On this SEGA News Bits we will be giving you our first impressions on 7th Dragon III: Code VFD a JRPG exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS. The video covers the first few chapters of 7th Dragon III: Code VFD and gives you a feeling on what to expect July 12th, 2016 when the game launches in North America.
7th Dragon III: Code VFD features music by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage) and is co-produced by Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star &Skies of Arcadia), which are a couple of big names to make die hard SEGA fans happy. Give the video a play and tell us what you think in the comments below. Like always, if you want to see more don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube.
Get ready, as our Strike Harbinger coverage continues! In this SEGA News Bits, Barry talks George through what it was like playing an early arcade build of Strike Harbinger during its debut at Galloping Ghost Arcade‘s SEGA Week. Created by the game development and design studio HitSparks Games, which is co-owned by Lead Game Designer Chris Tang and Senior Artist Kiyoshi Okuma, Strike Harbinger takes inspiration from classic SEGA titles including Space Harrier and Phantasy Star. The game is not due out until 2017, but this early first look at the game shows a lot of promise! Featuring unique controls and RPG-style elements, there is a lot more to Strike Harbinger than you’d think. So click play above and hear what Barry thought of the game and see some lovely 1080p 60fps gameplay footage courtesy of the developers.
More SEGA Week coverage is to come, including even more Strike Harbinger details and footage, so stay tuned! If you enjoy the SEGA News Bits video formats make sure to like, share and subscribe to our YouTube for more.
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!
Life as a SEGA and Atlus fan in Europe has been tough. Between SEGA Europe not releasing titles like SEGA 3D Classics Collection, 7th Dragon III: Code VFD and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X and Atlus severing ties with NIS America, the promise of new games appears hopeless. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry put themselves in the European state of mind and discuss the latest on SEGA Europe’s localization woes and what the Atlus and NIS America break-up could mean for the future of the Persona and Etrian Odyssey franchises.
Welcome to our newest video series, SEGA Talk! Like SEGA News Bits, SEGA Talk features hosts George and Barry discussing all things SEGA. However, instead of detailing the latest in SEGA news, we bring on a guest to take part in a round table SEGA discussion. To kick things off we are joined by Matt from Tails’ Channel to share what we think the ideal Sonic 25th anniversary game would be.
Remember Flappy Bird, the mobile game that apparently destroyed people’s lives because of its simplicity? A SEGA fan going by the name of guacasaurus_mex has recreated Flappy Bird for SEGA’s Visual Memory Unit, so if you want to play it make sure you have some spare CR-2032 lithium batteries and lots of patience. Hit the play above and listen to me and Barry talk about Flappy Bird, VMUs and even Rappy Bird?
25 years ago today, on March 29th 1991, Shining in the Darkness released to the Japanese Mega Drive. While the original game did not light the world on fire, the later Shining Force games would become some of the best strategy RPGs ever produced. The series is still going strong, at least in Japan, with Blade Arcus from Shining EX releasing just last year.
Whatever you may think about the recent installments, most fans agree that the Shining Force games were legendary and the original Shining in the Darkness is to thank for starting the franchise. Join us on this SEGA News Bits as we share our Shining memories and talk about the possible future of the series, and don’t forget to brush up on all the SEGA anniversaries hitting this year!
2016 is filled with milestone SEGA anniversaries, and one of the most anticipated by us – for obvious reasons – was Fantasy Zone! Join us on this SEGA News Bits as we discuss our thoughts on the franchise’s past, present and future.
Released to arcades on March 28, 1986, the Fantasy Zone franchise has released a surprising amount of games in its 30 year history. Despite the many titles, the story often remains the same: the sentient spaceship Opa Opa traverses the Fantasy Zone, sometimes joined by his brother Upa Upa, battling bizarre bosses and upping his arsenal thanks to a floating Parts Shop. Outside the franchise, Opa Opa has made appearances in both All-Stars Racing games as well as Amusement Visions’ Planet Harriers, a 3D installment in the Space Harrier franchise which also takes place in Opa Opa’s Fantasy Zone.
For months, the Sonic the Hedgehog social media accounts have been hinting at something. It could be the reveal of the new Sonic game, or it could be something bigger. Whatever it is, another piece of the puzzle has arrived in a video titled The Truth About Ben Kalough. The video, seen above, catches us up on what the former SEGA of Antarctica staffer has been up to and what the future holds for him. Memes, the word “big” and Aaron Webber all come into play. Could this be it? Or are we all about to be taken for buffoons? Who knows, but once we learn more we will certainly share it in a cryptic article that keeps using the word “big”.
SEGA wants fans to “Help Us Make Our Games Better” by unleashing a new survey which asks what your favorite classic SEGA franchises are! Did your favorite IP make the list? Find out as George and Barry go through all the classic franchises mentioned in the survey.
Another SEGA of Japan game is making its way to the Americas, and this time its 7th Dragon III: Code VFD for the Nintendo 3DS. In this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry share their thoughts on this happy development and discuss both the upcoming game and the franchise. While the first 7th Dragon released back in 2009 to the Nintendo DS to Japan, 7th Dragon III: Code VFD is the franchise’s debut in the west. Is SEGA taking a gamble with the game, or is this a brave new world of SEGA of America releasing niche titles with little expectation of games attaining “pillar franchise” status? All this and more is discussed in the video above. Click play and check it out!
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Not all games can be winners, we know that. But even though this year was light on SEGA releases, none of the games released were terrible. Now the SEGAbits staff sits and nitpicks what title was the most disappointing for them this year. Trust us, it was harder to pick a disappointing game then it was to pick a favorite!
While yes, this is not a SEGA product, it IS the long awaited action adventure game from Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka. Naka and his studio Prope had been working on this game for quite some time, and it has been an equal (if not more) amount of time that the game has been delayed. In fact, the game is so old it had to be ported from the Wii to the Wii U! Naka has been pretty vocal about being disappointed with the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game, urging players to try the original Wii version as that is the version he and Prope truly developed.
Having said that, I bought the Nintendo 3DS version. Mainly because the Limited Edition was about $20 cheaper and included the exact same extras. So ignore which version of the game I bought and check out what bonuses came with the NIS America produced Limited Edition version of Yuji Naka’s long awaited Rodea the Sky Soldier!
2015 sure has been a great year for indie SEGA Dreamcast games! We’ve seen shmups, odd puzzlers, vikings, and now we’re seeing an RPG by the name of Pier Solar and the Great Architects. While Pier Solar released way back in 2010 to the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive, the recent Dreamcast port features improved graphics, new scenarios, and special extras that take advantage of the Dreamcast’s unique capabilities (VMU mini-games!). As seen in my recent unboxing, the game’s packaging is beautiful. Now, in this latest episode of SEGA News Bits, I talk with George about my first impressions of the game.
The long awaited Dreamcast release of Pier Solar has started to arrive in mailboxes, and I was so impressed with the packaging that I knew it had to get the unboxing video treatment. This isn’t the first SEGA console the game has released to, back in 2010 the game hit the Mega Drive/Genesis and I shared an unboxing of the reprint edition. The Dreamcast version I present to you today is a first edition in the Japanese style packaging, other versions include US and PAL, but seeing as how most indie Dreamcast releases emulate the Japanese packaging, I went with this style and don’t regret it in the slightest. A lot of effort went into this release, and it really makes modern game unboxings look like crap by comparison. Seriously, who wants to see somebody opening a Wii U game where all you get is a disc and a slip of paper telling you to read the digital manual.
