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Phantasy Star Online 2 still coming West

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Some of you guys may have caught the rumor from TSSZ News that Phantasy Star Online 2 was unlikely to come west, citing an unnamed source. Curious, we at SEGAbits decided to try and get an answer straight from the source, so we e-mailed Kellie Parker over at SEGA and this was what she had to say:

Originally slated for an early 2013 launch, SEGA can officially confirm that PS02 has been delayed. We don’t have any specifics but will update everyone as soon as there are more details to share.

There’s nothing vague about this statement: PSO2 is still coming, but a date has not been decided. This is more or less just reiterating what SEGA already said months ago. For those who’ve been worried by reports from SEGA-Addicts and TSSZ indicating otherwise, this should put their minds at ease.

This wouldn’t be the first time SEGA went hush-hush on a delayed project. Both Rhythm Thief and Anarchy Reigns received the silent treatment in 2012 shortly after SEGA’s restructuring, leading many to believe the localization of both projects had been canceled, despite confirmation from employees within SEGA that both games were still coming. SEGA has also demonstrated that they have no issue simply telling fans a game isn’t coming, as they demonstrated earlier today when they confirmed NOVA wasn’t coming west.

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Currently no plans for Phantasy Star Nova in the West

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If you were looking forward to playing Phantasy Star NOVA in English, you may be out of luck. The website SEGA-Addicts just reached out to Kellie Parker for a statement regarding PSN’s status in the West and this is what she had to say:

There are currently no plans to release Phantasy Star Nova in the Western market. Should this change, we will ensure the information is shared as soon as possible.

It’s disappointing to hear that SEGA currently has “no plans” to bring Nova west. The game will be the first Phantasy Star game since the Genesis titles to primarily focus on single player. Provided the game is as fun as it looks, it’s a real shame it might not be coming our way.

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Could we see more Virtual On in 2015?

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Virtual On recently had a ‘memorial talk show’ live on Nico Nico where SEGA designer Mori Yasuhiro and model makers Volks and Hasegawa talked about the franchise’s history and creation of the model toys for the franchise. They showed off some matches and then Mori made some comments about the future of the franchise.

“Virtual On is still alive! Something might wake up [on Virtual On’s 20th anniversary]” – Mori Yasuhiro

What does this mean? Who knows. I guess we will find out sometime in 2015 when the franchise celebrates its 20th anniversary. Do you guys think there is a market for a brand new, next generation Virtual On?

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Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing finally debuts on Android

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Seems like SEGA took their sweet time porting over Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing to Android, especially when you consider the fact that the game came out two years ago. But hey, it’s here now and you can own it for $1.99! This is port of the DS version, cleaned up for higher resolution phones.

The game just came out and reviews aren’t that positive. Out of three reviews, two of them have been one stars and the other was three. Hopefully SEGA addresses issues of lag and other complaints.

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Yakuza Ishin’s TGS gameplay trailer has lots of slicing and dicing

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SEGA has released two trailers for the upcoming Playstation exclusive, Yakuza Ishin. The first one and the one we embeded above is the gameplay trailer showing off the combat system, forging system and a few other tidbits.

Now the other trailer is the story trailer, this one uses the intro from the cinematic trailer shown off at the Sony conference, which was also awesome.  The game comes out in Japan on both Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 on February 22nd, 2014.

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Phantasy Star NOVA TGS Trailer

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The trailer shows a bit of gameplay and CGI, while using the word “Confidential” a lot. Looks like PSO2 battle system with a bit of Tri-ace flavor, IMO.

Phantary Star Nova will be out on the Vita in Japan in 2014.

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SEGA in the Media: FOX’s “Dads” takes the Dreamcast hostage

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Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 12.20.22 PM

FOX’s live action sitcom Dads, from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, is one of the fall season’s worst shows reviews-wise. Perhaps the production crew knew they had a stinker on their hands and threw a Dreamcast into the set dressing. Hey, if it worked for The Drew Carey Show, it could work for them. The series follows two guys named Warner and Eli who are successful video game developers who are forced to have their fathers move in with them, thus explaining the Dreamcast sitting on Seth Green’s desk. Why a modern game developer would have so many pieces of 90’s era hardware on his work desk is unknown. Perhaps they’re indie Dreamcast developers? In any case, save yourself the trouble watching the show and just enjoy the image above.

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New Sonic Lost World TGS Trailer

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Atlus, shmatlus. What you really want is more Sonic Lost World footage! Straight from TGS comes a new trailer over 3 minutes long packed with never before seen footage including how the 3DS/WiiU connection works and a short cutscene with Amy Rose. There are little details everywhere so Sonic fans might to check it out at least twice. Listen to this person-a, this game will be hotter than a Dragon’s Crown!

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SEGA Tunes: Soul Calibur’s Light and Darkness (Soul Mix)

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It’s impossible to talk about the Dreamcast without eventually talking about Soul Calibur. Still arguably one of the best 3D fighting games ever made, the original Soul Calibur was absolutely groundbreaking in its day both in its spectacular next generation visuals and its supremely fluid and accessible game play. On top of all of this, the game had a presentation that was surprisingly grandiose for its time. While many of its contemporaries either tried to play themselves off as silly, over-the-top, or ridiculous, Soul Calibur presented itself with dignity. It was not just a fighter, it was “the stage of history!” You will not find a kick boxing kangaroos, bouncy boob physics, or gory fatalities here: only fighters battling their way toward their ultimate destiny.

This attitude is reflected in the game’s spectacular soundtrack. The game is filled to the brim with beautiful orchestrated themes meant to compliment the diverse characters and locations in the game. Back in its day, this soundtrack helped give the game a special epic quality that other fighters lacked. I confess, I do find the soundtrack to be a little dated by modern standards: these tracks were clearly produced on a budget with a limited orchestra, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still sound damn good. For your benefit, I’ve decided to feature the far superior “Soul Mix” version of the game’s epic theme song. You can check out the original track below.

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SEGA Sammy Acquires Atlus owner Index Corp. for 14 Billion Yen

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segatlusNikkei reports that SEGA Sammy Holdings has succeeded in the bid war to acquire Index Corp. This means the company now completely owns Index as well as it’s subsidiaries including Atlus Co. Ltd. All assets and properties will transfer ownership by November. Appearance of Atlus property to appear in Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed? Still up in the air, but suffice to say, Atlus is now going to be part of SEGA’s growing empire. SEGA is certainly no stranger to the company as they have assisted in publishing Atlus titles in Japan. Surely though, the most important news is they can collaborate once again to make a true sequel to the hottest Dreamcast title, Maken X.

We will report on more as it develops.

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Update from “Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA ” author David Munoz

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We have an update from “Service Games: Rise and Fall of Sega ” author David Munoz, who we interviewed last month:

Hi everyone,

Good news: we have found our editor. I can’t go into specifics just yet, but all of you should be familiar with his work in one way or another. I have already seen some of the edited beginning and the increase in quality is night and day. Hopefully everyone agrees! This is your last chance to send in any edits before the text is finalized, so don’t delay if you know of things we may have missed.

We have a new timeline now. Hopefully way before this, but our plan is now to get everything to you guys before Christmas. This is obviously past our original date of this past August, but hopefully the extra additions and editing make up for it. As soon as we get the final text we will then send out the questionnaires. Print has the highest priority, followed by ebook. People who are waiting on a signed copy may not get their books before Christmas due to shipping times. If you are one of these people and you’d rather get it on time, please message or email me (servicegamessega at gmail.com) and we will refund you the difference and not sign them.

We are planning on launching the “hardback” only Kickstarter in January. This will give second-chance offers to everyone to get the color hardback editions, but will also help cover the added costs that all the delays accrued. We are planning on doing something special for backers of the original who want to back the new version, so stay tuned for that!

That’s it for news. Feel free to ask any questions and thanks for supporting this project… the end is in sight!

-David

After the break, check out a message from David, responding to comments posted on our interview with him.

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More Dreamcast Games On Vidya Retro Livestream

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Watch live video from vidyaretro on TwitchTV

The stream is done for the day, despite technical difficulties. The stream is embedded in the video above which features gameplay from Sonic Adventure 2, Jet Grind Radio, Unreal Tournament, Soulcalibur, Dynamite Cop, Spider-Man, Sonic Shuffle, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Looney Tunes: Space Race and South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack. 

The Dreamcast is still thinking this month with another set of hits (and misses!) streaming live on Vidya Retro which should be underway if you’re reading this. Be sure to talk with other fans in the Twitch channel and for any particular requests you may have.

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SEGA Sequels: Sonic Shuffle

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SequelSaturdayShuffle

Hey, I know you guys are asking why I picked Sonic Shuffle for this week’s Sequel Saturdays.  I mean, the first game wasn’t that good (at least in my opinion) and it wasn’t a ‘Dreamcast classic’ compared to something like Jet Set Radio, Shenmue or Skies of Arcadia. Well, I think there is a huge market for a Sonic the Hedgehog party franchise and Sonic Shuffle had potential to fill it.

So if there was to be a sequel, what should the sequel improve upon? Well, that is this week’s Sequel Saturday article!

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