SEGA News Bits: Jet Set Radio Evolution, A Rejected SEGA Pitch Discussion

The other day Dinosaur Games put out their Jet Set Radio Evolution Visual Proof of Concepts, showcasing what the studio wanted to do with SEGA’s IP. According to the studio, SEGA rejected the pitch without a explanation and they’ve now posted up their pitch online for fans to see. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we go over all the news details regarding Jet Set Radio Evolution, talk about the team behind the pitch and give you our nitpicks on the pitch trailer.  Let us know what you think of the Jet Set Radio Evolution pitch in the comments below.

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Rumor: Atlus working on bringing back popular PlayStation 3 IP

Catherine-HeaderThere where many reasons why SEGA picked up Atlus, personally think one of the reasons was how well they did during the last console generation, especially when you consider the size of the publisher. Its not surprising that Atlus is being rumored as to bringing back a popular title from the PlayStation 3 era.

According to the report, this would be a sequel and/or continuation of the franchise in some sort of way. According to the source, there is also a chance that this could be a port of that PlayStation 3 game with extra content (see Dragon Crown Pro). The source also mentions that this title isn’t a numbered title and didn’t receive any DLC when it came out. Another hint in this report was that the title was teased a few months back.

So, what would the most educated guess be? Catherine! Catherine was a important title for Atlus in the PlayStation 3 era, I remember it was one of their first titles that I actually saw being sold in a store like Walmart and was a massive hit even tho the game was very niche in gameplay. According to Siliconera, a new Catherine was hinted at months ago, the title was popular and it didn’t have DLC. I think its safe to say its Catherine related. But a new game or a port with extra content? What do you want?

SEGA Japan delays Hokuto ga Gotoku, issues apology

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SEGA Japan has just announced that their upcoming Fist of the North Star based game, being titled Hokuto ga Gotoku, has been delayed. The game was suppose to come out on February 22, 2018 and now has been moved to March 8, 2018. Not a huge change. SEGA also issued this apology letter to fans and thank them for their understanding.

As to why Hokuto ga Gotoku was delayed, the apology letter doesn’t say anything specific. I have a few different theories, one being that the game might need extra time for development seeing as the studio just released Yakuza Kiwami 2 on December 5th. The other theory is that they might have moved it to March because A Certain Magical Virtual-On comes out on February 15, 2018, a week before Hokuto ga Gotoku was set to release. As for us in the West, we still don’t know if SEGA America plans on localizing it. I guess we will find out sometime in 2018.

[Source: SEGA Japan]

A Certain Magical Virtual-On Demo Out Now on Japanese PSN

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If you have been excited to try the upcoming A Certain Magical Virtual-On for the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation Vita, the demo is now available. As for sizes of the demos, the PlayStation 4 comes in at 2.37 gigabytes and the PlayStation Vita version hits a much smaller 431.55 megabytes. The demo will feature all 13 playable Virtuaroids from the full game, include a tutorial and CPU battle mode. No online, of course.

SEGA is set to release A Certain Magical Virtual-On in Japan on February 15, 2018. SEGA West hasn’t announced any plans on localizing it. The last Virtual-On title to come West was Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram port on the Xbox 360 back in 2009, so its been awhile. I say make a Japanese PSN account, try the demo and if you like it, bother SEGA to release the game West.

Shenmue 3 introduces new character and new production team

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The team behind Shenmue III has recently revealed a brand new character via their latest Kickstarter update.As far as how this new character fits in the world of Shenmue and what her relationship with the temple behind her is, you’ll have to wait until you play the full game to find out. Unless, you know, they tell us via a Kickstarter update.

Most of the Shenmue III Kickstarter update was focused around a character production studio out of India called ‘Lakshya Digital’. According tot he update, Shenmue III will feature a ton of ‘new, compelling’ characters ‘from all walks of life’. According to the studio they will be outsourcing the creation of these NPC characters to the Indian studio. Below we have some photographs of the team, which is located in Gurgaon, India but have online meetings with the team in Tokyo. I never heard about the company, so I took a gander at their site and according to this they have help work on games like Lara Croft and the Guardians of Light, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two , DC Universe Online, Counter Strike Global Offense, and The Elder Scrolls Online. What they helped with on those games is unknown since the site is down and the front page doesn’t go into detail.

This is obviously a way for YS Net to focus more on building the game instead of taking all that time to create NPC characters. I hope it works out for the better.

SEGA News Bits: Most Disappointing SEGA Games of 2017

The other day we discussed our favorite SEGA games of 2017, now we are hitting you with a new video with the total opposite. The most disappointing SEGA games of 2017. We discuss which games most people would consider the worse, our worse SEGA game of 2017 and of course why we chose that game. So sit back, relax and let us take you down a disappointing journey into SEGA’s worse offerings of 2017.

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SEGA News Bits: Favorite SEGA Games of 2017

Its that time of year, when people online decide to talk about their favorite games of the year. While we here at SEGAbits play a wide arrange of games, we obviously adore SEGA games. So on this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our favorite SEGA games of 2017. Which game did we decide to give our golden Opa-Opa trophy to? Watch the video and find out. What was your favorite SEGA game of 2017 and why? 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 like so it shows up on more like minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

Atlus sets live stream to reveal Persona 5 The Animation details on December 24

Atlus is set to share new information about their upcoming Persona 5 The Animation via a live stream on December 24 at 20:00 JST. Atlus Japan is naming the live stream “Super Secret Information Reveal! Broadcast Special” which will air on live TV in Japan via Abema TV’s New Anime Channel as well as YouTube Live.

The Persona 5 The Animation reveal stream will also feature Persona 5 talent like Jun Fukuyama (voice of protagonist), Aoi Yuuki (Futaba Sakura), and Souichirou Hoshi (Goro Akechi). A lot of Persona fans love these animation entries because it adds new stories and backstories to characters found in the main games. We shall see what Atlus has to reveal by the end of the month.

Persona 5 recently won RPG of the year by the Video Game Awards earlier this month. You can pick up Persona 5 on both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. If you haven’t read our review, we highly recommend the game.

[Via: Gematsu]

SEGA Europe teases that they have “exciting projects coming up”, sharing details in 2018

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SEGA Europe has been teasing new video game projects announcements via twitter the other day. So what could these mysterious projects be? We do have some past news articles that can hint at what they have up their sleeves. For example we reported back in 2015 that The Creative Assembly was working on a “multi-platform AAA blockbuster”, which would mean their return to the console space since they released Alien Isolation back in 2014. We also know that Two Point Studios (ex-Lionhead and Bullfrog) is working with SEGA Europe on a new simulation game, which is set to be announced on January 16th. There’s also that big rumor about the Shenmue HD collection is right around the corner, one of the rumors points at the port being done by UK developer Just Add Water. If that is true, then that would mean that SEGA Europe would probably be involved in handling the project. I also hear that SEGA Europe will be in charge of handling PC ports of upcoming SEGA Japan games, so I can also see them announcing a Valkyria Chronicles 4 port for the West, considering their port of the first game has almost sold a million copies. Of course, this is just my speculation based on past news articles and rumors.

But let me hand the mic over to you, what do you want to see SEGA Europe work on? SEGA Europe has been handling most of the PC stuff, including ports of last generation games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and even created The Typing of the Dead: Overkill. Is there any other games you want to see them port? Maybe extend their porting program to modern consoles? Sound off in the comments below.

SEGA’s new A Certain Magical Virtual-On trailer shows off animated cutscenes, more gameplay

SEGA has unleashed a brand new trailer for the upcoming A Certain Magical Virtual-On, a crossover game featuring A Certain Magical Index and Virtual-On. The new trailer, which is a bit over 5 minutes in length will give you a look at the in-game characters you get to team up with, a glimpse at the in-game villain and even show you what the in-game animated cutscenes look like!

Personally, as a SEGA fan, I don’t care too much for the anime tie-in and happy that the gameplay looks likeVirtual-On with A Certain Magical Index being used to carry the story. One of the things that Virtual-On doesn’t have is good characterizations to make a story around. I’m sure the story will be silly, but hey, its Virtual-On, no whining! A Certain Magical Virtual-On hits Japan on February 15, 2018 only on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. No Western release for this title has been confirmed, as of right now.

[Via: Dengekionline]

Valkyria Chronicles 4 reveals six new characters and details its Brave system

ValkyriaChronicles4SEGA revealed a ton of new information regarding the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles 4 via the latest issue of the Weekly Famitsu. They detailed six brand new characters (including one being a Valkyria) and the new “Brave” system being introduced in this title.

Check out all the information after the break. Valkyria Chronicles 4 is set to hit PlayStation 4 on March 21, 2018 and for Nintendo Switch in Summer 2018 in Japan. As for the European and American releases, its coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch sometime in 2018.

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[Source: Gematsu]

SEGA shows off A Certain Magical Virtual-On box art

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Check out the official Japanese box art for A Certain Magical Virtual-On, an upcoming game being released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The game features characters from the light novel franchise A Certain Magical Index and SEGA’s arcade franchiseCyber Troopers Virtual-On in a epic cross-over competitive game. 

A Certain Magical Virtual-On Japanese box art features Touma Kamijo (A Certain Magical Index) and Virtuaroid MBV-707/VSL “Temjin 707” (Virtual-On). I think the box art is just OK, nothing special and feel that the art style differences between Virtual-On and A Certain Magical Index really clash on the cover. For example Temjin 707 looks rather 3D while Touma Kamijo on the other hand is a typical anime drawing. As for the game, its set to launch on February 15, 2018 in Japan on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. SEGA West hasn’t announced a western release date as of this posting.

[Via: Gemastu]

Hokuto ga Gotoku Japanese box art released and it looks amazing

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Below I have posted both the clean and retail box art for the upcoming Hokuto ga Gotoku on the PlayStation 4. If you guys didn’t know, Hokuto ga Gotoku is a game based on the Fist of the North Star IP, being done by the team behind the Yakuza games. The game’s box art was drawn by the and only Tesuo Hara, who obviously did illustration for the manga.

Hokuto ga Gotoku hits Japan, exclusively on PlayStation 4 this February 22nd! No western release plans have been shared by SEGA, but don’t be shocked if we get an announcement release early next year.

[Via: Gematsu]

SEGA releasing an official Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX controller

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SEGA is getting ready to release Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX, which happens to be a sort of ‘Game of the Year’ release for last year’s big Hatsune Miku game(s). This one includes all the DLC released for Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone plus new songs and modules. The game is set to have over 237 tracks and 396 modules. Yeah, its quite the hefty package.

This officially licensed Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX controller is set to deliver an experience of playing the game at the arcades. If you didn’t know, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX is actually the port of the SEGA-AM2 developed arcade game, so releasing an arcade style controller for this release makes sense. This also isn’t the only official Hatsune Miku controller available, as SEGA has released similar accessories in the past. According to the item description the controller uses 45mm buttons that have a similar feeling to those used in the arcade machine and the controller weighs in at 1.7kgs (3.7 pounds).

[Source: Degeki Online]

Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo available now on Japanese PSN Store

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The demo for SEGA’s upcoming remake of Yakuza 2, being called Yakuza Kiwami 2, is now available for you to download via the Japanese PSN store. The demo will weigh in at 9.89 gigabytes and allow users to play through some of the main game’s story. SEGA has confirmed that Yakuza Kiwami 2 demo saves will not transfer over to the full version of the game.

If you never made a Japanese PSN account, I suggest giving some YouTube guides a quick look, it isn’t hard to do. I would say its worth it just to try out some upcoming Japanese game demos. Its free, nothing to lose. Yakuza: Kiwami 2 hits Japan on December 7, no western release date has been announced as of posting. But don’t be surprised if we get an announcement sometime next year.