Japan

Club Sega Shibuya location has closed

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Some sad news for SEGA fans at the start of the week. We learned that Club Sega Shibuya has closed its doors as of yesterday. News of the arcade’s closing became known with the posting of signs outside the arcade, politely advising customers of the impending closure. The location’s website also has a message, which also gives the January 31, 2016 closing date as well as a thank you to customers for their patronage. No word on why the arcade had closed, though it may simply have to do with the fact that it is a dwindling business in the country. There has also been speculation that the closure could have to do with the renovation of Shibuya Station, which Club Sega sits just outside of.

Club Sega can still be found in Akihaba, Nagoya-Fushimi and Nishiguchi. For a full list of operating SEGA amusement centers, check out this link.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 coming to Japanese PlayStation 4 owners on April 20

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PhantasyStarOnline2Playsation4SEGA Japan have finally given a specific date as to when their free-to-play online game, Phantasy Star Online 2 will hit the Playstation 4. That date is April 20. Right now SEGA will accept 50,000 beta testers between January 25 and February 15.

SEGA will also repackage the game with the upcoming ‘Reborn: Episode 4‘ content update and release it in retail for the PS4, PS Vita and PC. Those that pay ¥4,990 ($43) will get a variety of in-game items.

As for a Western release, SEGA has already said they have no plans on bringing Phantasy Star Online 2 outside of Japan. Which led us to write a decent rebuttal here. So tell us if any of you are planning on importing the game or give us your two cents on the whole ‘no Phantasy Star Online 2 outside of Japan’ issue in the comments below!

[Via: Gematsu]

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Yakuza Kiwami first print copies to come with Yakuza 6 demo

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Yakuza6demoFor those that are importing Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of Yakuza 1, the game will come with a product code to download a trail demo of Yakuza 6 on January 28th. The demo will allow you to play as protagonist Kazuma Kiryu and explore Kamurocho on the new gameplay engine that was teased back in December of last year.

The thing is Yakuza Kiwami is coming out on both Playstation 3 and Playstation 4, so I’m unsure if both versions come with the code for the demo, seeing as Yakuza 6 is Playstation 4 exclusive. Yakuza Kiwami is set to release on January 21st while Yakuza 6 is slated for later this fall.

[Via: SEGA]

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SEGA’s Miracle Girls Festival gets a demo in Japan

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If your a fan of Hatsune Miku style rhythm games, then you will most likely want to check out Miracle Girls Festival on the Playstation Vita. The Japanese Playstation Store got a demo for the game and its weighing in at 284MB. If you want to download it, click here.

Miracle Girls Festival lets you rhythm tap your way with a huge selectable cast of characters, the game features 47 anime characters from varies shows. What characters are in the game? Hit the jump and find out. Miracle Girls Festival is now available to purchase in Japan, no western release has been announced yet.

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SEGA Japan trademarks SEGA Cyclone dev kit and “Liberation of the Blue Sky”

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Two new SEGA trademarks cropped up today from Japan: “Soukuu no Liberation” (Liberation of the Blue Sky) and “Sega Cyclone Development Kit.” No other information was given at this time, so we can only speculate as to what these two are. The first is most likely the name of a game. Some have speculated that “Liberation of the Blue Sky” is a Skies of Arcadia game, but the only reason is the mention of a sky and let’s all remember that the franchise was Eternal Arcadia in Japan. More likely, it it a new IP and if I was a gambling man I’d place my bets on mobile or arcade.

“Sega Cyclone Development Kit” is more interesting, as it is clearly a development kit (duh) for a piece of hardware called Cyclone. SEGA arcade fans might find the name familiar, as there exists a piece of motion sim hardware SEGA utilizes called Typhoon. It is possible that this is an update to the motion simulator, or another arcade related thing such as a new board. Or *sigh* it’s a new console… but honestly, after eight years of SEGA blogging and following the company since 1991 I can honestly say that I do not think this is a home console.

[Source: Gematsu]

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Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X’s Quest Mode adds RPG like loot drops

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hatsunemikuprojectx1SEGA is hard at work with their new Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X video game, which is set to add a bit of a RPG touch to its new Quest Mode evolving various attributes and some looting system. Live Quest Mode consist of different elemental areas such as: Neutral Area, Cute Area, Cool Area, Beauty Area, and Chaos Area.

The game happens to use Modules and accessories that have their own elements, so if you happen to use them with the element on the stage it will boost your voltage rating (see featured image above) and will earn items more effectively.

Modules will also give you skills that will help you out. For example there is a “Recover” type skill that helps you cover missed inputs and a “Rate Up” skills that add more to your voltage gain. There is even module skills that affect module drop rates. Hit the jump to see some tracks and modules used in the upcoming game.

[Via: Siliconera]

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The History of Sega Japan R&D, Part 3: Innovative Heights and the End of an Era

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REUNIFICATION AND TWELVE INNOVATIVE R&D STUDIOS

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Playing up an executive managing director and joking about the state of the Dreamcast at the time, says a lot about Sega’s attitude at the time.

In Part 2 we covered Sega’s golden age, but great heights inevitably can bring great lows. Sega had lots of up and downs throughout their history. They also had great games, lots of them! But ultimately Sega did not make that much money from the Saturn. However, in the arcades they did absolute gangbusters. Sega needed to change their approach in regards to development and also their hardware. The solution was to make the Dreamcast and NAOMI arcade hardware the same and have all of the internal studios make games for it,in turn allowing them further grow and prosper. Twelve R&D studios in total were established, and the nine software studios were not split into arcade and console divisions – they made games for everything. Hisashi Suzuki and Yu Suzuki would manage the arcade business, with Hisashi putting in his final stretch at Sega before retirement.

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7th Dragon III debuts in Japan, reaches #1 on sales chart

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7thDragon1inJapanThis wasn’t the best week overall for game sales in Japan, with SEGA’s 7th Dragon III Code: VFD taking the number one spot and pushing Yo-Kai Watch Busters: Red Cat Team/White Dog Squad to second place. The SEGA published SRPG on 3DS did 72,477 units on its debut week and was good enough to top all other games for said week.

Check out the top 20 software chart for Japan, which includes total numbers. This chart takes place between October 12th – the 18th, 7th Dragon III came out on the 15th, so it had about 3 days on sale.

[Via: NintendoLife]

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7th Dragon III Code: VFD trailers show off ‘Fortuner’ and ‘Samurai’ jobs

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SEGA has posted a couple of trailers on their Japanese YouTube channel showing off the selectable ‘Fortuner’ and ‘Samurai’ jobs for their upcoming 7th Dragon III Code: VFD  Nintendo 3DS RPG.

The Fortuner is an astrologer of the battlefield, meaning that you can spread abnormal status ailments and cause massive damage. The weakness for a Fortuner is that they have low defense and health. While the Samurai are good all around, has a balance of offense and defense. They can also use blades and two handed-swords which unlocks skills differing depending on what way you go.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD comes out in Japan on October 15th. No western release date has been announced, which is a bit sad considering how much in-house SEGA developers worked on this one.

Hit the jump to see the Samurai class trailer.

[Source: Gematsu]

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Watch Sonic rescue Tails in 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s credit sequence

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M2 really likes having goofy credit sequences in their SEGA 3D Classics line of games, in this one we see each unique enemy type being shown off with a sequence of iterations with either Sonic or Tails. The Tails ones seem to involve him getting hit by said baddies and having Sonic come rescue him.

Sit and appreciate all the different unique baddies with their own animation that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had to offer. Now I want to play 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2... I guess we will have to wait until September.

[Via: NintendoLife]

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Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition location test gameplay hits online

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While we are getting closer to the American release of Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, there is already a ‘expanded’ version of the game being tested for release in Japan. While some people are calling it a ‘sequel’, to me it seems like a update to the game, sort of how Street Fighter II was updated to Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting a year after release.

The video clip above shows off new characters Quenser Barbotage (from Heavy Object) and Emi Yusa (from The Devil is a Part-Timer). Fighting Climax Ignition is set for arcades this summer in Japan, while the first game is coming to Playstation 3 and Vita in America on August 25th.

What do you guys think of this game? Will this updated release effect your purchase in August?

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A look at SEGA of Japan’s Yakuza stage show

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Did you know that the Japanese love going to stage shows? Did you know that SEGA have made quite a bit of stage shows of their franchises including stuff like Phantasy Star Online 2 and now Yakuza aka Ryu Ga Gotoku? I have to be honest, the stage show doesn’t look half bad from Famitu’s photo gallery and most of the actors fit their roles unlike the Takashi Miike directed ‘Like a Dragon’ movie.

Below you can see a few of the photographs taken from the stage show’s debut. If you want more head over to Famitsu’s extensive gallery.

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New Persona 4: Dancing All Night Trailer shows off the cast’s dancing moves

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Here’s a new trailer for Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Atlus’ dancing rhythm game for the PS Vita. P4: Dancing All Night features characters from the popular Persona series- you guessed it, dancing all night. But this trailer boasts more than just a jig with a boy in a bear suit. Dancing All Night features a pretty meaty story mode, told through animated cut scenes and Persona style talking heads. Plus an impressive selection of songs and outfits to dress your favourite Persona 4 characters in.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night will release on June 25th, 2015 for the PS Vita in Japan. Western dates still to be announced sometime within the year.

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SEGA shutting down service for Initial D Perfect Shift Online on 3DS

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SEGA Japan has announced that they will be shutting down online services for their free-to-play 3DS game Initial D Perfect Shift Online come this June 30th. Last time we heard from SEGA they where bragging that the game was a success with over 500,000 downloads, but this is was most likely shut down due to SEGA working on a sequel (announced last year).

So what will happen if the service ends and you still have the game on your Japanese 3DS? You can continue to play the game as long as you want, but the game will be offline only.

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