Bitmap Books SEGA Master System: a visual compendium Kickstarter launches

UK based Bitmap Books have been around for a while, producing high quality art books featuring classic game consoles. “SEGA Master System: a visual compendium” is their first foray into the world of SEGA, and to make the book happen they’ve turned to Kickstarter. The book will feature pixel art, product design and graphic design associated with this iconic 8-bit system. The book is also officially licensed by SEGA and is the first book of this kind to be released for the Master System.

Backers can choose between digital, softcover or hardcover and add-ons include post cards, a poster, a t-shirt. Also included with each book will be 3-D glasses and a bookmark. If you want to support the book, check out their Kickstarter campaign.

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI Liberation D×2up for per-registration on the American Play Store

The upcoming mobile game, Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2, is a big game for the working relationship between SEGA and Atlus. This is the first Shin Megami Tensei title being developed by SEGA since they purchased Atlus back in 2013. The game now has a Google Play Store page that lets you pre-register for the game. This means that when the game does finally release, you will be alerted with a notification.

Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2 (what a mouthful) is a Pokemon Go style AR game that allows you to capture up to 160 different demons and contains anime storytelling elements.The game is also set to launch with a competitive PVP mode. According to the Play Store page, the game will be fully in Japanese with English subtitles.

SEGA News Bits: Jim Carrey To Play Eggman In The Sonic Hollywood Movie Reaction

We just got the news that Jim Carrey will be playing the infamous Dr. Eggman in the upcoming Paramount Pictures Sonic the Hedgehog movie. This confirms that the studio will be recasting the main Sonic the Hedgehog video game cast instead of having them be CGI with them reprising their roles. Now you get to hear us discuss our thoughts on the casting, where the movie is heading and much more.

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Jim Carrey will play villain ‘Robotnik’ in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie

According to Deadline exclusive sources, Jim Carrey has now negotiated with Paramount Pictures to star in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog CGI/Live Action movie. Jim Carrey is set to join James Marsden and Tika Sumpter in the Jeff Fowler directed movie later in 2019. As for me using ‘Robotnik’ in the title, its sorta mocking Deadline for using it then later in the article uses Dr. Eggman. According to everything I have read from sources, they will be using Dr. Eggman as a name in the movie. But what would you prefer?

Jim Carrey has sort of been off the movie radar as of late, with his last couple of movies coming in 2016 with The Bad Batch and Dark Crimes. Both films being smaller, indie affairs. It will seem that if this whole deal is true, Jim Carrey will return to mainstream film making via the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Personally don’t see the point of using Jim Carrey, but you know how movie studios are with big name celebrities joining these sort of projects.

Hideki Sato talks about creating SEGA Saturn hardware and Sony asking SEGA to go third party

SEGA’s Hideki Sato is a big figure in SEGA history, he was the mastermind behind all of SEGA’s major console hardware including the SG-1000, SEGA Master System, SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast.He later served as SEGA President from 2001-2003. Earlier this month he was part of an ‘oral history research project’ that is documenting the game industry in Japan. The transcript is over 150 pages long and all in Japanese. I can’t read Japanese, can you?

Well it seems that Gryson on the SEGA-16 boards knows some Japanese and he translated some of his favorite tid-bits, I’ll include the one about how he changed the SEGA Saturn to respond to PlayStation and of course the story about how PlayStation CEO

Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown free on Xbox via Games with Gold in July

If you are an Xbox gamer, you are in for a real treat. For the month of July, if you are an Xbox Gold member you will be able to download the following games:

  • Assault Android Cactus (July 1- 31)
  • Death Squared (July 16-Aug.15)
  • Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (July 1-15)
  • Splinter Cell Conviction (July 16-31)

Though if you look through the YouTube video, it seems most Xbox fans are not happy with the games being chosen and I guess a lot of these Xbox fans put more value on the price of the games being given away instead of how good the games are. Basically they are disappointed that they are doing Xbox 360 games and not Xbox One.

But of course these games are playable on Xbox one via backwards compatibility

[Source: .Major Nelson]

SEGA wants to return to the hardware market with the Sonic Toaster

SEGA wants to return to the hardware market with the Sonic toaster, but to make that happen they’ll need to hit 1,000 pre-orders within the next 13 days. As revealed on yesterday’s Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube stream, shipping has expanded to include several European countries. The full list of countries include:

U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Spain, and Sweden.

The toaster itself burns in a classic Sonic silhouette, and has a variety of settings from defrost to bagel. Check it out for yourself at the SEGA Shop!

Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove to be self published, releasing this year

Funded back in March of 2015, Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove promised not only the return of the aliens from Funkotron, but a return of the 2D gameplay style fans loved from the original game. It has been a long road to release, with the expected Kickstarter delays and the announcement of Adult Swim Games publishing. But the latest update reveals that the game will no longer be published by Adult Swim Games.

IDW Games announces premium collector Sonic the Hedgehog jigsaw puzzles

IDW Games, a branch of IDW Publishing, will be releasing premium collector jigsaw puzzles soon. September, 2018 to be exact. Sonic the Hedgehog and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be kicking off the line, with 1000-piece puzzles targeting puzzle hobbyists and fans. The Sonic puzzle art comes from the issue 4 cover of the comic series by Tyson Hesse. The Ninja Turtles art is by co-creator Kevin Eastman, so Tyson is in good company indeed!

You can pre-order the puzzle today for $19.99!

SEGAbits at E3 2018: Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Hands-On Preview

The Wonder Boy series creator, Ryuichi Nishizawa, returns for an all new heavily inspired 2D platformer title, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Co-developed by France based Game Atelier and Germany based publisher FDG Entertainment, the gameplay is largely the same and bears a striking similarity to Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. Two demo levels were available to play allowing you to play as Monster Boy or as a transformed anthropomorphic creature. I played through the latter. You can hit the jump to read on, check out the image gallery and hit up links for the trailer.

Udon publishing ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta 2’ art book in the West this fall


Udon Entertainment is set to release ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta 2‘ art book in the West this upcoming November 20, 2018. Udon is mostly known for its work on the Street Fighter comic book series and even going as far as doing the HD sprites for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix re-re-re-re-(infinite amount of re)-release. But they’ve also released a ton of vide game art books for IPs such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Persona, Mega Man, Dark Souls, Border Break, Shining series, Valkyria Chronicles, and even the first ‘The Eyes of Bayonetta’ book!

SEGA’s Alien: Isolation team working on new IP, a ‘First Person Tactical Shooter’

While SEGA’s Creative Assembly is mostly known in PC circles, the company has tried its hand at making console games. First in the mid-2000s with Spartan: Total Warrior, then a few years later with Viking: Battle for Asgard and most recently with the critically acclaimed Alien: Isolation. We already knew that Creative Assembly was working a ‘multi-platform AAA blockbuster’ way back in 2015 and it seems they are still hard at work on this big title considering they are looking for a Senior UI artist for this new IP.

According to Creative Assembly’s job listing:

Sonic Forces’ soundtrack getting a official vinyl release next month


It looks like Sonic Forces’ soundtrack will be getting a vinyl release next month, being titled the ‘the vinyl cutz’ version. If you are one of the many fans that kept saying that the best thing Sonic Forces had going for it was its soundtrack, congratulations! You get to own it on wax. The Sonic Forces‘ ‘The Vinyl Cutz’ will come with two vinyls and include 19 songs (you can get the full listing after the jump). The vinyl comes out July 31, 2018 and is being printed by Wayo Records and sold through Amazon Japan. Yep, its a Japanese release. According to the Wayo Records website they ship worldwide and will cost approximately $37 USD.

If you are a hater, like myself, that didn’t think much of the full length Sonic Forces soundtrack, then you can continue hating. Hey, you want to hate together?

Preview: IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #9

The latest previews have released for IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics, and while we await issue 6 we have details on issue 9. This issue will kick off a new multi-part story entitled “The Battle for Angel Island” and will Sonic and friends taking on a treat to the Master Emerald. Unlike past issues which have been debuting characters one at a time, this issue promises everybody to team up. Interestingly, one cover features Emerl from Sonic Battle and Sonic and Knuckles riding their extreme gear from the Sonic Riders games.

The full solicit can be read after the break.

Sonic the Hedgehog toys now at Subway restaurants


Video credit: Treasure Hunting Sonic [ Facebook | Instagram ]

Sonic the Hedgehog celebrated 27 years over the weekend, and one of the stranger bits of news to come out of the celebrations (stranger than Big the Cat) was that Subway restaurants in the US would have a Sonic themed kid’s meal. Sonic is no stranger to kid’s meals in the US, having appeared as a Happy Meal for Sonic 3, a McDonald’s train car for the Happy Meal anniversary, two waves of McDonald’s LED toys, a Jack in the Box SEGA PC meal, and two Sonic Boom promotions (one for Del Taco and another for Carl’s Jr.).

This latest promotion sees four gear toys that assemble into a weird optical illusion machine. Not as exciting as some past promotions, but still fun to see in action. You can buy them for yourself without the meal for the low price of between $1 and $1.50 each, though the shame in asking a sandwich artist if they have Sonic toys is costly. Trust me.

Thanks to Treasure Hunting Sonic for making a video of the toys in action, you can check him out on Facebook and Instagram.