What happened to the Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure demo?


It’s sad watching sales in the UK for Rhythm Thief unfold, the game seems to be a Dreamcast fan’s wet dream. Especially if you were into stuff like Samba De Amigo or Space Channel 5. We can all turn around and blame SEGA for Rhythm Thief‘s lack of success in the UK, but they weren’t even the publisher. Nintendo was in the UK. But in the States, SEGA is set to publish it and they already seem to have forgotten about the title.

Back in March it was confirmed that we were supposed to get a Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure demo on April 19th. Yep, that was about four days ago and there still isn’t anything. The game has been delayed until July, so it’s possible that the demo was pushed back as well, though I wish SEGA would confirm that.

Early Sonic 4: Episode 2 beta temporarily leaked onto Steam. Now disabled.

Customers who pre-ordered Sonic 4: Episode 2 on Steam got quite a surprise late Friday night when an early Beta of the game became available for them to download. The download has since been taken off of Steam and those who downloaded have found that the “play” option has been disabled making it defunct. Of course, this was not before players uploaded a bunch of videos all over the internet. However, out of respect to Sega and to keep our readers spoiler-free until the game’s release, we will not be linking any of those videos on our site.  Read on for more detail.

Project X Zone Trailer Released

We finally get to see Project X Zone in action, and I have to say, it looks pretty solid. Of course, looks can be decieving, and we still have little idea of how the game plays, or if we’ll even get a western release. Trailer has lots of little hints and tidbits of what else we’ll be seeing in the game as well. If you’re a fan of any of these companies, you may want to watch it a few times.

Want to go down a sexy lady? Super Monkeyball: Banana Splitz has your back!

For long term fans of the series, having a woman in a bikini may be the last thing you would expect but here we are, with SEGA confirming that Gravure model Yukie Kawamura will have a level designed around her, how to say, assets? As AiAi charges down to the goal post, players will have to make sure they navigate past the bumps in the level.

But those expecting this level to be available in the Western versions will be disappointed, as the Japanese version of the title is rated C (One rating level below the adult rating in Japan) whilst the game is E for Everyone, though perhaps yet another indication that this Monkey Ball is aimed at adults unlike the recent releases in the series. Hit the jump after the break for more screenshots.

Rhythm Thief bombs in the UK (News/Rant)

The good news? Rhythm Thief was not one of the cancellations reportedly occuring in the wake of SEGA’s recent financial woes; the game saw release in Europe earlier this month. The bad news? Nobody bought it. Though exact numbers are not currently known, SEGA’s forray back into Samba De Amigo-styled rhythm games failed to make the UK top 40 in its debut week, and its chart position remained missing in action in week 2.

I apologise in advance if this comes off as a rant; my intention is certainly not to upset anybody, but it’s hard for me to respond in any other way to what I find to be such an incredibly shocking turn of events. How is it that even with the fan outcry for more quirky, Japanese-style fare from SEGA, that with the good reviews and the lack of competition on the system, that with an ad campaign and Nintendo as a distributor…how is it that this didn’t sell? If niche Japanese beat-em-up Pandora’s Tower (on the Wii of all systems) can make this same chart (debuted last week at 38) then is it a stretch to expect a game being billed as one of the best rhythm games in years to find at least similar success?

Follow us on Instagram to get your daily dose of SEGA pictures

Most of you are probably seeing this and talking about how we sold out to the social media trends. But lets be honest, wouldn’t you want to have random SEGA nostalgia pictures daily on your phone? I know most people use Instagram to show off what they are eating or what they are wearing, not us. We are sharing some interesting SEGA pictures. You love interesting SEGA pictures, don’t you?

Instagram is only an app right now, that means no web interface. So how do you add us? Easy, hit the search button and type in SEGAbits. Easy! Instagram is available on both Android and iOS devices.

[Got some pretty interesting SEGA pictures? Send them our way!]

Project X Zone website updates with character voice samples

 

[SPACE HARRIER AND OPA-OPA!!!]

If you go here you will see the official Project X Zone website. right away you will be treated to the game’s theme song. Wow, isn’t that a catchy song? Now that you are finished rocking out, you can click on ‘Entry Title’ to view character voice samples. If you look on the left you will see company logo with Japanese lettering beneath it. Those Japanese letters are list of characters. Click randomly for random voices.

If you haven’t seen our article on characters that have been revealed yet, then check that out here.

House of the Dead 4 available now on PSN!

Yes, it’s out. Go buy it and enjoy some HotD goodness.It’s available exclusively on PSN and is compatible with the Move controller. I had a preview written up for this from PAX, but my ultrabook died so I didn’t have access to it until today…since we won’t have a review up for a little while, maybe I’ll still put it up!

Rare hires design chief from SEGA West

 

Simon Woodroffe has been in the gaming industry for 20+ years working on titles like Simon the Sorcerer and Call of Cthulthu. But if you frequent this site, you probably recall his name from his work at SEGA, including working on titles like Renegade Ops and Sonic Generations. Simon Woodroffe is ready to move on and took the position of Creative Director over at Rare.

“Simon’s vast experience and knowledge are a fantastic addition to Rare’s strong Design team. He has worked on many innovative titles over the years, including some really impressive R&D prototyping projects. He is a terrific all-rounder and the ideal person to head up our Design department. Rare is committed to making the best possible games experiences that inspire everyone to play, and we believe the best way to do that is to attract the brightest and best talent in the business.” – Rare’s senior studio director Craig Duncan.

Its always good to see people that work on SEGA move on to bigger studios to work on more games.

Binary Domain coming to PC on April 27th

The release date for the digital version of Binary Domain has gotten a release date. You can download yourself a copy of the game on April 27th, aka in 10 days. SEGA has confirmed there are pre-order bonuses for both digital and boxed versions of the game, meaning there will be a retail version of the PC game. One of the pre-order bonuses is the ‘Dan Marshall Pack’ which gives the lead character more bionic upgrades and weapons. There is also the ‘Multiplayer Pack’ that adds Ninja as a playable class in multiplayer.

So who is going to pick this game up?

Arts and Crafts: Make your own Sonic 4 Episode 2 Genesis box, manual and cartridge!

With only a month until the game’s digital release, I thought it would be fun to once again create a retro Genesis box design for Sonic 4’s next episode. The first time I designed a fake Genesis box was for Sonic 4 Episode 1, which I shared over at my personal blog The Nomad Junkyard [Update: Here is the new Sonic 4 Episode 1 download link]. I used the original Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis box design as inspiration for Episode 1, so I thought it would be fitting to use Sonic 2’s original Genesis box as my inspiration for Episode 2. After the break, a download link, instructions and a photo gallery for those too lazy to make it themselves.

SEGA Amusement teasing ‘R&D Spy Cam’ on Facebook

Seems that SEGA Amusement is teasing a new product or cabinet on social sites. They have posted the picture above in an album called “R&D Spy Cam”, what it is or what it will do is not really known. But that isn’t all they posted, they also posted a clue in the discreption.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S™

What is it and what could it be? Your guess is as good as mine.

Binary Domain sells just 20,000 units in North America

The NPD has just released their sales data for the month of March, and though it’ll hardly come as a surprise to most, the results aren’t looking good for SEGA’s robot-themed third person shooter. Binary Domain has reportedly sold just 20,000 copies in its first full month on North American shelves, while Mass Effect 3, despite a significant amount of fan backlash, managed 65 times that, selling 1.3 million for the month, not including its digital sales.

Miku Flick now available worldwide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2-b2iBnm40

Yup. A Hatsune Miku game has finally made it overseas. Miku Flick is an iOS game available on iPhone and iPad devices for a hefty (for iOS) $13.99. Published by Sega, Miku Flick comes with several of Hatsune Miku’s most popular songs. I know not a single one of them since I’m not a fan myself, but I do know her popularity is big enough that this is huge news for Miku fans. Who knows? If enough Miku fans buy this game, we may see more of her games arrive in the U.S. and Europe.