Video Review: Mega Drive Master System Converter

TrackerTD, first place winner of the SEGAbits third anniversary contest, put together this excellent video review of the Mega Drive Master System Converter, also known as the SEGA Genesis Power Base Converter. It really is a sweet piece of tech, allowing Genesis and Mega Drive owners to play Master System games in both cartridge and card formats on their 16-bit console. Check out TrackerTD’s great video review above and make sure to browse and subscribe to his YouTube Channel. Congrats TrackerTD, and enjoy  AJ’s personal copy of Technocop for the Genesis, his Genesis model 2 and a copy of the official “SEGAbits Presents My Life with SEGA” DVD!

The House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels arrives on the App Store

Are you ready to kill some motherf***in’ mutants?

Hitting the App Store today for $4.99 is the mobile port of SEGA’s The House of the Dead: Overkill, dubbed “The Lost Reels”. Via the App Store description comes a slew of features:

DISCOVER THE LOST REELS
▪ Experience 3 goregasmic worlds full of carnage in Story Mode.
▪ In Papa’s Palace of Pain, Ballistic Trauma, and Naked Terror, you’ll be screaming ‘til your last breath.

DISMEMBER UTTERLY DISGUSTING MUTANTS
▪ Enjoy non-stop shooting action as you blow apart mutants for high-score thrills.
▪ See how long you can hold off the swarms of undead in Survival Mode.

REJOIN THE ORIGINAL CAST
▪ Isaac Washington: a hard-drinking ladies’ man who deals damage in droves.
▪ Agent G: an inexperienced but deadly assassin who keeps a steady hand under pressure.
▪ Varla Guns: the hottest stripper on the Bayou City club scene who enjoys the largest clip.
▪ Candi Stryper: an expert with her hands who knows how to reload.

FINGERBLAST ON THE GO
▪ Obliterate mutants with one of three control mechanisms optimized for your mobile device – Accelerometer, Virtual Pad and Frenzy Tap (unlockable)

UPGRADE YOUR ARSENAL
▪ Destroy mutants to earn Ka$h, the in-game currency, and upgrade your pistol to something that really blasts through flesh.
▪ Enhance your killing prowess with combo extenders, reload boosters, and other game-changing upgrades.

But that’s not all! The game also features some super sweet bits of SEGA fan service. Want to know the details? Hit the break for our impressions and stay tuned to SEGAbits and The Website of the Dead for our reviews.

More SEGA All-Stars Packs heading to Samurai & Dragons

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Sega of Japan are releasing another set of Sega All-Stars card packs, but this time with even more lineup of franchises from Sega’s past ranging from Alex Kidd, Comic Zone, to The House of the Dead and Rub Rabbits plus with a couple of obscured IPs. According to the site, the first pack will be available today through May 8th and the second pack will be available from May 8th to May 22nd. Samurai and Dragons is free to download on the Japanese PSN for PSVita. So if you have a Japanese account and you have a thing for fan service from Sega, check the game out! Wish I had a Vita right about now. Hit the jump to see which SEGA franchise was represented in one of the packs.

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Total War: Rome 2: 10 minutes of gameplay


Above is ten minutes of narrated gameplay. This video is showing an ambush, watch as the Romans are chased out.

The above battle is based on a real battle where Germanic tribes happen to ambush and slaughter three Roman legions.  Total War: Rome 2 is set to come out later this year.

First4Figures releases Ryo Hazuki statue teaser trailer – “Let’s get sweaty.”


 
Via our friends at the Shenmue Dojo comes a short, but sweet, teaser trailer for the first non-Sonic SEGA statue from First4FiguresShenmue star Ryo Hazuki! Standing roughly a foot tall (final height has yet to be shared), Ryo is in his classic “wanna wrestle?” pose. First4Figures have also shared, via their Facebook page and in the trailer above, that more non-Sonic SEGA characters will be made into statues in the future, as part of a new SEGA All-Stars range. Who do you want to see? Ulala, Vyse, Orta, and Beat are on my wish list for sure.

Indie SEGA Dreamcast game Sturmwind releases today!

Indie developer Duranik’s Sturmwind, published by redspotgames, releases today worldwide for the SEGA Dreamcast! We’ll spare you from retelling the long history the game had in development, because today should be a day of celebration. The glorious undead console has a new game! Couple Sturmwind with Dux 1.5, and April is quite an exciting month for indie Dreamcast game fans. Sturmwind can be had as either a standard edition or a limited edition. You can also find the game for sale at Play-Asia – in either the standard edition or limited edition. Have you ordered the game? Have you played it? Share your thoughts below.

SEGA holding a ‘illustrate a mascot’ competition

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Have you ever sat around the house saying that you could make a better mascot character than Sonic the Hedgehog? Well, now is your chance to put SEGA in their place. SEGA Raw (hosted by Nagoshi) will air live on NicoNico Douga and they want fans to submit designs for a mascot character that will promote the show.

They are looking for something that incorporates the spirit of SEGA. What will you win? All the products SEGA makes of your character and Nagoshi’s autograph. Want to know the rules? Hit the jump.

SEGA Tunes: Power Drift’s Like the Wind

You know what’s more awesome then classic SEGA arcade music? Obscure SEGA arcade music! I’ve never played Power Drift, but its soundtrack is still pretty damn awesome. This is just the sort of incredibly catchy, upbeat tune that I would expect from a classic SEGA title. Hope you enjoy it!

Power Drift’s soundtrack was composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi. He is one of the oldest SEGA composers still active and working within the company. You can find his website here.

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HUCAST Games now shipping DUX 1.5, their Dreamcast shoot’em-up

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Hey, just because SEGA has pulled support for the Dreamcast over a decade ago doesn’t mean there aren’t new things to play on the device. HUCAST games actually released DUX in 2009, so if you think you have heard of this title before you aren’t mistaken. This is the new 1.5 version of the title.
So what is new in DUX 1.5 compared to 1.0? Well they have a new soundtrack, rebalanced gameplay and even the option to respawn instantly after death (which is a big deal).

If you bought the original, the team is willing to upgrade you to the 1.5 version for free. How? They say take a picture of your copy of DUX 1.0 with a current newspaper. Who buys newspapers? If you want to take them up on their offer, hit them up on twitter.

You can buy the game here.

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Insert Coin Clothing announces more SEGA designs – Sonic, Jet Set Radio and Space Channel 5!

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The folks over at Insert Coin Clothing have added brand new, and in one case revised, SEGA clothing to their collection. The new items include Sonic leggings, t-shirts featuring Sonic, Tails and Green Hill designs, Knuckles and Shadow hoodies, as well as a Space Channel 5 logo vest top and a revised Jet Set Radio Beat t-shirt which finally has the record icon on the back. You can view the full gallery here, or check out the images after the break. Insert Coin Clothing promises more details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, which new design is your favorite?

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SEGA Memories: How Evolution proved that one man’s trash was another’s treasure

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For those of us who love video games, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the various consoles we’ve come in contact with throughout our lives have left behind their own unique memories. Gaming is an interactive medium, afterall, and it’s an art form that you don’t simply sit there and view, but one which you fully interact with. And it’s this interaction, I feel, that can make the experience so much more personal, by and large, than going to the movies for a couple of hours.

The Dreamcast, for me, was the system where I completed what had been my gradual transition from “childhood gamer” to “hardcore gamer.” It was when I went from simply playing multiplayer games with my friends, or games that I’d seen advertised on TV, to someone who actively looked up and discussed video games on the internet. It was when I began to follow the industry more closely and discover genres that I’d never known existed. And in the case of Evolution: The World of Sacred Device, it was my first real Japanese RPG experience.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed for Intel Ultrabook announced


SEGA has announced Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed for Intel Ultrabook, the Ultrabook is a tablet/laptop hybrid. So Sumo Digital went in there and coded features to make use of the Ultrabook’s unique features like touch controls and ‘amazing’ tilt function.

“We tailored the game for the Ultrabook range to ensure we made the most of the hardware. We’ve specifically designed the user interface so touch can be used throughout. You can select modes, decide which track to play, and check out all the vehicles with a simple touch of your finger.” – Steve Lycett, Executive Producer at Sumo Digital

This is basically the PC version with tilt and touch controls added in. I hope for SEGA and Sumo Digital’s sake they don’t force Intel Ultrabook owners to re-buy the game to use these features, I hope its built into the old version of the PC game. Wasn’t there just an update a few weeks ago? Could have been in there.

Round Table: How we feel about Yu Suzuki bringing back Shenmue III

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There are many questions about how Yu Suzuki would bring us Shenmue III. He has stated many times he just wants to end the series and now more than ever has been making headlines. First he suggested he wants to use crowd sourcing like Kickstarter and recently was spotted at GDC in talks with Sony (and former SEGA) employee Mark Cerny. Hit the jump to hear what we think of this whole thing in this week’s round table!

Sega Pluto is up for sale

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How much is a super rare piece of Sega history worth to you?

As we reported just yesterday, one of the only two Pluto (the Saturn/Netlink hybrid) prototypes was picked up a few years ago by Destructoid reader kidvid666 for only $1. That protoype, designated Pluto-01 is now up for sale over at gamegavel.com As of this writing, the current bid is $7,600. Imagine, picking up some game system you’re unfamiliar with from a yard sale for $1 and having it worth near eight thousand if not more! Hurry up. Bidding ends April 26th.