Shenmue III has been rumored since I first started coming online as a little Georgie boy, it was one of the main reasons I joined the SEGA community. Then we got a Kickstarter and waited some more, but it seems that we are very close to ‘not waiting’ for Shenmue III since its coming out in a few days on November 19, 2019. Now we get to enjoy a launch trailer above.
Yakuza 5 is finally out in the West after three long years of waiting! While its not the best trailer I have ever seen for the franchise, its definitely one of the better American trailers I have seen. I’m glad SEGA figured that characters talking in Japanese in trailers is fine and won’t scare off potential buyers.
I have been playing Yakuza 5 on the PS3 and will have a review up in couple of days, but so far I recommend buying it if you liked the past titles.
Fourteen years ago today, in Japan, the final SEGA console released: the Dreamcast. Of course, being an English speaking blog, we tend to put more emphasis on 9-9-99. Still, 11-27-98 is just as, if not more, important than any other Dreamcast launch date simply because it was the first. Also, it is the day before my birthday. A-hem! Anyway, Japanese launch titles included: Sonic Adventure, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Godzilla Generations, July, and Virtua Fighter 3tb. July and Godzilla Generations never made it outside Japan. Considering Famitsu gave Godzilla Generations a 20 out of 40, and Western import reviews were even worse, it seems those outside Japan weren’t missing out on Godzilla.
To celebrate, enjoy the hilarious Japanese Dreamcast commercials starring Senior Managing Director of SEGA Hidekazu Yukawa. The man truly was the Segata Sanshiro of the Dreamcast era, though he acted the complete opposite. Yukawa appeared on the Japanese Dreamcast box, he had his own game, his own merchandise including a cell phone charm, and even appeared in a cameo in the Shenmue demo “What’s Shenmue?”. You can see a complete playthrough of that after the break. Happy 14th Birthday, SEGA Dreamcast!
Check out the Sonic Generations launch trailer, not long to wait now!
The game is generally scoring in the 8/10 region, which I think is well deserved.
Of course there is always one isn’t there? This time Tim Turi of Game Informer was the culprit. He took all but 4 minutes out of his life to write four paragraphs and call it a professional review. He gave Sonic Generations 6.75/10, I won’t provide a link to the ‘review’ because he decided to spoil the ending in it.
His reason for giving the game a mediocre rating? Apparently all post Dreamcast era levels ruin the game for him! Yep, somehow the aesthetic alone or perhaps simply knowing they are from post Dreamcast era has made the level design terrible. I suspect that Tim didn’t get the memo that they aren’t actually the SAME levels, they simply share the same aesthetic as the original levels.
GETTA LOADA THIS:
“Why would Sega pass up full level tributes to Sonic 3 or Sonic CD in favor of a remixed version of a stage from Sonic Colors, which released only a year ago?”
Game Informer.
I’m actually convinced that some critics wouldn’t know what made a good Sonic game if it hit them in the face. Was the concept of celebrating 20 years of Sonic lost on this guy? And why pick Planet Wisp of all levels to take out his misguided anger on? One of the best Sonic Levels in recent memory… There used to be something very wrong with Sonic games, now there is something wrong with videogame critics. I can’t believe they get paid for this shit- what a Joke.
In contrast, GameTrailers’ review was fantastic, it not only highlighted the best parts of the game, it mentioned the real issues too and does so in a truly professional manor. My hat is off to you GameTrailers!
You can see it HERE
It’s the Virtua Tennis 4 UK launch trailer! This trailer focuses mostly on the PS3 version and its Move control scheme. However, rest assured that the game will also be available with the usual controller based scheme for PS3, Xbox 360 (with Kenect) and Wii.
Being developed by the original VT development team in Japan gives me high hopes for this game and with a £1 million marketing campaign it seems Sega do too!
Check out the launch trailer for Spiral Knights!
Sega published and Three Rings developed Spiral Knights is out of beta and available now to everyone! The game is completely free to install and play. While the game does adopt a in game shop system where you pay real money it is entirely possible to play the game for free.
If you were ever a fan of Phantasy Star Online, then I suggest giving Spiral Knights a try. The game features real time combat and is easy to pick up and play. You can go from the log in screen to knee deep in battle with four companions in less than a minute! The enemies are inventive and the sound track deserves a special mention. It also has a unique system were you personally can effect the lay out of the levels!
The game is available to play on pretty much every operating system including Windows, Mac OS and Linux
If you want to try it out and you really have no excuse not to, you can get started at www.spiralknights.com
I’ve been subscribed to these guys on youtube for a while now and I always find them quite entertaining.
This episode they discuss their Dreamcast launch memories and I suspect many of us has a very similar experience. I know the Dreamcast was the golden age of gaming for me and provided my best gaming summer break at one of the most memorable times in my life with some of my best friends. Enjoy!
SEGA is going to have ‘retail specific’ promotional items for Black Panther: New Yakuza Chapter. The above razor is the bonus item for Bic Camera, a Kurohyou Original Kai Razor.” This one is a sample razor by Kai.
Shops like Geo, Joshin, Tsutaya and WonderGOO will be getting cards with DLC codes on them. The art on them is pretty awesome as well.
What DLC does the cards have? You are going to have to hit the jump to find out!