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Aliens: Colonial Marines co-developer TimeGate studios files for bankruptcy

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TimeGates Studios, who where previously known for their Section 8 games and now for co-developing the controversial Aliens: Colonial Marines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas Southern Bankruptcy court yesterday.

The guys over at Polygon obtained the court papers, which stated that the developer is in debt to more than 50 creditors and owed total liabilities ranging from $10-$50 million dollars. Their top creditors include Epic Games (Unreal Engine), Agora Games (online game service), and DJ2 Entertainment. Funny enough, a local pizza shop was listed in the documents, which TimeGate owes $34.80. Wow, are these developers all in the 7th grade that they can’t pay a $35 dollar bill?

I guess life isn’t good for TimeGates Studios and the recent class action lawsuit isn’t going to help them. Weird seeing them lose all this money and still announce a game last month.

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Shinobi 3DS developer faces layoffs

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Griptonite games, makers of Shinobi on 3DS, Captain America on DS and many other portable games is hitting some tough times. The company, which has recently been aquired by Glu Mobile has had to make some cutbacks in order to maintain revenue. In this report from IGN, Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi gave the following statement.

We believe concentrating resources on fewer titles, with a greater centralized support infrastructure will accelerate revenue growth in Q4 2013 and beyond. We made over 20 new ‘games-as-a-service’ (GaaS) hires in Q1 and anticipate hiring at a similar rate throughout the year. Our goal is to shift headcount investment out of raw studio team volume and into our centralized GaaS functions. This rebalancing is expected to leave R&D costs approximately flat year over year. A reduction in force was commenced today to promote talent density throughout the studio, as well as fund over 80 new GaaS colleagues. This reduction is equivalent to circa 12% of the year’s starting headcount of 564 employees. Adding back forecast hiring we anticipate finishing 2013 with 582 Gluers worldwide.

Read the full article here.

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SEGA Pluto Back On Auction Block

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Have a couple of grand you want to burn on a rare piece of SEGA hardware? Roger Vega, a.k.a. kidvid666, has put his rare SEGA Pluto system up on eBay after its initial auction ended at $7,600, failing to meet its reserve limit.

The SEGA Pluto is a sub-planet SEGA Saturn variant, of which only two knowingly exist in the world. The system, while much larger than its model 1 and 2 Saturn brethren (and roughly larger than a combined Model 2 Mega Drive and Mega CD), features a built-in NetLink modem, enabling the system to connect to the Internet for web browsing and playing certain online-enabled titles such as Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, SEGA Rally,  Saturn Bomberman, and Virtual On. Otherwise, the system is a typical U.S. NTSC Saturn.

Vega demonstrates in a YouTube video that the system, while fully functional, has a broken disc door that needs to have constant pressure weighing it down in order for the system to function properly. As of this posting, the auction is at $501 with over 21 bidders. It is set to end on May 10.

[Image courtesy of Roger Vega]

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NeoGAF user creates a fantastic Dreamcast themed 3DS

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Hey, we all here love SEGA and we know that we won’t get another console. NeoGAF user A 3 Legged Goat , a huge Dreamcast fan, who designed a concept art above. The idea is to make his 3DS look more sexy, Dreamcast sexy.  Above and below are his photoshop renders.

If SEGA and Nintendo teamed up to release a limited edition Dreamcast design, they would have all my monies.

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Swingin’ Report Show and Sonic Talk now on iTunes

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Here it is, our sweet podcasts are now on iTunes. I know many of you have given us flack for not having them up, due to RSS problems  but guess what? Those are now a thing of the past. Well, not really, we are having some troubles on how it displays on iTunes. But hey, nothing is perfect. Check it out, subscribe and give us a review.

Swingin’ Report Show – Sonic Talk

Thanks to everyone that listened, regardless of not having a iTunes set up. Thank Will for fixing up the RSS feeds for us, he is brilliant.

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SEGA, Gearbox Served Class-Action Lawsuit For Aliens: Colonial Marines

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Aliens: Colonial Marines drew ire from gaming fans due to its shoddy gameplay and overall lackluster production. The quality, or lack thereof, was so substantial that a lawsuit was filed in a Californian court on Apr. 30 by law firm Edelson LLC at the behest of Damion Perrine for false advertising.

Within the lawsuit, Perrine claims that builds shown off at events such as PAX and E3 were in no way indicative of how the final product would ultimately turn out. The suit further claims that the enforcement press embargoes, which were lifted the very morning of the game’s release, meant that game media could not alert early adopters of the disparity in quality between the demos and the final. It finally claims damages for players who pre-ordered the game or purchased the game on launch.

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SEGA.com gets a redesign – What do you think of SEGA’s new look?

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SEGA.com has undergone a much needed redesign! Dubbed “SEGA beta”, the site has been greatly simplified and broken into an easy to navigate grid. The search function has been much improved, with screens and videos given more prominence, as well as handy links to buy the games themselves and links to dedicated microsites. Interesting to note, at the bottom of the site is a breakdown of “Games”, “Brands”, “SEGA Store”, and “Company”. Beneath “Brands” is Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War and Aliens – three major SEGA West franchises. A visit to the European site adds Football Manager to the list. The Store, Blogs, and Forums retain their old designs for now.

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First 4 Figures Ryo Hazuki statue up for pre-order today – Exclusive edition revealed!

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First 4 Figures will be putting the Ryo Hazuki statue up for pre-order very soon, and in anticipation of this they have posted up a video detailing the statue. Or should we say statues? First 4 Figures will not only have a regular edition of the statue, limited to 750 statues featuring Ryo standing at 12 inches high on a city street base, but there will also be 350 statues in a Exclusive Edition featuring a special Phoenix Mirror base.

After the break, check out the full details. As soon as the pre-order goes live we’ll make sure to update this article with the prices.

Update: Pre-order here. Regular edition is priced at $169.99, exclusive edition is priced at $184.99.

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Free to play Puyo Puyo! Quest releases to the Japanese App Store

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File this one under “release this West, SEGA!”. The free to play iOS game Puyo Puyo! Quest has released to the Japanese App Store. Described as a puzzle RPG, the game has players challenging their friends to see who is the strongest player. The game appears to be a bit different than traditional Puyo Puyo titles, relying on teams, character cards, creating guilds, and utilizing power ups. While the game is free to play, there are some pay elements. The game looks just as bright and colorful as the excellent Puyo Pop Fever, fingers crossed that SEGA brings this west.

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Ian Flynn to be guest on the next Sonic Talk! Ask your questions here.

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The most famous writer in video game comicdom is coming back to Sonic Talk! Ian Flynn, writer of Mega Man, the New Crusaders and of course, Sonic the Hedgehog will be answering your all important questions on our next show! Questions like “What do hedgehogs smell like?”, ” Why aren’t (insert your favorite shipping pair here) together”, “Is Protoman secretly Racer X?”, and “If a tasmanian devil gets rid of all the echidnas in the world and no one cares, does it make a sound?”

Post your questions in the comments section below, and we may read them on the podcast! Let us know if you want your name to be read as well.

All questions must be in by Wednesday morning.

Please do not ask any questions about the Archie case against Penders as Ian cannot answer them.

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Super-Hang-on 20th Anniversary Soundtrack now available on Amazon, iTunes

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I’ve got some great news for anyone who loves some classic SEGA arcade tunes: SEGA’s Super Hang-On 20th Anniversary collection is now available on Amazon and iTunes! Just hop onto either digital service and buy the whole thing for a paltry $9.99.

There are 18 tracks on the collection. You can find the entire track list below the fold. You can expect Tuesday Tunes to feature some of these tracks over the course of the year!

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Check out the trailer for Hucast’s upcoming Dreamcast game The Ghost Blade

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Coming soon to an undead console near you is Hucast’s top down shoot ’em up The Ghost Blade. As you can see in the teaser trailer above, the game is in an alpha state, but is already looking great. That game is set for “TBA 2013”, so expect it within the next 8 months. You can pre-order it now in a 3-disc Collector’s Edition, a 2-disc Limited Edition, and a single disc standard edition.

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The House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels arrives on the App Store

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Are you ready to kill some motherf***in’ mutants?

Hitting the App Store today for $4.99 is the mobile port of SEGA’s The House of the Dead: Overkill, dubbed “The Lost Reels”. Via the App Store description comes a slew of features:

DISCOVER THE LOST REELS
▪ Experience 3 goregasmic worlds full of carnage in Story Mode.
▪ In Papa’s Palace of Pain, Ballistic Trauma, and Naked Terror, you’ll be screaming ‘til your last breath.

DISMEMBER UTTERLY DISGUSTING MUTANTS
▪ Enjoy non-stop shooting action as you blow apart mutants for high-score thrills.
▪ See how long you can hold off the swarms of undead in Survival Mode.

REJOIN THE ORIGINAL CAST
▪ Isaac Washington: a hard-drinking ladies’ man who deals damage in droves.
▪ Agent G: an inexperienced but deadly assassin who keeps a steady hand under pressure.
▪ Varla Guns: the hottest stripper on the Bayou City club scene who enjoys the largest clip.
▪ Candi Stryper: an expert with her hands who knows how to reload.

FINGERBLAST ON THE GO
▪ Obliterate mutants with one of three control mechanisms optimized for your mobile device – Accelerometer, Virtual Pad and Frenzy Tap (unlockable)

UPGRADE YOUR ARSENAL
▪ Destroy mutants to earn Ka$h, the in-game currency, and upgrade your pistol to something that really blasts through flesh.
▪ Enhance your killing prowess with combo extenders, reload boosters, and other game-changing upgrades.

But that’s not all! The game also features some super sweet bits of SEGA fan service. Want to know the details? Hit the break for our impressions and stay tuned to SEGAbits and The Website of the Dead for our reviews.

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More SEGA All-Stars Packs heading to Samurai & Dragons

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Sega of Japan are releasing another set of Sega All-Stars card packs, but this time with even more lineup of franchises from Sega’s past ranging from Alex Kidd, Comic Zone, to The House of the Dead and Rub Rabbits plus with a couple of obscured IPs. According to the site, the first pack will be available today through May 8th and the second pack will be available from May 8th to May 22nd. Samurai and Dragons is free to download on the Japanese PSN for PSVita. So if you have a Japanese account and you have a thing for fan service from Sega, check the game out! Wish I had a Vita right about now. Hit the jump to see which SEGA franchise was represented in one of the packs.

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Total War: Rome 2: 10 minutes of gameplay

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Above is ten minutes of narrated gameplay. This video is showing an ambush, watch as the Romans are chased out.

The above battle is based on a real battle where Germanic tribes happen to ambush and slaughter three Roman legions.  Total War: Rome 2 is set to come out later this year.

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