Skydance to produce a live-action adaptation of SEGA’s Eternal Champions

According to The Hollywood Reporter, American media production company Skydance is set to produce a live-action adaptation of the SEGA Genesis classic fighting game Eternal Champions. Derel Connolly, known for his work on the Jurassic World movies, has been assigned to write the script. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger will produce the project for Skydance, while Toru Nakahara, who oversaw the adaptation of SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, will produce on behalf of SEGA. Rob Ree, credited with bringing Skydance and SEGA together on this project, will serve as executive producer. Aimee Rivera will oversee the project for Skydance.

Eternal Champions is a 2D fighting game developed for the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in the UK) by Sega Interactive in 1993. Created by Sega of America to capitalize on the massive success of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, the game’s plot centers around the Eternal Champion gathering key individuals from different time periods before their deaths. These individuals compete in a fighting tournament, with the victor gaining the chance to regain their life and alter their fate, while restoring balance to the universe. The losers, however, are doomed to die as history records.

With recent trademarks and announced SEGA live-action adaptations, SEGA seems to be making a strong push to revive awareness of its classic brands. What are your thoughts on a live-action adaptation of Eternal Champions? We will keep you updated with more news on this project as it develops!

 

Dreamcast classic F355 Challenge’s online time trial rankings and ghost data sharing features restored

Another Dreamcast classic returns online. F355 Challenge (2000), the Ferarri focused arcade racer by the great Yu Suzuki that is otherwise unrelated to OutRun, has it’s own website restored, re-enabling all the online features of the Dreamcast game. The website can be accessed straight from the game’s disc when running on a Dreamcast connected to the internet, as well as through a network-enabled Dreamcast emulator. This comes thanks to developer Flyinghead.

F355 Challenge did not actually have an online multiplayer mode, however. Its online features were limited to allowing for the upload and download of time trial rankings and car ghost data, as well as an exclusive Ferrari movie that could be viewed on the website. DreamPi and Broadband adaptor users will be automatically directed to the site when trying to access it from within the game now.

Zoom in past the break for a bit more technical info to get you started.

SEGA Talk #146: Shenmue Online & Shenmue City (2004-2011)

On this SEGA Talk we take a look at two Shenmue games you most likely never played: Shenmue Online and Shenmue City. We take a look at one unreleased MMO and a mobile game that never made it out of beta.

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

The Sega Genesis turns 35 years old today

The year is 1989. In that year, people such as Taylor Swift, Danielle Radcliff, the late Avicii, SZA, Pewdiepie, Markiplier, and myself were born. Songs like “Bust A Move” by Young MC, “Cherish” and “Like A Prayer” by Madonna, and “Love Shack” by The B-52’s topped the charts. Movies like Disney’s The Little Mermaid, the Tim Burton directed Batman, Ghostbusters II, and Weekend At Bernie’s premiered in theaters. The Simpsons, Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Family Matters, Baywatch, and Seinfeld premiered on TV. In Japan, anime like Dragon Ball Z, Patlabor, and Ranma 1/2 premiered on TV while Kiki’s Delivery Service premiered in theaters. Video games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Final Fight, SimCity, and DuckTales came out while Sega launched arcade games like Golden Axe, Turbo OutRun, and Tetris. Sega had done something else even more significant on this day that very same year, though. They launched the Sega Mega-Drive in North America as the Sega Genesis and the world would never be the same. Happy 35th anniversary!

On August 14th, 1989, Sega of America launched the Genesis in North America to much fanfare, including with a televised launch party attended by convicted felon and overall weirdo Donald Trump. Sega had failed to make much of a splash in North America with the still beloved Master System, but they had a new plan in mind for the Genesis. That plan included a fierce mockery of Nintendo’s strict adherence to sanitized, family friendly gaming, with the tagline “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t” remaining a staple in gamer lingo. This allowed Sega to stand out with the teens-to-adults crowd and ended up with Sega being the first video game console manufacturer to seriously threaten Nintendo’s market dominance, as well as inspiring future console rivals Sony and Microsoft to do the same with the PlayStation and Xbox respectively, while stealing Sega’s thunder in the process. Today, the Sega Genesis lives on in gaming and pop culture history as one of the most influential and memorable gaming consoles of all time and a hallmark of the 1990’s.

Come with us past the break to continue this celebration.

Graveyard Good’s Limited The House of the Dead Merchandise Now Available For Pre-Order (72 Hours)


It’s time to reload your wallets with money as Graveyard Goods is selling limited The House of the Dead merchandise which are available for pre-order within 72 hours ranging from head caps to hoodies. These items include:

Grab them fast through pre-orders while you can as these are very limited and are up on the website for 72 hours!

New Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Trailer Showcasing Metis

Today, ATLUS shared a trailer highlighting Metis, the new android companion in Persona 3 Reload’s Episode Aigis -The Answer –. The trailer also introduces Lizzie Freeman, the voice actor bringing Metis to life. Episode Aigis is the third and final addition to the Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass, featuring 30 hours of all-new gameplay, new costumes and background music sets.

Character Description of Metis: A mysterious android who claims to be Aigis’s “sister”. She appears before the S.E.E.S. members who are trapped in a never-ending March 31st time loop and leads them to the Abyss of Time that has appeared in the basement of the dormitory. Her unique Persona is Psyche, specializing in physical, wind, and ice skills.

Episode Aigis -The Answer – releases on September 10, 2024, and will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Steam, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

The Expansion Pass is available for free to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass can be purchased on digital storefronts today for $34.99 and also includes the previously released Persona 5 Royal EX BGM Set, Persona 4 Golden EX BGM Set and Velvet Costume & BGM Set. For more information on Persona 3 Reload, visit persona.atlus.com/p3r/.

SEGA Talk #145: Gaming Memories

SEGA Talk takes a detour! This episode we’re trading our blue blur for a trip down memory lane. Join us as we reminisce about our gaming days and explore some non-SEGA classics. Of course, there is still plenty of SEGA games that make it in!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Download]

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, have your memories read on the show, select the games we talk about!

TMS Entertainment announces 60th Anniversary YouTube campaign, including timed uploads of Japanese Sonic X and Orguss episodes

TMS Entertainment, a beloved Japanese animation studio currently owned by Sega Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of SegaSammy holdings, has just announced that for their 60th anniversary, they’ll begin uploading special animated features of significant importance to the company to their official YouTube page. Most noteworthy to Sega/Sonic fans, this includes the first six episodes of Sonic X in its original Japanese dub. The entire campaign begins on August 5th, 2024. This is a good chance to get a taste of what Sonic X was originally like, free of both English voices and the cacophony of censorship edits imposed on it in its original English dub by 4Kids Entertainment.

EDIT: It’s come to my attention that one of the other anime part of this celebration: Super Dimension Century Orguss (1983), also has a Sega connection, as Sega made an SG-1000 game based on it. I’m adding details about that show below the break too.

Gotta go fast as you rush past the break for the skinny on this special event. GO! GO! GO! GO! LET’S GO!

EDIT: The 60th Anniversary event has ended and all these videos have, unfortunately, been removed from the TMS Entertainment YouTube Page. Fortunately, Discotek Media has released both Japanese Sonic X and Super Dimension Century Orguss on Blu-Ray. You can buy them from Amazon or Crunchyroll’s store. I removed the dead YouTube embeds from the article

NFTs and esports killed the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series

SEGA and Nintendo’s long running Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series has come to an end. Speaking with Eurogamer, series veteran Lee Cocker explained that the International Olympics Committee left the partnership with SEGA and Nintendo in favor of new partners that focused on NFTs and esports. Believe it or not, there IS a game based on the 2024 Summer Olympic Games out right now. You just wouldn’t know it because it isn’t really being marketed and it looks like crap. Olympics Go! from developer nWay released to smart phone stores and the Epic Games Store and it features microtransactions and officially licensed “commemorative” NFTs. Whee.

Shenmue World: Issue 3 – Unofficial Shenmue Fan Magazine Kickstarter launches

From the fans behind the Shenmue fan site Shenmue Dojo comes the third issue in their fan magazine Shenmue World! Hitting Kickstarter just yesterday, the campaign for Shenmue World: Issue 3 is already $17,330 pledged of a $22,496 goal. If issues 1 and 2 are any indication of the quality we can expect, then issue 3 is sure to be a feature filled book sized magazine featuring impressive fan artwork, fictional and journalistic coverage of the Shenmue series and several bonus goodies that should not be missed!

Interview: “Like a Dragon: Yakuza” Actors Ryoma Takeuchi & Kento Kaku, Executive Producer Erik Barmack

Thanks to the production team of the upcoming streaming series Like a Dragon: Yakuza and Prime Video, SEGAbits was given the opportunity to interview Series Lead Ryoma Takeuchi and Co-Star Kento Kaku, and series Executive Producer Erik Barmack.

In a round table setting, joined by fellow video game fan sites, we asked the creative team about how the project began and the challenges of portraying characters like Kazuma Kiryu (played by Ryoma Takeuchi) and Akira Nishikiyama (played by Kento Kaku). You can see their answers to our questions after the break or watch our video interview above, and stay tuned to SEGAbits for more coverage of the series as we near the October 24th release date on Prime Video!

Homebrew Genesis/Mega-Drive game Hayato’s Journey finishes development; now available to download for free

An all new homebrew action platformer for Genesis/Mega-Drive, called Hayato’s Journey, has just finished development and is now free to download. Developed by Master Linkuei, Hayato’s Journey is a fanmade spiritual sequel to the Master System game Kenseiden (1988). The game is now available on his itch.io page for whatever price you wish to pay. Although it is free, it couldn’t hurt to give Master Linkuei a buck or two to reward their hard work.

Have a look beyond the break for a trailer and a link to the game.

Sega Rally 2006 fan translation patch now available

Sega Rally 2006, the first Sega Rally game made exclusively for a console, has just gotten an all new fan translation released. Previously only released in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, this PS2 classic had all of its text in those countries’ respective native languages only, until now, that is. For the first time ever, you can play the game almost entirely in English now.

While graphics featuring text could not be translated, as there is no way to easily change the text in graphics at this time, much of the important text in the game has been completely translated into English, making menus much less of a chore to navigate for the Japanese impaired. The newly translated text consists of:

  • Career Mode intro and profile creation.
  • Career Mode top menus (Calendar, trophies, etc.).
  • Calendar race names, vehicle restrictions, and rewards.
  • Garage and Shop menus, including part and tire names, descriptions, and tuning menu.
  • Pre-race splash screens.
  • Sponsorship contract tutorials and objectives.

For a link to where you can download this patch, have a look past the break.