million users in Japan. This will allow mobile developers to get ad revenue for their creations while SEGA gets a bit off the top. Another ‘free’ service is ‘goPay’ which allows developers to easily receive payments globally, goGame only starts to take 3% from transactions after the game generates over $100,000 dollars in revenue.

Its pretty ironic that SEGA is investing in these sort of companies focused on global publishing when they have one of the worse track records of localizing their own products.

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PlayStation Essentials Sale slashes prices on Persona games

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Persona_4_investigation_team_2Are you a SEGA fan that still hasn’t tried any of the popular Persona series video games? I think now is the time for you to jump on board since Sony has put three entries on sale! All prices are USD. Persona is like Final Fantasy as you don’t need to play the prior ones to enjoy a new entry. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a fighting game that continues the plot after the RPG games, FYI:

If the prices aren’t low enough, Playstation Plus members get an extra savings (ranging from 10%-20%). If you have a Playstation Vita I would suggest picking up Persona 4 Golden instead of the PS2 classic version, since it has more content. You can read about that here. The sale ends on January 19th.

If you have an extra $4.00 dollars I suggest you also pick up one of my favorite Playstation One games, none other than Tomba!  a game created by Capcom legend Tokuro Fujiwara.

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Yakuza: Kiwami gets high marks from Famitsu

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YakuzaKiwamiThe latest issue of Famitsu is out in Japan that means we get to see the latest review scores from Japanese games we won’t see in the West for quite awhile. This week’s big releases include SEGA’s remake of Yakuza 1, being titled Yakuza: Kiwami in Japan.

Here are all the scores in the recent issue of Famitsu:

  • Dasshu Adventure: Kami Kudashi no Uranai Sara (3DS) – 7/7/8/8 [30/40]
  • Drop Zone Under Fire (3DS) – 6/7/6/5 [24/40]
  • Fast Racing Neo (Wii U) – 7/7/7/9 [30/40]
  • Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS) – 9/9/8/10 – [36/40]
  • Just Cause 3 (PS4) – 8/8/9/8 [33/40]
  • Just Cause 3 (XBO) – 8/8/9/8 [33/40]
  • Seisen Chronicle (3DS) – 7/7/8/7 [29/40]
  • Yakuza: Kiwami (PS4) – 8/9/9/8 [34/40]
  • Yakuza: Kiwami (PS3) – 8/9/9/8 [34/40]

The way that Famitsu reviews work is that four people write a short review and give it a score in the end, those scores are added up in the end. Yakuza: Kiwami was the second highest rated game, losing by two points to Hyrule Warriors Legends on Nintendo 3DS.

[Via: Gematsu]

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Infamous SEGA CD game ‘Desert Bus’ getting a sequel with VR support

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DesertBusSEGACDDesert Bus has become a infamous game not only due to never having a official release, but universally being known as the ‘most boring game ever’ by many online publications. Is this an insult to the game? Nah. The game was a mini-game that was set to release in a compilation called Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors back in 1995 and was purposely mean’t to recreate a endless feeling  when driving through the Nevada desert.

Jillette announced the game via this weeks episode of Penn’s Sunday School:

“I’m working with Randy Pitchford. This is not announced publicly. We are going to do a€ —” this is a big, big deal —€” a new Desert Bus. And it’s just going to be for charities, so charities can use it to raise money.”

“He’s calling it Desert Bus 2.0. I’m calling it Desert Bus 1.0003. It’ll be a period piece, it’ll be set in 1992, like the original Desert Bus, just high-fidelity. We’re doing a couple other games. It’ll be a bundle of things. We’re talking to a bunch of people. It’ll probably be agnostic in terms of platform. It’ll probably be for the [Oculus] Rift and for the PlayStation VR.””

Yes, he is working with infamous CEO of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford who is responsible for great titles like Alien: Colonal Marines and Duke Nukem Forever. While we all know the game is mean’t to be boring, its nice he is doing it for charity.

What do you guys think?

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Atlus has ‘several unannounced titles for 2016’

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newipgamesatlusIn an interview this week Atlus CEO, Naoto Hiraoka told Famitsu of the company’s plans for 2016 and beyond:

“In 2015, we were able to develop existing IP like Persona 4: Dancing All Night and Etrian Mystery Dungeon. In 2016, starting with Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, we plan to release a large number of titles. In the summer, we’ll launch the long-awaited Persona 5. Of course, in addition to that we have several unannounced titles. I have no doubt this will be a year Atlus’ popular series all gather together.”

Exciting news! So what do we already know about Atlus’ line up in 2016? So far they have the following games set to release: Odin Sphere Leifdrasir , Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final, and Etrian Odyssey V. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say there might be more Persona and Shin Megami Tensai spin-offs in the works. What I am hoping for? Catherine 2!

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Odin Sphere Leifthrasir hits North American shores on June 7th

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osl-storybook-editionAtlus has just announced that Odin Sphere Leifthrasir will launch for Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and Playstation Vita in North America on June 7, 2015. This means it will come out a mere 5 months after it hits Japan.

The standard package will include a 64-page softcover art book, which will come with all regular first print copies of the game. A hardcover version will come exclusively to the Playstation 4 as the “Storybook Edition” which is a premium version that will include a Potion Recipe t-shirt, metal slipcase, art print, and premium outer packaging (see photo above).

The standard game will cost you $59.99 on consoles, $39.99 on Playstation Vita. The Storybook Edition on Playstation 4 will run you $79.99. If you haven’t played Odin Sphere before, I suggest giving it a try, especially when the Japanese demo hits North American PSN.

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SEGA-16 founder working on a SEGA of America history book

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sega16I have always been a huge fan of the SEGA fansite SEGA-16, the site really went beyond the call in their efforts to secure some of the best interviews I have ever read. Now website founder Ken Horowitz has announced via his SEGA-16 facebook page that he is working on a history book about SEGA of America:

“Last month, I submitted to my publisher the manuscript for a book chronicling the game development history of Sega of America. Tentatively titled: “Achieving the Next Level: The History of American Sega Games,” the book is an exhaustive retrospective of SOA as a game-maker, from its founding in 1986 and the first steps taken on the Master System to its final efforts on the Dreamcast. Nearly 100 former SOA alumni (including each of its presidents from 1986-2001) and independent game developers were interviewed, and the creation processes of almost 40 Sega-published titles are documented. Every one of SOA’s internal studios is included, many of which have never before been examined.”

The book will look at games created by SEGA of America’s development division and I hope gathers new information about games we loved as kids. He estimates that the book will be around 500 pages long and as of right now there isn’t a release date. Of course, we will keep you posted as more news hits.

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SEGA posts ten hours of their APM D-1 FIGHTING FESTIVAL Competition

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Before the year closed SEGA teamed up with Arc System Works and Koei Tecmo to host APM D-1 FIGHTING FESTIVAL over in Japan. It was a massive tournament mean’t to highlight their various properties and support the community of players.

You can see the full ten hour tournament video or you can see time stamps below:

SEGA’s Japanese tournament was rather more intense than traditional tournaments. Once you lost, you were eliminated, there was no loser brackets here. SEGA posted a results page for the tournament here. Jawa Curry Akira (who obviously played Akira) won the Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate can be seen crying after his victory here. Chin up man, we too are hoping for a Virtua Fighter 6!

[Via Shoryuken]

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Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir demo now out for Japanese PSN users

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OdinSphereDemoVerDo you have a Playstation 4, Playstation 3 and/or Playstation Vita? Guess what? You can now download the demo for Atlus and Vinalliaware’s remake of Odin Sphere (if you live in Japan or have a Japanese account)! Yeah, that great Playstation 2 game is now coming to all your current Sony consoles.

Seems that each version of the demo has a different file size, for example the PS4 demo weighs in at 442 MB, PS3 at 423 MB, and the PS Vita one at 250 MB.

The demo will allow you to play as all five characters though an action stage that has been configured for the demo and even have a boss battle with “Belial“. Sadly there won’t be any story parts and you won’t be able to use the demo data in the full release.

Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir comes out in Japan on January 14th and later this Spring in North America.

[Via: Gematsu]

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Valkyria Chronicles Remaster gets a slew of new screenshots

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ValkyriaScreen1Valkyria Chronicles Remaster is close to release over in Japan that it has now launched its Japanese Playstation webpage that provides a ton of new screenshots for the remastered Playstation 4 game.

If you didn’t already know this version will run at a full 1080p, feature Playstation Network Trophies (the Playstation 3 version didn’t have any) and will included all the downloadable content released for the original.

This game is set to launch on February 10th over in Japan and first print copies come with a battle demo for Valkyria: Azure Revolution. No western release dates have been announced for the remaster or Azure Revolution.

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SEGA and Atlus storm Metacritic’s best-reviewed 3DS games chart

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Metacritic have released their list of the 25 best reviewed 3DS titles of 2015 where SEGA and Atlus have swept the floor with the competition. Metacritic– for those who don’t know– compiles review scores from major video game critics to find the average score.

SEGA and Atlus boast almost half of the list with 12 of the 25 spots, including two of the highest rated games; 3D Streets of Rage II and 3D Gunstar Heroes both scoring a well deserved 89/100. (Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask 3D also scored 89.)
Also worth mentioning is SEGA and Atlus’ success on the PS Vita in 2015, where they claimed 5 of the top 25 best scoring games.
Unsurprisingly the duo didn’t fair so well on home console, having barely released anything for those systems 2015. Choosing to bump many of their games in 2016 for longer development cycles.

Hit the jump for the full list of 3DS titles in Metacritics 2015 highest scoring list..

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Super Fighter Team releases two new SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games on cartridge

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MagicGirlCascadeSuperFighterTeam

The indie publisher Super Fighter Team isn’t new to the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive scene, they are known as the people that brought over Beggar Prince and Legend of Wukong to SEGA’s 16-bit machine. Now they release not one, but two new SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive games on cartridge.

The first game is Magic Girl, a Taiwanese scrolling shooter that was released back in 1993. The game stayed in Taiwan and became a obscure relic of the 90s. But now Super Street Fighter Team have picked it up and given it a proper translation!

Cascade is a intergalactic dice puzzler with its own unique style. This game was developed by Epyx and was set to hit the land of the rising sun back in the 90s. Now that Super Street Fighter team picked up the rights, everyone gets to enjoy it the way it was mean’t to be played.

The games come complete with manual, box and the game on cartridge. Each game costs $58 dollars including shipping if you live in America, $65 including shipping worldwide.

[Via: RetroCollect]

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Slipstream takes to Kickstarter with the spirit of SEGA’s sprite-scaling racers

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We’re always ones for a good SEGA-inspired Kickstarter here at Bits, and it’s that time again; with Noctet Studio’s Slipstream being the latest object of our affections.

We’ve covered a few SEGA-themed racers such as Drift Stage and The 90’s Arcade Racer in the past, but rest assured; Slipstream is aiming for something very different to those games. It’s more focused on being a pure driving game than just a racing game, a la OutRun. And it’s not just in gameplay either; Slipstream makes clever use of sprite-scaling to deliver an authentic look that’ll be plenty familiar to fans of the 80’s and 90’s heydays for SEGA driving titles such as Rad Mobile, and the aforementioned OutRun, all on a custom engine at a smooth 60fps. The influences even stretch beyond the racing classics of SEGA’s past; because we can’t not look at that Casino district and see Casino Night from Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

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Shenmue 3 Update: Kickstarter Rewards to remain exclusive and official site gets a refresh

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687b144c-4c94-4b02-a729-17c0b2570517

Happy 2016! With the new year comes an update on Shenmue 3! While the latest Kickstarter project update doesn’t get into any of the development, the results are in for the survey asking whether or not rewards exclusive to Kickstarter backers should be made available to PayPal backers. Initially, this survey was held on Twitter, which many cited as being unfair since it was open to anybody and not just Kickstarter backers. Thankfully, Ys Net listened and held a new survey exclusive to Kickstarter backers. The survey shows that while the “Yes’s” outweighed the “No’s”, the “No’s” and “Either’s” were to great to be ignored and it has been decided that Kickstarter exclusives will not be made available to PayPal backers.

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