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Interview: Scott West, Hardlight Studio Senior Designer of Crazy Taxi City Rush

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SEGAbits: Hi Scott, thank you for answering our questions about the upcoming mobile game Crazy Taxi City Rush! What is your role at SEGA, and what is your favorite SEGA game?

Scott West: Hi there, I’m a Senior Designer at Hardlight Studios. As for favourite SEGA game, it would be impossible to name just one! I’d have to break it down into favourites throughout the course of the Consoles that I grew up with. From the Mega Drive days, I spent my childhood playing the likes of Golden Axe, Sonic, Streets of Rage and Outrun. Then on the Saturn it was Burning Rangers and Virtua Fighter 2 then of course the Dreamcast and House of the Dead, Jet Set Radio and Shenmue! That’s not to mention the hours I spent sinking into the Arcades on games like Rad Mobile and Crazy Taxi!

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Crunchyroll to stream HeroBank anime beginning today

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Yesterday it was announced that Crunchyroll will be streaming SEGA’s HeroBank anime, based on the recently released Nintendo 3DS game of the same name. Streaming began today at 6:30 am eastern time and is available worldwide (except for Asia) to premium members of the service. The anime is also available to members using a 14-day free trial in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

Head on over to Crunchyroll now to watch the first episode!

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Sonic Team’s upcoming Sonic game to use ‘traditional look and mechanics’ (UPDATE)

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Update: Turns out that Iizuka didn’t say anything about Sonic Team’s next game in the 4Gamer interview. The quote below was taken from Softpedia’s article about the interview, in which the author likely speculated about their next Sonic game. It has been mentioned in previous interviews that Sonic Boom won’t replace the regular Sonic series, but nothing regarding what Sonic Team’s next game is like nor when it will be revealed. We at SEGAbits apologize for reporting on false info and wasting everyone’s time.

We already knew that Sonic Team was working on their own Sonic the Hedgehog and it was speculated that it would be shown off this year. Guess what? It seems that is correct. Below is from a interview with the Japanese website 4Gamer:

“At the moment, the core Sonic team at SEGA is working on a new title that will use the traditional look and mechanics of the series, which will get more details later during the year.

At the same time, Big Red Button, an entirely new studio, is working on a new version of the entire game universe, called Sonic Boom, which will use an entirely new aesthetic and is designed to accompany the delivery of a new range of toys and a new cartoon series.”

I wonder what Sonic Team considers ‘traditional’ seeing as how Sonic’s gameplay has changed a lot in the last 20 something years. Is two Sonic games this year too much?

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Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies coming this June

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Last week, SEGA announced new multiplayer content entitled Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies, which according to Relic is standalone and can be played without a copy of Company of Heroes 2. The new content, arriving in June, pits the U.S. Forces and German Oberkommando West against each other with new units, models, abilities, animations, and tactical and strategic options. Eight multiplayer maps set within the Western Front will also release alongside the new content. SEGA promises that the new “progression system” will allow players to “dive deeper into the tactical and strategic aspects” of the game. Both armies will release as a pair and can be purchased together for $19.99 or separately for $12.99 each.

Screens from the upcoming release can be seen after the break.

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Ryuta Ueda leaves SEGA after 19 years of service

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Ryuta Ueda leaves SEGA after 19 years of service. While at SEGA he contributed to some masterpieces including being the chief graphic designer for Jet Set Radio, enemy art designer for Panzer Dragoon Orta and  he also worked on the Yakuza series.

Ryuta Ueda shared the news via his Twitter account this morning and as you know, he is going to be missed; the art design behind the Jet Set Radio series was totally ‘Next Level’.

EDIT: According to Hideki Naganuma, Ueda left SEGA on March 31st.

So, what is your favorite game that Ryuta Ueda worked on? 

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Swingin’ Report Show #59: Sonic’s SEGA Genesis Spin-off Special

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The triple threat of George, Barry, and Bartman sit down for a round table discussion of Sonic the Hedgehog’s lesser appreciated SEGA Genesis titles: the spin-offs. We cover it all! From Dr. “don’t-call-him-Eggman-yet” Robotnik’s breakout role in Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, to Sonic’s transition from platforming icon to pinball with arms and legs in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, to Sonic’s take on the classic Flicky formula in Sonic 3D Blast. Even the digital sticker book Wacky Worlds gets some discussion.

So join us in a walk down memory lane (or is that “pain”?) as we relive and dissect Sonic’s SEGA Genesis spin-offs!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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Persona 4 hits the Playstation 3 on April 8th

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Last time we talked about Devil Summoner getting a re-release via PS3’s PS2 Classics brand and now people will be able to download Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 as well.

The game is set to come out on April 8th and cost a mere $9.99 through PSN  in North and South America. This will allow SEGA gamers who haven’t experinced the classic Atlus game to dive right in.

I suggest all gamers give this game a go, it has some memorable characters, writing and story.

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Phantasy Star Online 2 Es starts open beta on Android

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Phantasy Star Online 2 might be well and out in Japan on PC and Vita, but their mini-version of the game called ‘Phantasy Star Online 2 Es‘ has met many delays. But don’t worry, the mobile version of the game has now hit open beta in Japan, at least on Android with a iOS version coming in the near future.

You can download here!

The mobile version is unique in the way it lets you connect to the Vita/PC version to download you character data and takes place at the same time as the story in full Phantasy Star online 2 and some items and experience you gain in the mobile version transfers back.

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The Sound of Alien: Isolation

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The music and sounds to the original Alien is perhaps just as integral and iconic part of the Alien franchise and SEGA seems well aware of that. In this latest video (Along with new gameplay footage to boot) Creative Assembly’s creative lead Al Hope speaks about the care the developer is putting into the sounds for Alien: Isolation.

Not only will it a soundtrack put together from it’s own personal orchestra (With some members of the group having worked with Jerry Goldsmith on the original film’s soundtrack) but also develop a dynamic sound system where the music changes depending on both what the player and the Alien is doing. It’s clear to see that SEGA is taking as much care as possible with this latest title after their mis-step in Aliens: Colonial Marines and having just won Eurogamer’s Rezzed Game of the Show award, they seem to be well on track to delivering a great Alien game.

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SEGA’s launch lineup for Amazon Fire TV

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Amazon’s new Roku/Ouya killer Fire TV was announced yesterday with a lineup of software partners including SEGA themselves. We didn’t really know what the lineup of games were until the system got shipped to the public today. Here’s Sega’s list of games along with their prices.

  • Sonic CD ($2.99)
  • Sonic 1 ($2.99)
  • Sonic 2 ($2.99)
  • Sonic 4 Episode 1 ($3.99)
  • Sonic 4 Episode 2 ($4.99)
  • Crazy Taxi ($4.99)
  • The Cave ($4.99)
  • Virtua Tennis Challenge ($4.99)

Since the Amazon Fire TV doesn’t make use of Google services, some of the games won’t have Google Play Achievements or use Google’s leaderboards. That will also mean that Sonic 2 doesn’t have multiplayer since it used Google’s services. According to Taxman, the developer, Sonic 2 won’t even have a splitscreen mode due to ‘the projects scope’. The Amazon Fire TV is already shipping and you can purchase on here. Gaming controller sold separately.

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Sonic Talk #26: Genesis with SEGA’s Aaron Webber

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[MP3] (iTunes Link coming soon)

Now with 100% more of Sega’s beloved Aaron Webber! In this months Sonic Talk Aaron, Shigs, Nuckles87 and Sonic Revolutions’ own Shayne Edwards discuss the Genesis Era of Sonic. Games include Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Sonic 3-D Blast, Sonic CD and Knuckles Chaotix. We also go into what makes Eggman tick and more!

CONTEST TIME! Listen in on this episode for a Sonic trivia question. Be the FIFTH person to answer (and answer correctly) to win an AtGames Sega Genesis (which I reviewed here the other day) with Street Fighter II and a Sega 6-Pack cartridge. Yeah, yeah. It’s not a great prize, but it’s better than nothing.

RULES: Be the fifth person to answer to win. Why fifth? I want more people to listen of course! If there is not a fifth person to answer, then the very first person will win the system and carts. Winner must join the Segabits forums and PM me their address. U.S. CITIZENS ONLY (I can’t afford the U.K. postage. Sorry.)

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

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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!

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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).  

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Sonico Channel Retro: Project Divas LIVE!

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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!

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

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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!

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