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SEGA Talk #122: Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones (1994)

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SEGA Talk throws you the whip on this episode as we talk about the SEGA Genesis game Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones! How did this Chicagoland developed game come to be? What are the origins of Indiana Jones and the TV series that details his early days? Run away from a boulder and find out on this episode of SEGA Talk!

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Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

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Calling All SEGA Enthusiasts: Ask Your Questions to Former Designers Yumiko Miyabe and Akihito Hiroyoshi

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Fellow SEGAbits writer, Dakota, and I are planning to make a trip to Japan from September 17th to September 28th for Tokyo Game Show. During our trip to Japan, we plan to interview former SEGA designers, Yumiko Miyabe, known for her work as Art Director for the Space Channel 5 series, and Akihito Hiroyoshi, known for his work as character designer for SEGA AM2 classics such as Arabian Fight and the Virtua Cop series.

Our exclusive interview will delve into their remarkable careers in the gaming industry, exploring their early beginnings, the notable games they helped design at SEGA, and even their current hobbies. We warmly invite you to participate by submitting your burning questions for Yumiko Miyabe and Akihito Hiroyoshi. We will keep everyone updated on the interviewing process. If you have any questions for them to answer, let us know either in this Twitter thread or leave them here in the comment section below.

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Retro Game Books’ “Video Game Maps: Genesis & Mega Drive” releases physically and digitally

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From Retro Game Books comes a new book focusing on video game maps from the SEGA Genesis and Mega Drive era, appropriately titled Video Game Maps: Genesis & Mega Drive. The book is the second video game maps book from Brian Riggsbee, the first focused on NES and Famicom games. This book features maps from over 100 Genesis and Mega Drive games, includes memories from thirty gamers and, oh yeah, features a foreword written by yours truly!

You can snag the physical version for $40, and it features 226 full color pages in a paperback format and includes a sticker of the cover art. The digital version, meanwhile,  can be had for $4.95. Having paged through it myself, it’s a really great selection of printed and pixel art maps from the past and is a great overview of that era of SEGA.

But don’t take my word for it!

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Sonic Chronicles 2 plot details finally revealed including the reason why the sequel never got made

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The newest video by Did You Know Gaming is covering ‘Lost Sonic Games’, in this video they take a look at a variety of Sonic games that never came to be. One of the biggest featured lost games happens to be Sonic Chronicles 2! The original Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood came out way back in 2008 and was developed by Bioware. It also happens to be the only Sonic RPG ever created. Of course, while the game wasn’t perfect, fans wound still want the developers to give it another try, especially considering the original game ended in a cliffhanger where our heroes return from space only to find out Eggman had taken over the world while they where gone…

If you guys skipped Sonic Forces, its basically the idea behind that plot that Eggman had won and taken over the world, shaping it in his image.

According to Sonic Chronicles designer Miles Holmes:

“Picking it up from the cliffhanger, they would come back and its now Eggman’s world, right? So that’s a little of a Back to the Future 2 kind of vibe. We talked about Skynet in Terminator 2, when you get to see the future, when you get to see where Kyle Reece is from, but now its all Eggman’s stuff. So in this case, Eggman unchecked by Sonic has been able to do what he’s always wanted to do and remake the world in his image.” – Miles Holmes, Bioware designer 

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First brand new online Dreamcast game in 2 decades, Driving Strikers, now available for purchase

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How’s this for an impressive new leap in Dreamcast indie game development? All new Dreamcast car soccer game (Think Rocket League, but played from an overhead camera perspective), Driving Strikers, is now finally available to purchase as both a physical game package and as a digital download from WAVE Game Studios. Built around the modern Dreamcast online infrastructure Dreamcast Live, which I have detailed in an earlier article, Driving Strikers can be played online through that service either with an original modem adaptor and DreamPi or an official Dreamcast broadband adapter. To celebrate the occasion, WAVE Game Studios is currently selling the game at a discounted price of £19.99 ($25.66 USD as of this writing). 

Some of you may even remember Driving Strikers as the one Dreamcast game from the recent Homebrew Games Summer Showcase. Looks like it made it in after all.

For more info, break in after the check.

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SEGA pulling back on blockchain gaming saying play-to-earn games are boring

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Cryptocurrency has taken a big hit in value, but when it was in its all time high, SEGA and other big publishers where quick to announce blockchain gaming projects across the board. SEGA was even one of the biggest supporters saying their next big ‘super game’ and successor to Phantasy Star Online 2 would feature NFTs. Now that the price and hype surrounding crypto has shifted into a bear market, it seems that SEGA is having second thoughts on the whole thing.

SEGA’s co-Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi talked to Bloomberg News recently:

“The action in play-to-earn games is boring. What’s the point if games are no fun?”

As far as SEGA’s online multiplayer, high budget “Super Game” that is due to roll out in 2026, he had this to say:

“We’re looking into whether this technology is really going to take off in this industry, after all” 

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SEGA of America 1997 internal documents posted online, showing e-mails and revealing profit margins

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Have you ever wanted to know what SEGA of America talked about privately about SEGA as a brand going into 1997? You know, the time period when SEGA was going against the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in America? When they lost most of the market share they gained with the SEGA Genesis? You can now thanks to a 272-page leaked internal document posted over at SEGA Retro.

In this document you can see SEGA of America discussing stuff like manufacturing costs, how badly the Saturn was selling, retail profit margins, and a lot more. For example, retailers only made a measly 6% per SEGA Saturn sold, that means they made $15 dollars per console. Why would they push it? Another surprising piece of information is that in 1996 it only cost SEGA $232 to manufacture a Saturn console which is a lot lower than we all thought.

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Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM is coming back to DVD this September for $19.99

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Via Sonic Stadium comes the news that the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog series, often referred to as Sonic SatAM, is returning to DVD. The series debuted in 1993 and had a handful of VHS releases, but it wasn’t until 2007 that Shout! Factory released a complete series DVD set complete with several bonus features and cover art from franchise icon Ken Penders. The set has long been out of print, selling for well over $100, so fans should be pleased to see it returning to DVD albeit with some downsides.

Released by NCircle, the 26 episodes will be spread over two discs, as opposed to the original four, and will not feature any bonus materials. Additionally, the set has some pretty ugly cover art. Still, with a $19.99 price point it’s a great way to get your hands on the series. The DVD is set for a September 19, 2023 release.

Pre-Order At Amazon

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Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack updated with Crusader of Centy, Ghouls n’ Ghosts, Landstalker, and The Revenge of Shinobi

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On June 27th, 2023, Sega added Crusader of Centy, Ghouls n’ Ghosts, Landstalker, and The Revenge of Shinobi to Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online. Japan, of course, gets the same four games at the same time.

All four games are immediately accessible to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers following a quick patch update to the app. For more info on each game, check in after the break for a synopsis on each game.

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First ever Homebrew Games Summer Showcase airing live this Thursday, June 29th; confirms games for Sega consoles

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Live video showcases of new video games are all the rage now ever since Nintendo debuted their popular Nintendo Direct showcase over a decade ago. Many large companies are doing their own showcases now, including Sega with their new Sonic Central showcases. There are a few indie showcases as well, but this is gonna be one to watch for retro gaming enthusiasts, especially as it’s confirmed that some of the games showcased will be for Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive, Master System, and Dreamcast.

Make sure to sign up for a notification for the above video’s premiere, taking place this Thursday, June 29th 2023 at 12:30 PM PST. After the break though, you’ll see more information about the consoles confirmed to have games shown.

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Retro-Bit announces official reprint of El Viento and Sol-Deace for Genesis/Mega-Drive; pre-orders open now until July 30th

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Guess who’s back with more officially licensed collector’s edition reprints of valuable Genesis/Mega-Drive classics? Retro-Bit have just announced their latest project with Edia Co., the current rights holders to the back catalog from Renovation: Special Edition reprints of El Viento and Sol-Deace. Pre-orders for North America are now open from Limited Run Games and Castlemania Games. European Mega-Drive fans can pre-order both from 8BitMods, Arcade Dreams, Dragon Box Shop, Nedgame, RetroCables.es, and Spel & Sant. Wherever you get them from, act before July 30th 2023, when pre-orders close, as this will be the only run for both, like with all other Retro-Bit collector’s edition reprints.

EDIT: More European retailers have opened pre-orders for both games: Funstock, Just For Games, Strictly Limited Games, and Xtralife. The Sol-Deace pre-order page on Castlemania Games has also gone offline, probably due to a temporary error. Keep checking if you really want to buy it there.

You can check out Retro-Bit’s official website for El Viento and Sol-Deace for the most up-to-date information on pre-orders and links to pre-order as well as to scope out their FAQ on both games. To hear more about each game and see pre-order links, check in after the break.

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Yu Suzuki’s Space Harrier-inspired “Air Twister” heading to consoles and PC on November 10th

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Released June 24, 2022 to Apple Arcade, Yu Suzuki’s Air Twister was a Space Harrier inspired behind the back 3D shooter from the man who created the original SEGA franchise. In what was perhaps our biggest “get”, we managed to interview Yu Suzuki himself to talk about the game! And yes, I will try to link to that interview whenever given a chance.

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SEGA Talk #121: Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005)

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SEGA Talk takes a trip to Metro City, in this gritty, serial killer chasing video game Condemned: Criminal Origins, developed by Monolith Software. We take a look at the early titles of the studio, the failed Matrix Online and the plans for a ‘Star Wars’ multimedia franchise that never came to be!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – RSS – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

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Sonic Central: New episodes of Sonic Prime arrive July 13th on Netflix

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The Sonic Central event revealed new footage of Sonic Prime, the Netflix exclusive animated series, and announced new episodes will arrive July 13th. Check out the clip above and get ready for more dimension hopping this July!

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