SEGA Retrospective: SEGA and Tetris

Tetris SEGA retrospective

Good old Tetris, a name that even those not savvy with video games are familiar with, and for good reason. A very simple premise of dropping blocks called Tetrimino to clear lines and get the highest score managed to become a multi-million dollar franchise, with the Game Boy iteration of Tetris alone managing to sell 35 million copies and spawning a lot of competitors in the “Falling Block” genre such as Dr. Mario, Puyo Puyo, and SEGA’s own Columns.

With the announcement of Puyo Puyo Tetris coming to the west on the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4, we’re going to take a quick look at SEGA’s past involvement with the Tetris brand. This will focus on three versions of Tetris released during the 80’s by SEGA, along with the later released Tetris SEGA and Giant Tetris. Also primates.

SEGA Talk Podcast #08: Phantasy Star (1987)

Have your interplanetary passports at the ready as we venture to the Algol Solar System to discuss all things Phantasy Star on the SEGA Talk Podcast. Hosts George and Barry have a sit down discussion talking our history with the original game in the long running Phantasy Star franchise, the innovative gameplay, the music (both PSG and FM versions) and the impact the game made on the industry. Barry also dusts off some classic magazines to see what people were saying about the game at the time. So grab a burger and cola and enjoy the show!

In the comments below, share your memories of the original Phantasy Star!

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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 them directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Fastest Food Alive: Unwrapping the Sonic the Hedgehog Ice Cream Bar with Gumball Eyes

Fastest Food Alive returns with one of the most popular Sonic the Hedgehog food products of all time. That’s right, it’s Blue Bunny’s Sonic bar with GUMBALL EYES! Quit reading and watch as we unwrap this famous Sonic foodstuff, looking back on the history of the bar and seeing just how badly they messed up the eyes.

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SEGA Talk Podcast #07: Power Stone (1999)

We have gathered all the Power Stones and are now ready to talk all things Power Stone related on this episode of the SEGA Talk Podcast. George and Barry have a sit down discussion talking our history with the Power Stone franchise, why we think it still holds up, our favorite Power Stone characters, and even our thoughts on the anime tie-in. So put down that SEGA Dreamcast controller, turn up the volume and join us for some Power Stone talk! Tell us in the comments why you enjoyed Power Stone and if you think its due for a comeback.

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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!

SEGA News Bits: Puyo Puyo Tetris Coming West

January 2017 saw the reveal of the Nintendo Switch, and following the live event several announcements were made. One that was of interest to SEGA fans was the reveal that Puyo Puyo Tetris would be coming west to the Switch and the Playstation 4. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry are joined by SEGAbits.com writer and resident Puyo Puyo expert FlareHabanero to explain what we can expect from the upcoming game.

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SEGA News Bits: Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Comic Cancelled Rumor and Analysis

On this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George share their analysis of the rumor that Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics are cancelled. How did this rumor spring up? Is there any validity to it? What could happen to the Sonic comic books should it happen? Give the video a watch to find out!

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SEGA News Bits: Daytona 3 Championship USA Name Change Reaction

On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry discuss the sudden name change to affect the upcoming arcade racer Daytona 3 Championship USA. Yes, they changed the name and no, it still sounds like they threw a title into a blender. What was the purpose of this name change and what are our thoughts? Click play and find out!

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Registers ShenmueHD.com Reaction

Following the discovery that SEGA Europe registered ShenmueHD.com, we learned that SEGA had also registered ShemnueGame.com (misspelling intentional) and ShenmueRemastered.com. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry enter the dojo to discover what this all means. Is SEGA planning a rerelease of Shenmue and Shenmue II? Give the show a watch to hear our findings!

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SEGA News Bits: Yakuza 0 First Impressions

SEGAbits received an advance review copy of Yakuza 0 for the Playstation 4, and in anticipation of the game’s release Barry grills George on what he thinks of the game so far. Being a prequel and the first game in the franchise to hit the PS4 in the west, Yakuza 0 will undoubtably be the first time many players experience the franchise. How does it play? How does it compare to past games in the series and past SEGA titles like Shenmue? Watch and find out!

Yakuza 0 releases January 24th, pre-order today to get the “The Business Edition”.

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SEGA News Bits: Sonic 2006 being remade for PC by fans with Unity, demo first impressions

Sonic 2006 is being remade in Unity by a small team headed by Gistix. A demo, playable on PC, has just released showcasing their progress in the form of the game’s original demo. We downloaded it and now talk about it in the first SEGA News Bits of 2017! Download the Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) Unity demo for yourself here.

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SEGA News Bits: Favorite SEGA Games of 2016

As 2016 comes to a close, George and Barry name their favorite SEGA games of the year as well as their honorable mentions. While 2016 didn’t see many, if any, true big budget blockbuster titles from SEGA, there were still several great games to be found. Find out which games we liked, and in the comments below tell us YOUR favorite SEGA game of 2016!

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SEGA Retrospective: 20 years of Fighters Megamix

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Between the likes of Marvel vs Capcom, Super Smash Bros and NEO GEO Battle Coliseum, suffice to say that it is characteristic of the crossover fighting game sub-genre to not take yourself so seriously. Put any worries about canon to rest, don’t sweat character balance too much, and just have a good time. SEGA’s one and only foray into the world of crossover fighters dropped twenty years ago today, and if it’s not immediately obvious that they’ve let their hair down, it will be once you unlock Rent-A-Hero.

Fighters Megamix bills itself as a crossover between the Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers franchises, two series which mean considerably less to your average Joe today than they did back in 1996. I remember when Masahiro Sakurai unveiled the Akira and Jacky Mii costumes for Super Smash Bros for Wii U, Twitter blew up with questions along the lines of “what the hell is Virtua Fighter?” Nevertheless, Fighters Megamix has carved its way into the libraries of many fighting and retro game fans in recent years, largely due to its outrageous roster.

Admit it. You know about this game because of the car. I don’t judge you. It’s been twenty years.

SEGA Retrospective: Die Hard Arcade (Dynamite Deka) 20th Anniversary

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As 2016 comes to a close, we wrap up our celebrations of SEGA anniversaries with a look back on a fan favorite 3D arcade beat ’em up. Catch up on past SEGA Retrospective articles, and stay tuned to 2017!

Are you a fan of action movies and always wanted to be the action hero in a video game? Die Hard Arcade, also known as Dynamite Deka in Japan, is where it’s at! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this popular arcade and home console beat ’em up, let’s dive into the game’s history and development in a special SEGA Retrospective. While there isn’t a concrete date for Die Hard Arcade’s release, we thought the Christmas season was fitting. “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”

SEGAbits Round Table: Our Favorite SEGA & Atlus Games of 2016

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Another year is about to close for SEGAbits. Many anniversaries for SEGA franchises happened this year, with SEGA themselves capitalizing on certain ones like Sonic the Hedgehog and Puyo Puyo. On top of this, naturally there were several announcements and game releases from both SEGA and Atlus. Some of which were what we expected, and then there was some that caught people off guard, like the return of the fan favorite Daytona USA. But are you curious as to what some of the writer’s own favorite titles are for 2016? Here at SEGAbits we decided to ask this question to the writers for a year-end round table!

SEGA News Bits: Valkyria Revolution coming west reaction

SEGA has just announced that it will be bringing Valkyria: Azure Revolution to America and changing the name to simply Valkyria Revolution. Not only that, Valkyria Revolution will also be coming to Xbox One! So on this episode of the SEGA News Bits we sit and talk about Valkyria Revolution coming west, whine about PC not getting a port, if the added Xbox One version is worth the effort, and of course discuss the game being poorly received in Japan. Squad 7, move out!

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