Dinosaur Games shares their Jet Set Radio Visual Proof of Concept that was rejected by SEGA (UPDATE)

The YouTube channel for the game developer Dinosaur Games shared this Jet Set Radio ‘Visual Proof of Concept’ that they created, at first it was just models but when Sony saw it at GDC 2017, they said they where interested in seeing it in motion. This is the concept they created. The issue happen when they sent the video to SEGA to approve, according to them, SEGA rejected it. Here is what they posted in the description of the video:

“We made this Visual Proof of Concept after Sony expressed interest in seeing the characters in motion at GDC 2017. We spent a week animating and building the city for this presentation which was ultimately turned down by Sega.”

As for this being a ‘brand new Jet Set Radio‘, I have a few issues with what this Visual Proof of Concept showed. I’m not a huge fan of the ‘light’ outlines around the characters, the over use of green and how slow the speed feels. Though I do feel they nailed a lot of the presentation and ideas from both Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future. What are you’re thoughts on this ‘Visual Proof of Concept’ by the team?

UPDATE AFTER THE BREAK!

Atlus teases new 3DS Etrian Odyssey title announcement for Spring 2018

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Atlus recently held a Etrian Odyssey 10th Anniversary Closing Talk Show in Japan, where they teased that they have a brand new Etrian Odyssey title for the 3DS to announce sometime in Spring 2018.  It was also confirmed that this wouldn’t be Etrian Odyssey 3 Untold (Untold series is remakes of the originals).

We have known that Atlus has been working on another Etrian Odyssey title way back in September. Back then it was confirmed by director Shigeo Komori that it would be a ‘festival-like’ celebration of the franchise.  Again Komori at the event discussed the new game as a “true culmination” with “map drawing to the point that its unpleasant”. If you never played a Etrian Odyssey game, drawing dungeon maps on the second screen is a part of its charm. He also teased that there will be unexpected content in this new game. Sounds interesting and it seems that Atlus isn’t close to giving up on the Nintendo 3DS. What are you’re thoughts going into 2018 with brand new Nintendo 3DS game announcements?

[Source: Gematsu]

SEGA and Humble Bundle giving away Company of Heroes 2 keys

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SEGA and Humble Bundle have teamed up for holiday giveaway. What are they giving away? Company of Heroes 2 keys! What if you already have the game? According to Relic Entertainment’s blog, they want you to pick up a key for your friend and teach them how to play the game.

Get your free Company of Heroes 2 keys here. 

According to the blog post, the number of keys are limited and there is also a time limit. I guess it will close either when they run out of Company of Heroes 2 keys or after a day and 20 hours (when this post goes up). If you ever wanted to try a Relic’s Company of Heroes 2 game, this is your chance to give it a go for free!

[Source: CoH’s Blog]

SEGA Japan delays Hokuto ga Gotoku, issues apology

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SEGA Japan has just announced that their upcoming Fist of the North Star based game, being titled Hokuto ga Gotoku, has been delayed. The game was suppose to come out on February 22, 2018 and now has been moved to March 8, 2018. Not a huge change. SEGA also issued this apology letter to fans and thank them for their understanding.

As to why Hokuto ga Gotoku was delayed, the apology letter doesn’t say anything specific. I have a few different theories, one being that the game might need extra time for development seeing as the studio just released Yakuza Kiwami 2 on December 5th. The other theory is that they might have moved it to March because A Certain Magical Virtual-On comes out on February 15, 2018, a week before Hokuto ga Gotoku was set to release. As for us in the West, we still don’t know if SEGA America plans on localizing it. I guess we will find out sometime in 2018.

[Source: SEGA Japan]

A Certain Magical Virtual-On Demo Out Now on Japanese PSN

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If you have been excited to try the upcoming A Certain Magical Virtual-On for the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation Vita, the demo is now available. As for sizes of the demos, the PlayStation 4 comes in at 2.37 gigabytes and the PlayStation Vita version hits a much smaller 431.55 megabytes. The demo will feature all 13 playable Virtuaroids from the full game, include a tutorial and CPU battle mode. No online, of course.

SEGA is set to release A Certain Magical Virtual-On in Japan on February 15, 2018. SEGA West hasn’t announced any plans on localizing it. The last Virtual-On title to come West was Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram port on the Xbox 360 back in 2009, so its been awhile. I say make a Japanese PSN account, try the demo and if you like it, bother SEGA to release the game West.

Shenmue 3 introduces new character and new production team

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The team behind Shenmue III has recently revealed a brand new character via their latest Kickstarter update.As far as how this new character fits in the world of Shenmue and what her relationship with the temple behind her is, you’ll have to wait until you play the full game to find out. Unless, you know, they tell us via a Kickstarter update.

Most of the Shenmue III Kickstarter update was focused around a character production studio out of India called ‘Lakshya Digital’. According tot he update, Shenmue III will feature a ton of ‘new, compelling’ characters ‘from all walks of life’. According to the studio they will be outsourcing the creation of these NPC characters to the Indian studio. Below we have some photographs of the team, which is located in Gurgaon, India but have online meetings with the team in Tokyo. I never heard about the company, so I took a gander at their site and according to this they have help work on games like Lara Croft and the Guardians of Light, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two , DC Universe Online, Counter Strike Global Offense, and The Elder Scrolls Online. What they helped with on those games is unknown since the site is down and the front page doesn’t go into detail.

This is obviously a way for YS Net to focus more on building the game instead of taking all that time to create NPC characters. I hope it works out for the better.

SEGA News Bits: Most Disappointing SEGA Games of 2017

The other day we discussed our favorite SEGA games of 2017, now we are hitting you with a new video with the total opposite. The most disappointing SEGA games of 2017. We discuss which games most people would consider the worse, our worse SEGA game of 2017 and of course why we chose that game. So sit back, relax and let us take you down a disappointing journey into SEGA’s worse offerings of 2017.

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.

TOMY reveals new Sonic the Hedgehog action figures, plush toys and comic books for 2018

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2018 might be a quiet year for Sonic the Hedgehog games, but the world of merchandise appears to be heating up. Not only will IDW debut their spin on the Sonic franchise, but TOMY will be releasing many more action figures and plush toys from the modern, classic and Sonic Boom character lineups. TOMY has been in the Sonic action figure business for two years, so they have released some figures but there are still several characters that they have yet to release. Let’s take a look at what collector’s can expect in 2018!

SEGA News Bits: Favorite SEGA Games of 2017

Its that time of year, when people online decide to talk about their favorite games of the year. While we here at SEGAbits play a wide arrange of games, we obviously adore SEGA games. So on this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our favorite SEGA games of 2017. Which game did we decide to give our golden Opa-Opa trophy to? Watch the video and find out. What was your favorite SEGA game of 2017 and why? Let us know in the comments below!

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.

Brave Wave announces “Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga 20th Anniversary Arrangement” on CD & Vinyl

DQ2sRCwUEAAHVyMThe music publisher Brave Wave Productions, who is known for its line of video game soundtracks has announced “Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga 20th Anniversary Arrangement” coming to digital, CD and vinyl. The project will contain 20 tracks from the SEGA Saturn classic, Panzer Dragoon Saga, rearranged by the original composer Saori Kobayashi.

We are in a weird spot where there are two music publishers doing SEGA soundtracks. If you guys didn’t know the first Panzer Dragoon soundtrack was published by Data Discs, while this 20th Anniversary Arrangement soundtrack will be done by Brave Wave. It makes sense since Panzer Dragoon Saga‘s original composer, Saori Kobayashi is actually officially signed to Brave Wave. As far as to what 20 tracks made the cut for this release, we don’t know yet. We do know is that we will be getting more information (most likely pre-orders) on January 29, 2018, according to Brave Wave. We will keep you posted as more information comes out. Personally can’t wait for them to do some crazy 300 limited edition run of the soundtrack so I can miss out on getting it and hate myself for it. Yes, I’m talking about the Sonic Adventure soundtrack they published.

[Via: Brave Wave]

Atlus sets live stream to reveal Persona 5 The Animation details on December 24

Atlus is set to share new information about their upcoming Persona 5 The Animation via a live stream on December 24 at 20:00 JST. Atlus Japan is naming the live stream “Super Secret Information Reveal! Broadcast Special” which will air on live TV in Japan via Abema TV’s New Anime Channel as well as YouTube Live.

The Persona 5 The Animation reveal stream will also feature Persona 5 talent like Jun Fukuyama (voice of protagonist), Aoi Yuuki (Futaba Sakura), and Souichirou Hoshi (Goro Akechi). A lot of Persona fans love these animation entries because it adds new stories and backstories to characters found in the main games. We shall see what Atlus has to reveal by the end of the month.

Persona 5 recently won RPG of the year by the Video Game Awards earlier this month. You can pick up Persona 5 on both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. If you haven’t read our review, we highly recommend the game.

[Via: Gematsu]

A Certain Magical Virtual-On demo hits Japanese PSN on December 14

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SEGA has now revealed that the demo for A Certain Magical Virtual-On will hit Japanese PSN for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita (yeah, you read that right) on December 14. It was revealed by series producer Jurou Wataru via Dengeki Online.

The demo won’t feature online battles, but will have a tutorial explaining the games mechanics and CPU battles. The game will allow you to mess around with all 13 Virtuaroids that will be available in the full game. A Certain Magical Virtual-On is set to release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on February 15, 2018 in Japan. No Western release plans have been announced yet. How many of you guys will be trying the upcoming demo?

[Via: Gematsu]

SEGA News Bits: Bayonetta 1+2 & Bayonetta 3 Coming To Nintendo Switch Discussion

We got the big announcement from Nintendo the other day that they will be publishing both Bayonetta 1+2 collection and Bayonetta 3 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. While SEGA published the PC version of Bayonetta earlier this year, it seems that Nintendo is keeping the IP exclusive on their platform when it comes to consoles. On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss our thoughts on a Bayonetta 1+2 Collection on the Nintendo Switch, Our thoughts on Bayonetta 3 and theorize what the first teaser could be hinting at.  Tune in and let us know what you’re thoughts on Bayonetta returning with a brand new game, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch!

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.

Bayonetta 1+2 Coming to Switch, Bayonetta 3 Announced

The very last thing I expected from the Game Awards was Bayonetta. Just a few moments ago, during the 2017 Game Awards, Reggie Fils-Aime from Nintendo came on to reveal that the Wii U double pack of Bayonetta 1 and Bayonetta 2 would be coming directly to the Nintendo Switch. Not only that, but Bayonetta 3 was also given a world premiere reveal, also exclusive to the Switch. Nothing is known at this time about the new Bayonetta 1+2 release, whether pricing will be identical to the Wii U versions (both games for $60 or $30 seperately), amiibo support, etc. Likewise, the only thing about Bayonetta 3 is that it is coming to the Switch.

Bayonetta 2 (with Bayonetta 1 free download) will release on the switch on February 18, 2018. You can view the rerelease trailer after the break.

SEGA Europe teases that they have “exciting projects coming up”, sharing details in 2018

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SEGA Europe has been teasing new video game projects announcements via twitter the other day. So what could these mysterious projects be? We do have some past news articles that can hint at what they have up their sleeves. For example we reported back in 2015 that The Creative Assembly was working on a “multi-platform AAA blockbuster”, which would mean their return to the console space since they released Alien Isolation back in 2014. We also know that Two Point Studios (ex-Lionhead and Bullfrog) is working with SEGA Europe on a new simulation game, which is set to be announced on January 16th. There’s also that big rumor about the Shenmue HD collection is right around the corner, one of the rumors points at the port being done by UK developer Just Add Water. If that is true, then that would mean that SEGA Europe would probably be involved in handling the project. I also hear that SEGA Europe will be in charge of handling PC ports of upcoming SEGA Japan games, so I can also see them announcing a Valkyria Chronicles 4 port for the West, considering their port of the first game has almost sold a million copies. Of course, this is just my speculation based on past news articles and rumors.

But let me hand the mic over to you, what do you want to see SEGA Europe work on? SEGA Europe has been handling most of the PC stuff, including ports of last generation games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and even created The Typing of the Dead: Overkill. Is there any other games you want to see them port? Maybe extend their porting program to modern consoles? Sound off in the comments below.