On this, our 100th Swingin’ Report Show, we talk to SEGA-16.com founder Ken Horowitz to talk all things SEGA, as well as his current and future book projects. Support Ken’s amazing work by picking up some of his books on Amazon and leave a review!
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, join in the conversation, get Q&A priority, become a guest on the show and more!
This will be our 99th Swingin’ Report Show, taking place on the 22nd anniversary of 9/9/99 and it’s at 9PM central. That’s a lot of 9’s! So to ruin it all, we plan to share our 10 (NOT 9) favorite things from the Dreamcast launch AND we plan to take your comments live as well as from our Patreon feed.
Joining us will be SEGAbits community member ElkPlaysandPaints!
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, join in the conversation, get Q&A priority, become a guest on the show and more!
Our next LIVE show is planned for Thursday, August 26th at 9PM central / 7PM pacific / 10PM eastern. Steve ‘ap0c’ Lakawicz will be on as guest to talk about video game music, how it’s made for both retro and modern consoles, how one makes a career out of composing game music and the state of video game music in 2021.
Steve is a classically trained musician with a Master’s degree in Music Performance, specializing in orchestral tuba. He has toured with brass quintets and performed with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and lately has taken an interest into crafting and emulating authentic chiptunes. Most recently he has composed music for Brock Crocodile. You can listen to his music here: https://soundcloud.com/ap0c
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, join in the conversation, get Q&A priority, become a guest on the show and more!
Swingin’ Report Show returns with a new format! On this debut LIVE show, Barry is joined by George to discuss the history of the podcast, recent news of Idris Elba being cast as Knuckles, the new trailer for the Jet Set Radio inspired indie game Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and a peek at the latest Sonic collectibles.
Support us on Patreon! Get early access, join in the conversation, become a guest on the show and more!
Writer and reporter Donnie aka SSF1991 joins us on this episode of the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast to discuss his work with sites in the SEGA and Sonic community that include Sonic Paradox, TSSZ and The Sonic Stadium! We talk about Donnie’s early days as a SEGA fan, how he became a writer covering live events and breaking SEGA and Sonic news stories, and the final days of TSSZ.
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
Game developer Kiyoshi Okuma joins us on this episode of the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast to discuss his work on N64, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC games. Kiyoshi has worked on games that include World Series Baseball 2K2, Gauntlet Legends, The Sims 2 as well as the upcoming Strike Blazinger!
Want more information on Strike Blazinger? Visit the official website!
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
On this episode of the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Barry is joined by Sam Dyer, the founder of Bitmap Books, to discuss SEGA Master System: a visual compendium which releases June 17th, 2019. You can buy a copy of the book for yourself right here!
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
On this SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast Barry is joined by Aki-At, developer of indie game Brock Crocodile, site contributor and one of the original three Swingin’ Report Show hosts, to interview Matt Phillips the creator of the Mega Drive/Genesis indie game Tanglewood. Matt’s past experience includes work at Traveller’s Tales, Crytek and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Learn how Tanglewood came about and how one goes about making a new game on 30 year old hardware.
Learn more about Tanglewood and purchase the game for Steam and SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive.
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
On this Swingin’ Report Show, Barry talks with Kiel Phegley. Kiel is the author of “Sonic and the Tales of Terror” and the Sonic The Hedgehog “Race Against Chaos Sticker Activity Book”, and is a freelance author who has worked with Penguin Random House and Marvel. Kiel is currently is a professor teaching writing and literature and was the news editor for Comic Book Resources.
We discuss how Kiel landed the Sonic writing job, his approach to books for younger readers, Sonic’s personality, his Sonic The Hedgehog fandom and his future projects!
Check out Kiel’s Penguin Random House books!
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
On this episode of the Swingin’ Report Show, SEGA-16.com’s Ken Horowitz talks about his new book “The SEGA Arcade Revolution”. Ken walks through the history of SEGA arcade machines from the 1950s to today, highlighting key releases and discussing firsthand interviews he held with SEGA staff from the glory years.
Order “The SEGA Arcade Revolution”, and leave a review!
If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!
The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show is back with returning guest Chris Tang! Chris is a game designer and gaming tournament champion, and was recently inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame. SEGA fans know Chris as the winner of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles Rock the Rock competition in 1994, and before that Chris was a finalist in 1990’s Nintendo World Championships. Since then, Chris has worked on games at Atari and Capcom, including Gauntlet IV, Primal Rage, Street Fighter III, Rival Schools and Power Stone. Chris is also the yearly announcer for the Tetris World Championships and originator of the BOOM! Tetris for Jeff meme.
Currently, Chris is hard at work on Flight Armor Project: STRIKE HARBINGER (working title – subject to change), a new game inspired by classic SEGA titles like Space Harrier. The game combines the fast paced forward flying gameplay of Space Harrier with the RPG and combat elements of Phantasy Star while utilizing a unique arcade control structure that evokes Virtual On. The game is developed by HitSparks Games, and features the work of senior artist Kiyoshi Okuma, whose past work includes Gauntlet: Legends, World Series Baseball 2K2, The Sims 2 and Darkspore.
I sat down with Chris for an update on the development of Flight Armor Project: STRIKE HARBINGER, including the incredibly fun two player mode, and to discuss more of his past career, his work as an announcer for the Tetris World Championships and his recent induction into the International Video Game Hall of Fame.
Want more information on Flight Armor Project: STRIKE HARBINGER? Visit the official website!
On this episode we chat with Tee Lopes, composer for Sonic Mania, who answers our burning questions about his career before working on a SEGA game, how he landed the Sonic Mania job, and how one goes about composing for video games. We also try to get some soundtrack secrets out of him, and we’ll let you be the judge on how well we did. If you loved the music of Sonic Mania and are a video game soundtrack aficionado, or if you just like an hour of video game chat, this episode is a must listen!
You can learn more about Tee Lopes and follow his work by checking out his website teelopesmusic.com, following him on Twitter, subscribing to his You Tube channel, and if you want the best possible aural experience of Sonic Mania make sure to check out the official vinyl (and included digital music download) from Data Discs.
In this episode we are joined by Tyler of Screaming Villains, who is developing the upcoming Night Trap 25th Anniversary Edition set to release to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PCs, with a limited physical run exclusive to the PS4. Tyler discusses how the project began, how the game differs from the SEGA CD and SEGA CD 32X versions, what new features fans can expect from the game and what future plans he hopes to have in the world of FMV games and beyond! Keep your ears peeled for some exclusive reveals, but watch out for those Augers!
Night Trap 25th Anniversary Edition Website | Screaming Villains Facebook | Screaming Villains Twitter
The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show is back, bringing you an interview with Maarten Brands, CEO of Cook & Becker who is behind the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book! In this, his first public interview talking about the book, Maarten goes into the history of the international art dealership Cook & Becker, how the SEGA partnership began and what fans can expect from the Sonic art book.
The book releases soon and comes in two editions, which you can pre-order now:
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 25TH ANNIVERSARY ART BOOK – COLLECTOR’S EDITION
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 25TH ANNIVERSARY ART BOOK – STANDARD HARDCOVER
On this episode of the Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Barry sits down with game designer and gaming tournament champion Chris Tang at the Galloping Ghost Arcade’s SEGA Week. SEGA fans may know Chris best as the winner of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles Rock the Rock competition in 1994, and before that Chris was a finalist in 1990’s Nintendo World Championships. Since then, Chris has worked on games at Atari and Capcom, including Gauntlet IV, Primal Rage, Street Fighter III, Rival Schools and Power Stone. Now, Chris is hard at work on a new game inspired by classic SEGA titles like Space Harrier and Phantasy Star. The game, titled Strike Harbinger, combines the fast paced forward flying gameplay of Space Harrier with the RPG and combat elements of Phantasy Star while utilizing a unique control structure that evokes Virtual On.
Strike Harbinger – developed by Chris’s company HitSparks Games – was revealed Saturday, April 30th at Galloping Ghost Arcade where I had the pleasure to meet Chris and the game’s Senior Artist Kiyoshi Okuma, whose past work includes Gauntlet: Legends, World Series Baseball 2K2, The Sims 2 and Darkspore. I also had the honor to be the first member of the public to play the game, and following that experience I chatted with Chris about his life as a tournament gamer, his career, and his plans for Strike Harbinger.
Want more information on Strike Harbinger? Stay tuned for an upcoming SEGA News Bits as well as a SEGA Week writeup!