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Round Table: Our thoughts on SEGA Games’ new CEO Haruki Satomi

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SatomiLove

It has been a rough path being a SEGA fan, while I do feel like they have made some great games in the past decade, its easy to see that they have also made their fair share of mistakes. A few weeks ago the newly elected Sega Games Co. CEO and Vice President, Haruki Satomi had a interview with Famitsu where he discussed how he felt some games SEGA released in the last decade abused fan’s trust towards the brand and how they are learning from Atlus in the West.

Of course the internet was an uproar, some even stating that SEGA hasn’t released a good game in a decade. Regardless of how you feel about SEGA, its always good for a company to take feedback and be straight when talking about the company. So this week’s round table we discuss what we thought of Mr. Satomi’s interview.

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Review: 3D Streets of Rage 2 (Nintendo 3DS)

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3DStreetsOfRageReview
If you owned a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive in the early 90’s, you are well aware of what Streets of Rage series was all about, its SEGA’s answer to (the then) Nintendo console exclusive franchise Final Fight (though it did get a SEGA CD entry). Its been well over a decade since the franchise debuted on SEGA’s 16-bit hardware, which is quite a long time.

Now as an adult can the game bring back those nostalgic memories that shaped my gaming habits or is Streets of Rage 2 just one of those games that I liked as a kid but aged badly? Or even worse, a bad port? Let’s find out

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This is Saturn burns rubber with VATLVA

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This is Saturn comes back, engines blazing and rubber freshly burnt.

This time, we’re looking at a relatively obscure title in the Saturn’s back catalogue, Ancient’s VATLVA. This game boasts artwork by Hitoshi Ariga (responsible for various manga, particularly of the Mega Man variety), and a soundtrack by none other than Yuzo Koshiro! But is the game actually any good? Watch and find out on this episode of This is Saturn!

As mentioned in the video, you can grab a shirt to support the show by clicking here!

This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

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Round Table: How much did you pledge to Shenmue 3?

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shenmue3rt

It is hard to grasp that it has been over 14 years since Shenmue 2 came out and left us all with that cliffhanger in the end of the game. There has been a strong fan reaction for a third installment and Yu Suzuki stood at Playstation’s E3 stage to finally give fans what they have been asking for. Ys NET launched their Kickstarter campaign which broke funding records, cementing that fans are willing to give their hard earn cash in order to see a third installment of their favorite franchise. In this week’s Round Table we talk about how much we funded and why. You can let us know how much you funded in the comments below.

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Swingin’ Report Show #82: Interview with Brian Silva of Visual Concepts, Midway, Accolade and more!

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Video game designer and voice actor Brain Silva joins us on our latest episode to discuss his work on Bubsy and Bubsy II, Floigan Bros., Hydro Thunder, and H2Overdrive as well as many other games created during his time at Accolade, Visual Concepts, Midway, Blizzard Entertainment and Specular Interactive. Brian also discusses several unreleased games including Hydro Thunder 2 for arcades, Congo: The Secret of Zinj for Genesis and SNES, and Floigan Bros. for the original Playstation!

Brian currently works at Specular Interactive, having helped create the arcade titles H2Overdrive (Hydro Thunder‘s spiritual successor), Project HADES, Dirty Drivin’, and Batman. Learn more about Specular Interactive by checking out their website.

Also, make sure to check out Brian’s website where you’ll find some excellent design docs for Floigan Bros. and Crank the Weasel.

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Swingin’ Report Show #81: Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Countdown

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Join George and Barry as they count down the final hour of the record breaking Shenmue 3 Kickstarter campaign! It has been as wild month, from the game’s E3 Sony stage announcement, to the ups and downs of Awesome Japan’s handling of the campaign. Hear our thoughts on how the Kickstarter was managed, the new tiers, and the recently revealed details of what we can expect in the finished game. Also in this episode, the recent comments from SEGA Games president on the company regaining the trust of gamers.

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Swingin’ Report Show #80: Interview with Aaron Webber, Sonic the Hedgehog PR & Social Media Manager

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He’s back! After leaving SEGA of America in 2014, Aaron Webber has returned as the PR & Social Media Manager for the Sonic the Hedgehog brand. Since returning, Aaron has been making waves on the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, catching both fan and media attention with his sly wit and deep knowledge of the franchise.

Aaron was kind enough to sit down with us for an hour in his first interview since returning to SEGA to talk about his new role, SEGA’s move to LA, his approach to interacting with fans, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, his favorite Sonic games, and answers to some burning canon questions!

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Developer Retrospective: From the Gridiron to the Basketball court, these are the games of SEGA’s Visual Concepts

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Visualconceptsfeat

This month we will be celebrating the games of Visual Concepts, a western developer that is best known for the creation of the 2K Sports franchise of games. Not only did they have a long history battling EA on the Dreamcast; but they continue to battle against the EA Sports brand video games even after leaving our favorite publisher. What better month than July to focus on this largely overlooked and talented US-based development team. After the break, let’s look back at the games and history of Visual Concepts!

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Hit Reset sharpens his skills in Wild Woody for the SEGA CD

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This time on Hit Reset, we take a look at a long forgotten footnote in SEGA’s history, a mascot platformer by the name of Wild Woody. Barely remembered at its release and even less remembered now, Wild Woody is generally considered to be one of the worst platformers ever made during the era.

However, I see things just a little bit differently. Wild Woody has some things no other game ever had, for better or worse. So, if you wanna learn what in the hell this odd platformer is, or watch me defent a notoriously bad game, well, this is your shot, and trust me, i have quite a bit of help to do this…

Thanks to Joesph Kerska (the real, original voice of Woody), Bumblefoot (the game’s composer), and everyone else who helped make this video far better then it had any right to be.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel, and make sure to check out more of my videos!

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Classic SEGA Ads: F-Zero GX for Nintendo Gamecube will make your heart race

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It has been a little over 14 years since SEGA went third party, and while at the time it was a shock to learn that the company would be releasing games on once rival consoles, now most fans have grown accustomed to third party SEGA. In fact, it has been so long since the announcement that now we have a whole new generation of fans who pinpoint a third party SEGA game as their introduction to the company! I’m not one to use the tired expression “I feel old”, but that realization almost makes me want to utter it (almost). Back in the early 2000s, when third party SEGA went into full swing, fans were seeing the likes of Crazy Taxi on PS2, Sonic Adventure on Gamecube, and Jet Set Radio‘s sequel JSRF on the Xbox. Shocking, sure, but nothing could give SEGA fans whiplash like the announcement that SEGA’s own Amusement Vision team were to develop a new game in a fully Nintendo owned classic franchise – enter F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX.

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Swingin’ Report Show #79: Shenmue 3 E3 Reveal & Kickstarter

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We’re still pinching ourselves, because we can’t believe this is real life. Yu Suzuki is finally set to make Shenmue 3, having just announced the long awaited game at E3 and launching a Kickstarter to fund the project this week. On this episode of the Swingin’ Report Show, George and Barry discuss their reactions to the news, share opinions on the Kickstarter, and tackle the misconceptions of Sony’s involvement. We also speculate what Suzuki has planned for the third game based on past interviews and recently revealed details.

Check out Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter at kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3

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SEGA Tunes: Hideki Naganuma brings The Concept of Love to Ollie King

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While SEGA’s arcade skateboarding title Ollie King is often given Smilebit credit, as mentioned in our kick-off retrospective, the title is still very much an Amusement Vision game. Still, given the Smilebit talent involved in Ollie King‘s creation, I can easily see why people make the mistake. Hell, I thought the game was a Smilebit arcade game until I played it for the first and only time at a GameWorks in Schaumburg, Illinois back in 2005 and saw that “AV” logo. While Ollie King‘s art style and graphics are very much in the same style as Smilebit’s JSRF, and what really pushes the Smilebit feel over the edge is the incredible soundtrack from SEGA music veteran Hideki Naganuma. Not only does the game feature original tracks including pulse-pounders like “Boarder 70”, “Let It Go”, and “Too Fast”, slower celebrative tracks like “Funk to the Top”, as well as the lovingly wacky “Brother Goes Away”, the game also features two remixes of original tracks from Jet Set Radio Future!

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