SEGA News

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Data Discs announces seventh SEGA vinyl release: Golden Axe I & II

August 25, 2016 by Barry

Data Discs has announced the seventh in their line of SEGA vinyls, the soundtrack to the iconic arcade games Golden Axe and Golden Axe II. Featuring awesome artwork on the sleeve as well as two lithographic prints, the records themselves will be pressed in a translucent gold or classic black vinyl. A third limited edition will feature a purple swatch effect, seen in the photo above. Fans of SEGA art should enjoy the albums cover, which is said to be rare artwork from the Japanese release of the game sourced from SEGA’s archives.

The records are completed and ready to ship, priced at £19.99, however Data Discs requires two weeks to fulfill all orders. Sales begin on Saturday, August 27th at the Data Discs website.

Watch Puyo Puyo Chronicle’s First Gameplay Footage

August 24, 2016 by George

SEGA has streamed about 7 minutes of Puyo Puyo Chronicle gameplay showing off its action puzzle RPG elements that has gotten me so excited to play it. The stream was part of their ‘Sega-Nama’ live streaming show hosted by Toshihiro Nagoshi. If you missed it we posted about Puyo Puyo Chronicle‘s the announcement, first trailer and even had a whole SEGA News Bits episode talking about the game.

Puyo Puyo Chronicle will be heading exclusively to the Nintendo 3DS and will release in Japan on December 8, 2016 for 5,490 yen ($54.77 USD) which is actually a bit less than a full price Nintendo 3DS game in Japan. No Western release has been announced thus far, but you never know. We did get 7th Dragon III Code VFD.

[Source: Gematsu]

Pre-registration opens for SEGA’s mobile game War Pirates – created by Jet Set Radio director Masayoshi Kikuchi

August 23, 2016 by Barry

Way back in December 2015 we reported that SEGA had quietly launched War Pirates on Android. Known in Japan as Sen No Kaizoku, War Pirates is a turn based naval combat game mixed with city building starring pirates, and was created by Masayoshi Kikuchi – best known for his work on the Jet Set Radio and Yakuza franchises. The free-to-play game has been testing for a while now, but it seems thing are finally ramping up to a full release as a pre-registration page has opened, allowing future players to sign up to obtain a special character. War Pirates is set to release soon to the App Store and Google Play store.

While we know mobile gaming is the red headed step child when it comes to SEGA gaming platforms, we do hope once it releases people give it a fair chance. I mean, a pirate game from the director of Jet Set Radio sounds pretty cool, right?

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Puyo Puyo Chronicle Debut Trailer Hits The Net

August 19, 2016 by George

SEGA has officially released the first details, trailer and screenshots for Puyo Puyo Chronicle, a action puzzle RPG for the Nintendo 3DS. The trailer above is being dubbed the ‘game introduction trailer’ that shows off the game’s new 3D character models debuting exclusively on Puyo Puyo Chronicle.

Puyo Puyo Chronicle will set you off in a world of mysteries as you play as Allie and have Carbuncle as your companion. Expect a lot of quests, towns and dungeon explorations throughout the full game. Oh yeah, also puzzles.

To check out SEGA’s description of Puyo Puyo Chronicles and see more screenshots, hit the jump.

Rez Infinite physical game copy, vinyl and art book revealed

August 18, 2016 by George

It was recently announced that iam8bit will be publishing a physical copy of REZ Infinite on the PlayStation 4. This will be their first physically published game by the company. They are also releasing a REZ Infinite vinyl soundtrack that comes with a 7″bonus vinyl and a retrospective book. They have more goodies on their REZ Infinite Collection store page like t-shirts, form pins and such.

These are what you can get now:

REZ Infinite PlayStation 4 physical game – $39.99
Rez – Vinyl Soundtrack 2xLP + Retrospective Book + 7” Bonus Vinyl – $75.00
Level 01 Player Form Shirt – $28.00
Shirt by Phil Fish – $24.00
Player Form 00 Pin – $10.00
Level 03 Player Form Pin – $10.00

As shown above one of the shirts is designed by Phil Fish, the infamous developer behind the indie hit game Fez. Pre-orders open tomorrow at 9AM PDT. This is a very tempting collection to have, especially for big REZ fans from the Dreamcast days. What are your thoughts about the collection?

Monster Boy’s GamesCom Demo Looks Fantastic

August 18, 2016 by George

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, which is a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy games and is being released by Atelier Games and FDG Entertainment. The game had a pretty nice demo at Gamescom, sadly we didn’t make it but this video will show you all the Monster Boy goodness we missed out on playing. I’ll be honest, there is something about the game’s art style that just doesn’t sit 100% right with me and I can’t put my finger on it. Not saying the game looks terrible, just preferences in art style. Maybe its something i’ll grow to like once I start playing it myself.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is set for release later this year on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Want to know more about the game? Check out our podcast with Monster Boy director Fabien Demeulenaere. What you think about this game? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via: Siliconera]

Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live coming West on October 14

August 17, 2016 by George

[Behold, the future of dating and gaming]

I don’t wanna say that I called it, but I called it! I wrote an article about how SEGA was submitting ratings in countries outside of Japan for Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live, saying I wouldn’t be surprised if its a PlayStation VR launch title in the West. Guess what? Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live is a launch title for the PlayStation VR.

Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live has been confirmed for both America and Europe which is coming via the PlayStation Store (digital only it seems). If you are lucky enough to be attending Gamescom this week, SEGA has a playable demo at the PlayStation Booth so you can enjoy Hatsune Miku in her VR glory.

This is the future boys, no more need for girlfriends.

[Via: Nichegamer]

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Japanese Pre-Order Items Are Very Tempting

August 17, 2016 by George

It seems that SEGA of Japan will be having some really tempting Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary themed pre-order items for the upcoming Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (called Sonic Toon in Japan) on the Nintendo 3DS. The Japanese site ebten.jp (You can buy the set on Play Asia outside of Japan) has two versions Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, one being just a pre-order for the game and a Sonic 25th Anniversary set which comes with the following:

Flat acrylic cut outs of Sonic the Hedgehog doing random poses and even has one of him sleeping. There are 7 patterns in total and it comes with a stand to display the cut outs (one at a time of course). Perfect to put around your desk. Note: while it looks like classic Sonic, he still has green eyes.
Sonic 25th Anniversary Mug which is a blue wrap around design featuring a white outline of Sonic’s head. On the other side of the mug we have a small cute, chubby classic Sonic.
Sonic 25th Anniversary 3D Crystal which looks pretty awesome (video of how it looks below). It is a crystal cube with 3D stereoscopic laser engraving of classic Sonic doing his famous finger wage pose and the Sonic 25th Anniversary logo in the back. The crystal changes color depending on the angle as well! The item is 50 × 80 × 50mm in size.
Sonic 25th Anniversary Nintendo 3DS theme. This digital theme will cycle through eras of Sonic’s 25 years as you select things in the Nintendo 3DS main menu. So far this digital Nintendo 3DS theme has only been shown for the Japanese release. You can see that in motion after the jump.

So how much is this all going to cost you? The Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice 25th Anniversary pre-order set costs 9,504 yen not including shipping (about $95 USD) and comes with all the items pictured here along with a copy of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice. The set won’t ship until the games Japanese release date of October 27th, 2016. Of course since the Nintendo 3DS is region locked, that a Japanese copy of Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice would be useless but look at the sweet 3D crystal! Want to see more of that Sonic 25th Anniversary 3D crystal in action? Hit that jump.

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Yakuza 6 will introduce nine new characters

August 16, 2016 by George

The Yakuza series has always been known for its wide array of colorful characters, Yakuza 6 will be no exception. SEGA finally let the cat out of the bag on nine new characters that will appear in Yakuza 6, via the Weekly Famitsu magazine. One of the characters that was shown off is even being played by Ishimoto Doronzu (Happy Landing) which is another Japanese movie actor to add to the growing list already on cast.

Hit the jump to get details on all nine new characters that will appear in Yakuza 6. The characters will make their video debut on SEGA’s Sega-Nama live stream next Thuesday, August 23rd. You can watch it on Niconico or AbemaTV Fresh.

Puyo Puyo Chronicle announced for Nintendo 3DS – just in time for the franchise’s 25th anniversary!

August 16, 2016 by Barry

The latest issue of Japan’s Famitsu magazine has revealed a new installment in the Puyo Puyo franchise, due out later this year. Titled Puyo Puyo Chronicle, the game is described as a puzzle RPG timed to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary. The story involves the franchise’s heroes Arle and Carbuncle entering an alternate world, in which they must work with a girl name Arie to return to their own world. Graphics will be in 3D and players will be able to explore freely – so apparently no sprites or pre-set paths. Outside of the RPG mode, the game will also feature traditional Puyo Puyo play, featuring seventeen different rules found in past games.

The game will also feature a mode called “Boss Fight With Everyone” in which players team up with a party of four via local connectivity to battle a boss. The game also promises over sixty sub-quests. In terms of packaging, a special Anniversary Box has been announced, which will contain a soundtrack, a vocal track, a drama CD and a 25th anniversary theme for your 3DS. The game is set to release in Japan on December 8th of this year. Sadly, no word of an American release, and given SEGA’s Western track record with the franchise it is unlikely. Then again, 7th Dragon III: Code: VFD happened, so never say never.

[Source: Siliconera]

Monster Boy’s Gamescom Trailer Looks Wonderful

August 15, 2016 by George

We are very excited over here to get our hands on Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom later this year. If you haven’t heard, Monster Boy is a successor to the Wonder Boy series of games. Its crazy that we will be getting a spiritual successor and a remake of Wonder Boy III within the same time frame. I think we can consider ourselves a lucky bunch since the last official Wonder Boy game came out all the way back in 1994.

We actually got to talk to Monster Boy developer Fabien Demeulenaere on our Swingin’ Report Show Podcast where he talked about the process of getting the game off the ground, how he started working with Wonder Boy creator Ryuichi Nishizawa and how the Wonder Boy copyrights work with this title.

Check out the trailer and if its tickling your nostalgia funny bone make sure to pick it up when it launches later this year on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. More information from the developer FDG Entertainment after the jump.

SEGA Renews Virtua Fighter Trademark

August 13, 2016 by George

I saw this floating around Twitter a few days ago, but has now been covered by VFDC and Shoryuken so why not cover it? SEGA has renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark according to trademarkia on July 4th. What does renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark possibly mean for the future of the franchise? Possibly nothing, seeing as SEGA does this all the time. Back in 2012 we did a story about SEGA renewing the Skies of Arcadia trademark and now we know that didn’t mount to much.

Of course SEGA renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark to protect its IP, not to mention they still do stuff with the franchise from time to time. For example Virtua fighter characters have had cameos in games like Smash Bros, Dead or Alive 5 ,Project x Zone 1/2 and even Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. As we covered before, it has been a decade since the release of Virtua Fighter 5 and if the franchise needs anything its a new entry. Bring on Virtua Fighter 6, SEGA!

I personally think SEGA can test the market by re-releasing Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown definitive edition on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Maybe try some experiments like Tecmo Koei did with Dead or Alive which had a free-to-play version and a full package release. But anyway, what are your thoughts on SEGA renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark? What do you want to see for the future of the franchise?

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SEGA 3D Classics Collection European release date revealed

August 12, 2016 by Barry

On a special SEGA Central Live, the SEGA Europe community team released the long (too long, in our opinion) awaited release date of the boxed and digital European release of SEGA 3D Classics Collection for the Nintendo 3DS. That date… will be revealed on an upcoming live stream next week! Just kidding, the game will release to Europe on November 4th, 2016.

It was also confirmed that the game is coming to Australia, though no additional information was given.

SEGA Central Doing Live Show on August 12th

August 11, 2016 by George

SEGA Europe’s SEGA Central show will be doing a live broadcast on August 12, 2016 at 8:30 AM PST. The show promises to finally reveal the release date for SEGA 3D Classics Collection in Europe, plus talk about the latest going on with SEGA and Dan (SEGA Central host) will answer people’s questions that have been sent in.

While it doesn’t seem like SEGA Central will have something mind blowing, like a new game announcement, it is still nice that SEGA Europe are doing these types of shows. So make sure to tune in and support the show.