SEGA in the Charts: MediaCreate charts for March 24 – 30 March 2014

Project Diva 2nd F

The releases come thick and fast for SEGA, coming off the back of Utakumi 575, PuyoPuyo Tetris and Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin! the latest entry in the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f 2nd came out last week in Japan for both the Playstation Vita and the Playstation 3. This is the first time the series has launched on two platforms at the same time and is looking to take the crown of biggest first week from Hatsune Miku: Project 2nd. Also continuing to chart is Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin! hit the break to find out how both performed in this week’s chart!

Cavespeak releases a English patch for 7th Dragon

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SEGA released 7th Dragon way back in March 5th, 2009 in Japan on the Nintendo DS. The game flew under most people’s radar, but not for me. I kept my eye on this one just because it was produced by legendary SEGA designer Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star series and Skies of Arcadia).

That wasn’t the only big name SEGA star on the project, famous SEGA composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series, Shinobi series) joined the team.

Want the patch? Head over here.

Not sure if it means much but Famitsu scored the game a 9/8/8/8 (33 out of 40).  

Sonico Channel Retro: Project Divas LIVE!


Watch live video from SEGA_Channel_Retro on TwitchTV

Hello everyone! Time again for another Super Sonico Channel Retro Live Concert featuring yours truly playing Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F for the Playstation 3. I may even do requests in the stream chat. Wish me luck! ♥

Update: Thanks to everyone who watched me play the game! As well as RubyEclipse for stopping by in the chat!♥ You can view the archived stream above!

SEGA Tunes: Project DIVA blazes through the blue skies singing the After Burner theme


 
Hatsune Miku and friends have sung many songs throughout their history, but none are more exciting than the SEGA inspired tunes that are featured in the franchise’s games. The 2010 arcade game Project DIVA Arcade featured the MEIKO Vocaloid voice (a voice provided by the Japanese female singer Meiko Haigō) singing lyrics over the theme to After Burner – a SEGA arcade classic. The video above features Hatsune Miku, despite the MEIKO voice. But can you blame us? It’s Miku! But in fairness to Vocaloids everywhere, we’re featuring MEIKO after the break. Happy listening!

Have some fun with MIKUbits – the 24 hour Domino’s™ Pizza sponsored takeover!

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Hello everyone, I’m Barry, writer and editor at SEGAbits! Have you heard of Hatsune Miku? Today I’d like to announce a collaborative project featuring Hatsune Miku: MIKUbits website featuring Domino’s™ Pizza! Domino’s exists on a planet called Earth. Earth enables you to visit Domino’s to eat pizza. A Domino’s™ employee makes the pizza you eat. A great feature is you can eat pizza as you like.

I knew our talented SEGAbits writers could work together and create Hatsune Miku… articles. George-pi, Shigs-shi, Nuckles-shi, Ben-shi, Will-shi – EVERYONE! Amazing SEGAbits articles have been created with the fantastic imagination of the writers from all over the planet. The challenge was successfully carried out and this new collaborative website was produced. Throughout the day we’ll share Hatsune Miku content, and talk about delicious Domino’s™ Pizza on our social networks. And last, but not least… the live performance – has been cancelled. George refused to dress as Miku and dance on webcam.

Devil Summoner getting a PS2 classics re-release on Playstation 3 this week

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Have you guys played Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army (let that roll off the tongue) on the Playstation 2? If you didn’t, you will have your chance to try it this week, since the game will be dropping on PSN!

Playstation Store description:

In the shadowy evening mist of Taisho, a young girl appears with an unusual request: “Please kill me…” As Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha, uncover the mystery of the girl’s strange abduction in this unique action RPG .

This title being re-release is actually the 3rd in the franchise, the original Shin Magami Tensei: Devil Summoner was actually a SEGA Saturn game, the first Shin Megami Tensei Saturn game at that.

Hardware Review: AtGames Sega Genesis 60-in-1

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The old adage “You get what you pay for” tends to hold true more often than not. After all, if you’re in a Walgreens pharmacy you’re probably not looking to buy a video game console. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the AtGames Sega Genesis is a poor quality console. At $30, it’s pretty tempting, but buyer beware there is some drawbacks to this system. Read on to find out if it’s worth your gas money for this cheaply produced retro console and find out how you can win it!

New Head of Xbox Phil Spencer says gamers want Microsoft to bring back Shenmue

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Following his recent appointment as Head of Xbox at Microsoft, Phil Spencer spoke with Polygon about his ideas for the future of the brand. Regarding his leadership, Spencer promised that “with me you’re going to get a focus on gaming first and a best platform to play games on.” When asked about what games he receives requests for, Spencer named the Shenmue franchise as the biggest request Xbox owners ask Microsoft for. Spencer jokingly referred to it as “the big Shenmue contingency.”

A new Shenmue isn’t on the horizon just yet, but it is good to know that people like Phil Spencer have the franchise on their minds thanks to the efforts of fan campaigns. Help out the #SaveShenmue campaign yourself by heading over to their site and spreading the word.

 

Atlus debuts new logo and website to match

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One of the things many Atlus fans feared during the SEGA-Sammy buyout, was that SEGA would kill off the Atlus name and rebrand their titles under the SEGA logo. Seems that is not what will be happening, now Atlus is its own company, separate from Index Corps. To celebrate, we have a new logo (above). Forgot what the old logo looked like? Here it is.

Here is the new Atlus website and here is the new Index Holdings (who also got a new logo).

So, new logo or old? Tell us in the comments!

Celebrating a year of SEGAbits & SEGA Retro Lock-On Technology

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A year ago today, we made the late night announcement that SEGAbits would be partnering with Sonic Retro, and the expansive SEGA Retro wiki would fall under the SEGAbits banner – making it our dedicated information site for all things SEGA. Since the announcement, we’ve made the move to Sonic Retro’s servers, writers from Sonic Retro have taken on writer roles at SEGAbits, we’ve utilized the SEGA Retro wiki in articles highlighting classic SEGA games and consoles, and in collaboration with SEGAbits and Sonic Retro writer Bartman we’ve created SEGA Channel Retro – a revamped retro streaming channel for SEGA content.

While we didn’t accomplish everything that we have hoped for over the past year, we have some exciting things on the horizon! This Spring we plan to introduce SEGAbits Model 5, a website redesign that will truly bring SEGAbits to the next level. We can’t spill the beans yet, but at the very least we can say it will be wider. Also, on June 28th SEGAbits and Sonic Retro will be co-hosting a panel entitled Surviving the Dreamcast Apocalypse: SEGA Fans in the 21st Century at the Too Many Games convention in Oaks, PA. Then, of course, there are our plans for tomorrow.

On behalf of myself, George, and all the writers and contributors, I want to thank our readers and community members for their continued support in making us the number one SEGA news and information site on the internet!

Round Table: Our SEGA Genesis memories

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SEGA Genesis Month may be coming to an end at SEGAbits, but we still have a lot more Genesis content to come in 2014 as we celebrate the console’s 25th anniversary. Still, to give the month a bit of finality, four of our writers have come together for a round table to share their favorite Genesis memories. The Genesis truly is a great piece of SEGA hardware, featuring many classic titles that span countless genres, innovative accessories, and the power to attract talented indie game companies of today that offer up new experiences on the console. Regardless of whether one was an early adaptor, or came to the console in its later days, the Genesis was and is a console that makes a lasting impression.

Alien: Isolation release date announced – get ready to not be heard in space on October 7th

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SEGA of America and SEGA Europe have announced the release date of the upcoming Creative Assembly title Alien: Isolation! Fans can expect to get their hands on the game on October 7th, 2014 on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and Windows PC. Hey, just in time for the Halloween season! Via a press release from SEGA, Alistair Hope, Creative Lead at Creative Assembly had this to say of the game’s release: “We couldn’t be happier to finally announce a date for Alien: Isolation, the reaction we have seen so far has been simply incredible, from the screams and shrieks to the cold sweats and racing hearts. It’s the Alien game that we’ve always wanted to play and we can’t wait to let everyone get their hands on it this fall.”

View the full press release after the break.

Increase the number of SEGA releases for the PC petition passes 10k signatures

The fan run initiative to increase the number of SEGA games on PC have passed a milestone with their online petition, amassing over 10,000 signatures – 10,219 at the time of this article. The petition respectively asks that SEGA “consider releasing more games (to PC), particularly from your Japanese division”, naming Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown as potential games. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, we urge you to head on over to their page today and add your name to the growing list. We’re over halfway there, folks!

Retro Review: World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck

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With the remake of Castle of Illusion gracing the PSN/XBLA this past summer, it seemed only fitting to revisit its sequel, World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, for Genesis Month. Though it featured far superior graphics and an expanded scope, along with the addition of Donald Duck and cooperative play, World of Illusion has, for whatever reason, struggled to retain the same classic status as its predecessor.

And that’s unfortunate, because World of Illusion is an incredibly capable sequel to Mickey Mouse’s first Genesis adventure; one that sends its title characters into an enchanting world and builds upon the magic of Castle of Illusion to deliver an entirely satisfying follow-up.