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The Creative Assembly suffers layoffs and Hyenas gets cancelled

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This certainly is not The Creative Assembly’s finest hour. Their all new multiplayer shooter (And the subject of one of my first written articles here on SegaBits) Hyenas has been unceremoniously cancelled in a brief recent SegaSammy financial report. Citing “lower profitability in the European region”, the decision was made from on high to axe Hyenas, along with several unannounced titles being developed there. As if to throw salt on the wound, Hyenas’s UK-based developer The Creative Assembly, known for Alien Isolation and the Total War series, is also suffering layoffs. All this comes according to a report from Eurogamer, which you can read here. The above message was also taken from the official Hyenas Twitter page.

This comes as a shock as Hyenas was just demoed at Gamescom only last month and in a recent closed PC beta just this month, along with a few all new trailers getting released. The developers even seemed rather enthusiastic about the game’s reception, in spite of any challenges with development, as referenced in an interview Eurogamer did with representatives of Creative Assembly at that very same Gamescom event. It truly goes to show that you can never be too certain what will happen behind closed doors in the world of game development. I can only hope the staff being let go have little trouble finding new jobs and supporting themselves and their families.

Are you sad to see Hyenas canned? I know I am, especially cause I never even got to participate in any of the betas. Maybe any of you who did can tell us about your experiences in the comments below? I’d especially appreciate it.

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Several Sega Forever mobile games unceremoniously delisted + End of Service announcement

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Remember Sega Forever, and how that started out in 2017 as Sega Europe’s initiative to bring classic Sega games to mobile app stores as free, ad-supported games? Well, Sega Forever is now “Sega For-never,” as more than half of the games released through Sega Forever have now been delisted from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store without so much as an official announcement. On top of that, the games now display an “End of Service” message like the one shown above saying that the games will remain playable, but will lose their online features, which amounted to save states being stored online, leaderboards, and offering you the option to pay $1.99 USD to play without ads. It also has a “More Info” button to show you where else the games available through Sega Forever can be played, but it only currently leads to Sega’s home page. (The above message comes from the Space Harrier II Classic app. I have not been able to confirm if the non-Genesis games display a message like this.)

Check in past the break to see what the remaining games are, as well as some more unsettling news…

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SEGA Talk #127: Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM Cartoon (1993-1994)

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On this episode of SEGA Talk we cover the fastest thing alive, the Sonic the Hedgehog Animated series from ABC! Also known as SatAM! We talk about its development, the characters and the failed revivals!

[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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Limited Run Games shows off physical Persona 3: Portable, will also start Persona 4: Golden pre-orders on Oct 27th

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Limited Run Games has announced big news as its partnered with Atlus (aka SEGA) to officially physically release copies of Persona 3: Portable. Kind of weird since Atlus has recently opened up pre-orders for Persona 3: Reloaded, a brand new remake of Persona 3… I guess Atlus knows its audiences will double, triple, no; quad-triple-double dip.

 

Like always Limited Run Games has three editions coming out for PS4, Switch and Xbox Series consoles! Ranging from just the game at $34.99 to the Grimoire Edition for $69.99 and finally the S.E.E.S Edition for a whopping $199.99. This will also be a open pre-order meaning you can place an order from September 29th into November 12th! Gives you a bit of time to grind some money.

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SEGAbits at TGS 2023: Sonic Superstars Hands-On Preview

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During our trip to Tokyo Game Show 2023, Dakota and I were able to check out the SEGA & ATLUS booth to try out Sonic Superstars where there were multiple stations available for the game at the event including cool swag giving out to people who played the demo. We only had 15 minutes to play the Sonic Superstars demo and are here to share our thoughts on the game. Hit the jump to read more on our hands on preview with Sonic Superstars.

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Earthion releasing for Genesis/Mega-Drive and modern consoles in 2024 from Limited Run Games

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Looking forward to the new Genesis/Mega-Drive scrolling shooter from Yuzo Koshiro and Ancient known as Earthion? We have learned from them and Superdeluxe Games at this year’s Tokyo Game Show that Earthion is on track to release in 2024 both as a cartridge for Genesis consoles and on modern consoles from Superdeluxe Games and Limited Run Games. The former will handle Japanese distribution and the latter will distribute the game internationally. Put some money aside for that now if you want it.

Of course, when more concrete info comes out about when you can buy the game and how much it will cost, we’ll be sure to let you know as we come closer to 2024. Until then, tell us in the comments below how excited you are for this game.

Before we leave you to absorb this news, here’s an interesting fact about the “YKGGG” sign shown with the Sega font in the intro of Earthion straight from Koshiro-san.

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Like a Dragon Gaiden’s opening movie and main theme “Katatoki” released featuring Yojiro Noda & Rapper JID

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SEGA has released Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, this opening movie really shows a contrast to Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, which is more upbeat story trailers featuring the main cast on an adventure; Like a Dragon Gaiden shows Kazuma Kiryu on the other hand living in the shadows.

What is Kazuma Kiryu doing? What he does best, hanging out at bars and smoking cigarettes.

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Trailer shows improved gameplay, guest stars Danny Trejo joining cast and looks tropically amazing

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Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth might be breaking my hype meter, I was on the fence when SEGA revealed that Yakuza: Like a Dragon would take the game from action gameplay to turn-base and not only that replace our favorite hero Kazuma Kiryu. But after playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the new combat system, characters and story have become my favorite in the franchise. I did feel like one of the only things holding it back was a more fleshed out combat system and it looks like the team is working overtime to deliver not just making our hero Ichiban a fish out of water in Hawaii, the first time the series has visited America, but also improving a lot of the gameplay. Like the ability to move your characters and actually refocusing on how the characters use items in their paths being shown so far. While the trailer has also shown brand new jobs, I think an issue with the previous title was that only a few jobs where viable in the long run. While new jobs are great, I hope they are all good enough to play in their own way and it isn’t like the previous game where only a few really viable to play high level.

OH AND SEGA BASS FISHING AND SPIKEOUT ARE AVIALBLE TO PLAY IN ARCADES! WE WILL ALSO FIND OUT ABOUT ICHIBAN’S MOM! HYPE METER TO 100%!

You can also check out the ten minute story trailer after the jump, this story trailer shows the first American celebrity to be featured in a Yakuza/Like a Dragon game, Machete himself Danny Trejo!:

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Sonic Superstars gets fantastic “Trio of Trouble” animated short

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One thing that I have loved about the recent classic Sonic the Hedgehog games have been the animated shorts they’ve been releasing, starting with Sonic Mania Adventures! This time, Sonic Superstars gives us this really nicely animated “Trio of Trouble” short. Sadly, when I say short, I mean too short. I could really go for a classic Sonic, silent cartoon. I love it. Obviously the animated short’s name is a reference Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, the Game Gear exclusive game that was the first time Fang (or Nack) was introduced! We even did a SEGA Talk discussing the game, which you can listen to! 

Sonic Superstars is getting closer to release date as October 17th will be here faster than you can say “Does Fang have a Nack for treasure hunting?” .

 

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Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection from Limited Run Games adds two Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive Jurassic Park games; is still up for pre-order

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A while back, Limited Run Games announced their partnership with Universal Pictures to make the Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5/4, and Xbox, a compilation of all the official Jurassic Park games on NES, SNES, and Game Boy using their all new Carbon Engine emulation platform. We didn’t talk about this at the time because it wasn’t relevant to Sega in any way, until now. Just today, Limited Run Games has announced the collection will now also include the two Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive games: Jurassic Park (1993) and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (1994). Life finds a way for Sega Genesis to get its dues after all.

Fortunately, Limited Run Games’s pre-order period for the collection is going on until October 15th, 2023, so you still have plenty of time to pre-order a physical copy of the game if you’re interested. There are standard editions and two different collectors editions available. Photos of each are below. (The extras in the two collector’s editions are the same for every console.) You can select and pre-order them from LRG’s Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection page.

Will you be picking up this collection? Were you interested in it before the Sega games were added? Tell us in the comments below, won’t you?

And while you’re at it, listen to Barry and George talk about the original Jurassic Park game on Genesis in their latest Sega Talk episode.

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Atlus & Vanillaware brings back old school SRPGs with the gorgeous Unicorn Overlord

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The last time Atlus & Vinallaware teamed up, they brought us the amazing 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and now they have announced Unicorn Overlord coming to Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series world wide on March 8th, 2024.

The game in the West will have a standard edition and a Collector’s Edition pictured below:

Check out the press release after the break:

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The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show LIVE: Williams-Bally-Midway Arcade History with Ken Horowitz

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SEGA-16.com founder Ken Horowitz returns to the Swingin’ Report Show to talk about his newest book: From Pinballs to Pixels: An Arcade History of Williams-Bally-Midway! We take a look at the origins of pinball, how the industry grew out of Chicago, how the Williams company transformed over the years to become a console game developer and we talk about SEGA’s two brief entries into the pinball biz!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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SEGA Talk #126: Jurassic Park (1993)

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The SEGA Talk episode 65 million years in the making, as we take a drive through Jurassic Park on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive! Its Raptor vs Man on this adaptation of Steven Spielberg’s classic film (which in turn, was an adaptation of a book)!

[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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Two new Dreamcast games from Nape Games: Reknum Souls Adventure and Ploid, now available from VGNY Soft

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Here’s two more brand new Sega Dreamcast games for ya. Reknum Souls Adventures and Ploid, both originally made for NES by Nape Games, are now available for Dreamcast and up for pre-order in North America through VGNYSoft, a known publisher of physical indie games who also dabbles in Dreamcast games. Both games, like most other indie games on Dreamcast, are VGA compatible and region-free as well. Both can be had for $29.99 USD each.

Check in past the break for trailers and pre-order links.

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Disney’s Gargoyles Remastered, a remake of the Sega Genesis game, announced and up for pre-order digitally and from Limited Run Games

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Just announced earlier today at this year’s Disney D23 event, Gargoyles Remastered is a full-blown HD remake of the Sega Genesis game. That game, based on the classic Disney Afternoon cartoon series Gargoyles, originally released in November 1995, only in North America and only on Genesis. (It’s also most notable as the one game besides Virtua Racing that cannot run on a V2 model Genesis 3 console) Gargoyles Remastered launches on October 19th, 2023 and is now up for pre-order on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and GOG. 

While the game should play the same way the original did, it’s been completely rebuilt with a widescreen aspect ratio and an all new clean HD look, plus you can switch back and forth between the original pixel graphics at any time, just like Lizardcube and Dotemu’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap remake from 2017. There’s also a new rewind function to save you from dumb mistakes. All this is highlighted in the trailer above, which is narrated by Keith David, the original voice of series and game protagonist Goliath. 

See past the break for screenshots and a rundown on the game’s other new features.

EDIT: Various physical copies of Gargoyles Remastered are going up for pre-order from Limited Run Games, including working Genesis cartridges of the original game, starting September 8th, 2023 (That’s right. Tomorrow.) Info about this is also available after the break.

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