Released June 24, 2022 to Apple Arcade, Yu Suzuki’s Air Twister was a Space Harrier inspired behind the back 3D shooter from the man who created the original SEGA franchise. In what was perhaps our biggest “get”, we managed to interview Yu Suzuki himself to talk about the game! And yes, I will try to link to that interview whenever given a chance.
During Summer Game Fest, SEGA dropped a new trailer and release details for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Set for a November 9, 2023 release date to PlayStation 4, 5, Xbox consoles and PC, the game will be priced at $49.99. Pre-orders will get players a Legendary Fighter Pack.
ERASE YOUR PAST TO PROTECT YOUR FUTURE Once a legendary yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu faked his own death and abandoned his name for the sake of protecting his family. Now, he is thrust into conflict by a mysterious figure attempting to drive him out of hiding.
When we learn more about release details, including physical copies and those steelbooks we like so much, we will be sure to share the news!
While Sonic Frontiers isn’t the most perfect game ever made (check out our review), it is a huge step in the right direction for the franchise and it seems that Sonic fans have agreed as it becomes the best selling 3D Sonic game. SEGA confirmed the sales figures during their SEGA x Rovio press conference (16:40 in), marking the title as a huge success.
That means that the title sold 300,000 units from April, in just a month. That would mean that Sonic Frontiers has long lasting legs and that probably has to do to the free roadmap that Sonic Team has released. For example Sonic Generations sold 3 million units and it still seems Sonic Frontiers can easily break the 4 million sold marker by this fall!
Are you surprised at the success of Sonic Frontiers?
[Via: Sonic Stadium]
Last year, SEGA promised three waves of free Sonic Frontiers DLC content, and the first wave entitled “Sights, Sounds, and Speed” is set for release on Wednesday, March 22 at 5:00 p.m. PDT / 8:00 p.m. EDT across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Steam. The update will include the following:
New Challenge Modes – After completing the main story campaign, players can access new challenge modes – Cyber Space Challenge and Battle Rush – via the title screen. The Cyber Space Challenge is a time-attack mode where players will compete against the clock to complete multiple Cyber Space stages in a row. Additionally, Sonic Frontiers will offer Battle Rush, a timed-battle mode where you fight multiple enemies, Guardians and Titans in one go.
Photo Mode – To capture memories of their time on the Starfall Islands, players can open the pause menu to access Photo Mode, which will pause gameplay and bring up a camera that is freely moveable.
Jukebox – Players can listen to their favorite Sonic songs all throughout the Starfall Islands with the new Jukebox. With 53 song tracks available, players will have instant access to 13 songs, and can unlock the remaining 40 songs by collecting Sound Memories on each island.
Two additional waves of content are expected for later this year, promising new features, challenges, playable characters and more. Given wave two has content specific to Sonic’s anniversary, a late June release is possible though not yet confirmed by SEGA. After the break, check out a gallery of screens for the content update!
Sonic Frontiers made a strong start to life in the charts, boosting a number 4 spot in the UK Game Charts and sold 5% more than 2017’s release Sonic Forces. While this might not seem a large increase this does not include digital sales so Frontiers’ actual increase over Forces could be quite significant yet. We know more than half of UK game sales are now digital. What was more interesting was the platform break down, while Sonic Forces enjoyed strong sales on the Nintendo Switch, this time the best selling platform for the franchise was as follows; Playstation 5 (40%) Switch (34%) Xbox (14%) and Playstation 4 (12%) But it wasn’t just the UK where Sonic Frontiers is enjoying a successful start to it’s sale life, hit the break to read more how it’s fairing on Steam!
Super Sonic has had a raw deal for the past decade or so. While Sonic’s super form showed up in 2D titles as expected, yes I even consider Sonic 4 to be a title that presents Super Sonic in the proper way, the 3D titles largely used the super form of Sonic as an end boss reveal and omitted him from being playable in the game’s main levels. Worse still, Sonic Forces initially debuted Super Sonic as paid DLC before realizing how crummy a move that was and making him free to download. Still, Super Sonic should be baked into the game! And thankfully, Sonic Frontiers latest gameplay trailer showcases Super Sonic within the open zone setting powering up upon collecting all seven emeralds. Just as Chaos intended. While it remains to be seen if you can play as Super Sonic while just running around and exploring the islands, his appearance in an open zone boss battle is a good sign.
What more, the trailer shows off a new fiery mountainous island and sports the new theme song “Vandelize” from ONE OK ROCK.
In another surprise at the RGG Summit, a new game was announced for 2023: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. The game stars Kazuma Kiryu in a story that takes place between Yakuza 6 and 7 with classic gameplay elements returning. The game is said to be smaller, about half the size of a mainline Yakuza/Like a Dragon title.
The game will release in 2023 to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC platforms.
In the early morning hours, at least here in the USA, SEGA of America dropped the trailer for the eighth game in the Yakuza franchise: Like a Dragon 8. The news dropped at Japan’s RGG summit event. Due out in 2024, the game will release globally to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC platforms. Ichiban Kasuga returns, and he brought a friend with him. Wait, it’s Kazuma Kiryu with a new haircut! Also, notably, the game drops the Yakuza name, which we also noted yesterday with the Like a Dragon: Ishin! reveal. It looks like the Yakuza franchise is now the Like a Dragon franchise!
What are your thoughts on the trailer? Did Kazuma get a haircut?
During Sony’s State of Play today it was announced that RGG Studio was working on a Like a Dragon: Ishin! remake of 2014’s PS3 and PS4 game Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!. The remake, created in the Unreal Engine, is set to release on PlayStation and Xbox platforms, as well as PC in February 2023. What is exciting is that this is the first time a historical Yakuza title released to the West.
Spread out throughout the month of June 2022 was news that Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable would soon be launching on Xbox consoles, PC platforms (Persona 4 Golden has already been on Steam since June 2020), and PlayStation 5. For Xbox and Windows PC users, all three will also be part of Xbox Game Pass following their launch on Microsoft platforms. It was finally also revealed at the end of Nintendo’s Mini Partner Showcase Direct from June 28th that all three will now finally release worldwide on Nintendo Switch as well. This is all part of Atlus’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Persona series of games.
Yakuza 7 or Yakuza: Like a Dragon as its known in the USA, changed the Yakuza formula massively when it replaced its real-time combat with a new turn-based system. Yakuza: Like a Dragon would even change the main cast and city, taking big risks with long time fans. The gamble paid off for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio as Yakuza: Like a Dragon reviewed favorably and has warmed its way into the hearts of long time fans. For me, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is already one of my top three favorite Yakuza titles and really excited to see what the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has in store for the next game, especially considering that the studio has been known to improve their games with every new entry (for the most part).
I decided to ask people in the Yakuza community what they’d like to see for Yakuza 8 or what it might be called in the West, Yakuza: Like a Dragon 2. We are joined by The Tojo Dojo, Pseudochel and Yakuza Fan as they tell you what they’d like to see in the next blockbuster installment of the Yakuza franchise.
It seems that Yuji Naka isn’t happy with his time working at Square-Enix, which started back in 2019. Since then Yuji Naka and Square-Enix have announced Balan Wonderworld, had him removed as director before the game released and ended with Yuji Naka leaving Square-Enix last year. Yuji Naka has actually been rather silent over the whole thing, even if Balan Wonderworld has been getting trashed online for months after release, which dragged his name through the dirt.
Now Yuji Naka has taken to Twitter to discuss working with Square-Enix, saying that the company doesn’t value making good games and that Yuji Naka even tried to get his lawyer involved so they could get more time to develop Balan Wonderworld. The messages below are from his Japanese Twitter thread, translated via @Cheesemeister3k:
As you know, Konami is releasing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection which is set to feature 13 of their classic Turtle games. While not all 13 are original games, some are the arcades and console ports (Turtles in Time for example comes both SNES and Arcade versions), but its a pretty comprehensive list of Konami Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles classic games. SEGA fans should be happy to hear that the rare, SEGA Genesis exclusive “TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist” is included!
Now Konami has revealed that you can also get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowbunga Collection Limited Edition which will cost you a whopping $149.99 to pre-order (Best Buy: PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox). This version includes:
Lost Judgment is getting ready to release the upcoming ‘The Kaito Files’ DLC, so part of SEGA’s promotional is giving us fans the recipe for a cocktail inspired by everyone’s favorite Yakuza, Masaharu Kaito. Check out the video, sip slow and stay home!
You will need Japanese Whisky, orange juice, plum wine, mint and ice! The Kaito Files DLC releases on March 28, 2022!
During Sony’s State of Play stream today, Konami announced it would be releasing their long awaited Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection for (at least right now) Sony’s PS4 and PS5 (it has also been confirmed for Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PC).
The collection is set to have Konami classics ranging from their Arcade hits, NES, Gameboy, SNES and yes, even TMNT: Hyperstone Heist on the SEGA Genesis!