On this episode of SEGA Talk we get lock and loaded into the criminal underworld of Virtua City and break the case of SEGA’s 1994 revolutionary light gun shooter Viruta Cop, we look at its history, ports and legacy it left behind. ALL THIS AND MORE ON … SEGA TALK!
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During our visit to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show, we seized the opportunity to meet and engage in conversation with former veteran SEGA Designers, Akihito Hiroyoshi—renowned as the character designer for classic SEGA AM2 arcade games such as Arabian Fight and Virtua Cop—and Yumiko Miyabe, the former art director for the Space Channel 5 series.
These interviews unveiled insights into their early lives, careers during their tenure at SEGA, and personal hobbies. By clicking the link, you can delve into the interviews and explore behind-the-scenes artwork from the games they passionately crafted during their time at SEGA.
Additionally, the interviews are available in video format, with links provided here for Akihito Hiroyoshi and Yumiko Miyabe. A special acknowledgment goes to our fellow writer, Dakota, for video recording, as well as SEGA fans, Martin Hemmingway and Scott Hamby for translating the interviews. *Please note: images provided in the interview are copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission*
While 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.
Looking back, the SEGA Saturn ad campaign in America was nowhere near as memorable as the Genesis and Dreamcast era campaigns. While the Genesis ads were funny and subversive, and the Dreamcast ads were magical and, dare I say “dream-like”, Saturn’s ads were both weird and forgettable. While some ads did stick in many people’s minds, I’m not sure it was for the right reasons. The “Fly Plaything, Fly” commercial, for example, was a risky move that didn’t pay off. SEGA did indeed beat Nintendo years prior, but in no way did SEGA’s Saturn topple Sony’s Playstation. As much as a Saturn fan that I am, I have to concede that it was the Saturn that was “not ready”.
Other Saturn era ads, like this week’s featured commercial for SEGA-AM2’s Virtua Cop, went with the gritty “is this a game, or is it real life” route. While 3D games were quite impressive at the time, and Virtua Cop is a fantastic game, it was far from being “a little too real”. In fact, those who bought and played the game would discover that Virtua Cop, much like AM2’s other games at the time, existed in a quirky arcade-like world where over the top things like a seemingly endless army of identical henchman and criminal leaders in helicopters shouting “meet your maker!” are common occurrences in the life of a cop. Had SEGA played up the frantic over-the-top gameplay of Virtua Cop, showing that the game is far from “a little too real” and was in fact like nothing you have ever played before, then maybe they might have had a better ad.
After the break, check out some Virtua Cop print ads from around the world! Could somebody explain that “Bum Bum Bum” ad to me?
Welcome to our new video series The Weekly Five, a top five list covering a wide range of SEGA topics. We are celebrating The Year of Developers over at SEGAbits.com, that means that each month throughout the year we will be covering notable notable SEGA developers. This month is all about a developer that is close to my heart, SEGA-AM2. What better way to kick off the new series than to discuss five ways SEGA-AM2 changed video gaming.
SEGA AM2 has a huge library of developed games, but nothing is more shocking at how much they change genres and still delivered a game that would defy that same genre. For example, Virtua Cop which in my opinion is one of the best light gun shooters around.
Nothing has a bigger impact on you than the first stage’s music. Its the song that draws the player into the game and Virtua Cop succeeds with its Stage 1 Theme: “Arms Black Market”, giving you that feeling that you and a buddy really are taking down this black market gun rig.
SEGA AM2 is just one of those developers that always puts a smile on my face whenever I talk about their games. Not only do they have one of the most vast libraries, but they also revolutionized gaming in general multiple times over the past decades. Let’s look at the developer that popularized sprite-scaling in the 80s, gave us modern 3D with their Virtua series and created one of the most expensive games ever as we walk through their legacy.
Don’t forget to join us all month long while we talk more about SEGA AM2 and all their legendary franchises.
We are coming to a close in our SEGA Saturn Month here at SEGAbits, so we decided to go out in a bang by telling you guys our favorite SEGA in-house developed game. SEGA had a power house of developers during the 90’s and most of them really hit their strides during the Saturn, we know its hard to pick just one game, so we will also be listing three more titles as honorable mentions.
Like always, if you guys want to let us know your favorite SEGA developed Saturn titles, you can do so in the comments section.
Wreck-It Ralph is becoming one of our best sources for SEGA in the Media. In the latest trailer for the movie, the opening scene features a shot of the arcade changing over the years. In blink and you’ll miss them cameos, three classic SEGA arcade cabinets appear and disappear in the arcade as time passes. Check out the intro to the trailer above and see what games you can spot. After the break, we’ll spoil them for you.
This exclusive, never before seen, concept sketch comes courtesy of a GameWorks social media employee who recently joined up with the Sonic Stadium forums. Seems a GameWorks topic brought the forum to his attention. As a special treat, the “GameWorks Social Media guy” shared a very special bit of concept art that he describes as “mock-up art of a Virtua Cop statue from way back when GameWorks was only a glimmer in SEGA & DreamWorks’ eye”. This statue never made it to the construction stage, but it is a very cool piece of SEGA, and Virtua Cop, history. You can check out the full sized image here. After the break, his thoughts on SEGA’s split with GameWorks.