Dreamcast

Retro-bit SEGA USB and Bluetooth Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast accessories revealed!

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Last month we shared the news that Retro-bit would be creating USB, bluetooth and classic controllers for the SEGA Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast, with the products debuting at CES 2018. Well CES 2018 is happening now, and images of the Retro-bit SEGA products are online! The community section of the RGT 85 Facebook page and Madlittlepixel show us just what we can expect from the new line of products. After the break, let’s check out the images and see what we can see!

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works teases never before seen production materials from Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and more

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Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, an upcoming book from Read-Only Memory, is the followup to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Successfully backed on Kickstarter late last year, Read-Only Memory sent a new years update to backers and boy is it an exciting one! Read-Only Memory received a large amount of production materials from SEGA of Japan, including several never-before-seen pieces from popular Dreamcast games. Included in the haul are:

  • Game mechanic sketches, environment concepts and high end renderings for Sonic Adventure
  • The complete design document for Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio, including some amazing graffiti artwork concepts
  • A very early proof of concept video for Space Channel 5
  • Character studies and production artwork for Phantasy Star Online
  • Storyboards, character designs and environment artworks for Shenmue

Read-Only Memory will spend the coming weeks sorting through all the materials and identifying pieces to include in the book, with the final cut of the book to be laid out in a few months. Also revealed is that photoshoots for the Hardware Showcase chapter of the book will be taking place in the next few weeks, featuring everything from consoles to the fishing controller to the Samba de Amigo maracas. If you’re the proud owner of a Dreamcast hardware rarity you think should make the final cut, please do drop Read-Only Memory a line!

We here at SEGAbits can’t wait to get our hands on the book, and in the meantime we’re working to get Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory back for another Swingin’ Report Show podcast.

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Xeno Crisis is an upcoming retro-styled arena shooter for the SEGA Dreamcast and Mega Drive/Genesis

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Nearly a year ago today, I shared a list of indie games coming to classic SEGA consoles in 2017. While I’m hard at work on a 2018 list, which includes some who didn’t make their 2017 deadline, I wanted to report on the Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis and Dreamcast game Xeno Crisis. Releasing in both physical and digital formats, the game is an arena shooter for up to two platers and takes inspiration from games like Smash TV, Contra, Mercs, Granada, Alien Syndrome, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Chaos Engine and Shock Troopers. Currently, the game is in the prototype stage and the plan is to release the game in October of 2018 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Mega Drive.

The campaign ends in 5 days, and currently they have $68,726 pledged of a $27,038 goal. You can learn more about the project here, and as always with a Kickstarter campaign, read everything carefully before making your mind up on backing or not.

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Retro-bit announces SEGA partnership – creating USB and Bluetooth Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast accessories

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Have you ever played a rerelease of a classic SEGA game and felt that it just didn’t feel quite right with a modern controller? Well we could be seeing classic SEGA controllers for modern hardware soon, as retro gaming hardware manufacturer Retro-bit has announced a collaboration with SEGA. The official press release states that the plan is to produce accessories for SEGA’s platforms which includes, but is not limited to, SEGA Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast. The first products to be released will include accessories that match the quality of the originals, made for use on original hardware as well as USB for PC use and Bluetooth wireless. These new products will debut in the Innex booth #21023 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES 2018.

This is very exciting, as games like Sonic Mania, Jet Set Radio HD and NiGHTS HD all would benefit from the original controllers. Also, the notion of a new Dreamcast pad for original hardware being made in 2018 is just sort of crazy and cool. Also, new USB Saturn pads would be amazing.

Read the full press release after the break

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Sega Dreamcast Software Creation Standards Guidebook made available for public download

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Via The Dreamcast Junkyard comes a cool bit of behind the scenes history on SEGA’s final home console. The Sega Dreamcast Software Creation Standards Guidebook was sent to the site by an anonymous former Dreamcast developer, and features 136 pages of standards set by SEGA for the development of software for the Dreamcast. While the document is a bit dry in how it presents information, there is some cool pieces of information contained within. For example, the document instructs developers how to hide the pause menu and which controller ports should allow the use of the keyboard. The rules contained within answer why so many different games from different teams have the same button combinations and features.

For more information, check out The Dreamcast Junkyard’s article here and download the full PDF here.

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Brave Wave bringing Sonic Adventure & Sonic Adventure 2 to vinyl this winter

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2017 is fast becoming the year of Sonic vinyls, as it was announced today that the music label Brave Wave will be releasing Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack vinyls this winter. As revealed on their website, the first pressing will contain special colors that represent the respective game. Sonic Adventure will be pressed in blue and white 180-gram vinyl and Sonic Adventure 2 will be pressed in blue and red 180-gram vinyl. Following the first pressing, the soundtracks will be on standard black 180-gram vinyl. Both releases will include a booklet featuring interviews with Jun Senoue and Takashi Iizuka, liner notes by John Linneman of Digital Foundry, song lyrics and character art.

If you think each game has a soundtrack too big for a single record, don’t fret! Each release will come with two LP records featuring remastered tracks handpicked by series lead composer and sound director Jun Senoue and the team. After the break, check out the full tracklists, and keep your eyes on the Brave Wave site for pre-order information as it becomes available.

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Sonic Adventure available on Xbox One via backwards compatibility update

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If you have been waiting to replay Sonic Adventure but have been too lazy to hook up either your Dreamcast, GameCube or Xbox 360; you’re in luck since its now fully playable on the Xbox One thanks to the latest backwards compatibility update. As you can tell by the photograph above, the XBLA version of Sonic Adventure uses assets from the GameCube version and sticks with its original 4:3 image.

While I have plenty of not so great things to say about how Xbox One brand has been handled, one thing I do think is very ambitious is how Microsoft is setting up the console to be the only Xbox console you would need to own thanks to its focus on backwards compatibility. I find it to be a great solution and a lot better than ‘streaming’ your last generation games like on PlayStation 4. How many of you guys are giving Sonic Adventure another go on Xbox One?

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[Update: Shipping lowered!] New indie Dreamcast game Intrepid Izzy hits Kickstarter

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Back in March we shared the news that indie Dreamcast developer Senile Team, creators of Rush Rush Rally Racing and Beats of Rage, were working on a platformer titled Intrepid Izzy. Now, it looks like the team plans to bring the game to Dreamcast, PC and (should they hit a stretch goal) PlayStation 4 via a Kickstarter campaign. With a €35,000 goal ($41,268), they still have a ways to go having just hit the 10% mark.

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Roommania Spiritual Successor ‘Project One-Room’ Gets Teaser Trailer

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FuRyu, the developer behind the Roommania #203 spiritual successor Project One-Room (tentative title) has released the following teaser trailer for the game. We wrote an article about first details on the PlayStation 4 exclusive Project One-Room yesterday, but now we got an official teaser, including a website. The site lets you throw balls around the room, if you throw them at the radio a song will start. We uploaded that track on our YouTube channel for you to listen to.

Sadly the website and teaser do little to give us new information. The producer of the game, Masaru Oochi, confirmed that the game won’t be a sequel or remake of Roommania #203, but rather than a homage title. While we don’t know who is publishing ‘Project One-Room‘ yet, it is weird how openly they are using SEGA’s Roommania #203 game footage, having artists from Roommania #203 and the title being announced on SEGA’s Tokyo Game Show stage. Don’t be too shocked if SEGA or Atlus announce they will be publishing the title considering that FuRyu’s upcoming The Alliance Alive on the Nintendo 3DS. (tho self published in Japan). What are your thoughts on Project One-Room? Do you think it has a chance of coming out outside of Japan?

[Via: Gematsu]

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Dreamcast cult classic Roommania gets spiritual sequel called ‘Project One-Room’

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Japanese developer FuRyu has announced the upcoming Project One-Room (not the final title), which is planned on being a new PlayStation 4 title to pay homage to the Dreamcast cult classic Roommania #203. The title was announced at SEGA’s booth at the Tokyo Game Show 2017.

FuRyu’s producer Masaru Oochi happens to be a big fan of Roommania #203. Project One-Room will have you, the player, assume the role of God who interferes by throwing invisible balls in a room where the protagonist lives. Since this is a PlayStation 4 title, there will be physics based on your invisible ball throws.

Serani Poji, the fictional pop idol who made the music for Roommania #203 will also be returning for this project to create completely new music. If you have never heard of Roommania #203, I don’t blame you since its a Japanese only title. But if you have a chance, I recommend checking out the soundtrack.

We will be getting more information on Project One-Room soon since FuRyu will be holding a Tokyo Game Show 2017 conference on September 23 at 15:00 JST. Is SEGA returning into the realm of creating quirky, unique and odd ball titles? Are you ready for this?

[Source: Gematsu]

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Check out all the SEGA & Atlus’ merchandise for Tokyo Game Show 2017

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Its that time of year again, when SEGA of Japan loads up Tokyo Game Show with a ton of amazing SEGA merchandise that makes us westerners scream, “Take my money!” I would say that SEGA’s Tokyo Game Show 2017 lineup is actually really good compared to last year, so expect a ton of great merchandise to follow. SEGA is not only set on bringing you merchandise for upcoming games like Sonic the Hedgehog,  Yakuza, Puyo Puyo, Hatsune Miku, and a ton more. But they are also doing Retro SEGA console merchandise which is very appealing. To add the cherry on top SEGA will also be selling Atlus merchindise including Persona 3, Persona 4 and Persona 5 stuff!

So lets get into it:

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Dreamcast 18th Anniversary Discussion

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On 9/9/1999 the SEGA Dreamcast released in North America, and now 18 years later we’re still talking about it. On this SEGA News Bits, we celebrate the birthday of SEGA’s final home console by recommending the best exclusives, looking at the indie games released in 2017 and looking ahead to what indie games are coming in 2018 and beyond!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Yu Suzuki confirms Shenmue 3 teaser trailer models are temporary

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36584935131_c9f5fedc09_oYu Suzuki has confirmed, via an interview with Game Spark, that the Shenmue 3 teaser trailer models are mostly temporary.

““Shenhua, Ryo, and the other characters are mostly temporary. Shenhua still has to be fixed up a bit.” – Yu Suzuki, director and producer Shenmue 3

According to the Shenmue 3 executive producer Hideaki Morishita, regarding the lack of high quality models, “was unable to ready them in time for this trailer.”  He also explained that they put the teaser trailer together to celebrate their milestone of signing a publishing contract with Deep Silver, “While there is little excuse, there are parts that are still lacking or parts that are not sufficient.”

In a interview with Game Watch, Yu Suzuki also confirmed that facial animation was implemented a month ago but was temporarily removed. No answer to why

Gematsu translated some of the new Shenmue 3 reveals from Yu Suzuki’s Famitsu interview including talk about post game DLC, the return of the forklift and confirming that the game will be about 30 hours long.

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Looks like Rez Infinite is coming to PC tomorrow

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A eagle eyed NeoGAF poster by the name of Grief.exe spotted a tweet by @deadendthrills stating that he was extremly excited to finally bring Rez/Rez Infinite to PC which would support 4k with double the texture quality. Sadly he deleted his tweet, possibly due to Enhanced Games, Rez Infinite publisher teasing something for tomorrow.  How much do you want to bet that their announcement is the release of Rez Infinite on PC? Some believe that the tease is actually wrong and means September 9th, which I doubt. But we shall see.

For those not in the know, it seems SEGA has licensed the Rez IP and let Tetsuya Mizuguchi work on the franchise with other publishers.  The first attempt was Rez HD on Xbox Live which was published by Microsoft Studios, then last year we had Rez Infinite which added more content and supported PlayStation VR. No idea if the PC version will support VR out of the box, but I’m assuming it will. What are your thoughts? Will you be picking up Rez Infinite on steam if it comes out tomorrow?

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SEGA Talk Podcast #12: Crazy Taxi (1999)

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We’re back! SEGA Talk turns its high beams on and takes a closer look at SEGA AM3’s classic arcade and Dreamcast game Crazy Taxi. Despite its seemingly simplistic premise, Crazy Taxi offered up a lot of depth and has seen a long and successful history as a franchise with games still being released as of 2017. What are our memories of the game? What was the development history? How do the in-game cabbies compare to real life cab drivers? All this and more is talked about on SEGA Talk!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Play Music – RSS – Download]

If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

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