Japan

SEGA set to open an official store in Shibuya for next summer

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SEGA’s Head of Global Transmedia Group, Justin Scarpone, spoken with VGC at Gamescom Asia that the company plans follow steps from Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Enix to open its own official store in Shibuya’s Parco department complex with another store opening in Shanghai, China. The decision to launch a physical SEGA outlet was motivated by the desire to put the SEGA brand in front of more consumers in order to strengthen it and to look after fans with the already surprising amount of fandom as a brand by offering new experiences to them.

With the success of the Sonic movies and licensee deals such as Lego, SEGA’s transmedia business received a strong growth in revenue as the company now generates nearly $1 billion in annual retail sales of toys, clothing, and merchandise alone. He also noted that partnerships such as Paramount, Netflix, and even Roblox, helped the company reach a broader audience.

Scarpone’s ultimate goal is to replicate that success with other IPs such as Persona, Like a Dragon, and other SEGA IP in other territories. SEGA had a great history of having numerous stores in Japan such as the SEGA Specialty Stores until it gaming landscape changed and online shopping became more prevalent in the early 2000s. Seeing this plan come to fruition would be a dream come true for SEGA fans to visit. Will you visit the SEGA Store in Shibuya and Shanghai? What SEGA merchandise would you like to see in the official store? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: VGC

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Sonic and Puyo Puyo’s Special Menu Items at Osaka Mall

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A Twitter post announced a collaboration with The Grand Game at Osaka’s Grand Front Complex in Japan with the Sonic the Hedgehog & Puyo Puyo franchises as part of their special menu for the location’s 10th anniversary event. From now until May 14th, attendees can visit the arcade and try out some themed foods like a Sonic latte & a Puyo pancake. Attendees can also take pictures at a photo op with cutouts of Sonic & Puyo characters and can play various games, such as a giant UFO crane machine & a Pac-Man themed golf course shaped from the level mazes.

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New SEGA arcade center opens in Ikebukuro, replacing closed GiGO arcade

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Back on September 20th, the SEGA Ikebukuro GiGO arcade closed after 28 years of operations. Fans were emotional, and rightly so, and many pointed to this as a sign of SEGA’s arcade footprint diminishing. However, on October 22nd a new arcade center opened in Ikebukuro which was noted as being “Volume 1” of a larger project by Genda Sega Entertainment president Nao Kataoka. Volumes 2 and 3 would soon follow.

The new center has five floors and features a variety of SEGA arcade machines. Where is it located? Right across the street from the old location! The reason the original location sold was not because SEGA was leaving the arcade business in the area, but because of an expiring lease and a need for remodeling to the old building. Maybe SEGAbits will visit the arcade in 2022? 👀

[Photo Credit: @TicTaek, Source: Anime News Network]

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SEGA’s Ikebukuro GiGO arcade in Tokyo set to close on September 20, 2021

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In a Twitter post on August 2, the Ikebukuro SEGA arcade branch has announced that they will be closed on September 20th. They explained that the lease contract for the building that houses the arcade has expired and is ready for renovation. The arcade opened up in 1993, housing many arcade classics as the rising SEGA boom was taking over during the 90s (a 28-year open service). They also wish to provide the same premier customer service that brought in customers since opening. Currently celebrating the 28th anniversary, exclusive prizes can be won via UFO catcher machines or be bought for the month of August.

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Microsoft Japan indefinitely delays the Xbox Series version of Yakuza Like a Dragon

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It looks like if you live in Japan, you won’t be able to experience the power of X when it comes to playing Yakuza Like a Dragon. I would say in the title that SEGA delayed the game, but according to the Game.Impress article from Japan, they’re saying Microsoft Japan is delaying it and not SEGA. Probably because in Japan the game was suppose to come out digitally only.

According to Game Impress there is no reason given by SEGA to why they delayed it and if it will be one of those “Its coming…” then we never hear about it. The site says that this version was titled “Yakuza Like a Dragon” instead its Japanese name: “Ryu ga Gotoku 7 Whereabouts of Light and Darkness”. They also say that this version was set to include the English dub and subtitles (along with all the other great languages it supports). Yakuza Like a Dragon was set to be a launch title for the Xbox Series X which releases on November 10th. Oddly enough, the game page to pre-order Yakuza Like a Dragon seems to still be up on the Microsoft page.

I also heard mixed opinions online regarding past Xbox ports coming out in Japan. I heard some people suggest that Micorosft never released these titles in Japan but that doesn’t seem to be true since all Xbox releases are marked as ‘World Wide’ online. I guess if you buy a Xbox Series X or S and live in Japan, you can always just make a United States account to buy the western version or play it on Game Pass.

[Via Game Watch]

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Sega Saturn Japanese exclusive SRPG “Valhollian” getting fan made English translation

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The fan translation team known as Meduza Team (recently they translated Linkle Liver Story and provided widescreen hacks for Shining Force III, Powerslave and Dead or Alive) have announced they are working on a English translation for Valhollian or better known as “Zanma Chouougi Valhollian” . This Sega Saturn exclusive SRPG came out in 1998 and was developed by Datt Japan which only worked on two previous Sega Saturn games, Virtual Casino (1996) and Monster Slider (1997).

Quite frankly surprised this title never got a proper translation and release in the West since the game did sport some really cool looking polygon graphics and seems to have a pretty interesting cast of characters. Check out the video above on the work they’ve done on the game so far. Pretty interesting project and worth keeping an eye on if you are looking for more Sega Saturn goodness.

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SEGA Akihabara Arcade, Building 2, Closing Permanently on August 30

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Earlier this month it was announced that SEGA Building 2, a Japanese SEGA arcade in Akihabara, will be closing its doors for good on August 30. While no official reason has been given, some speculate that SEGA are competing with themselves as the 1st, 3rd, 4th and recently opened 5th SEGA arcades in the area draw much more foot traffic thanks to being near stations and busy roads. It has also been said that Building 2 is cramped and is difficult to navigate.

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SEGA Talk Podcast #40: Segata Sanshiro

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Please almighty Segata Sanshiro! We need to stop playing our SEGA Saturns for just one hour to talk about your greatness! On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry discuss the inspiration for SEGA Japan’s Saturn mascot, as well as the many commercials and the legacy Segata Sanshiro left behind– oh! He found us-! UGH! I can’t… breathe…

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

[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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Yuzumo Design’s “SEGA 60: Creation is Life” Doujin Magazine coming to Kindle in English this April

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Announced in the last few months, Yuzumo Design, a fan publisher in Japan, will be releasing a doujin magazine celebrating SEGA’s 60th Anniversary called “SEGA 60: Creation is Life” this year featuring fan content from 61 Sega fans (including myself) from 8 countries and celebrating 6 decades of Sega! The magazine will include SEGA stories from fans all over the world, comic artwork, cosplays and many more!

The book will be available in Japanese and to the Kindle store in English this April in Full Color with 60 pages for only $6. Here are some sample pages to view in Japanese and English versions of the magazine after the break.

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Sonic Station LIVE! broadcast to air on Feb 20th

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The official Japanese Sonic Twitter account has announced that there will be a live broadcast for Sonic news and information on the 20th of every month with the first one beginning on February 20th at 18:00 JST (4 AM EST, 3 AM CST, and 1 AM PST).

The stream will be hosted by Sonic Series Creative Director, Kazuyuki Hoshino, and Sound Director, Jun Senoue with them discussing the latest apparel, SEGA AGES: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and more. Fans can also submit newsletters for them to address during the stream.

Who’s ready for some Sonic news? Let us know in the comments below.

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Yakuza 7 launch day numbers weakest in main series, 20% drop from Yakuza 6

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Yakuza 7 (Yakuza: Like a Dragon in America) is changing a lot of things that were considered bread and butter for the franchise. This includes a new lead character and a change from real time action to turn base combat. Unsurprisingly this has lead to a drop in launch sales. Does this mean that this whole new direction has been a failure? Not really, it will depend on how the game sales overtime and we still have to launch it outside of Japan. Who knows, in the West, this being a soft reboot might help it.

 

Check out the tweet by Game Data Library on Twitter for a sales chart:

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Sonic X to be rebroadcast in Japan to commemorate the release of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog Movie

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Sonic the Hedgehog’s TV Anime debut produced by TMS Entertainment, Sonic X, will rebroadcast in Japan on Kids Station in the beginning of next year around January 2020 to commemorate the release of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog Movie coming out the next following month.

This will also be the first time that season 3 of Sonic X, The Metarex Saga, will debut on TV broadcast in Japan which was only available through online streaming services.

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Persona 5 Royal debuts in first place in Japan, beats out Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

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It looks like its a big month for SEGA and Atlus in Japan since they released both Persona 5 Royal and Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games come out the same week. Surprisingly enough, Persona 5 Royal (201,448 units sold) did so well that it beat Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion 3 (150,649 units) by over 50k units.

I think its surprising because Persona 5 Royal is a ‘complete’ version of Persona 5 which launched with 264,793 units on PS4 (72,974 units on PS3). Sure, Persona 5 Royal sold less than the original but its still selling better than the last ‘highest selling Persona game’ before Persona 5, Persona 4 Golden which launched with 137,076 units. This shows you that re-releasing acclaimed games with more content isn’t a bad strategy and it seems Atlus fans come out and purchase these new versions.

Nintendo fans might think its disappointing to see Luigi’s Mansion 3 on Nintendo Switch not make it at number one, but this entry is the highest selling entry in Japan with 150,649 units compared to Luigi’s Manson: Dark Moon which launched with 110,840 units in 2013.

But what about Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

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Bandai releasing a build your own SEGA Saturn model kit

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If you are into modeling kits, you might want to keep your eyes open for the newly announced SEGA Saturn kit. Bandai also announced a PlayStation one, which you can see in the gallery, these where shown at the All Japan 2019 Model Hobby Show. They are set to release sometime in March 2020.

These 2/line models are part of the ‘Best Hit Chronicle’ line. The model being used here is the SEGA Saturn HST-3200 and the PlayStation is SCPH-1000. Each kit will come with a console and one controller, which even includes the inter workings. Of course these aren’t functional, just for modeling. Each unit will cost you ¥2,500 (~$23).


[Source: Siliconera]

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Skies of Arcadia Limited Edition Soundtrack CD & Vinyl go up for pre-order

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It looks like Wayorecords will be publishing a very impressive looking limited edition vinyl and CD for Skies of Arcadia, the cult hit Dreamcast JRPG (with it getting a port later on GameCube).

The company is set to release three versions including the CD edition, Vinyl Edition and a music box! Some of these have limited runs including a vinyl in blue will only get 500 units printed and the first ‘music box’ will only have 250! If you are a SEGA collector, you should probably act quickly and swiftly. I will say that the vinyls are a bit pricey, coming in at about 55 USD but it does have a ton of cool extras. The music box on the other hand costs 280 USD!

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