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Yakuza 5 avatars hit US PSN – Could the game be releasing soon?

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Screen Shot 2015-08-18 at 7.39.52 PM

While we await news of when SEGA will be releasing Yakuza 5 to the West, avatars for the upcoming game have recently hit PSN. Could this mean a release date is nearing? Those who have followed SEGA of America’s digital releases in recent years should be well aware of the fact that the company will release and announce the release date of a game on the same day, with the only real indicators of an upcoming release being things like PSN avatars being made public. While this is all speculation on our part, the fact that SEGA has quietly released these avatars for the upcoming game must mean something… right? In the meantime, enjoy a cool Goro Majima avatar for just .49 cents.

See all the avatars after the break.

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Super Mario Maker’s unlockable Sonic the Hedgehog Amiibo skin

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sonic-super-mario-maker-amiiboIf you didn’t know, Super Mario Maker will allow you to use your Amiibos to unlock ‘skins’, in case you got bored of controlling a slightly overweight mustached man. The one above is the Sonic the Hedgehog skin, that looks like it was ripped from the first Sonic the Hedgehog on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. Meaning, its actually 16-bit, yet its being used in Mario’s 8-bit NES style game. Its a shame, I’m actually a fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog‘s 8-bit look.

But what do you guys think of this unlockable? Are any of you guys picking Super Mario Maker when it comes out this September? Hit the jump to see Sonic in action after the jump.

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SEGA’s new mobile game ‘Cranky Food Friends’ gets soft launch

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Do you like food? Do you like match four puzzle games? Then SEGA has a game for you *points directly at you*. SEGA have soft launched Cranky Food Friends, but you won’t be able to play it if you don’t live in Canada, Sweden or Norway meaning exactly no one will be able to play it right now. Not to mention it also seems to have been launched on iOS only.

Talking about mobile, SEGA has actually launched a forum for their mobile games using the SEGA.Net url, which was used during the Dreamcast era to sell their SegaNet online services. Yes, times have changed.

It seems that this game and Puzzles & Glory are going for the huge puzzle market that has been created by Candy Crush and Puzzles & Dragon. People have also been comparing the premise to ‘Crying Breakfast Friends!‘ from the hit show Steven Universe. Not very original and probably won’t appeal to your average SEGA fan.

[Edit] People are telling me that this game is a reskin of Puyo Puyo Quest!!, it seems that its Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine all over again. Puyo Puyo > Cranky Food Friends. [/Edit]

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Former SEGA employee portfolio reveals Crazy Taxi 4 pitch

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Crazy-Taxi-4
The classy people over at Sonic Stadium have found images from a portfolio of a former SEGA Studios Australia employee Brooke Luder that revealed a Crazy Taxi 4 pitch and the fact that Sonic Classic Collection on the Nintendo DS was originally going to have more games than it did. What games didn’t make the final product? Sonic Spinball, Sonic 3D Blast (aka Sonic 3D Flickies’ Island) and Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Sprites from Sonic Spinball and Sonic 3D Blast still made the game’s credit roll at the end.

Also part of her portfolio was a pitch made by the team to SEGA for a Crazy Taxi 4. She created the concept art you see on the header image, showing a passenger jumping from one Taxi to another. We could speculate that this was part of some gameplay mechanic that was pitched by SEGA Studios Australia for a new game.

Another pitched concept that SEGA Studios Australia was part of was a London 2012 Olympic game, but that isn’t as interesting. To see what was on her portfolio, hit the jump.

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Grandia II Remastered coming to Steam & GOG on August 24th

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We have finally gotten a release date for Game Arts classic Japanese RPG Grandia II, which the publisher will be re-naming Grandia II Anniversary Edition as it plans on releasing the game on both Steam and GOG.com next week! That’s right, August 24th is the release date for this game.

“After careful consideration, we have chosen to retitle the game for PC to Grandia II Anniversary Edition in order to properly celebrate Grandia II’s 15th anniversary. The fans voted and, now, we are proud to bring a revamped edition of the classic role-playing game from Dreamcast to PC as Grandia II Anniversary Edition.” – Kazuki Morishita President and CEO of Game Arts

If you get the game during its launch window you will only need to fork over $14.99, after this  limited period it will go up to its regular $19.99 price. Not bad for a HD port of a great game like this. Are you picking up a digital copy of the game?

[Via: Gamespot]

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SEGA details ‘tour mode’ for Miracle Girls Festival rhythm game

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Do you like your rhythm games with a hint of moe? Is the numerous Hatsune Miku games just not cute enough for you? Don’t worry because SEGA has Miracle Girls Festival coming out this winter in Japan exclusively to Playstation Vita.

SEGA has detailed one of the game’s main features, “Tour Mode” which will let you become a concert director while picking from over six different location venues throughout the nation (I assume nation = Japan).  You’ll preform the sets, try to get a quota of audiences to fill seats and all that jazz.

You’ll earn ‘Miracle Coins’ by playing through songs and the number of coins you receive depends on how well you do. You use said currency to unlock new songs. If you want a list of songs that will be included in the full game, hit the jump. Personally these games aren’t my style, but if you like them then this one looks… cute?

[Via: Gematsu]

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Valkyria Chronicles fan releases ‘”Gallian Crossfire” PC rebalancing mod

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Alicia-Melchiott-Valkyria-Chronicles
A Valkyria Chronicles fan calling himself Busard decided to create a balancing mod for the game on PC. One of the best aspects about PC gaming is that the fanbase can modify PC games easily and make chances they see fit. It seems that Valkyria Chronicles has gotten quite the cult fanbase on Steam, with close to half a million owners, so its no surprised we would see fan support for the game.

Download Mod – Steam Guide

The patch tries to make the game more strategic, taking away easy strategies like rushing in and tries to add diversity to the gameplay. So how do you install it? What are the patch notes? Hit the jump!

[Via: NeoGAF]

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Phantasy Star Online 2 Anime revolves around gamers playing the game

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SEGA not only revealed that Phantasy Star Online 2 was coming to Playstation 4, but they gave us a teaser for their upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2 The Animation aka the anime based around gamers that play the online RPG.

Animenewsnetwork translated the text in the trailer:

Text: With over 3.5 million user IDs
Text: Japan’s largest online RPG
Text: Phantasy Star Online 2
Text: Is finally green-lit for its anticipated
Text: TV anime adaptation!!

Text: Shouta Aoi as Itsuki Tachibana
Text: Ayaka Suwa as Rina Izumi
Text: M.A.O as Aika Suzuki

Text: Broadcast premiere slated for 2016 on TBS, BS-TBS, and other stations!

The premise of the show is that it follows the lives of players of Phantasy Star Online 2 ‘who may be near you’, taking place on Earth in the near future. Seems that someone at SEGA was inspired by Sword Art Online. The anime will hit Japanese TV stations sometime in 2016, will you watch it?

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Round Table: Can Shenmue 3 live up to the hype?

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Its literally been 14 years since Shenmue 2 made its debut and left many unanswered questions. Over the years the Shenmue fanbase has grown since more and more people have gotten a chance to try the franchise, it has reached some level of mysticism. Having this rabid fanbase, all with individual reasons as to why they like the Shenmue franchise waiting for the next evolutionary step can be daunting to a development team.

Can Ys NET and Yu Suzuki make a game that will live up to the hype? That’s this topic on this week’s Round Table.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 coming to Playstation 4

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PSo2 PS4
That is right, it has just been announced via a live Phantasy Star Online 2 stream via NicoNicoLive that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming the the Playstation 4. Not only that, the Playstation 4 build will be playable at this year’s Tokyo Game Show (which starts next month!). Ironically enough, the Playstation 4 build of the game will co-launch with ‘Reborn: Episode 4‘ game update.

When can you play sweet, sweet Phantasy Star Online 2 on your shiny new Playstation 4? If you live in Japan, sometime in 2016 and around the same time that Reborn: Episode 4 launches. What type of content does Episode 4 have? We don’t know the details yet, but we shall keep you updated on this blog when we find out more.

What about many of us that don’t live in Japan? Tough luck, SEGA hasn’t announced plans on bringing it West. Though, if they really want the game to be reborn, maybe releasing the game world wide will do that… just a thought, you know?

 

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Atlus’ launch day edition of The Legend of Legacy is pretty awesome

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LoL-Dated-Oct-13-Launch-Ed

The Legend of Legacy is a Nintendo 3DS RPG developed by Furyu and this game is actually mean’t to be the spiritual sequel to the long running SaGa series. Atlus USA seemed to be pretty impressed with the game since they picked up US publishing rights, while NIS America will publish it in Europe (yeah, weird).

Atlus just announced a firm date of release, the game will hit North American shelves on October 13th. Not only that, they also showed off the ‘Launch Edition’ which comes with the following items:

  • A copy of the game
  • Collector’s box
  • 10-track Masashi Hamauzu original soundtrack
  • Premium 40-page hardcover art book featuring character artwork, concept sketches, monster pages, and background art, accompanied by commentary from the game’s character artist Tomomi Kobayashi

How much is this ‘Launch Day’ edition going to cost you, the consumer? The regular price of $39.99, which is actually cheaper than most recent Atlus 3DS releases (they have been priced at $49.99). Hey, support the game early and get free stuff. Can’t complain.

 

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Homebrew platformer ‘Mega Cheril Perils’ coming to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis

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Mojon-Twins-Announce-Mega-Cheril-Perils

Homebrew developer The Mojon Twins’ have announced that their recent homebrew title (originally released on the ZX Spectrum) will have a SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive release. Not much has been showing on the game outside of new screenshots that have been shared via RetroManiac.

I guess you can sit back and enjoy the screens released as we wait for more information, maybe the developers will explain to us why a naked girl decided to battle zombies in the nude?

[Via: Retro Collect]

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Shenmue interview from the Japanese ‘Dreamcast Express’ demo disc posted online

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Shenmue had a huge marketing budget and part of that budget was used to explain what the game was all about. Shenmue is a unique game and explaining the main draw was a big challenge. SEGA had lots of programs going to promote the game before its release, including the fan favorite ‘What’s Shenmue‘ demo disc (the also the VHS with the same name).

In Japan, SEGA had released discs called ‘Dreamcast Express‘ that were handed out to members of the Sega Partners Club, for free. These discs included demos, interviews and more. They where the Japanese equivalent to the ‘Dream On’ demo discs in UK and the Official Dreamcast Magazine demo discs in the US. The first volume included a special Shenmue interview with Yu Suzuki featuring a ton of unseen footage from the Shenmue series, as well as the main theme played by a live orchestra. Thankfully Shenmue Dojo has just uploaded this video on their YouTube channel and you can see it right above this post. Isn’t the internet great?

Its crazy watching a excited Yu Suzuki talk about working at SEGA for 15 years and then turn around and have to wait 14 years to announce the 3rd installment. It really has been that long!

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Sammy announces Bayonetta themed pachislot machine

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Pachislot Bayonetta

Sammy aka parent company of SEGA, has launched a teaser site for their upcoming gambling pachislot machines based on the ever popular Bayonetta IP. It seems that pachislot machines get a negative reaction but most people don’t understand that most of these products have nothing to do with SEGA Games division. This is nothing new, considering that Sammy has been using SEGA (and other) IPs to sell Pachislots for over a decade. It has been a very profitable business for ‘SEGA-Sammy Holdings‘.

Before everyone complains in the comment section about how “SEGA should have just funded Bayonetta 2 instead of this”, please understand that this is like saying “Sony should fund a new Tomba! video game on Playstation 4 instead of making The Interview”, both projects are competently different and the cost of doing a Bayonetta themed pachislot machine is way lower than creating a HD game from scratch.

I hope this means that SEGA and Sammy both find value in owning the Bayonetta IP and haven’t abandoned it. Would be nice to see SEGA do a extended version of Bayonetta 2 on other platforms outside of the dying Wii U.

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Atlus USA shows off Stella Glow’s English opening movie, new screens and US box art

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Originally Stella Glow was suppose to be not only developed by Imageepoch, but also published by them. Sadly they went bankrupt and SEGA picked up publishing duties for the game in Japan, while Atlus USA picked up publishing for the West. Today Atlus USA has posted the following opening movie for the English release of Stella Glow, featuring new music and introducing us to the main cast of characters. Atlus also posted the following information regarding the game:

  • Song Magic: Famous Japanese voice actors sing more than 20 songs in the game. Plus, the soundtrack is composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears). The songs are part of Song Magic – a vital combat and story element.
  • Players will get an allotment of Free Time where they can upgrade or buy items, tune Witches’ hearts, explore, and grind experience, but that’s in limited supply as Combat Time will drive along the game’s story.
  • Stella Glow will have 40-60 hours of story and side quest content, with multiple endings, New Game+ mode, and more than 50 maps to battle on, the world of Stella Glow is rich and vibrant with tons to do!
  • From the team behind the classic Luminous Arc games comes a brand new IP with the same renowned strategic combat.

Stella Glow will be released exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS and according to Atlus USA it will be available this holiday season (Amazon has it listed for November 17th and priced at $49.99). Below is the new box art (same as Japanese version) for the US release and new screenshots of the game.

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