If you are looking to get back into Phantasy Star Online 2, they will be opening up the servers for a ‘open beta’ starting on March 17 at 5:00 p.m. PT. According to the twitter account you’ll be able to use the old ‘closed beta’ client with an update that goes live on March 16 at 10:00 AM PDT. I assume that the new client will go live for anyone that didn’t play it during Closed Beta.
The sad part is that we still don’t know when PC gamers will be able to join the fight, but I guess this is a way to get PSO gamers on Xbox consoles.
Regardless of when you purchased Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami for PC through Steam, SEGA has upgraded all versions to the digital Deluxe Edition. This means if you take a peek in the game’s “Extras” folder you’ll find a digital manga, wallpapers and avatar icons.
SEGA America got three different Yakuza directors from three different Yakuza games that are included in the Yakuza Remastered Collection. They got Daisuke Sato (Yakuza 3 director), Jun Orihara (Yakuza 4 director) and Kazuki Hosokawa (Yakuza 5 director) to sit down and look back on the series’ PlayStation 3 outings.
I really love these director, behind the scene looks into the games and its something that RGG Studios does a lot in Japan leading up to game releases. Glad we are getting the same treatment for this collection in the West. They did hint in the end that they will be doing a separate video on the stories for these games.
The game was designed by Yu Suzuki and had music by the legendary Hiro (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) and Yasuhiro Takagi. It should be a interesting port, I do know that the Mega Drive port wasn’t well received but personally I have only played the arcade version. What do you think of SEGA adding a oddity like G-Loc: Air Battle to their SEGA AGES line-up?
Explore the world of Sakura Wars as SEGA has released a story trailer for the upcoming title showcasing on what players should be expecting in the reboot that retains many of the features that made the genre-defining series such a hit in Japan, including a poetic vision, a strong cast, and a compelling story filled with intrigue, action, and romance!
Here is description of the story, courtesy of the SEGA Press:
“From the large clock tower atop Ginza train station, dominating the city skyline, to the captivating Imperial Theater standing tall at the heart of Tokyo, Sakura Wars exudes a world rich in historical inspiration and enriched with fantastical steampunk technology. The Taisho era represents a time of prosperity and optimism for Japan, an intersection of eastern and western cultures that creates a vibrant framework in which to take on the mantle of Seijuro Kamiyama and bring the Imperial Combat Revue back to glory!
Sakura Wars is set for release in Americas and Europe on April 28th for Playstation 4. You can pre-order a copy on SEGA’s official website for the game and receive a launch edition that will include reversible cover featuring the original Japanese cover art for the game, along with a sticker set featuring the main cast of the game. Click after the break to check out screenshots of the story sections.”
During the Sakura Wars livestream this morning, Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation (translated as New Sakura Wars the Animation) will be broadcasted in Japan every Friday starting on April 3rd on Tokyo MX 1 at 22:00 JST & BS 11 at 23:00 JST.
This season is truly perfect for Sakura Wars with the new game coming to the West on April 28th. I hope we can watch the anime during the same time it airs in Japan. Hit the jump after the break to see preview clips of an episode featuring the character, Clara and ED credits.
While most of you guys on here probably already own multiple copies of Sonic Generation, you can pick up a free digital version if you own a Xbox console with Xbox Live Gold through Microsoft’s ‘Games with Gold’ program.
Xbox One
Available for the whole month – Batman: The Enemy Within – The Complete Season (normally $14.99)
From March 16 to April 15 – Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (normally $19.99)
Xbox 360
From March 1 to 15 – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (normally $39.99) (plays on Xbox One)
From March 16 to 31 – Sonic Generations (normally $19.99) (plays on Xbox One)
To be quiet honest, its surprising that we haven’t had a ‘remaster’ or ‘re-release’ of Sonic Generation on current generation consoles. Especially on Nintendo Switch considering that the original never came out on a Nintendo console (handhelds don’t count).
If you are a huge rhythm music fan, then we got a epic crossover for you. Hatsune Miku will join Space Channel 5 VR: Funky News Flash! as DLC. We don’t know when this DLC will be released but we do know you will be able to play as Hatsune Miku in the game.
The image above is from Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone, which had a Space Channel 5 costume. Not crazy to believe that this crossover was going to happen since SEGA develops and publishes Hatsune Miku games and owns the Space Channel 5 IP.
We will keep you updated on future news for Space Channel 5 VR. What do you think of Miku making an appearance?
DotEmu has released the new character trailer for Streets of Rage 4 by introducing Floyd Iraia, who is the last playable character to be announced for the game and dishes out hard hitting attacks and grappling movesets with his mechanical arms. Here’s is a description of the new character:
“Meet Floyd Iraia, the last Streets of Rage 4 playable character, who dishes out serious damage with his incredibly strong cybernetic arms. Although Floyd’s movement and health recovery are slower than most, he boasts the longest reach among the playable roster and tremendous power, ensuring any combo he puts an enemy through will be devastating.”
Streets of Rage 4 will also feature two co-op mulitplayer options: 2 Player Online and 4 Player Local Co-Op. 4 Player Local Co-Op would be featured for first time in the series.
Streets of Rage 4 will be making its way make its way on to PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Spring 2020.
This past week, George and I were asked to guest on SYFY Wire’s The Fandom Files podcast. The main topic of conversation was our reaction to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and we also talked about the redesign, the overall story of the movie’s development, and our own beginnings in SEGA blogging.
Following up from the previous article, there are more SEGA merchandise revealed at this year’s New York Toy Fair featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.
From Diamond Select’s booth, they are showcasing a statue of “Movie” Sonic on top of Dr. Robotnik Tech and the Ultimate “Classic” Sonic figure with customizable parts. Over at the Jakks Pacific’s booth, the booth has plushes of multiple Sonic the Hedgehog characters including Mighty the Armadillo.
Planning to collect some of the Sonic & SEGA merchandise sometime this year? Let us know in the comments below. Check out images of the merchandise after the break.
In a new 4Gamer Japanese 20th year anniversary Space Channel 5 interview with some of the original members of the team, which most are now working on Space Channel 5 VR over at Gounding Inc (A team made up of ex-SEGA employees including some from the Panzer Dragoon Team) the team discusses the origins of Space Channel 5 and even the project before the game was even thought of.
During the interview they asked the team about the game that came before Space Channel 5, which was at the time called “Eye” (Using Google Translate, so bear with me):
Takumi Yoshinaga: “(Eye) was an adventure game set in the near future, with a setting like “AKIRA” and you progressed through hacking. The main character was a boy, which is completely different from Space Channel 5. Actually the icon of “Eye” project is included in the end credits for Space Channel 5, which is a secret to the game’s origin!”
You can see the Project “Eye” logo from the Space Channel 5 credits after the jump:
Fellow Super Monkey Ball voice actor @Briantokyojapan posted on his instagram that there will be a interesting Super Monkey Ball announcement, that something is in the works and to stay tuned. He also hashtagged #monkeyball and #SEGA. But the interesting thing is that he used a photo that just says “Super Monkey Ball” on it, leading me to believe that this might be a port or remake of the original game. Or maybe another ‘Super Monkey Ball Deluxe‘ with the first two, but who knows.
“This is going to be interesting. Something IS in the works but I’ll miss the meeting on the 25th as I’m going overseas for a week. Stay tuned! #monkeyball#sega“
It makes sense since the last released game in the franchise, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD was also a ‘remake’ of the original Wii game. They could also be creating a brand new game, since the official Super Monkey Ball twitter account ran a poll in September of last year asking fans what they want from the franchise next, in first place was a brand new game with 49.2% of the votes and in close second was a remake of the first two games with 42.1% . What do you think this Super Monkey Ball announcement will be?
Storm Collectibles recently announced tons of licensed merchandise that their working on at their booth during New York’s Toy Fair 2020 event. Two of the licensed SEGA related products set for released is Streets of Rage 4 and Golden Axe.
One of the first line up of action figures for Streets of Rage 4 is a 1/12 scale action figure of Axel Stone in his current attire for the upcoming game with the release TBD. For Golden Axe, the line up will feature 1/12 action figures of Ax Battler and the Skeleton warriors set for release on March 20th for $130.
