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Creative Assembly announces Total Rome II: Emperor Edition

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Creative Assembly, known for their work on the Total War series, has announced an definitive edition of Total War II with tons of new content, feature changes, and free for current players. Total Rome II – Emperor Edition will feature all available content with revisions and additions to game features, including a new Campaign Pack expansion, ‘Imperator Augustus’.

There will be interesting feature updates included in the pack from launch (including Twitch.tv integration, touch controls, new factions, new units and a Mac version). Emperor Edition also features an improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles, and improved visuals in both campaign and battle.

For artwork, screenshots and press-release, lead your way to victory by hitting the jump.

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Amy gets kidnapped in this new Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal trailer

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While we got a new trailer for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric during Gamescom, we’ve gotten one for series’ handheld entry Shattered Crystal from PAX Prime. This trailer primarily shows off the game’s CG cutscenes, which shows Amy being kidnapped by Lyric, along with small snippets of gameplay showcasing a variety of levels.

And like how Metal Sonic popped up at the end of the Rise of Lyric trailer, Shadow makes an appearance in this one. Unlike Metal Sonic, his design has been affected somewhat by Sonic Boom’s style. It also seems like he has a new voice, because who cares about consistency anyway?

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Red Bull Music Academy unveils new series – “Diggin’ In The Carts” – Features Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro

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Red Bull Music Academy has announced it is producing a new video series, “Diggin’ in the Carts,” discussing the influence of video game music on how we know music today, and looking at the people that produced it.

The series is to be six episodes long, and also features several well-known musicians and bands such as Anamanaguchi, Flying Lotus and Joker (who recently produced a Mega Drive inspired album) providing commentary.

For us SEGA fans, legendary composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Daytona USA, OutRunners, Shenmue) and Yuzo Koshiro (The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle Series) are to be featured in the series, which is music to our ears! In the trailer, Space Harrier and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can be seen, possibly giving us hints about what to expect.

Also featured is Nobuo Uematsu, famed composer of the majority of the Final Fantasy series, and Manami Matsumae, composer of the original Mega Man game’s soundtrack (and also the composer of the upcoming Mighty No. 9), amongst many others.

The first episode premiers on Red Bull Music Academy’s site on September 4th, so be sure to check it out!

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Hero Bank 2 Teaser Video Released

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Sega uploaded their new teaser video for Hero Bank 2 to their Youtube channel recently. Following up on SEGAbits’ earlier report on the game, Hero Bank 2 promises tag-team 2v2 battles and a plot that takes players around the entirety of Japan. Raising the stakes further still, Kaito fights this time against the Seven Lucky Gods Group and is saddled with a debt of…one trillion yen!

First-print buyers will receive a special Hero Suit to be equipped in-game along with a card for the Hero Bank Arcade game, which is a 3v3 card battle game. This short promotional trailer will give you a quick peek at the Hero Bank arcade game for those who are curious. Hero Bank 2 will be released in Japan on November 27 for the price of ¥5,139.

Credit to this AnimeNewsNetwork article.

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Yakuza Zero screenshots and scans hit the internet

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Scans and screenshots for Famitsu’s scope on the up and coming Yakuza Zero (Ryu Ga Gotoku Zero) have leaked and as expected both Kiryu and Majima have been given a much more youthful appearance. There’s not much more else to say but no doubt we should be hearing a bit more this coming Thursday, both the time when the latest Famitsu goes on general sale and the date Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced that they would be sharing more news on the project. With Tokyo Game Show around the corner, this title is SEGA’s second pre-TGS announcement following Hero Bank 2 and it promises that this will be just as busy as the last one.

Thanks to 真鵜雄 of our forums for the tip! Hit the break for higher quality pictures;

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SEGA reveals Hi☆sCoool! SEGA Hard Girls Anime

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A few months ago, SEGA has announced that they were green-liting a new anime project based on SEGA Hard Girls, a group of female humanoid consoles based on SEGA’s hardware consoles. Now, a brand new preview of the anime has been released titled Hi☆sCoool! セハガール (SEGA Hard Girls) produced by TMS Entertainment, known for their work on other SEGA related anime adaptations such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic X, & Hero Bank.

The plot centers around the SEGA Hard Girls (MegaDrive, Saturn, & Dreamcast) who all are enrolled in the Tokyo Haneda and Torii to “Sehagaga Gakuen” as they are issued a challenge for graduation credits from dubious teacher. To clear the problem, they must enter the game world of SEGA featuring tons of cameos. But can they graduate successfully?

The anime is set to air on ANIMAX on October 8th, 2014 every Wednesday and Saturday. Nico Nico Channel and pre-orders for Blu-Ray/DVD will be announced on a later date. Hope to expect translations soon.

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Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 3 New Content Recap Video

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Sega recently released a video recapping the new content coming to Phantasy Star Online 2 with Episode 3. It’s a video packed with content, glossing over the new planet Harukotan, the new Bouncer class, and various character customization option additions alongside balance skill tree adjustments. The ARKS lobby is also receiving some additional touches, and the new Casino is shown off briefly. The new Nyau enemy also makes a quick appearance towards the end of the video, while a couple of new bosses are introduced towards the beginning of the video.

The end of the trailer introduces some new characters players will meet in Episode 3. Episode 3 takes you to the feudal-Japan-themed planet of Harukotan, where the White and Black Nations are engaged in a bitter feud after a non-aggression pact between both parties is violated by the ambitions of the Black Nation.

This expansion to Phantasy Star Online 2 comes out tomorrow, August 27th, for Japan!

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Yakuza Zero is a prequel, will star a young Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima

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It seems that the latest issue of Famitsu has leaked and in that issue there have been a few things that are Yakuza related. It is confirmed that the game is set to take place in 1988 and will feature a darker, more Yakuza ran Kamurocho and Osaka district. Kazuma will be 20 years old in this game and takes place when he was the Tojo Clan’s debt collector. The other star of the game is no other than fan favorite Goro Majima who is 24 years old in this prequel and takes place while he was building the most popular cabaret club in Soutenburi.

The developers promise that many of the game’s characters will get origin stories within the game. This is a true ‘prequel’ since the events in this game lead up to the first Yakuza game. Its going to be interesting to see what they do with the new 80’s theme for the game, especially considering SEGA has had a 80’s theme game before: Shenmue. I would like to see the development team add some classic AM2 games in those Club SEGA arcades.

Color me excited for more information come TGS next month.

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Amazon’s Sonic Boom Wii U pre-order offer includes luminous costumes

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More like “Tronic”! Am I right?……I’ll shut up now.

Amazon has it’s own Sonic Boom:Rise of Lyric pre-order offer separate from GameStop’s deal. This one is costume-based DLC that gives Sonic and Crew sports tape a huge glow. Here’s the details from Amazon’s site.

Pre-order Bonus Offer – Get Exclusive Luminous Costumes
Pre-order at Amazon and receive a code to unlock exclusive luminous costumes for Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles. Code will be delivered upon shipment. Offer valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time. Offer will be extended to all existing pre-orders.

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The upcoming Yakuza game is called Yakuza Zero

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SEGA has announced that the new upcoming Yakuza game on the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 is being called Yakuza Zero (in Japan: Like a Dragon Zero: The Place of the Vow). Sadly that is all that they really mentioned considering that most of the news will be coming next month during the Tokyo Game Show.

But if ‘Zero’ trends continue this could be a prequel to the franchise. Considering that in the first Yakuza game you control Kazuma Kiryu ten years after coming out of prison. Not only that, there has already been a prologue of sorts written in movie form to promote the first game.

What do you guys think?

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Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd gets pre-order bonuses via Amazon and Gamestop

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Are you ready to pony up the pre-order cash for the upcoming release of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd and just don’t know if you should pre-order it? Well, it seems that two retailers are having their own exclusive offers, those being Amazon and Gamestop in America.

If you pre-order the game via Amazon you get two extra live songs. No biggie. But if you pre-order the game via Gamestop you get a ‘Americana Module and Character Pack’. This will allow you to dress up your vocaloid in some cute Red, White and Blue outfits. That isn’t all, it also comes with a character pack that includes Akita Neru, Yowane Haku and Kasane Teto.

Personally I hate all this DLC stuff but if you care and want to get the best version with the bonuses get it at Gamestop.

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Swingin’ Report Show #69: Night Trap ReVamped with Digital Pictures Co-Founder Tom Zito

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Digital Pictures was a pioneer in the world of interactive full motion video, bringing a cinematic feel to games at a time when players were used to two dimensional sprites. Their titles, which included Night Trap, Sewer Shark, Corpse Killer, Supreme Warrior, the Make My Video series, and many more, spanned a number of genres and appeared on several platforms throughout the 90s. Now, their most famous title Night Trap is set to make a return to modern platforms with former Digital Pictures members leading the way. Director/co-designer Jim Riley, co-designer Rob Fulop, technical director Mark Klein, and executive producer Tom Zito have formed Night Trap, LLC and have established a Kickstarter initiative dubbed Night Trap ReVamped.

Tom Zito joins Barry on our latest Swingin’ Report Show to discuss the creation of Digital Pictures, the never released Control-Vision game console from Hasbro which was to use VHS tapes as cartridges (originally codenamed NEMO), Night Trap‘s releases both past and present, and his team’s plans for the Night Trap ReVamped Kickstarter. This episode is a must for retro SEGA fans and fans of innovations in the video game industry – give it a listen and be sure to check out Night Trap ReVamped!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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PuyoPuyo Tetris to be ported on PS4 & Xbox One consoles this winter

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SEGA has recently announced that PuyoPuyo Tetris, the crossover action puzzle game that combines elements from PuyoPuyo and Tetris, will be released physically on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. The game is set for release on December 4, 2014 for 5,480 yen ($54 in US).

If you’re a PlayStation 4 owner, you can import the title by making a Japanese PSN account. Here are some useful tutorials on how to make a Japanese PSN account here. There are more SEGA titles available to enjoy (take a look at our previous news article on the re-release of Phantasy Star I & II remake) on the Japanese PlayStation Store.

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New Hero Bank 2 screenshots/artwork surfaces and set for release on 11/27 in Japan

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With Hero Bank successful in Japan with the 3DS title receiving great amount of sells and views from the anime series, SEGA is working on a sequel to the title with a brand new character joining Kaito (Enter the Gold) and Nagare (Dominion Dollar) in Hero Battles. The sequel also features a tag battle mode to play with your friends.

The story takes place two months after the events of Hero Bank. Kaito prevented the ambitions of Adachi and must face a new challenge to face the Seven Clothes Gods by receiving a special mission from Prime Minister Nagata Musaku.

For those who are able to purchase the game early will receive a bonus of a QR code to unlock Sutsu Shi Fu.

We hope that SEGA of America could localize the first game and bring the anime series to a cartoon station in the West soon. The concept of Hero Bank is very unique and the anime is pretty good show to watch.

The game is set for release on November 27, 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS. Artwork and screenshots are available to view by hitting the jump button.

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Pay what you want for the Humble SEGA Mobile Bundle

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SEGA has teamed up with Humble Bundle again, with them selling a bundle including various Android games for a price decided by you. The games included in this bundle are Sonic 4 Episode 1, ChuChu Rocket! and Virtua Tennis Challenge. If you pay more than the average price, you will also get Sonic 4 Episode 2, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Crazy Taxi and other games that will be added to the bundle in the near future.

Like most other Humble Bundles, all of the games are DRM-free and a part (or all) of your money can go to charities. With this one they can go to Child’s Play, WaterAid and/or Unicef. You can also decide how much of your money goes to the charities, the games or the Humble Bundle. You’ll be able to get the bundle for the next two weeks, so there’s no hurry for if you want to get it.

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