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NWO & VFDC: No Matter the Cost Tournament

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Are you a fan of Virtua Fighter and looking into participating in causal tournament matches with other players? If you happen to live near Alexandria, Virginia, NWO (New Wolf Order) in association with VFDC, will be hosting a North American Virtua Fighter tournament next week starting from February 17th all the way through the 19th. The event will feature various entries in the franchise such as Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle, Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned, and Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown. All tournaments will also be streamed throughout the weekend.

I will be attending NMTC for SEGAbits next week to bring you all coverage on the Virtua Fighter fan event. For details on registration, schedule, and prizes, head over to VFDC for more info. Hit the jump to view the trailer for the event.

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Amazon says Sonic Mania coming out April 25, 2017

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SonicManiaApril25SEGA hasn’t given a solid release date for Sonic Mania, outside that its set to come out this spring, but it seems that Amazon might have leaked the release date a tad earlier. According to their Sonic Mania product page, the game is set to release on April 25, 2017. Is that true? Who knows, Amazon has been known as being funky with their release dates. For example, the product pages for the PC and Nintendo Switch say its coming out May 31, 2017.

Honestly though, Sonic Mania coming out on April 25, 2017 seems to make sense, but I wouldn’t hold my breath until its officially announced. Thanks to Ghast06 on Twitter for the heads up. What is your opinion on the date change, you think Sonic Mania makes it to store shelves on April 25?

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SEGAbits.com – Celebrating 7 Years

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Today marks the 7th anniversary of SEGAbits.com! Seven years ago today, SEGAbits admin George posted the site’s first article, simply titled “Welcome to SEGAbits”, and right out of the gate on that same day the first piece of news was reported. From day one, the goal of the site was to cover the latest SEGA news, review retro and modern content, and to host an ongoing podcast. But really, the reason SEGAbits was founded was that we felt the internet needed a great place for SEGA fans to visit and interact with each other, discussing their favorite games from the past and speculating what was on the horizon from our favorite company.

After the break, read special anniversary messages from George and Barry which look back on the past year and ahead to what to expect in 2017 from the site! As always, we really appreciate the support of our readers and also want to thank our team of writers and contributors (Moody, FlareHabanero, James, Adam, Aki-At, Kori-Maru, Happy Cat, Sharky, and Dakota) who put a lot of work in over the past year.

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Rare SegaSonic Cosmo Galaxy Fighter game dumped

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MAMEWorld has recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the well known arcade emulator MAME with a dump of several arcade games. One of the games is the rare SegaSonic Cosmo Galaxy Fighter from an anonymous donator. The original game was a vertical shooter that as the name suggests stars Sonic the Hedgehog as he has to shoot down Dr. Robotnik and his robots in space. The arcade cabinet was originally a Japanese exclusive, with the monitor having an interesting “swaying” effect as you play the game. SegaSonic Cosmo Galaxy Fighter is comparable to Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car in terms of presentation.

This dumping means that as of this point, all known Sonic arcade games have been dumped in some way or another. However, the ROM of the game is not available publicly as of this writing, meaning currently it’s not possible to play the game yourself using MAME. Still, the fact a game like SegaSonic Cosmo Galaxy Fighter and the many other games recently donated being dumped means they won’t be lost to the trials of time.

[Source: MAMEWorld]

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Humble Monthly Bundle has Total War: Warhammer for $12

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humbletotalwarmonthlybundleSEGA has teamed up with Humble Bundle, a charity driven PC game store to offer gamers Total War: Warhammer for $12 bucks. Getting Total War: Warhammer for $12 bucks is a huge deal, considering that this seems to be the lowest price for the title. But there’s more, you also unlock at least six more games at the end of the month. Last month’s bundle had big titles like X-COM 2, Ryse: Son of Rome, Abzu, and more. If you pay the monthly fee of $12 dollars now, you can download Total War: Warhammer today and start enjoying the game. Just make sure that at the end of the month, when all the games unlock, you cancel your membership or they’ll charge you for the next month.

Is Total War: Warhammer worth the $12 dollars? Well the game has mix ratings over on Steam but manage to score well with critics. Why the mix feelings from fans? Most fans say this is the best Total War game created but are a bit disappointed on how SEGA and Creative Assembly have implemented DLC. Looking at the DLC for the game I don’t blame them, having two packs costing $18.99 for new races is a bit steep. There is also a few free pieces of DLC like Grombrindal the White Dwarf and Wurrzag.

Going to be honest, I think Total War: Warhammer for $12 plus more games at the end of the month is a steal. If you like Total War or these type of strategy PC games, give it a shot. There is also a Mac compatible version for those readers not running Windows.

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SEGA Channel Retro: Freedom Planet 2 and Sonic Robo Blast 2 Top Down Mod

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Today we spotlight a couple of releases from the community, the Freedom Planet 2 demo as well as a brief co-op run of the long awaited Top Down mod for Sonic Robo Blast 2. Read more on Freedom Planet 2’s latest demo and links to where you can find it here. If you want to check out the new Top Down mod for Sonic Robo Blast 2, be sure to hit up their forums.

SEGA Channel Retro is the SEGA themed variety channel covering anything and everything related to Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA and the community that supports it. We stream SEGA games, games on SEGA consoles, hacks, mods and more!

You can now watch our live streams on YouTube or Twitch! Also please consider donating to SEGA Channel Retro!

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An update on the indie SEGA Dreamcast game SLaVE – why is it taking so long?

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Back in September of 2014 SLaVE, a Dreamcast game by indie developer Isotope and GOAT Store Publishing, was announced. The game was to combine the game design sensibilities and aesthetics of 80s arcade shooters with old school first person shooters like Doom and Wolfenstein. At the time of the games announcement, it looked as though the release was just around the corner with Goat Store taking pre-orders for a Limited Edition and a Limited Limited Edition. Since then, however, little has been said about the game aside from a mention in April 2015 of a “final bug test” and the cover art reveal.

And then? Nothing, at least until this week when Isotope developer Coraline released the following statement.

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Contest: Yakuza 0 Digital Copy Giveaway

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We’re excited to announce that we’ve teamed with SEGA to give away some digital copies of their latest game in the Yakuza franchise, Yakuza 0! For those not in the know, Yakuza 0 is an action-adventure game with beat ’em up gameplay, RPG elements and a slew of mini-games. The game takes place in 1988, before all the other canon Yakuza games, and puts you in control of Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima. We loved the game, and we’re sure you will to, which is why we’re so happy to be giving away copies to three lucky winners!

We have three contests running at once, and one copy will be given away in each, meaning that you can enter in all three to triple your chances of winning. Should a winner be selected more than once, we will select another winner in one of the contests so that nobody gets more than one copy of the game.

Here’s how to enter:

SEGAbits.com: In the comments section of this post, tell us your favorite Yakuza franchise moment or memory. When leaving your comment, please use a valid email address in the email field so we can contact you. Email addresses are not public.

Twitter.com/SEGAbits: Follow @SEGAbits and Retweet the contest tweet.

Facebook.com/SEGAbits: Like our Facebook page and in the comments section of the contest post, tell us your favorite Yakuza franchise moment or memory.

The contest is open to the Americas only and the contest ends February 7th at 9pm EST. Best of luck to all who enter!

The contest has ended! Thank you to all who entered, and congrats to our winner Jon p! Stay tuned to SEGAbits.com for future contests!

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Yakuza 0 bursts into the UK top 10 at the 8th position

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There was a lot of pre-release hype for Yakuza 0 as reviewers lavishly praised the game and it had placed high in the UK Amazon preorder charts. Now the results are out and it looks like Yakuza 0 is a resounding success coming in at 8th, the highest position the series has ever managed in the franchise’s UK sales history. The previous record chart position was held by the 2010 release Yakuza 3 at 24th.

Interestingly, Yakuza 0 is 8th for both individual (games recorded by SKU) and multi-format (Where multiple SKUs are combined). Unfortunately for us, Chart Tracker doesn’t release sales numbers so it all comes down to the being able to work out what other titles have done to be able to work out roughly which position sold what. We do know that with Resident Evil 7 being the third best selling title in the franchise’s UK history, this means that sales would be no greater than 130,000 units. The split between the PS4 (73%) and Xbox One (25%) versions of Resident Evil 7, with the latter being the second best selling SKU, would allow us to know that Yakuza 0 has not sold more than 32,500 copies.

Looking at its position and if I had to hazard I guess, I imagine Yakuza 0 has achieved around 6,000 to 10,000 sales. A good starting point for the franchise, and of course the other European and American territories will only add to the number. Once we get updated numbers, we’ll keep you posted!

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SEGA Japanese developers talk Nintendo Switch

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SEGADevelopersSwitchSeeing as we are big SEGA fanboys, it is safe to say we care about what their developers think about a upcoming console. This month on Famitsu, SEGA Japanese developers talk Nintendo Switch and their thoughts on the big reveal presentation. The original news piece, posted by Nintendo Everything, also had other top Japanese developers. So check that out if you want to learn what other top Japanese talent from other publishing companies thought about the Nintendo Switch. So what SEGA Japanese developers talk Nintendo Switch? We have Takashi Iizuka (Sonic the Hedgehog series), Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza series) and Mizuki Hosoyamada (Puyo Puyo series).

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Cook & Becker’s Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book reveals exclusive Yuji Uekawa print

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Sonic-art-print_UekawaLong time Sonic the Hedgehog artist Yuji Uekawa will be doing an exclusive print that will come with the Cook & Becker’s Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book Collectors Edition. If you missed the news, the art book will collect rare and exclusive art from the Blue Blur’s history and will come in two versions: standard hardcover and collectors edition. The Yuji Uekawa print will not be sold separately, as far as we know, meaning there will be about 2,500 copies printed. The Yuji Uekawa print focuses on the history of Sonic by showing him with his three major redesigns: Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic and Sonic Boom.

Cook & Becker was also nice enough to share what the Yuji Uekawa print looks like within the Sonic The Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book Collectors Edition! Remember if you pre-order the collector’s edition before February, you get a 10% discount. The book is expected to ship to costumers sometime within April. What are your thoughts on the Yuji Uekawa print? Sound off in the comments below.

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Rumor: Sonic Mania to get a physical release [update]

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Up to this point, we knew that the anticipated Sonic Mania was coming to the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and more recently Nintendo Switch as a digital download. However, recent images suggest that Sonic Mania may also get a physical release, at least for the Nintendo Switch version. @SuperAj3 on Twitter recently posted an image of mockup cases for Sonic Mania, originally from EBGames Australia. According to him, he asked the people behind the counter about the game, and it was in their database. Later, another Twitter post from the official EBGames Australia account claims that they are “expecting” a physical release for Sonic Mania at this stage.

Together, this hints at Sonic Mania getting a physical release, at least for the Nintendo Switch version in Australia. However as of this writing, nothing from SEGA has been officially confirmed. It’s also unknown if a physical release will be available in other regions or if there will be physical releases for the other versions such as for the PS4 and Xbox One.

[Update] Sonic the Hedgehog social media manager, Aaron Webber, has taken to Twitter to set the record straight. According to him, there isn’t ‘currently’ news on the physical release.

“Hi guys – there’s currently no news on a physical release for Sonic Mania, sorry. We’ll let you know if anything changes. Thanks!” – Aaron Webber

Weird choice of using ‘no news on a physical release’ instead of ‘no plans’, but we shall see what happens in the near future. [/update]

 

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Valkyria Revolution debuts as worst selling entry in franchise history

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Valkyria-Azure-Revolution-Tokyo-Game-Show-2016-TrailerValkyria Revolution debuts as worst selling entry in franchise history and that isn’t clickbait. Valkyria Revolution (Valkyria: Azure Revolution)  moved 38,197 units on PlayStation 4 and only 18,219 on the PlayStation Vita. That means that combined, it did a total of 56,416 units. Even combined, its still the lowest debuting title in Valkyria franchise’s history:

  • Valkyria Chronicles – 77,698
  • Valkyria Chronicles II – 76,088
  • Valkyria Chronicles III – 102,779

The game got beaten in sales by other debuting games like Gravity Rush 2 (74,361) and Yoshi’s Woolly World (39,555) which both debuted with less sales than any past Valkyria Chronicles titles as well. Other factors we can look into as to why Valkyria Revolution debuts as worst selling entry in franchise history is the reception. We did a preview for the game and it just didn’t seem like the right execution for what the team was trying to do. Famitsu still managed to give the full game a rating of 8/9/8/7 [32/40], which is rather high.

It is not looking good for the Valkyria franchise with this being the lowest selling new release in the franchise’s history and Valkyria Chronicles remake only selling 24,156 units on its debut week. While the team behind Valkyria Revolution have been teasing about the possibilities of a new full fledged Valkyria Chronicles title, I don’t think SEGA would be as keen considering how these past two releases have sold (at least in Japan). I myself have mix feelings on how this title will do in the West and feel that adding a Xbox One version and not a PC version was a mistake. Considering that the PC version of Valkyria Chronicles has sold over 900,000 units.

[Source: Siliconera]

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SEGA News Bits: Puyo Puyo Tetris Coming West

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January 2017 saw the reveal of the Nintendo Switch, and following the live event several announcements were made. One that was of interest to SEGA fans was the reveal that Puyo Puyo Tetris would be coming west to the Switch and the Playstation 4. On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry are joined by SEGAbits.com writer and resident Puyo Puyo expert FlareHabanero to explain what we can expect from the upcoming game.

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us, give us a sub. If you are already subscribed you can always like the video.

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SEGA adds more gaming soundtracks to Spotify

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SEGASoundtracksSEGA adds more gaming soundtracks to Spotify for your listening pleasure. It seems that SEGA is going to continue to add more in the upcoming months? I sure hope so. But as of right now, there are a ton of new SEGA soundtracks to feast your teeth into. Here are some of the franchises that got soundtracks added to the music streaming service:

  • Fantasy Zone
  • NiGHTS 
  • Out Run
  • Virtua Fighter
  • Skies of Arcadia
  • Chain Chronicle
  • Shinobi/Nightshade
  • Space Harrier
  • Rhythm Thief 
  • Gunblade NY & L.A. Machineguns
  • Power Drift
  • Alex Kidd

There are more here and there. Want to have a gander yourself? Check out SEGA’s artist page on Spotify. It does seem that this was done by SEGA Japan, only because there are some very Japanese focused soundtracks like Chain Chronicle (never published outside of Japan by SEGA) and Nightshade is using its Japanese name of Kunoichi. SEGA adds more gaming soundtracks to Spotify, does this mean you will be less likely to get a physical version of these soundtracks? Personally I think people that stream, where going to stream it regardless. What soundtrack is missing that you want? Sound off in the comments.

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