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BlitWorks tells fans to continue asking SEGA for Shenmue and Jet Set Radio Future HD ports

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Spanish video game website GameSpek recently interviewed the Barcelona, Spain based company responsible for many ports, including SEGA fan favorite Jet Set Radio.

As we all know, before the Shenmue III E3 2015 announcement, the on again/off again Shenmue franchise was constantly surrounded in a wide array of rumors, some concerning ports or high definition remakes of the first two games having been started on, or even fully completed. These rumors never came to fruition, but now we have some official insight into the status of these Shenmue ports. Says BlitWorks:

“Then we thought it would be a good idea to showcase Sonic CD, Jet Set Radio and Shenmue working on the emulators to Sega, with the prospect of a commercial release for the consoles of that time. They showed interest in Sonic CD and Jet Set Radio“.

When asked if they had anything else to say to fans, BlitWorks said:

Thanks to you! We would like to tell SEGA games fans that they don’t cease to ask for ports of great games like Shenmue or Jet Set Radio Future, we are the first ones that would like to port these games. In change.org or similar webs there are several requests about that.

They also discuss Jet Set Radio‘s removal from iOS, and more. Check out the full interview here.

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Phantasy Star Online 2’s new update to feature crossover with BlazeBlue

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If not having Phantasy Star Online 2 released in the west made you bitter before, its going to make you even more bitter now. Especially if you’re a BlazeBlue fan because BlazeBlue is joining the Phantasy Star Online 2 universe this upcoming August.

So what is this collaboration going to have? There is going to be new scratch items, which include costumes to make your avatar look like characters from the BlazeBlue universe. Each character has a male and female variant of their costume.

BlazeBlue characters represented in the update: 

Each character will have their respective iconic weapons unlockable in Phantasy Star Online 2, which are shown in the trailer above. This update is being called ‘Phantasy Star Online 2: Darkness Shrouded Domain‘ and will continue the story in the game as well as add this big crossover. Hey SEGA West, I’d play the crap out of this game if you brought it over. Just sayin’!

[Source: Siliconera]

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This is how Shenmue would play if it was a 8-bit Mega Man game

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Youtuber and animator Peter Sjöstrand put together the above video combining his love for Mega Man and Shenmue into one ultimate fanboy video. The video features iconic moments and locations like the Rush turning into a forklift, QTEs and even a capsule toy machine boss fight.

As a big Mega Man fan growing up, if Ys NET ever made a retro style Shenmue game, I’d buy the crap out of it.

If you want the best possible version of Shenmue 3, don’t forget to contribute via their Kickstarter. Only 4 days left and its nearing 5 million, half the total it needs to become a ‘truly open world’.

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New Total War: WARHAMMER trailer introduces the Demigryphs

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Demigryphs are part lion, part eagle mounts that are used for knights or other high ranking members of the Empire. In this trailer Creative Assembly shows off the base model for the Demigryphs and explains their role in the Warhammer Fantasy universe.

The Demigryphs are known for their strength, massively powerful beaks and viciously sharp claws that cut through armor like butter. Much like everything Warhammer, even Demigryphs have their own lore. One of the biggest Demigryphs ever recorded (in this fictional history) was called Reaper who was the mount of Thedore Bruckner, now I wonder if we will be seeing Reaper in this upcoming game? Should be interesting seeing more about the game, considering how dense the Warhammer universe is.

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SEGA announces Phantasy Star Online 2 anime TV show

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During a event in Okinaway on Sunday, SEGA announced that its 2012 Free-To-Play online RPG Phantasy Star Online 2 will be getting a television anime adaption. The anime, being called Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation, will have a completely new storyline and take place on Earth in the near future.

During the event SEGA also revealed that Phantasy Star Online 2 has had over 3.5 million registered users. Sadly the only thing we know is that it will be coming out sometime in 2016. Now if we can get a release of the game over here in America and Europe, that’d be great!

[Source:Famitsu]

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Yu Suzuki’s Twitter Q&A Part 2: Shenmue 3 in-game footage won’t be shown until 2017

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Last time Yu Suzuki was answering fan questions on twitter, I searched his twitter to find all the questions and answers to give them to you. This time, someone on Shenmue Dojo beat me to it. So you can check out the answers questions here or hit the jump for the complete transcript.

Some of the interesting bits includes a sketch of Akira in  High School from the cancelled Virtua Fighter RPG, Saying that we won’t see in-game footage of Shenmue 3 until 2017, and even confirmed that the game will be based on reality, unlike what that Shenmue Online trailer lead us to believe.

Continue Reading ➜

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Shenmue 3 updates: Interview with new project member Kenji Itoso and new reward tiers

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Shenmue 3 has added a new interview, this time with a new member on the project. Meet Kenji Itoso who used to apprentice under Hayao Miyazaki over at Studio Ghibli and has directed on many different multipmedia projects. He even worked on the popular hit anime Attack on Titan. Showing that YS Net is using the funded cash from the Kickstarter to pick up fresh talent like this is good and I think will further encourage more donations from those people questioning the Kickstarter. Check out the video and hear about his history with the Shenmue series.

The Kickstarter has also added 4 new reward tiers for users looking to upgrade their pledge. One has a guest book allowing you to share a 140 character message that will be displayed forever in-game, a capsule block toy with your beatiful mug and if that isn’t enough a higher award will make you into a chibi capsule toy version of yourself drawn by Kenji Miyawaki! Check it out and #SaveShenmue.

 

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SEGA 3D Classics 3D Streets of Rage 2 delayed a week for global release

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SEGA has announced via Facebook that the much anticipated SEGA 3D Classics release of 3D Streets of Rage 2, which was due out next Thursday on the 16th, has been pushed back a week to July 23rd. No reason for the delay was given, but it was mentioned that it will be a global release. I guess I can wait a week, but man do I want to punch trash cans and eat cooked meat off the street.

Stay tuned to SEGAbits for further SEGA 3D Classics news and our inevitable 3D Streets of Rage 2 review!

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Company of Heroes 2’s stand alone expansion ‘The British Forces’ comes out September 3rd

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Not only did SEGA announce that ‘The British Forces‘ was coming out on September 3rd, it also announced it would come with a ‘major design upgrade’ for the whole Company of Heroes 2 multiplayer. The upgrade will balance out the game’s five factions and further improve animation and graphics.

As for The British Forces, you won’t need a to own a copy of Company of Heroes 2 to play it and if you get The British Forces only, you’ll still be able to access the multiplayer content available in Company of Heroes 2. The stand alone expansion is set to introduce players to 15 new units, 6 new commanders with unique abilities and 8 whole new multiplayer maps.

The stand alone expansion will retail for $12.99, if you pre-order it now on Steam you get 10% off. If you have any other Company of Heroes games in your library you get a additional 10% off (making it 20% off). Pretty good deal for long time fans and a cheap entry point for new comers that want to get into the multiplayer portion of Company of Heroes 2.

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SEGA Japan CEO talks about earning gamer’s trust, learning from Atlus and focusing on quality titles

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[Update: It seems that their might have been some mistranslation when it came to Siliconera’s reporting on the story. While it said it was Hajime Satomi who was interviewed, according to Gematsu it was actually his son and newly crowned president of Sega Games co that was interviewed. It makes sense since he barely got the job in April during the restructure.]

Its easy to see that there have been issues at SEGA that they have been trying to get patched up. One thing is for sure is that SEGA Japan’s in-house gaming studios haven’t delivered titles that have been up to par and it always seems that they are trying to go triple A development and falling short with unpolished titles being released. It seems that long time SEGA CEO and President Hajime Satomi understands fan’s frustrations, he talked to Famitsu about how SEGA Japan has actually been learning from Atlus’ model of game creation:

“As far as the Western market goes, we learned a lot from Atlus. If we can make a title with proper quality, I believe there’s a good chance for it to do well even in the West for players that like to play Japanese games.”

It also seems that Satomi is really eyeing the Playstation 4 as a future console they want to release titles on, while the company has been only focusing on the Nintendo Wii U in the West in the last few years (it seems that might change):

“It may look rough if you look a it from a Japanese standpoint, but on a global scale the PlayStation 4 has a record-selling history, so I believe there’s a good opportunity there,”

While we know SEGA will have a big focus on mobile games, considering that a huge percentage of Japanese gamers are using the platform as its main gaming machine, Famitsu asked him what they are looking to focus more on when it comes to console games. Answer? Quality.

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Check out the Cook & Becker limited edition Shenmue art print

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We posted a few months ago that Cook & Becker had the first collection of its limited edition SEGA prints up on their shop, consisting of games like Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star and more. Now they have posted up a limited edition art print of the famous Shenmue.

“I’m so excited that Shenmue 3 is finally happening! I wanted to capture the moment just after Ryo’s father Iwao is killed by Lan Di. In the game the scene stops with Ryo cradling Iwao and screaming “No!”. I wanted to imagine a shot where Ryo is standing just outside the dojo where is father was just killed. It is cold and very early in the morning. Snow is falling. The morning light is still weak and only some of the wood interior is catching light from the outside. Ryo’s pose already hints at him seeking revenge.” – Tom Sweeney, Artist behind the piece

The art piece is available in 24×47 inches and in a smaller 16×31 inches. Each art print is hand numbered and the user has the option of picking the number of their print from 1 to 100. Not only that, the artist, John Sweeney has stated that he would donate his proceeds of the piece to the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter for those of you who purchase a copy before July 17th, so picking up an extra art piece will in fact support the creation of Shenmue 3. Win, win?

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SEGA registers Dawn of War 3 website

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It has begun, SEGA of America has registered the domain for DawnofWar3.com, pretty much giving away that Relic’s next game will most likely be the much requested Dawn of War 3. Its not at all surprising seeing how big their other team, Creative Assembly’s Total War: Warhammer project will be, already confirming long term DLC support.

It seems that SEGA is all in when it comes to creating Warhammer games, not only in Warhammer Fantasy universe but also in Warhammer 40k universe. As a fan of Warhammer I’m excited and I think its a smart move by SEGA West as a whole, seeing how popular Dawn of War series has been in the past. I just wish we had more SEGA Japan projects that where as high budget as these western titles, but what can you do about that.

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7th Dragon III Code: VFD debut trailer hits the internet

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SEGA has released the debut trailer for their newly announced Nintendo 3DS RPG, 7th Dragon III Code: VFD. Seeing the title you might think this is the 3rd entry to SEGA’s 7th Dragon RPG series which debuted back in 2009 on the Nintendo DS. This is actually the 4th entry, since the game got two games on the PSP after the debut DS game. Sadly these games have stayed in Japan. There have been fan translations released online, if that’s your thing.

While the song on the trailer is by another group, the in-game music will be done by SEGA legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage fame). This is a weird entry in the series as imageepoch (developer of the first three games) will not be developing this title due to their bankruptcy issues. Also series producer and SEGA veteran Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star series, Skies of Arcadia) is not returning as producer. You can read my other article on the people behind this game, here. The game releases in Japan on October 15th, 2015.

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Yu Suzuki’s Twitter Q&A: Check out our complete transcript

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One of the issues with the Shenmue 3 KickStarter is that many people felt like there wasn’t enough details on the project. Unsurprisingly fans had a million questions for legendary game developer Yu Suzuki, thankfully Yu has tried to answer fan questions. First was in a form of a live Twitch chat, that didn’t go so smoothly (which he has apologized for).

Now he has taken to Twitter and allowed users to ask him any question, all you have to do is use the tag: #YouAskYu and the response was outstanding. But what did we learn from this? We gathered some of the best answers and posted them after the break!

Continue Reading ➜

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Shenmue 3 kickstarter adds physical PS4 copy

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Did you demand that Shenmue III get a Playstation 4 physical version? Guess what? Yu Suzuki has heard your cries and it was added earlier today. Pay $60 dollars and get yourself a physical copy of Shenmue 3 on Playstation 4 (or PC, since its the same price).

It doesn’t seem that they have added a tier to allow users to buy both physical copies of PC and PS4, so I don’t know which one I would want right now. I’m leaning towards PC for the modification aspect. What version are you guys picking up?

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