Conan O’Brien went to this year’s E3 to check out the console war, what he didn’t expect was that there would be gorgeous women there. This eventually lead him to fall in love with Bayonetta, who he calls Sarah Palin from the future.
Seems this is the closest thing we will be getting to Conan actually having a SEGA published game on his show. Sad. Would have been pretty cool if he played Sonic Lost World.
This week on the Swingin’ Report Show we have a sort of crossover, Nuckles87 and Shigs from our other podcast; Sonic Talk join in to talk about their experience at E3. We talk about all the SEGA games, new consoles and our favorite games at E3 2013. Listen in and tell us what you think.
Sorry about not doing a transcript, but my time has been very limited as of late. So I either put this up as a YouTube video, or delay it a few more days. I felt it was getting too close to release date and needed to go up right away. Here I talk with Company of Heroes 2 lead animator Brett Pascal, talking everything about the game, the move to Sega and what has happened to some of their other IP’s. Enjoy!
Company of Heroes 2 will be out this Tuesday, June 25.
The Mario and Sonic Olympic titles have been VERY successful for Sega and Nintendo. I mean who doesn’t love to see Mario and Sonic, once the most bitter rivals of the 90’s console wars compete together? While the dream events have always been fun, the main problem with this series has been the regular Olympic events themselves. They’re bland. Vanilla. Just plain…..”Meh”. What this series needs is some good, solid game mechanics. Does Mario and Sonic at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics finally solve this problem? Eeeeh….maybe. Read on.
I have a confession to make: I am not very good at real time strategy. I have always been more of an action gamer, so strategically placing units and managing resources are not things I have much experience with. That said, I do have a few dozen hours of experience with Total War: Rome, so when it came time to choose between Company of Heroes 2 and Total War: Rome 2 this E3 I knew there was only one I could write about with any degree of competence. Though I will make it clear now: if you are looking for detailed impressions of the many changes made to Rome 2, look elsewhere, as the only other Total War game I have ever played was the original Rome and I was a very casual player.
Have to say, I’m happy with my choice. From what I saw in the presentation, Rome 2 looks like it will be a pretty serious improvement over its predecessor. Your cities are a lot more detailed now: instead of your cities simply changing their appearance as they grow, the cities now actually grow and evolve. The changes made to your cities can now be seen visually as they develop over the course of the game’s 200 year campaign. In addition to this it sounds like city management will now be more streamlined. Rather than having to micromanage each individual city, you can now manage all your cities from your capital.
This year’s E3 is now behind us and all the talk about what games people liked is continuing. So it is only fair for us here at SEGAbits to have a Round Table telling you which games we are looking forward to getting our hands on! After the break, find out what our writers liked most from SEGA, as well as their favorite non-SEGA E3 titles.
I stepped into Relic’s booth at E3 with a bit of hesitation. Company of Heroes is a series I’m unfamiliar with from a studio that started the series with a different publisher (THQ) on a platform (PC) that I don’t game on much and in a genre I haven’t touched in ages. Needless to say I was coming into the game inexperienced. I will say though, I walked away with more of an appreciation for the genre and respect for the work that goes into it. I got a chance to play both a single player and multiplayer campaign. Here’s my impressions.
The past few days of E3 have given us a lot of Sonic Lost World footage, but a bulk of that was either filmed from the show floor or featured the manly voice of “Men of E3” winner SEGA brand manager Aaron Webber. Now, thanks to Gamespot and TSSMB member Woun comes direct-feed footage of Sonic Lost World in action on the Wii U, free of show floor chatter and commentary. Check out the video above and the video after the break to soak in all the sounds and music we’ll be hearing this holiday season. Should more footage appear, we’ll be sure to add it to this post.
Want to learn more about how the game plays? Check out our hands-on preview.
When Sonic Colors came on the scene in 2010, it was a breath of fresh air for the Sonic franchise which was getting quite stale at the time, and it broke the infamous “Sonic Cycle”. In 2011, Sonic Generations shattered it even further. Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed ran those pieces into dust and finally, Sonic Lost World sweeps up those pieces and dumps them in the trash. You need not worry about the Sonic franchise anymore. Sonic Team has learned from its past, listened to its fans, and has renewed the Sonic series into one you can trust to have great games even when they take risks and change the formula a bit and no game is more proof of that than Sonic Lost World.
Purple Shigs, Purrrple shiiigs! A royal hue shines upon me as I talk to the producer of Castle of Illusion, Omar Woodley, about what went into remaking this classic platformer. Also, you get to hear my “lovely” singing voice. By “lovely”, I mean you’ll want to stab your ears out with a pencil.
Sorry if it seems to cut off quickly, but Nux’s camera ran out of juice.
I will confess, SEGA’s line up does not exactly blow me away this year. I am out of my depth when it comes to PC strategy games and as much as I love Sonic, I need more to sate my SEGA hunger. After experiencing other E3 lineups that had the likes of Vanquish, Shinobi, Anarchy Reigns, Yakuza, and House of the Dead Overkill: Director’s Cut, the line up at the SEGA booth this year feels sparse and not quite as exciting.
Thank God for Bayonetta.
Back in late 1990 Sega wowed players with a great platformer starring Mickey Mouse known as “Castle of Illusion”. It had great graphics, sound, and challenge for its time. To this day, it’s the game Mickey’s most well-known for. 23 years later, Castle of Illusion is back again thanks to Emiko Yamamoto and Sega Studios Australia. It features graphics that give it the look of a $60 game, while still being the simple but challenging platformer we’ve grown to love.
Platinum Games is really trying to step up their game for the upcoming sequel to their best selling title. This time around they announced that Bayonetta 2 will have a 2-player mode when it comes out next year.
They said that even though Bayonetta 2 is built around a single-player experience, that they included a 2-player mode with new combat features for mid-air battles. Details aren’t all there yet.
Bayonetta 2 will also feature touch controls via the Wii U gamepad and stylus. Nintendo says this is designed for newcomers to the franchise and is obviously optional. The touch controls are actually playable at the E3 show floor, so expect us to have hands-on previews shortly!
SEGA’s latest trailer for Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse shows off even more gameplay of the upcoming SEGA remake of the SEGA Genesis classic. This time, SEGA promises a mix of old and new, with recognizable layouts and brand new gimmicks. Check out that playing card vortex! Admittedly, the CG scenes aren’t all that great, but in the end it’s the gameplay that counts.
Stay tuned to SEGAbits for E3 coverage, we’ll make sure to give our gameplay impressions of Castle of Illusion and ask SEGA our burning questions.
SEGA has just released the latest trailer for Sonic Lost World, this time focusing on the 3DS version. The trailer largely follows the structure of the previous trailer, this time switching out the Wii U footage for 3DS clips. The 3DS version touts exclusive levels, new moves, and is due out in 2013. October 13th, 2013 to be more exact.