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Unboxing: Not Enough Rings – A Sonic the Hedgehog Parody Comic

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2013 was a big year for SEGA related Kickstarter projects. We saw the successfully funded SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, as well as unsuccessful attempts at relaunching the Boogerman and Ecco franchises. Not Enough Rings joins the ranks of the former projects, as it was not only a success, but it is among the projects seeing completion in 2014.

Collecting all 93 strips from the online parody comic of the same name, Not Enough Rings follows Sonic as he speeds through his SEGA Genesis adventures. The strips are packed with funny nods to gameplay quirks, plot points, and character traits. The whole collection is really a love letter to the classic Sonic games with just enough naughtiness to retain that SEGA edge. Thanks to going over their goal, several improvements were made to the originally planned book, including a hardcover and higher quality paper. The book even includes a nifty little red and white placeholder ribbon, which resembles the one seen in the Sonic logo. Overall, despite what the cover image may say, we give the Not Enough Rings book a well deserved thumbs up!

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed hits iOS and Android tomorrow with Ryo Hazuki joining the race!

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While the rest of us nurse our hangovers, SEGA has announced that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is set to hit iOS and Android devices tomorrow, January 2nd. What more, SEGA has also been teasing Ryo Hazuki the past week as an impending addition to the racing roster. While we knew about Ryo since Yogscast spilled the beans in a PC stream in mid December, the addition of Ryo to the mobile version is new to us. It is likely that the PC version will update tomorrow as well with Ryo added to the roster.

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“GO DANCE” in the new year with a new Sega iOS game

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Just in time to dance in the new year, Sega presents GO DANCE on iOS devices. Working a lot like the Just Dance series of games, GO DANCE uses your iOS devices camera to track your dance movements as you groove to artists like Flo Rida and Niki Minaj or if you have actual musical taste, there are some Sega tunes thrown in as well including four from Jet Set Radio. GO DANCE is a free game app (with microtransactions of course) and is available on iTunes now.

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SEGA plans on bringing free-to-play games to the Nintendo 3DS

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SEGA seems to really have partnered up with Nintendo for this generation. With the Wii U getting exclusive SEGA IPs like Sonic Lost World, it’s hard not to notice. Where are all those Playstation 4 and Xbox One SEGA games? Well, it seems that SEGA has more games planned for a Nintendo product; the Nintendo 3DS, and these games won’t cost you  a cent! SEGA Japan already announced their first ‘free-to-play’ 3DS title with “Initial D: Perfect Shift Online“.

“We don’t intend to stop with this title, and after looking over its results, we’ll think about what to do next. However, unlike games for smartphones, I believe there’s a perfect shape of ways to do things, somewhere out there, for the Nintendo 3DS. I believe that finding it will be our challenge, and in many ways, Initial D will be our first step.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi

It is not surprising considering the fact that SEGA boosted about the success of their free-to-play titles in their last earning reports. It seems that SEGA’s catalogue for free-to-play games continues to grow, do you think it’s worth SEGA’s investment?

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ToeJam and Earl 3 Dreamcast Beta Released

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Christmas kept on giving this year for SEGA fans as Assembler user ZakhooiTM has released on the internet the unfinished build of ToeJam and Earl 3 running on Dreamcast hardware. The game was originally found on a dev-kit that was purchased for $1200. ZakhooiTM was initially looking to begin a fundraiser but has instead decided to release the build as-is.

The beta is noticeably different in that it lacks some of the finer details seen in the final Xbox version. It also makes the game mechanics feel much closer to the original ToeJam and Earl game seen on the Mega Drive as there is no jump button and no cutscenes to break up the action or provide hints, likely due to the date while in development drew closer to SEGA’s exit from the hardware business. Be sure to check out their forums for more information as well as a link to download the game.

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Valkyria Chronicles 3 Fan Translation Makes First Release

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Christmas came…on time apparently. The group behind the fan translation of Valkyria Chronicles 3 has put out their first release on Christmas day. Its not complete, but at least about 90% done. It is only compatible with the Extra Edition that can also be patched with a copy purchased and downloaded from the Japanese store. Further instructions and the patch itself can be obtained from their website.

The release has gone off to a slightly rocky start due to some ISO patching issues which have since been fixed, but congratulations to the team for keeping the project going for it’s dedicated fan base.

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Relic Entertainment Doing Work on an Existing Japanese MMO, Likely Phantasy Star Online 2

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A recent job posting for Server Engineer found by Nirolak on NeoGAF reveals that Relic Entertainment, a studio acquired by SEGA at the start of this year, is working on an existing Japanese MMO. According to the job posting the employee would need to establish working relationships with the Japanese developers, work for extended periods of time in Tokyo and be fluent in both English and Japanese among other requirements.

Right now the only ongoing MMO SEGA of Japan is running is Phantasy Star Online 2, so that’s most likely the game the job listing is referring to. While it doesn’t specify that the developer is localizing the MMO, it seems weird that SEGA of Japan would have a Canadian studio assist in development instead of one that’s closer to home. What do you think? The entire job posting can be found below the break.

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA Tunes: Ristar’s Planet Freon – Ring Rink

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As we near Christmas day, I knew a festive Tuesday Tunes was in order. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is filled with great wintery tunes, but I felt Sonic has been covered far too much on Tuesday Tunes (and for a good reason, Sonic music is awesome!). Christmas NiGHTS would be perfect, but it’s too obvious. Shenmue‘s Christmas tunes would be perfect, but we’ve aleady covered them. And that’s when it hit me, Sonic Team’s Ristar has an excellent winter tune. The game’s fifth stage, Planet Freon, is a planet made entirely of ice and snow. But you won’t find Imperial Walkers and Wampas on this ice planet, instead you’ll find downhill skiing and a bizarre alien enemy chucking snowballs. The music for the first portion of the stage begins almost as if you’re about to hear Jingle Bells, but what follows is a catchy tune with solid drum beats and a peppy tune perfectly suitable for a winter wonderland. So as the sun goes down on this Christmas eve, why not revisit this SEGA Genesis classic? It’s the best present you can give yourself.

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3D Streets of Rage and 3D Shinobi III now available on the eShop

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Today, the last of M2’s 3D SEGA ports are now available on the 3DS eShop. Both Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master and Streets of Rage can now be had for $5.99 each, completed with new 3D visuals, a classic “SD TV” viewing mode and a level select. If you’re interested in playing some of SEGA’s best games from the 16-bit era, check them out!

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Sonic Lost World Wii U DLC available now – Yoshi’s Island Zone

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The latest Nintendo Direct broke the news that free DLC is available now for the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World. The unique DLC features a new zone which takes place in Yoshi’s Island, aptly named Yoshi’s Island Zone. Footage shows Sonic running through a 2D Yoshi’s Island, taking out Mario enemies whilst followed by a line of collected eggs. This surprise DLC is quite interesting, as it opens the door to possible future DLC in which Sonic enters other video game worlds from both Nintendo and SEGA franchises. Iwata hinted that Zelda could be next.

Never would I think that someday there would be a game featuring Sonic, Yoshi, and NiGHTS. Download the DLC today and let us know what you think of it!

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Yogscast May Have Slipped About Ryo Hazuki in Sonic Transformed

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Shenmue 3 still isn’t a thing, but the Yogscast may have revealed S0L’s surprise a little early. During their recent stream around 40 minutes in they had a character select screen that looked larger than normal, and of all the faces to be on there besides Simon was none other than Ryo Hazuki as seen here, and went so far as to have him in a race.

He isn’t steering a forklift but he’s riding an arcade cabinet playing OutRun instead. I assume it’ll transform into a WaveRunner cabinet on water and an After Burner II cabinet in the air.  No dates have been revealed or any other details, but Sega fans can rest assured that their demands for more Ryo and more SEGA stars are indeed being met.

UPDATE: Or maybe the hovercraft mode is Ryo riding a Hang On cabinet to keep in theme with the works of Yu Suzuki.

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Tons of Virtua Fighter News from VF20th NicoNico Live Stream

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From last night’s stream, NicoNico Live featured the celebration of Virtua Fighter’s 20th Anniversary. The event was held in Tokyo Joypolis Park hosted by Sexy Saitou and Asapon. AM2’s Daichi Katagiri, VF’s game coordinater, made an appearance as well as other special guests such as Tekken series producer, Harada and former AM2 head, Yu Suzuki on pre-recorded video to share their thoughts and experience with the series. During the stream, SEGA announced a ton of awesome Virtua Fighter news to celebrate the series anniversary. What to know what they are, hit the jump young grass hoppers.

Continue Reading ➜

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Alien Isolation screenshots leak, depicting a quieter take on the Aliens franchise

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Eurogamer has shared some interesting screenshots from the upcoming unannounced Creative Assembly title Alien Isolation, which appeared online yesterday via Twitter. The images depict a quiet, creepy space installation and the motion tracker as seen in the films. Not much else can be gleaned from the screens, aside from a taste of the atmosphere the game will likely convey. SEGA has yet to comment on the images, despite job listings, trademarks, and these new screens making it very clear that a game is in development.

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3D Ecco the Dolphin and Galaxy Force II hit the Nintendo eShop today, Sonic 2 out now for iOS and Android

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Today is a big day for classic SEGA releases, as the 3DS will see the release of 3D Ecco the Dolphin and 3D Galaxy Force II and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has released to iOS and Android devices. Those who have experienced M2’s 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, 3D Altered Beast, 3D Space Harrier, and 3D Hang-On should expect the same level of quality and features in 3D Ecco the Dolphin and 3D Galaxy Force II. 3D Ecco the Dolphin features a much touted “Super Dolphin Mode” for those who found the original game too difficult.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for iOS and Android is every bit as solid as SEGA’s previous remastering of Sonic the Hedgehog by Sonic Retro forum members Taxman and Stealth. The biggest addition that has excited many fans is the inclusion of the long lost Hidden Palace Zone stage. There are also a few new surprises, but we won’t spoil them for you just yet.

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