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SEGAbits at E3 Preview: Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd

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Until a week ago, I had never owned a Hatsune Miku game. Until two days ago I had never played one. What I’m trying to tell you is I am extremely new to this franchise, so I would like to ask you to please excuse some of my noobish glee as I acknowledge several years after everyone else that Hatsune Miku Project Diva F is a really fun rhythm game and I am glad to have finally played it, even if it took the prospect of an E3 write-up for me to finally play it.

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SEGA in the Charts: MediaCreate charts for June 02 – 08 June 2014

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This is the first time “SEGA in the Charts” will be covering an Atlus game and what a time to start! As it is, this is SEGA’s first number one since Hatsune Miku released back in March and the first title published in Japan under SEGA’s ownership of the Atlus brand. It’s also the first time the Persona series has appeared on a non-Playstation console, so it will be interesting to see how things develop after the first week of sales. I think both Atlus and SEGA can be extremely happy with how it has turned out for them. Hit the break to see the full lowdown!

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SEGAbits at E3 Preview: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

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After you’re done reading, get a second opinion from Jason Berry over at Sonic Stadium!

Sonic has been reinvented countless times over the years, to the point where the character has time and time again become unrecognizable in every way except his name, speed and trademark attitude. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric represents the latest of these reinventions and is one of the most radical re-imaginings since Sonic made the transition to 3D fifteen years ago. Nothing has been held as sacred here, with Sonic Boom effectively acting as a near complete teardown of what past games were.

For one, this game isn’t just about speed and platforming, but also features a variety of brawling-centric levels. Though very few speed areas were on display, the final game will apparently feature a mix of speed areas and brawling areas, rather than keeping them segregated from one another as they were in the demo. Since there were no real speed areas on display, this preview will be focusing mostly on the game’s combat areas.

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SEGAbits at E3 Preview: Abyss Odyssey (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC)

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This is going to be an interesting year for us here at SEGAbits, as we try to get accustomed to covering Atlus games. I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the company, but I haven’t truly begun to introduce myself to their catalog until today, when I played several of their games on the showfloor. I’m going to do my best to provide coverage of this company, but I am somewhat out of my depth here. First on my docket? Abyss Odyssey!

I had a fun time with this game. It’s essentially a Smash Bros game with rogue-like elements. So pretty much a side scrolling brawler that can be really, really hard and brutal. Allies can hit and damage each other in this game, the labyrinth quickly becomes much more difficult the deeper you go, and dying will result in you going back to your previous checkpoint, sans all of your equipment and items. Death in this game carries a serious consequence! For a rogue-like this game is actually pretty generous, as you get to keep all of your collected experience, skills and gold.

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Sony and SEGA to team up for a series of Sonic the Hedgehog movies, films to be animated by Marza Animation Planet

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The Hollywood Reporter has dropped a bombshell on Sonic fans by way of the announcement of a Sonic the Hedgehog movie! The film is reported to be a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment and SEGA, with animation handled by SEGA’s own Marza Animation Planet (of Night of the Werehog fame). The movie is described as “a hybrid CG-animated/live-action feature” is to be produced by Neal Moritz (22 Jump Street), Takeshi Ito and Mie Onishi of Marza, and executive produced by Toby Ascher with a screenplay written by Upright Citizens Brigade alums Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. Sonic and Eggman are the only confirmed characters thus far. Columbia Pictures president of production Hannah Minghella said “There are limitless stories to tell with a character like Sonic the Hedgehog and a built-in international fan base. Along with our wonderful creative partners at Marza, we’re looking to capture everything that generations of fans know and love about Sonic while also growing his audience wider than ever before.” Marza CEO Masanao Maeda added, “Sonic has had dozens of adventures on the console and the small screen, and we’re thrilled that he’s now coming to the big screen. Sony Pictures has had great success with hybrid animated and live-action features, and we’re confident that this collaboration will bring a fresh take to Sonic, while still capturing everything that the fans love about him.”

We’ll share more info as soon as we hear it!

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Sonic Boom the TV series trailer releases in time for E3

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Do you like the humor in Sonic Boom, but you don’t want any of that “having to put effort into playing a game” stuff? Well, this new trailer for the tv show shows off plenty of that. While part of this trailer was already seen in the first trailer, it does show plenty of new plot and funny jokes from seemingly the first episode.

It also has Eggman standing on a tiny hoverboard. Yes, Eggman on a tiny hoverboard.

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Sonic Boom E3 Wii U and 3DS trailers arrive

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Official trailers for Sonic Boom on Wii U and 3DS have arrived. Lyric, the new villain for the franchise, has been broken out of whatever prison was holding him and says he has unfinished business with Sonic who seems to not have any idea what he’s talking about as this is their first encounter. Graphics look much better than recent footage shown, which may indicate that it was an earlier build that we’ve previously seen. You can also out the 3DS trailer after the break.

We’ll have more coverage of Sonic Boom as me and Nuckles87 get our hands on the game later today!

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Original Bayonetta game and Nintendo Costumes to be included with Bayonetta 2

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In a string of trailers shown during Nintendo’s Digital press event, a new trailer for Bayonetta 2 was shown. In it, we can see that the main story seems to be about Bayonetta going to hell to rescue a friend. However, the big surprise is that not only will you get the original Bayonetta game included, but Bayonetta will have new costumes based on Nintendo franchises such as Metroid and Zelda. It’s hard to tell from the trailer, but it seems to be limited to the original Bayonetta. I may be wrong about it though, but we’ll have more info and will update this post as more news on Bayonetta 2 arrives this week.

After the break, check out a gallery of screengrabs from Bayonetta for Wii U.

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SEGA releases new screens and a trailer for Alien: Isolation

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The Alien: Isolation news continues to pour in, as SEGA has released five new screens and a trailer dubbed “Survive”, just in time for E3. The trailer, which can be seen here, highlights the game’s survival gameplay and creepy atmosphere. The fire effects are looking phenomenal, and the game itself is shaping up to be very true to the original film. Expect our hands-on impressions and a developer interview soon as we continue to report live from E3.

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Alien: Isolation developer interview highlights a new time challenge mode

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Game Trailers have uploaded an E3 developer interview featuring The Creative Assembly’s Alistair Hope answering questions during in-game footage of the upcoming Alien: Isolation. Hope highlights the game’s lonely atmosphere, the emphasis on survival and puzzles, and reveals a new time challenge mode. The game is looking great thus far, and those who fear another Aliens: Colonial Marines need only to watch the footage and remember that this is an internally developed SEGA title, not another Gearbox Software effort.

SEGAbits writers will be hitting the show floor of E3 today, playing Alien: Isolation and interviewing the developers, so expect our own impressions soon!

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Sonic Jump Fever releasing to iOS and Android soon – check out the announcement trailer!

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SEGA has released a trailer for Sonic Jump Fever, a sequel to Hardlight Studio’s Sonic Jump, which was in turn a remake of a 2005 mobile title. Sonic Jump Fever had received a soft launch in Canada this past April to test the game, and it appears all went to plan as the game is set to release to other territories soon! The game’s description is as follows: “Prepare to feel the FEVER in an explosive race against the clock! Join Sonic and friends in high-speed bursts of vertical jumping mayhem. Play for free and rack up huge combos to blast past your friends’ high scores. Use boosters, upgrades, unique character abilities and Chao pets to maximize your score. Then kick your game into overdrive with Fever Mode and hit the top of the Leaderboard! With brand new levels and leaderboards every week, the challenge never ends!”

SEGAbits will be attending a VIP mobile event this week which will showcase SEGA’s mobile offerings including Sonic Jump Fever, so expect hands-on impressions soon!

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SEGAbits at E3 2014 coverage begins – previews and interviews from the show floor coming soon

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Another Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us, and once again SEGAbits is attending on location at the Los Angeles Convention center to bring you previews of the latest SEGA games and interviews with the people behind them! No secondhand reporting here. This year, SEGA has a small but highly unique assortment of games on display which we’ll be playing and talking about as the week goes on. At the SEGA booth are Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U), Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS), Alien: Isolation (PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC), and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (PS3, Vita, PSN). We’ll also be covering Bayonetta 2 (Wii U), which will likely be on display at the Nintendo booth.

SEGA’s recent acquisition Atlus will also be receiving coverage from us, with Atlus showing off Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (PS3/360), Persona Q (3DS), Persona 4: Dancing All Night (PS Vita), Abyss Odyssey (PC, PS3, 360), Citizens of Earth (3DS, Wii U, PC, PS Vita, PS4) and an unannounced Title (PC, PS Vita, PS4). In addition to all of that, we’ll be attending a VIP event held by SEGA’s mobile division where we’ll be playing and talking to the developers of the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog, Crazy Taxi, and Super Monkey Ball mobile games.

You can view all of our E3 coverage here throughout the week, and you can find live updates on our Twitter and Facebook accounts. We also have a live from E3 podcast in the works, which we plan to release during the show. The countdown is over, welcome to E3 2014!

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Classic SEGA Ads: SEGA challenges you with After Burner for the Master System!

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Wake up and check out this crazy SEGA commercial from 1988, advertising After Burner for the SEGA Master System. As most video game ads from the era tend to do, a young boy is transported from his living room to being behind the controls of an F-14 Tomcat. After flashing a thumbs up to the camera, the boy blasts off into the pixelated blue skies, taking on enemy fighters. However instead of looking outside the windows, he is playing After Burner inside the fighter jet (cue the “yo dawg i heard you like” meme). The announcer excitedly tells players that they can execute battle rolls, nose dives, supersonic speed (5 years before Sonic the Hedgehog!), and radar lock-on. The boy then, in his best impression of an action star delivering a death blow quip, says “your turn to burn!”. The ad ends with a tagline rarely reapeated nowadays, but it sure is fantastic: “SEGA: The Challenge Will Always Be There.” – emphasis on “Aaalways”, thanks to the narrator.

Overall, this is amazing ad! Fun effects work, lots of gameplay footage and music despite the real world setting of the boy in the fighter jet, and that ending tagline is just so damn strong. I think “The Challenge Will Always Be There.” deserves a comeback, don’t you?

After the break, see how SEGA of Japan advertised After Burner for the SEGA Mark III!

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SEGA and Atlus reveal their E3 line ups

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With E3 now only days away, companies are finally getting around to unveiling their E3 line-ups. Today, SEGA got around to unveiling what games they will be bringing to the show. The list isn’t exactly surprising:

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS)

Alien: Isolation (PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (PS3, Vita, PSN)

Though the list is rather paltry, it should be noted that SEGA has occasionally had some small surprises at E3. Back in 2010 the company used the show to unveil Sonic Free Riders and their line-up of Dreamcast titles. Also notably absent are SEGA’s mobile titles, despite the company working to increase its presence in the sector.

Even if these are the only games coming from SEGA itself, we at SEGAbits won’t be getting off so easily. Though not officially confirmed, Nintendo will likely have Bayonetta 2 on display. SEGA’s newest acquisition, Atlus, has their own slate of titles for the show, which we will also be providing coverage for.

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