SEGA News

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier releasing on August 22nd in western territories

by


Two more SEGA AGES titles are coming overseas later this month on August 22nd, Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier! Both titles will be released in both North America and Europe for the pricing of $7.99 and equivalent. As usual with these SEGA AGES titles, both Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier will come with additional features. SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo will come packed with the addition of counter-clockwise rotation and double rotation similar to later games, along with the rare English arcade version and online play. SEGA AGES Space Harrier meanwhile includes the features from the SEGA 3D version, including 16:9 support and Haya-Oh as the final boss, along with a new Komainu Barrier Attack mode where the titular Komainu protect Harrier from everything except enemy fire. This is on top of the usual settings ranging from different picture options to the ability to map your controller buttons.

Puyo Puyo in particular is significant, since this is the first time the original arcade game has been released in western territories since 1992 (or 2003 if you count that weird N-Gage version). Sorry, no mean bean machines this time!

[Source: Official Website, Twitter]

No Comments

New gameplay trailer for upcoming Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

by

You might go bananas once you see the new Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD gameplay trailer. The one-minute trailer shows off some courses and bosses from the original Wii version, in beautiful 1080p and 60 FPS to boot. Since this is a multi-platform release, motion controls have been taken out to give the game a more classic control setup that Monkey Ball is known for. If you pre-order the game, you also get a sticker set of Aiai and his friends. The game is coming out October 29, 2019 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch with a PC Steam release slated for later.

1 Comment

New showcase trailer for SEGA Genesis Mini revealed

by

SEGA of America’s Youtube channel released a short showcase video or the upcoming SEGA Genesis Mini, which is slated to release next month. In the video it opens with a little “blast from the past”, with 90’s Claymation Sonic from the classic Japanese commercial with the “SEGAAAA” jingle accompanying it. It follows up with a brief showing of the size difference between the original & the mini and what games are to come, including Tetris and Darius. The latter also brings it its’ first North American release, although it is an in-house port by M2 and SEGA of Japan since it was an arcade cabinet originally.

Continue Reading ➜

1 Comment

SEGA to show off unannounced AAA project at Gamescom 2019

by

SEGA has been teasing their Gamescom 2019 line-up which will include stuff we already know including the SEGA Mega Drive Mini (this is a German even) and Catherine: Full Body. One of the things that did surprise us was that they are planning on showing off an announced project at the event as well, which SEGA is billing as a AAA project for unspecified platforms.

So what could this AAA project be? My guess will be the already teased Creative Assembly team-based shooter that was teased all the way back in 2015. Why this instead of something like ‘the next Sonic’ game? Easy, Creative Assembly is one of SEGA’s biggest teams and they are a British developer. Makes sense to show off their upcoming game at Europe’s version of E3. We will find out what it is later this month since Gamescom will be running from August 20-24th.

Update: According to The Creative Assembly’s worker Grace, this isn’t a game from their studio. Could this be CA just playing cute? What do you think?

[Source: SEGA Press]

 

9 Comments

SEGA AGES Columns II releasing on August 8th in Japan

by


SEGA AGES Columns II The Voyage Through Time has finally got a release date. This game will release on the Nintendo Switch eShop on August 8th, on the Japanese store. As usual it will be priced at
¥925 (roughly $8.70), and will come with an assortment of different features.

For a quick recap, SEGA AGES Columns II will come with the original arcade game, which comes with the two modes Flash Columns and Vs. Columns. Flash Columns tasks you with clearing out a specific flashing gem with the difficulty gradually increasing with each stage, while Vs. Columns allows two players to face off against each other. On top of that, there will be other options available, such as the ability to choose between random graphic changes or a static layout based on the first Columns, a Face-to-Face mode where the 2nd player’s board is flipped 180 degrees for tabletop mode, the option to disable the skulls that force your board to be pushed up when cleared, the first Columns included as a bonus game, and a Jewelry Box section for completionists that has an assortment of bonus unlockables obtainable by playing through the game’s stages.

[Source: Official Website]

No Comments

Summer of Sonic team launches Kickstarter Campaign for Sonic Adventure Music Experience Live in the UK

by

If you happen to be a Sonic the Hedgehog fan residing in the UK, the Summer of Sonic team has launched a Kickstarter campaign for an official Sonic Adventure Music Experience live UK performance of music from the Sonic the Hedgehog series Sonic Adventure, 2 and Team Sonic Racing featuring performances by Jun Senoue (guitarist), Takeshi Taneda (long-time bassist for Crush 40) and drummer Act. (Crush 40, TSR Soundtrack drummer), on December 8th 2019 at The Garage, London.

The band will perform music from the Sonic Adventure series and the recently released, Team Sonic Racing, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the SEGA Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure in the west. Their Kickstarter campaign goal is to reach at least £13,500 within it’s 3 week duration.

If you want to attend or support the campaign, be sure to check out their Kickstarter page with more details on the event and tiers you can earn.

No Comments

CBS All Access making a documentary limited series based on Blake J. Harris’ Console Wars book

by

CBS All Access, a CBS owned streaming platform, will be doing a limited series of documentaries based around Blake J. Harris’ Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation book and its source material. We were lucky enough to interview Blake J. Harris back when the book first released, there was already talk of companies wanting to do projects based on the book. It’s a great interview.

The featured documentary will be partnered with Legendary Television Studios and Oscar-winning documentation Doug Blush. The project will be directed by Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis and will be executive produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s company. One interesting bit is that Julian Rosenberg from Circle of Confusion will be producing, this is a company that was in talks to adapt SEGA IP properties to TV and film a few years back.

If you haven’t read Console Wars, you can check out our review here. Basically, pick it up, its good. Will you be tuning in to watch the show on CBS All Access?

[Source: Deadline]

1 Comment

SEGA Mega Drive Mini delayed until October in Europe

by

SEGA Europe has announced that due to “unavoidable logistical challenges”, the SEGA Mega Drive Mini would miss the worldwide release date of September 19th and would now release on October 4th. SEGA Europe also said “We are committed to a successful launch for consumers in all territories, and this step will ensure we can meet demand and fulfill all the individual pre-orders and retail orders in Europe and the Middle East at the same time. Customers in those regions are still able to preorder from participating retailers and those who have already preordered will only have to wait an extra two weeks for their little box full of retro magic.”

Some are speculating Brexit has something to do with it, which will undoubtably have an impact on SEGA Europe in many other ways. What are your thoughts on the two week delay?

4 Comments

Project Sakura Wars Release Date announced for Japan and more info on gameplay

by

SEGA has finished their recent Sakura Wars Imperial Theater Propaganda Department Report stream by showcasing character theme songs, new characters (Shanghai Kagekidan members, Shaolong and Yui), and a battle system vastly different from the original Sakura Wars games.

While the previous entries used a traditional turn-based battle system, Project Sakura Wars seems to use a different approach with more of a platforming and hack/slash combat style game play. You can check out the game play in action here.

SEGA has also announced that the game will be released in Japan on December 12, 2019 with pre-orders to be available with a special PS4 Theme, and the limited edition will have a soundtrack with over 60 songs from the whole series, and an artbook.

A upcoming fan event will also take place on August 21st for Japanese players to get their first hands on Project Sakura Wars. Check out screenshots of the new characters and battle system right after the break!

Continue Reading ➜

1 Comment

Shin Yakuza game details coming August 29th!

by

Yakuza fans have been very interested in seeing where the franchise is heading following the release of Yakuza 6 and the studio’s detour with the don’t-call-it-a-spin-off Judgment. Well it looks like the wait is just a little bit longer, as Famitsu has revealed details on the upcoming game will be revealed on August 29th at a press conference. Known as Shin Ryu ga Gotoku or Shin Yakuza (“shin” meaning “new”), the game will be developed by the team behind Yakuza 6 and Yakuza 0 and not the Judgment team and will feature a new protagonist named Ichiban Kasuga.

On our SEGA News Bits videos, we mused that Ichiban appears to be the reverse of Kazuma both in clothing colors and attitude, and he acts a bit like Goro Majima. We’re excited to learn more about the upcoming game, and don’t forget to check back here on August 29th for all the details revealed!

No Comments

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD gameplay revealed via pre-order bonus footage

by

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, set for release on October 29 on PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One and later on PC, was announced with a launch trailer lacking any gameplay footage. Now, thanks to some overseas pre-order listings, we have a look at the game in action and the monkey’s wearing branded shirts and rolling in branded balls. The clips are brief, but give a good idea of how the game will look compared to the Wii original.

On the topic of the pre-order content, Monkey Ball series is no stranger to product placement. The first game featured Dole stickers on all the in-game bananas.

No Comments

Two Point Hospital releasing to PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch in late 2019

by

SEGA has announced that the PC game Two Point Hospital, released August 2018 by Two Point Studios, will be receiving a physical and digital console release later this year! PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners can expect all the new features added to the PC version post-launch, as well as expansions including “Bigfoot” and “Pebberley Island”. It’s great to see SEGA PC titles making their way to consoles, and here’s hoping it is a sign of things to come!

After the break, check out the full press release.

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments

SEGA files trademark for ‘Nights Dream Wheel’ in Japan

by

SEGA has just filed a trademark for the name “Nights Dream Wheel” in Japan, of course we don’t know if there is a new ‘NiGHTS into Dreams…’ game in development, but it seems that SEGA is planning on doing something with the IP?

As fans around the world know, NiGHTS has a unique way that Sonic Team used to spell it (all caps, with the “i” being lowercase), sadly the trademark page has the name filed as all caps (which I think is normal for all trademarks?). The last time we heard of the IP was when SEGA re-released the game on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in October 2012.

What do you think this could be? For some reason to me it sounds like it could be some sort of mobile or pachinko type machine, but we shall see. I mean we are getting the return of Super Monkey Ball later this year, so maybe we could see the return of NiGHTS?

[Update: According to people online the trademark is for 家庭用テレビゲーム (Home TV Game), ROMカートリッジ (ROM Cartridge) and 光ディスク (Optical Disk)]

[Via: Gematsu]

4 Comments

Project Sakura Wars Battle System Gameplay to debut in official live stream on July 25th

by

SEGA will be hosting a second live stream of the ‘Sakura Wars: Imperial Theater Propaganda Department Report’, and will demonstrate the battle segments of the game and more public information on Project Sakura Wars. The live stream will premiere on July 25th from 20:00 JST to 21:30 JST (4am-5:30am PST) on YouTube and Periscope.

The stream will feature:

– Tetsu Katano (Project Sakura Wars producer)
– Nao Yue (SEGA, director of SEGA Games Corporation)
– Mami Yamashita (assistant MC)

If you can’t make it to the stream, SEGA will have it uploaded to their YouTube archives and we’ll keep you posted on more news regarding Project Sakura Wars as they come by.

No Comments

Sonic & Tails to guest star in OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes Cartoon

by

Cartoon Network released a new trailer for an upcoming episode of OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes at their panel during San Diego Comic Con 2019. The episode titled “Let’s Meet Sonic” will be featuring special guest appearances by Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails with Roger Craig Smith and Collen O’Shaughnessey confirmed to reprise their roles as the unbreakable duo and will premiere on Cartoon Network on Sunday, August 4, at 4:45pm (PT/ET).

OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes follows the titular character, K.O., and his efforts to become the world’s greatest hero while working at Gar’s Bodega along with his friends, Enid and Radicles, and protecting their home, Lakewood Plaza.

Want to see the trailer in action, be sure to click the link after the break.

Continue Reading ➜

No Comments