In another surprise at the RGG Summit, a new game was announced for 2023: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. The game stars Kazuma Kiryu in a story that takes place between Yakuza 6 and 7 with classic gameplay elements returning. The game is said to be smaller, about half the size of a mainline Yakuza/Like a Dragon title.
The game will release in 2023 to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC platforms.
In the early morning hours, at least here in the USA, SEGA of America dropped the trailer for the eighth game in the Yakuza franchise: Like a Dragon 8. The news dropped at Japan’s RGG summit event. Due out in 2024, the game will release globally to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC platforms. Ichiban Kasuga returns, and he brought a friend with him. Wait, it’s Kazuma Kiryu with a new haircut! Also, notably, the game drops the Yakuza name, which we also noted yesterday with the Like a Dragon: Ishin! reveal. It looks like the Yakuza franchise is now the Like a Dragon franchise!
What are your thoughts on the trailer? Did Kazuma get a haircut?
During Sony’s State of Play today it was announced that RGG Studio was working on a Like a Dragon: Ishin! remake of 2014’s PS3 and PS4 game Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!. The remake, created in the Unreal Engine, is set to release on PlayStation and Xbox platforms, as well as PC in February 2023. What is exciting is that this is the first time a historical Yakuza title released to the West.
Several Twitter accounts have spotted Windows PC versions of RGG Studios’ Judgment and Lost Judgmentlisted on the ESRB website. The news is significant, as it was previously rumored that the franchise had come to an end due to a disagreement between the talent agency for the franchise’s real life star, Takuya Kimura, and SEGA over the actor’s likeness appearing in PC releases of the game.
This news, however seems to point to either the two parties reaching an agreement OR (worst case scenario) Takuya Kimura has been recast and a new model for a new actor will appear in the PC versions of the game. The second scenario, while possible, is in no way confirmed and is just speculation on our part. We’re sure to learn more soon!
Fans have noticed that ChuChu Rocket! Universe, the semi-sequel to the Dreamcast puzzle game ChuChu Rocket!, had disappeared from Apple’s App Store. The game, developed by SEGA’s Hardlight studio, was a worthy follow-up to the Sonic Team original, featuring new and returning puzzles, inventive 3D maps, a story mode and a classic multiplayer mode. The game was also exclusive to Apple Arcade, Apple’s pay to play collection of apps which were all free to download and free of any micro-transactions and in-app purchases.
It appears that the game was pulled due to a three year exclusivity window closing, as fans on Twitter have pointed out other Apple Arcade apps that debuted alongside ChuChu Rocket! Universe have also been pulled. If you still have the game installed, it can still be played. However the game cannot be redownloaded if your device offloads apps that go unused.
Welcome back to the second part of our two parter interview with Noah Copeland, the director of Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble 16 bit. On our last interview we chatted about how Noah gained an appreciation of the SEGA Genesis and his background in the fangame development scene. Hit the break to read the rest of the interview!
As part of our SAGE coverage, we managed to get a hold of Noah Copeland to come have a chat with us about the development of his fangame Sonic Triple Trouble 16 bit. This love letter to the classic Game Gear game released to much fanfair last month, remaking the original games visual to fit perfectly with it’s classic Mega Drive counterparts, featuring the ability to switch between Sonic or Tails as well as multiple playable characters. Hit the break for the first of two part interview with Noah as he goes into more detail about the fan games history and development ideology!
On this SEGA Talk we dive into the Nintendo DS exclusive Sonic Rush and see not only the birth of Blaze the Cat but also the start of the boost gameplay that would come to dominate future Sonic Team titles. What’s the rush? Sit back and enjoy this SEGA Talk.
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If you ever wanted to know what you missed out on as a kid when McDonalod’s teamed up with SEGA to release a bunch of Sonic LCD games well, you’re in luck! Thanks to developer Dfug hard work, we have been graced with the collection that has all the games from Knuckles Baseball to Tails Soccer. Their painstaking work to digitise the collection of 17 games helps to perserve these bits of Sonic memoriable and shows you how popular Sonic was in 2003, with the height of popularity coming thanks to a combination of Sonic X and the release of Sonic Heroes. So head over to SAGExpo and give them a try, along with all the other cool games at the event.
It’s that time of the year again where the Sonic Amateur Games Expo, or SAGE (No relation to the Sonic Frontiers villain!) for short, graces us with it’s presence. Filled to the brim with some of the most dedicated Sonic fans on the net, this event now boasts a huge selection of non-Sonic fangames from Mega Man to Kirby as well as a host of indie games. In the coming days we’ll be sharing interviews with developers and game impressions at the event, so stick with SEGAbits and don’t miss a beat in our coverage. In the mean time, check out the SAGE trailer and head over to Expo’s website here and start downloading some of the coolest fan projects around!
Gamescom 2022 kicked off, and after several games that take place in the future where you shoot everything in sight the new Sonic Frontiers trailer dropped. Titled the “Story Trailer”, the new footage showcased CG cutscenes as well as gameplay in new environments including tropical and desert islands. Also showcased were the long teased cyberspace levels, which revisit locations from Sonic’s past. Locations included a highway environment, Green Hill and Sky Sanctuary. Sonic also finds Amy imprisoned in a red structure before being confronted by enemies. How about a release date? Fans can expect a global launch date of November 8th, 2022.
The game will release digitally and physically to Xbox and PlayStation platforms, Nintendo Switch and PC. Those who pre-order will receive a treasure box of in-game items including skill points, blue seeds of defense and red seeds of power. Personally, I’d have loved to see a collector’s edition, and the fact that every SEGA franchise except for Sonic seems to get cool physical bonus editions really annoys me. I want a Koco to snuggle, dammit!
A musical album released in the form of a game cartridge or ROM might sound like an odd concept, but quirky homebrew developer and musician Mike Yedley has done just that, and it’s not even his first one. Not too long ago, he debuted his second Genesis music ROM on his itch.io page, called “mikeyeldey95”. Being a ROM, it can be run in your favorite Genesis emulator or on original hardware with a flash cartridge such as any of the Mega Everdrive line of cartridges. In a very interesting twist, this album also doubles as a retro Windows 95 desktop simulation, full of fun easter eggs and mini-games. You can change the desktop background and color scheme, explore a web browser (This game has no way of actually connecting to the internet), and even explore an MS-DOS environment. There are 11 main songs total, but exploring a bit more can uncover several hidden songs, including some full PSG tunes.
On this SEGA News Bits Live, Barry runs through some of the notable titles releasing to the Mega Drive Mini 2 and Genesis Mini 2, talks the possibilities of a Space Channel 5 movie and shares his beef with Sonic fans on Twitter.
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Thanks to the success of Paramount and SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog movies, it was only a matter of time more cinematic deals were made for other SEGA franchises to make the jump to the screen. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that SEGA has entered into a partnership with Picturestart to develop film adaptations of the Dreamcast classic Space Channel 5 and the SEGA Genesis platformer Comix Zone.
Enjoy the Ride Records have just released a limited run of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 soundtrack audio cassette tapes, limited to 250 copies, featuring the score by Tom Holkenborg. The cassettes feature UV-printed shells, meaning you get promotional graphics from the movie printed right on the tape. Pretty slick! To sweeten the deal, the case evokes Sonic the Hedgehog 2‘s video game cover art, a move that the 4K home video release also did with the steelbook. Also available is a repress of the first film’s soundtrack on vinyl, featuring a tri-color swirl. Head on over to Enjoy the Ride Records and order yours today!
