SEGA News

SEGA Networks is investing in Western mobile developers

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SEGAnetworks
This was actually posted over at Gamasutra an hour ago and seems the article was taking down. The article was about how SEGA Networks has been investing money in Western mobile developers this month, some of the studios being ‘up and coming’. As you know, SEGA has been trying to focus on the ‘free-to-play’ market, even recently made a deal with Gumi so that they could bring their Japanese mobile games to America. They are the ones that have published the popular Chain Chronicles.

So what studios has SEGA Networks invested money in?

  • Demiurge Studios: A Boston based studio that made Marvel Puzzle Quest (and a ton of other games) is now owned by SEGA. Studio founder Albert Reed will take a executive role at SEGA and work on running the studio.
  • Space Ape Games: SEGA has a majority stake in a UK-based developer that created the F2P title Samurai Siege. The developer recently announced that it raised $7 million dollars in funding, is preparing for its second F2P title that SEGA Networks will release in Japan.
  • Ignited Artists: Is a new developers studio based in San Francisco. As of now they haven’t released a game.

Since SEGA Networks released Super Monkey Ball on the Apple app store in 2008, they have put out over 85 mobile games and if the way things are going forward mean anything, is that they will continue to grow the business. Their last mobile studio they purchased was Hardlight Studios that have delivered the massively successful Sonic Dash and Crazy Taxi: City Rush games. If anything in the story changes, we will keep you updated.

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SEGA-AM2 is developing a arcade game based on Kantai Collection

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If you never heard of Kantai Collection (or KanColle as the fans say), its a free-to-play browser game created by Kadokawa Games and is actually a card collecting game. The browser game has over 2.5 million regisitered users and the franchise has been spreading to other media like manga (more than one series), anime series and even a licensed tabletop role-playing game.

The franchise is rising to popularity fast, with the browser game only launching in 2013. SEGA of course wants in on the action, seeing how highly successful other ventures like Hatsune Miku (Which AM2 developed the arcade version of this game) have been for the company.

Personally would rather have SEGA-AM2 announce a new internal IP, instead of doing a license game (especially a card game). But you never know what the future has in store…

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SEGA files trademark for “Shining Seed”

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Shining Resonance Yuuma Jenius

News has just broken about SEGA’s trademark for “Shining Seed” going public. Gematsu writes that SEGA filed the trademark application on January 28th, with the trademark finally going public on February 10th. This is almost certainly the title for the next entry in the Shining series, though it’s hard to say what’s next in store for the franchise. Shining Resonance, which released last year on December 11th, was actually the first Shining game to appear on the seventh generation of consoles, and that generation is nearing its end.

Since its release in Japan, Shining Resonance has been regularly supported by DLC from SEGA. There’s been no word on Shining Resonance’s localization prospects as of yet.

Do you have something in mind for the future of the Shining series? Write back in the comments!

 

Article image courtesy of Gematsu.

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Swingin’ Report Show #75: Interview with Lisle Wilkerson – Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi voice actress

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We celebrate 75 episodes in style on this week’s Swingin’ Report Show podcast! Joining us for an interview is Lisle Wilkerson, best known to SEGA fans for her voice work on Shenmue II, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi. Learn what it’s like growing up in Japan and recording for some of SEGA’s greatest Dreamcast and arcade titles. Lisle also tells us about her correspondence work and her acting work on Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation with Bill Murray.

Then, George and Barry discuss the recent news of SEGA of America’s restructuring, dissecting SEGA Sammy’s official document to figure out what exactly we can expect in the future from SEGA. So what are you doing still reading this? We have a special guest and big SEGA news! Click play and enjoy our 75th show!

Don’t forget to follow Lisle Wilkerson on Twitter and Facebook!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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3D Streets of Rage 2 gets rated in Australia, could come to your 3DS soon

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SEGA’s 3D Classics on the 3DS eShop seem to be a hit, at least enough so for the company to bring more obscure titles to the platform (like 3D Thunder Blade). Recently ‘3D Streets of Rage 2‘ was submitted in Australia for rating, a game that hasn’t been announced yet. As you can see, the developer is being listed as M2, the same developer that has done the past 3D Classics and the game was submitted by SEGA Europe.

Don’t be surprised if SEGA announces the game soon, along with some really nice extra features to add to the overall experience. Online co-op, please!

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Game Boy Advance classic Sonic Advance hitting the Japanese Wii U eShop next week

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Nintendo’s Japanese site has officially revealed that the Game Boy Advance classic Sonic Advance, seen by many fans to be the best post classic era 2D title, will be hitting the Japanese Wii U eShop on February 18th. The game is priced at ¥702 ($5.90/£3.90) and is set to take up 200MB of storage space, much larger in size than the original game but remember this includes a digital copy of the manual.

There is no indication of the game releasing to the West just yet, and there is no sign of the sequels, but we have our fingers crossed and as soon as we hear something we’ll be sure to share it! Me? I’d love to see SEGA’s entire library of Game Boy Advance games on the Wii U. From Jet Grind Radio to Gunstar Super Heroes. A man can dream…

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Regarding Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Remastered – Guest Post by Stealth

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[The following is a guest post about the Sonic 3 Remastered campaign written by Stealth, who with Taxman made the Retro Engine versions of Sonic 1 and 2 which can currently be bought for iOS and Android. They had also made a proof-of-concept of Sonic 3 running in the engine on the iPhone. This was originally posted on Stealth’s own blog, so it’s written in a way you can expect from a post on a personal blog.]

Intro

Before I start, I’ll first say that I’m speaking as an individual, and not on behalf of any other party, team, business entity, etc. As such, I will speak only for and of myself, without regard to other parties who may want to remain uninvolved.

With the exception of the anniversary presentation from October, I’ve remained relatively silent on the subject of remastering Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Naturally, this is expected of me as someone who has already contracted with SEGA, would be a part of the Sonic 3 remastering project, and would potentially perform work under contract for SEGA again in the future, however, I no longer feel that it’s appropriate to maintain near-complete silence in contrast to my own personal feelings as an individual and as a fan of classic Sonic the Hedgehog.

Continue Reading ➜

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Alien: Isolation leads BAFTA Games Awards 2015 with six nominations

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The BAFTA Games Awards nominees for the 2015 ceremony have been revealed, and lo and behold SEGA leads the pack with six nominations! Seems last year’s Alien: Isolation made quite the impression, as The Creative Assembly’s survival horror game is up for awards for Audio Achievement, Best Game, British Game, Game Design, Game Innovation, and Music. The slew of awards was no surprise to us here at SEGAbits, as we loved the game so much we gave it a glowing review and named it one of our favorite SEGA games of 2014. Congrats to SEGA and The Creative Assembly on the nominations, and stay tuned to SEGAbits to see how they cleaned up once the winners are revealed on March 12th!

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First 4 Figures Sonic & Tails Tornado diorama pre-orders open

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Last week, First 4 Figures teased a very cool Sonic & Tails Tornado statue which was the second in their Sonic Diorama line. Today, pre-orders have officially opened, and we now have a whole slew of photos, the dimensions, the expected release date, and most importantly – the price! Selling for $299.99 the diorama measures 17.5” tall x 14” long x 14” wide, is limited to 1000 pieces, and is expected to release Q4 2015 (the pre-order page accidentally lists “Q4 2014”). There is also an exclusive version, priced at $329.99, limited to 425 pieces, and featuring the inclusion of LEDs to give the rocket booster a flashing effect.

As you can see in the photos, found on the First 4 Figures pre-order page, the statue is a real beauty and is sure to be a hit with classic Sonic fans. But is it worth the asking price? Are you planning to pre-order the latest diorama? Sound off in the comments section!

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3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Brothers hits 3DS eShop this week

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Ask us if we like Fantasy Zone. Now look at our logo, stop asking questions, you dingus. Luckily for us and even luckier for you, SEGA has announced that their next SEGA 3D Classic port that’s coming west is Fantasy Zone.

The game isn’t just a regular port as it will add new 3D visuals, adjustable difficultly settings, the ability to save your game, let you play the Japanese or English version, a stage select, and if that wasn’t enough they will have a brand new mode that allows you to play as Upa-Upa (Opa-Opa’s brother).

The official SEGA blog has a great interview with Yosuke Okunari and Naoki Horii talking all about bringing the game to the 3DS.

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First 4 Figures teases Sonic & Tails Tornado diorama statue

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The First 4 Figures Facebook page is teasing an upcoming statue in the Sonic Diorama series of statues. Dubbed “The Tornado”, this impressive piece is to feature Sonic, Tails, and the Tornado bi-plane. Pre-orders are set to open Tuesday 10th Feb 2015 at First4Figures.com. Though no price is known yet, the previous Sonic Generations diorama sold for $299.99 and measured 12” x 10” x 12”. Let the countdown begin!

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Hi-sCool! Seha Girls complete series getting a physical release in the West

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SpaceChannel

Hi-sCool! Seha Girls (or Sega Hard Girls) has been released digitally over in the West thanks to CrunchyRoll, but now that the show is over fans can expect a physical release. No information on if the series will be released on both DVD and Bluray or what.

The series will be published by Discotek Media and was confirmed via their Facebook earlier today. Here is the picture of the cover (which is the same one on the CrunchyRoll page), featuring quite a bit of SEGA cameos that you can find in the full show.

You can also find our written impressions on some of the episodes here.

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SEGA releases the first Sonic Runners teaser trailer, gameplay details and more

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Sonic Runners is going to be Sonic Team’s big Sonic the Hedgehog mobile developed game and SEGA has finally released the first teaser trailer. You can watch it above. The trailer basically goes through the history of Sonic Team developed Sonic games and starts off with a counter, counting down the years to 2015…

Something to note: The trailer only shows off the retro series and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (if you count that as part of the retro series). Could this game be more influenced by older retro style Sonic games instead of the recent games?

SEGA also launched a site for the game which revealed that the game will be released in 2015 in Japan for free with premium items available. The game will be available for iPhone 4S and above, iPad 2 or later running iOS 7.0 or above. If you are on Android, you will have to be running OS 2.3 or later (Which means almost any Android phone released can play it.)

The site features an image of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles running through Sonic Lost World‘s Windy Hill with Chao and the Mother Wisp from Sonic Colors DS floating above. Could the classic clips and Sonic 4 indicate that Sonic Team sees Sonic Runners as a successor to the originals, or hint toward a gameplay style? What’s with the Chao and Wisps?

UPDATE: An interview between Iizuka and Famitsu lists a end of February release for the game in Japan. From what we can understand from the interview, characters will run forward on their own and Eggman will make appearances during stages which there appears to be 50 of at first (if we are reading the translation correctly). Tails and Knuckles are also playable, but Sonic is the only character initially available. Famitsu also went hands-on with the game, mentioning a cutscene featuring Sonic, Tails, and Eggman. Jumping appears to vary based on where you tap on the screen, possibly indicating that you tap on enemies to homing attack. The Eggman boss battle appears to have Sonic throwing or knocking back Eggman’s projectiles to defeat him.

What are your thoughts?

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA of America going through another huge restructure, main office is relocating

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sega

Here we go again.

First it was Europe, now SEGA of America is getting hit with some major restructuring. In a statement released earlier today, SegaSammy Holdings announced an “Implementation of structure reform” for SEGA of America. Included in this are some potential layoffs in the forms of “voluntary Retirement” and the San Francisco office moving to a new location in Southern California. Also, there will be a more narrow focus on the “amusement business” division.

However, it’s not all bad news. There will be a reinforcement in the “Sonic and merchandising businesses” and the PC and Mobile divisions will be getting a stronger push possibly due to strong current sales in those markets. The full statement can be found here.

I hope that not too many people are affected by the downsizing and those that do find themselves out of a job, that they find a new one quickly. I guess we shall see how this goes for SEGA.

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Attention Westerners: Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is coming to PS3 & Vita Summer 2015

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Another localization from SEGA is hitting Western consoles this year! Announced on the official Playstation blog, the light novel 2D fighter Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is set for a Western release exclusively to PS3 and PS Vita in Summer 2015, both digitally and at retail for the US and digital only for Europe. If you want to know what the game is all about, we’d advise you check out Kori-Maru’s 2014 SEGA Game of the Year pick and read SEGA’s announcement at the Playstation blog.

Between this, the SEGA 3D Classics, and Yakuza 5 – it’s a great time for localizations from SEGA West!

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