SEGABits At Magfest 13: The Write Up

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So, for my first article proper on the site, I figured why not talk about my favorite gaming event of the year, MAGFest, which just wrapped this past weekend at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. In its thirteenth year, this gaming festival was primarily started as a celebration of music in gaming and all the video-game inspired bands that have risen up in the past decade or so, but has grown to become an all-encompassing celebration of gaming culture at large. From gaming developers, artists, journalists, personalities, and even other aspects of geek culture, it truly has something for everyone.

Dj CUTMAN’s “Spindash” – a Sonic the Hedgehog fan-made remix album available now!

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is not new to fan-made remix albums, and given the quality of Sonic music, I can’t blame the many artists out there for being inspired to put their spin on classic tracks. But every once in a while a really special remix album hits, and Dj CUTMAN’s “Spindash” is one of those. The album, licensed by SEGA, is a fitting tribute to SEGA’s blue mascot featuring diverse styles of music and even ventures outside of the 16-bit era to remix tunes from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Colors.

“Spindash” is available now on Loudr, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Dj CUTMAN performed at this past weekend’s MAGFest, and SEGAbits was there! We’ll have coverage from the event up on the site soon, in the meantime check out the album and after the break, read the press release.

Red Bull Music Academy unveils new series – “Diggin’ In The Carts” – Features Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro

Red Bull Music Academy has announced it is producing a new video series, “Diggin’ in the Carts,” discussing the influence of video game music on how we know music today, and looking at the people that produced it.

The series is to be six episodes long, and also features several well-known musicians and bands such as Anamanaguchi, Flying Lotus and Joker (who recently produced a Mega Drive inspired album) providing commentary.

For us SEGA fans, legendary composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Daytona USA, OutRunners, Shenmue) and Yuzo Koshiro (The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle Series) are to be featured in the series, which is music to our ears! In the trailer, Space Harrier and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can be seen, possibly giving us hints about what to expect.

Also featured is Nobuo Uematsu, famed composer of the majority of the Final Fantasy series, and Manami Matsumae, composer of the original Mega Man game’s soundtrack (and also the composer of the upcoming Mighty No. 9), amongst many others.

The first episode premiers on Red Bull Music Academy’s site on September 4th, so be sure to check it out!

Yuzo Koshiro will compose music for Persona Q

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Yuzo Koshiro has worked on music for a lot of games, but SEGA fans will always know him for his amazing work on the Streets of Rage series. In my opinion, this is what made Yuzo Koshiro a legend. Want more music from him? Don’t worry, it has been revealed that he will be composing tracks for the upcoming Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.

Also announced to be working on the game is Yuji Himukai who is being brought aboard to design some monsters along with Shin Nagasawa. All three (including Yuzo Koshiro) worked on Etrian Odyssey (and Persona Q is basically Etrian Odyssey with Personas…).

SEGA Tunes: Anarchy Reigns spins the Blacker Baron theme song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a3-rAeBL-io

While SEGA West remains silent on Anarchy Reigns, the game continues to get recognition in Japan. Ripped from the latest episode of Platinum Games TV and released to YouTube, the tune is reportedly the theme song for the character Blacker Baron. The tune is titled “Days of Old” by VStylez and is hopefully the first of many awesome tunes. For more information on Anarchy Reigns, hit up Platinum Games official site.

 

Check It Out: Sonic the Hedgehog Medley Performed Live!

Full disclosure: I know the bass player in this video, he’s marrying my wife’s best friend. But regardless of whether I know him or not, it’s a good set! I was there live the night they played this. The group is called Beta Test and they perform in and around the Philadelphia, PA area. The night they performed this, March 3, 2012, they also played music from Super Mario Land and the Zelda series. I asked my wife which set she liked most and she said the Sonic one. I asked if she was just saying that because I was the one asking, but she said she honestly liked the Sonic music the most! If she had said “Mario”, it would not have been a good night.

SEGA Sound Team reunited as Blind Spot

SEGA Sound Team (aka S.S.T. Band) has to be one of the best live bands that SEGA ever had, yes better than Crush 40 and they are back! The full band is together and is now performing under the name “Blind Spot”. Probably due to some copyright issues, but who knows.

Here is the set list for their first show.

  • Theme [Space Harrier]
  • Soup Up [Rad Mobile]
  • Like the Wind [Power Drift]
  • Blue Moon [SDI]
  • Outride A Crisis [Super Hang-On]
  • Beyond The Galaxy [Galaxy Forge]
  • Thunder Blade ~ Burning Point [Thunder Blade]
  • After Burner [After Burner]
  • Magical Sound Shower [Outrun]
Here are a couple of youtube videos of the band practicing. So if you live in Japan and they are playing a live show, show up. Support the band!
[Thanks: Spencer]

Emerald Hill Zone theme remade in WarioWare D.I.Y.


WarioWare D.I.Y. for the Nintendo DS allows users to create their own minigames, which also means creating the music for them. So savvy internet users have decided to create great tracks and upload them on the YouTube.

Above is a creation from , he remixed the theme for Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic, using the tools provided by the game. Not bad, right? Like it? He provided a MP3 download here.

[Via: GoNintendo]

5 Annoyingly Catchy SEGA Genesis Tunes

… or Mega Drive tunes, if you’re of that persuasion. Every blue blooded SEGA fan knows the distinct sound of Genesis/Mega Drive music. Having played dozens of Genesis games throughout the 90’s, a number of game tunes stuck with me. Many great, due to the sheer genius of their composition (Sonic 2’s Chemical Plant Zone and Streets of Rage 2 Stage 1-1 come to mind). But what of those game tunes that stick with you due to them just being plain old annoyingly catchy? Today I’m going to share 5 of those tunes. I actually find myself unknowingly whistling these on a daily basis. Proof of their annoying “catchocity” (a scientific measurement of catchiness).

Round Table: Our favorite SEGA Soundtracks


After you spend hours in your favorite SEGA game, you always get those damn catchy tunes stuck in your head. They won’t go away, now we will share our favorite SEGA soundtracks, hopefully they stay stuck in your brain like they have ours.

If your favorite soundtrack wasn’t featured, make sure you head down to the comment section and share.

Mister Wilson’s Jet Set single


Terek (Ter-Rek) Wilson, known by his rap name Mister Wilson, is a New Jersey rapper/battle rapper. Above is a video of him having a rap battle with a rapper named Cypher.

Mr. Wilson is a huge SEGA fan, since the age of 3 and even bears a tattoo of Sonic on his left arm. He has released his first single, called Jet Set and it uses a sample of ‘Fly like a Butterfly’ from JSRF. The track here is the experimental version and is currently being remade with producer Calvin the Genius.

[Download: Jet Set by Mister Wilson] [His Youtube] [Follow him on Twitter]

If any other SEGA fans want to share their music, art or anything SEGA related, contact us.