New Phantasy Star Online 2 trailer shows off new content and quests

Phantasy Star Online 2 is still getting summer updates that adds more story quests and much more items to try to collect. This will take you to the planet Lillipa which is known as the Land of the Dragons. Not only that, new outfits and a White Rappy are part of the update too.

This is in Japanese since the game won’t be coming to Europe and United States till 2013. It has been confirmed that the European and US servers will be the same, while Japan will be isolated (unlike the original Phantasy Star Online).

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed gameplay trailer reveals After Burner track and more!

Today SEGA has released a brand new trailer for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and it’s a must watch for any SEGA fan. Not only does the game looks pretty darn sweet, but it also confirms a few more tracks including an After Burner track named “Carrier Zone” where you race around air craft carriers, a track based on Starlight Carnival of Sonic Colours fame named “Galactic Parade” and a Samba de Amigo stage based on a movie studio named “Samba Studios”. But most exciting of all, for me, is that there is a track based on Skies of Arcadia, entitled “Rogues Landing”. Consider my timbers well and truly shivered! Names for previously revealed tracks have also been named: NiGHTS will race through “Dream Valley” and the special/bonus edition of the game will feature OutRun’s “OutRun Bay”.

See if you can spot anything I’ve missed, and after the break check out the first screen of the Seaside Hill track named “Ocean View.

Creative Assembly’s Rome II will be ‘Total War’s Saving Private Ryan’


Creative Assembly has been making some of the best strategy games on PC for years, but they want to do more with Rome II. They want to add Spielberg level of drama. It has been confirmed that Total War: Rome II will be the biggest and most detailed Total War game yet. So anything extra is awesome. Studio says it really took inspiration from the film Saving Private Ryan and wants to make the players care about the characters on screen.

Phantasy Star Online 2 – August Update Trailer

Phantasy Star Online 2 will recieve three updates in August the first update arrives on the first of August, the second on the 8th and the final update sometime during the end of August.

The August 1st update will include the summer lobby (which feautures a rappy riding a surf board!), new enemies and new AC content. Plus some new summer themed clothes and hair styles.

Make sure to check out the trailer the new locations and boss look superb!

First PSO2 Update Trailer & Info

The first major update to PSO2 titled ‘Wake Up Big Machines: Update Number 1’ is already close to release! Update Number 1 will include ‘The Underground Mine’ a new adventure field, clothes, new enemies, two new bosses, new quests, interrupt events and client orders and will release on July 18th.

Personally I hope all of this content is already included in the default English release of PSO2. That way the base game has more content from day one and we won’t already be months behind the Japanese.

Make sure to check out that trailer, it’s awesome!

SEGA Officially Announces US & EU Release of Phantasy Star Online 2 in 2013

I’m very happy to report that Sega has finally announced Phantasy Star Online 2 will be released in Europe and North America. I’m sure we all suspected it was only a matter of time but it’s always nice to know it’s official. 2013 though? That seems like a long, long way away. Then again I’ve waited over a decade for a true sequal to PSO I suppose I can wait another six months.

I only hope that by the time it releases in the west it has all of the updates the Japanese version will have received in the meantime and all available from the start. I really hope there isn’t a repeat of Phantasy Star Universe where the Japanese were always far ahead when it came to updates.

Hit the jump for the press release.

PSO2 launches on July 4th in Japan, also… launch trailer

If you haven’t been living in a stone cave, then you will know that PSO2 has been in beta for a while now and is way awesome. The game officially launches in Japan on July 4th. Additions to the launch release include an increase of the class level cap to 40, a new snow area, 3rd form of mag, and additional story missions.

If you didn’t watch the trailer above you should, nothing amazing for anyone who has played the game, but it’s still a super awesome trailer. Fingers crossed for US/EU announcement very soon. Would be nice to play this game in English.

Creative Assembly says SEGA’s restructuring is exciting and they are already seeing benefits


Creative Assembly has been going on a make a sequel to everything frenzy
, now they are speaking out about SEGA’s recent restructuring. So what do they think about all the big changes and people losing their jobs? Their excited…

“It’s a tight family at Sega, so any talk of restructuring and refocusing is always a difficult time in any business and we’re always kind of mindful of that. But as a studio we’re growing to beyond 200 people at the moment and we’re still hiring, and we’re still looking to expand and we’ve got a number of really intense and interesting products on the horizon, both Total War and non-Total War and the refocussing at Sega on the distinct brand IPs, whether that’s Sports Interactive or Sonic or Aliens or Total War itself is really exciting for us as a studio, because we’re already seeing evidence of that improved support, that idea of really getting behind those IPs and really making the most of them.” – Brand director Rob Bartholomew

Creative Assembly does make a point, its always good for a studio to get more support. If only SEGA West cared this much about games like Anarchy Reigns and Rhythm Theft, right?

Rome 2: Total War Officially Announced (Awesome Live Action Trailer)

Rome 2: Total War has been officially announced! Rome 2 has been the most anticipated game in the Total War series since the original Rome released in 2004. The budget for Rome 2 is said to be 40% larger then that of Shogun 2.

I began playing the Total War series with the original Shogun: Total War but it was Rome that really grabbed me and made me a fan of this series. Needless to say Rome 2 cannot come soon enough.

Rome 2 will release for PC in 2013. P.S check out that fantastic live action trailer!

Viking: Battle for Asgard Added to Steam Registry

Sega and Creative Assembly’s 2008 game Viking: Battle for Asgard has turned up on the Steam registry and we assume will soon be available for purchase from the Steam store. This marks Viking: Battle for Asgards début on the PC having released exclusively for Xbox360 and PS3 in 2008.

If this is the beginning for Sega’s new digital strategy then I’m all for it. I absolutely loved Viking, Whilst flawed in some areas the game was full of potential and the epic battles were a thing of beauty. If this means we might get a sequel to Viking then I’ll happily double dip.

You can visit the Viking: Battle for Asgard EULA page HERE.

[On another note, I’m back! I’ve been in America for the past three months with limited internet access, hello again Sega fans!]

 

 

Valkyria Chronicles Duel announced as a web browser game

I love the Valkyria Chronicles franchise. I loved the first one on the Playstation 3, then when the sequel was announced for PSP. But at least the second one came West, even if it was a downgrade from the Playstation 3 experience. Then the 3rd one didn’t make it West, my anger built. Now the newest entry, Valkyria Chronicles Duel isn’t even a handheld/console game, but a web browser game? Fudge muffins!

So how does this game play? For starters you will have to build up your battalion by collecting cards. There are over 200 character cards in the game. In the game you have to develop your base camp, take enemy territories and acquire new troops. The game suggest that you will take part in “3D character battles” that features the same style as the Valkyria Chronicles games.

Of course the game will be free to play and offer item transactions to make money. You can check out the official site here. They are taking applications for people to test the game from now to June 25th. Again, you should brush up on your Japanese.

Microsoft unleashes Sonic Adventure 2’s product page before announcement


So Microsoft posted the product page for Sonic Adventure 2 earlier this morning, pretty much confirming that the game is almost going to be announced. From what it looks like, it seems that SEGA might have delayed the game a bit? Don’t be surprised if SEGA announces it soon.

Stuff that is now obviously confirmed include widescreen support, chaos being playable and 2 player offline. Click the jump to see all the leaked assets including in-game screenshots.

 

Gearbox wants to do an Aliens: Colonial Marines sequel


Even though we are still playing the wait game on Aliens: Colonial Marines, that isn’t stopping the fine folks over at Gearbox Software to talk about a potential sequel.

“We’re imagining things – there’s a distinct possibility. We are making the game in such a way that could support certain possibilities, but nothing is certain so we have to leave lots of ground. I think when people finish playing the game, they’ll definitely want more. We’re not just tagging off the end of the game and saying, ‘That’s the end of the Aliens chronology for this sort of thing’. We want to continue it…” – senior producer Brian Burleson

I’m sure SEGA will play the wait game and see how the first game turns out first. Since you know, its been in development forever.