Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to release in Japan on May 15th

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Famitsu reports that SEGA has announced a Japanese release date for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Tranformed. The game, which released in the West on November 2012, is due for release on the Wii U and Playstation 3 on May 15th, 2014. While Famitsu’s article does not mention any exclusive characters for the Japanese version, it would be interesting if SEGA included Ryo Hazuki or Hatsune Miku in an attempt to appeal more to Japanese audiences. One interesting bit of information is the mention of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi being “the voice of SEGA”, could the Japanese version be adding an announcer or theme song to the game? We’ll reach out to Sumo for more info on this and the Japanese release of the game. Stay Tuned!

Yakuza Restoration will run at 60fps on Playstation 4

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This week’s Dengeki Playstation magazine has confirmed that the Playstation 4 version of Yakuza Restoration will run at a smooth 60 FPS.

Other than that the game will also support some special features on the Dualshock 4 controller. You can control the map using the touchpad and the light bar on the controller flashes when taking damage. Not as huge as 60 frames per second, but still nice.

The game supports Remote Play and also has a special streaming feature that shows viewer comments on the screen, sorta how they do it on NicoNico Live. But that isn’t everything, the more comments the quicker your recovery time when you’re down and also the rate your parameters fill up.

Yakuza Restoration is coming to both PS3 and PS4 on February 22nd in Japan. No Western release plans have been announced.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd demo hits Japanese PSN on the October 23rd

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Even though we barely got Hatsune Miku Project Diva F on the Playstation 3 this summer, the Japanese are already preparing for its sequel. Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd will get a Japanese PSN demo on October 23rd.

Three songs on the demo:

  • Last Note – “Akasuki Arrival” 
  • doriko – “Romeo and Cinderella” 
  • Team Moer – “Colorful X Melody”

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd is coming to both Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita in Japan in early 2014. No Western release dates have been revealed.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax first full length trailer hits the net

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is a new 2D arcade fighting game that will feature characters for Dengeki’s wide ranging light novel IPs. So far the confirmed characters include:

  • Asuna (Sword Art Online)
  • Shana (Shakugan no Shana)
  • Kirino (Oreimo)
  • Shizuo (Durarara!!)
  • Kuroyukihime (Accel World)
  • Mikoto (A Certain Magical Index)

Even though right now they are only talking about the ‘arcade’ version, they already confirmed there will be a console version of the game shown off at a later date. They also teased about the possibility of including SEGA IPs, specifically games like Valkyria Chronicles.

SEGA’s next Yakuza game to take place in Feudal Japan again

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SEGA Japan have just announced another Yakuza title, this one seems to be a spin-off titled Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza in the West) Ishin. The only information we have is the logo and the image below, which reminds me of Yakuza: Kenzan, a spin-off on Playstation 3 that never made it over.

What platform is this being developed for? That we don’t know either, but since Nagoshi has stated before that Yakuza 5 was going to be his last Playstation 3 game, don’t be shocked that its SEGA’s first Playstation 4 title.  Guesses on Neo-GAF is that Ryu will be portraying the life of Sakamoto Ryōma.

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SEGA’s Hero Bank at the Next Generation World Hobby Fair

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We posted before about SEGA’s Hero Bank video game getting promotional items to give away at the Next Generation World Hobby Fair. Now we have some pictures from the event and it seemed it was a hit with the kids (the audience they are reaching for with this title).

Below you can see more shots of the event, the mascot and other interesting bits. Oddly enough SEGA hasn’t put out a trailer for this game or talked about if it be coming west.

SEGA silly Japanese ad for Yakuza 1&2 HD on Wii U


Seems that SEGA is making their ads more comedy focused when they are advertising their game on the Wii U, which I think I like. This ad really made me laugh and honestly, Yakuza games aren’t all serious business.

Just remember, don’t tell the hostess in the game how much you love them when your wife is standing right behind you.

Shadow the Hedgehog hits ‘PS2 Classics’ in Japan

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Sony calls their digital PSN re-releases ‘PS2 classics’ and the latest addition is the not so classic Shadow the Hedgehog. This game is just one of those titles that we here like to forget exists. What’s next? Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 port for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One?

Not to mention the Playstation 2 version of Shadow the Hedgehog is the worst version of the game. It ran better on both Gamecube and Xbox. If you live in Japan you can pick this up for 1,200 yen (About $12.60 USD).

SEGA announces “Hero Bank” – a 3DS exclusive money-based RPG

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Via Famitsu comes the reveal of a new 3DS exclusive from SEGA Japan entitled Hero Bank. Set to release on December 19th, Hero Bank is a unique RPG that revolves around world currencies. Seen after the break are two heroes, one with a yen theme and one with a US dollar theme. From what we can gather, the game is based around a fictional sport known as “Hero Battle”. Through one-on-one battles, players must earn as much money as possible to become the winner. Players download “hero data” which is based on real world individuals for in-game use. SEGA uses racers and baseball players as examples of potential real-world individuals.

It sounds like a pretty unique spin on the RPG battler genre, and the character designs are pretty cool. When we learn more, including who exactly is developing the title, we’ll be sure to share it!

Free to play Puyo Puyo! Quest releases to the Japanese App Store

File this one under “release this West, SEGA!”. The free to play iOS game Puyo Puyo! Quest has released to the Japanese App Store. Described as a puzzle RPG, the game has players challenging their friends to see who is the strongest player. The game appears to be a bit different than traditional Puyo Puyo titles, relying on teams, character cards, creating guilds, and utilizing power ups. While the game is free to play, there are some pay elements. The game looks just as bright and colorful as the excellent Puyo Pop Fever, fingers crossed that SEGA brings this west.

New arcade game Sonic Athletics to release April 25th at Tokyo Joypolis

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Via the Tokyo Joypolis website and The Sonic Stadium comes news of a new Sonic arcade game set to release at the Japanese arcade on April 25th. Dubbed Sonic Athletics, the game features a line of eight treadmills set in front of vertical screens depicting a track stadium. Players choose from Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Metal Sonic, Silver, and Blaze and begin running. The faster you run, the faster your character runs. First to the finish wins. Pretty simple game, but quite a slick looking setup. I wonder if the arcade staff allows boosting? After the break, check out a few more images of the new game.