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Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog Movie trailer reveals “Baby Sonic”

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For a while it’s been rumored that the Sonic the Hedgehog movie would have a baby version of Sonic, but until now it was unofficially revealed from leaked merchandising. Now we have official confirmation that this younger version of Sonic is indeed real, including a new trailer and artwork briefly highlighting the tiny hedgehog. According to the official website page, it describes Baby Sonic as innocent and full of energy, and we will get to see Sonic’s unexplored past. Likely he will appear in the movie either from a flashback or as part of an overall origin story, maybe explaining how Sonic gained his sound breaking speed in the first place.

In addition, movie goers in Japan will receive a bonus Baby Sonic keychain for those that pre-order tickets early.

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SEGA Sammy to merge SEGA Games and SEGA Interactive in April 2020

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SEGA Sammy has announced that two of it’s subsidiaries, SEGA Games and SEGA Interactive, are going to be merged into a single entity called SEGA Corporation. While SEGA Holdings Ltd. will be renamed to SEGA Group Cooperation. For context, SEGA technically isn’t a single entity, but rather multiple divisions under the SEGA Sammy umbrella, in this case SEGA Games handling the video games and SEGA Interactive handling amusement machines like UFO catchers. According to the official PDF file describing the merger, the decision was due to wanting to strengthen their research and development on new products for a global market, while also citing their previously discussed “Road to 2020” plan as another influence. It’s also possibly related to their declining arcade division, though that was not officially cited.

This merger is being planned for a April 1st 2020 schedule, though meetings between shareholders are also planned during February and March 2020. It’s promised that these changes will not dramatically impact production on future products, again with the claim that having these divisions under a single union will improve productivity for a global market.

[Source: PDF, Stream]

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New Cotton game announced for 2021

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The Cotton series has been getting a decent amount of love, such as the recently announced game Cotton Reboot! and Cotton herself making guest appearances in games such as Umihara Kawase Fresh! and the upcoming platformer-fighting game Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!

However, in a recent user experience event where people had the opportunity to play a demo of Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!, it was announced that a new Cotton game will be coming out in 2021. Not much information has been revealed about what the game is, but it is confirmed to be unrelated to the game Cotton Reboot!, which is still scheduled to be released in summer 2020 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

[Source: 4gamer]

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SEGA 60th Anniversary Fan Doujinshi Book to be released in April 2020 – Author looking for 60 fans to participate

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Game review blog “Get Ready! Annex” administrator, Pin, is producing a fan doujinshi book for SEGA fans focused on celebrating the 60th anniversary of SEGA and is looking to gather at least 60 participates worldwide with content that they could tell about their love for Sega on one page per person.

The fan doujinshi will be a thin book of A5 size with dozens of pages and full color and set to be released for April 2020. Anyone in the SEGA community can participate in the book with illustrations of their favorite SEGA character, cosplay, comics, collections and messages. For more details on entry types, you can check it out on their site here. The deadline for entries are due before the end of Feburary.

To participate, all you have to do is contact Pin via on Twitter through DM or email with your entry. Celebrate SEGA’s anniversary together and share your thoughts on SEGA!

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Sakura Wars Fan Translation Completed – Play Sakura Wars in English on Emulator and Modded Sega Saturn

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With Project Sakura Wars released in Japan (as Shin Sakura Taisen) and on it’s way to the West for next year in Spring 2020, you can finally get the chance to play the first title with an english patch for the SEGA Saturn version on a SEGA Saturn emulator or a modded Saturn console.

Sakura Wars is a cross-genre video game developed by Sega and Red Company, and published by Sega in 1996. It is the first game in Sega’s Sakura Wars series, created by Oji Hiroi which become a hit in Japan overtime and produced many sequels, spin-offs and media franchises. Defined by Sega as a “dramatic adventure” game, Sakura Wars combines overlapping tactical role-playing, dating sim and visual novel gameplay elements. You can download the English patch and instructions here.

Huge thanks to CJ_iwakura, NoahSteam, Crouching_Mouse, and MatatabiMitsu for making the patch and trailer from the Saturn Commerical in English.

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SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo Tsu coming soon, more information revealed

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Want some more Puyo Puyo action after playing SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo? Well the hit sequel from Japan, Puyo Puyo Tsu, is coming soon to the SEGA AGES series! Like the previous arcade game, you take on the role as heroine Arle Nadja, as you are tasked with stacking the titular Puyos to flood your opponent’s side with Nuisance Puyo. Puyo Puyo Tsu however fleshes it out further with several new mechanics, including double rotation, offsetting, and the All Clear. Combine that with the potential to fight over 30 different opponents and multiplayer that has different options to choose from, it’s easy to see why Puyo Puyo Tsu was a big hit in Japanese arcades back in the mid 90’s and why Puyo Puyo games to this day use the Puyo Puyo Tsu gameplay as the golden standard.

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo Tsu adds several new features. It will include the original arcade mode, but there will be an additional Kachinuki Mode where you have to battle against every character in the tower. In addition to this, players will have the ability to read the character introduction for everyone, including Arle and Carbuncle who normally don’t have one, and the ability change the appearance of every Puyo with different styles. Like it’s predecessor SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo, it will also come with online play, allowing you to play with a friend and record your highest score on a rankings board.

Currently SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo Tsu is priced at ¥999 with a release date pending.

[Source: Official Website]

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Two Point Hospital releasing on February 25th 2020 for consoles

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Two Point Hospital, the spiritual successor to Bullfrog Productions’ Theme Hospital, has been available on PC via Steam since last year. However, for those that would rather play the game on home consoles, Two Point Hospital will soon be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on February 25th 2020. It will be available both physically and digitally priced at $39.99 across all platforms, and pre-orders are now available.

PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

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Tons of new information for Shin Sakura Taisen released – Stage performance, Animation, and DLC dates announced!

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New information on Shin Sakura Taisen, aka Project Sakura Wars in the West, has been released from the recent Sakura Taisen live broadcast stream celebrating the game’s launch in Japan which includes announcements Shin Sakura Taisen, the Stage, the Animation and downloadable content (DLC) release dates. Hit the jump for more information on each announcement after the break.

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Streets of Rage 4 “Adam Hunter” trailer showcased, tentative first-half 2020 release date announced

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New information regarding to the upcoming Streets of Rage 4 have been revealed, courtesy of Nintendo’s Indie World direct. Most notably, a new trailer highlighting the fourth playable character, Adam Hunter. As the name implies, he’s the brother of Skate from Streets of Rage 2 and the father of Cherry. He’s described as a person who hunted down the syndicate leader 28 years ago, now coming back to finish the job alongside Cherry, Axel, and Blaze.

It’s also confirmed that Streets of Rage 4 is planned for an first-half 2020 release window for all platforms. Nothing specific has been announced at this time, but we’ll keep you up to date on the latest Streets of Rage 4 news.

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Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle announced for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

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SEGA and Platinum Games, that’s a partnership I have not heard of for a long time…

Just announced officially is the Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle, a remastered combo pack celebrating the 10th anniversary of Platinum Games early titles. Due out February 18, 2020, the games will be available physically and digitally for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Priced at a cool $39.99 physically and digitally (or $24.99 each on digital platforms if you don’t opt for the bundle), SEGA is offering an extra incentive for physical purchases. The games will be contained in a double sided steelbook featuring new artwork in a slipcover. The games will be combined on one disc. Those with PS4 Pro and Xbox One X will enjoy 4K resolution and 60fps gameplay. Additionally, those who purchase from the PlayStation Store will have access to exclusive themes.

Pre-Order Today!
Xbox One | PlayStation 4

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Persona 5 The Royal to release on March 31st 2020 in western territories, Phantom Thieves Edition announced

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The western release date for Persona 5 The Royal has been revealed for March 31st 2020. This updated version of Persona 5 keeps the base game, but expands on it with new content. This includes a new party member called Kasumi Yoshizawa, a new area of Tokyo to explore, new Social Links, a new story arc, and more. It will be exclusive to the Playstation 4.

In addition, Atlus has revealed a new special edition of the game, officially called the Phantom Thieves Edition. This Phantom Thieves Edition will come packed with the game, Joker’s mask with a stand, steel book, soundtrack, collector’s box, art book, and a dynamic Playstation 4 theme. However the regular prints will also include the steel book and dynamic Playstation 4 theme too. You can pre-order the standard or the Phantom Thieves Edition below from Amazon, priced at $59.99 and $89.99 respectively.

Standard | Phantom Thieves Edition

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Bubble Bobble 4 Friends to include SEGA Mark III game Final Bubble Bobble in Special Edition

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Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, the latest installment in the Bubble Bobble series, is currently available in European countries for the Nintendo Switch, with a Japanese release currently being planned for February 27, 2020. The Japanese release will also have a separate Special Edition release, that will include the game plus extra bonuses like a soundtrack and a book collecting different Bubble Bobble material.

The Japanese release however comes with an additional bonus for those that pre-order. The SEGA Mark III version of Bubble Bobble, officially called Final Bubble Bobble, will be included as a bonus game for those that preorder from Amazon with a special Cyber Monday deal between December 6th and December 9th. For reference, Final Bubble Bobble is a port of the arcade game Bubble Bobble, but also includes additional content such as the inclusion of a 100 more stages, and more items and bosses. It’s currently unknown if the North American release will have a similar deal, or if the Final Bubble Bobble DLC will later be included to those that haven’t pre-ordered.

[Source: Japanese Bubble Bobble 4 Friends Website]

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SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone releasing on November 28th in Japan

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SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone has a release date. You’ll be able to visit the Fantasy Zone once again this coming November 28th in Japan. It will be available on the Nintendo Switch Japanese eShop for ¥999.

SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone is based on the SEGA 3D version on the 3DS, Fantasy Zone Opa-Opa Bros. Like that version of the game, SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone will give you the ability to hoard coins and optionally use them in repeated playthroughs, and brings back the Upa-Upa mode. In Upa-Upa mode, you play as Opa-Opa’s titular brother, as you have every weapon freely available to you, but using these weapons uses up money as ammunition. In addition, players can also potentially fight the bosses from the Master System version under certain conditions, and there’s a new time attack mode which tasks the player to beat the game in the fastest time possible.

[Source: Official Website]

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Let’s Remember Sonic Unleashed 11 Years After Release – Twitter Edition

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SEGA’s Sonic Unleashed was a very important game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it was the birth of a brand new ‘boost Sonic’ formula that would extend to Sonic Colors, Generations and even the latest Forces video game. At the same time it was also the start of focusing on Sonic and abandoning the friends that became mainstay since the release of Sonic Adventure.

To celebrate, I asked on Twitter what our audience thought about Sonic Unleashed, all these 11 years later. First we had a 3 hour long poll that got 459 votes and hot takes from fans:

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Persona character designer creates a new character for Project Sakura Wars

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We heard not that long ago that SEGA and Atlus are working on a new game for next generation consoles, but it seems that development teams are already working together. It was announced that Persona character designer Shigenori Soejima actually worked on a unique character for Project Sakura Wars, introducing Hakushu Murasame (pictured above).

She was revealed during a Project Sakura Wars Japanese stream, where it showed her talking to her student, Sakura Amamiya and Seijuro Kaimiyama. She plays a competent, composed character through the presentation. We also know she will be voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro who played Elizabeth from the Velvet Room attendant and made her debut in Persona 3. While Hakushu Mursame is getting the attention, it seems that Ken Sugimori (Pokemon) is also making a character for the game, which is shown off in this new video.

You can check out the two hour Project Sakura Wars stream right here. So this project has the redesign done by Tite Kubo (Bleach), Shigenori Soejima (Persona), Ken Sugimori (Pokemon), and even Noizi Ito (Fire Emblem Heroes)? That’s quite the art team.

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