Hatsune Miku Project Diva f PS Vita English version releasing Early 2014

Hungry for more Vita games? SEGA has heard your cries. Announcing Hatsune Miku f for PS Vita, the original Hatsune Miku Project Diva f game that was released in Japan. We never got the PS Vita version in the west, but it looks like we will be getting it now. Lots of people say the Vita version is better than the PS3 version due to no input lag on the screen and tapping the screen for the stars instead of flicking the control sticks. Not to mention that great looking OLED screen.

I guess this means the PS3 version must of sold well in the west for them to want to bring this over.. now, about PSO2…

A TSA officer told Peter Moore: “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox”

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This is a funny post today on ‘Today I learned’ subreddit, the section is for people to post facts that they just learned today. This one being SEGA related, I thought it would be fun to share. The source is this wikipedia entry.

‘Moore disclosed to GamingSteve.com that at a security checkpoint at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, a TSA security agent said “I don’t need to see your passport. You’re the asshole that gave away Shenmue to Xbox.”‘

If there is anything I agree with here is that Shenmue does have one of the most vocal fanbases ever. Do I think it was bad to move Shenmue 2 to Xbox? Not necessarily, I thought it was bad not releasing the Dreamcast version along with the Xbox version.

Sonic Talk #24 “Third time’s the charm.”

[ MP3 Download ] [ iTunes ]

FINALLY! After 3 tries, we finally get episode 24 out the door. We start with Nuckles87 getting a little too excited over finishing a level in Sonic Lost World. We talk a bit about what we’ve been playing. Alex goes into a rant on TSSZ and Ken Penders and I talk to Lidice Garcia on Sonic Boom U.S. West Chapter and what Sonic Revolution is. Then, we end it with Comic talk. Click on the comments section for show notes.

SEGA Memories: Space Channel 5 premieres in Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza

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Back in the Dreamcast era, SEGA would have big promotional events for their titles. Yes, even niche stuff like Space Channel 5, which most publishers wouldn’t spend too much advertising dollars on. SEGA on the other hand had a huge E3 booth for the game, but after when the game was nearing its ‘debut’ they decided to premiere the game to the public, like it was a Hollywood picture. How would they do that? Premiere the game at an event over at Universal City Walk’s Cinema Plaza!

Review: The Typing of the Dead Overkill

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Droppin’ F-bombs like a mother…

The original The Typing of the Dead was a misunderstood sleeper hit when it came out for the Dreamcast. The keyboard accessory may have been useful in the eyes of consumers for games like Quake III Arena, but it didn’t immediately become apparent that a typing game spin-off would make for an amazing, fast paced alternative. The original game appeared in Japanese arcades prior, and when it arrived on PC shortly after it had done well enough to spawn several more sequels and updates on the platform, in Japan. Outside of Japan it would be seen as an outdated arcade game that would be shunned, yet had become the cult hit which emitted an outcry of diehard fans in their never ending list of seemingly implausible demands for a new entry in the series. Years later, after SEGA and Headstrong’s release of The House of the Dead: Overkill on the Wii, it had seen an update with The House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut on Playstation 3 and on the week of Halloween has seen an update on Steam for PC as part of a semi two game bundle, literally out of the blue with no fanfare and nearly cancelled by now defunct Blitz Games. Despite these hurdles, it was still the ideal platform to put out this modern update to the franchise that encompasses its cheesiness and over the top absurdity to much higher levels, probably higher than people would expect or possibly want.

Atlus games go on sale on PSN and Steam

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So you found out about SEGA acquiring Atlus and want to try a few of their games to see what they are all about? Don’t worry, they are having a sale on some of their games over on PSN and Steam.

PSN:

Steam: 

The sale ends tomorrow on PSN and on the 5th on Steam. So go and get what you want before that. I recommend Persona 4 Golden!

SEGA-Sammy’s Finicial Report: Consumer division beats expectations, generates profit

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It seems that SEGA-Sammy is on track. In recent earnings they continued to generate profit as a whole thanks to their amusement and pachinko slot machines, usually their consumer business loses money. Not this time, SEGA’s consumer business reported a income of 1.12 billion yen (about $11.35 million). What lead to SEGA’s sudden turn in profits?

  • During the three month period, their biggest title was Total War: Rome II, which moved 800,000 units.  Considering the fact that this report ends on September 30th, that would mean the game was on sale for less than a month!
  • According to the report their digital titles for Windows PC, mobile phones and smartphones ‘remained favorable’. Phantasy Star Online 2 saw 3 million registered accounts during August and 800,000 people downloaded the mobile game ‘Chain Chronicle‘ .

SEGA-Sammy as a company saw their operating income jump up 57.1 %, ranking in 12.4 billion yen. If you are one of the people that invested in SEGA-Sammy stock, congratulations!

Sakura Wars Mobage will feature a costume changing system and sign ups

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A few months ago, SEGA and Red Entertainment made a partnership with Mobage to develop a new Sakura Wars game which displeased many fans in Japan.  However, Sakura Wars for Mobage  will feature a original story featuring several characters from the franchise a new gameplay system that involves changing costumes.

Details about how this  will change gameplay have not been announced as of yet. Signups for Sakura Wars for  Mobage start today and if you register early you’ll get an ultra rare  Sakura Shinguji card. Service for the game is scheduled to begin sometime this winter.

Special Thanks to SEGAFAN for the tip!

SEGA Cinema: House of the Dead

*Warning movie is rated R: contains gore, terrible acting and nudity*

**Is the YouTube video blocked in your country?**
No worries, download the full episode here.

Welcome to another installment of SEGA Cinema, where you sit back and watch a flick with your buddies here at SEGAbits. This time we are watching Uwe Boll’s classic ‘House of the Dead‘. That’s right, just in time to celebrate your Halloween night.

We suffered through this, now you have to too!

[MP3]

Sonic Dash receives a Halloween update, battle Zazz of Sonic Lost World for a limited time

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Hardlight Studio announced a surprise update to Sonic Dash this morning, adding to the game for a limited time a boss battle with Zazz of Sonic Lost World. The addition is big news for a few reasons, one being that the game now has boss battles which have been long requested by fans, the other reason being that Sonic Lost World is not even a month old and we’ve already seen the first instance of a new character from the game appearing in another Sonic title. Zazz’s boss battle appears to occur at random when hitting a spring to enter a new area. Players must first dodge stars from behind, then from ahead. Finally, Sonic and Zazz fly into the air and you must homing attack the Zeti to defeat him.

Hardlight Studio also promises a Sonic Lost World global challenge, once we learn more of what the challenge entails we’ll be sure to update this story. After the break, check out a few screens of Zazz in Sonic Dash .

Happy Zalloween from SEGAbits and Sonic Retro

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Happy Halloween from your friends at SEGAbits and Sonic Retro! Whether you’re going out trick or treating dressed as Princess Elise (the Third, of course), or are staying in to watch Uwe Boll’s cinematic triumph The House of the Dead, we hope you have one zeck of a night. To celebrate, we’ve carved up a pumpkin to resemble Sonic’s new nemesis Zavok from Sonic Lost World, complete with a stem pony tail and horns.

What are your Halloween plans? Going out, or staying in to enjoy some Typing of the Dead: Overkill and Sonic Lost World? Let us know in the comments below!

Art of SEGA: House of the Dead III

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House of the Dead isn’t exactly the most beautiful game series, but it still required a substantial amount of concept art in order to determine the design of the protagonists, enemies, and game play scenarios. Below is a load of concept art, provided by our sister site Website of the Dead. As usual, we won’t be posting everything they have, so be sure to check out their database here!
Also, remember to submit something to our art contest!

Vidya Retro Streaming Feature of House of the Dead


Watch live video from VidyaRetro on TwitchTV

With the release of Typing of the Dead Overkill on Steam, we get to take a look at it along with other games in the House of the Dead series.

Update: Our livestream is over, but you can expect the Retro crew including Bartman3010, DavidTL, Overlord, Perfect Chaos Zero, GeneHF and Guess Who looking at several titles including The House of the Dead III, The House of the Dead 4, Zombie Revenge, and several random mobile games as well as The House of the Dead Overkill – Lost Reels, and the horrors of the mine cart in Sonic 4 Episode 1. 

SEGA 3D Classics for Nintendo 3DS priced and dated


 
Fans of classic SEGA games, it’s happening! Today the SEGA Blog has revealed the prices and dates for the 3D versions of several SEGA classics headed to the Nintendo 3DS. Each game will be priced at $5.99/€4.99/£4.49 and the release schedule is as follows:

3D Space Harrier, 3D Super Hang-On – 11/28/2013
3D Sonic The Hedgehog, 3D Altered Beast – 12/5/2013
3D Ecco the Dolphin™, 3D Galaxy Force II – 12/12/2013
3D Shinobi III, 3D Streets of Rage – 12/19/2013

Nice to see SEGA staggering the releases so fans can digest each game. Especially excited to see 3D Space Harrier and 3D Super Hang-On releasing on my birthday. Which games are you downloading on day one?