20th anniversary

Taxman and Stealth celebrate Sonic & Knuckles’ 20th anniversary with a Sonic 3 & Knuckles proof of concept

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Today marks the 20th anniversary of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles, and to celebrate, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered developer Christian Whitehead shared a proof of concept prototype from the Taxman & Stealth personal vaults featuring Sonic 3 & Knuckles running on the Retro Engine. Of course, this is presented unofficially, so don’t jump to the conclusion that a Sonic 3 & Knuckles remastered is on the way anytime soon. Still, awesome to see that they’ve done work on the much requested title, even in an unofficial capacity. The Taxman himself shared this link in Sonic Retro’s forums, stating that “this isn’t an official announcement of any Sega project, nor to we intend to work on this as a fan-project. It’s simply a proof of concept from our vaults that has been kept to our chests for some time.”

You can learn more about the technical side of the project in Stealth’s latest blog post!

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2014: The Year of the SEGA Console – join us as we celebrate SEGA hardware all year long!

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YOTC
Twenty-five years ago, the SEGA Genesis graced American shores, where it would come to dominate the console market for years and make SEGA a household name. Twenty years ago, the Saturn was released in Japan and went on to become SEGA’s biggest success in their home country, though success that would unfortunately not be repeated abroad. That same year, the SEGA Pico and 32X left some US gamers scratching their heads as they introduced weird concepts of what gaming hardware could be. Finally, fifteen years ago on 9.9.99, SEGA released their swan song, the Dreamcast.

We at SEGAbits love a good anniversary, and 2014 is full of them. Throughout 2014, we intend to honor these core pillars of SEGA’s hardware legacy with 2014: The Year of the SEGA Console. We’ll be devoting entire weeks to certain games, entire months to certain consoles, and we have several special guests planned for the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show. We’ll write about the Genesis and how it introduced many of us to SEGA. We’ll look back at SEGA’s quirky art house console, the Saturn, and the many ups and downs the console experienced. We’ll remember the Dreamcast for the good times and unique and innovative experiences it delivered in the twilight years of SEGA’s time as a platform maker. We’ll give the 32x some overdue respect. Finally, we’ll all get SEGA Picos so that we can tell you about games like Tails and the Music Maker and The Great Counting Caper With the 3 Blind Mice!

Hope you’re looking forward to 2014 as much as we are, it’s gonna be a blast!

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Let’s Take a Look at Sonic #226 – The Genesis Saga Part 1!

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Just a day until Sonic’s 20th, and this arrives in the mail: Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog #226. This issue is better known as being part one of the hotly anticipated Genesis saga, which throws the main cast of the Archie continuity back into the SEGA Genesis days of Sonic. In the previous issue, #225, the Eggman of the Archie continuity (who looks like the modern Eggman of the games but has a back story so complicated I’ve yet to wrap my head around it) unleashed a resurrected Death Egg on the Freedom Fighters. After a bit of fighting, Eggman killed a well known character from the SatAM days and powered up a device that enveloped the universe in white (hmm, sounds like something that is happening in Sonic Generations) and rebooted the entire universe. As such, when issue #226 kicks off, Sonic is acting as though he is from the Genesis era (with a modern design), running through Green Hill and bopping badniks which he seems to be encountering for the first time.

Click here to read more

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More Sonic Generations Details Revealed

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As more interviews and previews for Sonic Generations are released, more details have been revealed (so that’s how it works!). Swedish gaming magazine LEVEL has a preview and interview with Iizuka, and G4TV has an interview with Patrick Riley, SEGA’s director of international productions. Check out the G4TV interview video above and head over to the Sonic Stadium boards for the full translated LEVEL article (four posts down). Thanks to TSS forum user Carbo for translating.

After the break, a handy bulleted list of the new details revealed!

Continue Reading ➜

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SEGA Europe gearing up for Sonic’s 20th with back-to-school merchandise

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2011’s the year that Sonic turns 20, and SEGA Europe’s making sure that everyone knows it. Heading to retailers in the UK and Ireland this summer are Sonic backpacks and other back-to-school stationery items. Several shops have already placed orders for the Blueprint-designed stationery, including WH Smith, Tesco, Debenhams, Morrisons, and Next.

“I believe there is still a vast untapped potential for licensing based on games, and we will see an increase in overall sales as more retailers start listing the stock and see the results in their sell-through numbers.”

-Sissel Henno, head of brand licensing for SEGA Europe

I imagine this is only the tip of the iceberg. Expect to hear much more about Sonic merchandise in the coming months, especially as his big 20th Anniversary game gets closer to release in the back quarter of this year.

[Source: MCV]

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Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary Game Announced for Japan

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From French gaming sites Gamekult and jeuxvideo24 comes information on Puyo Puyo’s 20th anniversary game. That’s right, Sonic isn’t the only one having a birthday in 2011. A translation of one of the articles reveals quite a bit of information. First off, the game will be for the Nintendo DS. There will be 15 variations on the rules, such as rules from Sun (the third game) and Fever (the fifth game). Also, the game will include a tag team mode, featuring two on two play. It also sounds like you will be able to purchase items in a shop mode. Very cool!

Continue Reading ➜

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Sega to celebrate 20 years of Sonic and Puyo Pop in 2011!

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Ladies and Gentlemen… Na, who am I kidding, Gentlemen and Gentlemen! The time is almost upon us!

In a matter of hours it will be 2011, and with 2011 comes not one anniversary of great importance amongst Sega fans everywhere but two! Yes, both Sonic the Hedgehog and Puyo Pop turn 20 this year! To celebrate, on the stroke of midnight, (Japanese time)  Sega has already began the hype.

Sega have released a press statement suggesting that they have a number of projects lined up for both the Sonic the Hedgehog and Puyo Pop franchises in 2011. They weren’t specific on what these ‘projects’ entail but I suspect they will hold events as well as release celebratory games.

You can visit the Sonic anniversary site HERE.

If the next Sonic game is as good if not better then Sonic Colours and we get another great Puyo Pop game, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza of the End, Valkryia Chronicles 3, Bayonetta 2, Shogun 2, Creative Assembly’s new action game and of course Phantasy Star Online 2… Well shit, 2011 is going to be a sweet year for us Sega fans!

So happy new year from Segabits, have a good one and I’ll see you next year folks! I’m off to get wasted!

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