OK, so we here in the US we get a Sonic scalp if pre-order. The lucky sons of Britain get a Limited Edition version with action figures? Why, SEGA why?! Actually seems that the Limited Edition packaging will be coming out for Pal buyers, not just the UK.
Well, maybe I can send like 34 whiny letters to SEGA Europe’s community team, want to see them sort through that! The game comes out November, got your pre-orders in?
[Source: The Sonic Stadium]
Finally, something good comes from owning a Nano. Wait, I don’t own one, but if I did, I would do this. How cool is that? VMUs even go nicely as a keychain. The possibilities.
I guess SEGA’s VMU MP3 player idea has finally come to light, now if you excuse me, I’m ordering me a iPod Nano. Great mod!
[Source: Gizmodo]
We love our Sumo Digital, they really try to listen to fan feedback as much as possible. They have recently teased that they are working on a big game for a hardware publisher, doesn’t mean they have forgotten about SEGA.
“I would say if you’ve been a Sumo fan, if you like the products that we do, then you’re not going to be disappointed in the future …So we’re working on some stuff that’s a way out. But we continue to work very closely with SEGA and we hope to have some more products coming out with SEGA. We’ve got some stuff due out in 2011 and some in 2012. One hopes people will recognise them as very SEGA and Sumo-type products.” James North-Hearn CEO of Sumo Digital
Before you get all excited and start screaming about a new Outrun game, Sumo Digital has already confirmed they are not working on a new Outrun game. They did confirm they are working on a new racing game though…
What do you think they are doing?
For those of you who do not know, the recently released Halo Reach has a level and game-type making mode called Forge World. In this you are able to make any number of this, including modes that make it not play like an First Person Shooter at all.
A Super Monkey Ball fan has taken it upon himself to remake the Monkey Target minigame where you have to jump off of a ramp and aim yourself and hit the target if possible and try to get as many points. Obviously it is nowhere near as good as the real thing, but it is great to see fans take so much time to remake something like this! There are bound to be tons of SEGA themed variants in Forge World by now, so send a link if you see any!
Download the Map | Download Game Type
[Source: NeoGAF]
Videogame retail store ‘GAME’ are holding an event in Madrid this year, known as GAMEfest with hopes that one day it will be as big as Tokyo Game Show, E3 and GamesCom. (Good luck!)
Sega Europe will be attending bringing their upcoming releases to the event. Although no list of games has been announced I’ll bet Vanquish, Sonic Colours and Sonic 4 will be there amongst others. *Crosses fingers for a new Shogun 2 Total War demonstrations!*
If you’re interested in attending, the event is being held from October 8th to the 10th in the exhibition site Recinto Ferial Juan Carlos I de Madrid. Doors will be open from 10am to 8pm and tickets can be bought at GAME.es for 3,00€ each, but unfortunately only Friday and Sunday tickets are still available. Saturday appears to be sold out.
So if anyone is interested in going, Sega will be at booth 17! Here is the official site with info. (In spanish.)
[Thanks to Sonic Stadium]
Here is an interview conducted by Game Trailers at Tokyo Game Show with Yakuza producer Masayoshi Kikuchi and director Jun Orihara.
The two discuss the story and characters of Yakuza 4 and go onto talk about the direction of the series as a whole. They also confirm that like Yakuza: Kenzan, Yakuza: Of the End is indeed a spin off and not cannon. They mention wanting to continue both the main ‘numbered’ series and the spin-offs.
Yakuza Sci-fi anyone? Punch Aliens in the face? Or a Yakuza Fantasy with Japanese mythology maybe? Punch real dragons in the face?!
The latest Sonic Colors trailer has arrived, and unlike previous released videos of the game, this one shows off a bit of the in-game cutscenes! If the opening map is anything to go by, it looks like each stage will be receiving a trailer which will also highlight Wisp powers. Tropical Resort is still looking to be an excellent first stage, and the drill power-up looks like a lot of fun. Like NiGHTS meets Mr. Driller. What do the fellow “bitters”* think of the latest trailer?
* I realize “bitters” is a terrible name for SEGAbits members, but I have yet to hear a better alternative.
The latest reworked stage from Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has been revealed thanks to a video and written preview from the folks at Joystiq! Just as Lost Labyrinth replaced the much maligned mine cart, Casino Street has been confirmed to have replaced the itty bitty act 2 pinball machine with a much sweeter card focused stage. Sonic is shown to use cards as platforms, as a way to win an extra life and as a fast moving platform. Way past cool! In fact, the final moment of the trailer was the first true instance in which Sonic 4 made me say “wow!” aloud. I was pro-Sonic 4 before, but now I think I have been welcomed to the next level.
Via SEGA of America’s e-newsletter, Crazy Taxi has been confirmed for a November release to XBLA and PSN! Little more new information can be found in the newsletter, however this bit of copy can be found on the offical SEGA game page:
You can now download the second Vanquish demo from the Japanese Xbox Live Arcade and Japanese PSN. So if you haven’t already you need to make a Japanese account.
This is as simple as creating a new XBLA or PSN profile and setting your location to Japan.
This new demo dubbed ‘Challenge mode’ is made specifically for the ‘core’ gamers and the name pretty much sums it up. You must survive 5 waves of enemies and do it in the quickest time with the most points.
From what I have read around other forums some people are finding it hard just to finish! But that wont be a problem for us hardened Sega gamers right?!
[Update] Turns out it is XBLA Gold account only so unless you have a Japanese gold account you are screwed.
We wrote an article about this before, saying that the emulator has been ported to the PS3. Now we have a video and the results aren’t that impressive. Sure, it has just been ported, but it doesn’t seem like something everyone should rush out and buy at this moment. This is only with a couple of weeks of work. Should be impressive as time goes on.
PSgroove is the device used to jailbreak the Playstation 3, only issue is that Sony has caught on, so if you update to the newest firmware (Right now 3.50) you most likely won’t be able to use the device, at least not till there is a work around. This means giving up access to PSN.
[Source: PSgroove]
I don’t know what goes through the heads of producers, that think gamers want less content in there games. But it happens. Masayoshi Kikuchi, Producer of Yakuza 3, admits that their decision to cut content out of Yakuza 3 was wrong.
“We did what we thought would be good for the Western market, but after the game was released we received a lot of feedback from users in the complete opposite direction, asking for complete content. It was a big surprise for us. I’m definitely pleased that people wanted to see more, but at the same time, I feel sorry for the fans who were let down by the cut content.” – Masayoshi Kikuchi, Producer for Yakuza 3
It is OK Mr. Kikuchi, just give us a patch to put in that extra content? No? Well, just give us a complete package with Yakuza 4 and we will call it even.
[Via: Destructoid]
Check out this gameplay video of Shining Hearts curtacy of SegaOnline.nl
I have mixed feelings about this game, the new art direction of this series is not my thing. However I really like these old style sprites looking models with big heads like classic Shining series. Oh and I see at least one Beastman.
Time will tell if this game can live up to the classic shining series, but I wont be holding my breath.
[Nagoshi having a rest or tanning?]
So now that TGS is behind us and we are sprinting into fall, let us look back at all the awesome SEGA announcements and news bits we posted.
News bits:
Trailers & Videos:
Screenshots & Photos:
Don’t worry, there is still news to come. We will be stalking the internet trying to get all the Phantasy Star Online 2 information we can. As you can tell, I’m are most excited for this title. Best TGS in a long time?
This preview is in Italian… Thought I’d get that out of the way early. So unless you understand Italian you won’t take much away from the spoken preview.
But I think this is article worthy none the less. Simply for the sheer amount of new game play and cut scenes. Be warned, it may well contain a high level of spoilers. So if you don’t want possible plot spoilers, stay away! But I’ll tell you this, this game looks truly amazing.