Original Content
SEGAbits Visits SEGA of America, Inc. in Sunny San Francisco – Part 1
On the list of awesome opportunities that have presented themselves as a result of me becoming a SEGA fan site writer, a visit to SEGA’s San Francisco offices has taken a firm hold of the number one slot. I had already planned to take a trip to California starting in Los Angeles, heading northward via the coastal highway, and ending the San Francisco. When it came to San Fran, SEGA’s offices were at the top of the list of places to check out. At most, I figured I’d pose in front of the building, but given our connections with the SEGA community managers I went out on a limb and reached out. After a short correspondence, a date and time was set and I was in. I was going to visit SEGA’s American HQ! Through the powers of words and photos, come along with me as we step inside SEGA.
Fighters Segamix: Power Stone
This would have been up a week sooner, but I was having problems with the video editor. Yes, it’s Power Stone! The Capcom fighting game so synonymous with the Dreamcast that people tend to think it’s a Sega game. One of the best local multiplayer games that even amateurs can get into. I’m afraid with my busy schedule, I may need to make this a bi-weekly show instead of weekly. Hope you guys don’t mind.
I got something really unique for next week. I will say it’s a bit “Wak”.
Announcing an update for the SEGAbits Summer of Art Contest!
This post has been a long time coming. I’ve been trying to get around to writing this for a while, but things seemed to keep getting in the way. But not today! I’ve got a few announcements regarding this contest that will hopefully give everyone more of a reason to participate.
First of all, I am pleased to announce that we’ve added some additional prizes to the contest. The grand prize winner will now also receive:
- The Eyes of Bayonetta artbook and DVD combo
- The Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack.
- Two rare, E3 exclusive Castle of Illusion pins
- A rare, E3 exclusive Castle of Illusion lanyard.
These prizes will be in addition to the Valkyria Chronicles Design Archive, the Jet Set Radio soundtrack, a free SEGAbits t-shirt, rare sets of pins for both Jet Set Radio and Valkyria Chronicles 2, and a free commission from Sonic comic artist Tracy Yardley! Four runner ups will also be receiving the new Castle of Illusion pins, in addition to the Valkyria Chronicles and Jet Set Radio pins.
Finally, I would also like to announce that we are extending the length of the contest to August 10th, due to how long it took me to announce these new prizes. If you have never heard of this contest, check below so that I can tell you all about it!
My Life With SEGA reviews Panzer Dragoon
My Life with SEGA returns this week with a review of the acclaimed SEGA Saturn game, Panzer Dragoon. Probably one of my favorite franchises in SEGA’s huge catalog of unique IPs, this week you get to see A.J. give you his take on the game.
Make sure if you want more videos from My Life from SEGA and others, to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Its groovy, I swear.
Swingin’ Report Show #47: Project X Shenmue
This week on the show Barry and George talk about the future of the Shenmue franchise, their take on its future and of course Project X Zone, which recently came out. Besides that we cover your weekly news, for more on whats on the show check the show notes after the break.
Question for the SEGA Fan Community: What is the most positive and effective way to ask for Shenmue 3?
Over the weekend a group of Shenmue fans came across an article I wrote over two years ago. In the article, I named five things I believed SEGA fans should stop doing, and one of these things was spamming SEGA’s Facebook page for titles like Shenmue 3. I love the Shenmue franchise and consider myself to be a huge fan. I read and reread every Shenmue article I could get my hands on in anticipation of the first game’s release, and bought it on day one. When the sequel was announced to be only available in Europe and Japan, with US fans having to wait nearly a year for an Xbox port, I learned how to play imported games and bought the European version on the week of release. Since then, I’ve debated with fans over what a third title would contain, bought Shenmue merch whenever the chance arrived, and even joined in on the infamous mass capsule toy mailings.
Swingin’ Report Show #46: The Great Post E3 Babble On
This week on the Swingin’ Report Show we have a sort of crossover, Nuckles87 and Shigs from our other podcast; Sonic Talk join in to talk about their experience at E3. We talk about all the SEGA games, new consoles and our favorite games at E3 2013. Listen in and tell us what you think.
E3: Company of Heroes 2 Q & A
Sorry about not doing a transcript, but my time has been very limited as of late. So I either put this up as a YouTube video, or delay it a few more days. I felt it was getting too close to release date and needed to go up right away. Here I talk with Company of Heroes 2 lead animator Brett Pascal, talking everything about the game, the move to Sega and what has happened to some of their other IP’s. Enjoy!
Company of Heroes 2 will be out this Tuesday, June 25.
E3: Hands-on Mario and Sonic at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
The Mario and Sonic Olympic titles have been VERY successful for Sega and Nintendo. I mean who doesn’t love to see Mario and Sonic, once the most bitter rivals of the 90’s console wars compete together? While the dream events have always been fun, the main problem with this series has been the regular Olympic events themselves. They’re bland. Vanilla. Just plain…..”Meh”. What this series needs is some good, solid game mechanics. Does Mario and Sonic at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics finally solve this problem? Eeeeh….maybe. Read on.
My Life with SEGA ain’t afraid of Ghostbusters on the Master System
It’s been 29 years since Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters graced the silver screen on June 8th 1984. Furthermore, it’s been 24 years since I’ve played Ghostbusters for the SEGA Master System. Has this relic of cross-promotional tie-ins aged just as well as the movie, or should it be cast aside along with Extreme Ghostbusters?
Find out this week on My Life with SEGA! Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!
SEGA Tunes: AJ takes a look at Flashback: Quest for Identity
AJ Rosa decided to take a look at two of his favorite songs from Flashback’s CD soundtrack. Take a look!
It’s kind of funny looking back on all those advertisements for Flashback on Sega Genesis that graced several gaming magazines in 1993. “It’s a CD-ROM game on a cartridge.”
That was a bold statement for sure, but once my brother and I laid eyes on those fluid cinematic cut-scenes, rotoscoped animation and hand-drawn backgrounds, our minds were totally blown. The music was something else. Synth-based minimalism that brought to mind images of a future where space travel is effortless, civilization is prospering, all while something dark and sinister builds underneath its glossy exterior. It gave me that very same feeling as when I watched Escape from New York or Blade Runner. Those scores may be simplistic in instrumentation, but there’s no denying their power to engage and affect an audience….
E3 2013: Total War Rome II Hands-On
I have a confession to make: I am not very good at real time strategy. I have always been more of an action gamer, so strategically placing units and managing resources are not things I have much experience with. That said, I do have a few dozen hours of experience with Total War: Rome, so when it came time to choose between Company of Heroes 2 and Total War: Rome 2 this E3 I knew there was only one I could write about with any degree of competence. Though I will make it clear now: if you are looking for detailed impressions of the many changes made to Rome 2, look elsewhere, as the only other Total War game I have ever played was the original Rome and I was a very casual player.
Have to say, I’m happy with my choice. From what I saw in the presentation, Rome 2 looks like it will be a pretty serious improvement over its predecessor. Your cities are a lot more detailed now: instead of your cities simply changing their appearance as they grow, the cities now actually grow and evolve. The changes made to your cities can now be seen visually as they develop over the course of the game’s 200 year campaign. In addition to this it sounds like city management will now be more streamlined. Rather than having to micromanage each individual city, you can now manage all your cities from your capital.
Round Table: Our favorite games of E3 2013
This year’s E3 is now behind us and all the talk about what games people liked is continuing. So it is only fair for us here at SEGAbits to have a Round Table telling you which games we are looking forward to getting our hands on! After the break, find out what our writers liked most from SEGA, as well as their favorite non-SEGA E3 titles.
Keith Apicary talks to us about the Dreamcast and Shenmue III
Talking Classics star Keith Apicary performed at Too Many Games 2013 in Oaks, PA and we got a chance to talk to him on the floor before his big show! Barry the Nomad asks the tough questions regarding the console war that has been going since 2000, and whether we will see a Shenmue III. Check it out!
After the break, watch Keith’s Dreamcast 2 music video.