Retro

A TSA officer told Peter Moore: “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox”

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Petermoore
This is a funny post today on ‘Today I learned’ subreddit, the section is for people to post facts that they just learned today. This one being SEGA related, I thought it would be fun to share. The source is this wikipedia entry.

‘Moore disclosed to GamingSteve.com that at a security checkpoint at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, a TSA security agent said “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox.”‘

If there is anything I agree with here is that Shenmue does have one of the most vocal fanbases ever. Do I think it was bad to move Shenmue 2 to Xbox? Not necessarily, I thought it was bad not releasing the Dreamcast version along with the Xbox version.

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SEGA Memories: Space Channel 5 premieres in Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza

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Back in the Dreamcast era, SEGA would have big promotional events for their titles. Yes, even niche stuff like Space Channel 5, which most publishers wouldn’t spend too much advertising dollars on. SEGA on the other hand had a huge E3 booth for the game, but after when the game was nearing its ‘debut’ they decided to premiere the game to the public, like it was a Hollywood picture. How would they do that? Premiere the game at an event over at Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza!

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SEGA Memories: A look back at Toys ‘R’ Us’ 1996 holiday video game catalog

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Its almost that time of season where most kids are waiting to tell their parents what modern day war shooter they want under their Christmas tree. Its also the time where older folks, like ourselves on the site, think about our previous holidays and how we used to make our parents waste hoards of cash to buy our affection. Wasn’t that great? Well this week on Monday Memories we will look at the 1996 holiday Toy ‘R’ Us video game catalog. I remember these where awesome as a kid, it was like window shopping for games in my underwear.

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Mac Senour talks about how SEGA almost passed on Gunstar Heroes

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Imagine now if SEGA never published Gunstar Heroes, the first game by then brand new studio Treasure Co? That was almost the case according to a brand new interview with Mac Senour over at SEGA-16.

“12 people looked at it and passed before it got to me. If I didn’t pick it up, he was going to be rejected. I played it for five minutes, maybe less, and threw the controller on the floor and said “this is game of the year.” Every one in earshot laughed.” – Mac Senour

According to Marc, the only thing he asked the developers to change was a boss character that was basically Hitler. Those Japanese people, they love putting Hitler in all their media.

“I was the last guy; if I said no then it would have been canceled. They spoke no English, so I had to go through my contact at SOJ, Henry Geison. Henry and I became friends when I was developer tech support.” – Mac Senour

I know the gaming industry was way different back then, but I seriously don’t know how more than twelve people could pass on a classic like Gunstar Heroes?

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Earthworm Jim joins Boogerman in his 20th anniversary kickstarter

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Seems that some kickstarters (sometimes) run on pure nostalgia, case in point: Boogerman. Do you remember this 90’s not so classic video game? I mean, I  get nostalgic when I see the box but I know the contents inside that box were garbage.

Boogerman wants to celebrate its 20th anniversary in style, so they are featuring a better 90’s hero in the game’s co-op mode: Earthworm Jim. Who doesn’t love the worm?

Boogerman 20th Anniversary kickstarter says that the game is a brand new HD adventure by the original creators. Worth funding? Let us know in the comments.

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Toejam & Earl 3 for Dreamcast unearthed, founder starting fundraiser to release beta to public

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We already know that SEGA got ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth out on Xbox, but the game was originally being worked on for Dreamcast. This isn’t the only game, lots of early SEGA 3rd party games where mean’t to be Dreamcast titles, like Shinobi and Gunvalkyrie. Seems like the unfinished Dreamcast versions of these games never see the light of day, thankfully there are people that find them. That is what happen here.

The person that found the rare gem is a forum member from Assemble Games that goes by the handle ZakhooiTM. Mr. ZakhooiTM is starting a fund raiser to get the code online, for all public to freely download and try. You can find more information here.  Above is over 30 minutes of gameplay from the beta and  after the jump we have 2-player mode footage. Enjoy

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SEGA Memories: Dave’s Sega Saturn Page

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MondayMemoriesDaves

Obviously SEGAbits isn’t the first and won’t be the last website dedicated to the big blue. Throughout the life of the internet, there have been thousands upon thousands of SEGA related websites and out of all those websites there are few webpages that we would visit regularly. Dave’s Sega Saturn Page was one of those sites I always kept bookmarked along with others that we will most likely cover here on Monday Memories.

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Editorial: Fourteen years later, SEGA’s final hurrah is still one to remember

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It’s incredibly rare for a failed system to carry with it such a long-lasting legacy. With the closing of one console generation comes the opening of another, and with time, the systems of old one fade into the realm of memories.

The Dreamcast didn’t get to see the end of the sixth generation of video game systems; at least, not in a traditional sense. But its thriving indie scene was then created, living on for years after the system’s discontinuation, with small independent games released, even today, for SEGA’s white box. Digital remasters of Dreamcast games on HD consoles continue to be greeted with interest and enthusiasm, this anticipation reaching even beyond the SEGA community.

For those of us who owned a Dreamcast from 1999 through 2001, we know that the system was truly something special. It was the only video game console to see its launch at the tail-end of the 90s, carrying with it not only the cultural magic that was the year 1999, but also carrying on its shoulders the last remnants of a dying arcade industry, without a doubt making the most of both. But the Dreamcast also had an eye to the future. As the first sixth gen video game system, it lead the way for many of the games we would go on to experience in a generation that saw storytelling and presentation make a significant jump. The Dreamcast’s games were not (for the most part) the types of linear “movie-games” we see today, but they were certainly cinematic; far more than what came before. They were innovative, they were different, they were funky, and they had soul.

They were art.

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The SEGA Dreamcast turns 14 today, how are we going to celebrate?

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Hey there, space cats! The SEGA Dreamcast turns 14 today in the USA, how are we celebrating? Well, we will be delivering a bunch of Dreamcast related content all month long. We will have all our weekly features focus on Dreamcast music, games and nostalgic moments. Expect to see Dreamcast related articles on Monday Memories, Tuesday Tunes, Saturday Sequels, and Sunday Round Table. There will also be the return of the ‘SEGA in the Media‘, where we spot SEGA references in current TV shows and movies (sometimes even the past).  We already started celebrating by giving you guys a really awesome episode of the Swingin’ Report Show featuring the editor-in-chief and writer for Official Dreamcast magazine.

One of our former writers and current editor-in-chief over at Dreamcast Scene is also teaming up with us, DC Emu and Age-Media to bring some interviews with current SEGA published authors and Dreamcast indie developers. Actually he already published one of his interviews with David Munoz, author of ” “Service Games: Rise and Fall of Sega ”. Some of the other interviews you can expect includes author of “Zoya Street’s Dreamcast World” author, who got crowd sourced by Indiegogo. There will also be interviews with indie Dreamcast developers like Senile Team, Duranik and Water Melon.

Stay tuned later today for “Monday Memories: Remembering the Dreamcast’s launch“.

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Swingin’ Report Show #50: Dreamcast Birthday Bash with Francesca Reyes, Simon Cox, & Ricardo Torres

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If you didn’t know, we here at SEGAbits are huge fans of the Official Dreamcast Magazine, so you know we totally geeked out knowing that Francesca Reyes (ODCM writer and OXM editor-in-chief) and Simon Cox (Editor-in-chief OCDM) were coming on the podcast. But that isn’t all, we also have a unique perspective coming from Ricardo Torres (working at CNET Gamecenter, coming from early online media compared to print at the time) who gets massive SEGA props for having more Samba de Amigo maraca sets than all the staff combined. I’m really happy with the way the podcast turned out this week, full of nostalgia and the perfect way to kick off the 14th anniversary of the Dreamcast.

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SEGA Australia’s crazy pitch for remaking SEGA classics

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[Above is SEGA Australia’s pre-alpha prototype pitch for Golden Axe remake under their label ‘SEGA Reborn’]

SEGA Australia isn’t known as the type of studio that had too many hits, but it seemed that the team was finally hitting their stride with the Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse remake that is coming out in early September. Sadly that will be the studio’s last game, since it was announced that they will be closing by the end of the year.

Seems that the studio pitched for a series of remakes, most notably ‘Golden Axe’ and all to be in a new label called ‘SEGA Reborn’. That’s not all though, the company thought that all these classics should take place in the same universe. Yes, we are talking about Marvel movie treatment with retro games. That would mean that a game like Out Run takes place hundreds of years after Golden Axe.

Much like its remake of Castle of Illusion, they where open to going in and adding new content and fixing issues the originals had. Some of the other games they talked about remaking included Streets of Rage and Shinobi. Hit the jump to see video of the ‘Golden Axe’ remake that the studio pitched to SEGA. 

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Plants vs. Zombies running on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive

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This weekend at the PAX Australia event, fans of the game ‘Plants vs. Zombies‘ got to see a weird version of their favorite PopCap tower defense game. The game running on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.

Penny Arcade got a chance to play the game and posted the above video of it in action. Dave Cudrev from Retrospekt said he bought the game from the creator, who is a Russian coder. His hobby was rebuilding games and selling them on Ebay.

He purchased the game for $30 dollars, with no box or manual. Other games the coder has re-worked include Darkwing Duck and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers for the Genesis/Mega Drive. I have to be honest, this would be a cool conversational piece of software to have.

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Crazy Taxi is out now on Android – Make that craaaaazy money!

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CrazyAndroidTaxi
I know that SEGA doesn’t really promote these mobile releases, all they pretty much do is send a tweet or a blog post telling you that the title is out. But they really missed the mark with the Crazy Taxi port for Android, since they didn’t even tell anyone it was coming today. Well, don’t worry, we got you. Crazy Taxi is now on Android.

This port is a lot like the iOS version with Arcade Mode and Original Mode playable and music by Bad Religion and The Offspring. You can purchase your copy today for $4.99.

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My Life With SEGA reviews Panzer Dragoon

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My Life with SEGA returns this week with a review of the acclaimed SEGA Saturn game, Panzer Dragoon. Probably one of my favorite franchises in SEGA’s huge catalog of unique IPs, this week you get to see A.J. give you his take on the game.

Make sure if you want more videos from My Life from SEGA and others, to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Its groovy, I swear.

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