Phantasy Star mobile countdown website launched, celebrates franchises 30th Anniversary

SEGA has launched the following Phantasy Star website, according to the site this upcoming announcement will be part of the Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary. The first Phantasy Star launched in Japan way back in 1988 on the SEGA Mark III (Master System outside of Japan).

According to the website this announcement is slated for iOS and Android mobile users. According to the site this will be a RPG, no idea if this means that they will go back to the franchises roots or if this is just another mobile cash grab. I will say I’m digging the Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary logo, looks like they included a silhouette of Myau from the orginal Phantasy Star.

SEGA News Bits: IDW Sonic @ SDCC 2018 – New Character & Team Sonic Racing Comic Revealed

Today was the day of the big IDW Sonic the Hedgehog panel at San Diego Comic Con where several reveals were made! On this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George take a look at what was revealed, including new covers, new Team Sonic Racing info and a new character in the IDW canon.

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Shining Force & Golden Sun artist Hiroshi Kajiyama passes away


Hiroshi Kajimyama’s son has revealed via Twitter that he’s father has passed away. The son didn’t give any details on when he passed away, what the causes or any other information. This is all probably a close family matter and I respect that.

Hiroshi Kajimyama worked on a ton of games, but most SEGA fans like ourselves will remember he’s amazing art from his SEGA games such as doing character designs, illustrations for Shining Force Gaiden, Shining Force Gaiden II, Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict, Shining Wisdom and Shining Force III. He would later go on to work with Camelot by doing the art for the Golden Sun games as well.

If there is any way that Hiroshi Kajimyama wants to be remembered, its probably by he’s amazing artwork so let’s look at some incredible pieces of art that he created throughout he’s career.

[Via: AnimeNewsNetWork]

Sonic Mania Plus developer diary part two features Takashi Iizuka and Christian Whitehead

SEGA has released the second Sonic Mania Plus developer diary, in a series of two, this time featuring Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka and the Taxman himself Christian Whitehead. The video is a lively discussion about the genesis of Sonic Mania and the recently released Sonic Mania Plus, as well as a breakdown of the new modes and characters. You can check out the first part here.

If you have yet to pick up Sonic Mania Plus, you can order the game today for Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon.

SEGA AGES debuts on Nintendo Switch with Sonic the Hedgehog & Thunder Force IV next month

It was a surprise to a lot of SEGA fans when SEGA announced that they wouldn’t be porting the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive Collection to Nintendo Switch. Instead SEGA Japan would be bringing its downloadable titles by reviving their SEGA AGES brand. We finally got the first details including the debut games, release date and pricing.

According to the latest Weekly Famitsu magazine where they confirmed that the first two debut titles will be Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV! Each title will cost you 925 yen (£6.30 / $8.20) and will release in August. Just like the SEGA 3D Classics, Sonic the Hedgehog will include the added Spin Dash, Drop Dash and the Mega Play arcade version. While Thunder Force IV will introduce online leaderboards and the Styx Mode from the SEGA Saturn version!

SEGA releases Valkyria Chronicles 4 opening movie

Valkyria Chronicles 4 releases September 25, 2018, and to hold us over SEGA has released the opening movie to the game. You know, that bit that plays when you boot up the game? Check out the video above and in the comments let us know your thoughts on the upcoming sequel.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 will release in the Americas and Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and will see a “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition priced at $99.99. This will include the game for your platform of choice, an exclusive vinyl statue of the “Hafen” Tank, “Claude’s Travel Journal” exclusive 100-Page themed artbook and a pair of DLC adventures featuring Squad 7 characters.

Pre-order the Valkyria Chronicles 4 “Memoirs from Battle” Premium Edition
PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Switch

SEGA News Bits: Sonic Hollywood Movie Logo & Shooting Locations Revealed Discussion

The Paramount movie Gods have begun to shoot what will be considered in the near future to be one of the best movies of all time, the ‘Sonic’ movie. Or is it going to be the best movie of all time? On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we have a look at a shooting notice that reveals a house the film crew are shooting in, a new logo and other tidbits of information. So tune in and let us know what you think of the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog Hollywood movie in the comments below.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

Sonic Mania Adventures concludes with episode 5 – Sonic Mania Plus releases today!

SEGA has released the fifth and final episode of their Sonic Mania Adventures animated web series. The episode features all five heroes taking on Metal Sonic and Doctor Eggman in a final(?) battle. Also released is an official supercut combining all five episodes into an 11 minute video, seen after the break.

You can order the game today for Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon, and in turn support the site.

SEGA rarity A.B. Cop now playable at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL

Released around 1989, A.B. Cop (Air Bike Cop) is a Sega X Board rarity that few know about and even fewer have played. A super scaler game, like After Burner and Thunder Blade (also Sega X Board titles), A.B. Cop was jointly developed by Aicom and SEGA. In the game, you control an air bike cop who is out to arrest criminals by crashing into their vehicles, thus disabling them. The game is played on a sweet dedicated cabinet in which you perch yourself on a seat and use handlebar controls to move left and right, a button to jump and a lever to accelerate.

Sounds great, right? Want to play it? Well Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL just added the game to their arcade floor in a lovely dedicated cabinet! Revealed as their Monday Mystery Game via live streamA.B. Cop came to the arcade direct from Japan. You can hear the story of how they acquired it and check out some gameplay footage on the stream. I plan to check the game out this weekend, and if you want to give A.B. Cop and 600+ more games a spin head to Galloping Ghost Arcade for yourself!

Sonic Mania Plus infomercial is a retro flashback to a classic Sonic commercial

SEGA has released a great Sonic Mania Plus infomercial which itself is a throwback to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog commercial featuring a sleazy salesman trying to upsell a customer on the competition. The original ad featured the SNES and Super Mario World going up against Sonic the Hedgehog and a SEGA Genesis, which was $50 cheaper. In the case of the new ad, a $60 first person shooter is going up against the $30 Sonic Mania Plus.

There are a lot of funny moments including the FPS graphics featuring finger guns as weapons, the customer – played by Aaron Webber – getting dizzy from the holographic box art, and the salesman – played by actor/comedian/dancer Nathan Barnatt (aka Keith Apicary) hanging up from a phone call in the same way the original ad began. A big thumbs up to SEGA for producing this!

You can order the game today for Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon, and in turn support the site. Sonic Mania Plus releases tomorrow!

After the break, check out the original commercial.

New Sonic the Hedgehog movie details revealed – filming location, possible title and logo

Via Twitter user KyroDRX and the Sonic Stadium comes some new details about the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie from Paramount. A friend of KyroDRX received a notice for an upcoming filming on their streets of the movie. The scene will take place in a residential area and will feature a car pulling up to a house, scenes will then take place inside the house. The scenes will be taking place during the day and night, so it is possible that this is a home of a main character and will be featured at various points throughout the movie.

There will be no action or special effects scenes films, only atmospheric smoke will be used. The home address given is a lovely little home just off of an inlet from the Pacific Ocean and the area has a very “Californian” vibe. You can see the home after the break.

Also worth noting is that the movie logo and title might be revealed in the image above. The title is a simple “SONIC” in italics. If you want my graphic designer expert opinion, I don’t like it. Dropping “the Hedgehog” and using italics makes it read like Sonic Drive-In, and the addition of Sonic’s silhouette in the C looks clunky. Sonic already has a logo, so why not use that one?

SDCC Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel promises surprise announcements


The IDW comic book team will have a big Sonic the Hedgehog panel at San Diego Comic-Con which is being titled Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel. The panel is set to take place on July 19 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Here is the panel description by Comic-Con 2018’s event page:

Sonic The Hedgehog has raced back into comics, bringing old enemies and new friends along for the ride. IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, artist Evan Stanley, Sega licensing specialist Michael Cisneros, director of product development Austin Keys, and head of Sonic team Takashi Iizuka discuss comics and upcoming games, make some surprise announcements, and more!

I think its pretty interesting that Takashi Iizuka will be at the event and that they will be discussing upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog games and not only comics. Will the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog game announce a storyline to tie into the upcoming Team Sonic Racing? According to the tags there will also be ‘action figures’ and ‘toys’ at the event. Like always, if you miss the panel you can check back here and we will have a post with all the new announcements! See you on July 19th! What do you think the surprises will be?

[Via: Comic-Con event page]

Sonic Mania Plus Review – Worthy of an Encore (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

When I reviewed 2017’s Sonic Mania, I praised it as being the best 2D Sonic game in decades. Now, a year later, SEGA is releasing a new version of the game dubbed Sonic Mania Plus. This definitive edition answers fan demand for a physical release while adding gameplay tweaks, expanded multiplayer, a new mode and two additional playable characters. Typically a reviewer would take this moment to pose the question: “So does Sonic Mania stand up one year later and are the new additions worthy of a double dip or DLC download?”, but I’ll just let you know right now that the answers are “yes” and “yes”. Sonic Mania Plus is everything that made the original Sonic Mania great, and more.

If you’d like to read our initial review, click here. Everything said there applies here. After the break, read about the new additions and enhancements, as well as the contents of the physical release.

Going to Evo? Enter the Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown side tournament!


If you are going to attend EVO 2018 and where looking for some Virtua Fighter action, you’re in luck. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will have a side tournament at EVO 2018 and you can sign up here if you want to enter. Registration to sign up closes in a week, so don’t wait.

Console: Xbox 360
Where: Evo 2018, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas USA.
When: Friday August 3, 10AM
Entry Fee: $5 (Plus Evo 2018 Event Registration ($60).)

Here are the rules:

Sonic collaborating with Sou Sou to release traditional Japanese tabi socks

You thought the Sonic collaboration with Puma was great? You haven’t seen the half of it, as Sou Sou has just announced their latest collaboration with the blue blur will be… a pair of old fashioned Japanese socks?

That is right, Sonic x Sou Sou will be releasing Sonic themed Tabi style socks, which are a traditional Japanese style ‘sock’ dating back to the 15th century. You can tell they are Tabi style because of how the big toe is separated, this was done so it could be worn with a zori or geta sandals.

These Sonic the Hedgehog tabi style socks aren’t just made by Sou Sou, they teamed up with collaboration with Ritsumeikan University following the the concept of “promoting a university’s idea using Sonic the Hedgehog“. The higher priced Sonic the Hedgehog tabi socks also feature soles and can be worn with shoes. The premium Sonic tabi socks will cost you 8,000 yen (about $71 USD) plus tax, a bit pricey for socks that aren’t guaranteed to make you go fast. The standard sock without the soles run you only 550 yen (about $4.89 USD) plus tax! Pre-orders go live on July 19, 2018!

[Via: Siliconera]