Could we see more Virtual On in 2015?

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Virtual On recently had a ‘memorial talk show’ live on Nico Nico where SEGA designer Mori Yasuhiro and model makers Volks and Hasegawa talked about the franchise’s history and creation of the model toys for the franchise. They showed off some matches and then Mori made some comments about the future of the franchise.

“Virtual On is still alive! Something might wake up [on Virtual On’s 20th anniversary]” – Mori Yasuhiro

What does this mean? Who knows. I guess we will find out sometime in 2015 when the franchise celebrates its 20th anniversary. Do you guys think there is a market for a brand new, next generation Virtual On?

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing finally debuts on Android

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Seems like SEGA took their sweet time porting over Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing to Android, especially when you consider the fact that the game came out two years ago. But hey, it’s here now and you can own it for $1.99! This is port of the DS version, cleaned up for higher resolution phones.

The game just came out and reviews aren’t that positive. Out of three reviews, two of them have been one stars and the other was three. Hopefully SEGA addresses issues of lag and other complaints.

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Yakuza Ishin’s TGS gameplay trailer has lots of slicing and dicing


SEGA has released two trailers for the upcoming Playstation exclusive, Yakuza Ishin. The first one and the one we embeded above is the gameplay trailer showing off the combat system, forging system and a few other tidbits.

Now the other trailer is the story trailer, this one uses the intro from the cinematic trailer shown off at the Sony conference, which was also awesome.  The game comes out in Japan on both Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 on February 22nd, 2014.

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Phantasy Star NOVA TGS Trailer

The trailer shows a bit of gameplay and CGI, while using the word “Confidential” a lot. Looks like PSO2 battle system with a bit of Tri-ace flavor, IMO.

Phantary Star Nova will be out on the Vita in Japan in 2014.

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SEGA in the Media: FOX’s “Dads” takes the Dreamcast hostage

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FOX’s live action sitcom Dads, from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, is one of the fall season’s worst shows reviews-wise. Perhaps the production crew knew they had a stinker on their hands and threw a Dreamcast into the set dressing. Hey, if it worked for The Drew Carey Show, it could work for them. The series follows two guys named Warner and Eli who are successful video game developers who are forced to have their fathers move in with them, thus explaining the Dreamcast sitting on Seth Green’s desk. Why a modern game developer would have so many pieces of 90’s era hardware on his work desk is unknown. Perhaps they’re indie Dreamcast developers? In any case, save yourself the trouble watching the show and just enjoy the image above.

SEGA Sammy Acquires Atlus owner Index Corp. for 14 Billion Yen

segatlusNikkei reports that SEGA Sammy Holdings has succeeded in the bid war to acquire Index Corp. This means the company now completely owns Index as well as it’s subsidiaries including Atlus Co. Ltd. All assets and properties will transfer ownership by November. Appearance of Atlus property to appear in Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed? Still up in the air, but suffice to say, Atlus is now going to be part of SEGA’s growing empire. SEGA is certainly no stranger to the company as they have assisted in publishing Atlus titles in Japan. Surely though, the most important news is they can collaborate once again to make a true sequel to the hottest Dreamcast title, Maken X.

We will report on more as it develops.

SEGA’s Tokyo Game Show website opens, reveals game lineup

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SEGA of Japan has opened their 2013 Tokyo Game Show website, which reveals their game lineup for the show. Titles include Yakuza Ishin (PS3, PS4), Phantasy Star Online 2 (PC), Phantasy Star Nova (Vita), Hatsune Miku Project Mirai 2 (3DS), Hatsune Miku Project Diva-F 2nd (Vita, PS3), the recently revealed Puyo Puyo Tetris (PS3, Wii U, 3DS, Vita), Hero Bank (3DS) Song Set 575 (Vita), Lets make a Pro Soccer Club! (PS3, Vita), and Sonic Lost World (Wii U, 3DS). The site also offers a look at the SEGA booth, the show program, a list of swag being given out (probably my favorite page), and a shopping page where you’ll see a cute Sonic coffee mug and an awesome Mega Drive 25th anniversary shirt. Yet to be unlocked are movie and photo pages.

Tokyo Game Show begins September 19th, stay tuned to SEGAbits for more Tokyo Game Show news! After the break, check out some Puyo Puyo Tetris and Phantasy Star Nova screens from the SEGA TGS site.

More Details on Phantasy Star Nova, getting AAA production budget

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Some more details about Phantasy Star Nova have came out of Famitsu which might interest you. The game is mainly a single player game, with an optional ad-hoc local multiplayer mode. There is no online mode.

The game is being built using a Tri-Ace engine and overall it’s going to feel like a Tri-Ace game rather than a Sonic Team game. A big change compared to PSO is how the weapon system works. Equipment shows damage visibly, and monsters drop materials that you can use for crafting instead of weapons.

Also, famous RPG music composer Motoi Sakuraba is composing the music for the game. Oh, and the core development team is around 70 people, and total production is over 200 people (said to be higher than the number of people involved with Titanfall by neogaf). So it sounds like a really big project. Hopefully it comes west 🙂

*title updated at the request of George*

Famitsu reveals Puyo Puyo Tetris for Playstation and Nintendo platforms

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Yes, that’s right puzzle fans. The “Mario & Sonic” of puzzle games is coming.

Famitsu reports that a Puyo Puyo Tetris game is due out in 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. This wouldn’t be the first time SEGA has been involved in a Tetris game. In 1989 SEGA developed and published Tetris for the SEGA System 16 and SEGA System E hardware. In 2000 the SEGA Dreamcast saw the release of The Next Tetris, a Tetris title that took advantage of the console’s modem for online gameplay.

Nothing more has been revealed of this unique collaboration, but as soon as we learn more we’ll be sure to share it!

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Yakuza: Ishin to be a Playstation 4 launch title, also coming to Playstation 3


Above is the first trailer for Yakuza: Ishin, shown off at SCEJA Press Conference 2013! If you want to see the trailer without the English voice over, click here.

The game was announced as a Playstation 4 launch title, but will also be coming out on the Playstation 3 for those not picking up a Playstation 4 at launch. The game will also feature crossplay with the Vita!

Yakuza Ishin will be out in Japan on February 22nd, 2014. As for a western release? According to NeoGAF user Verendus, who is known as a legit insider in the strict community, this one is definitely coming West. What do you guys think?

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Sonic Lost World official comic prequel to hit stores October 26th-27th

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Sonic comic book fans will have the chance to learn more about new villains The Deadly Six in what’s being deemed “The Official Prequel” to Sonic Lost World.

The comic book will see release, (interestingly, after the game itself) on October 26th-27th during Halloween ComicFest, and will be disappearing from retailers after that. Needless to say, those interested should head down to their local comic book shops that weekend to snag a copy.

For Archie’s official description of the Sonic Lost World-themed issue, hit the jump.

The SEGA Dreamcast turns 14 today, how are we going to celebrate?

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Hey there, space cats! The SEGA Dreamcast turns 14 today in the USA, how are we celebrating? Well, we will be delivering a bunch of Dreamcast related content all month long. We will have all our weekly features focus on Dreamcast music, games and nostalgic moments. Expect to see Dreamcast related articles on Monday Memories, Tuesday Tunes, Saturday Sequels, and Sunday Round Table. There will also be the return of the ‘SEGA in the Media‘, where we spot SEGA references in current TV shows and movies (sometimes even the past).  We already started celebrating by giving you guys a really awesome episode of the Swingin’ Report Show featuring the editor-in-chief and writer for Official Dreamcast magazine.

One of our former writers and current editor-in-chief over at Dreamcast Scene is also teaming up with us, DC Emu and Age-Media to bring some interviews with current SEGA published authors and Dreamcast indie developers. Actually he already published one of his interviews with David Munoz, author of ” “Service Games: Rise and Fall of Sega ”. Some of the other interviews you can expect includes author of “Zoya Street’s Dreamcast World” author, who got crowd sourced by Indiegogo. There will also be interviews with indie Dreamcast developers like Senile Team, Duranik and Water Melon.

Stay tuned later today for “Monday Memories: Remembering the Dreamcast’s launch“.

SEGA announces Phantasy Star Nova for the Playstation Vita

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Sony is having a Japanese conference today where they show what Japanese audiences can expect from Sony at this year’s TGS. During the event Sony announced a new slim Playstation Vita and a few games, one of those being Phantasy Star Nova! The game will be developed by tri-Ace (Resonance of Fate), and will feature a single-player story mode along with an online co-op mode that allows you to team up with 3 other players online or in lan. The game game is set to released in Japan this upcoming March.

Some facts were given about Phantasy Star Online 2‘s performance on the Vita. It has been confirmed that SEGA has sold over 150,000 boxed versions of Phantasy Star Online 2 and has over 650,000 people playing the game on Sony’s handheld. This is probably the first time someone has handled a new Phantasy Star game that hasn’t been Sonic Team.

Hit the jump to see the announcement trailer.

Creative Assembly and Extra Credits Want to Teach You About Roman History

When I was at this year’s PAX Prime, I tried to see if I could play Total War: Rome II to write up a preview for a genre I’m not terribly great at. After a few seconds it quickly dawned on me that the time I was going to invest wasn’t going to do this game any justice. I’m not a guy who does great at Real Time Strategy, nor did I come from an education system that would span further from Texas history. However, through some of their marketing money, Creative Assembly has teamed up with the folks behind Extra Credits to give you an overview of Roman history through a series of videos starting today on the Punic Wars. If you’re playing the game and don’t understand everything the story of Rome II is telling, this ought to help provide a better understanding, or for people like me, its great to see developers doing some good to go to new efforts just to teach people about history. That and, well, probably to make sure this doesn’t happen again…

Still its great to see efforts like this happen between the two, and its great for SEGA to even allow their marketing money to be used in this form. Be sure to watch the video and stay tuned to the Extra Credits Youtube channel for more on Roman history.