Next Hatsune Miku coming with a PS Vita skin

Are you a fan of the Hatsune Miku games from SEGA? If so, you might be interested in this. SEGA Japan has announced that Next Hatsune Miku Project Diva will come with a PlayStation Vita skin.

The game comes out August 30th, so you still have time to decide.

New Project X Zone screens shows off Resonance of Fate characters

Famitsu.com has updated with a ton of new screenshots showing off the newly announced characters for Project X Zone. If you missed the announcement it has been confirmed that Resonance of Fate‘s Leanne and Zephyr would be appearing as a pair in the upcoming 3DS game. Click here if you never heard of Project X Zone.

To see all the screenshots released, hit the jump. Enjoy!

SEGA to start location testing for Initial D7 next month

SEGA is getting set to start testing their long time racing series Initial D, this one titled Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AA X. Some people think this is a SEGA franchise but it is actually a licensed game based on the manga by Shuichi Shigeno.
Even though some of the titles in the franchise have made it over to America, I wouldn’t hold my breath for this one only because of all the cut backs at SEGA. But if you live in Japan you will be able to test the game next month in select locations. The Japanese game page for the title does give details on new things including a new tag mode, revival courses from Initial D Arcade Stage Ver. 3, a new boost and more.

Play Total War Battles and get free DLC for Shogun 2

SEGA is going to be smart and cross promote the iOS game, Total War Battles: Shogun with the high selling PC title Total War: Shogun 2. So how are they going to do this? If you finish the campaign in the mobile game you will unlock a key-code, which will unlock the Sendai Clan Pack for Total War: Shogun 2 on PC (via Steam).

Sendai will give you +10 diplomatic relations and a 2-turn reduction time surrendering castles, -1 resistance to occupation and lastly -3 unhappiness from other allegiances.  Not bad for it sort of being free, if you buy the mobile version.

Also the iOS game is getting a skirmish mode update soon. This will let you choose a difficulty level and get right into a battle, you will be able to complete the full campaign and use new legendary units. This is for people that don’t want the story in the way of their bloodshed.

SEGA bringing Fist of the North Star slot machine game to Playstation 3

I was not aware that SEGA had the license to Fist of the North Star, but it seems they do and for their first (Actually they released some PS2 games and also a 2D fighter last generation) title with the license they want to do a port of Sammy’s First of the North Star slot machine.  SEGA is getting ready to release “Fist of the North Star Pachislot” in Japan May 31st.

The game will feature a production mode and let you see in-game art and watch Kenshiro punch the screen if you are into that. I’m a Fist of the North Star fan and this seems like a rip off compared to the game that Koei released.

SEGA says it wouldn’t bring Aliens: Colonial Marines to Wii U if it was inferior graphically to current systems


Craig Harris. If you hear the name you probably recall him from his work at IGN, well he is now working over at SEGA on Aliens: Colonial Marines. He just happened to be on the podcast The Mush Room Podcast (aka not the best podcast ever aka The Swingin’ Report Show) and had a lot to say about the Wii U. One thing he did confirm is that the game wouldn’t be coming out on Wii U if the Wii U was inferior to current gen systems.

“Nintendo… has to release hardware that’s of the expectations of the gamer today … I don’t think we would be bringing the game to a system that would be inferior to current gen. (HD) systems.” – Craig Harris

I guess there is quite a bit of rumors about the power of the Wii U. I’m on the side of those that think it will most likely be better hardware than current generation systems. The issue though, its not going to compete against the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. It’s going to compete against the “Xbox 720” and the “Playstation 4”. I don’t think it will have the power to match those, but we will see.

Take a peek at Archie’s Sonic 4 Episode 2 comic adaptation

I’ve really enjoyed Archie’s video game adaptations as of recent, if only because they don’t try to adapt the Archieverse into the story. Sure they’re short and are mainly meant to be ads for the games, but they’re the closest to what I consider to be the ideal Sonic comic book series (this comment is that of Barry the Nomad and not the opinion of SEGAbits). The upcoming Sonic Super Special Magazine #3 will include a special tie-in comic that will take place between Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Episode 2. Courtesy of IGN comes the first two pages of the Sonic 4 Episode 2 story, which kicks off at the end of Episode 1. After the break, check out the pages!

Confirmed: Eggman to cameo in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph

Yup, we have known about this for awhile now. But now it is confirmed by Entertainment Weekly that Doctor Ivo Robotnik aka Doctor Eggman will cameo in the upcoming Disney flick “Wreck-It Ralph”. The movie is about a videogame villain who is looking to change paths in life. I guess being evil is only cool for so long and probably doesn’t pay very well.

If you saw the leak, other villains who are set to cameo in the movie include Street Fighter‘s M. Bison and Browser from the Super Mario Brothers series. As of right now it’s not known if Eggman will be having spoken dialogue in the movie, but Eggman’s voice actor did tease a major announcement. Could this have been it? The movie is set to release in November 2012, are you excited?

Update: Entertainment Weekly wrote that Eggman mainly stays in the background however he does speak the group’s mantra in unison with the others as the scene ends: “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

Why Sonic 4: Episode II shouldn’t skip the Nintendo Wii

There have been a lot of talks since SEGA announced that Sonic 4: Episode 2 wouldn’t be headed for the Nintendo Wii. Many long time Sonic fans got angry, mostly because they only own Wiis. I know some of you might grunt at the thought of only owning a Nintendo Wii, but that’s their choice.

Not to mention that the first title appeared on the Wiiware service, got pretty good scores on the service. So why do you think SEGA pulled it and why do I think they should reconsider putting it back on the Wii?

SEGA Tunes: Anarchy Reigns spins the Blacker Baron theme song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a3-rAeBL-io

While SEGA West remains silent on Anarchy Reigns, the game continues to get recognition in Japan. Ripped from the latest episode of Platinum Games TV and released to YouTube, the tune is reportedly the theme song for the character Blacker Baron. The tune is titled “Days of Old” by VStylez and is hopefully the first of many awesome tunes. For more information on Anarchy Reigns, hit up Platinum Games official site.

 

Sonic Free Riders and Virtual-On Force go platinum in Japan

Takashi Iizuka: A Platinum Collection release of Sonic Free Riders? (laughs) …Yes!

Yes, believe it or not, the often criticized Sonic Free Riders will receive a Platinum Collection release in Japan tomorrow. Perhaps the game was actually pretty enjoyable and warranted the sales, and most of the vitriol came from those who just love to hate on games they never actually played? Or maybe the Japanese just like to support titles from Japanese developers when it comes to XBOX releases in Japan. For those who don’t know, Platinum Collection titles are games considered by Microsoft to have sold considerable units since release. These select titles are given new packaging and are sold at a lower price. So kudos to SEGA for not one, but TWO Platinum Collection releases. The second game to be released tomorrow is Virtual-On Force, which will receive a cute upgrade to the game’s cover. Check that out after the break.

Resonance of Fate characters to appear in Project X Zone

Seems that SEGA isn’t going to let the Resonance of Fate franchise die out just yet. In the latest Famitsu magazine (scans above) they confirm that there will be a Resonance of Fate team made up by Leanne and Zephyr. They also revealed other characters from Capcom and Namco-Bandai that will be joining the full game.

  • Alisa and Soma from God Eater franchise (Namco-Bandai)
  • Lei-Lei (aka Hsien-Ko) from the Darkstalkers franchise (Capcom)
  • Frank West from Dead Rising franchise (Capcom)

Seems that the roster will just keep growing and growing at this rate. But do you think that the Resonance of Fate franchise deserves to go first instead of a classic franchise like Phantasy Star?

SEGA Tunes: Flying like a butterfly

Let me just start by saying that this has to be one of the coolest fucking songs on the planet. Relax, savor the smooth bass and let the glorious techno overwhelm all that you know.

Jet Set Radio Future’s free spirit and somewhat darker energy is captured perfectly in Hideki Naganuma’s ode to chaos and all that is groovy. The track kicks off with a bang and never looks back, the simplistic but sensible vocals (“I felt like a bulldozer…trying to catch a butterfly”) telling us all that we need to know as the music forcefully grabs hold and drags us along with it at about 90 miles per hour.

To be sure, the original Jet Set Radio had its share of fast and exciting songs, but little compares to the sheer energy that the fastest songs in its sequel conjured up, this one among them. The funny thing is that, for me anyway, Jet Set Radio Future was by far the slower of the two games as far as its pacing was concerned, probably its biggest flaw, but the music was more than willing to pick up the slack.

To this day I go back and forth about which game had the better soundtrack. Though oftentimes I lean in favor of the original’s, it’s tracks like this one that cause my resolve to waver, just a little.

For another epic track from Jet Set Radio Future, Continue Reading to understand the Concept of Love.

Sonic Talk Episode #6: Ask Ian


Shigs and Ian at San Diego Comic-Con 2011

Flynn Lives!

This week on Sonic Talk we got a very special guest as Archie Comic writer Ian Flynn is in the house. In case you don’t know, Ian Flynn is the writer on Several Archie books including The New Crusaders, Mega-Man, Sonic Universe and of course, Sonic the Hedgehog!

We’ve got almost 3 hours with main man behind the Sonic comics. Mainly, we’re talking all things ArchieSonic and other books, but we also talk about the latest Sonic Scuttlebutt, Sonic Universe #39 and give Sonic ’06 a thrashing with some interesting info provided by Ian. Go get some coffee cuz it’s gonna be a long one!

[powerpress url=”https://segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/SonicTalk06.mp3″]
[Download]

SEGA to open a ride based on “The Ring” horror franchise


If you didn’t watch the American adaptation of the horror movies known as the Ring franchise (sequels had different names etc), then you probably don’t know that it’s about people finding a tape, watching it, then dying. VCR no less. A ghost haunts those that watch the tape, and throughout the movie you find out more and more about the girl ghost. Even though the franchise is dead in the States, it isn’t in Japan. They are getting set to release Sadako 3D and SEGA is ready to team up to create a ride.

SEGA’s ride will be based on the upcoming film and be called Sadako 3D: Cursed Tour. It is set to open on July 14th. It is rumored that there is a video of someone who commits suicide and that viewers will ‘follow the leader’ if they watch the tape. A bit morbid if you ask me, especially knowing that Japan has such high suicide rates. SEGA says that Sadako 3D: Cursed Tour is going to be a seven-minute test of courage. You want to experince the morbid ride? You will have to go to SEGA’s Joypolis in Japan.