SEGA bringing Fist of the North Star slot machine game to Playstation 3

I was not aware that SEGA had the license to Fist of the North Star, but it seems they do and for their first (Actually they released some PS2 games and also a 2D fighter last generation) title with the license they want to do a port of Sammy’s First of the North Star slot machine.  SEGA is getting ready to release “Fist of the North Star Pachislot” in Japan May 31st.

The game will feature a production mode and let you see in-game art and watch Kenshiro punch the screen if you are into that. I’m a Fist of the North Star fan and this seems like a rip off compared to the game that Koei released.

SEGA says it wouldn’t bring Aliens: Colonial Marines to Wii U if it was inferior graphically to current systems


Craig Harris. If you hear the name you probably recall him from his work at IGN, well he is now working over at SEGA on Aliens: Colonial Marines. He just happened to be on the podcast The Mush Room Podcast (aka not the best podcast ever aka The Swingin’ Report Show) and had a lot to say about the Wii U. One thing he did confirm is that the game wouldn’t be coming out on Wii U if the Wii U was inferior to current gen systems.

“Nintendo… has to release hardware that’s of the expectations of the gamer today … I don’t think we would be bringing the game to a system that would be inferior to current gen. (HD) systems.” – Craig Harris

I guess there is quite a bit of rumors about the power of the Wii U. I’m on the side of those that think it will most likely be better hardware than current generation systems. The issue though, its not going to compete against the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. It’s going to compete against the “Xbox 720” and the “Playstation 4”. I don’t think it will have the power to match those, but we will see.

The next Hatsune Miku game gets details leaked early, coming to Vita and PS3

SEGA has now given details on their tease for the next Hatsune Miku game. Sinobi, a Japanese blogger who happens to have early access to Weekly Famitsu has posted up details for the game.

As of now the game doesn’t have a real name and is using the placeholder title “Next Hatsune Miku Project Diva“. The game will keep the basic gameplay from the previous Miku games while introducing new elements like touch controls (referred to as “scratch”) and new bonuses will be given to users that connect combos in specific time limits. The game has confirmed it will have four difficulty settings.

Xplay features new preview for Aliens: Colonial Marines

Xplay has today previewed the upcoming (and expensive-looking) Aliens: Colonial Marines, a game that has gotten no shortage of attention, not only for its status as a sequel to the legendary Alien film franchise, but also for its lengthy development time: something quickly becoming a legend all its own.

This preview highlights some of the game’s environments, details the plot, and shows off plenty of gameplay. It’ll be interesting to see whether this becomes the hit that SEGA desperately seems to need.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is set to release (hopefully) later this year.

Aliens: Colonial Marines on Wii U “has much more to offer”

Seems that Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford is going to pimp the Wii U version of their long awaited shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines. Pitchford told Vox Games that the Alien shooter will take advantage of the system’s ‘innovative’ tablet controller.

“The Wii U version has so much more to offer. No other platform can do what the Wii U can do. If you love [Xbox] 360 games, you are not used to being in a world where you have this new interface. But once you get used to that, you imagine the possibilities. There are some opportunities that are just not possible on any platform that does not have that device. I don’t want to give spoilers away on some of the things we are thinking of or thing we have actually implemented already, but there are a lot of cool opportunities with that device that are going to make a very unique and compelling experience on that platform,”  – Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Studios

What do I think about this? I think it is a bit of nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, the Wii U might be a good system, but selling me the same game from the Playstation 3/Xbox 360/PC on a Nintendo console with a new ‘second screen’ on my hands isn’t innovative. How is this better for me? Not only that, the game is coming this autumn to PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The Wii U version is set to come out sometime ‘by the end of the year.

Contest: How to win one of three Yakuza: Dead Souls swag packs


Hey guys, we have three Yakuza: Dead Souls swag packs. Not only are there going to be three winners, we also have three items per winner in a pack. If you win you will get a fake Kazuma tattoo sleeve, Goro Majima replica eye patch and a deck of Yakuza: Dead Souls branded playing cards.

There are three ways to enter:

  1. Comment on this forum post, a winner will be chosen at random.
  2. Tweet the following message to be automatically entered to win a pack on twitter:
    “Enter to win 1 of 3 awesome Yakuza: Dead Souls swag packs. Three ways to win, click link for details: http://bit.ly/xRdLin “
  3. Like us on our Facebook and comment on this wall post to be entered.

Since last time we had issues knowing when the contest was going to end I’ll make it clear now. Winners will have their usernames posted on the blog, if you don’t like this, don’t enter. If you win and don’t get back to me within 48 hours, someone else is going to get your prize. This contest is open world wide. THE CONTEST ENDS THIS WEDNESDAY.

Free Japanese Binary Domain DLC on Xbox 360 is region free


So if you didn’t know, Japanese consumers have been treated to free DLC for Binary Domain. We English speakers haven’t received such luxury. But you know what? I really want this DLC, since it lets you play as Yakuza characters in mulitplayer. Sadly, I own the Playstation 3 version and I tried downloading the DLC from the Japanese PSN store.  Guess what? Nothing.

 
Though the Xbox 360 version will work with the Japanese DLC. Isn’t it ironic that it doesn’t work on the Playstation 3 after they boasted so much about it being region free?  Thanks to Sanus, who wrote about the Xbox 360 DLC being region free. The DLC adds Goro Majima as the ‘Crusher’ class with a shotgun, Shun Akiyama as the ‘Gunner’ with a submachine gun, and Ryuji Goda is the ‘Defender’ with a heavy machinegun. Kazuma Kiryu sadly isn’t free DLC, it was a pre-order bonus in Japan. More screenshots of the DLC can be found here.

Review: Binary Domain

Like the rest of the world, when SEGA announced Binary Domain, the new IP by Toshihiro Nagoshi, I was wondering to myself if a Japanese studio could make a great third-person shooter. At least one that could stand up against the offerings of western developers. Now that Binary Domain has released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, did Nagoshi’s team deliver in the end, or should they have stuck with the Yakuza series?

House of the Dead 4: Special’s remix level to make it to PSN port


SEGA has confirmed to the guys from Siliconera that they will be incorporating stuff from House of the Dead 4: Special into their PSN port of House of the Dead 4. If you ever played the Special version of House of the Dead 4, you’ll know that the biggest feature of the re-release is sitting on a chair that moves. It’s awesome. But obviously there will be no chair re-released for the port. So what could it be?

Most likely a remixed level that was featured, that includes G. You know you love G and want to suffer like him. Siliconera’s preview was positive and only thing they complained about was the low resolution graphics used for icons like reload and stuff.

SEGA has no plans on releasing another Sonic 4 episode title

According to DigitalSpy, SEGA has told them that they are not planning to release any more episodes to the Sonic 4 franchise. Seems that it might end with Sonic 4: Episode 2. Who said a bold statement like that? Who else besides the one and only Takashi Iizuka.

“We are looking forward to hearing the feedback from the users for Episode 2, but we are currently not planning to release another episode. We just want to see how the users accept this episode.” –  Takashi Iizuka, Producer.

Is it good that SEGA is ending the Sonic 4 episodes or do you want a 3rd episode added with Knuckles?

Swingin’ Report Show #29: Crossover Mayhem

 

A new week and a new episode of the Swingin’ Report Show. This week George, Sharky and Barry the Nomad talk about Akria Yuki in Dead or Alive 5, salvia and much more. So sit back, enjoy the ride. We have also fixed our RSS feed, you can follow the new one below. We are also submitting the new RSS to iTunes, you shouldn’t have to do anything if you are already subscribed. Hit the jump for the show notes.

[Download] [Archive] [RSS] [iTunes]

Yakuza: Dead Souls pre-order trailer is all about the American spirit

Who said that the Japanese can’t appreciate bad taste in fashion and being a patriot? Can’t love this country built on freedom? *waves American flag*

In all seriousness, above is the pre-order trailer for Yakuza: Dead Souls. Which happens to be out March 13th, did you know that? I didn’t. Been too busy playing Binary Domain to notice. Pre-order DLC is exclusive to GameStop stores.

Review: House of the Dead III (PSN)


House of the Dead III was originally released for the arcades back in 2002. A year later it got a port on Xbox, then one for Wii as part of a HOTD two-pack in 2008. Now we have the latest port of the game on PSN. How does this port stack up compared to the last two? Is it worth your hard earned cash? Hit the jump and find out!