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Japanese Sonic 4 Episode 2 Site Opens! More Screens, Slick Interface.

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Why is it that the official Japanese sites for Sonic games are always way better than the English language ones? Why not translate what little text there is into English and make it so one site can cover all territories? While I ponder such things, I invite you to explore the recently opened Sonic 4 Episode 2 site from SEGA of Japan. There you’ll find new screens, a character bio section, an explanation of the combo moves (in Japanese, of course) and confirmation of Sylvania Castle and White Park being the first two zone names. If you dig a little, you’ll even find tiny screens of the first boss, Egg Serpentleaf, in action as well as a in-game menu screen. Of interest to Ice Cap fans, one screen shows off Sonic and Tails doing a bit of snowboarding in White Park. After the break, browse through the many screens!

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Binary Domain Interview With Toshihiro Nagoshi

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With Binary Domain set to be released next week, SEGAbits was given an exclusive interview with one of SEGA’s finest developers, Toshihiro Nagoshi. Having joined SEGA in the late 1980s with a degree in media, Nagoshi has been involved in several high profile games for SEGA early in his career, from working on Virtua Racing to having worked on the biggest arcade game in the industry, Daytona USA. Moving up the ranks, Nagoshi soon found himself leaving his job at AM2 to head up Amusement Vision in the late 90s during the Dreamcast era. There his teams made two of SEGA’s most well loved series in the modern era, Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza.

Now heading the newly formed Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, we get a chance to talk to Nagoshi after the release of his new studio’s first title, Binary Domain.

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SEGA maimai: A new kind of arcade rhythm dancing game

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This new flashy arcade unit by SEGA is their latest rhythm dancing game called maimai. It features a round screen with lights around it, and when the game tells you to hit a certain spot in the circle, you do it. Pretty simple, till they speed it up.

Also the cabinet has a camera that allows users to record themselves playing a session and upload it to the popular Japanese video site Nico Nico Douga. SEGA states in the interview that this rhythm game is supposed to allow people be more social. Yes, they know it looks like a washing machine. The arcade is set to hit Japan in July of 2012. The video also confirms that SEGA is planning a Western release. Yeah, that was unexpected.

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Shining Blade gets two Japanese commercials

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx5_pQ00tvo

Above is the 30 second spot that will be airing over in Japan. Seems that SEGA is going to go out and promote this PSP title, even though the Vita just came out. Do you think it was a good idea to skip the Vita for now?

Hit the jump for the second spot, this one shorter at 15 seconds.

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The Weekly Five: Movies to watch before you play Binary Domain

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Sometimes you have to watch a motion picture to get truly excited about a concept in a video game, at least this is the way Binary Domain has been working out for me. I have always been a big fan of Sci-Fi films, so when I heard that SEGA was tackling down some robotic action, I was all in. Time to post five of the best sci-fi films to get you all pumped up to play Binary Domain.

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Sonic 4 Episode 2 Achievements Revealed!

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Well this is a surprise! The list of achievements for Sonic 4 Episode 2 have already been revealed. What, is this game expected to release next week? It seems every day we’re getting more and more info. Revealed within the list are a few zone names, the return of red rings AND the return of a classic zone. Check out all the achievements after the break! Also, we reveal a zone name NOT mentioned in the achievements list or anywhere else on the net for that matter first site to mention the reveal of a new zone name before the “Continue Reading” button, and some new screens. Of course, expect some spoilers.

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Get a Load of This! – Planet Harriers

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Planet Harriers is a criminally underrated game from Sega’s history which is well over due a spotlight on SEGAbits, so here it is!

Planet Harriers is an on-rail shooter and part of the more widely recognized ‘Space Harrier’ series. It released in the year 2000 on the Sega Hikaru arcade board and while I believe plans for it to appear on the Dreamcast were afoot unfortunately it never materialized before the consoles untimely demise.

Planet Harriers uses a twin cabinet, which allows for two player Co-Op, or a networked two-player game. The cabinet has a seated configuration. Planet Harriers controls used a joystick with a missile and bullet trigger. ‘View change’ and bomb buttons were on the main panel.

So why do I think it needs to be given a spotlight on our front page? Well just look at that video! I think if there is ever a game that sums up what ‘Sega’ means to a whole host of older fans out there it’s games Planet Harriers. The game just drips with bright colours and that nostalgic ‘blue skies’ happy-go-lucky feeling a Sega game should. The graphics are beautiful too and I’m very impressed by the lighting. Not to mention the video above features the bonus character; SEGAbits’ adopted mascot OpaOpa!

Now if Sega ever wanted to bring this beauty to XBLA/PSN and Steam, this is something I could get behind!

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SEGA announces Jet Grind Radio for PSN/XBLA

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Well, little else needs to be said. My only hope, and I know it might be a long shot, is that we get the whole soundtrack intact. The music, each and every song, is crucial to Jet Grind Radio, so hopefully SEGA won’t be pulling a Crazy Taxi on us.

No release date has yet been given for what will hopefully be a truly epic blast from the past. The teaser also does not indicate whether any new features or graphical improvements will be added.

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Sonic Monopoly Arriving August 2012

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Thanks to the Sonic Stadium’s resident merch hound Hogfather, it has been discovered that American board game company USAopoly will soon be releasing a line of Sonic the Hedgehog games and puzzles due out in August 2012! Various online toy and game retailers have started posting up pre-orders for games and puzzles, including a Sonic die cut puzzle, a Sonic memory game and… a Sonic Monopoly! The last item mentioned is the most exciting of the three. Many franchises have gotten the Monopoly treatment, including Nintendo, World of Warcraft, Seinfeld, Simpsons and Futurama.

A Sonic Monopoly could be awesome, or it could be a disappointment. USAopoly has a history of some great versions of the classic game, such as the Simpsons version. However, other franchises aren’t so lucky. Nintendo Monopoly, for example, features a plain white board with Nintendo characters acting as property. How uninspired! I only hope that some Sonic fans are working on the project, so we get a Monopoly that the franchise deserves. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, you can always print out and play the Sonic Monopoly that I’m making! The image above came from my work-in-progress board.

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eBay: The complete US Master System collection

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No, I’m not going to start heckling my crap to you guys, plus this isn’t crap. If there are any girlfriends or moms reading this and saying that video games are crap, then this is crap I want. All over me. The collection includes a US Master System with 114 US Master System games. Impressive!

Happiestsellever!, you can thank me for the shout out later. Check his auction here. Yeah, the dude wants almost 5 grand for the whole thing. Is it worth it? How much would you pay?

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Sonic Heroes hits PSN in Europe

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Sonic Heroes is now available to purchase via PSN as part of the Playstation 2 classics re-releases. This means that it’s emulating the PS2 version of the game, which some say is the worst of the lot. But hey, its only £7.99/€9.99. I assume that it’s going to come out for the US PSN very soon as well.

What other SEGA PS2 classics do you want to see re-released through PSN?

 

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Binary Domain debuts at #2 in Japan

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This week saw the release of several new games in Japan, with SEGA’s Binary Domain likely being the main point of interest for anyone reading this website. As reported by Eurogamer with charts from NeoGAF, Nagoshi’s cover shooter debuted at #2, selling around 73,683 copies on the PS3, with the Xbox 360 version evidently not making the top 20.

It was a stronger Japanese debut than SEGA’s previous third person shooter, Vanquish, and a solid start for a new IP in that territory, though Binary Domain isn’t likely to become the next Yakuza over there at this rate. New Love Plus from Konami took the #1 spot with 104,969 while Square-Enix’s rhythm-based Final Fantasy spinoff settled for 3rd with 67,206.

Full chart after the break.

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SEGA teaming up with Capcom and Namco Bandai to develop 3DS game

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As promised, Nintendo held their Nintendo Direct conference this morning, and undoubtedly the biggest piece of news to come from the event was the information that SEGA, Namco Bandai, and Capcom are teaming up to develop a 3DS game.

So far the details of the project are being kept under wraps, though a teaser site has been created, one featuring the intriguing image of a vault door being opened. (A retro franchise revival, maybe? Or a crossover?)

We’ll keep you posted on any new info that comes from this pretty epic-sounding collaboration.

On another note, Game Gear titles will be heading to the 3DS Shop Channel this March in Europe and Japan, while no North American date was given. Game Gear installments in the Sonic the Hedgehog and Shinobi franchises, as well as the dungeon crawler Dragon Crystal, are said to be among the first titles that will be available for download.

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