Updated: SEGA employee takes to Reddit, says SEGA’s money funded the Borderlands franchise

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EDIT: Aki-at has corrected us, the employee on reddit worked at SEGA, not Gearbox. Though what he says sounds about the same as the Gearbox employee that took to Reddit a few days ago. 

We had a post a few days ago about a Gearbox Worker spilling his guts on the development of Aliens: Colonial Marines. Now we have another one and this time, he is verified. Meaning he sent proper verification that he works at Gearbox Software to the moderators. So what did he say that was interesting?

“Gearbox didnt care about the game, they spent the money from acm on the borderlands games. Look at the release of borderlands and when aliens was anounced, they had the other companies like timegate do the work. When they got the game back timegate had done a terrible job. When it came into sega it was shit basicaly. Gearbox only cared about fixing ‘progression blockers’ (things that stop a player from getting through a level) or crashes” – soetester

The first and easiest is that all that money SEGA pumped through them was actually used to develop Borderlands. Do I see a lawsuit coming? Well, I think something happen since if you go to the Reddit page, his account was deleted. No worries, screenshot of his answers after the break.

SEGA’s Code of Joker gameplay footage recorded at JAEPO 2013


There was a lot of excitement about Code of Joker when little was known. Many users wanted it to be a new console game that would come out in the west. In the end it turned out to be a digital card arcade game that will probably only come out in Japan. Doesn’t mean we can’t see what it plays like. SEGA showed off the game at JAEPO 2013, here is someone playing it at the event.

I know that SEGA has done other digital card arcade games and they have done well, I just don’t know why they always have to change the IP every few years. Maybe Japanese people are attracted to new IPs?

Speed Run: Fan beats Golden Axe in 9 minutes and 27 seconds

Do you like speed runs? Do you like SEGA games? You will love this speed run of the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive version of Golden Axe by  Jason ‘honorableJay’ Feeney. I’m a bit confused as to why it is picking up attention now, since he completed the deed last year. Regardless, I haven’t seen it and it brings a nostalgia factor.

What is your favorite speed run of a SEGA game? How fast can you beat Golden Axe?

Aliens: Colonial Marines mods add DirectX 10 lighting effects, sharper texture filtering and much more

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The PC community is great, always striving to make their games look better even if the developers are incompetent.  Right now there are two mod packs that are making this game look ‘less crap’ than it did before. The first one is the DirectX 10 mod packs that add some better lighting effects and soften those shadows. The SweetFX mod gives you a sharper texture filter, deeper color saturation and stronger shadows.

Sadly, the game will still suck. But at least it will be prettier to look at it sucking now.

 

Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Arcade is being tested in a Los Angeles shopping center

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This isn’t the first time that SEGA Japan (which seems to be the one doing the testing) has teased their Hatsune Miku games to American audiences. This last E3, they had Hatsune Miku Project Diva f for display at Sony’s booth. Sadly the game never was localized.

Seems this time around that SEGA is testing to see if there is an interest in Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Arcade, which is being tested right now through March 18th in the Puente Hills Mall. The game has an online pass fee thing, which you get free for doing a survey. It costs four credits to play.

Want to see more images of the SEGA Note PC, and a learn a few more details?

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Courtesy of Eurogamer comes a few new photos of the SEGA Note PC, and this time they aren’t just mock-ups! On display is the general blue SEGA branded laptop, both in use and being carried. We also get a peek at the desktop, which features a snazzy Dreamcast themed wallpaper. According to Eurogamer, while the laptops will probably not include SEGA emulators or games, they will include SEGA Windows themes and SEGA music pre-loaded onto the laptop. A full list of the specs can be found here, and after the break check out a gallery of new images.

VideoGamer compares Aliens: Colonial Marines final build to last year’s demo

VideoGamer has dug up demo footage of Aliens: Colonial Marines, apparently from a demo shown off last year, and compares it scene-for-scene with what we ended up with in the final product. The results are fairly shocking; the graphics, resolution, and the presentation itself are significantly better in this demo in almost every conceivable aspect.

It’s hard to say where development went so wrong on what will likely (and unfortunately) be SEGA’s biggest game this year, but this video speaks for itself.

One day maybe we’ll learn the full story…

From SEGAbits with Love – new SEGA-themed Valentines are here!

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Last year we presented a collection of print-and-cut-out SEGAbits themed Valentines, and this year we’re doing it again! We’re sharing these a day early to give SEGA fans time to prepare. Simply print, cut-out and give (or tweet or instagram or Facebook post) a SEGA Valentine to the man or woman in your life, and pretty soon they’ll be on you like an E-19 Egg Keeper (Sonic Adventure enemy reference, look it up). Have a happy Valentine’s day tomorrow!

After the break, double your love by checking out our Valentines from last year.

Ecco the Dolphin fan soundtrack up for download

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ECCOS was shown last year,  creator Andrew Norman Wilson took gameplay footage of the SEGA Genesis game and modified the music in Final Cut Pro. He changed the speed and added echo effects, making it a very different beast from the original soundtrack. Andrew calls it “Furniture music”, not mean’t to be on its own but serve as background noise.

Now Andrew has released the ECCOS soundtrack, you can download seven-tracks, 48-minutes of furniture music. If you are interested in seeing his art project, called ‘Center for Wave Change’, check it out here.

Download:
SoundCloud | MediaFire

Gearbox developer takes to Reddit to shed light on Aliens: Colonial Marines let down

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The developer on Reddit basically confirms that Gearbox didn’t have too much to do with Aliens: Colonial Marines due to the fact that the developer was doing Borderlands 2. They basically got TimeGate to do most of the single player campaign due to this. In my opinion, Gearbox and SEGA should never work again. This game was in the works for 6 years and Gearbox couldn’t give less of a shit about it, it seems. Pecan = code name for Aliens: Colonial Marines.

“Additionally, campaign (which was being developed by TimeGate) was extremely far behind, even as Pecan’s Beta deadline got closer and closer. In April or May (can’t remember which), Pecan was supposed to hit beta, but GBX instead came to an agreement with SEGA that they would push the release date back one more time, buying GBX around 9 mos extension.

Considering that SEGA was pretty close to taking legal action against GBX, asking for an extension wasn’t an option, and so Pecan crash-landed through certification and shipping. Features that were planned were oversimplified, or shoved in (a good example of this are challenges, which are in an incredibly illogical order). Issues that didn’t cause 100% blockers were generally ignored, with the exception of absolutely horrible problems. This isn’t because GBX didn’t care, mind you. At a certain point, they couldn’t risk changing ANYTHING that might cause them to fail certification or break some other system. And so, the product you see is what you get.”

You can read more over at Reddit, even ask the guy some of your questions.

SEGA joins the DOTA clone train, picks up Chaos Heroes Online


Ever since the free-to-play DOTA clone, Leagues of Legends ranked up millions and millions of players many publishers have tried to replicate its success. Seems that SEGA is now one of the publishers picking up the Japanese DOTA clone Chaos Heroes Online.

SEGA is picking up the title to localize in Japan, this was developed by Korean developer Neoact. The game is set to start service this spring and will be free-to-play.

Expand your mind as My Life with SEGA reviews Saturn expansion carts

Import Month continues with my review of the SEGA Saturn expansion cartridges from two arcade masters; Capcom and SNK. In addition, we’ll be looking at several arcade classics that utilize these carts, such as X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Metal Slug, Amakusa’s Revenge: Samurai Showdown IV and King of Fighters ’95.

The Saturn was a capable 2D machine upon release. Is it even possible to improve on it without resorting to a more power console? See for yourself.

The SEGAbits 3rd anniversary contest is going on now – win prizes like a SEGA Genesis, Genesis games and brand new My Life With SEGA DVD’s! All the details can be found here.

Like this video? Subscribe to the SEGAbits YouTube channel!

Sonic Talk #17: Criticize This!

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It’s time for an all-new, slightly different Sonic Talk. We’re cutting waaay back on news discussion and just bringing up two to three main topics per episode along with the usual what we’ve been playing and Comic discussion. It’s my way of..well…ATTEMPTING to keep the conversation flowing well. Also, those of you with sensitive ears should be aware we are no longer censoring any of the naughty words. This means Alex has been unleashed!!

Ex-Gearbox employee says game was outsourced, SEGA denies (sort of)

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Well, seems that Aliens: Colonial Marines isn’t being as well received as we would have hoped and now everyone is pointing fingers. First comes a statement made by a ex-Gearbox employee, stating that Gearbox didn’t really develop most of the title and that the game was outsourced. The anonymous employee who goes by the forum handle “mugwurt” posted:

“Hate to say it, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high for Colonial Marines. I used to work at Gearbox, and the development of that game has been a total train wreck, going on what, 6 years now? Gearbox isn’t even making the game, except for the multiplayer. Primary development was outsourced to TimeGate Studios, which has a less than stellar past.” – Link to response 

When asked about this, SEGA’s Senior Producer Matthew J. Powers had this to say: