I love the SEGA Saturn, you love the SEGA Saturn, we all love the SEGA Saturn. But why do we love the SEGA Saturn? I asked myself this very question and came up with five reasons why SEGA’s 32-bit wonder makes me all happy inside.
In celebration of Saturn month, I knew we had to feature the excellent Segata Sanshiro ad campaign from Japan. Initially I thought I’d share a few of the best commercials, but then I came across this video gem. From bestdamnpodcastever.com comes this cool mini-documentary on Segata Sanshiro. The video gives a few fun facts about the campaign, a little history, highlights some of the best commercials and ends with an awesome music video. Check it out… unless you want to be placed in a headlock.
SEGATA SANSHIRO!
What is this? SEGA games having cheesy voice overs? Not on my watch. Shenmue you say?
List of SEGA Games on here:
Seriously, who doesn’t do this when replaying classic games? I do. Should have used some Virtua Fighter, king of cheese.
Look closely at the Japanese Guardian Heroes website url. Notice how it starts with a ‘SS’, what could this stand for? The obvious? SEGA Saturn. Why would they format a URL like that for a one off title?
This could possibly mean that SEGA is most likely planning on releasing more than one SEGA Saturn title on digital services. I mean, why not? They are already doing Dreamcast releases and overdo SEGA Genesis. Seems like the smart choice.
SEGA has already announced the sequel to 7th Dragon, called 7th Dragon 2020. Now you get to see the first screenshots for the upcoming RPG.
SEGA veterans like Reiko Kodama and composer Yuzo Koshiro make a return for the sequel. Instead of being on DS, this time it will be coming to PSP.
SEGA Europe has announced the return of the Vintage Collection for Playstation Network and Virtual Console. This collection is going to have Wonder Boy series games, so don’t leave just yet!
Titles in the collection:
Not that bad, since Monster World IV has never had a western release before. The collection is expected to come out late 2011 to early 2012.
[Source: SEGAEurope]
Want to be the first one to play the upcoming Sonic game? If you live in the LA area and have some time to spend in line around June, you will be able to get your paws (or if you aren’t a furry, your hands) on a playable demo build.
Details:
From announcing political policy to now making announcements for video games, the Coalition Government of the UK has revealed that SEGA’s British based developer, the Creative Assembly, is developing a game based on the Alien franchise by 20th Century Fox. Though a genre is yet to be announced, the above image confirms that it will be a console game and will be developed by a new team from the Creative Assembly. At a press conference held today, the developer revealed that it hopes to bloster its team in Horsham, West Sussex from 160 to 200 within the year. It has also been revealed the Alien title will not be present at this year’s E3 either.
[Source: NeoGAF]
Wait, they just announced this title for Japan? Yes, they have. The website has gone up and says it will be out this summer for our Japanese readers (so basically 2 people). That is not all, they also said it was going to cost 800 Microsoft points. As far as I know this is the first time we have gotten a price point.
Check out the Japanese website here and act like you know what it says.
[Source: AndriaSang]
16 years ago today, SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske took to the stage at E3 and announced that the SEGA Saturn was now available in select retailers across the United States. Though this would later be seen as one of the greatest marketing blunders in SEGA’s history, it nevertheless marked the debut of one of the greatest consoles ever made. In commemoration of this momentous birthing of this epically underappreciated game console, we at SEGAbits are committing not a day, not a week, but a full month for all things SEGA Saturn! You can expect to see plenty of reviews, articles, and a dedicated episode of the SEGAbits podcast all about the Saturn from here until E3 on June 7th.
Those of you who don’t know much about the Saturn, or think there was a big load of nothing between the Genesis and the Dreamcast, should learn something this month. The SEGA Saturn is a veritable treasure trove of SEGA hits that have yet to see the light of day on other systems due to the Saturn’s difficult to emulate architecture, and the general obscurity of its library. Sure, we’ve all heard of NiGHTS and Panzer Dragoon, and Guardian Heroes has recently risen from obscurity to be remade as an Xbox Live Arcade release. But have you ever heard of Blazing Heroes? Ever heard of Astal? Did you know the SEGA Saturn had two Die Hard games, one which was a piece of crap and one which kicked ass? Have any of you guys even seen Dragon Force?
While Nintendo spent the 32 bit generation giving its 16 bit hits the 64 bit upgrade, and Sony spent it producing games that would go on to define its Playstation brand for more than a decade to come, SEGA went through a creative renaissance, almost completely ditching the franchises that made the Genesis a hit in favor of all new franchises that, regrettably, no one would buy. Even Sonic took a backseat to NiGHTS, which became and still remains one of the best reasons to own a Saturn.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy this month long ride through SEGA’s forgotten generation.
The latest issue of OXM has a ton of new Sonic Generations information, for those of you who are interested in the upcoming Sonic game. There’s even an interview with Takashi Iizuka, where he is asked how they picked levels for the game.
“We took a democratic approach. We only get to celebrate Sonic’s 20th birthday once, so we wanted to make sure everyone got a say. What we did was poll every Sega worker – including those in Europe and America – and asked them to nominate their favourite Sonic levels of all time. Then we did some research with the core fanbase and we were able to draw up a shortlist from there.” – Takashi Iizuka
Ah, but there is more information for those who want it. Hit the jump to see all the new information including what the storyline in the upcoming game will be.
Though we’ve known about this for some time, SEGA has now officially confirmed their port of Crush for the 3DS. It turns out it’s going to be more than just a port of the PSP game, though. According to the press release, the game will feature all new locations, all new characters, and an intuitive hint system. In addition to the new content, it will also make use of the 3DS’ StreetPass function, allowing you to leave gifts for your friends to collect in game.
“CRUSH3D gives all gamers a chance to experience this critically acclaimed concept in full 3D,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing of SEGA West. “With features specifically designed for this exciting new platform, CRUSH3D is right at home on the Nintendo 3DS.”
The game is scheduled to release September 6th in America and September 9th in Europe and Australia. Whether or not it will feature content from the original is currently unknown, as though it was originally confirmed to be a port, it sounds and looks much more like a sequel. The art style looks different from what I remember seeing in the first few levels of the original, and I’m not sure fans will be happy about that, especially since the main character being shown looks way different from the original’s weirdo in a helmet. He’s certainly more generic looking, which is a shame.
I for one am really happy to see this game series being given a second chance on the 3DS after it crashed and burned on the PSP. Unlike when it was released on PSP though, the 3DS is still very young, and great content for it will continue to be scarce until the holiday season. Hopefully, SEGA will take advantage of this opportunity and market the heck out of CRUSH3D, and get it the recognition the original deserved.
If this is at E3, we will be on hand to tell you how awesome (or not) it is!
You can find screens for the game here.
1up reports, via Famitsu, that Imagepoch is developing a sequel to the DS RPG 7th Dragon, which never saw release in North America. Called 7th Dragon 2020, the follow-up is looking to take place in a futuristic version of Tokyo, a contrast to the original game’s more medieval style. The game is said to feature a revamp in art direction and character design, and will supposedly release this year.
SEGA will once again be publishing it, though since they never localized the first 7th Dragon, chances of the West getting this one seem pretty slim.
Check out the official site.
[Source: 1up.com]
XBOX 360 Director of Programming “Major Nelson” has announced via his blog that SEGA Rally Online Arcade is set to release on May 18th for 800 msp ($10). I’d assume this means the game will release to PSN on the same d- oh… right, it’s still down.
In any case, exciting news for SEGA fans as the game will be released in only 8 days!
[source: Major Nelson]
This is one of those creative ways of getting around trademarks to sell SEGA merchandise without the big bad SEGA license. Though it means that you will probably have a Sonic shirt that no one else in your town will have, so you can sit back and laugh at all the 8 year old kids that bought their shirts at Hot Topic.
Problem, kids?
[Source: J!NX]
[Via: GoNintendo]
