Playstation experience is happening now, and a special announcement was made by former SEGA developer Tetsuya Mizuguchi that Rez will be releasing to the PlayStation 4 as Rez Infinite and better yet will utilize PlayStation VR! You can see gameplay footage in the link above, and more details as we hear them.
Back in November we revealed two new trademarks from SEGA, one of which was “Soukuu no Liberation” (Liberation of the Blue Sky). While it was most likely a new game, some fans were hoping it was another Skies of Arcadia (though as I pointed out, the series is Eternal Arcadia in Japan and “sky”/”skies” aren’t unique enough to make such a connection). In any case, the cat is out of the bag and Liberation of the Blue Sky has been revealed to be a mobile RPG from SEGA heading to iOS and Android in Japan.
Based on the official game site, the game is a 2D free to play RPG and tasks the players with recapturing an Imperial City that has been invaded by an Empire. The protagonist is a guy named Roland who leads a Revolutionary Army. Gameplay features the usual RPG elements such as forming parties and a variety of character types. The game will feature both single player and four player modes and is due out this winter. After the break, check out some art from the game as well as a screenshot.
Last month, SEGA Amusements hit the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) show with their latest arcade titles. Games and rides featured included: Transformers Human Alliance – Theatre, Showdown – Twin, Storm Racer G – Motion, Lets Go Safari, Magician’s Wheel, Treasure Box, Plants Vs. Zombies Whacker, Plants Vs. Zombies The Last Stand, Captain Black’s Treasure, Sonic Sports Basketball, Sonic Sports Air Hockey, Sonic Dash Extreme, and Sonic Blast Ball. You can see a majority of these titles in the video above, and the Sonic titles appear in a video found after the break.
I’ve encountered a few of these titles in the arcade wild, most notably Transformers Human Alliance and Showdown and both are well worth your quarters (well, more like pre-loaded cards). Have you played any of these games yet?
The whole downloadable content thing is a touchy subject, in practice it should be good. Think about it, you get more content for a game you already love but most fans have been finding stuff like ‘pre-order DLC’ to be more of a rip off due to forcing users to investing in a game that hasn’t been reviewed or that we don’t know the quality of the title.
SEGA’s Creative Assembly announced that the Chaos race, a important fraction in the Warhammer universe, would only be unlocked if users pre-ordered their Total War: Warhammer video game. This obviously pissed off fans, since most Total War fans trusted Creative Assembly back in 2013 when Total War: Rome 2 (which had similar pre-order deals) smashed pre-order records; sadly the game had a bad launch. Creative Assembly did the same with Total War: Attila and Alien: Isolation, offering big pre-order exclusives that many fans felt should have just been part of the base package.
In a interview with Eurogamer, Game Designer for Total War: Warhammer Rich Aldridge tries to explain why they decided to put Chaos as a pre-order race. According to them if they didn’t get it out as pre-order content, they would have to charge later on as DLC. As much as I dislike pre-order DLC, it isn’t as bad now considering that Steam offers refunds on pre-orders if you dislike the game. What really ticks me off is all the DLC they are planning after the release. Is it too hard to buy a complete game for $60 dollars and not get nickel and dimed at every turn?
SEGA of America have just released a new batch of screens from the upcoming Yakuza 5, detailing the game’s supporting cast. Featured characters include ambitious lieutenant for the Omi Alliance Masaru Watase, the mysterious Osaka Detective, the Mad Dog of the Shimano Family Goro Majima, sadistic inmate Hiroshi Kugihara, and Sosuke Komaki. SEGA had hoped to release the game in November, but some development bugs appeared to have pushed things back. Still, the latest press release holds firm to a 2015 release date. The game will be priced at $39.99 and will release digitally to the Playstation 3.
After the break, check out the new screens!
SEGA Japan’s upcoming Yakuza remake for Playstation 4 (due out January 21st, 2016) isn’t just some ho-hum rerelease of the original game in HD, it is a full-on remake with new modes and visuals that fall in line with the franchise’s latest releases. SEGA’s recent trailer, seen above, showcases how shiny and new the classic game looks and details a new “Majima Anywhere” system. “Majima Anywhere” is pretty much what it sounds like, as fan favorite character Goro Majima will emerge from just about anywhere to randomly attack Kazuma Kiryu. The developer’s reasoning for these attacks are because Goro wants “to awaken Kiryu’s intuition” after his ten year prison stint and because he wants “to enjoy more fights.” Also revealed, Goro will have four fighting styles to choose from: “Dancer” (rapid hitting), “Fight Master” (balanced), “Slugger” (hard hitting), and “the Mad Dog of the Shimano.”
Randomly fighting Goro is said to be the only way to unleash Kazuma’s “the Dragon of the Dojima” fighting style and if players clear certain conditions they’ll be able to use some of Goro’s moves as “Heat Actions.”
[Source: Tinfinite]
Two new SEGA trademarks cropped up today from Japan: “Soukuu no Liberation” (Liberation of the Blue Sky) and “Sega Cyclone Development Kit.” No other information was given at this time, so we can only speculate as to what these two are. The first is most likely the name of a game. Some have speculated that “Liberation of the Blue Sky” is a Skies of Arcadia game, but the only reason is the mention of a sky and let’s all remember that the franchise was Eternal Arcadia in Japan. More likely, it it a new IP and if I was a gambling man I’d place my bets on mobile or arcade.
“Sega Cyclone Development Kit” is more interesting, as it is clearly a development kit (duh) for a piece of hardware called Cyclone. SEGA arcade fans might find the name familiar, as there exists a piece of motion sim hardware SEGA utilizes called Typhoon. It is possible that this is an update to the motion simulator, or another arcade related thing such as a new board. Or *sigh* it’s a new console… but honestly, after eight years of SEGA blogging and following the company since 1991 I can honestly say that I do not think this is a home console.
[Source: Gematsu]
A lovely new teaser trailer has released giving us our first good look at the recently announced new entry in the Valkyria Chronicles series, Valkyria: Azure Revolution. In addition to the trailer are eight high res screenshots (seen after the break) that show off the heroes and enemies of the game in combat. It looks like the CANVAS engine is back, however some fans are weary that the new game is dropping the strategy RPG elements and is going for a more traditional RPG approach. At this point, we don’t exactly know how Valkyria: Azure Revolution will play, but at least we now have a better idea of how it looks.
But hey, the original game will be receiving a PS4 remaster in February 2016, so SEGA isn’t brushing the old gameplay under the rug. And who knows, it could turn out to be a great game, even if it isn’t a direct gameplay followup to the originals. I recall fans bemoaning Phantasy Star Online before it released because they made the switch from turn based to an action RPG, and yet now the original PSO is beloved and considered by many to be one of SEGA’s best games.
More on Valkyria: Azure Revolution as we hear it, and in the meantime enjoy the trailer!
SEGA has just announced that they are developing a new mobile RPG entitled Fortisia, due out for Android and iOS. The game is being jointly developed with LINE, a Japanese mobile company best known for their chat application that has since grown to include games. While LINE’s past games are more geared toward casual gamers, the hope is that Fortisia will draw in “mid-core” and perhaps even hardcore gamers.
Fortisia is described as a 3D action RPG and will feature multiplayer with up to four players. While players will be able to design their own characters, as is typical with most action RPGs, one unique element to the game is that the game’s weapons (called “Fortis”) contain the spirits of warriors which can be called upon to aid in battle. It is said that there are 400 of these weapons, and they are obtained via a gacha system (think capsule toy vending machine).
You can check out the game’s official site here for more screens and details.
[Via: 4GAMER.net & JRPG.moe]
SEGA Networks has revealed Puyo Puyo!! Touch, an upcoming game for mobile devices. The game is, at the moment, Japan only and given SEGA West’s recent reskin of Puyo Puyo Quest!!, it is debatable if this would ever release in the West. Unless of course kids are scrambling for more Cranky Food Friends games.
The game is in the same vein as Candy Crush, where players drag Puyo to clear other Puyo. The game differs from Puyo Puyo Quest!! in that it is a linear adventure. The game also features a cast of characters from past Puyo Puyo games including: Ringo, Arle, Amitie, Sig, Carbuncle, Rider, Skeleton-T, Schezo and Ms. Accord. There is no release date as of yet, though players can now register for the game.
For more screens and videos, check out the official SEGAbits forum topic. Thanks for FlareHabanero for the news tip!
It was announced yesterday that the Valkyria Chronicles franchise was to live on with a fourth title in the series, Valkyria: Azure Revolution, and a remastered release of the original Valkyria Chronicles with both titles releasing to the PS4 in Japan in 2016. Today, Famitsu has released screens of the upcoming games to their website in anticipation of their full magazine article which is said to hit Japanese newsstands on November 19th. Check out the gallery after the break!
During the release of Shenmue, there existed quite a few interviews and TV specials about the game that sadly never received proper translations. Thankfully, with nothing but time on their hands between the release of Shenmue 2 and the announcement of Shenmue 3, several fans have since translated these insightful looks at the making of the game.
Recently, Shenmue Dojo member Switch went above and beyond and translated an hour long “Making of Shenmue” TV special into English, French, Spanish, and German. The special, which can be seen above, is perhaps the longest most in depth look at the game at the time of its release. As an added bonus, it also features a rare look inside SEGA during their final years as a first party developer. Thanks to Ziming of Shenmue Dojo for sending us the special!
Fans of both Sega Hard Girls TV Show and Compile Heart’s JRPG Hyperdimension Neptunia are in for a real treat with the upcoming crossover video game. The game has you playing as IF-chan along with a new character named Sega Hatsumi as you travel back in time to Sega-based eras to recover long lost history. Above is the debut trailer for the game, if you missed the opening movie you can find that here.
Hyperdimension Neptunia VS Sega Hard Girls: Dream Fusion Special hits Playstation Vita on November 26 in Japan. No western releases have been announced.
[Source: Gemastu]
The rumors were true! The latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has revealed the fourth title in the Valkyria Chronicles series, Valkyria: Azure Revolution, as well as a remastered release of the original Valkyria Chronicles – both for the Playstation 4.
As we all know Phantasy Star Online has been disconnected offline years ago. The official servers are gone, but Schtserv’s private servers remained, allowing not only Dreamcast Phantasy Star Online gamers to play anyone around the world but also PC and Gamecube. I remember his site was forbidden to talk about on the official SEGA forums way back in the day, which doesn’t surprise me one bit.
From the FAQ posted on their Facebook page asking IF the servers are officially closed:
Yes & No. If you want another type of answer, who knows? Even we staff members don’t know, in the end it is up to Crono to make the call on if it’s going to return or not. However for now, YES the server is officially closed, unless another topic is made in the future.
The domain name schtserv.com is now going to a Hostgator splash page. If your looking for alternative Phantasy Star Blue Burst servers, you can always check Ultima and Ephinea. Did you ever play on Schtserv’s private servers?
[Source: RetroCollect]