The SEGAbits SEGA & Sonic Holiday Gift Guide for Fans and your Fan Friends!

The holiday season is fast approaching, and like SEGA’s speedy blue mascot it’ll be here before you know it! In fact, it’s already here! Don’t fret, as we’re here to help you out with some gift giving ideas for the SEGA and Sonic fans in your life, or if you have some gift cards burning a hole in your pocket you might like some of our suggestions for yourself.

So read on as we take a look at the best SEGA and Sonic gifts on offer this holiday season!

SEGAbits Exclusive Interview with Veteran SEGA Designers Akihito Hiroyoshi & Yumiko Miyabe

During our visit to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show, we seized the opportunity to meet and engage in conversation with former veteran SEGA Designers, Akihito Hiroyoshi—renowned as the character designer for classic SEGA AM2 arcade games such as Arabian Fight and Virtua Cop—and Yumiko Miyabe, the former art director for the Space Channel 5 series.

These interviews unveiled insights into their early lives, careers during their tenure at SEGA, and personal hobbies. By clicking the link, you can delve into the interviews and explore behind-the-scenes artwork from the games they passionately crafted during their time at SEGA.

Additionally, the interviews are available in video format, with links provided here for Akihito Hiroyoshi and Yumiko Miyabe. A special acknowledgment goes to our fellow writer, Dakota, for video recording, as well as SEGA fans, Martin Hemmingway and Scott Hamby for translating the interviews. *Please note: images provided in the interview are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission*

SEGA News Bits Live: Sonic Dream Team Revealed

I had the strangest dream. Sonic and friends went on an adventure inside my iPhone and… oh wait, it’s real! Sonic Dream Team was announced and on SEGA News Bits Live, Barry takes a look at all the details revealed about the Apple Arcade exclusive game.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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.

SEGA Talk #129: Unreleased Dreamcast Games Pt. 2 (1999-2002)

We end our epic finally of ranking each unreleased Dreamcast games. This second part will cover big SEGA games like Shenmue III, Scud Racer, Toejam & Earl 3, and of course Propeller Arena. Check out the epic finale!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show LIVE: SEGA PICO Art Studio Smackdown

Our next LIVE show is planned for Wednesday, October 18th at 8:15PM central / 6:15PM pacific / 9:15PM eastern. We’re going to live stream EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN SEGA PICO GAME… that has a drawing program. Which will reign supreme? Find out! Steve ‘ap0c’ Lakawicz will be joining to chat along as Barry the Artist draws audience suggestions!

Steve is a classically trained musician with a Master’s degree in Music Performance, specializing in orchestral tuba. He has toured with brass quintets and performed with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and lately has taken an interest into crafting and emulating authentic chiptunes. Most recently he has composed music for Brock Crocodile. You can listen to his music here: https://soundcloud.com/ap0c

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

SEGA Talk #128: Unreleased Dreamcast Games Part 1 (1998-2002)

SEGA Talk is covering every canceled Dreamcast game from years past, this is such a massive undertaking that we will be splitting it into two podcast. Sit back, buckle and let’s take a trip down the ‘what could have been’!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

The Creative Assembly suffers layoffs and Hyenas gets cancelled

This certainly is not The Creative Assembly’s finest hour. Their all new multiplayer shooter (And the subject of one of my first written articles here on SegaBits) Hyenas has been unceremoniously cancelled in a brief recent SegaSammy financial report. Citing “lower profitability in the European region”, the decision was made from on high to axe Hyenas, along with several unannounced titles being developed there. As if to throw salt on the wound, Hyenas’s UK-based developer The Creative Assembly, known for Alien Isolation and the Total War series, is also suffering layoffs. All this comes according to a report from Eurogamer, which you can read here. The above message was also taken from the official Hyenas Twitter page.

This comes as a shock as Hyenas was just demoed at Gamescom only last month and in a recent closed PC beta just this month, along with a few all new trailers getting released. The developers even seemed rather enthusiastic about the game’s reception, in spite of any challenges with development, as referenced in an interview Eurogamer did with representatives of Creative Assembly at that very same Gamescom event. It truly goes to show that you can never be too certain what will happen behind closed doors in the world of game development. I can only hope the staff being let go have little trouble finding new jobs and supporting themselves and their families.

Are you sad to see Hyenas canned? I know I am, especially cause I never even got to participate in any of the betas. Maybe any of you who did can tell us about your experiences in the comments below? I’d especially appreciate it.

SEGA Talk #127: Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM Cartoon (1993-1994)

On this episode of SEGA Talk we cover the fastest thing alive, the Sonic the Hedgehog Animated series from ABC! Also known as SatAM! We talk about its development, the characters and the failed revivals!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show LIVE: Williams-Bally-Midway Arcade History with Ken Horowitz

SEGA-16.com founder Ken Horowitz returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to talk about his newest book: From Pinballs to Pixels: An Arcade History of Williams-Bally-Midway! We take a look at the origins of pinball, how the industry grew out of Chicago, how the Williams company transformed over the years to become a console game developer and we talk about SEGA’s two brief entries into the pinball biz!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

SEGA Talk #126: Jurassic Park (1993)

The SEGA Talk episode 65 million years in the making, as we take a drive through Jurassic Park on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive! Its Raptor vs Man on this adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s classic film (which in turn, was an adaptation of a book)!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

Classic SEGA Magazine Corner: Make your own Death’s Head Maracas

Welcome back to Classic SEGA Magazine Corner! On this installment, we’re taking a look back at issue 12 of the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine, dated March/April 2001. This issue is notable, as it was the final issue of the magazine’s run and the first issue to not include a demo disc. In fact, the issue came with a letter apologizing for the lack of a demo disc and the announcement that demo discs would no longer be included. The fact that this issue would be the final issue was unknown to the staff at the time, as detailed in our Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine reunion podcast from released almost ten years ago.

But our focus today is not on the magazine’s conclusion, but rather a goofy arts and crafts feature they had in which they chopped up Samba de Amigo maracas to create funky skull head variants! Let’s dive in!

SEGA Talk #125: Sonic Fast Food Promotions (1993-2023)

On this fast food filled episode of SEGA Talk we take a quick drive-thru the last thirty years of Sonic’s fast food promotions! Buckle up and get ready to eat!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

SEGA Talk #124: Snail Maze & SEGA Swirl (1988 & 1999)

The long awaited SNAIL MAZE episode is now upon us! Not only that, you get SEGA Swirl for free as a bonus! We also talk about other free SEGA offerings. All this and more in SEGA Talk.

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

SEGA Talk #123: Unreleased Sonic Games (1991-2020)

On this episode of SEGA Talk we dive deep into unreleased Sonic the Hedgehog games! We go through 17 unreleased Sonic games and rank them! What could have been and never was.

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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

SEGA Talk #122: Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones (1994)

SEGA Talk throws you the whip on this episode as we talk about the SEGA Genesis game Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones! How did this Chicagoland developed game come to be? What are the origins of Indiana Jones and the TV series that details his early days? Run away from a boulder and find out on this episode of SEGA Talk!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

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