SEGA trademarks Lost Judgment

News has dropped that SEGA has recently trademarked a intellectual property name for “Lost Judgment” on the Chizai Watch website. So far, we are not sure if it’s a sequel to Judgment (aka Judge Eyes: Shinigami no Yuigon in Japan), a Yakuza spin-off action game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio which involves a lawyer-turned-detective, Takayuki Yagami, as he and his allies explore a case involving corpses whose eyes have been removed, or possibly a brand new title?

We’ll keep everyone posted as we get more news on “Lost Judgment” from SEGA soon. What do you all think this new trademark IP could be?

[Sources: Chizai Watch, Yakuza Fan]

Rumor: SEGA files trademarks for several Sakura Wars related projects

The recent release of Sakura Wars (aka Shin Sakura Taisen) has had a solid enough release, with it generally receiving mixed to positive reception and a slew of multi-media adaptations such as a manga, anime, and stage play. But if you’re still on the fence about this new take on the series, read this review by writer Kori-Maru.

However, it seems like SEGA is not quite done with the Sakura Wars IP. SEGA of Japan has recently filed several trademarks, for the purposes of multiple things such as miscellaneous types of physical media and software. This includes Sakura Taisen B.L.A.C.K., B.L.A.C.K., Sakura Ishin (Restoration), and Sakura Kakumei (Revolution). What these titles would be is not clear, but it’s likely Sakura Ishin is some type of remake or remaster of a past title and Sakura Kakumei is a spin-off. Currently nothing has been officially announced, but considering the recent Sakura Wars project has had a positive response from consumers so far, it would make sense to continue expanding on the brand in the near future.

SEGA files trademark for Total War Saga: Troy

Its not surprising seeing another Total War trademark considering their last entry, Total War: The Three Kingdoms, was one of their highest selling titles in a long time. This time SEGA and The Creative Assembly are trademarking Total War Saga: Troy. That’s right, its a new thing SEGA started doing with Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, adding ‘Saga’ as part of the name. Unlike Total War Battles series, these Saga games are being listed as part of the main series of games and not a spin-off.

It seems some people are predicting that this might be the AAA game SEGA was teasing a few days ago. It could be, but SEGA also filed trademarks for ‘Humankind’ and ‘Nights Dream Wheel’. Outside of this, someone from The Creative Assembly took to Reddit to say that the teased AAA game isn’t by their studio. Take it for a grain of salt if you want.

[Via: Nibellion]

SEGA files trademark for ‘Nights Dream Wheel’ in Japan

SEGA has just filed a trademark for the name “Nights Dream Wheel” in Japan, of course we don’t know if there is a new ‘NiGHTS into Dreams…’ game in development, but it seems that SEGA is planning on doing something with the IP?

As fans around the world know, NiGHTS has a unique way that Sonic Team used to spell it (all caps, with the “i” being lowercase), sadly the trademark page has the name filed as all caps (which I think is normal for all trademarks?). The last time we heard of the IP was when SEGA re-released the game on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in October 2012.

What do you think this could be? For some reason to me it sounds like it could be some sort of mobile or pachinko type machine, but we shall see. I mean we are getting the return of Super Monkey Ball later this year, so maybe we could see the return of NiGHTS?

[Update: According to people online the trademark is for 家庭用テレビゲーム (Home TV Game), ROMカートリッジ (ROM Cartridge) and 光ディスク (Optical Disk)]

[Via: Gematsu]

Super Monkey Ball coming back? SEGA Japan trademarks Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball

SEGA Games has just trademarked the name Tabegoro! Super Monkey Ball in Japan, if you didn’t know Tabegoro means ‘ripe, ‘in season and/or ‘good to eat’. Makes perfect sense for a brand new Super Monkey Ball game, considering how delicious those bananas look.

Its crazy that the last ‘non-mobile’ title was Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz on the Playstation Vita way back in 2012. I remember one of the first titles we reviewed for this site was Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll on the Wii, so its been a long, long time since we had a new Super Monkey Ball. Are you excited to go ape around in the Super Monkey Ball world?

[Via: Gematsu]

SEGA trademarks the English ‘Sakura Wars’ name in Japan


If you missed the news, last year SEGA announced at SEGA Fes 2018 that there will be a brand new Sakura Wars title and so far we haven’t heard much about it. But SEGA has now filed for a new trademark in Japan for the name ‘Sakura Wars’. That’s right, the English version of the name has been trademarked and not ‘Sakura Taisen’. The application was filed by SEGA Games on February 26, 2019 to be used in video games, music, movies, streaming services, and more. Expect SEGA to have more Sakura Wars news at SEGA Fes 2019 this upcoming March 30th.

Outside of this Sakura Wars will have a couple of art exhibits this year, but what I really want is for a new modern take on the series and a re-release of the originals (that finally come to America!).

[Source: Siliconera]

SEGA trademarks ‘Humankind’ in Japan

The guys over at Gematsu posted up more company trademarks, as you know previously SEGA trademarked ‘Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story and now they are trademarking “Humankind”. Gematsu did make a note that Take-Two is going to debut a new game called Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey at The Game Awards 2018 in a few days. We know SEGA has a history of working with Take-Two in publishing and pushing their games in Japanese market. Who knows.

Sadly all these trademarks are vague without a description on what sort of platform they will be used on. At this point SEGA is so diverse it can be a Pachinko, Mobile or Console game. What do you want to see from this new trademark? What do you think it is? Let us know in the comments below.

SEGA trademarks ‘Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story’

Looks like SEGA has some new IPs to show off in 2019 considering they just filed for a trademark in Japan for “Romance: Nanatsu Iro no Boukendan” which roughly translates to “Romance: Seven-Colored Adventure Story” While this news has brought some jokes that SEGA is finally making a Sonic the Hedgehog dating sim, I actually think this might be a cutesy mobile or arcade game aimed at the Japanese market. Its nothing new for SEGA since they have been at it since Oshare Majo: Love and Berry.

But maybe I’m wrong and this is a larger, more mainstream project. I guess we will find out soon since we don’t really know much more about the project outside of its name.

[Via: Gematsu]

 

SEGA trademarks ‘Darts of the Dead’, possible House of the Dead spin-off?

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It seems that SEGA is planning something to do with darts and their iconic IP ‘House of the Dead’, but instead of dealing with houses it seems this one will have darts. According to Go Nintendo, SEGA has filed the trademark for Darts of the Dead. The House of the Dead franchises has had its fair share of spin-offs including Typing of the Dead , Pinball of the Dead, and House of the Dead EX. They also noted that the trademark was done only for the English name, but that isn’t out of the ordinary for the franchise.

If SEGA could make a typing game based on the franchise, I would assume something like a dart game, with a score system based on your accuracy would be doable. Though thinking of the name, Darts of the Dead, seems a bit silly. What are your thoughts on SEGA filing the trademark for Darts of the Dead? Should SEGA just do another main title or are you interested in a spin-off?

SEGA Japan trademarks “Narcia’s Tears and the Fairy’s Flute”

PopoloSoS_Cutscene01.0SEGA Japan has recently filed a trademark for “Narcia’s Tears and the Fairy’s Flute” (Narushia no Namida to Yousei no Fue). The trademark was filed on July 24th. According to Gematsu, Narcia is the name of a character from the PopoloCrois series, which has faeries as a prominent role. Not only that, the series’ main developer Epics has been on a hiring spree recently for a new PopoloCrois Monogatari game, looking for a “UI design intended for smartphone and consumer game screens.” Could this mean that the next PopoloCrois game will be published by SEGA?

It seems that the PopoloCrois IP is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Even though they own the IP, 2015’s Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale was the first game to be on a non-Sony platform as the IP was licensed out to Marvelous and the game released on the Nintendo 3DS. Its possible that SEGA could be licensing the IP and planning a new entry along with developer Epics, much how they have found success with Hatsune Miku titles. What are your thoughts on SEGA trademarking “Narcia’s Tears and the Fairy’s Flute” ? Do you think PopoloCoris franchise should be adding to SEGA’s publishing arm?

SEGA Renews Virtua Fighter Trademark

maxresdefaultI saw this floating around Twitter a few days ago, but has now been covered by VFDC and Shoryuken so why not cover it? SEGA has renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark according to trademarkia on July 4th. What does renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark possibly mean for the future of the franchise? Possibly nothing, seeing as SEGA does this all the time. Back in 2012 we did a story about SEGA renewing the Skies of Arcadia trademark and now we know that didn’t mount to much.

Of course SEGA renewed the Virtua Fighter trademark to protect its IP, not to mention they still do stuff with the franchise from time to time. For example Virtua fighter characters have had cameos in games like Smash Bros, Dead or Alive 5 ,Project x Zone 1/2 and even Dengeki Bunko: Fighting ClimaxAs we covered before, it has been a decade since the release of Virtua Fighter 5 and if the franchise needs anything its a new entry. Bring on Virtua Fighter 6, SEGA!

I personally think SEGA can test the market by re-releasing Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown definitive edition on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Maybe try some experiments like Tecmo Koei did with Dead or Alive which had a free-to-play version and a full package release. But anyway, what are your thoughts on SEGA renewing the Virtua Fighter trademark? What do you want to see for the future of the franchise?

SEGA Japan trademarks SEGA Cyclone dev kit and “Liberation of the Blue Sky”

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Two new SEGA trademarks cropped up today from Japan: “Soukuu no Liberation” (Liberation of the Blue Sky) and “Sega Cyclone Development Kit.” No other information was given at this time, so we can only speculate as to what these two are. The first is most likely the name of a game. Some have speculated that “Liberation of the Blue Sky” is a Skies of Arcadia game, but the only reason is the mention of a sky and let’s all remember that the franchise was Eternal Arcadia in Japan. More likely, it it a new IP and if I was a gambling man I’d place my bets on mobile or arcade.

“Sega Cyclone Development Kit” is more interesting, as it is clearly a development kit (duh) for a piece of hardware called Cyclone. SEGA arcade fans might find the name familiar, as there exists a piece of motion sim hardware SEGA utilizes called Typhoon. It is possible that this is an update to the motion simulator, or another arcade related thing such as a new board. Or *sigh* it’s a new console… but honestly, after eight years of SEGA blogging and following the company since 1991 I can honestly say that I do not think this is a home console.

[Source: Gematsu]

SEGA trademarks ‘Valkyria of the Blue Revolution’

Valkyria_Chronicles-1SEGA’s SRPG Valkyria Chronicles launched back in 2008 exclusively on the Playstation 3, while it was one of my favorite games of that generation it seemed that most people totally missed it. Last fall SEGA released a port on PC, which went on to sell more than half a million copies. Seems that SEGA of Japan might actually capitalize on that success, seeing as they have trademarked “Aoki Kakumei no Valkyria,” which roughly translates to “Valkyria of the Blue Revolution”.

According to the trademark registry it can be used for console games, amusement park machines (see: slot and pachislot machines) and medal games. What do you guys think, could this be related to Valkyria Chronicles franchise?

[Via: Siliconera]

Rumor: SEGA renews the Shenmue trademark – could Shenmue HD be back on track?

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Via NeoGAF and hokanko-alt.com comes news that SEGA has renewed the trademark for Shenmue. Fans will probably remember that back in February we reported that SEGA had lost the trademark for Shenmue – specifically in reference to “computer game programs and prerecorded discs and ROMs for computer game programs” and “entertainment services, namely, providing an online computer game”. We speculated that these trademarks refer to the original Dreamcast releases and the cancelled Shenmue Online. While we don’t have the specifics on this new trademark filing, such as country of origin or the specific uses, it is possible that SEGA has gotten back on track with releasing the rumored Shenmue 1&2 HD rerelease. Both games have been rumored to be complete and ready for release for quite some time, and back in 2012 when asked what the next SEGA Heritage releases would be, SEGA responded with “it’s gonna be Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia as well”.

Of course, this is speculation on our part, but if SEGA truly has renewed the Shenmue trademark then they must be making some sort of use out of it. As soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to share it! For now, we’re filing this as a rumor, even if the trademark renewal is legitimate.

Has SEGA lost the trademark for Shenmue? [Updated]

RyoHaz
Weird the way things happen? In one month from today, March 19th, Yu Suzuki will take the stage at GDC to talk about Shenmue, Ryo Hazuki has made his return to SEGA’s All-Stars Racing games and now SEGA loses the trademark for the franchise in the USA? Seems like a step back for fans and it seems to be true.

According to the trademark page, the reason they dropped the trademark was “because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8.” So what is Section 8? You can read it all here, but the whole thing revolves around SEGA not coming with a ‘declaration’ on why they should keep it and why they haven’t been making commercial uses of it. Though, I think this is a mistake since SEGA technically is making ‘use’ of the franchise with his appearances in recent games and even merchandise. I have a feeling this trademark issue is something SEGA is already working on fixing.

Update: It should be noted that the database shows two dead trademarks for Shenmue. One, filed on February 18, 1999 and cancelled on January 17, 2009, pertains to “computer game programs and prerecorded discs and ROMs for computer game programs”. This is likely referring to the original Shenmue for the SEGA Dreamcast.

The one that was cancelled on Valentine’s Day pertains to “entertainment services, namely, providing an online computer game”. This one was filed on August 25, 2003. The now cancelled Shenmue Online was officially announced in 2004, meaning this recent dead trademark is likely for that game and the potential for games like it.