SEGA News Bits Live: New Classic Sonic Toys!

New Classic Sonic toys are hitting shelves, and on this SEGA News Bits Live Barry takes a look at the Hammer Egg from Sonic Superstars and Giant Mecha Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

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Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Comes to K1 Speed San Diego!

Are you a Sonic fan and live near San Diego? You’re in luck as SEGA is continuing its Racing Around the World fan celebration by bringing fans a unique, fully immersive karting experience at K1 Speed San Diego from Thursday, July 24 to Sunday, July 27.

Conveniently located near the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village, and Petco Park, K1 Speed San Diego will transform into a Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds-themed experience packed with fun activities and exclusive surprises for attendees to enjoy.

What to Expect:

  • Immersive Sonic Racing Experience: Race at K1 Speed’s premier indoor track designed to feel like you’re racing in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
  • Podium Photo Opportunities: Capture the moment at the Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Podium for photos.
  • Exclusive Giveaways: Attend for the chance to receive exclusive branded merchandise.
  • Collaborative Merchandise: Shop for branded items celebrating the K1 x Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds collaboration.
  • Arcade Pop-Ups: Play classic SEGA arcade machines available at the activation.

Event Details:

What: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds x K1 Karting Experience

When: Thursday, July 24 – Sunday, July 27, during business hours

Where: K1 Speed San Diego, 1709 Main St, San Diego, CA 92113

Former SEGA arcade Akihabara GiGO 1 set to close at the end of August 2025 – New amusement center to take its place

Earlier this week, news broke that Akihabara Gigo 1, formerly an iconic SEGA arcade with a 32 year history, was set to close at the end of August 2025. The reason given was that the fixed-term lease on the building has expired. The location originally opened in 1992 under SEGA’s ownership as High Tech Land Sega Shintoku, and later was called Club Sega Akihabara and then Sega Akihabara 1. If you’re wondering, the “1” denotes that this was the first of five SEGA arcades in the area.

Sonic Racing: Crossworlds physical copies for Nintendo Switch 2 confirmed not to be Game Key-Cards; two new trailers uploaded

In a recent FAQ regarding, specifically, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the upcoming Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, Sega confirmed the physical versions of the game will not be on a Game Key-Card. The entire base game will instead be built into a standard game card with no downloads required besides free patches as they come. This also makes it Sega’s first Nintendo Switch 2 game to not be sold in retail stores as a Game Key-Card. You can check here to see the other games they launched as Game Key-Cards and learn how those are different, and less desirable, from regular physical releases.

In addition, the physical Switch 2 version will not be available until early 2026, while the digital release will come on Holiday 2025. All other versions of the game will launch on September 25th, 2025 as planned.

In the very same FAQ, Sega also confirmed that the Nintendo Switch 1 version of the game, whether physical or digital, will include the option of a $10 USD purchase to upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version later on. Using this upgrade option will also allow you to carry over any save data and paid DLC, including pre-order bonuses, from Switch to Switch 2 with ease. This should all serve as excellent news to anyone considering either the Switch or Switch 2 versions of the game.

At the same time, Sega have aired two new trailers, as well as shown some of their special pre-order DLC bonuses. Check in after the break to see those.

SEGA Talk #166: It’s Thinking – Dreamcast Marketing Campaign (1999)

On this episode of SEGA Talk, we’re diving headfirst into the Dreamcast’s iconic “It’s Thinking” marketing campaign! We’ll explore its development, massive multimedia push, and those unforgettable, often cryptic ads. Did it revolutionize console marketing or just leave us scratching our heads? All this, and more, on SEGA Talk!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

Join SEGA/ATLUS at Anime Expo 2025 for Panels, Performances, and More!

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Are you local in the L.A. area and attending this year’s Anime Expo? Be sure to stop by the convention center and join SEGA/ATLUS with several line-up of panels and activations for fans at the Los Angeles Convention Center Show Floor from July 3-6. The panels and activations includes:

  • COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing Cheer Screening
  • HATSUNE MIKU: COLORFUL STAGE! Fan Meeting
  • The Official Persona5: The Phantom X Panel Featuring Lyn’s Live Performance
  • Persona Music Experience with Lyn Inaizumi
  • Like a Dragon/Yakuza Pool Party
  • SEGA/ATLUS Booth
  • Little Akihabara Pop-Up

More information on the SEGA/ATLUS AX25 lineup can be found below!

Hasbro Announces MAGIC: THE GATHERING SECRET LAIR x SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Collaboration

Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and SEGA announced today a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair x Sonic the Hedgehog collaboration featuring three distinct Secret Lair drops inspired by the Sonic universe. The collaboration takes Sonic and Magic: The Gathering fans on a lightning-fast trip to meet some of SEGA’s iconic Sonic characters, reimagined as Magic: The Gathering cards.

Each drop will be on sale in regular ($29.99) and foil ($39.99) editions available for purchase on MagicSecretLair.com starting at 9 a.m. PT on July 14, while supplies last. Check out more details on each drop below!

DC x Sonic the Hedgehog JAKKS Product Line Now Available to Preorder; Releases in Stores This Fall!

The first toy line inspired by the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover event is now available to preorder. The new collection from JAKKS Pacific was developed in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products (WBDGCP) and SEGA of America.

Fans can pre-order the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover toy line exclusively from Target.com. Check out more details and an exclusive look at the DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover toy line in the next section of the article!

SEGA News Bits Live: Sonic Crossover Chaos!

Batman, SpongeBob, Magic the Gathering… Sonic is crossing over with EVERYTHING! On this SEGA News Bits, Barry touches on the many collabs and crossovers, talks about leaks and shows off some upcoming SEGAbits projects!

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If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

Persona5: The Phantom X Now Available on PC and Mobile!

Calling All Phantom Thieves! Today, SEGA and ATLUS launched Persona5: The Phantom X on PC and mobile, inviting players into an all-new adventure set in the colorful and engrossing world of the legendary Persona series. In Persona5: The Phantom X, players will journey as a brand-new protagonist with the unique turn-based RPG gameplay and setting of Persona 5.

An original event based on Persona 5 is also now live, with Joker from Persona 5 available from a limited contract. To celebrate the launch, check out the latest Student Life trailer here, and the Phantom Thieves Life trailer here. You can also watch the Release Countdown livestream VOD here.

Full announcement details are in the press release below!

McLaren Racing and SEGA announce partnership with Sonic the Hedgehog™


Today, SEGA and McLaren Racing announced a new multi-year partnership with Sonic the Hedgehog, bringing together two globally recognized icons of speed and making SEGA the official gaming partner of McLaren Racing Limited. The partnership marks a reunion more than thirty years in the making. At the 1993 European Grand Prix, known as the Sonic Grand Prix, McLaren F1 Team driver Ayrton Senna was awarded a Sonic the Hedgehog trophy on the podium.

Fans can expect creative integrations and experiences that fuse the worlds of motorsport and gaming and engage audiences of all ages both on the grid and screen. The partnership will continue throughout Sonic Team’s 2025 “Racing Around the World” campaign into 2026 for Sonic’s 35th Anniversary and the McLaren Formula 1 Team’s 1,000th Grand Prix. SEGA will also be hosting an exciting activation at McLaren Racing Live: London, a fan-focused Trafalgar Square take-over on July 2 – 3.

Check out full details from the press release here!

SEGA Announces Nickelodeon Collaboration for Upcoming Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

SEGA surprised everyone at the 2025 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards with a reveal: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is crossing over with Nickelodeon. And yes—SpongeBob is in.

During the show, SEGA dropped a new trailer showing SpongeBob and friends hitting the track alongside Sonic and his crew. It also showed off a SpongeBob-themed vehicle and track, plus a quick tease of more Nick content on the way—including stuff from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

If you grab the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game, you’ll get all the Nickelodeon content through the Season Pass, along with the recently announced Minecraft crossover, Sonic Prime characters, and a couple of mystery collabs still to come.

More details are on the way, but one thing’s clear: CrossWorlds is shaping up to be the wildest Sonic racer yet.

Remaining Sega Forever mobile games being hit with End-of-Service announcements UPDATE: Annnnnnnd they’re gone

Recorded from the Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II mobile app

The final nail in Sega Forever’s coffin has just been pounded in. The once-promising initiative out of Sega Europe to bring classic Sega games back on mobile devices as free, ad-supported games had already been quietly discontinued years ago and several games were delisted and left with their online services disabled in 2023. Now, most of the remaining games are meeting the same fate.

Like before, this comes without any official announcement from Sega outside of this end-of-service notice popping up within the affected games, along with a link directly to Sega’s website. Each of the games will remain playable offline and tied to your Google Play or Apple account if you had previously downloaded them, but they will no longer be updated, so it’s only a matter of time until they do become unplayable as Sega will no longer make sure they keep up with ongoing Android or iOS updates. This has actually already happened with each of the games that were delisted the last time since we reported on it two years ago. The topical games here are still available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store as of this writing, so you may as well download the remaining games if you haven’t already and enjoy them while you can. As part of this update, all online features will be shut down, which amounted to leaderboards and, for the Genesis/Mega-Drive games, save-states saved onto the cloud. Local save data will remain accessible. The option to pay $2 USD to disable ads, which will now be disabled anyway, is also gone.

Check past the break for a list of the affected titles.

Video Game Composers, Tee Lopes and Yuzo Koshiro, to work on SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance OST

Today, SEGA has announced that video game composers, Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania, Streets of the Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare) and Yuzo Koshiro (The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage) will be working together to compose SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance original soundtrack. In addition to the announcement, Tee Lopes left a special message for the fans that the composers decided to take the soundtrack to new avenues in a bold modern sound that ties into the brand-new experience. Tee will also be performing a DJ set that will represent the series history at a later date.

SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is available now for pre-order on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam for $29.99 USD. Fans who pre-order the digital version of the game will receive a 10% discount, the Original Arcade Outfit, Fortune Hunter Amulet, and digital artbook and soundtrack!

Physical pre-orders for SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance are now live on the Limited Run Games website through June 29, 2025 with three editions of the game available to purchase. For additional information on pre-orders, please visit the official game website.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake launches August 7 for Steam, GOG, and Nintendo Switch

After its initial announcement in January, the wait is over as The House of the Dead 2: Remake will officially be available for Steam, GOG, and Nintendo Switch on August 7, 2025 with the price of 24,99 EUR/USD. No words on other consoles at the moment.

The House of the Dead 2: Remake is a remake of the second entry in the well-known and popular rail-shooter series. Take on the lone role of a secret agent as James or Gary or team up in co-op mode to neutralize the dangerous creatures standing in your way.

Hit the jump for more details on game features!