Puyo Puyo Anniversary TV Show 2018 broadcast announced, could reveal new title

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SEGA has announced that they will be holding a Puyo Puyo event titled “Puyo Puyo Anniversary TV Show 2018“, which will go live on February 4 at 20:00 JST. According to the blog post about the broadcast: “During the broadcast, we will introduce new information on [smartphone game] Puyo Puyo Quest! Of course, we will also announce Puyo Puyo series news, so please look forward to it.” 

Valkyria Chronicles 4 getting limited edition PS4 in Japan

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Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia and SEGA have teamed up to announce the Valkyria Chronicles 4 Limited Edition PlayStation 4, which will come on March 21st.

The Valkyria Chronicles 4 Limited Edition PlayStation 4 is now up to pre-order at the Japanese Sony Store and will cost you 33,480 yen (about $302 USD) for the 500 GB model or 38,480 yen (about $347 USD) for the 1TB model. The Valkyria Chronicles 4 Limited Edition PlayStation 4 will come with a Valkyria Chronicles 4-themed top cover, Valkyria Chronicles 4 original theme (see it below), and of course Valkyria Chronicles 4 themed packaging.

[Via: Gematsu]

House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn location test footage hits the net, looks amazing


House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn was just announced four days ago and its already already getting location testing in Japan. Thankfully for us, Throwback Tokyo has captured some of the first footage of the game in action for us that live outside of Japan. The game shows off a cutscene featuring  the new main protagonist Ryan Taylor and returning protagonist from House of the Dead 4 Kate Green. It seems from the little dialogue that we have gotten that this game takes place after the events of House of the Dead 4, making it a direct continuation.

Just like the past House of the Dead games, the game is voiced in English and has Japanese subtitles (instead of getting Japanese VO). For those of you wondering, yes, the voice work is super cheesy just like the classics. Personally, you can’t have a good House of the Dead game if it doesn’t feel like a cheesy B movie and so far from the little footage shown, this game is hitting its marks. According to other online users that went to play House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, SEGA had a survey asking users if they would be interested in a console port. I will have to say, hell yeah!

Rent-A-Hero gets live Japanese stage show 27 years after release

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Rent-A-Hero
was a Japanese RPG by SEGA-AM2 that came out only in Japan on the Mega Drive. The game’s story was about a teen who orders pizza and receives a power suit that gave him super powers making him decide to become a hero for hire. I mean, why do hero work for the glory when you could make money? The game later got a remake on both Dreamcast and Xbox with Rent-A-Hero No. 1 in the early 2000s. But it seemed that everyone forgot about Rent-A-Hero, until now!

Japanese site DenFaminico have written a long piece talking to the people behind ‘SEGA Mania’ a theatrical stage company that will be doing a live stage show of Rent-A-Hero. The article also discusses other classic SEGA games that the company would love to adapt including Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes and more. The stage show will be playing in Japan for 5 days, from January 17 to the 21st. According to the interview, the production consist of 41 people and will recreate the story from the game. What do you think of SEGA’s ‘SEGA Mania’ idea on turning classic IPs into stage shows?

IDW reveals cover art for Sonic The Hedgehog #1, revealing the return of artist Tracy Yardley!

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IDW’s Sonic The Hedgehog comic book series is fast approaching, with the first four issues releasing weekly in April 2018. While we don’t know much about what we can expect from the new series, we do know a few things. The numbering will not resume from where Archie left off, IDW is starting back from square one. Also, we should expect a new canon, likely more game based. We even have an official description of the first arc thanks to the Amazon description for the first trade paperback which is due out September 18 and is titled “Fallout!”:

Join the Blue Blur for brand-new adventures as he and his friends race around the world to defeat the evil Dr. Eggman’s robotic forces!

The evil genius Dr. Eggman has been foiled–but the work of Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t over yet! In the aftermath of the latest epic battle, rogue robots continue to attack small villages around the world. In order to succeed, Sonic will need the help of his friends Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, along with some new and surprising allies. This new collection from acclaimed writer Ian Flynn features the blue blur like you’ve never seen him before. Gotta go fast!

Oh, and we also have the cover art, which can be seen above. Shared on the IDW Sonic Comic Squad Facebook group, the post reveals one of the official covers for issue #1 created by artist Tracy Yardley, meaning the longtime Archie Sonic comic artist is back alongside writer Ian Flynn. We’ll share more IDW Sonic news as we hear it!

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux set to release May 15 in the Americas for Nintendo 3DS

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Atlus has announced today that Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux is set to release for the Nintendo 3DS on May 15. This is a full 16 days earlier than we had originally slated the game for release. Compared to the 2009/2010 Nintendo DS release, Redux will feature additional story content, new illustrations by Masayuki Doi and a new character named Alex.

You can pre-order Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux now for $39.99, and if you’re a Amazon Prime member the pre-order price is just $31.99.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life mini-games trailer reminds us that Virtua Fighter 5 is coming soon to PlayStation 4

The Yakuza 6: The Song of Life mini-games trailer has hit, and as expected they are packing a TON of side content into the latest title in the franchise. Everything to batting cage, darts and karaoke to undersea spearfishing, baseball management sims and playable SEGA arcade games including the likes of Hang-On, Space Harrier, Puyo Puyo and Virtua Fighter 5. The latter of which sold as its own game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 over ten years ago, and is now essentially a bonus game.

You can pre-order the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life Essence of Art Edition for the PlayStation 4, and act quickly as SEGA tells us they are just about sold out! The package features the game and a collectible hardcover art book.

Sonic Mania Original Soundtrack “Selected Edition” hits iTunes

If you have been waiting to get yourself the digital version of the Sonic Mania soundtrack, written by Tee Lopes, you are in luck. The Sonic Mania Original Soundtrack (Selected Edition) has now hit iTunes (USA link here). The soundtrack features 47 tracks, seems that old tracks that would require a royalty fee have been left out. Notice Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone missing. I guess you can let me know in the comments below. The soundtrack is priced at £14.99 or $15.99! The Sonic Mania soundtrack also got a vinyl release by Data Disc, obviously featuring less tracks. No excuses not to promote good video game music.

Above I linked to a interview with had with Tee Lopes regarding his amazing work on the Sonic Mania soundtrack. If you are a fan of his music, give it a listen!

Shenmue 3 gets new screenshots, teases facial expressions

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Shenmue 3 has revealed 3 new screenshots via the MAGIC Monanco conference. One of the screenshots, above, shows off Ryo and Shenhua. If you didn’t notice this is an updated model that includes facial expressions. Personally still think these models are a ways off, the body shape of Ryo particularly is rather strange.

The other two Shenmue 3 screenshots feature two areas that you will be able to explore whenever the full game releases. One is a port with boats and the other looks like a Chinese temple Shopping center*. I might be wrong on that last one, but regardless these environments look impressive. So far Shenmue 3‘s real strength have been its environments. I personally only have issues with the models that are being used thus far. But seeing that every time they show the models, they are changed, maybe they will eventually be fixed. What do you think? Am I nitpicking?

Two Point Hospital announced, releasing this fall on Steam

SEGA’s lightbulb teaser has been revealed and the game is Two Point Hospital, developed by Two Point Studios and published by SEGA. Now I know, I know, the teaser led me to get a little overly excited at the prospect of Dreamcast remasters. I partially blame my own naivety and SEGA Europe’s foolish decision to release a tease on the SEGA of America Twitter account without any hint of who the developer was. A simple Two Point Studios logo would have been a better decision, that’s all I’m saying.

In any case, the game itself is being developed by former Lionhead and Bullfrog developers and looks to be a fun hospital sim with Aardman Animation-style aesthetics. As the clever trailer lays out above, the game will allow players to design their own hospital, manage staff, expand operations and collaborate and compete with friends. The game is due out this fall on Steam, and you can learn more at their official site.

SEGA News Bits: House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn announcement reaction

The House of the Dead franchise returns with an all new arcade game in 2018! Titled House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, the franchise drops the “The” and the numbering and seemingly returns to the franchises roots, bringing things back to a mansion and reviving a classic enemy. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry are joined by Patrick aka Kori-Maru who is the owner of The Website of the Dead, a The House of the Dead fansite. Hear our reaction to this news, what we can glean from the screenshots and website, and what past interviews with the franchise developers can tell us about this new game.

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SEGA News Bits: Border Break coming to PlayStation 4

If you have been following our blog, you will know we are all massive SEGA-AM2 fanboys and have been asking for Border Break to come to consoles since it was released back in 2009. Now, in 2018, we can finally rest easy. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss the announcement, go over the release details and complain about SEGA games not getting world wide releases. So tune in and let us know what you think of Border Break finally hitting PlayStation 4 consoles!

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

SEGA teasing another arcade game announcement with countdown page

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While SEGA has just announced House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, that doesn’t mean its everything they have up their sleeves for their arcade division. SEGA has also launched a site teasing an upcoming arcade game announcement. So far the only clue on the site is the word ‘senki’ which roughly translates to ‘military campaign’. This countdown is set to finish on January 19 at 15:00 JST, so we will know what it is in a few days.

The unannounced game seems to be fantasy themed since we see an hour glass and a king’s throne with floating islands. At first I thought this could be a sequel to an old arcade game like SEGA-AM2’s Quest of D, but I’m pretty sure their new arcade game Soul Reverse is suppose to be a spiritual successor. If I had to take a guess, I can see this being a arcade sequel to Shining Force Cross (also a lot like Quest of D) which came out in 2010. The image just gives me the vibe from that game. But who knows, could be a new IP.

I guess we will find out soon enough. What do you guys think this upcoming SEGA arcade game will end up being? Let us know in the comments below.

SEGA News Bits: Bluetooth SEGA Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast Controllers Reaction

We have finally gotten around to talking about all the cool retro SEGA products that Retro-Bit had at this year’s CES 2018. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we take a look at all the retro SEGA controllers shown at the event, our thoughts on the announced products and even pitch some retro gaming accessories and controllers we’d like to see Retro-Bit create. So give the video a watch and let us know in the comments what you think of all the upcoming retro SEGA controllers.

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

House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn announced for arcades

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SEGA Interactive has just announced House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn for arcades. They have confirmed that there will be location testing from January 19 to the 21st at SEGA Akihabara Building 3 in Tokyo, Japan.

This release will mark a return of the franchise to the Arcades, the last main entry being The House of the Dead 4 back in 2005. In 2009 we got the console exclusive The House of the Dead: Overkill, which was mean’t to be a prequel and had a different take on the series.