SEGA Tunes: Star Wars Arcade 32X feels like it could take on the whole Empire

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While the heyday of the original Star Wars trilogy video games in the 70s and 80s belonged to Atari, during the 90s and early 2000s our favorite arcade game maker (that’s SEGA, if you’re wondering) internally developed a three games that blew the Atari arcade experiences out of the water. The arcade games I am referring to are Star Wars Arcade (by SEGA AM3 and LucasArts), Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (by SEGA AM8 and LucasArts), and Star Wars Racer Arcade (by Sega Rosso). These games were exciting for a number of reasons. For starters, you had some of the best SEGA arcade talent behind the titles working with some of the best arcade technology of the time. [Learn more about SEGA’s arcade development in the 90s]

I know old Atari arcade games have their charm, but when you’re dealing with a franchise like Star Wars that leans so much on visuals, sound and music I’d much prefer to know what I’m looking at rather than trying to figure out what tiny wireframes are trying to convey. Personally I found Star Wars Racer Arcade to be the pinnacle of Star Wars arcade experiences, as it felt 1:1 to the film in every aspect. But today, for the latest entry in our SEGA Tunes series, I wanted to look back at the Star Wars arcade experience that kicked off the SEGA trilogy of arcade games, the aptly named Star Wars Arcade.

Tails and Knuckles Mii costumes coming to Super Smash Bros

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Bayonetta wasn’t the only Sega surprise announced for Super Smash Bros yesterday, as Tails and Knuckles also enter the fray! Errr…sort of. They will be included as Mii Fighter costumes. Tails will be used for gunner fighters while Knuckles can be used for brawlers. Now you can have a real Sega vs. Nintendo match online! Bayonetta and Mii costumes arrive in February 2016.

Bayonetta is coming to Super Smash Bros

Seems that Nintendo really wants to push Bayonetta, not only did they pick up funding and publishing for Bayonetta 2; but they are now adding her as a DLC character in Super Smash Bros on the Wii U and 3DS.

Bayonetta will join other big DLC characters like Cloud (Final Fantasy 7), Ryu (Street Fighter) and the newly announced Corrin (Fire Emblem). Nintendo is aiming for a February release. The character and new Bayonetta stage will be $5.99 for one platform (3DS or Wii U) but if you want it bundled on both it only costs $6.99.

So what do you guys think? Good choice for a DLC character? Any other SEGA owned properties that you would like to see in Super Smash Bros?

SEGA News Bits: Our Favorite SEGA Games of 2015

Back for our end of the year discussion on what SEGA game was our favorite this year. Over all, it was a weak year for the diversity of games coming from SEGA, as they are rebuilding, but they did have some gems that we shall be talking about. Let us know what your favorite SEGA (or even Atlus) game of the has been for 2015 in the comments below.

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SEGA secretly releases ‘War Pirates’ on Android

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Seems that the Western localization version of Sen No Kaizoku is called ‘War Pirates’ in America and is available to download on Android (coming later to iOS). The game is being created by Masayoshi Kikuchi, who is known by SEGA fans for his work on Jet Set Radio and Yakuza franchises.

War Pirates takes a mix of city building and turn-based naval combat to deliver a frantic pirate themed experience. According to a lot of reviews on the Google Playstore the game is having issues connecting to the game’s server and downloading game data. Just like all other SEGA free-to-play games, the user is forced to have a constant internet connection if they want to enjoy the game, so this could ruin your experience. Not to mention its a soft launch, so it most likely only available if your from a country like Canada.

If you download it, let us know what you think of the game in the comments below.

A Compilation of Panzer Dragoon Saga’s In-Game Artwork

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Years ago, I ended up trying to extract some artwork images from Panzer Dragoon Saga, the Sega Saturn classic and only RPG in the Panzer Dragoon series. While I managed to write a small program to extract the grayscale versions of the images out of the game’s files, actually getting the images in color proved to be a bit more challenging. I never did figure out how to apply the color palette to the images, but I did manage to find a workaround. I looked up the exact address where the Sega Saturn stored the images and the color palettes in its internal memory, and then used the Sega Saturm emulator Yabause to inject all of the images and the corresponding color palettes at the correct location in the memory, while the game was running and showing the opening menu. In doing so, I could alter the background of the start screen and grab each of the images.

The artwork consists of the following:

  • Four images that were shown when you were asked to switch between the game’s four CDs.
  • Four images shown at the end of the game when you viewed your statistics (like how much of the game’s map you explored). The images differed depending on how well you performed throughout the game.
  • The image shown in the background of the Save menu.
  • The images shown at the game’s title screen, for both the US/EU and Japanese version.

But I never did upload those images to Panzer Dragoon Legacy. More recently, someone posted a thread on Panzer Dragoon Legacy’s forum asking for those images, and I finally got around to uploading them. You can view the images by visiting the link below:

Panzer Dragoon Saga in-game background art

Yakuza: Kiwami 8-minute story trailer brings nostalgic memories

Hard to believe that the Yakuza franchise is already celebrating its 10th year anniversary. It feels like just yesterday I eagerly awaited the first title to be released on the Playstation 2 and now we are here almost 10 years later looking at a trailer for the upcoming Playstation 4 and Playstation 3 remake.

SEGA plans to release the remake in Japan on January 21st, this release is set to feature additional and even updated scenes, new and update systems, new battle styles and new mini-games like “Insect Queen Female King”. Oh, did I mention you get the ability to fight Majima anywhere? No western release has been announced for this title yet, but we just got Yakuza 5 (go buy it!) and SEGA recently revealed they are bringing Yakuza 0 over.

Fun fact, Yakuza: Kiwami in Japan will come with a code with a demo of Yakuza 6.

[Via: Gematsu]

Yakuza 6 trailer reveals brand new graphics engine

The new Yakuza 6 trailer has just been released, showing off the new graphics for the team’s first ever Playstation 4 exclusive game. What do I think? Holy smokes, is this game looking amazing! While I can find a few things to complain about, like the animation still looking a bit stiff, there is no denying how much of a improvement this is compared to all the other games.

Enough about what I think, what do you think about the new trailer?

Total War takes over Humble Weekly Bundle

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It seems that SEGA and The Creative Assembly are offering their titles once again as bundles on the popular ‘pay for what you want’ model of Humble Bundle. Not only that, you can set how much money goes to the publisher (SEGA), Humble Bundle and how much is given to charities. This bundle is supporting Special Effect: The Gamer’s Charity, Willow, Walking with the Wounded, and BLES.

Pay what you want (at least $1) you get: 

  • Medieval II: Total War Collection 
  • Viking: Battle for Asgard
  • Shogun: Total War Collection
  • Total War: Rome OST
  • Total War: WARHAMMER Illustrated Campaign Map
  • Total War: ARENA 30 Days Premium Account
  • Total War Battles: Kingdom
  • Total War eBooks

Sonic Boom TV show heading to UK DVD with Volume 1: The Sidekick

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A listing has appeared on Amazon.uk for a DVD release of the Sonic Boom TV show. The DVD, due out February 15th, is being released through Universal Pictures UK and has the subtitle “Volume 1: The Sidekick”. With a runtime of 143 minutes, that translates to 13 eleven-minute episodes of the series. Meaning that the complete 52 episode season one would be completed in four volumes. No word yet on an American release or the possibility of special features yet.

It is possible, given that these are the first thirteen episodes in order, that the volume will include: “The Sidekick”, “Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days?”, “Translate This”, “Buster”, “My Fair Sticksy”, “Fortress of Squalitude”, “Double Doomsday”, “Eggheads”, “Guilt Tripping”, “Dude, Where’s My Eggman?”, “Cowbot”, “Circus of Plunders”, “Unlucky Knuckles”. And if future volumes are being titled based on the first episode of the next thirteen then volumes 2-4 would be titled: “The Meteor”, “Chez Amy” and “Tails’ Crush”. It is more likely, however, that they will select an episode that has the best title for a DVD cover and not simply the first episode on the disc. Fingers crossed for a DVD titled “It Wasn’t Me, It Was the One-Armed Hedgehog”.

More news on the DVD as we hear it!

Sonic & SEGA Fan Jam 2015 Impressions

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Ever dreamed of coming to a fan convention that pays tribute to SEGA’s line-up of video games, chat with other fans and meet guests that worked on your favorite SEGA titles? Kori-Maru here to bring you my impressions and experience hosting the second year of Fan Jam, a event dedicated to the SEGA fan community. Hit the jump to read what went down at this year’s event!

Yakuza 5 western launch trailer packs a punch

Yakuza 5 is finally out in the West after three long years of waiting! While its not the best trailer I have ever seen for the franchise, its definitely one of the better American trailers I have seen. I’m glad SEGA figured that characters talking in Japanese in trailers is fine and won’t scare off potential buyers.

I have been playing Yakuza 5 on the PS3 and will have a review up in couple of days, but so far I recommend buying it if you liked the past titles.

Contest: Win a Yakuza 5 t-shirt in celebration of the game’s release and the franchise’s 10th anniversary!

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SEGA’s much anticipated Yakuza 5 releases December 8th digitally for the Playstation 3 in the Americas and Europe! To celebrate, we’re teaming with SEGA to give away official Yakuza 5 t-shirts (contest open to the US and Canada). To enter, all you have to do is head on over to Twitter, follow SEGAbits, and retweet our contest tweet to spread the word of the game. Three winners will be randomly selected on Twitter! Not a Twitter user or want to double your chances? Below in the comments section, share your Yakuza franchise memories in celebration of the series 10th anniversary – which happens to December 8th, the same day as Yakuza 5‘s Western release! Two winners will be selected from the comments section based on quality of comment.

The contest ends on Monday, December 14th at 11:59PM CT and winners will be announced the following day. As mentioned, the contest is for the US and Canada only and five winners will be selected. You cannot win twice. Good luck to all who enter and don’t forget to buy Yakuza 5!

Degenki Bunko Fighting Climax IGNITION receives free DLC for limited time by adding two fighters

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With the update to the light novel crossover fighting game coming out next week in Japan, SEGA & Degenki Bunko has recently announced that IGNITION will be receiving two additional characters as DLC for free only for a limited time.

Yuki of Sword Art Online will be one of the DLC fighters joining the fray along with Ren from SAO: Alternative Gangeiru Online as a supporting character.

The release date for the DLC will be announced for a later date. Degenki Bunko Fighting Climax IGNITION is set for release in Japan on December 17th for PS4, PS3, & Vita. With the update receiving DLC unlike the original, which light novel or SEGA character would you guys be interested in seeing as DLC? Hit the jump for artwork & screenshots.

SEGA announces Yakuza 5 release date for Americas and Europe: Tuesday, December 8th

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Might as well call us YAKUZAbits given the news day we’ve been having. In addition to the announcement of Yakuza 0 for Playstation 4 in the Americas, SEGA has officially announced the release date for the long awaited localization of Yakuza 5, and it is not too far off. In fact, the game is set to release digitally on Playstation 3 this coming Tuesday, December 8th in the Americas and Europe. The 15% pre-order deal in the Americas will only last through Monday, December 7th! So best get on it before the game releases if you want to save some money.

Fittingly, December 8th is ten years to the day that the original Yakuza released in Japan in 2005. So SEGA seems to really want to please fans on the franchise’s 10th anniversary.