Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F 2nd coming to western countries this fall

After the successful release of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F in the west last year, SEGA has announced that the sequel will be released here as well. Unlike it’s predecessor, Project Diva F 2nd will be getting a physical release for both PS3 and Vita at the same time in both the US and Europe.

The game will have 40 songs, including both new songs and classic songs that were playable in Project Diva games only released in Japan. The Edit Mode, which allows you to make your own videos and rhythm games with in-game assets and put them online for all to download, will also be back.

You can expect the game to be released this Fall in western territories. Japan will be getting the game in just a couple of days from now, on March 27th.

Alien: Isolation to be at EGX Rezzed

AI_SCREENSHOT_980x551_0001_1393945811

If any of you reading this happen to be going to EGX Rezzed, you’re in luck, as SEGA is bringing a playable demo of Alien: Isolation to the showfloor. Besides that, a presentation will be held at 3PM GMT on Saturday where the creative director Al Hope will be sharing what progress has been made on the game. A release date more specific than late 2014 will be announced there as well.

EGX Rezzed takes place from this Friday, March 28th to Sunday, March 30th. More info about the convention can be found on the official website.

3D OutRun confirmed as the next SEGA 3D Classics title

001
 
Joining the second wave of SEGA 3D Classics releases for the Nintendo 3DS is 3D OutRun, as confirmed by the official SEGA Japan site. The first wave of releases, available now in the East and West, featured eight classic titles from the Mega Drive and arcade. Wave two, which could possibly contain another eight titles, currently is Japan only and also features 3D After Burner and 3D Fantasy Zone.

Little else is known about the release at the moment, but as soon as we learn more we’ll be sure to share it!

Yu Suzuki working on an unannounced project, thinking about crowd funding Shenmue III

YuSuzukiNewGame
Yu Suzuki has teased that he is ‘working on something’. What is this mysterious project? Is it SEGA publishing related? Who knows, he isn’t speaking about the project right now.

“Just now, I don’t have anything I can say yet,” he smiled. “I can’t announce right now – but I’m making something.”

This isn’t the first time that the idea of crowd funding Shenmue III has come up, we reported a similar story last year. This time? He says he is looking into it. So what genre do you want the upcoming, unannounce Yu Suzuki project to be? A racer? Fighting? His catalog of classic games is spread too wide between genres to please everyone.

Transformers: Human Alliance arcade cabinet unboxing

DCIM101MEDIA
SEGA’s next big arcade game in the West is ‘Transformers: Human Alliance’ which the guys over at Arcade Heroes got an unboxing of! Seems that SEGA is throwing in quite a nice promotional packages for stores that purchase the latest cabinet.

” I have to say that this is the first time I have been impressed with marketing materials to be provided with a brand new arcade game. Usually you get…nothing. On rare occasion you might get something like a poster but nothing like what comes with every single Transformers arcade machine. Kudos to Sega for giving arcade ops something more akin to what movie theaters get to promote new releases.”

Check out the gallery of assembly photos over at Arcade Heroes’ blog!

Hardlight Studio developing Crazy Taxi: City Rush for iOS and Android devices

Update: We’ve added footage of the game in action above, check it out!

SEGA’s Hardlight Studio in cooperation with Kenji Kanno, the man behind the original Crazy Taxi, are back to make more crazy money in Crazy Taxi: City Rush – coming later this year to iOS and Android devices. In an interview with Polygon, producer Stephen Ye described the upcoming free-to-play game as something for “casual players and die-hard Crazy Taxi fans in the mobile space”. A teaser trailer, found after the break, reveals that B.D. Joe has set up shop and is employing players to drive customizable cabs. The game will feature music from some licensed music from indie bands as well as offering players the ability to create their own playlists from their device’s music library.

During their hands on with the game, Polygon noted that the gas pedal is permanently floored and breaking for passengers is done via tapping the screen. Turning requires swiping or moving your finger in a specific direction. Despite the simplified controls, the game was described as being “as frantic as console versions, thanks to the need to dodge cars or quickly switch lanes”. Being a mobile title, daily challenges will be available, and if players connect to Facebook they will be able to pick up their friends as customers within the game. And, as Ye told Polygon, “the more Facebook friends you have, the more social missions you have in the game”. Players can even visit their friends garages to view their cars, and clean them to earn in-game currency.

Crazy Taxi: City Rush will release later this year worldwide, and will be released in Canada and Australia this month as part of a soft launch to prepare the game for a worldwide audience. After the break, more screens and a teaser trailer!

Cancelled Dreamcast era Sonic Adventure Burger King Kid’s Club concept art appears on ebay

$_57 (34)

An incredibly cool collection of Sonic art appeared on ebay in the form of concept art for a cancelled Burger King Kid’s Club line of Sonic Adventure toys. The listings feature ten toys, with six pieces of artwork each: a clean inked drawing, two marked up versions with notes from SEGA on color and callouts, a final inked piece, and then mock-ups of the final slip of paper you’d find packaged with the toy. The seller claims they came across the concept art in a warehouse find of several pieces of concept art for various products. This claim is backed up by several other pieces of art for various products in his ebay store. These are the only SEGA related ones, however.

As ebay listings don’t last forever, and because we can’t afford to buy all ten for $150 each ($1,500 total for 60 pieces of art), we’ve saved all the images from the listing in a gallery after the break. Had the set gone through to production, we would have seen ten toys: Rip Roaring Robotnik (spelled “Robotnic” on the art and corrected in the final version), Somersaultin’ Snowboardin’ Sonic, “Go Gamma Go!”, Knuckles Goes for a Spin, Twistin’ Twirlin’ Tails, Frog-Catchin’ Cat (oddly, Big’s name isn’t mentioned on the final version), Noisy Amy, Super Sonic Sled, Turbo-Prop Tails, and Walk ‘Em Sock ‘Em Knuckles.

After the break, a full gallery of the images from these auctions.

Reminder: Shenmue Postmortem Panel on 3/19 at 2014 GDC

The annual Game Developers Conference will be taking place in California throughout next week. There are various panels available on topics related to the gaming industry to listen in on for attendees. However, of particular note is the Shenmue Postmortem featuring then-series director Yu Suzuki and PS4 architect Mark Cerny as Suzuki’s translator. It will be taking place on March 19, 2014 at 2:00 PM US Pacific Time and will close at 3:00 PM.

Per the GDC website’s description of the panel, Yu Suzuki will be discussing the origins and development history of the first title starting as a Virtua Fighter RPG for the SEGA Saturn and its eventual release as the Dreamcast cult classic.

The GDC panels are not typically streamed or otherwise made available to non-attendees; however, Gamespot plans to stream this particular panel. With the panel fast approaching, you may want to make time to watch it if you will be available!

Alien Isolation developer diary looks at the creation of the game’s alien

SEGA has just released a developer diary for their upcoming game Alien Isolation, developed in-house by The Creative Assembly. As mentioned in countless interviews, the team’s goal is to make the alien scary again. This is a sentiment shared by many fans who have played recent Aliens titles, in which the AI was disappointing and the aliens themselves are plentiful. In Alien Isolation, players can expect a larger, less predictable, “life like” alien that is “intelligent, unpredictable, and extremely dangerous”. The aim is to make sure the player never feels safe, and every action the player makes just may influence the lone alien.

New Japanese Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed footage surfaces ft Takenobu Mitsuyoshi


SEGA of Japan has recently uploaded a new game play footage of the Japanese edition of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. This time showing off more changes such as Takenobu Mitsuyoshi as the announcer as announced before, game play modes and several characters voiced by their Japanese seiyuu . Many SEGA racing fans would be pleased to hear Mitsuyoshi-san exciting voice as they cross the finish line. At the end of the video, the SEGA All-Stars Premium Sound Collection will be available upon release. The Japanese edition of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will cross the finish line in Japan on May 15th on PS3 and WiiU.

SEGA in the Charts: MediaCreate charts for March 3 – 9 March 2014

Yakuza Ishin 13

Entering its third week in the charts, Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin was on the verge of breaking the 300,000 barrier and already overtaken Kenzan! As the second most successful spinoff in the series, the latest title set its sights on overcoming Yakuza: Of the End’s total sales. Hit the break to find out how the title performed this week and historical sales of the previous titles in the series.

Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax trailer reveals a Dreamcast console-tan

A new trailer for Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax has hit the internet, and it features a Dreamcast console-tan! What is a “console-tan”? A moe anthropomorphism of a piece of gaming hardware, in this case a Dreamcast. If you don’t know what a “moe” is, I’ll let you Google search that on your own. Given Akira and Pai from Virtua Fighter appear in the game as bosses, it is likely that the Dreamcast gal is a boss as well.

After the break, check out a full body shot of Dreamcast console-tan!

Fantasy Zone 3DS port gets screens and Opa-Opa’s brother confirmed as playable!

FantasyZone1

SEGA has announced a ton of ‘3D’ ports of classic games, we have had many of the classics already released and now there is one more to add to your list: Fantasy Zone!

In a strange turn of events it seems that the title of the original classic has been extended for the re-release, now titled Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Bros in Japan. Why the extended title? Well, it seems that Opa-Opa’s brother “Upaupa” will be playable. According to the official site, all you will have to do is complete the original game to unlock ‘Upaupa mode’. He will have multiple weapons that can be changed on the fly with the second 3DS screen.  The game is set to come out in Japan on March 19th for 762 yen.

So what else is new? Wanna see the screens? Hit the jump!