Swingin’ Report Show #40: Aliens Gone Wild

This week on the show George and Barry the Nomad sit down with the Sonic Talk duo Nuckles87 and Shigs. Listen to us talk about the new SEGA laptops, whine about Aliens: Colonial Marines and criticize the Playstation 4 announcement. Like every podcast, you can’t get us to shut up about Shenmue.

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Deals: Answer a question about toilet paper, get $7 off the Wreck-It Ralph blu-ray

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Okay, aside from a number of SEGA character cameos in the movie itself, and Sonic, Eggman and Neff appearing on the cover, Wreck-It Ralph news is not entirely SEGA related. But we figured a number of SEGA fans who enjoyed the movie might be picking it up on blu-ray when it releases in two weeks in the US. Courtesy of the folks at Scott (the tissue and toilet paper people) comes a $7 coupon for use with either the blu-ray + DVD combo pack or the blu-ray + blu-ray 3D + DVD + digital. To get the coupon, you’ll need to do the following:

Head on over to Scott Shared Values and sign in or register for an account. Then answer one question and you will get a code for a $7 off Disney’s Wreck It Ralph Blu-ray Combo Pack coupon! To redeem the codefollow the link and log into your Disney Movie Rewards Account (or create an account). There, you can enter the code and you will be able to print. Keep in mind that this movie isn’t released until 3/5, but you may want to print this coupon now as I’m not sure how long it will be available. Also note that this coupon is only valid through Friday, 3/8, so you will only have a few days to use it once the movie is released. And, be sure to let us know if you score a great deal!

Considering early ads have leaked for stores, including Target, one could get the blu-ray + DVD combo pack for a mere  $12.99 or the blu-ray + blu-ray 3D + DVD + digital combo pack for a cool $20.99.

Microsoft didn’t aquire SEGA due to lack of ‘muscle’

Right now Microsoft is a big player in the game console race, but a decade ago they weren’t in the same position as they are now. Like a bad stereotype, before Microsoft entered the market with the Xbox, there were tons of rumors about them purchasing a gaming company, and one of those comapnies was SEGA.

So why didn’t Microsoft ever pick up SEGA? Well, according to then-CEO Bill Gates, he thought that the house of Sonic lacked the ‘muscle’ to compete with a company like Sony. This is what Joachim Kempin, who worked at Microsoft from 1983 to 2003, had to say:

“There were three companies at that point in time, I think this was [Sony,] Sega and Nintendo. There was always talk maybe we buy Sega or something like that; that never materialized, but we were actually able to license them what they call Windows CE, the younger brother of Windows, to run on their system and make that their platform. But for Bill [Gates] this wasn’t enough, he didn’t think that Sega had enough muscle to eventually stop Sony so we did our own Xbox thing.”

He did state that SEGA was “a very different bird” which we can all agree. But its not like they hated everything SEGA did, I mean, they did put the Xbox in the hands of Dreamcast era SEGA COO Peter Moore.

First look at Sonic Universe #52

We already know that Archie Comics was planning on doing a Sonic the Hedgehog x Mega Man crossover entitled “Worlds Collide”. This new first look at Sonic Universe #52 takes place five issues into the new exciting arc (which is set to be 12 issues long).

Patrick “SPAZ” Spaziante has cover duty. Check out the variants allowing you to choose eitther Team Sonic or Team Mega Man. I think you all know who I’m rooting for. Hit the jump for more information.

Upcoming Sonic merch – History of Sonic Collector’s Edition and SEGA teams with Sambro to create board games and puzzles

SEGA’s longtime mascot has some cool new pieces of merchandise for 2013. First up is a Collector’s Edition of Pix’n Love’s The History of Sonic book. The History of Sonic has had a long and interesting history (well, interesting to Sonic nerds). The book began as a Collector’s Edition exclusive to France and in the French language. Soon, fans found that even if they didn’t speak a lick of French they could still order the book. Then, Pix’n Love announced an English version was to be made for the UK with international shipping available. Fans cancelled their French orders, awaited an English release and… nothing happened. That is, until Canadian publisher Udon picked up the book, refined the English translation and released it just this past December.

Just a month after the book’s release in North America, Pix’n Love’s English site has announced a Collector’s Edition of the book, which features an alternate cover, and each is individually numbered out of a total of 1,000. Aside from that, it looks to be the same book as the standard Udon edition. The price is £29.99 plus shipping, and the book is available to order now. Keep in mind, however, that the Amazon price is only $31 and the Collector’s Edition is over $47 plus tax. After the break, a bit of board game news.

RUMOR: SEGA to announce new Sonic game very soon

While we don’t normally post rumors very often, today seems to be the exception. Earlier today, The Sonic Stadium reported that an inside source has revealed some details on the next Sonic game. The game is due this fall on pretty much all current gen systems including portables (not smartphones/tablets as of yet), PC and “Next Gen” systems. The reveal may be as early as “Hedgehog Day” Febuary 2nd. Normally I’d say take this with a grain of salt, but Sonic Stadium rarely reports any rumors unless they have a really good source behind them. Read on for more details.

Sonic franchise pack available for 77% off on Steam

Steam is having their holiday sales, which means all PC gamers will be broke by new years. If you want to join in on the sale, but where waiting for some SEGA stuff to hit discount then you are in luck. The Sonic franchise pack is 77% off, giving you 15 Sonic items (not games, since some of it is DLC). You’ll even get newer stuff like Generations and All-Stars Racing (not Transformed).

But hey, a big pack isn’t for you? Single items are being discounted up to 50%. Check it out. There is also the SEGA publisher pack for $70 (sadly low on the Sonic).

Tee Fury: “Super Sonic Bros” shirt available only for today


If you haven’t heard of Tee Fury, its basically a site that sells ‘geeky’ themed shirts (may it deal with comics, movies or video games) for a limited time. How long? 24 hours. After a day they put up a new design to sell. Meaning that you can collect shirts and you won’t have to worry about having the same shirt as everyone else. How much do they cost? Only $10 bucks.

Today they have up a shirt titled “Super Sonic Bros”, check out the design above. What do you think? Blasphemous ?

First 4 Figures teases Shadow the Hedgehog statue

First 4 Figures are at it again, teasing another of their Sonic the Hedgehog statues. This time, the company are adding Shadow to their line of modern era statues, which began with Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic statue as well as the Shadow statue have yet to release. Both are available for pre-order, with Sonic slated for a Q1 2013 release, and Shadow slated for an unspecified date. First 4 Figures, however, has revealed the pre-order date, which begins November 11th. Personally, I find these statues to be incredibly cool but far outside my price range. It’s a shame First 4 Figures never expanded their awesome, and affordable, classic Sonic vinyl figures. Still, those who have been collecting all of these statues as well as the Shadow fans out there should be very happy to hear the news.

SEGA Five: A Salute to the SEGA All-Stars Part 4

I can’t believe that four weeks have passed since we began this salute to the SEGA All-Stars appearing in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed! Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 can be viewed at those handy links. If you’re all caught up with us, let me introduce you to our five All-Stars for this week: Ulala of Space Channel 5, Shadow of Shadow the Hedgehog (oh, and some franchise called Sonic the Hedgehog), Sonic’s not-quite girlfriend Amy Rose, Aiai’s wife MeeMee and our flagman of the game Ristar.

SEGA Five: A Salute to the SEGA All-Stars Part 2

Our Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed celebration continues with part 2 of our salute to the SEGA all-stars who will hit the track this November. In part 1 we featured Sonic, Vyse, NiGHTS, Gum and Amigo. This week, we take a look at more characters from the Sonic and Jet Set Radio franchises, keep the ball rolling with the star of Super Monkey Ball and we see the return of a certain iconic ninja. After the break, it’s an all out all-star salute!

SEGA Five: A Salute to the SEGA All-Stars Part 1

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is only a month away! In anticipation of the game’s release, we here at SEGAbits want to highlight the many All-Stars appearing in SEGA’s racing title. To do this, we’re kicking off a four week salute to the characters appearing in the game. Each week will focus on five SEGA All-Stars. We’ll share why we think these characters are important to SEGA’s history, and why we’re looking forward to racing as them. Let’s kick off part one with the first five, can you guess who they are?

A look at Mobius: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia

Archie has been publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comics since way back in 1992, making it the longest running video-game based comic ever. Now, to celebrate they will be releasing a complete Sonic comic encyclopedia entitled Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia.

The book will be feature 192 pages of content in a 6×9 trade paperback book. This book will include exclusive information not yet revealed in comics as well as character and location information and much more about Sonic’s comic universe. The book will be out October 30th and will retail for $16.99. After the break, two sample pages from the book.