Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Demo now available on Nintendo Switch Japanese E-Shop

SEGA has uploaded the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Demo on to the Nintendo Switch’s Japanese E-Shop today for everyone to try if you have an alternate account set to Japanese. The demo consist of five available Tokyo 2020 Events and two Tokyo 1964 events through Quick Match which can be played with up to 2 players.

Players can also try out Local Play to connect and play with friends who has the demo on their own Nintendo Switch consoles. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be released on the Nintendo Switch on November 5th for Americas and November 8th for Europe.

Try out Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD Japanese Demo on Playstation 4 & Nintendo Switch

If you happen to own a Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch with an alternative account set to Japanese, you can try out and play the Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD Demo. The demo features six characters to choose from with their own stats (AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, GonGon, YanYan, and Doctor) with three levels to play through by collecting bananas and reaching the goal within the time limit.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD is set for release for Europe and the Americas for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on October 29, 2019 with PC Steam releasing later in the winter of 2019 for only $39.99 both physical and digital.

Pre-order Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD
PlayStation 4 | Nintendo Switch | Xbox One

 

Playing the Shenmue III Backer Trial Demo

Decided to do a walk through of the Shenmue III trial demo, showing off what you can do within the demo and giving some commentary. I have to say, this demo totally FEELS like Shenmue and I feel like that’s a good thing.

Cathrine: Full Body demo out now in the Americas and Europe

If you have been waiting to give Catherine: Full Body a try, maybe because you missed the original release or because you just missed the franchise, the demo is on PSN now in the Americas and Europe. The demo is 4.97GB in size.

Catherine: Full Body is set to launch in the Americas and Europe on September 3rd only on PlayStation 4. Who’s picking up a copy?

Yakuza 3 PlayStation 4 demo hits Asian PSN stores


We already knew that Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 was going to hit the PlayStation 4, with Yakuza 3 coming out August 9th. What I didn’t expect was them to do a demo for the Yakuza 3 release. But it seems SEGA has launched a demo on the Asian PlayStation Store which includes: Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and other Asian countries. The demo hasn’t even hit the Japanese PSN store yet!

If you didn’t already know this Yakuza 3 port will be the definitive experience on console, running at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. As for a Western release, SEGA hasn’t discussed it but don’t be shocked if they do end up announcing it sooner than later.

[Source: Gematsu]

SEGAbits at E3 2018: Team Sonic Racing demo gameplay and developer interview

SEGA had a variety of games on display at this year’s E3, and probably the most interesting one (namely because we didn’t have a Japanese version to compare it to) was Team Sonic Racing. Our E3 reps got a chance to demo the game as Omega from Team Dark and Sonic of Team… well, Sonic of course. Following the demo, lead designer from Sumo Digital Richard Acherki was kind enough to take a few minutes to answer some questions we had about the upcoming game.

Yakuza 6 demo returns to the PSN Store

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As we found out with the initial release of the Yakuza 6 demo back in late February that SEGA accidentally uploaded the full game for free. Sony got around to actually revoking full access to the game when users connected to the internet and pulled the ‘demo’ off the store. Sony has finally announced the return of the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo on the PSN store.

Like we covered before, the demo weighs in at over 36 GB because you are technically downloading the full game but its being locked down to a certain point. If you like the game, you can buy it digitally and unlock the full game, no more downloading required. Not only that, you can continue the game right where the demo leaves off. You can also check out my review for Yakuza 6, as you can see I really liked it.

Yakuza 6 full game ‘demos’ being revoked by Sony

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According to users on ResetEra, if you go back online with the Yakuza 6 full game ‘demo’, which SEGA released the other day, they will revoke the license transforming it back into a demo. Of course if you want to bypass this and play the full game all you need to do is not connect to the internet.

I’m personally glad to see that the PlayStation 4 has the ability to do something like this, considering that I want the franchise to do well in the West. It would really hurt sales if thousands upon thousands of would be costumers unlocked the full game for free. Even if you got the full game and are planning on playing it early by not being connected online, I urge you to support the series by at least getting the game physically when it comes out in April!

Yakuza 6 demo pulled from PSN due to it being the full game

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[Update: Have confirmed that there was no exploit, SEGA just uploaded the full game onto PSN instead of a demo. Way to go!]

Oops, if you read our story about the Yakuza 6 demo coming to PSN today and happen to be wondering why it isn’t showing up on the in-game store, now we know. According to Destructoid, the game unlocked the full version (for free) when downloaded. According to Destructoid (and SEGA) people used an exploit and according to other users on twitter it was never locked down (seems doubtful). If you didn’t know the demo weighed in at more than 36GB, of course this mean’t the demo was the full version of the game locked down as a ‘trial’. Once you purchased the full game come April, it would unlock the full game without re-downloading the data. SEGA posted on their Facebook about pulling the demo but didn’t go into detail.

This also puts into question why SEGA would delay Yakuza 6: The Song of Life from March to April, if the game is translated and playable already. Some people think that maybe SEGA had manufacturing issues with the physical copies of the game that lead them to delay it so everyone gets the game day one. Maybe they thought it would sell better if it was delayed, though this doesn’t make sense considering Sony’s God of War is also launching in April. But it seems that some people have unlocked the full game already, thanks to this exploit and are enjoying it for free. What are your thoughts? Did SEGA screw this up?

Valkyria Chronicles 4 getting Japanese PSN demo on February 26

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Oh boy, SEGA is releasing these Japanese demos faster than I can keep up. Just a few days ago we got the Hokuto ga Gotoku demo on Japanese PSN, now less than a week from that one we will be getting a Valkyria Chronicles 4 demo. According to SEGA they will be unleashing the playable demo they have been showing at events in Japan. The demo releases on February 26, 2018.

According to early players, the demo allows users to play from the prologue all the way through chapter 2. It also seems that the save data can be transferred over to the full game when its released (in Japan). So if you are going to import the game, you can continue where the demo ends and not replay it from the start.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 on PlayStation 4 is launching in Japan on March 21, 2018. As for us Westerners, we get the game later in 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. I also hope SEGA releases a similar demo for all platforms, since I think it will move more copies.

Hokuto ga Gotoku demo hits Japanese PSN later today

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If you have been waiting to get your hands on Hokuto ga Gotoku, the Yakuza Studio’s take on a Fist of the North Star game, you won’t have to wait that long since the demo is launching in Japan on February 22nd! Considering how time zones work, if you live in America it should be later tonight.

If you live in America (like me) it will hit the Japanese PSN store at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET.

The demo will include

  • “Experience Hokuto Shinken” – Learn the game systems by battling Shin. Includes a battle tutorial.
  • “Experience the Story” – Play a side mission from the game. This mission will have Ken driving a buggy, fighting scoundrels, and exploring Eden.

Hokuto ga Gotoku will hit PlayStation 4 in Japan on March 8, no release dates announced outside of Japan. Yet SEGA was (not so) quick to announce Shining Resonance Re:frain, so don’t count this game out yet.

[Via: Gematsu]

Space Channel 5 VR to get downloadable demo later this year

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Space Channel 5 VR Arakata Dancing Show  isn’t a new game, it was actually shown at the Tokyo Game Show back in 2016. It is interesting is that SEGA has changed the name of the VR experince, before they called it ‘Ukiuki Viewing Show’, now its ‘Arakata Dancing Show’. The VR ‘experience’ was up for people to try out and then SEGA stopped talking about it. According to a recent tweet, gamers will be able to give the demo another go at Game Party Japan 2018, which happens to be the first official tournament held by JeSU (Japan e-Sports Union) on February 10th and 11th.

While Japanese site Panora got the official scoop that Space Channel 5 VR Arakata Dancing Show will get demos in VR stores this spring and get a download version later this year. For what I gather, the download version will be the ‘demo experience’ shown at events and not a full game. Bummer. The demo experience will still be shown off using HTC VIVE headsets and SEGA still hasn’t mentioned if they have plans on showing it off on PlayStation VR. I think this is SEGA testing the market, see if the general public still has interest in Space Channel 5 with a demo release. Hit the jump to see screenshots of the game.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology demo hits 3DS, DLC schedule revealed

Atlus has been on a roll promoting the upcoming remake of Radiant Historia, which was originally released on the Nintendo DS back in 2010. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is set to offer the original game story with a ton of extra modes. Above you see the unboxing of the Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology launch edition.

But we also got a demo for the game, out now in the e-shop. The demo lets you play the start of the story and will even let you transfer saves to the full game if you pre-ordered. No reason not to give the title a shot. The 3DS e-shop is also offering a free Radiant Historia theme, for those that want to further ‘Radiant Historia-pimp out’ their 3DS. After the jump we will detail the DLC schedule for the game.

A Certain Magical Virtual-On Demo Out Now on Japanese PSN

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If you have been excited to try the upcoming A Certain Magical Virtual-On for the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation Vita, the demo is now available. As for sizes of the demos, the PlayStation 4 comes in at 2.37 gigabytes and the PlayStation Vita version hits a much smaller 431.55 megabytes. The demo will feature all 13 playable Virtuaroids from the full game, include a tutorial and CPU battle mode. No online, of course.

SEGA is set to release A Certain Magical Virtual-On in Japan on February 15, 2018. SEGA West hasn’t announced any plans on localizing it. The last Virtual-On title to come West was Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram port on the Xbox 360 back in 2009, so its been awhile. I say make a Japanese PSN account, try the demo and if you like it, bother SEGA to release the game West.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo available now on Japanese PSN Store

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The demo for SEGA’s upcoming remake of Yakuza 2, being called Yakuza Kiwami 2, is now available for you to download via the Japanese PSN store. The demo will weigh in at 9.89 gigabytes and allow users to play through some of the main game’s story. SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo saves will not transfer over to the full version of the game.

If you never made a Japanese PSN account, I suggest giving some YouTube guides a quick look, it isn’t hard to do. I would say its worth it just to try out some upcoming Japanese game demos. Its free, nothing to lose. Yakuza: Kiwami 2 hits Japan on December 7, no western release date has been announced as of posting. But don’t be surprised if we get an announcement sometime next year.