Welcome to another unexciting episode of The Weekly Five where we create top five list on all things SEGA. I’m your host George and this week we will be talking about Virtua Fighter facts. This is a weird thing to do considering anything can be a fact, so I’ll try to keep it interesting. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something new.
This will also be my last AM2 related Weekly Five for the rest of the year, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Let’s dive right in.
The original creator of the Wonder Boy/Monster World series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is working together with Game Atelier and FDG Entertainment to make a new game in the series called Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze. Series composer Shinichi Sakamoto also returns for this new game. It doesn’t look like SEGA is involved, but it’s still very exciting news nonetheless.
This new sequel seems to have a lot in common with Game Atelier’s cancelled Kickstarter game Flying Hamster II, which was going to be a tribute to the Monster World series. It’s especially easy to compare the UI in the two games, and the silhouettes on the Monster Boy teaser site also look a lot like the transformations seen in Flying Hamster II. So it looks like that stuff from that game will be re-purposed for Monster Boy. You can expect the game later this year for PC, Playstation 4, and other unannounced platforms.
Here we go again.
First it was Europe, now SEGA of America is getting hit with some major restructuring. In a statement released earlier today, SegaSammy Holdings announced an “Implementation of structure reform” for SEGA of America. Included in this are some potential layoffs in the forms of “voluntary Retirement” and the San Francisco office moving to a new location in Southern California. Also, there will be a more narrow focus on the “amusement business” division.
However, it’s not all bad news. There will be a reinforcement in the “Sonic and merchandising businesses” and the PC and Mobile divisions will be getting a stronger push possibly due to strong current sales in those markets. The full statement can be found here.
I hope that not too many people are affected by the downsizing and those that do find themselves out of a job, that they find a new one quickly. I guess we shall see how this goes for SEGA.
The arcades were a big part of Japan’s youth group up in the 80’s and 90’s, so its no surprise that a Japanese drama show based around these time periods would be created. No Continue Kid: Our Game History (ノーコン・キッド ～ぼくらのゲーム史～) is a TV show revolving around Reiji Watanabe, who in 1983 isn’t very interested in arcade games. The only reason he has to put up with them is because his father owns a game center. Reiji sees a girl he likes come in daily named Fumiyoshi Takano, she usually plays Xevious and leaves. Reiji decides to give this Xevious game a try to impress her and gets the best local player, Akinobu Kido (who goes by ‘Kid’, his high score handle) to teach him.
The show focuses on the friendships of these characters along with a new ‘Game Center’ trends throughout the decades (this show spans from 1983 to 2013 in 12 episodes) and even some console gaming love. Today we will be looking at some of the SEGA centric episodes including one for Columns, Fantasy Zone and two whole episodes based around the Virtua Fighter 2 fighting phenomenon. Let’s take a dramatized trip to the arcade scene in Japan from the 80’s through the 90’s, SEGA style!
So, for my first article proper on the site, I figured why not talk about my favorite gaming event of the year, MAGFest, which just wrapped this past weekend at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. In its thirteenth year, this gaming festival was primarily started as a celebration of music in gaming and all the video-game inspired bands that have risen up in the past decade or so, but has grown to become an all-encompassing celebration of gaming culture at large. From gaming developers, artists, journalists, personalities, and even other aspects of geek culture, it truly has something for everyone.
So the news that Yakuza 5 will be getting a western release was very exciting, but some of you might not have actually played a Yakuza game before. So it’s a good thing that next month all Playstation Plus subscribers will be able to download Yakuza 4 for the Playstation 3. You won’t need to have played any of the previous Yakuza games to start with it either, as every Yakuza game includes hefty recaps of the games before it.
NeoGAF member YianGaruga spotted that the game will be included in next month’s Playstation Plus games on the German Playstation Blog. (Update: Now confirmed for the US as well) The other games that’ll be available are Apotheon and Transistor for Playstation 4, Thief for the Playstation 3, Kick and Fennick for the Playstation Vita, and Rogue Legacy for all of the previously mentioned platforms. So overall a pretty good selection of games, though Yakuza 4 is the only one of them that’s about being a bad-ass in Japan.
Another localization from SEGA is hitting Western consoles this year! Announced on the official Playstation blog, the light novel 2D fighter Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is set for a Western release exclusively to PS3 and PS Vita in Summer 2015, both digitally and at retail for the US and digital only for Europe. If you want to know what the game is all about, we’d advise you check out Kori-Maru’s 2014 SEGA Game of the Year pick and read SEGA’s announcement at the Playstation blog.
Between this, the SEGA 3D Classics, and Yakuza 5 – it’s a great time for localizations from SEGA West!
To celebrate the last week of SEGA AM2 month with Virtua Fighter, the SEGAbits crew are planning on having a couple game sessions over on Xbox Live Arcade by playing Virtua Fighter 2 with our visitors and forum members. The game session will begin on Jan 30th, Friday at 12pm EST (9 AM PST).
To join us in a couple of matches, you could either follow us on Twitter and send us a direct message with your XBL gamertag or add “KoriSX15” with a message typed “VF2” to the gamertag. So be sure to put your skills to the test and show us what you got this Friday! Juunen hayainda yo!
This week on My Life with SEGA, Andrew Rosa takes a request from YouTube viewer Darius Truxton and looks back on the North American SEGA CD pack-in bundle from 1992. This includes the side-scrolling space shooter Sol-Feace, SEGA Classics Arcade Collection, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and Rock Paintings (CD+G disc).
Yes, we got a lot of software back in the day. Six games and an audio CD that contains graphics! That sounds pretty sweet, right? We’re lucky if we get ONE game with our consoles these days. I can’t imagine how much a similar package would cost now. Now join me in 1992 when my brother blew $300 on a CD add-on that GamePro magazine listed as the “7th-worst selling video game console of all time”….
Yeah, who cares what GamePro thinks anyway. It’s not even a magazine anymore.
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The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is not new to fan-made remix albums, and given the quality of Sonic music, I can’t blame the many artists out there for being inspired to put their spin on classic tracks. But every once in a while a really special remix album hits, and Dj CUTMAN’s “Spindash” is one of those. The album, licensed by SEGA, is a fitting tribute to SEGA’s blue mascot featuring diverse styles of music and even ventures outside of the 16-bit era to remix tunes from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Colors.
“Spindash” is available now on Loudr, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Dj CUTMAN performed at this past weekend’s MAGFest, and SEGAbits was there! We’ll have coverage from the event up on the site soon, in the meantime check out the album and after the break, read the press release.
Virtua Fighter was a ground breaking game for its time and was going up against some of the biggest fighting games made in that era. SEGA needed the whole game to be excellent and in my opinion they got a great complementary soundtrack to go with the revolutionary gameplay.
The first theme we are looking at is Akira’s Theme, this one is more up beat than they would later use. This one doesn’t seem like a theme for a character usually shown meditating and honing his martial arts skills. This is just a good action track, that gets the blood flowing. Its what I would love to hear when I’m in a middle of a fight and any move I make can win or lose the match. Great track, but as Akira’s theme, probably not. Seems the developers agreed as they would give him a more epic tune in Virtua Fighter 2.
As SEGA-AM2 Month enters the final week, we thought it would be fitting to shine the spotlight on the developer’s longest running and most influential series – Virtua Fighter. One of SEGA-AM2’s defining traits is their ability to create “pure” gaming experiences. Looking at their catalog, they seem to have a penchant for taking a simple concept – be it fighting, racing, flying, or shooting – and translating it to a near-perfect 3D arcade experience. I hesitate to call SEGA-AM2’s games simulations, as gameplay is simple enough for any player and often AM2 titles have a bit of an elastic reality. Virtua Fighter didn’t have any gimmicks – there were no fatalities, weapons, adjustable bouncing breasts, or cutscenes. Players simply chose their fighter, each with their own defining style and moves, and fought. This why the term “pure” feels like the best way to describe their many games, and why the Virtua Fighter series is the purest fighting game franchise to ever exist.
So for those who don’t want to play an 80-hour RPG to see the story of Persona Q, or if you just like manga based on video games, there’s a pretty decent way to get through the story now. If you happen to have a Crunchyroll premium subscription, you can now read the first chapter of the official manga on there.
This manga follows the story from the perspective of the Persona 4 characters. There’s not much different from the game aside from the conversations obviously being a lot shorter and cut down. Following chapters will be released whenever they come out in Japan. Also, I wouldn’t recommend reading it if you haven’t played Persona 4 yet, as it takes place midway through that game’s events.
Atlus really knows how to sell games to its fanbase. Not that much into Mystery Dungeon or Etrian Odyssey games? But wait, it comes with a badass visual book, soundtrack and exclusive slip cover. Not only that, they aren’t charging you a penny more than you would spend regularly due to this bundle being exclusive to first print copies.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon hits North American shores on April 7th exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. No release dates for Europe have been announced yet. Giving this game a chance? Check out the new ‘Protector Class’ trailer after the break.
Kicking off 2015 in style, This is Saturn celebrates SEGA AM2 month on SEGABits with a look at Fighting Vipers!
One of the very first episodes of This is Saturn covered Fighters Megamix, a crossover between Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighting Vipers; however, the original release of Fighting Vipers actually has some considerable differences to its representation in Fighters Megamix, and so it’s time for Liam to head back to Armstone City to punch some more people in the face, all whilst discovering the true significance of… Pepsi?
And what’s this about a sequel?
So, an overlooked classic, or a poor attempt to recreate the success of Virtua Fighter? Find out, in this episode of This is Saturn!
This is Saturn is a video series created by British teenager Liam ‘TrackerTD’ Ashcroft, aiming to give an alternative and in-depth look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of SEGA Saturn gaming, all whilst maintaining a somewhat strong accent.
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