Aliens: Colonial Marines PC specs are released and they aren’t that bad, at least not in my opinion. It even supports Windows XP SP3, for those few of you who are still refusing to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8. Yes, I’m ignoring the existance of Vista. Check out the specs by hitting the jump.
Last year, SEGA announced that they’d be teaming up with Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts) and Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert to publish their latest digital title, The Cave. It’s a platformer with a large cast of characters, one that looks to meld a quirky sense of humor with gorgeously dark art direction. Coming from these developers, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Release dates and prices below;
Playstation Network: January 22nd ($14.99)
Wii U eShop: January 22nd ($14.99)
Xbox LIVE Arcade: January 23rd (1200 MSP)
Steam: January 23rd ($14.99)
Keep it locked to SEGAbits for more on The Cave as it nears its release.
In August of 2012, SEGA announced a new publishing initiative dubbed “SEGA Alliance”. SEGA Alliance’s aim was to “focus on publishing mobile games made by independent developers” and to “provide participating developers with comprehensive marketing and production support as well as creative consultation”. The first of these SEGA Alliance titles was Owlchemy Labs Jack Lumber, an iOS title in the vein of Fruit Ninja that, in my opinion, went well beyond the Fruit Ninja formula and was quite an excellent game. Unfortunately, according to Owlchemy Labs founder Alex Schwartz in an interview with Indie Static, “working with publishers has been a big experiment and so far it hasn’t been financially successful for Owlchemy.” Schwartz detailed just how much of the SEGA Alliance offerings Owlchemy Labs took advantage of, as well as talked about how much freedom indie publishers have in a SEGA Alliance deal.
According to the recently updated product page on Steam, the PC release of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has a price and a date. The release date has been revealed to be January 31st, 2013 and the price is $29.99 with a discount price of $26.99 currently available. While the listing does not mention the bonus characters that are going to appear in the PC release, it does list the minimum system requirements to run the day:
So how does this list work? How does a publisher move up and down in ranking? Well, it’s simple. Basically they have to sell a butt-load of games. SEGA came in sixth, barely being bested by Microsoft and beating publishers like Warner Bros. and Take Two. EA got number one publisher of the year due to releases like Fifa 13, Mass Effect 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. SEGA had a weird 2012, with the company shifting its focus from retail titles to a more digital array with the release of ports like NiGHTS, Jet Set Radio and even original titles like Hell Yeah! . Not to mention, their titles that did get released in retail didn’t do so hot like Binary Domain and Yakuza: Dead Souls. But hey, there’s always the Football Manager titles.
Hit the jump to see the top 10 list of publishers in the UK.
Another year, another batch of SEGA games for us to play, critique, argue over, and enjoy. As is tradition here at SEGAbits, our writers have come together and each have selected their favorite SEGA games of 2012. Looking back, 2012 offered up a number of excellent rereleases, sequels to franchises both old and new, crazy and unique mobile and digital titles, and not a single crappy licensed Marvel title in sight. So, from all the games SEGA had to offer, which ones did we like best? Find out after the break!
UPDATE: Game is free until New Years. Hey! Don’t blame me. I got this info from other Sega/Sonic sites that never mentioned “limited time” either. XP
For those who haven’t “jumped” at the chance to buy Sonic’s latest mobile game, now’s the best time! Sonic Jump on iOS devices has gone free to play for a limited time only. Does this mean the game is doing so bad, they have to give it away? Nah, more likely, the in-game app purchases are doing so well they can make more money by making the game free and bringing in more players. With tons of missions, levels and more and more characters to unlock each month, it’s hard to resist the allure of buying more rings and power-ups. In fact, I recommend picking up the 2X rings power up to collect rings twice as fast.
BTW, with the game constanly improving and adding more levels, should I change my original review, or leave it as the way it was at the time? Let me know in the comments.
First 4 Figures, makers of the many Sonic the Hedgehog statues, has revealed a teaser for a Shenmue Ryo Hazuki statue. The teaser, which can be seen in full after the break, shows Ryo in his iconic “wanna wrestle?” pose. Price and size have yet to be known, but given F4F’s past releases, this statue could go from $130+ and could reach 12 inches tall. Some fans have noted that Ryo’s face seems off. It could just be the lighting, or perhaps Ryo has changed a little since we last saw him in Shenmue 2. The statue’s announcement follows the release of Insert Coin’s Ryo Hazuki jacket hoodie and t-shirt, as well as Ryo’s cameo in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and his win in the All-Stars Racing DLC character poll spearheaded by fans. Could all this be building towards Shenmue 1&2 HD in 2013? After the break, the full statue teaser image.
If All-Stars Racing Transformed Christmas gift wasn’t enough for you, another SEGA icon gets the HD treatment! This time, it’s SEGA’s early mascot, Alex Kidd, who gets to shine in a HD remake of the Sega Master System classic “Alex Kidd in Miracle World” The fan made project and sprites is redone by MCBRemakes from Brazil. Love how they used Alex Kidd’s sprites from the official box art. What do you guys think? Hit the jump to see the game in action.
Well, SEGA CD Month – Hell, this year – has come to an end. Before we call it a night, the bat, the cat and the penguin have something to show us; Batman Returns. While the movie split both critics and audiences, this game has been met with praise due to it’s impressive pseudo-3D graphics, exciting gameplay and kick-ass soundtrack….
But is there more hiding beneath that cowl? Let’s take a peek.
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With just 15 years of stage shows, the Sakura Taisen series is still going strong in Japan. A new stage show will be performed at the Aoyama Theater and features the return of the Paris Kagekidan (Flower Division) from Sakura Wars 3 who are also the voice actors for the characters in the game series. The play will also feature new variety and two new characters. There will be 3 performances live on December 28th-29th on Nico Nico Video so everyone can get a chance to see Noriko Hidaka sing “Good Morning, Boujour”. Hope to see the Teikou Kagekidan gets the same treatment next year. Check out the list of the cast and a preview video by hitting the jump.
Not much to say besides enjoy the visuals! Also just to note… this is different from the PC opening. Phantasy Star Online 2 PS Vita comes out Feb 2013 in Japan, with no date set for western territories.
Gameplay trailer after the jump
Steam is having their holiday sales, which means all PC gamers will be broke by new years. If you want to join in on the sale, but where waiting for some SEGA stuff to hit discount then you are in luck. The Sonic franchise pack is 77% off, giving you 15 Sonic items (not games, since some of it is DLC). You’ll even get newer stuff like Generations and All-Stars Racing (not Transformed).
But hey, a big pack isn’t for you? Single items are being discounted up to 50%. Check it out. There is also the SEGA publisher pack for $70 (sadly low on the Sonic).
A patch was released today for Sonic Jump on Android devices. Fixes the text scaling issues that caused microscopic text, among other issues. So if you were having issues with Sonic Jump on your device. Go download the patch from the Play Store and see if it fixes the issues you were having. Let us know in the comments if the patch fixes the issues you were having or not. It fixed the issues I was having with microscopic text.
If you live in Japan, you might want to know that if you pre-order the next Shining RPG, Shining Ark, SEGA will be giving you a crossover character from Shining Wind for free. You will get Rouna Murasame, she won’t have story elements but will be playable during battle.
Sucks that we won’t see this game in the west. Shining Ark comes out February 28th on the PSP.
