SEGAbits contributes to 1UP.com cover story – “A Dream Deferred: When Sega Got Out at the Right Time”

Gaming website 1UP.com has posted their cover story for the week, entitled “A Dream Deferred: When Sega Got Out at the Right Time”. The story covers the Dreamcast’s exit from the market, and argues why it might have been a good decision in the long run. 1UP writer Ray Barnholt reached out to SEGAbits earlier in the month for our thoughts on the Dreamcast’s demise, and the finished article features quotes from our very own Shigs and -nSega54-! Head on over to 1UP.com to read the article, and feel free to share your thoughts both there and here.

Again, a big thanks to 1UP and Ray Barnholt for thinking of us when it came to the opinions of SEGA fans!

So, new coat of paint… tell us what you think

So, finally a the new theme we’ve been working on for months and months is up. I know some of it might not seem like it’s been worked on for months.. mainly styled stuff that’s specific to wordpress, when I was making the template that stuff I kind of forgot about. So today when I was making the template into a wordpress theme I quickly jammed a bunch of the old code into the new template for wordpress specific stuff, so it’s a bit messy. I’ll be working on getting that stuff looking better throughout the year or so. I mean it doesn’t look super bad, just doesn’t look good as it could.

By major request, the dark theme is back, the dark theme that we had back during segabits 2. This theme is styled a bit differently, but still dark!

At the moment there are no rotating banners, we need to get our current ones re-sized for this new layout, but they will be coming back soon. As always, if you bump into any issues, you can leave a comment here. You can also leave positive comments too, we like positive comments!

Anyways, I apologize for putting up a rushed theme, but I recently got the motivation to finally get it up, and I wanted to get it up before I lost that motivation again.

Viking: Battle for Asgard hits PC next week


Viking: Battle for Asgard was one of my favorite games when it came out back int 2008 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Now PC users will be able to fight the hoards of undead vikings on their uber powerful PC.
SEGA’s Hardlight Studio dropped a tweet stating that you can expect the game to hit Steam next week. So who is going to pick this one up? Even if it is 4 years too late.

 

Valkyria Duel browser game heading to iOS and Android

While it isn’t making its way to Western gamers (yet), SEGA has announced that the free-to-play browser-based card-battling strategy game Valkyria Duel is heading to Android and iOS. The game has been playable on PC’s for a while, but SEGA and developer NHN Japan promise that the iOS and Android versions will allow players to play the game both at home and on-the-go, with data shared between platforms. Those aren’t lofty promises, so I could see the game delivering on that. Hopefully with the shift to mobile devices, SEGA West will localize the game and give it a release. We’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks to Aki At for the heads up. After the break, screens of the game in action.

SEGAbits at the Intervention 2012 convention this weekend in Maryland

SEGAbits staffer A.J. Rosa, the man behind the My Life With SEGA video series, will be on a number of panels at this weekend’s Intervention 2012 convention in Rockville, Maryland which is just outside Washington D.C. What is Intervention 2012?

We are here to intervene and inspire you to embrace your inner (and outer) geek! Intervention (a shortening of the words “Internet Convention”) is where you can meet, talk with, learn from, and party with the people you see online everyday. We aim to make it “One Part New Media, One Part Gaming, One Part Nerd Party”. It has a strong emphasis on Independent artists who use the internet as their main distribution method for their work.

“Internet Culture” is a broad term that loosely means “elements of culture that are developed through and on the Internet”– music, podcast, comics, art, video, etc. being enabled primarily because of the Internet itself, and a reflection of Internet’s influence on how and what then gets developed for that online audience.

The con runs from September 21st -23rd and tickets can be bought online or at the door. What will A.J. be talking about? After the break, a full list of the panels!

Sonic 4 Episode II True Blue Initiative video goes live

When Sonic 4 Episode I released, the SEGA Blog did something quite controversial: they rewarded those who bought more than one version of the game. The nerve! It’s one thing to offer the game on multiple platforms, but it’s quite another thing to reward those who decide to spend their own money on more than one version of the game. The community team is at it again. For Sonic 4 Episode II the offer was: buy two or more versions of the game and get a mention in a video. Buy four or more versions of the game and get a mention and a Sonic 4 Episode II poster signed by those from SEGA of America who worked on the game. Seeing as we here at SEGAbits are true blue, and we like to hear the community team say our name, we sent in our digital receipts and got a mention at 56 seconds into the video. Kellie thanks the site and the entire SEGAbits crew. Thanks Kellie! SEGAbits forum member Kori, who maintains the Website of the Dead, gets a mention in the poster tier. Did your name get a mention? Sound off below.

Regarding the spam comments…

If you haven’t noticed we’ve been getting a lot of spam lately. I’ve went and added a field to our form, if you have any trouble with it, please contact us. I don’t think you will have any trouble though, I tested it pretty well. If you were having trouble earlier, it should work now, I was busy implementing it earlier.

Happy Fourth of July to all the American SEGA fans out there!

As the date states, it’s the Fourth of July! That means Americans are drinking, barbecuing and blowing stuff up. To celebrate, we gathered together three Dreamcast VMUs to make a patriotic red, white and blue photo for our Instagram feed. If you want, you can follow us on Instagram. Just download the app and search “SEGAbits”. How are the American SEGA fans out there celebrating? I can tell you that I played an hour of Binary Domain, and fittingly they called me Dan the Yankee. Happy holiday, and drink game responsibly!

Phantasy Star Online 2 open beta starts June 21st


So you didn’t get into the close beta, but still want to play Phantasy Star Online 2 with all your buddies that did get in? Well, it won’t matter in a few days, because on June 21st SEGA is opening up the beta for everyone. If you register for the beta in advance, like now, you get the Rappy item for free. Sign up here. Here is a nice guide on how to sign up.

SEGA has not stated when the game will be launched, just stated that if there isn’t any issues in open beta that they will launch it as soon as possible. All open beta characters and data will be transferred over to the full release. So get a head start.

 

E3 Day 2 Update

 

Hi guys! Apologies for the lack of updates yesterday. We were so busy playing games and setting up interviews, charging cameras and running to and from the media lounge…we didn’t actually have much time to write. Hope you enjoyed Jason’s take on Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed!

I am currently in the midst of writing previews for Aliens: Colonial Marines and Hell Yeah!, the latter I ended up spending about thirty minutes playing…to which you’ll know why when you read the preview. Sonic Stadium visitors will, unfortunately, not be getting much content this year, due to the sheer lack of actual material to write about. We have gotten an interview with All-Stars Racing producer Joe Neate, though, as well as a full rotational look at the new ASR branded car, which will hopefully be going up later today. My Hell Yeah! preview will also be going up on Sonic Stadium, so you guys can read about another SEGA platformer that doesn’t star Sonic.

SEGAbits will, of course, be receiving previews for every game on the show floor. We also managed to score a last minute interview with Gearbox and their new Aliens game, which you can expect to see on the site Friday. There will likely be other interviews as well, but nothing that I can confirm.

Introducing SEGAbits’ first YouTube series: My Life With SEGA

[Fancy new logo too!]

Hello everyone, I’m proud to announce that “My Life with SEGA” is going to be the first YouTube series for us here at SEGAbits. Some of you guys might have already seen the show, if you have then you know it’s excellent. All new episodes of the series will now appear on the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

So what is the premise of the series? Looking at all those SEGA games we all grew up with and love. This is an ongoing thing here at SEGAbits, we are trying to get more retro content. Next week will be part 2 of A.J’s Stallion series. Hit the jump to see the first episode, which includes a review for Rambo III and Cliffhanger!

Like blue skies and palm trees? Follow SEGAbits on Tumblr

We’ve friended on Facebook and tweeted on Twitter, and now we’re tumbling on Tumblr! Rather than recycle news and articles that you can find at this very site, we’re trying something a bit different. SEGAbits presents Palmtree Panic! is a Tumblr devoted to SEGA’s iconic palm trees. Think palm trees are only found in Sonic games? Think again. Every day we’re posting a new instance of a palm tree in a SEGA game or a game on a SEGA console. Some famous, like Green Hill’s digital palms, and some obscure. So make sure to check up on our Tumblr for new trees and we’d very much appreciate submissions. Just click “submit a palm tree” to add to our digital garden.

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

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!

Follow us on Instagram to get your daily dose of SEGA pictures

Most of you are probably seeing this and talking about how we sold out to the social media trends. But lets be honest, wouldn’t you want to have random SEGA nostalgia pictures daily on your phone? I know most people use Instagram to show off what they are eating or what they are wearing, not us. We are sharing some interesting SEGA pictures. You love interesting SEGA pictures, don’t you?

Instagram is only an app right now, that means no web interface. So how do you add us? Easy, hit the search button and type in SEGAbits. Easy! Instagram is available on both Android and iOS devices.

[Got some pretty interesting SEGA pictures? Send them our way!]

Nuckles87’s PAX EASTer Egg Hunt

See Shigs, I can do puns to!

Greetings, SEGAbitters. This Nuckles87, talking to you from PAX EAST. Today, I would like to announce a little contest I’ll be running while I’m at PAX: an easter egg hunt. In this case, the easter egg is me, or more specifically, my 3DS’s Mii. You have to street pass me with your 3DS!

My Mii is a rather portly fellow in a blue shirt wearing a pirate hat, named Alex. He greets you with the SEGAbits web address, so you’ll know it’s me! More details below the fold.