SEGA reveals Sonic Frontiers 2023 DLC roadmap, FREE for all platforms

SEGA has dropped a bombshell on fans in the form of a MASSIVE Sonic Frontiers DLC roadmap for next year! The content, which is free for all platforms, will drop in three updates. While SEGA is not giving specifics just yet, they did reveal this image and the below description:

The title’s 2023 content roadmap details plans for a series of future content updates to the new open-zone, action-packed adventure. These three content updates will include new features, modes, character skins and more. All three updates will be free to all Sonic Frontiers owners.

Sonic Frontiers Holiday Cheer Suit DLC releasing December 21, 2022

Today, SEGA announced a huge rollout of Sonic Frontiers content for 2023. But before we get into that, there is a special holiday treat for fans hitting December 21, 2022. The DLC, dubbed “Holiday Cheer Suit” will be free for all platforms and “offers new apparel for Sonic to wear and bring some holiday spirit to the Starfall Islands”. So you want Santa Sonic in a snowy setting? You got it!

SEGA Talk #108: Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage (1999)

Grab your six foot sword, drab yourself in black and get ready to slay demons as we dive into Sword of the Berserk: Guts’ Rage on Dreamcast! We dive into the manga that started it all, look at the world and go Berserk on this episode of SEGA TALK!

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Gley Lancer official cartridge release coming from Retro-Bit; Pre-orders open now

Retro-Bit sure is on a roll now. Hot off their recent announcement of their Valis Collection, Retro-Bit has now announced their official western cartridge debut for Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer, one of the most beloved shumup classics released exclusively on Mega-Drive in Japan only. Pre-orders are now open from several different stores in both North America and Europe until December 27th, 2022. North American Genesis fans can pre-order from Limited Run Games and Castlemania Games. European Mega-Drive fans can pre-order from Nedgame, Xtra Life, Dragonbox Shop, Spel & Sant, and Strictly Limited Games.

(They’ve also announced pre-orders for Battletoads & Double Dragon for SNES the same day, but that’s not Sega Genesis, so lets ignore that.)

Check in after the break for more information and a nifty trailer.

Streets of Rage 2 New Era fan port updates old game with new features

There aren’t many widely celebrated classics on Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive quite like Streets of Rage 2. The beat-em-up classic exclusive to Sega’s 16-bit juggernaut still holds up perfectly well the way it is, but some fans have set out to modernize the game in Unity 3D with some amazing new enhancements, made through reverse engineering.

Streets of Rage 2 New Era is a brand new fan-developed port of the original game for PC and Mac that builds on it with new 4-player multiplayer, widescreen, and even online co-op. It is a complete experience currently at version 2.0 at the time of this writing. The game requires you to have an original Streets of Rage 2 ROM file in order to play. This is only to get around the legal issue of making the game freely available while Sega, the rightful copyright holders, still sell Streets of Rage 2. New Era does not rely on emulation to run or enhance the game. It recommends that you buy Streets of Rage 2 on Steam where, along with every other game in the Sega Genesis Classics Collection, it comes with a freely accessible ROM file ripe for the taking in that collection’s installation files.

Check in after the break for extra info. Otherwise, head to the game’s web page to download the game.

Sonic creator Yuji Naka arrested for insider trading involving new Dragon Quest game

According to Japanese news site fnn, Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka has been arrested for insider trading involving the Dragon Quest Tact mobile game.  According to the news site, Yuji Naka used insider information while working at Square-Enix about (then) unannounced “Dragon Quest Tact” mobile game which was being developed jointly by Square-Enix and Aiming for mobile devices.

Yuji Naka allegedly used this information to purchase over 10,000 shares of Aiming stock for approximately 2.8 million yen (about 20k USD).  Yuji Naka left SEGA way back in 2006 to form Prope, he would then join Square Enix in 2018 and then left after Balan Wonderworld bombed. Yuji Naka even had heated words for Square Enix claiming they don’t value games.

For now we wait to see more details. Quite a journey that Yuji Naka has taken in the last few years.

New trailer for Sonic Prime explores Shatterspaces

Netflix has dropped a new trailer for Sonic Prime, the streaming series set for a December 15th release date on Netflix. The new trailer details the show’s plot, including a very Sonic SatAM alternate reality where Eggman has completely taken over. Or should I say… EggMEN? The trailer also showcases several alternate worlds called Shatterspaces, which is likely going to contribute to the episodic nature of the show with a new Shatterspace each week.

Check out the trailer above and mark your calendar for December 15th!

Akira Nagai, Former Managing Director at SEGA, Has Passed Away

We’re sad to report that Akira Nagai, Managing Director at SEGA from 1965 to 2004, has passed away. Nagai was one of the longest serving managing directors and representatives at the company, initially starting out in jukebox distribution in 1963 at Nihon Goraku Bussan and continuing in amusement machine sales in the 1980s. During the 1990s, Nagai managed SEGA’s Amusement Theme Park concept which went on to establish several Joypolis venues in Japan in addition to others. Fans might best remember his likeness from a cameo as a Yakuza boss in the first Shenmue game.

Akira Nagai passed on November 15, 2022 at age 79. If you would like a deep dive on his career, please read his full article on SEGA Retro.

The SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show: Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam REMIX

The Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam Remix convention has concluded, but our coverage hasn’t! Following our recap on SEGA News Bits Live here is another bit of the convention, the full audio I recorded of the Shenmue & Arcade All-Stars panel which featured a reunion of the Shenmue voice actors Corey Marshall, Eric Kelso and Lisle Wilkerson. Enjoy this historic moment in Shenmue history!

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SEGA Talk #107: Segagaga (2001)

Strap in and get ready to save SEGA as we venture into the year 2025 and cover the Dreamcast Japanese exclusive Segagaga! We discuss the cameos, parodies and more!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam Remix: Shenmue & Arcade All-Stars Voice Actors Panel

The biggest moment at this past weekend’s Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam Remix was the Shenmue & Arcade All-Stars Voice Actors Panel featuring the reunion of Corey Marshall, Lisle Wilkerson and Eric Kelso of Shenmue fame.

This is the first time all three have been together since recording audio for Shenmue II over 20 years ago. I was on hand as moderator, which was probably a SEGA fan “career” highlight for me.

Give the full panel a watch and enjoy!

Sonic Frontiers dashes to number 4 spot in UK Game Charts and number 3 on Steam Charts

 

Sonic Frontiers made a strong start to life in the charts, boosting a number 4 spot in the UK Game Charts and sold 5% more than 2017’s release Sonic Forces. While this might not seem a large increase this does not include digital sales so Frontiers’ actual increase over Forces could be quite significant yet. We know more than half of UK game sales are now digital. What was more interesting was the platform break down, while Sonic Forces enjoyed strong sales on the Nintendo Switch, this time the best selling platform for the franchise was as follows; Playstation 5 (40%) Switch (34%) Xbox (14%) and Playstation 4 (12%) But it wasn’t just the UK where Sonic Frontiers is enjoying a successful start to it’s sale life, hit the break to read more how it’s fairing on Steam!

SEGA News Bits Live: Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam Remix Recap

Another Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam event is a wrap, and for the first time a Barry or George attended! Which one was it? Click play to find out! On this News Bits Live, check out exclusive photos and videos from the event, details on the must see panels and some merch pickups.

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Scrape Your Kocos, Catch Some Sage – Sonic Frontiers is now available!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you should know by now that Sonic Frontiers is now available on all major platforms! That includes the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. With the game’s launch came a launch trailer that has to be seen to be believed. Think they go with a song like “Vandelize” or “I’m Here”? Think again!

How is the game? You can watch our video review for yourself!