Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of the Swingin’ Report Show. This week George and Barry the Nomad discuss all the usual pre-E3 talk, along with our first thoughts on Sonic Lost Worlds, Hatsune Miku coming west and much more.
Hit the jump for show notes.
Episode 2 of Fighters Segamix has arrived! This week, “It’s Mahvel Baybee!” as we are looking at the first in long line of Marvel 2-D Fighters from Capcom, “X-Men: Children of the Atom”. An old school classic with your favorite mutants (except Cyclops because he’s a hypocritical jerk).
IGN.com and SEGA brand manager Aaron Weber have just revealed a ton of gameplay footage from the Wii U and 3DS versions of Sonic Lost World. The footage features Aaron’s handy commentary, telling fans what to expect in Sonic’s next adventure. So what are you waiting for? Check out the video above as well as the three after the break and share your thoughts in the comments section.
SEGA has created some of the most beautiful games and iconic characters that gaming has ever seen. As such, SEGAbits would like to celebrate SEGA’s legacy of creativity with the Summer of Art contest! We will be taking submissions from across the world from fans expressing their SEGA passion! Not only will we be taking art, we will also be taking poems, original music and short videos! The more creative and passionate, the better! Just, you know, don’t get weird.
The contest will run until July 15th. The winner will receive:
Select pieces of art and music will also be entered into our banner art rotation and featured in Tuesday Tunes.
Four runner-ups will also be receiving Valkyria Chronicles 2 pins and Jet Set Radio pins.
To help inspire you, SEGAbits will be posting an article full of concept art every Sunday! If we get enough submissions, we may also post some samples of what we’ve been receiving. Continue reading for guidelines on what will be accepted and how we will be taking submissions. We may be updating this contest with additional prizes as they become available. Stay tuned!
The Android powered, crowd funded indie console Ouya will be receiving optimized ports of Sonic CD and Sonic 4 Episodes I & II on June 27th, SEGA revealed today. These three games mark the first time SEGA has supported the console, and at the moment these are the only games currently planned for Ouya. When talking to Game Industry.biz, SEGA of America’s director of mobile business David Zemke had this to say about other titles heading to the platform.
“At this time, that’s what we have planned,” he said. “We’re always looking for other titles and there may be some future titles that we’d like to bring over. For us, we’re always trying to bring the best gaming experience to the right platforms. It’s a delicate mix of how and when to do it.”
These games will go on sale for $6.99 each, though it will be possible to download these games for free beforehand and play the first few levels. Will this mark the beginning of wider support from SEGA for the platform? We will just have to wait and see.
After months of teasing and testing the waters, The SEGA Blog has revealed that Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F will be receiving a Western release. The game is set for an August 2013 release on PlayStation 3 and Playstation Network in North America, and in Europe on Playstation Network. So no physical copy for European fans, unfortunately. Still, Miku fans finally get a Western console release so beggars can’t be choosers – unless you’re living in America.
The SEGA Blog post details Miku’s popularity in the West, citing over 950,000 English speaking fans on Facebook, the Nokia Theater concert selling out, and the time when SEGA asked fans to like and share an image of Miku and in less than three days the post received over 25,000 likes and 15,000 shares. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F will also be getting a demo, which will be available on June 11th for the U.S. and June 12th for Europe.
Slightly off topic: Remember when Sumo Digital stated that SEGA had approved a DLC racer for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, and Miku was second to Ryo Hazuki? Given that Miku now has a Western presence, could Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Miku DLC be planned to release alongside Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F? We’ll have to wait and see…
Read the full press release after the break!
On this week’s 2-Man Scramble, Mickey Mac and I enjoy a Master System classic; Spy vs. Spy. Based on MAD Magazine’s infamous comic strip, created by Antonio Prohías way back in 1961….
While I have fond memories of this game, Mickey Mac has gone so far as to call this “the friendship killer”. Can our friendship survive Spy vs. Spy?
Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel! After the break, check out the promo video for what My Life with SEGA has planned for July!
The wait is over!….Kinda. While you may not be able to get your hands on the full game yet, the Project X Zone demo is finally in the North American 3DS E-Shop. I gotta say, playing the demo makes me want to play the full version even more! It’s fun to see the Sega, Capcom and Bandai characters interacting. Even Opa-Opa and Space Harrier make a cameo! As far as Sega franchises represented in the demo go, you’ll see characters from Sakura Wars, Valkyria Chronicles 3 and Space Channel 5. The game itself is a grid based turn style RPG with cool, interactive attacks including Marvel vs. Capcom-like 3rd character support. While the game is translated into English text, the voices are purely Japanese. But heck, a lot of folks like it that way.
Note this is demo A. Which means, like Europe, a second demo should be coming soon.
Project X Zone will be available in American stores on June 25th.
If you are considering picking up Company of Heroes 2, due to all the rave the first game got about its multiplayer modes. You are now in luck, the game has entered open beta. You can get on and play through steam.
“We’ve added new match-making servers, implemented a significant amount of Closed Beta feedback and fixed more bugs, compatibility and performance issues than I can count. The team will continue to read comments and feedback in our official forums and participate in regular playtests with the community. We’ll be patching the beta frequently and getting into a good rhythm for our post launch support cycle. Please keep the comments and suggestions coming – we do care and are listening!” – Greg Wilson, Company of Heroes 2 producer
Check out the steam post about the news here. Good luck!
Despite what Nintendo of Germany’s press release said last week, SEGA has confirmed to IGN’s Richard George that the third Sonic game will not be arriving this year. This means that the third game in Nintendo’s three game deal may be more than a digital title or a spin off. It also means that this exclusive deal won’t be ending for a little while. Will Nintendo fans be getting another main Sonic title next year? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
[This is a pre-order, last day to order is 6/10/13]
I usually get messages from users asking how they can support and help the site. Honestly, the first few years we launched the site we tried advertisements, but it’s hard to run a site on such things for multiple reasons I won’t get into. Now, we run a great ad-free website and frankly I like it better this way. But it still costs money to do things, especially things we want to do for the future of the site. So if you want to help, pick up a SEGAbits shirt. You get a shirt, we get some cash to give you more ad-free content. Everyone wins!
Being a arcade gamer is hard, just trying a game means you will have to drop some money. But SEGA is planning on changing that with their latest Puyo Puyo game called Puyo Puyo Quest Arcade. The game above was shown in a private show, this will be SEGA’s first dip into the free-to-play marketplace.
The game will allow anyone to come up and play it, but if you want to get the full potential out of the game, you will have to start using credits to purchase upgrades. This is SEGA taking the Western tablet/phone model of free-to-play and applying it on a arcade title.
With all the new Game Gear games being ported to the 3DS, most people are asking themselves if buying these classics are worth it. Well, above is a 5 minute video from the dudes at Nintendo Life testing out the games.
Now all I wonder is if that tilt effect is optional in Super Hang-On, because it looks pretty annoying.
News has it that Funimation has picked up the license rights to rerelease Sakura Wars: The Movie on Blu Ray Disc this morning. A source from Twitter states that the movie will still retain the Geneon Dub with added extra features. The movie was previously released on DVD and PSP UMD by Geneon a few years back. The movie’s plot follows the Imperial Assault Force after Lt. Ogami Ichiro departs to Paris and are later introduced to Star Division’s member Rachete Altair to battle against the upcoming evil that is descending upon the Imperial Capital.
If your a fan of SEGA media, you should check this movie out when it’s rereleased on Blu Ray. Now if only Funimation can obtain the TV series rights for Toonami. Hit the jump to see the Twitter announcements.
Welcome to the first round in our new video series “Fighters Segamix”. In this series, we will be focusing on the rich history of fighting games on SEGA systems as well as SEGA fighting games themselves. In this first episode, we have both in Virtua fighter 2 for the SEGA Saturn. Note that while I love fighting games, I’m not the best player. I’m not gonna be winning any Evo tournament anytime soon. Still, I can usually tell who’s balanced and who’s cheap right away (especially in the next episode).
Don’t have a Saturn? You can pick up Virtua Fighter 2 on XBLA and PSN for only $5. As you can see in the video, you can also play Virtua Fighter 2 in Yakuza 5 (only available on PS3 through import).
Should I include brawlers like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe into the mix? Let me know in the comments.
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