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Valkyria Chronicles 4 demo now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch; digital pre-orders open

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 is due out September 25 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam. In anticipation of the game’s release, SEGA dropped a ton of new info about the demo and digital pre-order bonuses. Digital pre-orders are available now for all platforms, and included is a bonus add-on mission ‘A Captainless Squad’ in which a group of Squad E soldiers find themselves on an impromptu reconnaissance operation after the squad’s beloved medic dog, Ragnarok, goes missing. The add-on mission will also be available for $4.99 in late October. Pre-ordering Valkyria Chronicles 4 through the PlayStation Store will get you an exclusive theme and avatar set.

Also available today is the Valkyria Chronicles 4 demo which is free to download from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store and Nintendo eShop. Players will be treated to the prologue and first two chapters of the game, as well as a bonus mission created just for the demo. Save data will carry over to the full game, and importing data will unlock an exclusive accessory for use in the full game.

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

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Shining Resonance Refrain Review – AKA Tales of Resonance (PS4, Nintendo Switch)

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It’s hard to believe that Shining Resonance Refrain is the first Shining series game to come outside of Japan in over a decade. While the franchise use to be a stable of SEGA back in the 90s, it seemed that us Westerns have been kept in the dark on the recent releases, until now. Shining Resonance Refrain is a definitive release of the PlayStation 3 exclusive Shining Resonance. So was the wait for the return of the Shining series worth it?

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 English prologue trailer released and localization interview

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SEGA really seems to be taking localization more seriously these last few years. First we got a new prologue trailer in English for Valkyria Chronicles 4 and not only that we also got a interview with SEGA Associate Localization and lead for Valkyria Chronicles 4 Andrew Davis. He went on to reveal details including that English voice over work took 10 weeks, talked about matching characterization, and the fact that Ragnarok the dog has the same voice for both Japan and the West:

No, Ragnarok has the same voice actor for both English and Japanese. Funny story – we did actually record an English track for Ragnarok, but the feedback from our Japanese team was that even with additional post-processing, he sounded too much like a small dog – Ragnarok is more of a medium-sized dog. The English actor’s growls were really well-received, but the barks weren’t quite there, so we stuck with the Japanese actor. It’s unfortunate, it would have been my big break in a voice acting role…

You can check out the full interview over at the PlayStation.Blog, lots of cool tidbits of information. Make sure to pick up Valkyria Chronicles 4 comes out September 25 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC! Here is a sample of the 100-page art book that will come with the Memoirs from Battle premium edition!

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SEGA Japan contest giving away Sonic Mania art by Ken Sugimori of Pokemon fame

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SEGA Japan’s Sonic Channel is holding a pretty awesome contest giving away original artwork by Ken Sugimori (known for Pokemon, art director at Game Freak). According to SEGA Japan’s tweet it will be given to someone on twitter and they did link to this write-up with Ken Sugimori giving his impressions on Sonic Mania and its features. I do love the ending where he asks SEGA to do a ‘Space Harrier Mania‘, ‘Phantasy Star Mania’ and ‘Altered Beast Mania’. Hey, I wouldn’t complain if SEGA had a Retro line of older games coming back like Sonic Mania.

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SEGA AGES debuts on Nintendo Switch with Sonic the Hedgehog & Thunder Force IV next month

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It was a surprise to a lot of SEGA fans when SEGA announced that they wouldn’t be porting the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive Collection to Nintendo Switch. Instead SEGA Japan would be bringing its downloadable titles by reviving their SEGA AGES brand. We finally got the first details including the debut games, release date and pricing.

According to the latest Weekly Famitsu magazine where they confirmed that the first two debut titles will be Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV! Each title will cost you 925 yen (£6.30 / $8.20) and will release in August. Just like the SEGA 3D Classics, Sonic the Hedgehog will include the added Spin Dash, Drop Dash and the Mega Play arcade version. While Thunder Force IV will introduce online leaderboards and the Styx Mode from the SEGA Saturn version!

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SEGA releases Valkyria Chronicles 4 opening movie

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 releases September 25, 2018, and to hold us over SEGA has released the opening movie to the game. You know, that bit that plays when you boot up the game? Check out the video above and in the comments let us know your thoughts on the upcoming sequel.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 will release in the Americas and Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and will see a “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition priced at $99.99. This will include the game for your platform of choice, an exclusive vinyl statue of the “Hafen” Tank, “Claude’s Travel Journal” exclusive 100-Page themed artbook and a pair of DLC adventures featuring Squad 7 characters.

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

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SDCC Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel promises surprise announcements

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The IDW comic book team will have a big Sonic the Hedgehog panel at San Diego Comic-Con which is being titled Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel. The panel is set to take place on July 19 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Here is the panel description by Comic-Con 2018’s event page:

Sonic The Hedgehog has raced back into comics, bringing old enemies and new friends along for the ride. IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, artist Evan Stanley, Sega licensing specialist Michael Cisneros, director of product development Austin Keys, and head of Sonic team Takashi Iizuka discuss comics and upcoming games, make some surprise announcements, and more!

I think its pretty interesting that Takashi Iizuka will be at the event and that they will be discussing upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog games and not only comics. Will the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog game announce a storyline to tie into the upcoming Team Sonic Racing? According to the tags there will also be ‘action figures’ and ‘toys’ at the event. Like always, if you miss the panel you can check back here and we will have a post with all the new announcements! See you on July 19th! What do you think the surprises will be?

[Via: Comic-Con event page]

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Sonic Mania Plus Review – Worthy of an Encore (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

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When I reviewed 2017’s Sonic Mania, I praised it as being the best 2D Sonic game in decades. Now, a year later, SEGA is releasing a new version of the game dubbed Sonic Mania Plus. This definitive edition answers fan demand for a physical release while adding gameplay tweaks, expanded multiplayer, a new mode and two additional playable characters. Typically a reviewer would take this moment to pose the question: “So does Sonic Mania stand up one year later and are the new additions worthy of a double dip or DLC download?”, but I’ll just let you know right now that the answers are “yes” and “yes”. Sonic Mania Plus is everything that made the original Sonic Mania great, and more.

If you’d like to read our initial review, click here. Everything said there applies here. After the break, read about the new additions and enhancements, as well as the contents of the physical release.

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Yakuza Producer says Nintendo Switch isn’t an ideal platform for the series, considering Xbox One

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It looks like Yakuza Producer Daisuke Sato is going to ruffle some feathers today, in a new interview with Gameblog.fr he was asked some really great questions. One of those questions was about the possibility of the Yakuza series coming to another console outside of the PlayStation, which he replied:

“To be realistic about what happened, Yakuza 1&2 HD for Wii U was a huge failure. But we are always looking to develop for multiple platforms as much as possible and know that brings in a greater audience to attract more people. However, as far as Switch is concerned, I’m convinced that it isn’t the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games. Maybe people don’t expect this kind of game on Switch. Maybe they’re used to different games. It may not be the ideal platform. As for Xbox One, we can consider it, knowing that Xbox One users may be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza. This could potentially be an option.”

Personally think Daisuke Sato is wrong on a few levels. While Yakuza 1&2 HD did bomb on the Wii U, it was only released in Japan. Not only that, it does feel like the Nintendo Switch has a much wider audience that are buying more games (and ports) in mass. This also doesn’t take into account how much more popular Yakuza is world wide than it was back in 2015, especially after the release of Yakuza 0.

He also talks about the possibilities of Binary Domain 2, seeing Kazuma Kiryu again and Yakuza 0-2.

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SEGAbits at E3 2018: Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Hands-On Preview

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The Wonder Boy series creator, Ryuichi Nishizawa, returns for an all new heavily inspired 2D platformer title, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Co-developed by France based Game Atelier and Germany based publisher FDG Entertainment, the gameplay is largely the same and bears a striking similarity to Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. Two demo levels were available to play allowing you to play as Monster Boy or as a transformed anthropomorphic creature. I played through the latter. You can hit the jump to read on, check out the image gallery and hit up links for the trailer.

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Udon publishing ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta 2’ art book in the West this fall

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Udon Entertainment is set to release ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta 2‘ art book in the West this upcoming November 20, 2018. Udon is mostly known for its work on the Street Fighter comic book series and even going as far as doing the HD sprites for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix re-re-re-re-(infinite amount of re)-release. But they’ve also released a ton of vide game art books for IPs such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Persona, Mega Man, Dark Souls, Border Break, Shining series, Valkyria Chronicles, and even the first ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta’ book!

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Sonic Forces’ soundtrack getting a official vinyl release next month

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It looks like Sonic Forces’ soundtrack will be getting a vinyl release next month, being titled the ‘the vinyl cutz’ version. If you are one of the many fans that kept saying that the best thing Sonic Forces had going for it was its soundtrack, congratulations! You get to own it on wax. The Sonic Forces‘ ‘The Vinyl Cutz’ will come with two vinyls and include 19 songs (you can get the full listing after the jump). The vinyl comes out July 31, 2018 and is being printed by Wayo Records and sold through Amazon Japan. Yep, its a Japanese release. According to the Wayo Records website they ship worldwide and will cost approximately $37 USD.

If you are a hater, like myself, that didn’t think much of the full length Sonic Forces soundtrack, then you can continue hating. Hey, you want to hate together?

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 releases September 25 – new editions announced

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SEGA has given an official date for the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles 4! The much anticipated sequel will release in the Americas, Europe and Australia on September 25, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Also revealed is a new Launch Edition (MSRP $59.99), which in the Americas will include controller skins (not unlike what Sonic Forces included) and in the EU and UK fans will receive a sticker of the dog Ragnarok. Of course, there will also be the beautiful “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition (MSRP $99.99) which includes a collectors box, an art book, DLC and a statue of a freakin’ tank.

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 Launch Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

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Shining Resonance Refrain demo hits PS4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch today

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If you have any of the three modern consoles you will be able to play SEGA’s upcoming Shining Resonance Refrain for free! This will let you see if the game is for you, giving you hands-on time early. How early? A month early considering that the full game hits America and Europeans on July 10, 2018!

Sadly there is no demo announced for the Steam or PC version of the game, which sucks if you are a PC gamer only. But three out of four platforms isn’t too shabby by SEGA. Are you going to be giving Shining Resonance Refrain a chance?

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Team Sonic Racing gets E3 Trailer featuring new theme by Crush 40

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“Driiiiive through foreeeeeeeever!”

The Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube account has uploaded the brand new Team Sonic Racing E3 trailer which mixes CGI and in-game graphics. The trailer focuses on the rivalry between Team Sonic and Team Dark! The trailer also features the racing course Wisps Circuit because you know Sonic fans love Wisps!

One of my negative comments on the recently revealed Team Sonic Racing gameplay was that it looked a bit too slow for my liking, this new trailer’s gameplay seems to be a bit faster. I hope (and I’m sure there are) faster modes of play within the game. Obviously this isn’t taking into account my real big complaint, that its all Sonic and doesn’t include prior SEGA IPs like the All-Stars series, but it seems Sonic fans are happy at the very least.

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