News

SEGASonic Railway in Japan closes down

by

Another SEGA attraction is now closed down after about 7 years of service. The Sonic Railway in the Lalaport Fujimi City shopping center in Saitama, Japan is no more after January 10. The train station had a miniature sized train cart (fully operational with buttons and lights for kids), affixed with blue and yellow and had Sonic pictured on all sides (with the front and back doing the pose from Sonic 1). It also showcases a small track with crossings, make-shift bridges, and a garage which houses additional carts. Some additional carts were used as collaborations as well, such as Gautama and Hello Kitty. The attraction (also loosely named “Sonic Station”) was for all ages and gives you a small introduction on how train carts and stations operate on a basic level in Japan.

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

SEGA News Bits Live: Happy NFT Year!

by

New year, same nonsense! On this SEGA News Bits Live, Barry looks back on the week of news including SEGA’s stance on NFTs, Sonic 1 on Tesla vehicles and Ken Penders sharing his list of characters and concepts he owns.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

 

No Comments

SEGA Announces Partnership With JAKKS Pacific For Netflix Series Sonic Prime

by

SEGA announced a partnership with JAKKS Pacific, Inc. for the animated Sonic Prime Netflix series, continuing a long history of collaboration between the two companies. This new Sonic Prime line will bring action figures, playsets, vehicles, plush and other collectibles to life inspired by the Blue Blur’s next adventure, along with accessories produced in tandem with Disguise, Inc., available in 2023.

Hit the jump to read the full press.

Continue Reading ➜

tpPuwbGF

No Comments

LEGO Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog set now available to purchase

by

The long awaited Sonic Mania inspired LEGO Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog set has both been revealed and released! The set has changed quite a bit from the original pitch. Gone are the Hard Boiled Heavies, Flicky birds and Death Egg Robot. As such, the Sonic Mania presence is pretty much gone, making this a Sonic 1 set. The set is available now at the LEGO online shop as well as in physical LEGO stores, and retails for $69.99.

CSeumol

No Comments

Sonic the Hedgehog 4K Bonus Stage Edition Steelbook releasing in time for the sequel

by

Paramount and SEGA’s 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog will be seeing a 4K + Blu-Ray + Digital re-release to coincide with the upcoming sequel. Dubbed the Bonus Stage Edition, the boxed set will include the previously released comic book, as well as mini posters, what appears to be a collector card, and an outer box and a mini CD sized Steelbook case. The set will release March 15th, 2022 and the sequel is due out April 8th, 2022. You can pre-order it now here.

No Comments

Official Sonic the Hedgehog HORI Switch Split Pad Pro revealed, available to pre-order now

by

Revealed today is an officially branded Sonic the Hedgehog HORI Switch Split Pad Pro, and guess what… you can pre-order it now! While Mario and Pikachu seem to have all the fun when it comes to branded Nintendo controllers, it’s great to finally see SEGA and Sonic stepping into the ring. The split pad retails for $59.99 and is said to release at the end of January, 2022.

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

SEGA Announces The SEGA Astro City Mini V

by

In the past we talked about the SEGA Astro City Mini, a mini console designed to mimic SEGA’s Astro City line of arcade machines that comes packaged with 37 SEGA arcade games. Well it looks like SEGA is ready to release a new successor, named the SEGA Astro City Mini V. As the name implies, the main difference between the original mini arcade cabinet and the new one is that the SEGA Astro City Mini V system has a vertical (aka portrait) screen. Another major difference is the larger emphasis on third party games instead of SEGA’s own arcade titles, including games such as Raiden, Truxton (aka Tatsujin), and Gunbird. 22 games have been revealed for the SEGA Astro City Mini V, which can be viewed under the read more tag below.

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

Five SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive Games Get Added to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass

by

Five more SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive games are being added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service. These five games are Altered Beast, Toejam & Earl, Sword of Vermilion, Thunder Force II, and Dynamite Headdy. Out of the five games, Thunder Force II is probably the most notable, as it was skipped over in favor of its two sequels Thunder Force III and Thunder Force IV with stuff like the SEGA Genesis Mini or the SEGA AGES series, until now. All five games are the same across every region, and are available now for anyone that uses the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Service.

No Comments

Shinobi inspired ‘Shadow Gangs’ launches Kickstarter for Dreamcast port

by

The independent, Shinobi inspired arcade action game Shadow Gangs, which has been released on Steam, Xbox and Nintendo Switch is asking fans to fund their Dreamcast port of the project with the chance of grabbing some sweet goodies for their support.

So, if you are reading this blog you are most likely a Dreamcast collector and are wondering what tier you get a physical copy? The company is asking for a pledge of £45, about $60 USD. But it also comes with a Dreamcast digital copy, a downloadable code (for either PC, Switch and Xbox) and even your name in the game’s credit.

Check out Shadow Gangs‘ Kickstarter here. 

 

No Comments

Discotek Media announces Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog SD on Blu-Ray release, packed with bonus features

by

Longtime readers of SEGAbits should know by now my love for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve written about it a lot, so much so that each one of those words is a different article. So it pleases me to write about it AGAIN to share that Discotek Media will be releasing an SD on Blu-Ray release of the series, meaning the full series in standard definition on two blu-ray discs. But that’s not all!

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

SEGA Announces Sonic the Hedgehog x Tesla Partnership

by

SEGA has announced that the company will be partnering up with Tesla to bring the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) to Tesla’s in-car gaming console for older and newer models. Passengers will be able to play the classic title that started it all on the SEGA Genesis in all Tesla models around the world via the built-in display screen in conjunction with a handheld controller connected through the car’s USB ports. Here is the press email description on the Sonic the Hedgehog x Tesla partnership:

“Get ready, Sonic fans! SEGA has just announced a partnership with Tesla to bring Sonic the Hedgehog 1, the game that started it all, to Tesla’s in-car gaming console for both existing and new models. Passengers turn into players as they race at lightning speed across classic zones to defeat enemies on a mission to save the world from the evil Dr. Eggman, all in the comfort of their own car!

SEGA is excited to partner with Tesla to bring this iconic Sonic title to their extensive gaming library. Sonic the Hedgehog 1 will be available in all Tesla models around the world via the built-in display screen in conjunction with a handheld controller connected through the car’s USB ports. Now no matter where you travel, Sonic can come along with you!”

Let us know what you think about the Sonic the Hedgehog and Tesla partnership on the comments below!

No Comments

Rumor: SEGA working on Phantasy Star Online 2’s successor as their next ‘Super Game’, will use NFTs

by

Its not hard to see that SEGA’s Phantasy Star Online 2 has been a massive success for the company, so much so that it recently that it got a graphical update with Phantasy Star Online: New Genesis. But the company is already ’embracing the future’ with them planning the successor, if this new rumor is to be believed. The rumor comes from Japanese user Makino180 that says:

  • Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis will be supported for only 5 more years.
  • Phantasy Star Crew’s 3rd Division is in planning stages of the next “Super Game” and is aimed to be finished in under 5 years.
  • Phantasy Star Online veteran Satoshi Sakai will spearhead the project
  • Plans are to make the next “Super Game” running on Microsoft Azure Cloud Servers.
  • SEGA is thinking of using NFT Blockchain technology for its monetization to prolong the value and wants to spearhead the future of Gacha Games which will implement a possible SNS Distribution of virtual items.
  • Initial Budget for this “Super Game” is 5 times the budget of normal SEGA AAA Games!
  • The main audience of the new “Super Game” is the Western audience.

While gamers dislike NFTs, Blockchain technology, it seems that companies and developers see a avenue for them to be used in games. What is your thoughts on the rumored, next, “Super Game” by the developers that made Phantasy Star Online 2?

1 Comment

SEGA Saturn classic Bulk Slash gets impressive English fan localization patch

by

[Trailer edited by Bofner]

The SEGA fan translation community has been on fire recently with fan translations and they seem to be getting bigger. For example the recently fan localized Sakura Wars GB: Go Forth, Young Cadet! even restored cut content that didn’t make it in the Japanese release. 

Now some of the people that brought you that are back to release their most ambitious localization to date: Bulk Slash, a title praised for its presentation, soundtrack, gameplay, replayability, and its graphics. The localization team not only translated all the text, but also had voice actors come in and dub the game. For a fan localization project, this is pretty major.

Download Bulk Slash English Translation Patch Here

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

SEGA News Bits Live: Sonic Frontiers & Movie Sequel Trailers Analysis

by

Wow! What a night at the Game Awards! That one game won, and that lady got an award too! Okay, we don’t care about the awards. It was a trailer show, and Sonic fans had a plate full of footage to sift through! On this SEGA News Bits Live, Barry analyzes the trailers for Sonic Frontiers and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 the movie.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

No Comments