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SEGA Tunes: Wacky Races’ “Scarecrow Creek” and “Tombstone Pass” (SEGA Dreamcast)

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Today marks the 15th anniversary of SEGA’s Dreamcast console in Europe, and seeing as we’re in the midst of Halloween season, what better way to celebrate both than with some creepy music from a UK developed Dreamcast classic! Wacky Races is a kart racer based on the late 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name. Developed by Infogrames Sheffield House, formerly known as Gremlin Interactive, Wacky Races could be seen as a precursor to Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Sumo Digital, developer of the All-Stars Racing titles, was formed in 2003 by the former management of Infogrames Sheffield following its closure. Sumo Digital even used lessons learned in Wacky Races when developing their SEGA racing titles as revealed in a 2012 interview held by Sonic Retro with Executive Producer at Sumo Digital Steve Lycett:

Sonic Retro: The announcer is an element that people really loved or hated. I personally felt it was a welcome element to give the game some personality. What was the decision to include the announcer?

Steve Lycett: Wacky Races also featured an announcer type system that would call out for each specific character. The announcer came about for two reasons. Trav had seen SEGA Race TV and loved the concept of an announcer who commented the race, plus we wanted to make the player feel like there was more going off than they could see.

So you get this chatter that someone at the back is making a move up the field, or someone just had a really bad crash, and although it was happening and you couldn’t see it, it made it feel like it mattered. Plus… we’d done a similar thing a long time before making Wacky Races on the Dreamcast and PS2 in our previous guise as Gremlin/Infogrames Sheffield House. So we knew it could be made to work…!

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Go behind-the-scenes with the Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal development team

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SEGA has uploaded a new behind-the-scenes video to the Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube account, taking fans behind-the-scenes with the Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal development team. Shattered Crystal, the Nintendo 3DS Sonic Boom title, is unique in that it is the first fully original handheld Sonic title since 2008’s Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

While Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, and Sonic Lost World on the 3DS were pared down versions of what home consoles had (albeit with unique stages and layouts), Shattered Crystal is a separate title from Wii U’s Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric with a unique story, stages, and an exclusive character named Sticks the Badger. In the above video, Sanzaru Games, Inc. delves into how they’ve collaborated with Sonic Team and Big Red Button, as well as how the 3DS and Wii U titles will connect.

Yeah, they even have a sports tape gag at the end.

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SEGA in the Charts: Alien: Isolation debuts in 2nd behind FIFA 15 in the UK

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How about some good news for a Monday? Via VGChartz and SEGAbits forum member Nirmugen comes news that Alien: Isolation launched in the second position on the UK charts, behind FIFA 15 which remains the best-selling game in the UK for three weeks running. Given soccer’s football’s appeal in the UK, it’s quite impressive that a SEGA title managed to chart so highly – especially after speculation that Aliens: Colonial Marines may have tainted the public’s interest in the Alien franchise. However, it should be noted that despite the quality of Aliens: Colonial Marines [watch and/or read our review], the game still managed to surge back into the charts as early as January 2014.

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How to unlock Oculus Rift support for Alien Isolation

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SEGA demoed Alien Isolation at E3 running on the Oculus Rift, then after stated that the game wasn’t going to ship with Oculus Rift support. This was partly true considering that the game that shipped didn’t have a selectable  Oculus Rift mode, but the code is still in the game. Here is how to unlock it.

1. Find the Alien Isolation DATA folder.
2. Open ENGINE_SETTINGS.XML
3. Edit the stereo options to the following:

<Setting name="Stereo Mode">
    <Quality name="Rift"   precedence="4"/>
    <Quality name="Off"   precedence="4"/>
</Setting>

Now set the Oculus Rift to ‘extended mode’ and in the Oculus config utility make sure you pause the service. Boot the game up and it should work. More information can be found in this detailed Reddit thread.

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SEGAbits Plays Episode #4: Alien: Isolation

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SEGAbits Plays returns with a brand new game from SEGA and The Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation! In this episode, George takes Barry into outer space where Amanda Ripley uses whatever she has at her disposal to duck, dodge, and fight a lone xenomorph. A killer alien isn’t the only enemy out there, as George and Barry encounter dangling electrical wires, annoying old bald men, and trigger happy humans.

Alien: Isolation is out now on PC, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel.

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SEGA in the Media: The Price is Right for a Sega-Vision in 1977!

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Way back in 2011, we featured an article on the Sega-Vision, a big screen projection TV sold to consumers in 1977. While a post I made at SEGA Memories detailed patent drawings from 1976, and our post in 2011 featured the commercial, today we have another bit from the Sega-Vision’s past! Courtesy of a reader named Matthew, I was linked to a YouTube upload of a full episode of The Price is Right taped on June 29, 1977, and guess what item appears? If you guessed the Sega-Vision, you’d be right – or is that the “Seega-Vision”? Unfortunately for our lucky contestant, she wasn’t so right. In fact, she was wrong and lost the item when it came to guessing the retail price. Thankfully, as SEGA fans we finally get to know the retail price of a Sega-Vision in 1977: $1,895.

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Bayonetta 2 demo is up on the eShop right now

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Nintendo Europe just suddenly released this new Bayonetta 2 trailer on their Youtube channel that ends with a neat bit of info: a demo will be put on the eShop at 2 PM UK time on October 9th. It also so happens to be just past that time, meaning that the demo should be up on the eShop right now. At least if you live in Europe, where the eShop has updated already.

The demo hasn’t been announced yet for the US, but chances are that it’ll be available there as well whenever the eShop updates in that region. The demo will take up 725MB of your Wii U’s space. As for the full game, it will be out in Europe and the US just a mere two weeks from now on October 24th.

Update: The demo has now been uploaded to the US eShop as well.

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Hatsune Miku was on David Letterman

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Hatsune Miku performed “Sharing the World” live on David Letterman on October 8th on national TV. Sharing the World is the theme song of Miku Expo in both Los Angeles and New York. If you aren’t aware, SEGA produces the CGI that is used at the Miku performances.

The CGI on the David Letterman stage seems to be lower quality then normal but is probably due to lack of space. The Miku concerts are 3D holographics and getting the detail used at the big events probably requires a lot of equipment. Not as simple as having one 2D display which doesn’t require complex technology.

If you have never seen a live Miku Conference before I have included a video of one after the jump. Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd comes out November 18th for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. In 2015 Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX comes out for the Nintendo 3DS. Great music games, you should definitely check out the demos on PSN for Project Diva F if you haven’t.

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Sneak peek at Archie Comics Sonic Boom issue 1

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Courtesy of the L.A. Times “Hero Complex section, comes a sneak peek of Sonic Boom #1. A new, ongoing somic books series from Archie comics based on the upcoming Cartoon show on Cartoon Network and video games on Wii U and 3DS. Outside the usual norm of “light-hearted action adventure” that the regular series has, this series will be strictly comedy-based with some adventure elements added in as well. Expect plenty of slapstick and fourth wall gags a’plenty. Sonic Boom issue 1 hits comic book shops on Oct 29. Click over to the comments section for links to the preview pages.

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SEGA Hard Girls Anime “Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” Debuts!

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The new SEGA-based CG anime, Hi☆sCool! SeHa Girls, has officially landed! The new series’ first episode is now available on Crunchyroll, and sees the characters, human representations of the SEGA Mega Drive, SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast, introduced to one another as they enter the SeHaGaga Academy, with one goal; graduate!

It seems like a bizarre concept for an anime, and that’s probably because it is. But suffice to say, if you’re a SEGA fan there’s plenty to enjoy here. There’s numerous SEGA references, unsurprisingly, and some neat jokes worked into them, such as the OutRun guy still having “20 years left on the loan” for that flashy Testatrossa – ouch! There’s some joking about regarding the heroes of Golden Axe, and some hilarious internet shenanigans with Dreamcast too!

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Platinum Games discusses how Bayonetta 2 came to be

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Bayonetta 2’s announcement was a surprise; not just because word on the long-rumored sequel had been scarce for years, but because it was revealed to be a Nintendo-published title exclusive to the Wii U.

Platinum Games discusses the process of getting Bayonetta 2 made, along with porting the original, in this video posted to IGN. Check it out!

Bayonetta 2 releases in North America and Europe on October 24th.

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Archie Comics announce “Worlds Unite” – The Sequel to the “Worlds Collide” Sonic VS Mega Man Crossover

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In something almost completely out of the blue, Archie comics has announced the Blue Blur and the Blue Bomber are set to join forces once again in the new crossover event Worlds Unite, starting Spring 2015. Indeed, Sonic and Mega Man are starring in another crossover comic series, set to be “even bigger” than 2013’s previous crossover.

As Polygon reports, the new crossover will be detailed at New York Comic Con later on this week. Paul Kaminski, executive director of editorial at Archie, has said that “You saw what happened when worlds collided, now see what happens when Words Unite! And this time, no universe will be safe…”

Intriguing stuff! Keep an eye on NYCC, where the Archie Action Hour: Sonic the Hedgehog and Megan Man panel is set for Thursday at 1pm, where more details are set to be announced regarding this exciting crossover event.

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First 4 Figures Dr. Robotnik up for pre-order – wait, so it’s not Dr. Eggman anymore?

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First 4 Figures is back again with a new classic era Sonic the Hedgehog statue up for pre-order, this time the star is Sonic’s nemesis Dr. Robotnik. Yup, you heard that right, apparently SEGA gave the okay for F4F to use the old name that they’ve pushed aside for the past 13 years. The statue is selling for $399.99 and is expected to release Q2 2015. If the price gave you a small heart attack, F4F has a flexipay option in which fans pay 3 monthly payments – two at $100 and a final payment of $199. The statue is also enormous, measuring 22″ tall, and 19″ wide. F4F also notes “Dr. Robotnik’s package also includes an additional set of hands. As well as the open palms to replicate his signature classic pose, the package includes an additional 2 hands, each holding a Chaos Emerald, in call back to the classic ‘Try Again’ screen at the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 1. These can be swapped out or mixed with the other hands depending on the collector’s preference.” You can pre-order at the official F4f site. Now the question is, what’s next? Classic Amy Rose perhaps?

Regarding the name, while I know many Western Sonic fans grew up with Dr. Robotnik, I do find the decision to be a bit odd. Mainly because I always saw the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Saturday morning cartoon design to be Dr. Robotnik, while the in-game version had a weird disconnect from the Robotnik name. With Sonic Generations poking fun at the old Robotnik name (“Nobody calls me that anymore!”) and the Jazwares action figures labeling the character as Dr. Eggman, it’s inconsistent with the brand to go back to the Dr. Robotnik name. Ah well, it’s a bigass statue and that’s good enough for me!

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Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal demo coming to the eShop on November 4th

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According to Nintendo World Report, a demo of Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal will be released on the eShop on November 4th. It isn’t known if or when a demo of its Wii U counterpart Rise of Lyric will also be released or if this is the same demo that was playable at events like Sonic Boom or PAX.

The site also recorded a playthrough of the Sonic Boom demo with direct feed audio, so you can also listen to what the game’s music is like. They recorded some gameplay of the Rise of Lyric demo as well, which can be seen after the jump.

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SEGAbits boosts to New York City for Sonic Boom 2014 – videos, photos, & impressions

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SEGA’s Sonic Boom event took place this past Saturday in New York, and SEGAbits was there! Before I run through the day’s events, I want to thank SEGA, all the special guests, and the attendees for making the whole event a memorable experience. I know it was a big deal when SEGA chose to host last year’s event in St. Louis, but I can only imagine that planning this year’s event in America’s most populated city from the other side of the country was a lot of hard work on the part of SEGA. Thankfully, the hard work paid off. Within the span of five hours, SEGA treated guests to gift bags, autograph signings, game demos, live music, and both scripted and unscripted entertainment – and despite a large turnout, there was room to walk about and enjoy just about everything the event had to offer.

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