“NiGHTS into dreams…” to receive an HD rerelease

Seems SEGA’s NiGHTS tease wasn’t All-Stars related after all. It is actually something much, much better: an HD rerelease of the SEGA Saturn classic “NiGHTS into dreams…”! NiGHTS fans have asked for this for years, and they’re finally getting it. The SEGA blog lists the following features:

  • Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Windows PC Digital Download this fall
  • Improved HD graphics and a 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Added support for leaderboards, trophies, and achievements
  • An optional Saturn Mode that will let players experience the game with the original graphics intact.

So, who is excited? It’s about time NiGHTS got some love from SEGA, and this rerelease is the perfect gift for fans of the franchise.

Happy Fourth of July to all the American SEGA fans out there!

As the date states, it’s the Fourth of July! That means Americans are drinking, barbecuing and blowing stuff up. To celebrate, we gathered together three Dreamcast VMUs to make a patriotic red, white and blue photo for our Instagram feed. If you want, you can follow us on Instagram. Just download the app and search “SEGAbits”. How are the American SEGA fans out there celebrating? I can tell you that I played an hour of Binary Domain, and fittingly they called me Dan the Yankee. Happy holiday, and drink game responsibly!

SEGA Japan opens up new subsidiary, SEGA Networks

There are a lot of people worried with the new SEGA restructuring, they just announced that SEGA Europe & Australia will be distributing their games via a different company, had tons of fired employees. Now SEGA Japan has opened the doors to a new subsidiary, SEGA Networks.

SEGA Networks is going to be SEGA’s high-end game developer that will deliver games for smartphones and tablets. This falls right in place with SEGA’s plan on releasing more digital titles. How does this make you guys feel? Is lower budget, less risk taking digital titles better for SEGA? SEGA Networks CEO is Haruki Satomi and will be based in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward. The company will start with 211 employees.

Renegade Ops free this week for Playstation Plus users

Sony’s Playstation Plus service barely turned a year old last month and the selection of free games have just gotten better. Like check this out, this week you can download Renegade Ops, Gotham City Impostors and Pacman DX for free. The important game here is Renegade Ops. Enjoy the game, we did.

SEGA AGES PS2 games making their way to Japanese PSN

SEGA has announced that Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box and Dynamite Dekka (Die-Hard Arcade) will soon be making its way to the Japanese PSN. They are part of SEGA’s AGES 2500 line, Playstation 2 remakes of classic SEGA games for the Playstation 2. Now SEGA is pulling a inception and putting them on PSN.

But more people here will be interested in the first game SEGA is going to release on the PSN PS2 archives service, Dragon Force (trailer). That one will hit PSN on July 25th. SEGA West, we want these, please?

SEGA Tunes: Rhythm Thief Month, “Claire de Luna”

Welcome to the first installment of a month long Tuesday Tunes Feature: Rhythm Thief Month! It’s been years since we’ve had a new SEGA rhythm game, so Tuesday Tunes is going to mark the occasion with over a month’s worth of the game’s awesome soundtrack!

Featuring this weak is the game’s official music video for the game’s J-pop theme, “Claire de Luna” by Japanese singer/song writer miwa. While not representative of the game’s in-game tracks, which features a wide range of genres, it’s a pretty awesome J-pop track accompanied by a well put together selection of animated scenes from the game’s numerous animated cut scenes.

Rhythm Thief looks like it will be a very special game, something I hope all of our readers will pick up, especially in light of SEGA’s recent troubles. The game has a spectacular track. This is going to be a very fun month! Two more tracks including the Rhythm Thief Main Theme and It’s Show Time are below the fold.

SEGA teases new All-Stars Racing track – Stick Canyon from NiGHTS into Dreams?

Update: It appears this particular image has long existed, as it shows up on a few NiGHTS fan sites. I assume it is a CG render from when the game released, or when it received a PS2 rerelease. So this is not an in-game screenshot. However, that does not discount the possibility that a NiGHTS track or racer will soon be revealed.

SEGA has updated their Facebook page with an untitled image of a desert that is half sand, half metal with cacti and nuts and bolts. Given that Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed is SEGA’s big game this year, and that Comic Con is approaching, could SEGA be teasing a reveal of a NiGHTS into Dreams track along with NiGHTS as a racer? It could very well be. In the meantime, I’ll slap the ol’ “rumor” tag on this one just to play it safe, but I’m pretty confident that it is Stick Canyon from the Saturn’s NiGHTS into Dreams. After the break, a comparison video of the original stage.

PSO2 launches on July 4th in Japan, also… launch trailer

If you haven’t been living in a stone cave, then you will know that PSO2 has been in beta for a while now and is way awesome. The game officially launches in Japan on July 4th. Additions to the launch release include an increase of the class level cap to 40, a new snow area, 3rd form of mag, and additional story missions.

If you didn’t watch the trailer above you should, nothing amazing for anyone who has played the game, but it’s still a super awesome trailer. Fingers crossed for US/EU announcement very soon. Would be nice to play this game in English.

Dorkly Bits – Sonic gets engaged


Here is one of those Dorkly Bits videos that people on the interweb seem to be into. In this one Sonic the Hedgehog gets engaged. I’m sure this is the first time something like this has happen, I mean, fan fiction writers take note.

Creative Assembly says SEGA’s restructuring is exciting and they are already seeing benefits


Creative Assembly has been going on a make a sequel to everything frenzy
, now they are speaking out about SEGA’s recent restructuring. So what do they think about all the big changes and people losing their jobs? Their excited…

“It’s a tight family at Sega, so any talk of restructuring and refocusing is always a difficult time in any business and we’re always kind of mindful of that. But as a studio we’re growing to beyond 200 people at the moment and we’re still hiring, and we’re still looking to expand and we’ve got a number of really intense and interesting products on the horizon, both Total War and non-Total War and the refocussing at Sega on the distinct brand IPs, whether that’s Sports Interactive or Sonic or Aliens or Total War itself is really exciting for us as a studio, because we’re already seeing evidence of that improved support, that idea of really getting behind those IPs and really making the most of them.” – Brand director Rob Bartholomew

Creative Assembly does make a point, its always good for a studio to get more support. If only SEGA West cared this much about games like Anarchy Reigns and Rhythm Theft, right?

Rome 2: Total War Officially Announced (Awesome Live Action Trailer)

Rome 2: Total War has been officially announced! Rome 2 has been the most anticipated game in the Total War series since the original Rome released in 2004. The budget for Rome 2 is said to be 40% larger then that of Shogun 2.

I began playing the Total War series with the original Shogun: Total War but it was Rome that really grabbed me and made me a fan of this series. Needless to say Rome 2 cannot come soon enough.

Rome 2 will release for PC in 2013. P.S check out that fantastic live action trailer!

The Weekly Five: Reasons why Sega is failing in the western markets

 

It’s sad to see how bad Sega is doing these days. With the whole restructuring and with many offices closing it’s hard not to worry about our favorite game company’s future. Heck, if I were Kellie, Ken or the rest of the community staff, I’d be dusting off my resume’s right about now. But I feel many of us kinda saw this coming. We promoted and championed our favorite new Sega games (and still do) only to see them poorly marketed and handled like garbage with little promotion outside of Sega’s own website. So why is Sega doing so badly as of late? What are they doing wrong? Read on to see my own personal feelings on the matter. Just remember folks, this is an opinion article.

Hands-on with Rhythm Thief: Find out why this should be on your radar

There’s no doubt about it; there are many games out there, all of them vying for your money and attention in a competitive marketplace. At a time when the industry’s favoring, by and large, a play-it-safe approach to development, it’s always a breath of fresh air when a game surfaces that feels like something truly unique. Judging by its latest demo (now available on the 3DS’ North American eShop) Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure is one such game.