Podcast

Swingin’ Report Show #62: Console Wars with Tom Kalinske – SEGA of America’s President (’90-’96)

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This is it! Our third Console Wars focused episode of the Swingin’ Report Show in which we speak with the man himself, SEGA of America’s former President Tom Kalinske! Tom has an amazing history with the toy and game industry. Before his years with SEGA, Tom served as President and CEO of Mattel, reviving the Barbie brand and creating the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line. During his time at SEGA, Tom reinvigorated the SEGA Genesis brand, helped in the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog, and led the launch of many famous pieces of SEGA hardware including the Game Gear, Pico, 32X, Nomad, and Saturn.

Tom Kalinske’s career is chronicled in the book “Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation” by Blake J. Harris, and if you haven’t purchased a copy yet, do so today. If you’ve read the book, are reading the book, are awaiting delivery of the book, or are simply a fan of SEGA during the 90’s, our latest show is a must listen!

Also, make sure to check out our other Console Wars interviews including our discussion of SEGA’s marketing efforts with SEGA’s former Director of Marketing Al Nilsen and our interview with the author of Console Wars, Blake J. Harris.

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Swingin’ Report Show #61: Console Wars Release Day Party with Author Blake J. Harris

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Happy Console Wars release day! That’s right, the long talked about book “Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation” by Blake J. Harris is now available to purchase anywhere where books are sold.

For this week’s podcast, the book’s author Blake J. Harris joined Barry and George to talk about his influences, the process of writing such an epic story, his upcoming documentary, and his teaming up with Scott Rudin and Seth Rogen. Blake also shares stories that didn’t make the final cut, and his thoughts on modern day SEGA and Nintendo. We also reveal our Console Wars giveaway winners, so if you entered on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to win a copy of the book courtesy of HarperCollins, give the show a listen and find out if you’ve won! We’ll also make an official winners announcement on our social networks later today.

More “Console Wars” content is to come, including a podcast with Tom Kalinske himself!

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Swingin’ Report Show #60: Console Wars with Al Nilsen, SEGA’s Director of Marketing (’89-’93)

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show is back, and boy do we have a special episode for you! Joining us for our 60th episode is Al Nilsen, SEGA of America’s Director of Marketing from 1989 through 1993. Al and his team were behind everything from the early days of the SEGA Genesis, including promoting the famous “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t” campaign, the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog, implementing the legendary “Sonic 2sday” worldwide launch of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992, and rolling out the “Welcome to the Next Level” campaign. Suffice to say, Al is a legend, so the opportunity to sit down and talk about the good ol’ days for an hour and a half was a dream come true for us as SEGA fans.

Al’s appearance is in anticipation of the release of “Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation” by author Blake J. Harris, which you can pre-order today from Amazon.com. “Console Wars” tells the story of SEGA vs. Nintendo during the early 90’s, as told from the perspective of SEGA of America president Tom Kalinske. Based on over two hundred interviews with former SEGA and Nintendo employees, “Console Wars” is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It’s the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.

Expect more “Console Wars” content throughout May, including a podcast with the author Blake J. Harris next week, and a podcast with Tom Kalinske himself the week after that! We also have some surprises, but in the meantime enjoy Al’s interview!

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Swingin’ Report Show #59: Sonic’s SEGA Genesis Spin-off Special

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The triple threat of George, Barry, and Bartman sit down for a round table discussion of Sonic the Hedgehog’s lesser appreciated SEGA Genesis titles: the spin-offs. We cover it all! From Dr. “don’t-call-him-Eggman-yet” Robotnik’s breakout role in Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, to Sonic’s transition from platforming icon to pinball with arms and legs in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, to Sonic’s take on the classic Flicky formula in Sonic 3D Blast. Even the digital sticker book Wacky Worlds gets some discussion.

So join us in a walk down memory lane (or is that “pain”?) as we relive and dissect Sonic’s SEGA Genesis spin-offs!

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Sonic Talk #26: Genesis with SEGA’s Aaron Webber

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[MP3] (iTunes Link coming soon)

Now with 100% more of Sega’s beloved Aaron Webber! In this months Sonic Talk Aaron, Shigs, Nuckles87 and Sonic Revolutions’ own Shayne Edwards discuss the Genesis Era of Sonic. Games include Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3-D Blast, Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix. We also go into what makes Eggman tick and more!

CONTEST TIME! Listen in on this episode for a Sonic trivia question. Be the FIFTH person to answer (and answer correctly) to win an AtGames Sega Genesis (which I reviewed here the other day) with Street Fighter II and a Sega 6-Pack cartridge. Yeah, yeah. It’s not a great prize, but it’s better than nothing.

RULES: Be the fifth person to answer to win. Why fifth? I want more people to listen of course! If there is not a fifth person to answer, then the very first person will win the system and carts. Winner must join the Segabits forums and PM me their address. U.S. CITIZENS ONLY (I can’t afford the U.K. postage. Sorry.)

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Sonico Channel Retro: Project Divas LIVE!

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Watch live video from SEGA_Channel_Retro on TwitchTV

Hello everyone! Time again for another Super Sonico Channel Retro Live Concert featuring yours truly playing Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F for the Playstation 3. I may even do requests in the stream chat. Wish me luck! ♥

Update: Thanks to everyone who watched me play the game! As well as RubyEclipse for stopping by in the chat!♥ You can view the archived stream above!

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Swingin’ Report Show #58: Streets of Rage Special with Darren Wall

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SEGA Genesis Month continues as Darren Wall, the man behind the successfully funded and coming soon “SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book, returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to update Barry and George on his project’s progress! One exciting bit of news is the reveal that David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, has been interviewed for the book. Learn what we can expect to hear from Mr. Rosen, as well as all the cool new art and articles the book will contain, in this week’s show.

Also, since it is Streets of Rage Week at SEGAbits, we spend a portion of the show talking about the game’s development including new details Darren has learned. We also share our nostalgic memories of the series, our favorite music tracks, and what we would like to see in the future from the series.

If you’re a fan of SEGA, and still think Genesis does what Nintendon’t, this is definitely the show for you.

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Swingin’ Report Show #57: Interview with WaterMelon Video Games President Tulio Gonçalves

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SEGA Genesis month is in full swing, and Barry and George bring you our first podcast of the month which proudly features our special guest Tulio Gonçalves, president of WaterMelon Video Games! You may recognize WaterMelon as the developer of the phenomenal Genesis/Mega Drive RPG Pier Solar, released in 2010. Coming later this year is an enhanced and expanded HD release of Pier Solar, set for several platforms including Android, Linux, Mac, Ouya, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One, Wii U, and SEGA Dreamcast!

Tulio discusses WaterMelon’s early years, the creation of Pier Solar for the Genesis/Mega Drive, the upcoming Dreamcast version, and what we can expect in the future from the company. It’s a great discussion, so check it out! Also, we reveal the four winners of the SEGA and Tommo Mobile iPhone case giveaway.

Make sure to help WaterMelon to bring the game to PC by voting “YES” on their Steam Greenlight page!

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See the winning photos from the SEGA Tommo Mobile iPhone case contest after the break!

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Swingin’ Report Show #56: Interview with Sonic Boom Producer Stephen Frost

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Hot on the heels of the reveal of the new Western television series and video game Sonic Boom, SEGA of America producer Stephen Frost sat down with Swingin’ Report Show hosts Barry and George, as well as David of Sonic Retro, to discuss all things speedy and blue. In this hour long discussion we delve into the genesis of the project, learn more of the team at Big Red Button Entertainment, and get a few hints at what we can expect to see in both the game and show. If Stephen’s enthusiasm is any gauge for what we can expect, we’re in for a real treat later this year!

Learn more about the new branch in the Sonic franchise at the official Sonic Boom website.

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Sonic Talk #25 “We’re gonna need more sports tape.”

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[ MP3 Download ] [ iTunes ]

Now with 100% more Mike Pollock! Yes, we got Dr. Eggman himself in an interview later in the show. In the meantime, we got five, count’em FIVE folks on the podcast with the clearest audio we’ve ever had. (Goodbye Skype recorder and good riddance.) Our main focus of this episode is the very recent announcement of Sonic Boom. Me, Alex, and Ben of SEGAbits, along with GX Echidna and Tanner Bates delve deep into our personal feelings on this new redesign of our favorite hedgehog and pals.

WARNING! After the Mike Pollock interview, I accidentally lost the last 20 minutes of my voice from the podcast, but I edited it so you can still hear the others (just expect some jarring changes in subject.)

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Swingin’ Report Show #55: Localize It! with Segalization

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This week’s episode is a special one, as Barry and George reunite to talk with Draikin and InTheSky of the SEGAbits partner site Segalization – a fan campaign dedicated to promoting the localization of SEGA games. While Western SEGA fans have enjoyed a number of great releases over the past few years, there are several titles that fans have never been able to experience due to SEGA not localizing hits from Japan for Western audiences.

Draikin and InTheSky talk about the inception of the Segalization campaign, and share their thoughts on how SEGA could go about localizing titles including Valkyria Chronicles 3, Yakuza 5, Yakuza Ishin, and Puyo Puyo Tetris. We also reveal another new partner site, Panzer Dragoon fan site The Will of the Ancients, and deliver the usual off topic banter. Enjoy the show!

Want to support Segalization? Visit their website, follow them on Facebook and Twitter and sign their petition to bring Japanese SEGA titles to the West!

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Swingin’ Report Show #54: SEGA Retro Talk with GameSpot editor Peter Brown

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show is back for 2014, and boy do we have a good show for you!

SEGAbits editor/writer Barry the Nomad and SEGAbits writer, Sonic Talk host, and Sonic Stadium writer Jason aka Shigs are joined by GameSpot editor Peter Brown for a retro themed round table discussion. Peter shares how he got into video game journalism and gives us his thoughts on the Xbox One’s Panzer Dragoon spiritual successor Crimson Dragon – which he officially reviewed for GameSpot. We also discuss the many SEGA consoles celebrating anniversaries this year and share some good ol’ SEGA memories. Listen today, and while you’re at it subscribe to us and rate us on iTunes!

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Vidya Retro Highlights: Sonic 4 Episode II Co-op Run

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YouTube: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

Twitch: [Link] [Uncut]

Ever wondered what its like to play Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II online with a friend? Me and Sonic Retro staff member Guess_Who, (With GeneHF and Retro user AndrewRoks1998 also providing commentary!) play through the game despite the struggles, frustration, and desyncs that got in our way in this Vidya Retro highlight. You can watch the misadventures segmented on YouTube or on Twitch in 60 frames per second.

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