SEGA Talk Podcast #02: The House of the Dead (1996)

We return with another episode of the SEGA Talk podcast, on this extra spooky Halloween episode we look at the release of the 1996 light gun shooter classic The House of the Dead. We will look at the development, talk about the gameplay, tell you about its history and even talk about a time when the arcade game went to US court for being too violent. Grab some Halloween candy, pop in a copy of The House of the Dead , hit play on the podcast, and go down memory lane with us!

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But tell us what you thought of The House of the Dead, where you first play it and did you think it was too violent? Tell us in the comment section below. You can also email us via our contact page just make sure to put SEGA Talk podcast on the header.

The SEGA Five: SEGA Games That Would Thrive in Virtual Reality

SEGAVRWhile not every single gamer is sold on Virtual Reality just yet, mostly due to the fact that it is rather expensive to even get a headset and compatible computer, the people that have experienced it all think its the future of gaming. While this is still open to debate, what I do know is that Virtual Reality has opened the door for older types of genres that SEGA pioneered in their long history to thrive. So today on The SEGA Five we will be discussing five genres that SEGA can revive with the help of Virtual Reality.

Before we get started I just want to say that these ideas are to make the games Virtual Reality compatible and not exclusive. I think this would mean that more gamers will be able to enjoy the games, VR headset or not.  The number of gamers with Virtual Reality headsets is too low to spend money on exclusives right now. So let’s get to it.

Swingin’ Report Show #72: Halloween Special featuring The SEGA Fall Lineup

Fall is in the air, the leaves are changing color and new console and PC games are releasing from SEGA! This week on the Swingin’ Report Show podcast, George and Barry look back on SEGA’s scariest games, and discuss the latest current and upcoming SEGA titles. We discuss why The House of the Dead has endured as a franchise for so long, talk SEGA’s most underrated scary titles, share our thoughts on the recently released Alien: Isolation and Bayonetta 2, and celebrate Valkyria Chronicles PC release announcement.

We also look ahead to November, as Barry talks about his experience playing Sonic Boom for Wii U and 3DS at SEGA’s New York event and details the first issue of Archie’s Sonic Boom comic book. November’s console theme month is also revealed, and we tease an upcoming special edition podcast that is going to be Mega fun. Give it a listen and Happy Halloween!

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Review: The Typing of the Dead Overkill

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Droppin’ F-bombs like a mother…

The original The Typing of the Dead was a misunderstood sleeper hit when it came out for the Dreamcast. The keyboard accessory may have been useful in the eyes of consumers for games like Quake III Arena, but it didn’t immediately become apparent that a typing game spin-off would make for an amazing, fast paced alternative. The original game appeared in Japanese arcades prior, and when it arrived on PC shortly after it had done well enough to spawn several more sequels and updates on the platform, in Japan. Outside of Japan it would be seen as an outdated arcade game that would be shunned, yet had become the cult hit which emitted an outcry of diehard fans in their never ending list of seemingly implausible demands for a new entry in the series. Years later, after SEGA and Headstrong’s release of The House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii, it had seen an update with The House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut on Playstation 3 and on the week of Halloween has seen an update on Steam for PC as part of a semi two game bundle, literally out of the blue with no fanfare and nearly cancelled by now defunct Blitz Games. Despite these hurdles, it was still the ideal platform to put out this modern update to the franchise that encompasses its cheesiness and over the top absurdity to much higher levels, probably higher than people would expect or possibly want.

SEGA Tunes: A Ghost’s Pumpkin Soup & Revenge

Halloween is kickin’ tomorrow with a bang. Just for this special occasion for this eerie holiday, The SEGABits staff and I decided to give you to classic tunes from our beloved Sega franchises. A Ghost’s Pumpkin Soup from Sonic Adventure 2 composed by Tomoya Ohtani and lyrics sung by Hunnid-P. I’m not a huge fan of rap but with Knuckles stages in Sonic Adventure 2, I can groove to. The song describes Knuckles going through the haunted hills fighting off Boos (ugly looking creeps that really like to scare the **** out of you). The song gives out that eerie feeling to it mixed with rap and I believe it gave out a memorable feel to Sonic fans during the time. I still remember playing this stage on the Sega Dreamcast for the first time. The first time I heard this song, I nod my head going through the Church only to be chased away by a ghost. After the break, we go within the hallways of The House of the Dead.

SEGA Five: Bein’ bad – SEGA style

Admit it. When a game gives you the option to be bad, you go for it. Unlike the stupid real world, video games have no repercussions. While game designers may not intend for you to do these bad things, or there are in-game penalties, in the end it’s just a game so you can be bad to your heart’s content, hit the reset button and return to playing the game as it was intended. In this week’s Weekly Five, we celebrate Friday the 13th with five SEGA games which allow you to be (you guessed it) bad.