Sega Rally 2006 fan translation patch now available

Sega Rally 2006, the first Sega Rally game made exclusively for a console, has just gotten an all new fan translation released. Previously only released in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, this PS2 classic had all of its text in those countries’ only, until now, that is. For the first time ever, you can play the game almost entirely in English now.

While graphics featuring text could not be translated, as there is no way to easily change the text in graphics at this time, much of the important text in the game has been completely translated into English, making menus much less of a chore to navigate for the Japanese impaired. The newly translated text consists of:

  • Career Mode intro and profile creation.
  • Career Mode top menus (Calendar, trophies, etc.).
  • Calendar race names, vehicle restrictions, and rewards.
  • Garage and Shop menus, including part and tire names, descriptions, and tuning menu.
  • Pre-race splash screens.
  • Sponsorship contract tutorials and objectives.

For a link to where you can download this patch, have a look past the break.

SEGA Talk Podcast #143: Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Arise, acolytes of Shadow! For it is the year of our edgy hedgehog overlord! To commence our pilgrimage of praise, let us dissect this magnum opus and potential Pulitzer Prize nominee in video game design. Let us dive deep into the ultimate lifeform known as Shadow the Hedgehog!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

SEGA Talk #137: Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (2005)

Calling all Imperial Combat Revue fans! This week on the SEGA Talk podcast, we’re setting a course for 1920s New York City in the unforgettable Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. We’ll dive deep into the tactical RPG combat and charming visual novel romance that make this game a unique gem. Join us as we discuss piloting giant steam-powered mechs, building relationships with the captivating heroines of the Flower Division, and facing off against a dastardly villain who threatens the world!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

11 (Yes, Eleven) prototype builds and design documents for cancelled Vectorman PS2 sequel found and preserved

Vectorman is a name well regarded by fans of the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive. Vectorman (1995) and its sequel Vectorman 2 (1996) were hallmarks of that console’s twilight years, with some truly impressive pseudo-3D graphics and fluid animation, on top of also being a legitimately fun time. It’s earned it’s honor of being one of Sega’s common picks for their many Genesis game compilations in recent times. It’s just too bad that Vectorman was never able to move beyond the Genesis, though this wasn’t for lack of trying. The original developer of the two Genesis games, BlueSky Software, had envisioned a second sequel on the Saturn that never came to pass, and other developers have wanted to bring Vectorman to the Dreamcast and beyond.

The ill-faded sequel that came closest to fruition was the PS2 game being worked on by Pseudo Interactive, the creators of Full Auto (2006) and Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Also 2006 on PS3 and 2007 on PSP), both of which were actually published by Sega. Before that, Sega announced a new Vectorman title for the PlayStation 2, simply known as Vectorman, in April 2003, with intent to release the following year. The news of the game’s cancellation came before 2003 even ended, in November, despite a positive showing at E3 earlier that same year. This was during the time when then-Sega of America CEO Peter Moore was preparing his departure from the company and shortly before the company would merge with Sammy, so internally, things were tumultuous at Sega and Vectorman did not survive this transition. What did thankfully survive was a bunch of prototype and press builds, art, and documentation on the game, which was all just found and preserved by Comby Laurent on his preservation website Sega Dreamcast Info Games Preservation.

Check in past the break for more info, and a link to check out these finds in finer detail.

Let’s Remember Sonic Unleashed 11 Years After Release – Twitter Edition

SEGA’s Sonic Unleashed was a very important game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it was the birth of a brand new ‘boost Sonic’ formula that would extend to Sonic Colors, Generations and even the latest Forces video game. At the same time it was also the start of focusing on Sonic and abandoning the friends that became mainstay since the release of Sonic Adventure.

To celebrate, I asked on Twitter what our audience thought about Sonic Unleashed, all these 11 years later. First we had a 3 hour long poll that got 459 votes and hot takes from fans:

PtoPOnline Reveals Climax’s Prototype Footage of Unreleased Crazy Taxi Game

If you haven’t been following the YouTube channel PtoPOnline run by Andrew Borman, you’re missing out on a channel that shows games that were cancelled, in-development or purely conceptual. As is the case for a video recently uploaded showcasing Climax’s development of a Crazy Taxi game, Crazy Taxi Twenty Four – Seven. The purpose of the video isn’t fully known nor how far the deal between Climax and SEGA proceeded, however the video was likely a demonstration to be shown to SEGA that outlines the general workflow of the game’s development had they decided to proceed with the project. Climax, now known as Climax Studios who are into VR development these days, are more famous for titles such as Sudeki on the original Xbox as well as the developer behind Silent Hill titles such as Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Leaked Early By PSN Store Page

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SEGA was set to have a big stadium announcement this Saturday, that was going to be live streamed world wide to announce several new games by the Yakuza studio. It seems that one of their surprises has been leaked early via the Taiwanese PSN store. The listing says the game will release on December 7th, 2017 in Japan.

Going through the rough English translation of the PSN store page description, it seems that they might have went back and recorded all the voice acting, much like the the first Yakuza Kiwami. But they are also teasing this one being on the new ‘Human Dragon Engine’ which means it could be using the new engine that powered the gorgeousYakuza 6! You already know I’m excited for Yakuza Kiwami 2, but are you?

[Via: Wario64]

Sonic Unleashed preview build released

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Sonic Unleashed is seen as one of the biggest 3D entries in the history of Sonic. Whether you like the werehog or not, it brought a massive overhaul to the game design philosophy of Sonic working in the third dimension. The beautiful environments based on real-life locations, fast gameplay and a unique lighting engine all housed under the “Hedgehog Engine” helped achieve a major milestone for fast-paced 3D platformers. Fast forward towards the end of the downer year that is 2016, it has brought us one thing that can shed some meaningful insight on the development of Sonic Unleashed; the release of an Xbox 360 preview build.

SEGA Channel Retro: Sonic Riders Retrospective with S0LV0

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Ten years ago the 15th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog left us with a pretty sour taste. But did you know that there was one game that came out to celebrate the heritage with a racing game boasting an extreme attitude, extreme air and some extreme gear. Tune in 7PM Centra/1AM GMT for the livestream of Sonic Riders as the Retro crew and Unleashed Project’s own S0LV0 tour through the game in extreme style!

SEGA News Bits: Sonic the Hedgehog turns 25 years old

Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary officially kicked off on June 23rd, which was of course the release date of the eponymous game that started it all. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry look back on 25 years of Sonic by spin dashing through all the main series Sonic Team developed console games. There are quite a few to get through, so consider this more of a SEGA News Smörgåsbord. Why are you still reading this? Click play and enjoy!

What are your favorite Sonic games? 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.

Classic SEGA Ads: “Open New Sense” with Rez on the Playstation 2

It’s unfortunate that a game like United Game Artists’ Rez, the third and final title from the developer, ended up releasing at the time it did. One one hand it could be said that it was one of the Dreamcast’s final great games from an in-house developer, but on the other hand due to the time in which it was released over in Japan, US and European releases were at the time up in the air. While the United States missed out on Shenmue II, Headhunter, and Rez, those in Europe were lucky enough to end up with all three titles for their blue swirl emblazoned console. When it comes to digging up english language commercials for Rez, prepare to be disappointed. Due to SEGA’s shifting interests, english Dreamcast ads for the game are non-existent. In fact, when digging for UGA game ads, I didn’t even come across a Japanese Dreamcast ad for the game.

Thankfully, not all is lost! Rez saw worldwide release on Sony’s Playstation 2, and while english ads still seemingly never materialized, we did get a collection of corny Japanese ads for the game. The first, seen above, features a man on a toilet who gets into a wall pounding contest with a man who really has to go. They end up pounding the wall in rhythm, and in turn they “Open New Sense” before the man outside punches straight through the wall.

Retro Review: Space Channel 5 (Sega Dreamcast/PS2)

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The Dreamcast era was a unique time for SEGA when it came to marketing their characters. While the Saturn’s launch made the error of shifting the spotlight away from Sonic the Hedgehog, the Dreamcast launch proved that there was more than enough room for established characters as well as new faces. Joining Sonic was a lineup of first party and third party faces, from Midway’s Afro Thunder of Ready 2 Rumble and Namco’s Soulcalibur fighters to SEGA’s own creations.

Space Channel 5’s Ulala was without a doubt the most heavily marketed of these new characters, with her face seen just about everywhere. Ulala appeared in a promotional stage show at Universal City Walk, she dominated SEGA’s booth at 2000’s E3, she was seen in print and on TV and even appeared as product placement in the 2001 movie Josie and the Pussycats. There was even talk of Ulala hosting her own TV show! Suffice to say, there came a point in Space Channel 5‘s promotion where Ulala nearly overshadowed her own game. There is no doubt that Ulala is a fantastic character (she is a favorite of the SEGAbits staff, so much so that we named our podcast after her report show), but has the original game stood the test of time? Let’s find out as we look back at the United Game Artists’ classic Space Channel 5!

Developer Retrospective: Experience synesthesia with SEGA’s United Game Artists

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This month we are proud to celebrate the unique and musical driven games of United Game Artists (ユナイテッド・ゲーム・アーティスツ). The team was made up of members of SEGA AM6 and headed by Sega AM3’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Unfortunately, the team was short lived and only released three titles under the ‘United Game Artists’ banner. Regardless, those three games have made such an impact on us gamers that we are still talking about them over a decade later.

Developer Retrospective: A look back at the games of SEGA’s WOW Entertainment

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When SEGA WOW Month began, we took a look back at the games of SEGA’s Overworks. While Overworks existed for only a short span of time before merging with WOW Entertainment, this month has made it very clear that Skies of Arcadia made a major impact on SEGA fans. But what of WOW Entertainment? Unlike Overworks, WOW managed to release a large number of games spanning different genres on different pieces of hardware. From sequels to classic franchises like The House of the Dead and Columns, to new franchises like SEGA GT and arcade oddities like The Typing of the Dead, a collaboration with Namco, and a dog walking simulator. While WOW Entertainment can’t be pinned down to one iconic title, they more than made up for this with an amazing library of games!

Join us now for part two of our SEGA WOW retrospective, in which we take a look at the many games of WOW Entertainment.