Opinion

Opinion: SEGA fans will look back on September 2019 very fondly

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Sometimes you just have to take a moment to appreciate those special moments in fandom. For me, as a longtime SEGA fan, they come infrequently but when they hit they REALLY hit. Standout moments for me include getting my SEGA Genesis bundled with Sonic the Hedgehog during Christmas 1991, buying my Dreamcast with my own money in November 1999, visiting SEGA of America’s (now old) offices in July 2013, interviewing Tom Kalinske and Al Nilsen in 2014 and attending Sonic’s 25th anniversary party in San Diego where I met many members of the fan community for the first time in person. I now can easily say that September 2019 is joining those special SEGA moments.

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Opinion: What the Nintendo Switch means for SEGA

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Nintendo unveiled their latest home console, the Nintendo Switch. Codenamed the Nintendo NX, the Switch was long rumored to be both a home console and a handheld system, and following the debut video the end product appears to be right on with leaks and predictions. Obviously SEGAbits is not a Nintendo site, so we don’t news the debut of new hardware from other companies. But since SEGA is a third-party software developer and they have been confirmed to be supporting the Switch I thought an op-ed was in order. Based on SEGA’s past with Nintendo hardware, what can we expect from the company? How could SEGA’s recent internal changes affect how they approach the Switch?

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Opinion: Why Puyo Puyo Chronicles is getting attention outside of Japan

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This article is from the opinion of the author only. None of the statements here are necessarily associated with SEGABits or SEGA as a whole.

Puyo Puyo Chronicles. This was a game that was expected to come out for the majority of the year, since it’s the 25th Anniversary of the franchise. Normally when it comes to anniversaries SEGA focuses their cards on Sonic, but people outside of Japan don’t know Puyo Puyo also gets attention with a sudden boom of merchandising and a new game. This also happened with Puyo Puyo’s 15th and 20th anniversary, where they got rather expansive games in the form of Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary and Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, respectively. The fact the franchise has endured for 25 years defying the “hiatus” problem many of SEGA’s franchises suffer from for one reason or another, should be a testament to it’s strength as an IP.

However, something is notably different this time around in contrast to the past.

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SEGA News Bits: New Sonic the Hedgehog game confirmed for 2017

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SEGA has officially confirmed, at Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary event in Japan, that Sonic the Hedgehog will be seeing a brand new game from Sonic Team in 2017. In this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George discuss what this upcoming game might be based on SEGA’s recent Sonic the Hedgehog marketing efforts and past Sonic game reveals. We also talk about what we could expect for the rest of the year and what we might be seeing at Sonic’s 25th anniversary party in San Diego on July 22nd. So go ahead and click play to hear us get all hot and bothered over a speedy blue hedgehog.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming game? Is 2017 too far out? Let us know the comments below and like always thanks for watching! If you like our SEGA News Bits videos, make sure to subscribe to us on our YouTube channel.

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA to Shut Down Sonic Runners

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Sonic Runners has traversed a rocky road, after personally disappointing us in 2015 and ending up a financial failure in SEGA’s eyes. Now, SEGA Networks has confirmed that the game will be shutting down in late July. In this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George break down what they think caused Sonic Runners to be killed, if we can expect to ever play the game after its servers shut down and what lessons SEGA could learn from the game’s failures. It’s not all negative, as we also talk about what we liked about the game and give it a fitting eulogy.

If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.

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Opinion: So about Project Dream and their Dreamcast 2 plans – calm down, it’s not official or sane

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Update: So after a bit of internet sleuthing and comments from those who have dealt with SEGA home console conspiracy artists in the past, all of this very well may be the work of the infamous Zach Morris. Mr. Morris, or whatever his name is, has been up to this sort of nonsense since 2003.

Because people often just read headlines and run to their local GameStop to have a in-depth chat with the guy at the desk to talk about how SEGA is totally making a new console and it is going to be dubbed the Dreamcast 2, I thought I’d present a short opinion piece on the Project Dream team and their plans to get SEGA to develop a Dreamcast 2. To be quite honest, after having read the Project Dream team’s plans and having heard about the project with one of their members for the past month I was ready to just ignore the whole thing. But given a few news sites are enthusiastically running the story and no doubt more will pick it up and run with it, I thought it best that SEGAbits said something about it. I should make note that this is not a news piece, it is an opinion piece.

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Opinion: Hucast and the Business of Dreamcast

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When speaking of the SEGA Dreamcast “nostalgia” is a word that is often mentioned, and it wouldn’t be an incorrect description of many gamers’ feelings towards the system. Countless articles and blog posts have been written about the prominence of the Dreamcast and how it died too soon. From that love of the little white box, an incredible scene of independent developers and publishers has continued the dream over the past decade with a steady stream of new games and multiplatform releases.

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The Future of Panzer Dragoon

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It’s hard to believe Panzer Dragoon Orta is more than 12 years old. Looking back, Orta has aged incredibly well. Its visuals are still gorgeous and its gameplay still feels just as smooth and polished as it did in 2003. In an age where all sorts of obscure games are seeing digital re-releases and all sorts of franchises and genres are finding new life in the realm of digital, I think it’s a missed opportunity that Panzer Dragoon hasn’t received any sort of new release while digital gaming has been booming.

So today I thought I’d write up an article exploring the many ways Panzer Dragoon could (and should) fit into SEGA’s renewed focus on digital and mobile gaming.

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SEGA Movie Dream Casts: From the House to the Streets

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How often have you played a SEGA game and asked yourself, “why isn’t this a movie?” Growing up with SEGA, I would ask that question constantly. To be completely honest, I’ve never stopped asking that question. Playing games like After Burner, Streets of Rage and Sonic The Hedgehog, I always felt they would make awesome movies. Well, that childhood dream may very well be coming true. Late last year, Variety reported that SEGA had hired former Break Media executive Evan Cholfin, collaborating with Stories International, to aid them in adapting some of their classic franchises into other forms of entertainment.

That’s right, SEGA fans! We’re talking about movies and television. The franchises mentioned include Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Shinobi and Crazy Taxi. You know, just to name a few. This is something I’ve been fantasizing about since I was 10-years old. It’s surreal to think that it may finally come to pass.

Here’s a few SEGA properties I’d like to see on the big screen, and who I would like to see in the roles. Seeing as how I’m a director whore, I’ll even include my choice of filmmaker.

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