Masami Ueda discusses music in Bayonetta 2 and announces OST

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Masami Ueda, lead composer of Bayonetta 1 & 2,  discusses about the music featured in Bayonetta 2. He talks about composing the battle themes with more of a livelier feel than its predecessor. Ueda tries to have the boss themes divided into movements that went with each of the stage and made it a lot harder to find where to smoothly loop the song, but added impact was worth the effort.

He then talks about stages theme as most of them loops, but some are a single song that lasts from start of the stage to its finish. Lastly, he discusses about the theme song to Bayonetta 2 as it has a connection to the moon similar to the previous game’s theme song, “Fly Me to the Moon“.

Most of the composers of the original Bayonetta returned to help out on Bayonetta 2 with 183 songs composed. The Bayonetta 2 OST has also been announced in his blog due to the warm reception of the first game’s soundtrack. Further details on the OST will be revealed later on his blog post. You can check out his latest blog on Platinum Games site here.

Creative Assembly announces Total Rome II: Emperor Edition


Creative Assembly, known for their work on the Total War series, has announced an definitive edition of Total War II with tons of new content, feature changes, and free for current players. Total Rome II – Emperor Edition will feature all available content with revisions and additions to game features, including a new Campaign Pack expansion, ‘Imperator Augustus’.

There will be interesting feature updates included in the pack from launch (including Twitch.tv integration, touch controls, new factions, new units and a Mac version). Emperor Edition also features an improved politics system, overhauled building chains, rebalanced battles, and improved visuals in both campaign and battle.

For artwork, screenshots and press-release, lead your way to victory by hitting the jump.

Amy gets kidnapped in this new Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal trailer

While we got a new trailer for Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric during Gamescom, we’ve gotten one for series’ handheld entry Shattered Crystal from PAX Prime. This trailer primarily shows off the game’s CG cutscenes, which shows Amy being kidnapped by Lyric, along with small snippets of gameplay showcasing a variety of levels.

And like how Metal Sonic popped up at the end of the Rise of Lyric trailer, Shadow makes an appearance in this one. Unlike Metal Sonic, his design has been affected somewhat by Sonic Boom’s style. It also seems like he has a new voice, because who cares about consistency anyway?

Rise From Your Grave: Spot Goes to Hollywood for the SEGA 32X

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Back in 1995, SEGA promised 50 titles for the 32X by the end of that year. Unfortunately, the onslaught of the “true” next gen systems from SEGA and Sony would take its toll on SEGA’s little mushroom, and it died a silent death with only 39 titles in its library. Numerous titles were canceled, many of them notable, including Daytona USA and Castlevania Bloodletting. Some however, were just prettier ports of Genesis titles. Today’s game is one of those titles, a never before seen version of Spot Goes to Hollywood. Dumped to a mere 35 reproduction carts earlier this year, this ROM has yet to be released to the public.

Today, SEGAbits is proud to present a first look at a game only a few hundred people have ever seen before. What is it like? What makes it unique to other versions of the game? Answers lie below the fold.

Red Bull Music Academy unveils new series – “Diggin’ In The Carts” – Features Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro

Red Bull Music Academy has announced it is producing a new video series, “Diggin’ in the Carts,” discussing the influence of video game music on how we know music today, and looking at the people that produced it.

The series is to be six episodes long, and also features several well-known musicians and bands such as Anamanaguchi, Flying Lotus and Joker (who recently produced a Mega Drive inspired album) providing commentary.

For us SEGA fans, legendary composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Daytona USA, OutRunners, Shenmue) and Yuzo Koshiro (The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle Series) are to be featured in the series, which is music to our ears! In the trailer, Space Harrier and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can be seen, possibly giving us hints about what to expect.

Also featured is Nobuo Uematsu, famed composer of the majority of the Final Fantasy series, and Manami Matsumae, composer of the original Mega Man game’s soundtrack (and also the composer of the upcoming Mighty No. 9), amongst many others.

The first episode premiers on Red Bull Music Academy’s site on September 4th, so be sure to check it out!

A User’s Guide to Darxide for the SEGA 32X

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Since the day I joined SEGAbits, one of my goals has always been to shed light and draw attention to some of the more obscure games in SEGA’s history. With 32X month in full swing, it just didn’t seem right to let the month pass without writing some kind of article that sheds light on one of the rarest titles in the system’s small library: Darxide. This is a game that few people have played and even fewer people know how to play, so today I’m not only going to go over the history of the game, I’m also going to explain its mechanics so that if you do ever get to play the game, you’ll know how.

Hero Bank 2 Teaser Video Released

Sega uploaded their new teaser video for Hero Bank 2 to their Youtube channel recently. Following up on SEGAbits’ earlier report on the game, Hero Bank 2 promises tag-team 2v2 battles and a plot that takes players around the entirety of Japan. Raising the stakes further still, Kaito fights this time against the Seven Lucky Gods Group and is saddled with a debt of…one trillion yen!

First-print buyers will receive a special Hero Suit to be equipped in-game along with a card for the Hero Bank Arcade game, which is a 3v3 card battle game. This short promotional trailer will give you a quick peek at the Hero Bank arcade game for those who are curious. Hero Bank 2 will be released in Japan on November 27 for the price of ¥5,139.

Credit to this AnimeNewsNetwork article.

Yakuza Zero screenshots and scans hit the internet

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Scans and screenshots for Famitsu’s scope on the up and coming Yakuza Zero (Ryu Ga Gotoku Zero) have leaked and as expected both Kiryu and Majima have been given a much more youthful appearance. There’s not much more else to say but no doubt we should be hearing a bit more this coming Thursday, both the time when the latest Famitsu goes on general sale and the date Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announced that they would be sharing more news on the project. With Tokyo Game Show around the corner, this title is SEGA’s second pre-TGS announcement following Hero Bank 2 and it promises that this will be just as busy as the last one.

Thanks to 真鵜雄 of our forums for the tip! Hit the break for higher quality pictures;

SEGA reveals Hi☆sCoool! SEGA Hard Girls Anime


A few months ago, SEGA has announced that they were green-liting a new anime project based on SEGA Hard Girls, a group of female humanoid consoles based on SEGA’s hardware consoles. Now, a brand new preview of the anime has been released titled Hi☆sCoool! セハガール (SEGA Hard Girls) produced by TMS Entertainment, known for their work on other SEGA related anime adaptations such as Virtua Fighter, Sonic X, & Hero Bank.

The plot centers around the SEGA Hard Girls (MegaDrive, Saturn, & Dreamcast) who all are enrolled in the Tokyo Haneda and Torii to “Sehagaga Gakuen” as they are issued a challenge for graduation credits from dubious teacher. To clear the problem, they must enter the game world of SEGA featuring tons of cameos. But can they graduate successfully?

The anime is set to air on ANIMAX on October 8th, 2014 every Wednesday and Saturday. Nico Nico Channel and pre-orders for Blu-Ray/DVD will be announced on a later date. Hope to expect translations soon.

Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 3 New Content Recap Video

Sega recently released a video recapping the new content coming to Phantasy Star Online 2 with Episode 3. It’s a video packed with content, glossing over the new planet Harukotan, the new Bouncer class, and various character customization option additions alongside balance skill tree adjustments. The ARKS lobby is also receiving some additional touches, and the new Casino is shown off briefly. The new Nyau enemy also makes a quick appearance towards the end of the video, while a couple of new bosses are introduced towards the beginning of the video.

The end of the trailer introduces some new characters players will meet in Episode 3. Episode 3 takes you to the feudal-Japan-themed planet of Harukotan, where the White and Black Nations are engaged in a bitter feud after a non-aggression pact between both parties is violated by the ambitions of the Black Nation.

This expansion to Phantasy Star Online 2 comes out tomorrow, August 27th, for Japan!

Yakuza Zero is a prequel, will star a young Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima

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It seems that the latest issue of Famitsu has leaked and in that issue there have been a few things that are Yakuza related. It is confirmed that the game is set to take place in 1988 and will feature a darker, more Yakuza ran Kamurocho and Osaka district. Kazuma will be 20 years old in this game and takes place when he was the Tojo Clan’s debt collector. The other star of the game is no other than fan favorite Goro Majima who is 24 years old in this prequel and takes place while he was building the most popular cabaret club in Soutenburi.

The developers promise that many of the game’s characters will get origin stories within the game. This is a true ‘prequel’ since the events in this game lead up to the first Yakuza game. Its going to be interesting to see what they do with the new 80’s theme for the game, especially considering SEGA has had a 80’s theme game before: Shenmue. I would like to see the development team add some classic AM2 games in those Club SEGA arcades.

Color me excited for more information come TGS next month.

SEGA Tunes: Kolibri’s Infestation

Kolibri is a neat little cute-em up shooter from the Ecco development team Novotrade. It’s probably best described as a mix between Ecco the Dolphin and Fantasy Zone. In some levels the goal is to fly around a level to seek out and destroy enemies. In others, you need to solve an environmental puzzle to progress to the stage goal. Finally, some stages are just straight up, left-to-right scrolling shooter stages. It’s an interesting and unique game with a soundtrack to match.

The soundtrack was composed by Zsolt Dvornik, a Hungarian Jazz guitarist. It sounds reminiscent of Ecco’s soundtrack: atmospheric and subdued. Infestation has a very primal sound that goes extremely well with the game’s realistic art style and wilderness setting. Compared to the bombastic soundtrack of most other side scrolling shooters, Kolibri is a unique and wholly different beast.

Amazon’s Sonic Boom Wii U pre-order offer includes luminous costumes

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More like “Tronic”! Am I right?……I’ll shut up now.

Amazon has it’s own Sonic Boom:Rise of Lyric pre-order offer separate from GameStop’s deal. This one is costume-based DLC that gives Sonic and Crew sports tape a huge glow. Here’s the details from Amazon’s site.

Pre-order Bonus Offer – Get Exclusive Luminous Costumes
Pre-order at Amazon and receive a code to unlock exclusive luminous costumes for Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles. Code will be delivered upon shipment. Offer valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time. Offer will be extended to all existing pre-orders.

Round Table: SEGA’s worst decision during the 16-bit console wars

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Some people consider the 16-bit wars to be the golden age of gaming, but as much as we see the early 90’s with rose tinted glasses there where some serious mistakes made during the war (on both sides). This week we will discuss what we think SEGA’s worse decision during the 16-bit console wars was. Sit back and if you want to join in on the discussion, please do so in the comments.

The upcoming Yakuza game is called Yakuza Zero

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SEGA has announced that the new upcoming Yakuza game on the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 is being called Yakuza Zero (in Japan: Like a Dragon Zero: The Place of the Vow). Sadly that is all that they really mentioned considering that most of the news will be coming next month during the Tokyo Game Show.

But if ‘Zero’ trends continue this could be a prequel to the franchise. Considering that in the first Yakuza game you control Kazuma Kiryu ten years after coming out of prison. Not only that, there has already been a prologue of sorts written in movie form to promote the first game.

What do you guys think?