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What Are Your Thoughts on Sonic Boom, 4 Years Later

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f04SEGA went pretty far out there to have Sonic Boom be a huge launch which included a TV Show, video games, comics and even a toy line by Tomy. SEGA America had big plans for the new look and new ‘direction’ of this Sonic series, which would have existed along side with modern Sonic the Hedgehog. Sadly the video games launched by SEGA had rough sales and slowly SEGA turned the wheels on Sonic Boom by cancelling the comics and video games.

But the Sonic Boom TV show still remained, the last episode aired on November 11, 2017 and the series has ran for two seasons spanning 104 episodes. While I’m not a huge fan of the redesigns or video games, I will admit something about the Sonic Boom TV show (and even comic) really had me entertained. I know they aren’t perfect but I always found the writing on the TV show to be witty and well done. Now SEGA is launching the excellent Sonic Mania Adventures web series, could we see classic Sonic take away Sonic Boom‘s TV spot? Do you think that SEGA should continue Sonic Boom as a TV show brand and what is your overall thoughts of Sonic Boom, 4 years later?

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Alien Storm Spanish fan translation now available for SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive and Master System

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Hola SEGA fanaticos! ¿Quieren jugar Alien Storm pero en español? Well, I got some good news for you my Spanish speaking friend, Rom Hack fan translator Wave has now translated SEGA’s Alien Storm into Spanish. Not only did he translate the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive version, but he also completed the SEGA Master System version as well.

I have also attached some screenshots of the translated text below for you to gander at. I love sharing these fan translations and hoping we get more in the near future.

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SEGA unboxes the Yakuza 6: The Song of Life After Hours Premium Edition

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Yakuza 6: The Song of Life releases in just a few weeks, on April 17th to be exact, for the PlayStation 4. The game will release with three options: a Standard Edition, an Essence of Art Edition, and (in my opinion) the must have After Hours Premium Edition. To promote this very special release, SEGA has created an unboxing hosted by Marketing Associate Lauren and Associate PR Manager Jonathon. Get a sneak peek at the hardcover art book, two bar glasses, 2 ice stones, 2 coasters, and the collectible outer box.

Which edition are you picking up? If you’re getting the After Hours Premium Edition, what are you planning to drink?

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SEGA News Bits: IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #1 Discussion (No Spoilers)

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It’s April 4th, and that means the official launch of Sonic the Hedgehog IDW series! On this episode of the SEGA News Bits Barry will give you his thoughts on the new direction, how it stacks up against the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog series and much more. Did you pick up the new issue of Sonic the Hedgehog IDW? If not, no worries, this discussion is spoiler free! If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

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

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Shining Resonance Refrain Only Shifts 23k Units in Japan

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Shining Resonance Yuuma Jenius

Shining Resonance Refrain has launched in Japan and it has not put up great numbers. The game debuted number 6 in the Japanese Media Crate charts only shifting 23,054 units, this only being on the PlayStation 4 in Japan. The game was even outsold by Far Cry 5 which shifted 75,474 units! SEGA also saw a massive drop in sales for Valkyria Chronicles 4, with the game only making the chart at 9,108 units sold this week (bringing the total to 72,029). SEGA’s Hokuto ga Gotoku also charted at number 17 by selling 4,604 units (bringing the total to 156,805).

I have to say its not a great time for SEGA’s Japanese sales, all these numbers seem rather low. I guess we will have to see if they try to ‘shift’ directions once again. Who knows, maybe a few of these games will do good in the West?

[Source: Gematsu]

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Phantasy Star Online 2: Cloud launches for Nintendo Switch in Japan

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SEGA’s Phantasy Star Online 2: Cloud has launched on the Nintendo Switch. For those not in the know, this version of the game is a ‘cloud-based’ version of the PC, that is streamed onto your Nintendo Switch via ‘The cloud’.

Positives include not having to keep the game updated, since its always streaming the latest version. Obviously the downside is that you will need to be connected to a good internet connection. SEGA launched a huge series of videos to show off the game’s features:

[Via: Siliconera]

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IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog #1 releases today!

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Just a friendly reminder that Sonic the Hedgehog comics are making their big return today with IDW taking over from Archie with an all new rebooted comic book series. Each week in April will see a new issue, with issue #5 moving back into a regular release schedule (which will no doubt relieve the strain on the artist’s wrists).

Expect a SEGA News Bits covering issue #1 this week, and a preview of issue #2 in the next SEGA News Bits Extra which is our Patreon exclusive video series. You can check out the issue’s synopsis, as well as a cover gallery, after the break.

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SEGA News Bits Extra! Sonic IDW Preview, Valkyria 4 Sales and a new Shining Game?

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Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Segabits

Welcome to the new weekly web show we are doing called SEGA News Bits Extra, where we gather small bits of SEGA news and discuss it. These are news pieces that are too small to make a full SEGA News Bits episodes out of. This is a preview episode, if you want to see it weekly we suggest you pledge to us on Patreon and support our original content.

On this episode we discuss the Sonic the Hedgehog IDW preview of the first issue, Valkyria Chronicles 4 season pass, Valkyria Chronicles 4 Japanese sales, Rumors of a new Shining game being announced, and the newly announced Bitmap Books.

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Introducing the SEGAbits Patreon: Support Us and Get Exclusives!

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SEGAbits.com is a SEGA fansite that has been regularly updated since 2010, dedicated to the mission of giving fans a portal into all things SEGA. We have expanded this mission by providing users with news videos on our YouTube channel, presenting interesting tidbits on Twitter and offering up near daily SEGA content on Instagram. With all our social networks combined, we have amassed over 63,000 followers!

Check out our Patreon page

SEGAbits is also a hobby project, not a full time job. After eight years it has become clear that we actually spend a fair amount of money keeping SEGAbits operational. To continue to provide content to SEGA fans we have decided to ask our followers to become our patrons. With YouTube removing the ability to put ads on our channel and not wanting to fill our website with annoying and intrusive ads, it seems that Patreon will be the best way to keep SEGAbits up and running. Check out the perks and hopefully you will support us and get some awards along the way:

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SEGA shows off what they have in store for SEGA Fes 2018

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SEGA will hold a big event, partly to celebrate its history as a gaming company and another part to show off what they have in store for the future. SEGA Fes 2018 is mean’t to run from April 14 to 15 in Tokyo. One of the big events they will be holding is allowing vistors to play SEGA Mega Drive classics on a big Mega Drive controller. The big Mega Drive controller play will take place on the first day of the event.

April 14 games playable:

  • 10:00-13:00 JP time: Sonic the Hedgehog
  • 13:15-16:00 JP time: Puyo Puyo
  • 16:15-19:00 JP time: Bare Knuckle II (aka Streets of Rage 2)

On April 15, you will be able to replay these games on the big Mega Drive controller, but they will start in backwards (Streets of Rage 2 at 10, ending with Sonic the Hedgehog at 18:00). But that isn’t all, this is just one floor, the next floor they have is the ‘SEGA logo monument floor’.

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GDC Vault Offers the Sonic the Hedgehog Postmortem For Free Viewing

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If you’re like me who wasn’t able to visit GDC this year and are hoping to find a way to watch the GDC talk on Sonic the Hedgehog. You’re in luck as GDC has begun uploading this year’s panels, along with the Sonic GDC panel, onto their website the GDC Vault. The video has been made available for free viewing on their website and may even appear on their YouTube channel. Currently the GDC Vault does not allow video embed, so you’ll have to go over to their site by clicking one of the many convenient links like this one here.

In case you missed it, Naoto Oshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara hosted a panel talking about their perspective on the creation of the character, what made him stand out as well as the game design and art direction that brought us the Mega Drive/Genesis title. Previously we were only given a glimpse thanks to the efforts of Frank Cifaldi on Twitter. Now we are able to witness more with an edited video that presents the two speakers along with their slides for easy viewing. The Q&A session follows after the panel, plus a bonus speed drawing from both Oshima and Yasuhara.

The GDC Vault is home to plenty of talks that range from game development tactics, to important topics and postmortems of other games. Some panels will require a paid subscription for viewing. You can watch the Sonic panel or other panels from this year’s conference here.

[Source: GDC Vault]

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First Sonic Mania Adventures episode releases online

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The first Sonic Mania Adventures episode is ready to watch (just click play above)! The series was announced at the Sonic at SXSW panel and will run for five episodes running a few minutes each. The plan is to release them monthly to promote the upcoming physical release of Sonic Mania Plus.

What are your thoughts on the first episode? Sound off in the comments below!

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New Shining title announcement possible at SEGA Fes 2018

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We posted before that SEGA was teasing a brand new announcement at their upcoming event, SEGA Fes 2018 which will run in Japan from April 14 to the 15.

This week on the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, , Makoto Suzuki said:

“We are doing our best to show various things we are working on with the [Shining] series at Sega Fes and such in April. After this please look forward to the enjoyable environments we have in the works between traditional games like this one [Shining Resonance Refrain], as well as titles with various other directions.”

When Shining Resonance Refrain was first announced, Makoto Suzuki suggested it was the last time SEGA was giving the franchise another shot. Seems that they are moving forward with more games? Thoughts?

[Source: Gematsu]

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Valkyria Chronicles 4 debuts in 2nd place in Japan, beating Ni no Kuni II

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The battle of the Japanese RPGs (of sorts) is underway in Japan. This week we got a few notable releases in the land of the rising sun including Valkyria Chronicles 4 (PS4), Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4), Dectective Pikachu (3DS), and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Switch)! While Valkyria Chronicles 4 beat all these debuting games, it was Kirby: Star Allies that still took first place even though it came out last week. Kirby has some staying power over in Japan.

Valkyria Chronicles sold 62,921 units in its debut week, while Ni no Kuni II (3rd place) sold 56,014. As for Kirby: Star Allies, it got a whopping 84,625 units (bringing its title to 306,656 units!). Valkyria Chronicles will also get a Nintendo Switch version released later this year in Japan while we in the west will be getting it on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch day one, sometime in 2018. Check out the full chart after the break:

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Unboxing After Burner II Limited Edition Data Discs Vinyl

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We got a new package in the SEGAbits office, this time we will be unboxing a After Burner II Limited Edition Data Discs vinyl, which went up for pre-order a few months ago. Like all Data Discs vinyl release, there are three versions released including a black vinyl, colored vinyl (purple for After Burner II) and a limited edition (this one being splatter design). He can pick up a vinyl copy of a non-limited version here.

This is the 15th release on Data Discs retro vinyl line-up, are you picking these up? If so which release is your favorite so far?

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