PSN: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & Yakuza 4 dynamic theme coming next week


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The next Playstation Store update will have a few SEGA items most of you might be interested in. First Playstation Plus members will get Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for free, its a week exclusive. So those of you who are not members can get it on April 12th for $4.99.

For Yakuza 4 players, the Yakuza 4: The Men of Yakuza 4 Dynamic Theme will be out by the next update. Playstation Plus users get it for free, regular members can nab it for $2.99.

Talking about Yakuza 4, we should be having our Yakuza 4 review up tomorrow. Don’t miss that.

[Source: Playstation.Blog]

Super Monkey Ball 2 coming to Windows Phone 7


Seems that SEGA is kin on supporting Windows Phone 7, last game they announced was Sonic 4 and now they are announcing Super Monkey Ball 2. The game will be released on April 6th and cost $4.99.

If that wasn’t enough for users, you can try the game before you buy. The full game will come with over 115 courses, so might be a steal for the price of entry.This is most likely the iOS version for WP7.

[Source: Appmodo]

VF5 Final Showdown update hits arcades next month

The new issue of Arcadia teases a new Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown update. They gave out some information.

  • The release window for the new update is April. Most likely to released before Golden Week.
  • The bound system will be reworked, no longer allowing you to bound a character more than once. Issue with the current build is that wall combos can take off up to 50% of your health, now when it’s down the second time they won’t bounce as high and stay closer to the ground.
  • All characters will be tweaked for better balance. Here is a promotional video teasing new the changes.
  • VF.net service will be upgraded. The match videos users create will now have info displayed if you turn on the ‘frame data display.’

This is all the information that we know about the newest update. We here at SEGAbits are still waiting for our console port. Lets do this SEGA. Hit the jump to see the top 10 played arcades according to Arcadia.

SEGA announces co-op shooter Renegade Ops


SEGA announced that it will be publishing Avalanche Studios‘ (Developers of Just Cause) Renegade Ops  later this year. The game will be a downloadable title on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network and PC digital download.

“Renegade Ops is SEGA’s first new IP on the digital space and we are thrilled with the remarkable visual look and extensive features that the game has to offer. It has been a great opportunity to work with a team as successful as Avalanche Studios,”- Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA.

The game will allow players to play co-op offline 2 player split screen or up to 4 players online.  The game has you trying to stop Inferno, a madman trying to take over the world.

For the press release, hit the jump.

IGN presents Yakuza 4: Fact or Fiction?

IGN has today released a feature entitled Yakuza 4: Fact or Fiction, where author Jake Adelstein and editor Daemon Hatfield sit down to discuss Yakuza 4. Jake has lived in Japan as a reporter covering the crime scene, and here he uses his knowledge to discuss the Yakuza and Yakuza 4’s relation to reality.

This is just a fun feature, nothing to get upset about, Yakuza fans. In fact it’s a genuinely interesting look at the Yakuza, how accurate the game’s hostess bars are, the possibility of the ramen shop scene being based on a real-life incident, and more. An interesting feature worth a look for fans of the Yakuza games.

XBLA has After Burner Climax and Crazy Taxi 50% off


Microsoft is holding a sale for XBLA, called ‘Extreme Shopping’. It will start today, March 29th and end on April 4th. There are a ton of games on sale, two of the SEGA games happen to be After Burner Climax and Crazy Taxi.

Each will cost you 400 MS points, half off what they originally cost. If you would like to see the rest of the games on sale, hit this link.

GeistForce Beta Acquired by Assembler Games

Geist Force was one of the earliest Dreamcast games that was shown as a tech demo at TGS and E3 prior to its launch. Reportedly 80% complete, it ultimately failed to impress former President Bernie Stolar and his team, so it was quietly cancelled.

Recently a former Sega Employee registered at Assembler Gamer discussed DreamPast in great detail. Along the way he revealed he had a copy of Geist Force, which Assembler acquired for 700$. Currently the Assemblers are working on bringing the game to the masses.

For More Information Watch This Video, Sorry embeding has been disabled.

Metacritic Scores Individual Developers

How annoying is it to get into an argument about how good a game is, only to have somebody throw a link to Metacritic at you? Well gamers can rejoice, as now that same thing can apply to arguing how good a developer is!

Metacritic has recently added the ability to search for individual developers, with each developer given their own score based on the games they’ve worked on. Of course, this is in no way a proper method of scoring how “good” somebody is, as even an assistant co-co-co-producer credit for an amazing game can bring up the score of an otherwise awful person. Also, some great retro games are not rated or credits are not yet given. For example, Morio Kishimoto is at a 69 but is only rated for his work on Sonic and the Secret Rings. He also directed Sonic Colors but has yet to be credited or scored for that.

After the break, check out the pointless numbers now assigned to our favorite (or least favorite) SEGA devs! It’s like in high school, when you’d rate the boys… or girls. I rated the girls. Yeah…

Steam has DC collection for 50% off

Following the SEGA Genesis Collection deal, you can also get the DC Collection for 50% off. On Steam, each title is sold for $8.99, if you add that together and take off 50%, it comes to roughly $20 for 4 games.

The only thing that sucks is that you can’t get the ones you want for 50% off, so you have to stick them all together.

[Source: Steam]
[Thanks: SEGA Dude]

SEGA’s eBay Auction for Japan Relief – Part 3

Even more great Sega collectibles have gone up on the eBay auction today and you can start bidding now! 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Red Cross relief effort for Japan.

You can see the list of items for auction HERE!
All items start at just 99 cents and it is going to a good cause, get bidding!

Super Monkey Ball 3DS – Monkey Fight Trailer

As many of you may know by now Super Monkey Ball has three game modes: Main game, which plays much like any good Monkey Ball game should, roll the ball to the goal! Monkey Race, which looks like a poor mans’ ‘Sega All-Star Racing’ and Monkey Fight, which has more than a passing resemblance to Super Smash Bros.

This trailer highlights the gameplay found in Monkey Fight mode, which looks much better than Monkey Race. Still, is it really too much to ask for the fun gameplay of ‘Monkey Fight’ from Super Monkey Ball Deluxe?

Steam has complete SEGA Genesis Cassics for $9.99

If you really want to play Genesis titles on your PC and you want to give SEGA a nod that you appreciate them putting them up on Steam for sale, you can do that on the super cheap. You get over 40 games!

The package includes classics like Streets of Rage 2, Vectorman and Ristar. Cult games like Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair and Alien Solider. The package will normally run you $112.60, but $9.99 is a better price.

[Source: Steam]

Rise of Nightmares details get leaked by ESRB

Oh ESRB, we love you and your constant game leaking. This time they are leaking Rise of Nightmares. What is the story about? You play an American tourist who has to rescue his wife from a crazy scientist. It already sounds House of the Dead like. Oh, did I mention it takes place in a mansion?

The game will play in first-person-view, players can use an assortment of weapons like chainsaws and hatchets to take down ‘zombie-like’ bad guys.

The game features decapitations and severed limbs. What about female nudity? According to the ESRB there is partial nudity (pasties!). Kinect, you wanted a Mature game? SEGA is here to deliver. Hit the jump to see the full ESRB summary.

[Source: Siliconera]

Most played character in Virtua Fighter 5 arcades?


Above is the chart, hitting number one is my favorite character Jacky. He really is faster than lighting. This data ends on February 9th, so its a bit old.

For all the hype that Taka-arashi was brought back, its weird seeing him way down in last place. You have it folks, Jacky should be the new face of Virtua Fighter, sorry Akira!

[Source: Versus City]