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Space Channel 5 Ulala Figma figure announced – Chu, Chu, Chu!

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Figma, the Japanese action figure company, have announced their latest collaboration with SEGA – a stunning Space Channel 5 Ulala figure. The figure is slated for December 2017 and will feature Ulala with microphone and gun accessories and three Morolians. The listed price is ¥7,800 (around $70), which is a bit steep when compared to past SEGA Figma releases, but some stores do list items with discounts. The main release will feature Ulala in her silver Part 2 attire, but if you want the orange original you’ll have to order from Goodsmile. Goodsmile lists their variant at ¥7,222 before tax and states that preorders will be open from 30th May 2017 (Tue) from 12:00JST until 29th June 2017 (Thu) at 12:00JST. The silver version is also available at Goodsmile for ¥7,222 but Amiami has it for less at ¥6,280.

What do you think of Figma’s latest release? Are you annoyed like I am that they still haven’t listed the Jet Set Radio Beat figure that was revealed back in July of 2016?

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SEGA Retrospective: An overview of Japanese Only SEGA games

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Sega is a Japanese company first and foremost, no way around it. As I did in the previous two articles of mine, I will delve into the Japanese side of Sega, and exclusively tailor this to Japanese only Sega games that have not made into the west, as well as how those types of games evolved. Read on for a retrospective look back at some games you likely never heard or about and surely never played!

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Event: Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam 2017

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The fan gaming event dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog and SEGA returns in 2017 featuring playable classic and modern SEGA video games, special guests behind them, fan panels by the SEGA fan community and special event activities based on various SEGA franchises.

This year with things looking good with SEGA line-up we plan to feature many games coming out in 2017 such as Sonic Mania, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Yakuza Kiwami, and many more with returning guests, Mike Pollock (voice of Dr. Eggman) and Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania composer)

Hit the jump for more details on location, prices, and submissions.

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MomoCon 2017: Big’s Big Fishing Adventure 3 – Big-Hazard Battle

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I know what you’re thinking. The release date for the most anticipated game ever has leaked out!

–not! While the hotly anticipated Big’s Big Fishing Adventure 3 is still a ways away, that didn’t stop some of our team to put together a brand new trailer showing off the exclusive mini game Big-Hazard Battle. 

This trailer was first revealed at our live panel at MomoCon 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia which would have been live streamed. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties, those who went to the panel were the only ones that got to see it in it’s entirety. Only the latter Q&A portion of the panel was streamed which you can catch here at the beginning of this archived video. But don’t worry! We also made sure to let you guys check out the new trailer one way or another! Big hijacks the Tornado 2 that takes him to familiar Sonic Adventure 2 locals including Prison Island and Pumpkin Hill. Load up with power-ups and options to fend off the G.U.N. forces.

Big’s Big Fishing Adventure 3 is a fan-made visual novel starring Big the Cat featuring various mini-games. It will show what the purple feline was up to during the events of Sonic Adventure 2, revealing why he was hanging around in the game’s stages. It is also partially being developed by SEGAbits staff.

Want to see more from the game? Don’t forget to check out the trailers featuring Tails and Dr. Eggman as well! For more news and updates on the game’s development and other shenanigans you can follow us on Twitter.

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SEGA News Bits: SEGA Reveals New Startup Logo Reaction

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Remember the iconic “SE-GA” startup chorus or the SEGA scream? How about the more recent manly voiced “SEGA”? Well the manly voice is going away and in its place, an eye! That’s right, SEGA are unveiling a new intro for their games and on this SEGA News Bits George and Barry react to the change and run through the history of SEGA startups.

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 new YouTube algorithm is.

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Sonic Mania releases August 15 according to new Steam Store trailer

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According to several Steam users in select parts of the world, a revised Sonic Mania trailer has appeared listing August 15 as the game’s release date. While the US store has not shown anything new, the European and some South American Steam Stores show the date. The date would mean we have two and a half months to wait before the game releases, and it also means the game would not make the end of Sonic’s 25th anniversary on June 23. We’ll share more as he hear it!

Pre-order the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition today, available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Yoot Saito hints at a Seaman return

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“Don’t Panic!” That’s what the t-shirts read in a tweet from Seaman creator Yoot Saito (it’s also on the cover of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but I doubt there is a connection). The tweet reads “Seemingly, a new project is being started. Guess what from the web-address on their back.” with the web address linking to www.seaman.ai which is currently shown as being under construction. We’ve covered a lot of Seaman news over the past five years, with the most notable headlines being “Nikkei reports that Seaman’s being revived on the 3DS” in 2012, “Nintendo trademarks point towards a new Seaman game” in 2013 and “Devolver Digital wants to make a new Seaman game” in 2015.

Could the mystery project be a remaster, a sequel, a Nintendo exclusive or a team up with a developer like Devolver Digital? Perhaps a Kickstarter will soon be launched? We’ll have to wait and see.

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SEGA Europe COO and President Jurgen Post departs

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JurgenPostLeavesSEGASEGA Europe has announced that Jurgen Post has left his position in the company as COO and President. Before Jurgen Post got his title as COO and President at SEGA Europe, he worked as managing director and senior vice president.

Jurgen Post was responsible for taking over as COO and President in 2012 where he streamlined SEGA Europe’s pillar structure which included Creative Assembly, Sports Interactive and moving SEGA more into the PC market place. He was also responsible for the latest wave of older SEGA PC ports which included Bayonetta and Vanquish.

“Jurgen leaving us is a huge loss, but he leaves Sega Europe with the business in a fantastic position and in the capable hands of a superb team who will strive to keep moving it forward. We wish Jurgen all the very best for the future and in his new role and hope that his employees there will find him as inspirational and as motivating as we did here.” – Tatsuyuki Miyazaki, SEGA West CEO

Its a bit weird that this just came out, seeing that not even 24 hours ago Jurgen Post gave a interview with GamesIndustry.biz where he said, “The Sega brand will come back and start to flourish again”. Hopefully he is right, but it will be sad to take this ride without him.

Until they find a replacement, SEGA Europe’s CFO John Ward will act as interim COO as the publisher looks for a replacement. What are your thoughts on this news? Do you think its all of a sudden? Let us know in the comments below.

[Source: MCVUK]

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Persona 5 hits sales of 450,000 units in North America

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Last month Atlus’s Persona 5 broke records in the franchise’s history becoming the best selling entry. Now a trusted GAF source has confirmed that sales for Persona 5 in April for North America was around 450,000 between both digital and retail figures. Not only does this make it the best debut Atlus have had in their history, it also means this is one of the best debut a SEGA owned franchise has had in the American market. It’s hard to track down solid numbers for SEGA games, we already know that it’s outsold Sonic Heroes debut month (The best selling SKU being the Gamecube version was just shy of 200,000 units.) which was also SEGA’s best selling console title in the sixth generation era. With data we know about the 4th generation, I think the only title that could realistically have a chance at being a bigger seller would have been Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but as that market was smaller in the past, it’s fair to assume Persona 5 has even overtaken that title too.

In fact, the only title that had a better debut in SEGA’s long and varied history isn’t even a mainline Sonic game but 2007’s landmark title Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games which managed a staggering 613,000! It’s interesting to note that Persona 5 will also end up selling far better in America than it did in Japan. So there you have it, Persona 5 has not only made records for Atlus but for SEGA too and perhaps an indication that the Persona brand has now over taken the Sonic the Hedgehog series as SEGA’s best selling console series, can the blue blur pull one back with Sonic Mania or Sonic Forces? We’ll find out soon enough but for now as Morgana would say “Looking good Joker!”

[Source: NeoGAF]

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SEGA News Bits: Everything We Know About Shenmue HD

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The Shenmue HD remaster rumors are back, and on this SEGA News Bits George and Barry discuss the latest news and detail the long history of Shenmue HD leaks and rumors. Could there be a pattern emerging from all the remaster rumors? Is a Shenmue HD release imminent? Watch the video to hear our thoughts!

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 new YouTube algorithm is.

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Survey: Tell us your favorite Persona 5 character

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We’re running a special survey for Persona 5 to find out what characters are fan favorites! All you need to do is start the survey, seen above, and make one selection or write in a character from the game that is missing from the list. The survey will run until this Friday, but we ask those who want to take it to take it sooner than later.

So what are you waiting for? Take the survey already!

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SEGA promotes James Schall to VP of digital business

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JamesSchallVPDigitalBusinessSEGA Europe has announced that they have promoted James Schall to vice president of its digital business from previously being director of digital distribution where he increased SEGA’s digital business success across consoles and PCs. As VP of digital business, James Schall will work with a growing number of third party studios to launch SEGA’s upcoming catalog of digital titles.

“James has made a huge contribution to Sega’s growth over recent years and I’m delighted by his promotion. With this appointment we are well positioned to continue our initiatives and further strengthen the fantastic partner and studio relationships we have.” – John Clark Senior VP of Commercial Publishing at SEGA

SEGA’s recent digital game successes include the release of Bayonetta, launching Warhammer: Dawn of War III and Total War: Warhammer 2.  SEGA also recently announced that they will be reviving their older IPs on their ‘road to 2020’, but those are set to be packaged games, while I wouldn’t be shocked if some of those are digital.

“I’m excited by the new role as it will enable me to work more closely with our development studios, continuing to focus on delivering our amazing content to our passionate fans and communities.” – James Schall, VP of Digital Games SEGA Europe

I think SEGA Europe’s digital branch has been kicking ass on their releases, my only complaint is that they don’t come fast enough. Though we are getting Vanquish PC port a month after Bayonetta, that’s an improvement. I hope James Schall really does look into what ‘passionate fans and communities‘ want. Maybe look at some sort of list conducted by votes from SEGA fans… Like some sort of Top 100 SEGA games list…

[Source: MCVUK]

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SEGA News Bits: Top 100 SEGA Games Discussion

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On this episode of the SEGA News Bits we discuss the Top 100 SEGA Games list we posted up earlier this month, so if you haven’t checked it out give it a gander. Join us to listen to us rant about how the list was put together, which games surprised us on the list, which games didn’t make the list, how SEGA games are under-appreciated on other top gaming lists, and much more. Sadly we don’t cover all the top 100 SEGA games that are represented on the list, that would take too long, but I hope the games we talked about was entertaining enough. Let us know if you agree or disagree with the top 100 SEGA games list and what your top three SEGA games would be 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 new YouTube algorithm is.

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This is how SEGA’s games will start moving forward

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SEGA is synonymous with many things, but the most notable would have to be the startup logo. In the console days, systems like the Master System, SEGA CD, Saturn and Dreamcast had their own startup logo. But once the game began, you’d be treated to the SEGA logo. How the SEGA logo appeared often differed from game to game, but in the later years – especially once SEGA went third party – things became more uniform. From around 2005 to the past year we had the swoosh and deep voiced “SEGA” logo for most games. Most games featured this, though there has been exceptions (Alien: Isolation, Yakuza 0, Puyo Puyo Tetris to name a few). According to Sam Mullen, Senior Localization Producer for SEGA products at Atlus USA, the swoosh and low voice is no more and the above eye is the new logo ident moving forward.

The eye first appeared in a SEGA of Japan video titled “Branding Movie”, seen after the break, which should have a subtitled version coming soon according to Sam. The video shows SEGA’s Chief Product Officer (and Monkey Ball and Yakuza creator) Toshihiro Nagoshi on a computer looking at the human eye. He then reflects on SEGA’s games and identity as he drives around Japan looking out the window. We see people interacting with SEGA products in their daily lives. We then see Nagoshi analyzing the brand with staff through meetings and tests and then the words “Amazing SEGA” appear on screen before the eye ident closes things off.

Clearly SEGA of Japan have put time and energy into this new startup, the question is what is the reasoning for the change? What do you think of the new startup? Sound off in the comments below.

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Persona 5 sold five times more than Persona 4 in the USA

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Persona5v4salesAtlus has shown that you can turn a cult classic game into a massive world wide selling IP if you stick with the franchise and continue making quality releases each time. According to the USA game tracking company, NPD, Persona 5 sold five times more copies than Persona 4 in its debut month in the USA. Its not surprising considering that Persona 4 seems to be one of those titles that got popular due to word of mouth and became one of the best selling titles on the PlayStation Vita. While Persona 5 sold more than ever, April also saw an increase in software sales in the United States compared to last year. An increase of 6%. The reason for the sales increase are due to the massive popularity of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Persona 5 and strong second month sales of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. “The industry drove the highest April hardware dollar sales since April 2011,” said NPD group in their report. Oddly enough all top three huge selling titles are Japanese developed games.

NPD groups’ top ten selling games for April 2017:

  • Mario Kart 8
  • Persona 5
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • MLB 17: The Show
  • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Mass Effect: Andromeda
  • NBA 2K17
  • Overwatch
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Its no surprise that Persona 5 is a massive success for Atlus and SEGA, considering all the rave reviews, fan hype and those dank memes hitting social media. Persona 5 is available now on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Persona 5 sold five times more than Persona 4, did you guys see that one coming? Did you guys pick up a copy? Time for the Persona 5 spin-offs?

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