SEGA and Sonic Team were at SXSW and presented a ton of new upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog stuff. Perhaps the most exciting is a physical release of Sonic Mania titled Sonic Mania Plus. While the staff detailed the new features, they did keep some new modes unexplained. Thankfully, a new press release details what we can expect from the release.
It really does seem that the Yakuza franchise has finally gotten the attention its deserve since the release of Yakuza 0. Now with Yakuza 6 around the corner, SEGA has announced that Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be heading to the West this upcoming August! Considering it is one of my favorite entries to the franchise, I decided to record a little video for you guys talking about the release, what to expect and other nonsense. Are you guys picking up Yakuza Kiwami 2 when it releases? If not, you should!
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It’s happening! Sonic Mania is finally receiving a physical release as Sonic Mania Plus. And if that wasn’t enough, the game will have new content and will see the return of two long lost characters: Mighty and Ray! What more, we have a series of animated shorts on the way titled Sonic Mania Adventures!
If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.
The Yakuza franchise has been one of SEGA’s longest running franchise since they went 3rd party and Yakuza 6 celebrates a new beginning and an end to the franchise. For one this title sports a brand new, high budget engine created from the ground up for the PlayStation 4 and on the other hand this game is meant to be the last game starring the franchise’s protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.
But did SEGA deliver in a true next-generation experience with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life? Find out with our review.
It looks like we finally have a release date for the western release of the hotly anticipated, and highly praised, Valkyria Chronicles 4! According to new Amazon listings, the game will be due out October 16, 2018. A fitting time of year given the game itself takes place in a snowy setting. Pre-orders are not live yet, but when they are you can pre-order the game at the following links. No word yet on the expected launch editions, but I’m pretty sure all pre-order listings will default to a steelbook or art book or sticker sheet or magic decoder ring launch edition.
Valkyria Chronicles 4
PlayStation 4 – Xbox One – Nintendo Switch
SEGA announced today that a new compilation of SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive games will be releasing physically to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Containing over 50 games, theres a lot to play and some glaring omissions. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry run through the games and give their verdicts and speculate what’s next.
If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.
SEGA has officially unveiled the trailer for SEGA Genesis Classics (SEGA Mega Drive Classics in Europe) and have revealed some of the in-game features. The collection will include over 50 classic games along with enhanced features like Rewind, Mirror Mode and visual filters. The official site, megadriveclassics.com, has yet to go live but it can be assumed that is where the full list of games will be included. The collection is releasing physically to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on May 29th, and as an added incentive will include a double sided poster. Thankfully, SEGA seems to realize the Genesis can stand on its own and does not need Sonic’s name tacked on to the title, like they did with Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection in 2009.
After the break, see the full list of included games.
The PlayStation 4 version of Valkyria Chronicles 4 is hitting Japan March 21, meaning that early Japanese reviews are being release. One of the first ones we got to see is Weekly Famitsu Magazine’s review which scored the game 9/9/9/8 [35/40]. If you don’t know how Weekly Famitsu does scores, they get 4 people to review the game and add up the points. Valkyria Chronicles 4 was the 2nd highest reviewed game this week, being beaten out by Ni no Kuni II. Check out the full scores after the jump:
SEGA is set to release SEGA Genesis Classics (SEGA Mega Drive Classics for non-Americans) for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. They are planning on launching the physical release on May 29 which will include over 50 SEGA Genesis classic titles.
This release seems to be caught early by the people over at SEGA Nerds and according to them SEGA has asked them not to post the news but since this has already been posted on bigger sites like Gematsu and Game Informer, I thought it’d be fine to share. Games included (based on the trailer and screenshots):
According to users on ResetEra, if you go back online with the Yakuza 6 full game ‘demo’, which SEGA released the other day, they will revoke the license transforming it back into a demo. Of course if you want to bypass this and play the full game all you need to do is not connect to the internet.
I’m personally glad to see that the PlayStation 4 has the ability to do something like this, considering that I want the franchise to do well in the West. It would really hurt sales if thousands upon thousands of would be costumers unlocked the full game for free. Even if you got the full game and are planning on playing it early by not being connected online, I urge you to support the series by at least getting the game physically when it comes out in April!
SEGA and Shenmue fans have been fighting to get a third installment and closure to the series since back in the early 2000s. Lots of fans where delighted when it was announced that Yu Suzuki, the original creator for the Shenmue series would be asking fans to kickstart Shenmue III. The internet was on fire, with lots of people assuming this would be the last chance to ‘finish the fight’ against famed villain Lan Di.
In a interview with GamersFlag, Yu Suzuki was asked if the ending for Shenmue III would be open (much like the last two games) and suggest there would be a Shenmue IV. This is what Yu Suzuki had to say:
The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has reviewed SEGA’s Hokuto ga Gotoku, the Yakuza Studio’s take on a Fist of the North Star game. The following are the review scores in the latest issue:
As for the legitimacy of the scores, a lot of people online agree that Famitsu is a industry magazine that always gives good scores to high bidders. Is it true? Who knows, but I had some hands-on with the Hokuto ga Gotoku demo and quite enjoyed it myself. Now we just wait to see if the game heads west…
[Source: Gematsu]
[Update: Have confirmed that there was no exploit, SEGA just uploaded the full game onto PSN instead of a demo. Way to go!]
Oops, if you read our story about the Yakuza 6 demo coming to PSN today and happen to be wondering why it isn’t showing up on the in-game store, now we know. According to Destructoid, the game unlocked the full version (for free) when downloaded. According to Destructoid (and SEGA) people used an exploit and according to other users on twitter it was never locked down (seems doubtful). If you didn’t know the demo weighed in at more than 36GB, of course this mean’t the demo was the full version of the game locked down as a ‘trial’. Once you purchased the full game come April, it would unlock the full game without re-downloading the data. SEGA posted on their Facebook about pulling the demo but didn’t go into detail.
This also puts into question why SEGA would delay Yakuza 6: The Song of Life from March to April, if the game is translated and playable already. Some people think that maybe SEGA had manufacturing issues with the physical copies of the game that lead them to delay it so everyone gets the game day one. Maybe they thought it would sell better if it was delayed, though this doesn’t make sense considering Sony’s God of War is also launching in April. But it seems that some people have unlocked the full game already, thanks to this exploit and are enjoying it for free. What are your thoughts? Did SEGA screw this up?
SEGA has released their demo for Yakuza Studio’s Hokuto ga Gotoku (Fist of the North Star). The demo had two different modes to try out, one that taught you the basics, while the other mode sends you on a quest to fix your newly acquired vehicle. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our impressions of the demo, how the driving works, how the combat is different from past Yakuza titles and what we noticed in our initial play through of the demo. Check out our video and have you tried out the demo? Let us know in the comments below.
If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.
The Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo is hitting PSN on February 27, 2018 and since some regions are ahead of us due to timezones, they can already try out the demo. For example, the English demo has now hit the Australian PlayStation Store revealing that the demo will be 36.53 GB in size! Yeah, its a big one.
So what is in this demo? The Yakuza 6: The Song of Life demo is a prologue. This lets you go through the intro segment where they teach you the basics in controls, what Kazuma Kiryu is doing now and why he is taking care of Haruka’s son, Haruto. Also your save data from this demo will carry over to the full game when it comes out April 17, 2018. This demo is basically the same one they released for the Japanese release.
So what do you think? Too big? Are you picking the demo up to give Yakuza 6: The Song of Life a early look?
[Source: Siliconera]