SEGA Network

The Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love Premium Pack!

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I’m eight months late to the party, but who cares. I’m the first to feature it at SEGAbits!

While SEGA’s Sakura Taisen franchise is insanely popular in Japan, having a number of main series games and spin-offs spanning the Saturn era through to the Dreamcast and Playstation 2, it has had little presence in English speaking regions. The fifth game in the series, Sakura Taisen V: Farewell, My Love, hit the Japanese PS2 in 2005. It wasn’t until 5 years later that the game received a very unexpected English language version. The PS2 received a handsome special edition box (America only from what I can tell) while the Wii received a standard version (which hit both America and Europe). While the game released back in March, it wasn’t until this weekend that I got around to picking up a copy for $30 at GameStop, marked down $10.

So what does this awesome box contain? Let’s take a look!

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Next XBLA/PSN Dreamcast ports revealed!

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by Gagaman(n) of The Dreamcast Junkyard

They are Sega Bass Fishing and Space Channel 5 Part 2. JeuxVideo24 have screenshots of how they will look on the new consoles in 720p and widescreen.

Space Channel 5 Part 2 is an interesting choice. before you ask where part 1 is, I believe they’ve picked this one simply because it’s easier to port. Part 1 one used pre-rendered video backgrounds (as opposed to in-game graphics like in Part 2) so not only would they need to re-render those videos in HD, they would either have to stretch them or force the game to be 4:3 (like the Sonic Adventure port was). Maybe this is why they have skipped to Part 2. To be fair though Part 2 is a much rarer game, especially on Dreamcast on which it would cost you a small fortune, especially if you went after the special edition box set.

Click here to read more

[sources: The Dreamcast Junkyard and jeuxvideo24]

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Sonic Topps Trading Cards: The Best and the Weirdest Stickers

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Back in 1993 when Sonic ruled the merchandising world, a major trading card company called Topps joined in the fun and released a sixty-six card set of Sonic cards. While I only just recently picked up a complete set off eBay, I remember vividly buying as many packs as I could when the cards released. Sadly, I was only able to obtain half the set and since then the little case holding the cards was lost in the shuffle of growing up. However the cards do still exist somewhere in my parents house, perhaps in the same box that contains my Sonic 1 and 2 strategy guides and official Sonic Archie comics art. But enough crying about my misplaced SEGA treasures, lets take a look at the cards!

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Dreamroom 2010 Postgame Show

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For those who missed the action yesterday, check out all ten hours of my stream available to view for another week as well as Gagaman’s stream which currently has his four hours of gameplay on loop.

Another year, another loop added to the Dreamcast’s swirl. As I stepped outside this morning, after a day of Dreamcast gaming, I realized that I hadn’t stepped outside the entire previous day! Still, it was all worth it and I’d gladly do it all again next year. In fact, I will do it all again next year! Until then, let’s reminisce on something that happened 24 hours ago…

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My Eleven Hour Dreamcast Party

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Last year I held a Dreamcast birthday party which streamed live online. As the Dreamcast was turning ten, I held the party for ten hours. This year, I’m doing one better: one hour better! I’m excited to share “Dreamroom 2010: The Eleven Hour Dreamcast Party”! The official date and times are as follows:

September 9th, 2010
12am-11pm EST (US), 6pm-5am GMT (UK)

Last year was a blast, and I’m sure this year will be just as fun. For those who missed last year’s Dreamroom, essentially it will be ten hours of Dreamcast gaming streamed live online with live chat. The first half will be me going solo playing Dreamcast games. During the second half the IRL party kicks off with whoever I invited showing up for multiplayer games and the occasional visit to Seaman.

Games will be played from my library, and requests are welcomed! Expect to see some of the best, worst and delightfully oddest Dreamcast games. Of course a Dreamcast birthday party isn’t a birthday party without the guests, so I hope to see everyone (virtually) there!

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Phantasy Star II coming to the iPhone!

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One month ago SEGA brought iPhone and iPod Touch owners Shining Force. This Thursday the SEGA RPG love continues with the release of Phantasy Star II! For just $2.99 the classic game will be fully playable, running on the same emulator as previous games. However, unlike games that require precise controls and fail on SEGA’s Genesis emulator (I’m looking at you, Sonic 2), Phantasy Star II is promised to be a smooth experience as the game itself does not require fast timing or a fast frame rate.

Here’s hoping that we get more SEGA RPGs in the coming months!

[Source: TouchArcade and The Nomad Junkyard]

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It’s a SEGA PC Kid’s Meal!

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Back in 1999, when you thought “SEGA” you inevitably thought “Dreamcast”. With the impending September launch, Dream-hype was seen anywhere and everywhere… except at the Califronia based fast-food chain Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box, oddly enough, had featured a SEGA Kid’s Meal in 1999 that focused on SEGA’s PC games. Guess they didn’t get the memo.

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Summer of Sonic 2010: The Merch Box & The Cosplayers

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from Gagaman of SEGA Memories

Just like last year there was a ‘No Merch Zone’ present, which consists of a large glass cabinet of Sonic related treasures. There was some of the same stuff from last year but mostly completely new stuff, so here’s a bunch of photos. Apologies the photos are not quite so good this time but you’ll get the idea. Read more

And click here to see the best and bizarrest Summer of Sonic cosplayers

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Summer of Sonic ’10: The Swag

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from Gagaman of SEGA Memories

Instead of making a couple huge articles like last year, I’m going to be posting a bunch of shorter articles about last Saturday’s brilliant Summer of Sonic convention. Safe to say they really outdid themselves this year. To kick off, here’s what I brought back from there. A bit silly that I’m starting my coverage with the last photo I took but never mind!

So a bulk of it is from the goodie bag that was given away to the first few hundred entrants with tickets (people without tickets couldn’t even get in until an hour or two after it opened! Sucks to be them I guess :E). My girlfriend also got a ticket just before the registration ended because she wanted to tag along even though she’s not that big into Sonic (she enjoyed it though, so that’s a relief lol) and when we entered from the HUGE queue we got the last bag! However they did have hundreds more of the highlight of the bag; the Metal Sonic figure, to give away to people that entered (tickets or not I believe) right through till about 4pm. More after the jump..

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Is that a SEGA arcade in your pocket?

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A little over a month ago I went to my family cabin in northern Minnesota. It had been nearly seven years since I had last been there, and yet when I went back to the same bargain warehouse that I had been to back in 2003 I found the exact same SEGA Tiger LCD handhelds that I had seen hanging on the pegs all those years ago. Guess nobody wanted them.

The Tiger SEGA Pocket Arcade line hit stores during the Saturn years at a time when the clunky old Tiger handhelds were on their way out. Tiger, it seemed, was struggling in a world of Game Boy Colors and was attempting to use the names of big name SEGA Saturn console titles to sell cheap little flip open handhelds. I’m going to assume Tiger failed as a good number of these were found at an overstock warehouse, marked down from $15 to $8 to a final $4.79.

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Shining Force shines on the iPod!

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Didn’t SEGA say they were reassessing their iPod presence? Because it seems to me that they’re doing the same thing they were doing before: the occasional great 3D title and a number of emulated Genesis budget titles. Despite that, I’m glad SEGA has finally released a Genesis game worth buying an iPhone version of: Shining Force!

Offered up on the same emulation software as past Genny titles, Shining Force actually plays very well. As the game doesn’t require precise controls for split-second jumps (a la Sonic), players will barely notice the hiccups that may occur on older i devices. I might even buy the thing for my first generation iPod Touch.

The game is now available in the App store for $2.99

[source: TouchArcade and The Nomad Junkyard]

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Ecco and Space Harrier II hit the iPhone

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Remember ages ago when that Genesis emulator was announced for the iPhone and then SEGA canceled it? SEGA seems to have salvaged what they could from the canned project and have released Ecco the Dolphin ($2.99) and Space Harrier II (99¢) as single releases for the iPhone. The games are reported to run much more smoothly on the latest iPhone 4 than past Genesis releases, but any users on earlier platforms may encounter slowdown and crashes.

Continue Reading ➜

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The Firecore Genesis Reviewed

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Before the insanity that is E3 begins, I thought I’d give a hardware review of the Firecore Classic Console. Manufactured by Innex under license by SEGA, the Firecore is essentially a mini SEGA Genesis. Fittingly, it was around this time last year that the Firecore as well as its mobile brother the Retrogen were previewed at E3. You can check out the video preview if you’d like, but I warn you: a cringe inducing interview awaits.

click here to read the review

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Shenmonth Begins!

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May is Shenmonth! That’s right, a whole month devoted to articles about the beloved Dreamcast series ‘Shenmue’. Expect an article a week at the Dreamcast Junkyard and SEGAbits. If writers here or from any other Sega blog wish to participate, feel free to grab the header image above, slap it atop a blog post and write whatever you wish about ‘Shenmue’. A “Top Ten Ugliest NPC Characters” article is up for grabs.

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Forklift Number 5 of 1000

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Ryo's Forklift

It’s here! The major award has arrived: the ‘Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing’ Ryo Hazuki forklift statue. The short version of how I came about the figure: I entered a Sega contest a few months back and last week I won the figure. The figure was limited run of 1,000 was was only available via the online contest, with a handful making it over to Europe and distributed via Sega Europe’s Free Stuff Friday giveaway. Now enough chatter, let’s take a look at the figure!

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