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Platinum Games says Bayonetta on PS3 is their biggest failure

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Platinum Games developed an instant classic on the Xbox 360, one which received great reviews. The Playstation 3 version on the other hand wasn’t received so kindly. According to Atsushi Inaba, that port was their biggest failure. Not bad, considering that they didn’t develop the port and it was done by an in-house team over at SEGA.

“The biggest failure for Platinum so far, the one that really sticks in my mind, is that port. At the time we didn’t really know how to develop on PS3 all that well, and whether we could have done it… is irrelevant: we made the decision that we couldn’t. But looking back on the result, and especially what ended up being released to users, I regard that as our biggest failure. One thing I will say is that it wasn’t a failure for nothing. We learned that we needed to take responsibility for everything. So on Vanquish we developed both versions in-house. We learned, so it wasn’t a pointless failure, but it was a failure nonetheless.” – Atsushi Inaba

Sadly the team isn’t going to try again on Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360 for that matter, since Bayonetta 2 was announced as a Wii U exclusive.

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SEGA Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed to be one of the 23 launch titles for the Wii U

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Some people out there are excited about the Wii U, those people should get a bit more excited now that we know SEGA Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed will be one of the launch titles for the Wii U come November 18th. Another SEGA game to hit the console is Aliens: Colonial Marines, which will come out in the launch window. Meaning don’t bet on playing it day one.

If you want to see all the ‘titles’ announced by Nintendo, hit the jump. So who is buying a Wii U?

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“Gods, what have we done?” See the first Total War: ROME II gameplay trailer

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SEGA has released an epic trailer for Total War: ROME II showing some pretty amazing in-game footage. Ships! Shouting! Giant statue heads! Elephants!

For the first in-game look at the next title in the award-winning series, The Creative Assembly present a glimpse of the epic warfare and phenomenal detail players can expect when Total War™: ROME II arrives in 2013.

The year is 146BC, brilliant tactician Scipio Aemilianus is dispatched by Rome to break the three-year-long siege of Carthage, an unforgivable blight on the glory of the growing Empire. Ruthless determination and an almost suicidal amphibious assault is required, but the young consul is uncomfortably aware that the price of victory may be much higher than the senate realizes.

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Valkyria Duel browser game heading to iOS and Android

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While it isn’t making its way to Western gamers (yet), SEGA has announced that the free-to-play browser-based card-battling strategy game Valkyria Duel is heading to Android and iOS. The game has been playable on PC’s for a while, but SEGA and developer NHN Japan promise that the iOS and Android versions will allow players to play the game both at home and on-the-go, with data shared between platforms. Those aren’t lofty promises, so I could see the game delivering on that. Hopefully with the shift to mobile devices, SEGA West will localize the game and give it a release. We’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks to Aki At for the heads up. After the break, screens of the game in action.

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Hey, you got Yakuza in my Border Break!

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From the Tokyo Game Show comes a crazy bit of crossover news. While showing off the iOS Border Break game, Gun Front Gale, and the arcade game Border Break Union (version 3.0 of the game), SEGA announced that a number of Yakuza characters will cameo in the arcade version of the game. It seems, however, that it has yet to be revealed just how the characters will be worked in. Only illustrations and the promise of cameos were revealed. As for version 3.0, 10 player co-op will be possible and the game will hit Japanese arcades on October 11th. Click here for more photos from the event.

Thanks to Aki At for the tip!

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Is a new Ecco the Dolphin game in the works?

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Could another Ecco the Dolphin game be in the works? The designer of the original SEGA Genesis titles, Ed Annunziata, is pushing for a new title and so far signs are looking good! Scott Foe, a consultant on mobile and social games who worked with SEGA during the Dreamcast years, got Annunziata a meeting with SEGA to discuss reviving the franchise. Annunziata tweeted:

Ecco fans, I need you to follow & tweethank @scottfoe, he convinced SEGA to meet with me now chances of a new Ecco the Dolphin x100!

If that news wasn’t good enough, Annunziata later tweeted: “Spencer is on board! (puttn’ the band back together!) :)”. Annunziata is referring to Spencer Nilsen, the man who composed the beautiful music for the original SEGA CD and Genesis games, as well as the American Sonic CD soundtrack. Could it truly be happening? A new Ecco game? While SEGA is being very careful when it comes to big budget disc releases, releasing another 2D Ecco title as a digital download is surely doable. Just look at Sonic 4, and another Ecco isn’t so crazy in that realm. Better yet, get Christian Whitehead to work on rereleases of the first two titles to accompany a new game. While we all speculate, enjoy some Ecco music after the break. Thanks to ROJM for the tip!

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Spot the SEGA characters in the Project X Zone opening sequence

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http://youtu.be/Nt5Qd7Mh8DU

While in-game screens of Project X Zone, the SEGA/Capcom/Namco Bandai crossover, don’t really wow, the opening to the game is certainly impressive. Entirely animated, the intro features dozens of recognizable video game characters including several notable SEGA all-stars. Rather than spoiling the cameos, I’ll let you watch it and in the comments share your favorite SEGA icons who appear. Thanks to Kori-Maru for the tip!

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Tekken developer Katsuhiro Harada trying to get Project X Zone localized

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Though it likely won’t come as a surprise to many, doubt has been cast on the prospect of Project X Zone getting a release in Western territories.

Even with its roster of popular characters from SEGA/Namco/Capcom franchises, the 3DS crossover title has “niche Japanese game” written all over it, and like clockwork, with that comes the typical struggle for an international release.

After being flooded with angry Twitter responses following comments that a Western release seemed unlikely, Katsuhiro Harada has tweeted to assure fans that he has, if nothing else, been pushing for the game’s localization.

While not the most promising sign, it’s at least nice to hear that someone from within Namco Japan is listening to the voices of Western fans. Project X Zone will see release in Japan on October 11th.

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Bayonetta 2 would not exist without Nintendo

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Much hullabaloo has been made about Bayonetta 2 being a Wii U exclusive. Comments have ranged from fans cheering that the game is getting a sequel months after rumors circulated that the game had been canceled, to disinterest or disappointment from fans who don’t want to buy another platform for just one game they really wanted, to finally and most famously, immature and over the top Twitter rage from fans screaming of betrayal and thievery.

Well as it turns out, Platinum Games did not “betray” anyone, nor did Nintendo steal the game from other platforms. In an interview with video game website Polygon, Platinum Games executive director Atsushi Inaba explained in no uncertain terms how critical Nintendo’s involvement was to Bayonetta 2’s existence.

“Would Bayonetta 2 not exist without Nintendo? The answer is yes.”

In the interview, Inaba goes on to say that the game’s core game play won’t be affected by the move from Xbox 360 and PS3 to Wii U, “We create the basic framework of our games on the PC, so even though the hardware changes it doesn’t influence the creation of our games. We’ve already developed our own engine to work with multiple platforms.” In the interview, Inaba goes on to discuss the Wii U platform and SEGA’s handling of Anarchy Reigns, among other things. Click the source below to read all about it.

Update: Nintendo producers are also involved with Bayonetta 2’s production, as revealed by Hideki Kamiya on Twitter.

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My Life With SEGA celebrates 1 year with Technocop

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On September 9th, 2011, the My Life With SEGA series began with the video review of the SEGA Genesis game Technocop. Since then, the series has grown, both in quality and in viewership, and is now a welcomed member of the SEGAbits family. To celebrate the one year anniversary of the series, AJ presents the first episode of the series and we here at SEGAbits present you with a contest: win a digital download code for Jet Set Radio on XBOX Live Arcade.

How to enter: Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel and comment on the video. It’ll help your chances if you actually comment on the video and don’t just say stuff like “I want JSR!” and “Gimme gimme gimme!”. One winner will be chosen at random on Monday. Good luck and enjoy the video!

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Border Break heading to iOS and new arcade version coming soon?

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Ah yes, Border Break. That awesome-looking third-person mech battle game developed by AM2 that Westerners really wish they could play. Japanese gaming magazine and news site Famitsu are reporting that a Border Break game is heading to iOS, entitled  “Border Break mobile – Front Gun Gale”. A new arcade version 3.0 of the game, along with the iOS title, is said to be revealed at Tokyo Game Show on the 23rd. Given that the arcade version has yet to release outside of Asian countries, it is doubtful that the iOS version will get a Western release. But even so, fingers crossed! Thanks to ROJM for the tip.

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Project Omega revealed to be Demon Tribe

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SEGA of Japan’s mystery game Project Omega has been revealed to be named Demon Tribe. The game is said to be an action game in which you play as a demon who fights other demons. What is still unknown is the platform. While everything thus far has pointed to mobile platforms, the site’s source code (we didn’t dig through the site for it, fans elsewhere did) suggests Wii U, Vita and PSP. However, officially SEGA has not revealed anything. Jet Set Radio director Masayoshi Kikuchi is said to be directing and Ryuta Ueda of Jet Set Radio and Rise of Nightmares will be doing the art. Thanks to forum member ROJM for the tip!

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These two new Yakuza 5 trailers will make you shout “bring this West, SEGA!”

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Two new Yakuza 5 trailers have released, and holy crap are they awesome. The first trailer highlights the many mini-games and gameplay modes within the game. The five cities are highlighted, and mini-games including baseball, hunting, taxi cab racing, Virtua Fighter 2 and more are on display. Really fun looking time wasting stuff! The second trailer, seen after the break, goes into the story. What do you all think? Are you ready for more Yakuza? Thanks to Aki-at for the heads up!

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