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Marza Animation Planet’s Space Pirate Captain Harlock gets a new trailer

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Marza Animation Planet (the guys that did the awesome Night of the Werehog) and Toei Animation have released a new trailer for their upcoming film Space Pirate Captain Harlock. The film is being directed by Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed and Halo Legends) and has a pretty low budget of 30 million dollars, regardless of budget the trailer looks impressive. Also Anime News Network states that this is Toei Animation movie, yet Marza Animation Planet is still listing it on their site. Odd?

The film is set to come out in the west this fall, debuted in Japan last week. Excited yet?

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Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing coming to Mac tomorrow

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For those stuck on the Apple ecosystem and wanting to play Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (not Transformed), the wait ends tomorrow. The game will come out exclusivly on the Mac App Store and will haveonline multiplayer using Apple’s own Game Center. The game will cost fans $24.99 (£17.49, €21.99).

Hit the jump for the press release and see you on the racing tracks!

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SEGA Europe admits Aliens: Colonial Marines trailers don’t reflect final product

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Hey, after the game has sold a truck load of copies over in Europe, SEGA is finally going out of there way to tell people they were right. The trailers they created and posted are a bunch of hog wash. Do they reflect the final product? Nope!

“Sega Europe acknowledged your objection that the trailers did not accurately reflect the final content of the game, [Sega] agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant YouTube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game. The disclaimer will be visible when each online trailer is played.” – Niall McVeigh, Advertising Standards Authority

The ASA has received four complaints of misleading advertising. Thanks to Reddit, SEGA will now put disclaimers on their trailers. A bit too late, since the game has already sold a ton of copies. Oh well, justice is justice.

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SEGAbits to partner with Sonic Retro and SEGA Retro, creating the ultimate SEGA and Sonic fan resource

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No fooling! SEGAbits, Sonic Retro, and SEGA Retro welcome you the next level of SEGA fansites.

We’re excited to announce that SEGAbits will be partnering with Sonic Retro and SEGA Retro! Yes, we know, it’s April Fools day, but we are not joking. Administrators from both SEGAbits and Sonic Retro have made the decision to join forces to create the ultimate SEGA fan resource. Let’s get the big questions out of the way:

Will SEGAbits be drastically changed? No. SEGAbits will continue to bring readers news, reviews, original content and more. No design changes will be made, aside from our usual improvements as well as some additions mentioned below.

Will communities remain separate? Yes. We realize that both Sonic Retro and SEGAbits have their own communities and we do not want to merge either one into the other. SEGAbits.com and SonicRetro.org will remain.

What are the plans for Sonic Retro? Sonic Retro will continue be the Internet’s ultimate Sonic the Hedgehog resource. The Sonic Retro forums will still be home to the vast Sonic Retro community. As for the home page, SEGAbits and Sonic Retro staffs are hard at work on redefining Sonic Retro’s home page goals and once we have a plan set, you can expect it to be a change for the better.

So what’s the big deal? For starters, the plan is to integrate the expansive and informative SEGA Retro wiki into SEGAbits. We don’t want to give too much away, but expect to see SEGA Retro content improving and expanding on SEGAbits content. For example, a SEGAbits review of a game will be greatly enhanced with the integration of SEGA Retro information.

With the integration of SEGA Retro, SEGAbits will offer news, reviews, original content, a forum for SEGA fans to interact in, as well as a hugely informative wiki packed with SEGA information. Have more questions about the partnership? Comment below or visit our dedicated forum topic. We can’t wait to see where this new future for SEGAbits and Sonic Retro leads – we assume to blue, blue skies.

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SEGA announces Phantasy Star Online 2: Code Episode 2

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During the Sympathy Concert to celebrate the Phantasy Star’s 25th anniversary SEGA and Sonic Team announced their first expansion pack for Phantasy Star Online 2. The expansion is being called Code Episode 2. Below is some of the keywords we know so far from the trailer that was shown at the event.

  • Oracle’s Collapse
  • Arks Road/Lord?
  • Photoners
  • “Who is the real enemy?”
  • The Third Darkers
  • The Beginning and End of the Arks
  • New Race, New Planet, New Classes.
  • New Weapon Categories.
  • Coming this Summer!

So it seems that it is confirmed that it will have new playable races, new planets and new character classes. More of everything you want, this Summer… While we wait in America for them to port the non-expansion packed version. Get on it SEGA West, stop delaying it.

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Sonic Dash now free and massively updated!

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SEGA has released an update today that drastically changes the iOS game Sonic Dash. First off, the game is now free to play. Great news for those who have yet to buy the game, though it is a bit of a kick in the leg to fans who paid for the game initially. However, the game has been improved across the board. For starters, performance is much better on iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4 devices. I’ve noted much smoother gameplay on my own iPhone 4. Another big improvement is the tweaking of object placement. Before, players might run up a hill, only to reach the top and run right into a barrier with little time to react. Now, SEGA promises that players will encounter this far less. A major complaint lodged at the game was that it was very difficult to earn red rings, and there was a finite amount. Red rings allow players to buy additional playable characters.

Now, thanks to daily play challenges, players are tasked with collecting four puzzle pieces a day, which in turn can be redeemed for a daily prize. Day one gives 100 rings, day two gives two head start power-ups, day three gives five respawns, day four gives two red star rings. Day five is the big prize, as you have the chance to win five red rings, ten respawns, 200 rings, five head starts, or a new playable character (in the case of this week, it is Tails).

Do these changes make Sonic Dash a better game? Sound off in the comments section! Also, after the break a detailed list of what the update contains.

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Announcing the SEGAbits Third Anniversary Contest winners!

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On February 1st we announced a contest to celebrate our third anniversary. Since then, we’ve received several awesome entries, and while we loved each and every submission, in the end we had to select three winners. As per the announcement article, third place wins a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD – and third place goes to: nikibaby19! nikibaby19 sent two awesome pieces of fan art, which we’d love to share now, but instead we plan to post them in their own dedicated “Fan Made” article on April 10th. The second place winner will receive AJ’s copy of Outlander for the SEGA Genesis as well as a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD. And second place goes to: Nicholas C. for his written review of Zombies Ate My Neighbors. We’ll be posting Nicholas’s review on April 17th. Finally, first prize, which includes AJ’s personal copy of Technocop for the Genesis, a Genesis model 2 and a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD goes to: TrackerTD for his video review of the SEGA Power Base Converter. TrackerTD’s entry will be posted on April 24th.

Again, a big thanks to all who entered. We loved reading and watching what you had to say, it’s great to see so many passionate SEGA fans out there. Stay tuned to SEGAbits for more contests, as well as our usual SEGA-centric content!

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Yu Suzuki and Mark Cerny hang out at GDC, talk Shenmue III

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Hey, if you are two of my favorite game developers of all time, you obviously have to hang out together and talk about my favorite unreleased game. According to Megan Scavio, GM of GDC they are in talks about Shenmue III. You know, that game that everyone wants SEGA to release.

“Mark Cerny & Yu Suzuki talking strategy for Shenmue III. For reals you guys.” – Megan Scavio

You had me at Yu Suzuki, you sold me on Mark Cerny and you made me smile at Shenmue III. Let’s make it happen!

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Creative Assembly announces new free-to-play multiplayer game, Total War: Arena

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SEGA and Creative Assembly have just announced their new game they have been teasing, Total War: Arena. The game is a ‘Multiplayer Online Battle Arena’, the game seems like it is aimed to compete against titles such as Leagues of Legends and DOTA 2. It doesn’t mean that the title is a MOBA type game, unlike those games, in this game you will have 10 vs 10 based battles.

Also unlike those MOBA type games, each player in this game will be able to control armies and command over 500 men in 3 units. The game has also been confirmed to be free-to-play. The game will be supported with add-on packs that will change the battlefield, even saying they will introduce stuff from different time periods.

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Company of Heroes 2 closed beta starts April 2nd

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SEGA has stated today that they will be launching the Company of Hereoes 2 closed beta next week. Players that get in will get to test the game’s competitive multiplayer and skirmish gameplay. You will be able to play six maps including ones that are for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4. You will be able to progress to the first 40 levels of the game, customize your loadout using the new Army Customizer.

“We are excited to be able to launch the closed beta for Company of Heroes 2. We invite our fans to help us test and balance the game prior to launch, as well as see the changes we’ve already made since the Alpha test in December.” –Greg Wilson, Producer of Company of Heroes 2

So how do you get into the closed beta? According to SEGA its open only to pre-order customers only. It will be hosted on Steam and will utilize Steamworks (awesome).

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More features revealed for Sonic the Hedgehog remastered – Spin dash confirmed!

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As GDC 2013 continues, more details regarding the upcoming rerelease of Sonic the Hedgehog are rolling in. Pocket Gamer reports that on-screen controls will retain the virtual d-pad and single button layout, however new features include a cartridge art gallery and the ability to use Sonic’s spin dash attack, which can be turned on and off in the game’s menu. As most Sonic fans know, the spin dash made its debut in the sequel, while the first game has only featured the addition of the move in Sonic Jam and various ROM hacks.

Meanwhile, Slide to Play expanded on the on-screen controls, noting that “the large, visible buttons of the Genesis controller have been replaced by one tiny jump button in the corner. The joystick is now a virtual stick that feels much more natural and suitable for touchscreen gaming.”. Slide to Play also noted that a SEGA executive indicated that future Genesis games on digital marketplaces would receive the remastering treatment, by casually stating “that was the plan.” If true, SEGA could eventually update existing games like Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Shining Force, and Gunstar Heroes, as well as release titles not yet seen on mobile devices.

Thanks to SSMB member Shadzter for the info!

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Creative Assembly to announce a new game tomorrow at GDC

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Seems that Creative Assembly’s James Russell (Lead game designer at Creative Assembly) has posted on twitter that he will be announcing a new game during their GDC talk.

“Very excited that in my #GDC talk tomorrow, I can announce a new @totalwar game in development – and it’s like nothing we’ve done before…”– James Russell, Lead designer at Creative Assembly

Here is the thing, there are few games that Creative Assembly has been working on that they haven’t announced yet. One being an Aliens title and the other one having to do with the  franchise. Both of which have me excited, Assembly Creative can do some great games. But this seems to be more of a Total War entry… (Total War: Viking 2 please!)

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The Dreamcast Junkyard fills us in on the Dreamcast games of 2013

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SEGA Network partner The Dreamcast Junkyard has released a new video, courtesy of DCJY contributor The Gagaman, which both revives the YouTube channel with a brand new look as well as gives us a handy rundown of the Dreamcast games slated for 2013. Check out the video above and make sure to stay tuned to The Dreamcast Junkyard this year. All hail the undead console and all hail The Dreamcast Junkyard!

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GDC 2013: Take a tour of SEGA’s history exhibit

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Courtesy of GameSparkChannel is a walkthrough of SEGA’s history exhibit at GDC 2013. SEGA set aside a sizable exhibit filled with a variety of SEGA items including arcade games, consoles, and collectables. In the video above you can see old store displays for SEGA consoles, rare SEGA consoles like the JVC X’Eye, promotional posters, and more!

After the break, check out another walkthrough courtesy of The Inquirer.

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