Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on Wii U won’t support voice chat


If you are planning on picking up Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on the Wii U, I might have some bad news. It seems that the Wii U version will not support voice chat. As you know, Wii U will be online chat capable, but will be done on a game-by-game basis and require you to get a third-party headset instead of using the Wii U GamePad microphone.

“We don’t support voice chat on Wii U for those reasons. One of the side effects of being a launch title basically. Does support it on PS3 and 360 though!” – executive producer Steve Lycett

Seems the problem was time, since the game is a launch title it’s hard to get all the features you want into the game. Other launch games that do support online chat include Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Mass Effect 3: Wii U Edition.

Upcoming Yakuza 1&2 HD edition update to make the game easier


Yakuza 1&2 HD edition already has an easy mode, but if that is still too hard for you, you are in luck. SEGA is planning to update the game on November 15th with even easier modes. Like “Easy + Heat Up Mode”. This will keep the enemies easy and give you the ability to reach heat mode faster.

Yakuza 1&2 HD edition comes out in Japan on November 1st. SEGA has announced no plans to release this collection in the West.

Aliens: Colonial Marines let’s you earn XP offline or on


I’m not too big into playing games online, I usually purchase a game strictly for its single player campaigns. Then when I do go online, I get angry due to not having my guns I upgraded in single player. If you are like me, you will want to check out Aliens: Colonial Marines since the developers have confirmed that single player XP will transfer to the online game. So you will always have those awesome weapons.

“The great thing about that is, if you are more into single player, you can get just as many upgrades and weapons before you even play multiplayer for the first time,” senior producer, Matt Powers

Though there is a catch, even though your online Marine (since you can only play Marines single player) will have its single player states, your Xenos will have to be leveled up strictly online.

New Initial D7 trailer released

SEGA’s long running manga adapted racing game, Initial D will be releasing the 7th version of the game next month. So to celebrate the countdown, here is a new trailer to a game we will probably never play over here in the States. Enjoy.

Anarchy Reigns finally has a western release date and gets a low price

Hooray! After months of silence, SEGA has given western release dates for the Platinum Games fighter Anarchy Reigns. The game will hit the 360 and PS3 January 8, 2013 in the US and January 11, 2013 in Europe, with a retail price of $29.99/£19.99/€29.99. No word on the Bayonetta DLC, but fingers crossed that we get it.

For those who forgot what the game was all about:

Anarchy Reigns delivers over-the-top close combat, set in a massively open and fantastical world in a bleak, mutant-filled future. Watch iconic characters from the PlatinumGames stable duking it out in a series of vibrant arenas that could only have been thought up by Japan’s critically acclaimed studio.

Up to 16 players can take part in multiplayer matches over a variety of game modes; engage in all-out Battle Royale destruction, co-operate with your friends and vanquish hordes of monsters in Survival mode or test your sportsmanship over a few rounds of Deathball.

SEGA Five: A Salute to the SEGA All-Stars Part 1

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is only a month away! In anticipation of the game’s release, we here at SEGAbits want to highlight the many All-Stars appearing in SEGA’s racing title. To do this, we’re kicking off a four week salute to the characters appearing in the game. Each week will focus on five SEGA All-Stars. We’ll share why we think these characters are important to SEGA’s history, and why we’re looking forward to racing as them. Let’s kick off part one with the first five, can you guess who they are?

My Life With SEGA: Halloween month continues with Quake on Saturn

A.J. continues with creepy games during the month of October as he checks out Quake on the SEGA Saturn.

Long before Master Chief, or even the Helghast Empire, there was Quake. You didn’t sit through numerous cutscenes, trying to dazzle you with diamonds only to baffle you with bullshit. With Quake, it dazzled us with atmosphere, bloodshed and firepower….

But how does it look and play with Sega’s 32-bit monster? Walk with me through the Slipgate and we’ll find out.

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Review: Zaxxon Escape (iOS)

When SEGA announced Zaxxon Escape, I was very excited. SEGA was doing something they rarely do: resurrecting an 80’s IP that has been dormant since the mid-90’s. For those not in the know, the original Zaxxon was an isometric shooter released by SEGA to arcades in 1982. The game was played from a third person perspective at a top down angle, with simulated 3D pulled off via effects like shadows and an altitude meter. Gameplay involved shooting down as many targets as possible, whilst dodging obstructions such as electric fences, walls and enemy fire. Players also had to keep track of their fuel level, which was replenished by shooting fuel tanks. Zaxxon went on to be ported to numerous platforms and even had three sequels. Now, with Zaxxon Escape, SEGA takes us back to the ending of the first game, as players are tasked with escaping Asteroid City after having defeated Zaxxon.

Model 2 collection confirmed. STF with playable Eggman, Metal Sonic and….Honey the Cat!!

UPDATE: The three Model 2 Fighters (VF2, FV, STF) will be bundled for $15 on PSN. Those three come out this fall and the other two are “Winter 2013” These are Japanese dates so no official dates for America/Europe yet.

HOLY S@#$!!

Remember when the rumor of this was first leaked and I asked Sega for a playable Honey the Cat? My wish came true!

Coming this fall through winter (to Japan at least) is a Model 2 Collection. five of Sega’s classic Model 2 games retailing roughly around 800MS Points ($10) each while if the translation is correct, PSN gets a 3-pack for $15. Some games prices are not known yet. This is a rough translation. Games included are…

Virtua Fighter 2
Sonic the Fighters
Virtua Striker
Fighting vipers
Virtual On

It is unknown what bonus features will be included at this time except for the 3 newly playable characters in Sonic The fighters. It appears that through a poor translation, most if not all five games should have online, though it’s not 100% confirmed. UPDATE: OFFICIAL SITE CONFIRMS VF2, FIGHTING VIPERS AND STF TO HAVE 2-PLAYER ONLINE! Did Sega hire a wish-granting Genie? rough translation after the jump. Also, you can check out the official site here.

Sonic Jump gameplay video appears, Hardlight Studio named as developer

It looks like SEGA’s Hardlight Studio, the folks behind the Viking PC port, were also busy developing Sonic Jump. In this 15 minute Sonic Jump gameplay video, Hardlight’s logo appears before the game begins, confirming that the developer has shifted focus from Vita games to iOS. While their “unique action adventure” title is still M.I.A., Sonic Jump looks to be a fun smartphone update to the 2005 mobile phone game Sonic Jump. So before you call this a Doodle Jump ripoff, remember than SEGA did it four years before Lima Sky did.

The game features both a story and arcade mode, with the story being as simple as the Genesis originals. Eggman has captured your animal friends, and the player can choose Sonic, Tails or Knuckles as the hero who leaps skyward after Eggman. Series staples including letter grades, red rings, badniks, springs, rings, spikes and power-ups appear. Fans who have searched through the game’s assets have also found character images of Amy, Cream, Rouge, Shadow, Blaze and Silver. No word on if these characters are also playable. The game releases tomorrow, and we hope to have a review up within the week.

Project X Zone debuts at #3 in Japan

Media Create has released their Japanese sales charts covering from the 8th to the 14th, which saw Resident Evil 6 on the PS3 plummeting to under 100,000 from its massive 700k+ launch. Sales of highly anticipated games in Japan tend to be far more front-loaded than that of their Western counterparts, though Resident Evil 6’s especially steep decline seems to suggest that fan reception in its homeland has been just as mixed as it has been in the West.

Namco-Bandai is the publisher of Project X Zone, though the roster of SEGA characters will undoubtedly make its sales of interest to readers of this site; the strategy RPG crossover debuted at #3 with sales of 85,539, which isn’t bad. Undoubtedly facing steep competition from Square-Enix’s Bravely Default, which hit the 3DS on the same day and (predictably) took 1st place with 141,529, it will be interesting to see what these sales mean, if anything, for a Western release of the still Japanese-only title.

Full charts after the break (thanks to CVG).

SEGA Japan releases teaser trailer for Model 2 games

SEGA of Japan’s YouTube channel uploaded a sneaky teaser trailer proclaiming “2×5” followed by a series of video game sounds. SEGA fans with keen ears should recognize the sounds to come from Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Sonic the Fighters, Virtua Striker and Cyber Troopers Virtual-On. The title “2X5” most likely refers to SEGA’s Model 2 arcade board and the five aforementioned games. The teaser ends with “See You Tomorrow”, so we can pretty much expect the reveal of these five games for XBLA and PSN either today or tomorrow. Who is excited for some Model 2 arcade action?