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Degenki Bunko Fighting Climax adds two new characters in the fray – Miyuki Shiba and Taiga Aisaka!

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Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax is set for an update in arcades, adding two additional characters to the cast.

The characters that will be featured as playable characters are The Irregular at Magic High School’s “Snow Queen” Miyuki Shiba and Aisaka Taiga, the “Palm Top Tiger,” from Toradora! Tatsuya Shiba and Ryuuji Takasu from their respective series will also join as assist characters. The date for the arcade update is unknown at this time.

For me, I think it’s great to have updates with characters and stages in arcade games. Fingers crossed for more SEGA characters to become playable characters.

For images and screenshots of the additional characters, be sure to hit the jump.

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Check out the location test preview of Blade Arcus from Shining

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Two months after the arcade fighting title’s announcement, SEGA released a location test preview of Blade Arcus from Shining which features characters from the Shining Series.

The game will be held at the SEGA Akihabara Building 1 for location testing, and will feature a total of six playable characters. We’ll have more info on the game once the final build is released in arcades.

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Out Run soundtracks hit Amazon and iTunes

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Did you know Out Run 3D had new songs added to it? The songs where composed by Manabu Namiki and Chibi-Tech for the the Nintendo 3DS port. Now you can digitally buy those songs and the rest of the songs from the series in this three-volume collection they released the other day.

Not a bad soundtrack to have for long road trips!

 

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New Alien: Isolation trailer shows how the cast was created

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The latest trailer for Alien: Isolation gives us another look behind the scenes of the game. This time they show how they cast real people for the characters in the game along with the methods they used to capture their likenesses. Mo-cap is used for the animation as well.

We’re also shown some new footage of the cutscenes along with some more info on the plot and world.

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Dragon Coins available on IOS and Android Devices for free!

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Previously released in Japan, Dragon Coins is now available in western territories on the iTunes and Google Play store for free. The game also supports in-app purchases where players can purchase bags of coins for $6.99 or $2.99.

SEGA has stated that the game is a combination of role playing game battles and a party management system with a pick-up and play arcade coin-dozer fun. Here is a description of the title taken from the iTunes and Google Play stores. Also for more information on features in the game, be sure to hit the jump.

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[Update: Debunked & False] Rumor: Valkyria Chronicles 1, 2 & 3 remakes coming to Playstation 4

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A rumor has sprung up on NeoGAF stating that this week’s Famitsu will reveal a Valkyria Chronicles Remake and a Valkyria Chronicles 2&3 Remake coming out for Playstation 4. The post goes on to state that the first game will be releasing in the summer of this year, followed by 2&3 in the fall. The sequels appear to be bundled into one game. The first game will have a visual upgrade while 2&3 will have graphics based on the first game’s visual style. The releases are also to include all the DLC and feature lots of balance adjustments.

The NeoGAF post says the “source is 2ch leak but its reliable source so its basically confirmed.” The mention of 2&3 being a bundled collection can be found here. As with all the rumors, take this with a grain of salt until officially confirmed.

Update: Dualshockers did some digging and came up empty handed, stating that the rumor was false.

To confirm the legitimacy of the post, I reached out to Masaru-san, one of our readers that regularly receives Famitsu the afternoon before release and that often sends us information about its content, and he indeed confirmed that Valkyria Chronicles is nowhere to be found on the latest issue.

Drat drat and double drat! Despite being false, let’s hope SEGA still has plans to rerelease Valkyria Chronicles on some platform… PC perhaps?

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Sonic Hits collection discounted by Humble Bundle and Jet Set Radio hits 50% off on Steam

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If you guys enjoyed our Jet Set Radio week long celebration, you probably have been itching for an excuse to paint the streets of Tokyo-to once again. Don’t fear, Jet Set Radio HD is part of Steam’s week long sales. The game is being discounted by 50%, costing you only $2.49.

On related PC sales news, Humble Bundle store is having their spring sale on PC titles and part of that sale includes the ‘Sonic Hit Collections‘, which is priced at $7.49 and comes with the following 17 Sonic the Hedgehog games:

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered secrets uncovered: Egg Gauntlet Zone & Proto Palace Zone

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Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered for mobile devices, which was one of our favorite games of 2013, has apparently been hiding a few juicy secrets. Via developer Taxman in the Sonic Retro forums, early versions of the game had a few additional zones planned out. The first, dubbed Egg Gauntlet Zone, was a mode in which the player went through each boss one after another. Unfortunately, this feature was not included in the final game and not all the assets are available. However, crafty fans have been able to resurrect the mode via a bit of modding. Unfortunately, a recent software update has removed the assets needed to play the stage. Thankfully, the stage has been preserved for all to see in the video above.

The second secret stage, entitled Proto Palace Zone, has not been cut and can be accessed via some simple codes!

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Persona 4: the Golden Animation announced

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While Persona 4 has already had an animated series, it wasn’t exactly of high quality. Particularly the quality of the animation. So for those who weren’t pleased with it, Atlus has announced that there will be a new anime based on the Vita version: Persona 4 Golden. It’s being produced by A-1 Pictures, who are perhaps best known for Sword Art Online.

This re-doing of the animation will mostly cover the same story, though the Golden version did add a new character called Marie who will be in the new anime. If this is a good thing or not depends on who you ask, as the fanbase seems to be kinda split on if she’s a good character or not. The real important question is though: will this anime be able to do a better job covering the Kings Game? It will start airing in Japan this July.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 June update features the return of the SEGA Collaboration with new SEGA items and more!

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In early June, there will be an update to Phantasy Star Online 2 that will feature the return of SEGA Collaboration.

This time around, SEGA Collaboration 2 will have more SEGA related special costumes and items available in PSO2 based on several SEGA key franchises featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza Ishin and 5, and last but not least for the space cats out there, Space Channel 5!

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next PSO2 live stream with Sonic Retro and SEGAbits on our Twitch channel in June as we show off the update features and perhaps Sonic’s 23rd Anniversary as well.

Special Thanks to Shadix for the tip!

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Kenji Kanno and Hardlight Studios gives insight on Crazy Taxi City Rush with a Developer Diary series

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Kenji Kanno, the original creator of the Crazy Taxi arcade game, and Hardlight Studios gives us an insight on the development on the upcoming Crazy Taxi City Rush mobile game for IOS and Andriod platforms.

While working with the team at Hardlight Studios for the first time, Kenji Kanno wanted them to understand the roots of the game franchise in order for them to be more ambitious and keep the original concept true to the game. He also gives his opinion on the unique thing about smartphones is that you could start the game as a timewaster at first, but become sucked into it and get really addicted to the game.

Hardlight Studio’s Scott West explains that their company has a different audience and playstyle. So what they did with the game was to implement missions from pickup missions, daily challenges which are timed, regular missions, ranking missions and special missions. For more highlights from the video that are included in Crazy Taxi City Rush, be sure to hit the jump.

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Atlus set for another Persona announcement on May 2nd

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Right after the SEGA buyout was confirmed, Atlus went ahead and confirmed that they where working on four Persona titles. Seems that isn’t enough, since we will be getting another announcement come May 2nd.

Atlus will be having a live Persona-related stream on NicoNico on May 2nd, 11:30pm JST. What is this stream about? They will have guests, preview material for the upcoming Persona 3: Midsummer Knight’s Dream movie, and this teased announcement.

The last event was when Atlus announced those upcoming Persona games. What do they have in store this time? Another movie? More games? I guess we will find out soon.

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SEGA All-Stars “Skies of Arcadia” Vyse statue now available to pre-order from First 4 Figures

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First 4 Figures, creators of the Sonic the Hedgehog and SEGA All-Stars lines of collector’s statues, are at it again as pre-orders for their beautiful Skies of Arcadia Vyse statue are now open! Sculpted to 1/6 scale, Vyse himself measures approximately 11″ tall. In total, from the base to the tip of the pirates flag, the statue measures 17″ tall. As expected from First 4 Figures, there are two versions. The standard edition is limited to 1,000 pieces and is priced at $199.99, the exclusive version is limited to 425 and is priced at $219.99 and features a switch-out right arm holding the Pirate’s Cutlass. Both statues are expected to release Q4 2014.

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Insert Coin’s SEGA catalog to be updated with new items

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Insert Coin is a United Kingdom-based clothing company with apparel and accessories featuring various video game franchises. As it is, their catalog of Sega items is fairly expansive and covers a few SEGA franchises including Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Space Channel 5, and of course Sonic the Hedgehog. SEGAbits has covered some of their offerings previously, including one news post that features a Beat-inspired shirt and a Knuckles-inspired hoodie, and another news post that shows off Dreamcast and Mega Drive-inspired bags.

The company recently updated their blog to show off a new line of SEGA-themed items for this year. These include the above-pictured “Running Club” T-shirt which pays homage to the central title screen icon and release year of the first game. There’s also a “Science Club” T-shirt for future evil geniuses creative and inventive thinkers, and a dress with Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Casino Night itself as the dress. Rounding out the collection is a Shenmue-inspired Hazuki jacket.

The company hopes to release these new products in Q3 of this year, and plans to release more details and images of the products in the near future.

What sort of SEGA-themed clothing or accessories would you be interested in?

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Phantasy Star Online 2es coming to iOS in May

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(Above is a Let’s Play, which was done through our Twitch channel. Follow us!)

Phantasy Star Online 2es is already out for Android in Japan, but it will soon hit Apple devices in May. The Android version has broke 100,000 downloads since it was released on April 7th. That is pretty impressive.

As of right now, SEGA West hasn’t made any more statements about Phantasy Star Online 2 or Phantasy Star Online 2es coming to the West. But if you are on Android and want to play PSO2es, there is already an English patch. To see the English patch in action, check out our hands-on video above.

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