If you have been waiting the Sonic X and SEGA Hard Girls blu-ray and DVD releases, you might not have to wait too long since they are coming by the end of the year. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss the upcoming Sonic X and SEGA Hard Girls releases, talk about physical media and what you need to know about these newer releases. Is anyone here going to pick up the Sonic X DVDs or the SEGA Hard Girls Blurays?
Sonic Boom Fire & Ice is not exactly a game people are enthusiastic about, essentially being overshadowed by the stigma of the Sonic Boom sub-series starting with the infamous Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric and being ignored in favor of the fan love letter Sonic Mania. However (ironically) SEGA of Japan is still trying to promote Sonic Boon Fire & Ice (There called Sonic Toon Fire & Ice) for it’s October 27th, 2016 release date by releasing trailers that highlights the characters Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks.
Each trailer shows off the capabilities of each character via gameplay, highlighting specific techniques each character utilizes and examples of how they can be used. Said trailers also highlights the Fire and Ice gimmick and how each character utilizes them. Examples including Sonic being able to boost vertically both upwards and downwards, Amy using her hammer to create a shockwave that can lower pillers, Knuckles digging creating explosions if he creates a circle in a similar vein to the Paraloop mechanic in NiGHTS into Dreams, Tails’ ability to shoot enemies with a laser, and Stick’s boomerang.
While the Japanese have to wait for another month for Sonic Boom Fire & Ice, for those that live outside of Japan they have the luxury of playing the game this month, September 27th for the USA and September 30th for Europe.
Click below to see the trailers for Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks
Valkyria Chronicles got a surprise collaboration with the Wargaming title World of Tanks Blitz, which as the name implies is a mobile version of the MMO World of Tanks involving 20th-century war vehicles like varies types of tanks. The collaboration brings with it two new tanks, the Edelweiss—a fast and maneuverable medium tank with a good gun and stabilization from Valkyria Chronicles,and The Nameless—a heavy tank with excellent front armor and powerful armament based on the Nameless Tank from Valkyria Chronicles 3.
The event for these Valkyria Chronicles inspired tanks originally began on September 15th, 2016 (Thursday) at 18:00 UTC+8 (10:00 UTC) and is slated to end on September 30th, 2016 (Friday) at 17:00 UTC+8 (09:00 UTC). Players can buy both Edelweiss and The Nameless for the price of $44.99, or getting the two tanks separately for $24.99.
The Wonder Boy/Monster World series has been getting an abnormal amount of love recently. On top of the new installment Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom and the remake of the SEGA Master System game Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Curse (which we wrote an article about), a new remake of the first Wonder Boy by Cyberfront Korea has been announced and set for a fall release on Steam called Wonder Boy Returns.
Long before the franchise became the copyright hell it’s known as today, the first Wonder Boy was a modest arcade game, with the goal to simply reach the end and chuck axes when necessary while collecting fruit to prevent your stamina from running out, with the simply premise of the titular Wonder Boy saving his girl Tina. Now enjoy the same experiences of the first Wonder Boy title with… erm… “modernized” visuals and music that really stresses the conventions of modern day PC gaming. But the interesting part though is that unlike the other revivals and remakes, this one actually does have a SEGA copyright with the game. Truly associating themselves with the highest quality games possible was their priority with this one.
Discotek Media has given fans of the Sonic X and Sega Hard Girls TV shows an update on their North American DVD releases via a Facebook post detailing all of their upcoming titles. The Sonic X Seasons 1 and 2 Collection, which was originally due out September 27th, has been moved to November 8th of this year. The Sonic X Season 3 DVD collection, which will round out the series, is set to release a month later on December 6th. Both Sonic X sets will only feature the English language version of the series, which is sure to annoy purists and delight Mike Pollock fans.
As for Hi-sCool! Seha Girls (Sega Hard Girls), the company still plans on giving the series a DVD and blu-ray release and they will be picking a date soon.
The Sonic the Hedgehog social media team has just unearthed a long lost infomercial for the upcoming Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition! Created as an homage to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ad, the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition ad shows off the bonus items found inside the Spring 2017 release including the statue of Sonic standing on a Genesis/Mega Drive, the metallic game code card and the game cartridge that contains a gold ring. The ad also notes that the box can hold ANY tacklebox. Keep your eyes peeled for cameos from Kazuyuki Hoshino, Takashi Iizuka (in shirt form) and Aaron Webber (congrats!).
Pre-order the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition today, available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Have you ever wanted a Bayonetta amiibo figure? Well, Platinum Games just teased a Bayonetta amiibo they have been working on for Bayonetta 2’s second year anniversary. This also goes with the fact that Bayonetta was also featured in Super Smash Bros Wii U & 3DS. According to Bayonetta 2 director Yusuke Hashimoto, the above picture is all they can show us due to the team still working on getting her just right.
“I’m afraid that this little taste is all I can give you right now, since we’re still working hard to get her just right. But I assure you that we’re going to capture everything you know and love about Bayonetta – every detail down to the exact sizes of her glasses and eyes – and bring you an amiibo that’ll meet your every expectation.” – Yusuke Hashimoto (Director Bayonetta 2)
What do you think about the Bayonetta amiibo and is this a character you would like to add to your growing collection? Let us know in the comments below. Bayonetta 2 came out in Japan on September 20, 2014, while everyone outside of Japan got it towards the end of October 2014. All I can say is, my body is ready for Bayonetta 3 (too soon?).
While recently talking to IGN, Yakuza 6 producer Toshihiro Nagoshi said he really hoped gamers would appreciate all the work that went into making the gameplay experience seamless by cutting out loading screens. This is something that the team has always struggled with, but gotten better as the series progressed. It seems that Yakuza 6 will take out those pesky loading screens (and not just hide them).
“We’ve worked hard to make this game completely seamless. You can engage in the central adventure, get into battles, watch drama scenes, and go back to the adventure, all without any loading screens. Go into any building or any room or any floor without loading.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yakuza 6 Producer
Of course this is all thanks to the new Yakuza 6 engine that was built for the PlayStation 4 hardware. If you didn’t already guess it, Nagoshi claims that the power of the PlayStation 3 kept them from achieving this. I don’t know if I personally buy that, considering how there have been many open world games without noticeable loading released last generation. Yakuza 6 comes out in Japan on December 8, 2016.
SEGA has announced that they have acquired Technosoft’s library of video game IPs, which makes sense since they announced earlier today that they will be adding Technosoft’s Thunder Force III to the new SEGA 3D Archives volume. Now we know that the reason for this is the fact that SEGA has acquired Technosoft’s games. But what have they made? Not too much that is overly popular these days, especially in America. I would say Thunder Force is their most well known franchise.
Some of Technosoft’s franchises:
Thunder Force (AGAIN!)
Herzog Zwei
Elemental Master
Hyper Reverthion
SEGA did say during the SEGA 3D Archives stage show that they are looking into reprinting Thunder Force IV, V and even Herzog Zwei. So now SEGA adds another lump sum of Japanese IPs to its already full belt line, what do you think of this news?
Previously, we reported a new trailer for SEGA 3D Archives 3: Final Stage at Tokyo Game Show 2016 that highlighted the currently revealed 6 games. However the event has revealed the 7th game in the collection, and surprisingly it’s the Technosoft title Thunder Force III.
Tokyo Game Show 2016 revealed a new trailer for Valkyria: Azure Revolution, the latest installment in the Valkyria franchise by Media.Vision and SEGA. This trailer focuses on the story of Valkyria: Azure Revolution, with the story being about a nation discovering a special material called Ragnite, the source of “Magic Arts” that brought many blessings to the world, creating the titular “Azure Revolution”. But this revolution would come at a cost, as the Rus Empire gains rapid industrial and societal expansion, creating a monopoly in European territories.
The only thing that can stop the Rus Empire is Jutland, a small economically blockaded country that strives for independence from the colonel rule. The trailer highlights varies characters you will encounter along the way, such as the protagonists Ophelia and Amleth, The Circle of Five (Aka Five Grand Criminals), and the Valkyria Brunhild. However no gameplay is shown.
Valkyria: Azure Revolution will release on the PS4 on January 19, 2017 in Japan.
Fans anticipating an engaging and entertaining game from the recent exhibition of Space Channel 5 VR: Ukiuki Viewing Show at Tokyo Game Show 2016 might want to throttle their expectations of the experience. At least for now.
This footage (from twitter user @mutedpsyborg) of a woman interacting with the VR game reveals that players simply flail their arms about while Ulala and the morolians do their thing on-screen. It’s a bit disappointing, as the HTC Vive’s controllers definitely offer the opportunity to emulate the classic Space Channel 5 experience by mimicking the game’s commands.
Perhaps this apparent marketing stunt was simply to gauge interest in the franchise currently or the possibility of a truly interactive Space Channel 5 VR game. Fan attention on social media since it’s announcement has shown there’s definitely some level of excitement about the possibility, but Sega and company need to actually deliver a compelling experience if they pursue it.
As of this time, no formal announcement has been made about the future of Space Channel 5 VR: Ukiuki Viewing Show.
One of the reasons we here at SEGAbits love the Yakuza series is due to its wacky look at Japanese culture, that is totally unique to what game developers have been doing in the last 15 years. But according to Toshihiro Nagoshi, the team did think about making a Yakuza game set outside of Japan:
“We have considered it, because there was a feeling that we’d like the Yakuza series to be better known overseas. But the idea disappeared right away. The series was originally intended to target Japanese players, and so setting it overseas would conflict with that original concept, and the popularity of the series within Japan might decline as a result. Also, in terms of marketing, there was concern about the global appeal of a Japanese main character anyway. So it seemed to be tricky.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, Producer Yakuza series
During the IGN Japan interview with Toshihiro Nagoshi, he did mention that that the team gets more comments from players overseas as the franchise grows and that they do pay attention. He admitted that the player base in the West is rather small, at around 100,000 consumers which is bigger than I assumed. Even tho Nagoshi teases about a Yakuza game set outside of Japan, it seems that if that were to happen, it would be centered around China since that market seems to have grown rapidly in the last few years. According to Nagoshi, the Asian market increased its sales from a few percentages of total sold games to about 20% of sales for the franchise’s last game (Yakuza 0). That is quite the rise, especially for a more Japanese focused game.
Personally, I’m not interested in a Yakuza game set outside of Japan, but what are your thoughts on the matter? What country would you like to see Kazuma Kiryu travel to? Let us know in the comments below!
In SEGA’s latest installment in its long running Yakuza series, a lot is riding on giving the series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu a strong send off. To accomplish that, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has made a string of changes and brought back a host of ex-characters to give the legendary gangster one last, great, final adventure. Reporting live from Tokyo Game Show for SEGAbits, I’m ready to share my hands-on impressions with Ryū ga Gotoku 6. Hit the break to find out more.
We still haven’t seen tests, but hopefully this gets a few new people playing the game since its basically dead online. But hey, what are your thoughts? Personally feel that if I get a Xbox One, i’ll be spending lots of time playing Xbox 360 games and not sure if that is a good thing.
