I’ve been subscribed to these guys on youtube for a while now and I always find them quite entertaining.
This episode they discuss their Dreamcast launch memories and I suspect many of us has a very similar experience. I know the Dreamcast was the golden age of gaming for me and provided my best gaming summer break at one of the most memorable times in my life with some of my best friends. Enjoy!
Sega owned and UK based developers Sports Interactive has something to be very proud of today. SI Director Mikes Jacobson has been appointed an OBE for services to the computer games industry in the New Year Honours list.
The OBE also known as ‘Order of the British Empire’ is a long running award given to recognize people who have done great things for their country. The ‘Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’ is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of which an OBE is one of the five awards you can achieve.
SI co-founder Oliver Collyer paid tribute to Jacobson on the Football Manager Forums.
Hit the jump to read on.
Some may say that 2010 was a turn around year for Sega, and I would agree. While 2008 and 2009 had their highlights, 2010 was pretty packed with great Sega games.
Our regular forum goer and TheSegaSource blogger ‘SegaUranus’ has made a very fitting tribute video highlighting some of the best games of 2010. Set to the awesome Bayonetta remix of OutRuns ‘Splash Wave’.
So pull up a seat and let’s bask in the glory of Sega 2010 and hope 2011 is even better!
Ladies and Gentlemen… Na, who am I kidding, Gentlemen and Gentlemen! The time is almost upon us!
In a matter of hours it will be 2011, and with 2011 comes not one anniversary of great importance amongst Sega fans everywhere but two! Yes, both Sonic the Hedgehog and Puyo Pop turn 20 this year! To celebrate, on the stroke of midnight, (Japanese time) Sega has already began the hype.
Sega have released a press statement suggesting that they have a number of projects lined up for both the Sonic the Hedgehog and Puyo Pop franchises in 2011. They weren’t specific on what these ‘projects’ entail but I suspect they will hold events as well as release celebratory games.
You can visit the Sonic anniversary site HERE.
If the next Sonic game is as good if not better then Sonic Colours and we get another great Puyo Pop game, Yakuza 4 and Yakuza of the End, Valkryia Chronicles 3, Bayonetta 2, Shogun 2, Creative Assembly’s new action game and of course Phantasy Star Online 2… Well shit, 2011 is going to be a sweet year for us Sega fans!
So happy new year from Segabits, have a good one and I’ll see you next year folks! I’m off to get wasted!
4Gamer talked to Japanese developers, asked them all the following questions:
Two of the producers from SEGA & two people from Platinum Games happen to be on the list of Japanese developers to answer the questions. Hit the jump to find out their responses.
So to cut a long story short, my friend stopped over at my house the other day, with DVD in hand. Raving about this ‘great movie’ we just had to watch. It’s called ‘Big Man Japan’ I knew nothing about it at the time and now that I’ve watched it… I’m still not convinced I know anything about it.
But I do know that this scene is awesome. Enjoy!
If this is relevant to your interests. It’s called ‘Big Man Japan’ and it is subbed in English.
Bizarre Creations, a studio founded in 1994 , found their first big title with SEGA as a publisher. If you didn’t know, Bizarre Creations developed the Dreamcast racing title Metropolis Street Racer. After this the developer expanded its wings with Fur Fighter, a 3rd person shooting adventure with talking animals. Bizarre indeed. Metropolis Street Racer led into Microsoft partnership for a new racing franchise, Project Gotham Racing.
SEGA and Bizarre Creations relationship didn’t end there, almost 8 years after Metropolis Street Racer hit the Dreamcast, SEGA wanted to do another IP with the developer, this time The Club. The Club was a unique take on 3rd person shooters, using score based kills. Shortly before the game came out, Activision announced they aquired Bizarre Creations. SEGA had plans to make The Club a series, but turned it into a one title affair after the buy out.
With Activision they did their own IP, this time called Blur, a pretty good arcade racing title. The issue is that the game didn’t sell. Their last game was James Bond 007: Blood Stone that came out at the start of the month. Seems that this title, which was critically panned will be the last title from the studio. SEGA Europe, give these workers a home.
“Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business.”
Activision is taking 90 days to decide whether they want to sell, restructure, or close down the studio.
Did you know there is a decline of hedgehogs? 300,000 less hedgehogs in Britain than there where 10 years ago. 50,000 of them are killed on roads every year. Now there is a charity, lead by David Wembridge to raise awareness about this issue. They are even teaming up with SEGA.
“The level of our concern about hedgehog numbers is growing because of the mounting evidence of decline in their population. All the indications are that something is going wrong and that in a few decades time, the hedgehog might be under threat as a species.” – David Wembridge
SEGA set up a ‘hedgehog road crossing’ in Twickenham, which just happens to match up with the release of Sonic Colors. Can you mark ‘advertising’ as ‘charity’ off of tax forms? Wait, do Europeans pay taxes?
[Source: Dailymail]
SEGA released some big hits in the beginning of the year, but so far hasn’t really set the charts on fire during the last few months.
But SEGA expects to do big numbers this Fall. New SEGA Europe boss, Jurgen Post, spoke about the latest SEGA titles and their expectations. SEGA wants to have a 10% attach rate for Sonic Free Riders, he says the game’s success will depend on its hardware (Kinect).
Things have been good for SEGA’s profits this last year. First, SEGA reported a profit on it’s third quarter statement back in February. Then, in August, SEGA reported 7 billion yen in profit for it’s first quarter of it’s 2010-2011 fiscal year. All of this great news has resulted in SEGA’s stock price hitting it’s highest price since 2007, where it’s stayed close to ever since.
The good times keep on coming. While video game giants like Nintendo continue to lower their own fiscal year forecast, SEGA has now raised it’s overall sales forecast for its entire fiscal year, ending March 31st 2011, from $400 billion yen ($4.7 billion) to $410 billion yen ($4.9 billion). The profit guidance forecast has gone up from 22 billion yen ($264 million), to 36.5 billion yen ($437 million). This rise in revenue and profits has been brought on by strong sales SEGA Sammy’s Pachinko/Pachislot division, which is now expected to sell 660,000 units, up from the originally anticipated sales of 620,000 units.
Someone sent this in to the boys over at UK:R, a patent issued on February 10, 2009. That is like almost going to be two years ago. Why is SEGA making weird controllers that look like a offspring from the NiGHTS Saturn controller?
I wonder what it is for? You can go tot he patent site and check out over 30 photos with detailed descriptions. Most likely has to do with an arcade machine, but I will accept a new console.
Sorry I didn’t get this up sooner. Youtube was being really slow for me. For anyone who hasn’t seen this video yet, I hope you enjoy it! Songs that Takenobu sings include what looks like a Yakuza song, a Hatsune Miku song, and Daytona USA – Let’s go Away.
Seeing Sonic and the whole crowd dancing is awesome.
In this trailer you can see some of the nameless that were described in Famitsu. There is also a few surprises you will see in this trailer when you watch it. Sadly, the trailer is all anime and no gameplay. Still a cool trailer though.
As we are all celebrating the birthday of our beloved Dreamcast (R.I.P), I was browsing our great and wonderful forum and came across a pretty interesting take on the Dreamcast’s short but sweet life. The post, by our forum member R.O.J.M takes an interesting look at the lasting legacy the Dreamcast era has had on the minds of Sega fans and gamers today.
You may or may not agree with the post, but I think it is worth giving it a read none the less.
Check out R.O.J.M’s post as well as my take on the matter after the jump:
Looks like SEGA Japan’s web team got lazy and it has cost them. All you have to do is simply switch their show schedule image from .gif to .jpg to reveal all their surprises.
Hit the jump to see the details
