SEGA News

Flick of the Dead released to the Japanese iOS app store

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Flick of the Dead, which was trademarked in early April, has released today in Japan to their iOS store. The game is, as many guessed, a Typing of the Dead for iOS devices. This iteration is said to have added over 25,000 words, a boss rush and a drill mode. Unfortunately, the game is exclusive to Japan at the moment, however given that Miku Flick released to English app stores, it is possible we’ll see this getting a wider release at some point. The game is currently free to download, so if you can download it, do so. After the break, screens!  “I don’t want to tap!”

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Anarchy Reigns gets a Japanese game mode trailer

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Here is the latest Japanese trailer for Anarchy Reigns. Sadly the trailer is in Japanese, if only SEGA West acted like this game existed then we’d get English trailers. Oh, can we start the Anaracy Reigns is not coming West rumors now?

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Are we ever going to get tired of writing “Hell Yeah!” headlines? Hell no!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uP6QpUWs_I

A new gameplay trailer has arrived for SEGA and Arkedo Studio’s Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. The trailer reveals a bit of the game’s plot, which I won’t spoil. You’ll have to see it in the trailer. It is – ahem – quite odd. The art style is definitely influenced by Rayman Origins and Splosion Man, complete with wacky over the top environments and lots of meat flying about. Gameplay looks very fun, it’s like if General Grievous of Star Wars went on a rampage on his wheel bike. The game is set for a summer release to XBLA, PSN and Steam.

Thanks to SEGAbits forum member max_cady for the heads up!

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PSO2 Producer Satoshi Sakai briefs fans on upcoming features, reveals previous beta stats

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 PSO2 Producer Satoshi Sakai sat down with fans recently to discuss the upcoming open BETA for Phantasy Star Online 2, as well as the final game, which is expected to launch in Japan this summer. They also revealed the stats of the last closed beta, and revealed that another closed BETA may be in order before they can continue with the open BETA. The stats for the closed BETA are as follows:

  • 147,000 CBT Client Downloads
  • 131,000 people participated in the Beta.
  • Average of 63,000 people login a day.
  • 23,500 simultaneous connections.

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The Creative Assembly’s up and coming Alien game listed for future consoles

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It seems that the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 is not the only console that the Creative Assembly’s Alien game is coming to. According to a recent job listing in which the developer is looking for a multiplayer/gameplay programmer to help create “a AAA multi-platform title on current and future generation consoles set in the Alien universe” This implication of future consoles could mean the successor to the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 or as implied elsewhere, perhaps closer to being made available on the Wii U. SEGA’s other Aliens title, Aliens: Colonial Marines, is also being produced for the Nintendo Wii U so to have a version of the Creative Assembly’s Alien title would not be out of the ordinary.

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SEGA employee’s LinkedIn account reveals unannounced downloadable game

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Matthew is an Associate Producer at SEGA of America and like many people in the industry the man has a LinkedIn account. You know, to chit chat with other Associate Producers at other companies and stuff like this. OK, maybe it’s time for me to admit that I don’t know what LinkedIn is used for. But who cares, he posted that he is working on an unannounced game for Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, PC, and the Wii-U.

So now we are thinking, what can this upcoming game be? Only Matthew Hickman would know. I’m sure if you make an account and bother him enough he will tell you. No, I’m kidding, don’t do that. But if you do want to do it, here is a link to his account.

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All-Stars Racing Transformed gameplay footage appears on PS Access

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The UK PSN exclusive show Playstation Access showcased snippets of new footage from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The footage is exclusive to UK PSN users on their consoles. But hey, at least if you don’t have a PS3 and don’t live in the UK, you can now see the footage! If you do live in the UK and have access to PSN, make sure to turn on your PS3 and check the footage out. You can definitely see the influence Bizarre Creations racing game Blur had on All-Stars Racing Transformed in the neon boosters and weapons. Transformations appear seamless and the final shot of the dragons is awesome.

Thanks to The Sonic Stadium’s Ashthedragon and Rawrdom for uploading the footage.

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Knuckles, Shadow, a new track and more join All-Stars Racing iOS in a big new update!

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Perfectly timed to coincide with All-Stars Racing Transformed debut comes a massive update to SEGA’s Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for the iOS. The game has often been cited as being a big success, making a number of critics’ best games lists and it even made it into a iPod Touch commercial. So it only makes sense that SEGA and Sumo Digital would continue to update it. The update adds: Knuckles and Shadow as playable racers, a new track – Samba de Amigo’s mountainside Sun Fair track, a new home screen icon, Airplay-out mode, HDMI-out mode, iCloud saving, character faces on the minimap (originally racers were shown as anonymous red dots, now you’ll see that Beat is trailing you), Game Center profile pics on the minimap in multiplayer and many other improvements and bug fixes. I’ve explored the game some and found another unmentioned update, the ability to buy SEGA miles via in-app purchases. Very clever way to get a bit of money out of customers, SEGA. It should be noted that Knuckles, Shadow and the new track need to be purchased with SEGA miles. They are not unlocked once you update the app.

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Interview with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Producer Joe Neate

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I sit down with Joe Neate, Producer for Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, to have a talk with him about the game. Will All Stars be usable online? Will there be more online modes? Will there be a larger number of franchises represented? Find that out and more in the video interview above.

This isn’t the entire story, though. For a more Sonic centric interview, check out Nuckles87’s interview over at Sonic Stadium!

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Check out some All-Stars Racing Transformed concept art!

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Yesterday it was the announcement, preview and podcast. Today: concept art! Thanks to French gaming site console-toi.fr comes a collection of artworks from the Panzer Dragoon and Monkey Ball tracks. They also released a few new screens including a look at the back of B.D. Joe’s vehicle in flight. Fun fact: some screens have a “ASN” label. This refers to the game’s internal name “All-Stars Next”. Check out the concept art, and new screens, after the break!

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EuroGamer Provides Loads of Additional SASRT Details

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Eurogamer has a preview of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed that I highly recommend you read. It’s very well written and pretty effectively illustrates the struggles many arcade racer developers are having today, and how much of a unique case the success of the original Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is.

The article also has loads of new info, which I’ve reported below:

The game has 27 characters. This is 7 more than the last game, not counting console specific characters.

A WiiU release cannot be confirmed or denied. I personally am quite confident we’ll see it at E3, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The development team has been expanded, taking in people from two recently closed British game development studios that specialize in arcade racing titles: Bizarre Creations, the people responsible for Project Gotham Racing, The Club, and Blur, as well as people from Black Rock, creators of Split/Second. Gareth Wilson, whom we met at the press event in San Francisco, is one of those people. He came from Bizarre Creations and has games like Project Gotham 2-4 as well as Blur under his belt.

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Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed races to consoles this fall!

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Today, Sega has officially announced that Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed is coming to PS3, 360, Vita, 3DS and other consoles this fall. The “Transformed” subtitle refers to the fact that your vehicle transforms into other modes depending on what kind of track you’re racing onto. This includes the traditional road track, a water/river track that changes your vehicles into a watercraft, or the not-so friendly skies where your vehicle turns into a plane for some air combat racing. There are 16 brand new and unique courses to race on and several classic Sega IP’s will make their first appearance in this game. This goes from a glorious Panzer Dragoon track to Vyse from Skies of Arcadia as a new racer.

Both me and Nuckles87 got to check out the game last week in San Fransisco. You can check his hands-on over at Sonic Stadium or just stay here and check out my own preview.  On top of that, we got me, Nuckles87 and Sven Joscylene from Sonic Stadium and Spong on a brand-new Sonic Talk later today for a one-hour special all about the game AND a video interview with Sumo Digital’s own Joe Neat tomorrow. Do we love you guys or what?! Not enough? Click the link to check out screenshots of the game! Our coverage is gonna set your heart racing!

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SEGA West boss Mike Hayes set to part ways this summer

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Announced this morning is that SEGA Europe and America CEO Mike Hayes is set to leave the company in the coming summer. Hayes has been CEO of SEGA Europe for 8 years and took on responsibility from Simon Jeffrey as CEO of SEGA America when the former LucasArts CEO was relieved of his duties. Hayes’ own personal ambition now is set to be on non-exec roles within and outside of the industry. Speaking to MVC, Naoya Tsurumi released the following statement;

“Mike has achieved a huge amount during his time at Sega and we thank him for the amazing things he has accomplished. Mike is a great character and very passionate about the industry, he helped steer the extraordinary growth of Sega and has built an exceptional team of professionals that will stand us in good stead for the future.”

Mike Hayes is set to leave the company having helped established a stronghold in Europe and the successful purchase of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful studios Sports Interactive and The Creative Assembly. Though towards the end of his tenure, he seemed to have provided mixed success for SEGA, Hayes’ contribution should see him leave with a good legacy at SEGA Europe. Jurgen Post, SEGA Europe’s current COO, is set to succeed Hayes although at this time, it is unclear if he is set to become CEO of both SEGA Europe and America, or if the roles will once again be split.

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