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Indie Dreamcast game Pier Solar now shipping!

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Pier Solar and the Great Architects is a game that has been a long time coming. Developed and published by Watermelon Games with work starting as far back as 2004, Pier Solar originally released to the Genesis/Mega Drive back in 2010. Since then, the team held a successful Kickstarter which lead to an HD remake of the game for a slew of modern handhelds and consoles, but SEGA fans were most interested in the proposed Dreamcast release. While modern platforms have since seen release of the game, Dreamcast fans had to wait a bit longer. Today, it seems that wait is over as backers from both the Kickstarter and Watermelon Games website have received notifications that the game is now shipping!

I’ll admit, after being disappointed by other indie developers I was hesitant to put my money towards the release until solid proof that it was going to release by the end of the year (the initial expected release was way back in December 2013). Luckily I was able to pre-order the game earlier this month, just days before they cut pre-orders off. Since then, the game has been relisted on the Watermelon store with a price increase of $6 (from the initial $50) and a “SOON AVAILABLE” notification of November 11th. So if you had a pre-order, be excited because the game is coming! And if you don’t, there should be additional copies available soon.

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Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX sold 24k copies in America on its debut month

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Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DXAccording to NeoGAF user creamsugar (who is NeoGAF famous for leaking NPD sale numbers), Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX sold a total 24,000 units (estimated, physical only) in all of September. The game came out on September 8th, this would mean that it would have had 22 days on store shelves. Is this good or bad? Well, seeing as how Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f  on Playstation Vita sold 16,000 units back in 2013 and that was good enough for SEGA to bring more after that, I would say its good enough.

One of the reasons that these games don’t have to sell more than, lets say, something like Yakuza is because of the cost of translation. The more words, the more money. Of course there is more factors but that’s another topic for another day. What do you guys think? Is 24k too low for a niche rhythm game?

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Play Shenmue on Dreamcast in widescreen

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ShenmueWidescreenHackWe know that Codebreaker codes change aspects of games, from infinite lives to instant unlockables. But did you know that you can use a code on games to get them to display in ‘anamorphic widescreen’? Assembler Games forum user S4pph4rad decided to release his anamorphic widescreen codes for Shenmue I & II and this lead to quite a few users contributing back.The idea is to have codes for most of the games, if possible.

“Similar to the codes for other platforms, this is anamorphic widescreen so you’re not getting higher resolution. Some additional changes could probably be made like shrinking the HUD too, but this is the simplest solution. Consider these version 1. There’s still some pop-in occasionally near the edges of the screen, but it’s not as bad as when you use an emulator to extend the visible area. That could probably be fixed with deeper analysis into how it decides when something goes out of range.” – S4pph4rad from Assembler Games

You can read all about the process of Anamorphic widescreen over here and if you want to check out more progress on codes for other games check out Assembler Games’ forum thread. This is all a work in progress, of course and the community is submitting codes to other Dreamcast classics.

Hit the jump for the Shenmue I & II widescreen codes!

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Phantasy Star Generation 2 gets full English fan translation

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PhantasyStarGenerationPart2The Phantasy Star fansite pscave.com has finished fully translating the Japanese only Phantasy Star Generation 2, which is a remake of the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive JRPG Phantasy Star II. This (and the first Generation game) was part of the Sega Ages 2500 series of remakes that got released on the Playstation 2.

Version notes: 

“This version is an open beta. Many pieces of equipment and techniques have had their names revised from their previous incarnations. Namely, many appeared to be German words spelled phonetically in Japanese (i.e., “Nish” is was actually spelled in Japanese as “Harnisch” which is German for “Armor.” Thus, it was decided many techniques will not be seen as they were in previous games like PSO or earlier. This was a collaborative effort with the members of the PSCave forum. A document noting specific changes for reference will be provided with the translated ISO (CRC32: C10FD10C) and the patch.”

You can always download the full English translated ISO of the game here. According to PSCave, the original game was distributed on CD and not DVD, so if you’re going to burn it to play on a modded Playstation 2 then burn it on CD. You can always play it on PCSX2 emulator, which is a lot less of a hassle.

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Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X’s Quest Mode adds RPG like loot drops

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hatsunemikuprojectx1SEGA is hard at work with their new Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X video game, which is set to add a bit of a RPG touch to its new Quest Mode evolving various attributes and some looting system. Live Quest Mode consist of different elemental areas such as: Neutral Area, Cute Area, Cool Area, Beauty Area, and Chaos Area.

The game happens to use Modules and accessories that have their own elements, so if you happen to use them with the element on the stage it will boost your voltage rating (see featured image above) and will earn items more effectively.

Modules will also give you skills that will help you out. For example there is a “Recover” type skill that helps you cover missed inputs and a “Rate Up” skills that add more to your voltage gain. There is even module skills that affect module drop rates. Hit the jump to see some tracks and modules used in the upcoming game.

[Via: Siliconera]

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The History of Sega Japan R&D, Part 3: Innovative Heights and the End of an Era

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REUNIFICATION AND TWELVE INNOVATIVE R&D STUDIOS

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Playing up an executive managing director and joking about the state of the Dreamcast at the time, says a lot about Sega’s attitude at the time.

In Part 2 we covered Sega’s golden age, but great heights inevitably can bring great lows. Sega had lots of up and downs throughout their history. They also had great games, lots of them! But ultimately Sega did not make that much money from the Saturn. However, in the arcades they did absolute gangbusters. Sega needed to change their approach in regards to development and also their hardware. The solution was to make the Dreamcast and NAOMI arcade hardware the same and have all of the internal studios make games for it,in turn allowing them further grow and prosper. Twelve R&D studios in total were established, and the nine software studios were not split into arcade and console divisions – they made games for everything. Hisashi Suzuki and Yu Suzuki would manage the arcade business, with Hisashi putting in his final stretch at Sega before retirement.

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These are Yakuza 5’s fab five protagonists

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Yakuza5promoTry to say the title of this article five times fast in a Japanese accent! SEGA has released the following recap for Yakuza gamers that have waited too long for Yakuza 5 to actually release in the West. How long has it been? Three years? No problem, SEGA has you covered with their latest recap, so you don’t miss a beat.

Troubling is that SEGA still has no concrete release date, which is odd considering how close November is (a little over a week away). Lets look at the five characters you’ll play as after the break.

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Yu Suzuki says convincing SEGA to let him do Shenmue III was easy

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Shenmue3Yu Suzuki has done a couple of interviews about Shenmue III the other day, one of the more interesting ones was with Dual Shockers one in which they asked him about how hard it was to get the rights for the project which Yu Suzuki said:

” It’s difficult to explain. I am the one who created Shenmue, so Sega allows me to take decisions for the game. They trust me because I know more about the workings of the game more than anyone else. There were no problems. Sega is very helpful and collaborative with me. They hope the best for Shenmue III. I actually still work for Sega as an adviser, so we have a very good relationship.”

Dualshockers also posted a video of Yu Suzuki explaining the “AI Battling” which was a goal during their Kickstarter. Check out that video here. If you’re a big Yu Suzuki fan, I’d suggest you give the interview a read and if you’re Yu Suzuki and you are reading this, how about you answer our emails, bro?

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7th Dragon III debuts in Japan, reaches #1 on sales chart

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7thDragon1inJapanThis wasn’t the best week overall for game sales in Japan, with SEGA’s 7th Dragon III Code: VFD taking the number one spot and pushing Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team/White Dog Squad to second place. The SEGA published SRPG on 3DS did 72,477 units on its debut week and was good enough to top all other games for said week.

Check out the top 20 software chart for Japan, which includes total numbers. This chart takes place between October 12th – the 18th, 7th Dragon III came out on the 15th, so it had about 3 days on sale.

[Via: NintendoLife]

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SEGA announces a Total War: Warhammer collectors edition

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WarhammerTotalWarHighKingEditionThe war is coming to PC on April 28th, 2016 and SEGA have given out a few more details about what you can expect when the game comes out including a new collectors edition. Users that buy the game get the game’s first DLC for free.

The game will have three versions available: The standard edition that comes with the game, the limited edition with the steelbook plus printed strategy guide and the ‘High King Edition’ which comes with all the stuff pictured above!

SEGA has also shown off the latest DLC that comes for free for people that are pre-ordering/day one buying the game: check out the Chaos Warriors Race trailer. What do you guys think about this collectors edition? Tempting?

[Source: IGN]

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SEGA trademarks ‘Valkyria of the Blue Revolution’

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Valkyria_Chronicles-1SEGA’s SRPG Valkyria Chronicles launched back in 2008 exclusively on the Playstation 3, while it was one of my favorite games of that generation it seemed that most people totally missed it. Last fall SEGA released a port on PC, which went on to sell more than half a million copies. Seems that SEGA of Japan might actually capitalize on that success, seeing as they have trademarked “Aoki Kakumei no Valkyria,” which roughly translates to “Valkyria of the Blue Revolution”.

According to the trademark registry it can be used for console games, amusement park machines (see: slot and pachislot machines) and medal games. What do you guys think, could this be related to Valkyria Chronicles franchise?

[Via: Siliconera]

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Unreleased SEGA Dreamcast port of ‘Colin McRae Rally 2.0’ unearthed

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The Dreamcast had quite a bit of cancelled game before it met its erupt end on March 31st, 2001. Some of the popular ‘unreleased’ games that have made it out in the wild include a port of Half-Life and even SEGA-AM2’s Propeller Arena. Looks like we have one more game to add that list, Colin Mcrae Rally 2.0 (the precursor to the DiRT games).

Colin McRae Rally, the first game got a release on both Windows and Playstation; while 2.0 only had a release on Windows. Mcrae Rally 2.0 added more difficultly levels (Novice, Intermediate and Expert), Arcade mode and more. Sadly the port that was unearthed was only 30% complete, but its still pretty cool to see.

You can hear Tomleecee from The Dreamcast Junkyard talk about the unearthed unreleased port.

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SEGA planning to release Yakuza 5 in mid-November “if all goes to schedule”

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In a recent post on the SEGA Blog, it has been revealed that the December 31st, 2015 placeholder pre-order date for Yakuza 5 is not accurate. If all goes to plan, the game will release in mid-November. Why the uncertainty? According to SEGA, “a few weird development bugs that popped up in localization caused the delay”. So there you go, mark a potential mid-November on your calendar and SEGA plans to share more details soon.

The blog post also lists 5 movies to watch before playing Yakuza 5, and if that sounds familiar its because we listed 5 movies to watch in anticipation of Yakuza: Dead Souls. Nice to see the SEGA Blog taking a page from SEGAbits. 😉

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Stella Glow to get American demo on October 27th

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If you wanted to check out the SRPG released by SEGA in Japan and developed by Imageepoch called ‘Stella Glow‘, you will be able to play a demo soon thanks to Atlus. Atlus has announced that the demo will hit the American Nintendo e-shop on the October 27th.

Pictured above is the Atlus launch day edition of the game that comes with a ton of goodies. Make sure if you want all that good stuff, that you pre-order the game at your local pre-ordering game store. The game will be released in North America on November 17th, 2015 and cost $49.99 USD.

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SEGA Sammy’s Marza Animation Planet working with Capcom on CG Resident Evil movie

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While this is leaning towards Capcom news, it’s worth newsing here on SEGAbits. SEGA Sammy Holdings owned Marza Animation Planet, the animation group responsible for several SEGA CG cutscenes and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie, has joined forces with Capcom to produce a CG Biohazard/Resident Evil movie slated for a 2017 worldwide release. Japanese gaming site Inside reports that Ju-on: The Grudge creator and filmmaker Takashi Shimizu (creator of Ju-on) will be executive producer, Takanori Tsujimoto will direct, and Psycho-Pass writer Makoto Fukami is working on the script.

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