A trailer for the new Sakura Taisen/Sakura Wars game was revealed at SEGA FES 2019! The game looks beautiful, in full 3D and graphical effects not unlike Valkyria Chronicles. The game will be releasing to the PlayStation 4. Once SEGA posts the trailer to their YouTube channel, we’ll be sure to embed it above.
SEGA FES 2019 had more news about the Mega Drive Mini! Sadly, we don’t understand Japanese but this is what we saw:
A trailer kicked off, showing the classic console telling of its history. 2019 will see the release of the Mega Drive Mini. HDMI input, USB cable input for controllers(?). You can take screenshots! And… the trailer ends. Then the console was revealed with the Green Hill music playing. The six button controller is included. Two versions are releasing, one with two controllers and one without(?).
SEGA FES has kicked off in Japan, and a slew of games for the 2020 Olympics in Japan has been announced: TOKYO 2020 for Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo Olympic Games for Switch (due out in 2019) and arcade and Sonic at the Olympic Games for mobile. The event is live as we write this, so we will share more news as we hear it! On to the next story…
SEGA used to have their own platform, their own console and ecosystem that a lot of SEGA fans still fondly remember. Since the death of the Dreamcast SEGA fans have been nomads, seeking SEGA software on other platforms and for some its a big investment to play all their favorite SEGA games.
I posed this question to our audience on Twitter and this is the results:
If SEGA announced tomorrow that they will be going exclusive to one platform (not counting PC), which platform would be happy with?
— SEGAbits (@SEGAbits) March 28, 2019
As a joke I added the Google Stadia, but I should have really added the PC as a platform.Quite frankly I still think the PC would have lost to Nintendo. Seems that a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog fans have had fond memories with the franchise on Nintendo hardware that it swayed the results in a predictable manner. I think SEGA fans worry about going exclusive with Nintendo because they aren’t known for pushing hardware like SEGA tries to do. I mean, the new Dragon Engine in Yakuza 6 is gorgeous and is up there with Capcom’s RE Engine and Square-Enix’s Luminous.
But what is your take? What console would work out best for SEGA in your opinion and why? Let us know in the comments below.
At SXSW’s 2019 Sonic panel, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka dropped some big news. Another Sonic game is being developed! Okay, so it’s not groundbreaking but it does confirm that SEGA decided that after Sonic Forces the franchise should continue. On this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George discuss what worked and what didn’t work in past 3D Sonic games and what they would like to see from the next Sonic game in development.
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SEGA’s Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi talked more about why he voted to pull Judgment from Japanese store shelves after actor Pierre Taki was arrested on a cocaine charge.
During the latest Sega Nama stream, Nagoshi went more into why he voted to delay the game he worked as a director on:
“There is no correct way to deal with the situation. In the end, I also cast my vote for halting sales. Some thought and pointed out “This is going too far” and “It’s unrelated to the game itself,” and I don’t think those opinions are unreasonable either—I can see it from both sides. So when it comes to why I voted for halting sales, it’s because it was just after release. If it was an older game released a considerable amount of time ago, our priorities may have been different, but when it was something that had been released only several months prior, I think it’s a different conversation.”
It seems that Japanese SEGA fans can’t wait to see the new upcoming Sakura Wars title, which is being titled right now ‘New Sakura Wars‘ (tentative title). Is it surprising? Not really considering it was the Japan’s most requested IP back in 2016 by a large margin.
While back SEGA’s Chief Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi suggested that we would get a reveal during April 2019, but SEGA Fes 2019 takes place between March 30 to 31st… which is cutting it close. This is what he had to say during the latest SEGA Nama broadcast:
“People have been saying things like, ‘Let me see it!’ and ‘What’s going on?,’ but we’re going to reveal a little bit [at Sega Fes 2019],” – Toshihiro Nagoshi
This year marks the 25th Anniversary since Streets of Rage 3 hit the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. Most of us SEGA fans have been waiting 25 whole years for a sequel to one of our favorite franchises and everyday we get closer to Streets of Rage 4‘s release, the more excited I get. Now we got a gameplay teaser trailer for us to look at.
Apple’s newly announced streaming game service Apple Arcade features titles from a variety of studios and developers, and unsurprisingly SEGA is one of many on the list. SEGA has long been a supporter of Apple’s mobile game services, with Super Monkey Ball being an App Store launch title. Now, SEGA will be bringing Team Sonic Racing to mobile with Sonic Racing as a launch title for the service when it debuts this fall. With the “Team” dropped from the title, we have to wonder if the game will lack the team mode which is the backbone of the console version. Interestingly, this also makes the previously leaked 3D ChuChu Rocket mobile game more of a legitimate possibility. Both games appeared as Facebook ads earlier this month. More information as we hear it!
A lot going on with SEGA’s SEGA AGES series. While people in western territories will be enjoying Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground on March 28th, fans in Japan will be instead be enjoying SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo on the same day.
SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo is based on the arcade version, with several enhancements available. In addition to the familiar blob popping puzzle fun from the original, players also have the addition of an optional double rotation feature that was absent from the original arcade version, online multiplayer, and most interestingly the inclusion of the extremely rare English arcade version that changes most of the names and the voice clips. SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo is slated for a price of ¥925 (roughly $8.50), so if you have spare yen, maybe pick this up along with the aforementioned SEGA AGES Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground titles.
[Source: Official Website]
Atlus of Japan has officially revealed the long rumored Persona 5-related game, a seemingly new game titled Persona 5 The Royal likely planned for the Playstation 4. Not much new information about the game itself has been revealed, but the trailer puts heavy emphasis on a new female character. Based on the very few pieces of information, said character is a first year student who apparently resents the Phantom Thieves, feeling that they don’t actually solve the problems they claim to being fixing. What her exact role in the game is currently unknown.
However, this ties into another rumor that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will introduce a female counterpart to Joker, based on data mining finding code talking about “Jane” as an alternative costume and having a ponytail, the latter notably matching with the design of the new female character teased. Atlus is also promising more information about Persona 5 The Royal on April 24th, which is also coincidentally the same month when Joker is planned to be available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A possible simultaneous reveal? Well whatever your stance is, Persona 5 The Royal is already shaping up to be an interesting direction in the Persona series.
[Source: Official Website]
SEGA Europe has updated us on the Western release of SEGA AGES Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground, which according to the tweet we will get on March 28th!
What are your guys thoughts on the releases so far for SEGA AGES? What games do you think they need to add in the foreseeable future? Let us know in the comments below!
Discotek Media announced today on their Facebook that they’ll be bringing the complete Sonic X series to SD Blu-ray on May 28th 2019. All 78 episodes will be available in standard definition on 2 Region A Blu Ray discs with English language dub and optional closed captioning in English. Sonic X’s was SEGA’s second attempt in bringing Sonic to the world of animation and it was highly successful for the publisher’s animated subsidery TMS Entertainment who said by 2007 it became their best selling anime abroad. Fans of the series can pre-order the title from Rightstuf for the discounted pre-order price of $45.47 (From the usual $69.95)
Sonic X aired over 3 seasons and started off with original storylines before adapting several of Sonic’s game adventures.
[Source: Discotek Media Facebook]
There was good news for those waiting for Ryu Ga Gotoku’s latest title Judgment today as SEGA confirmed on twitter that the PlayStation 4 detective adventure is still set to hit Western shores on June 25th 2019. There was some worries that Pierre Taki’s arrest on hard drugs charges was going to delay the game but the publisher came out today to assure fans the game will still be arriving on time. On twitter SEGA had this to say:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the character model and Japanese voice for the character of Kyohei Hamura will be adjusted for the Western release of Judgment, launching on June 25, 2019. Screenshots and trailers featuring Hamura have been temporarily removed from all of SEGA’s official channels. Updated versions of these materials will be made available at a later date.
The bad news is obviously Taki will no longer be part of this game due to his run in with the law. If you’re familiar with Taki’s work how does this make you feel, or if you think of a suitable replacement, why not drop a message in our comment section?
SEGA of America recently released a survey, which you can take here, and it includes a bunch of classic retro non-Sonic SEGA franchises. Everything from Shining to Jet Set Radio to Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star Online. What does this mean? On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry break the survey down and speculate, analyze and yes… react. Enjoy!
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