Creative Assembly to announce new Total War at E3


We have known that Creative Assembly have been looking around for some people to do a sports title. This puzzled and made everyone ask themselves, what the creators of Total War have been up to. The studio apparently told EuroGamer it was going create a 2012 Olympic title. Not shocking I guess.

But what is more shocking is that they have e-mailed and teased that they will be at E3, with a new Total War game. They say the game is PC-only and will take the series “back to basics.”

[Source: IGN via The Forums]

Sumo Digital coming up with SEGA ideas

Steve Lycett, producer at Sumo Digital has confirmed he is not dead, neither am I, we have something in common! He has also confirmed he does not own a PS3. The more we know about Steve the more we feel like we can hang out with him in real life and watch Friends re-runs.

“I’m not dead, honest

I’d have a job playing the PS3 version, I don’t own a PS3! So sadly I’ll have to decline this for the moment. I’m also mad busy getting new stuff off the ground here at Sumo, nothing we can talk about just yet, just free time’s not been something I’ve had in abundance these last few weeks…”

Well of course, this post is not about if Steve owns a PS3 or not (or if he is dead), its about what Sumo is working on with SEGA. So the following quote please!

I’m not working on the Dr. Who game, I’m actually pretty jealous of the guys who are! I can’t go into any details sadly on the new stuff, right now we’ve got a few ideas brewing SEGA wise though

SEGA ideas, huh? Well, I will give you guys a free idea right now. Fuku-San’s Piggy Bank Break Out. A Fuku-San theme game show? You’re welcomed.

[Source: Sonic Stadium]

E3 around the corner, start your Shenmue 3 rumors


If you have been a SEGA fan for a long time, you know that around this time you will hear a ton of outlandish E3 rumors. Seems that time again, spanish site Meristation.com (once again) is saying Shenmue 3 will be at E3. They did this last year! So its no doubt they are doing it again this year, only its a Playstation Move exclusive now. Also it will use Unreal 3 tech.

Just posting this to not get anyone excited. Most of this stuff is posted to get hits. The site has a history of misinformation.

SEGA bringing 16-bit classics to Steam

SEGA will be bringing some of its SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive classics to a PC near you starting June 1st. SEGA’s first games released will be Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin, and Vectorman.

SEGA stated they will cost $2.99 per title. The games will be coming to Steam and “other platforms,” but lets be honest, we all probably use Steam.

SEGA sent out screens for Gain Ground, Altered Beast, Space Harrier, Crack Down, Sonic 3D Blast, and Shadow Dancer; assuming these games will be coming out as well. I did not upload screens of the games because we already know what they look like.

[Source: Joystiq]

SEGA drops iTunes App game prices

SEGA has dropped the prices of Super Monkey Ball 2 on the iTunes App store, pricing it at $5.99. Pretty cheap.

They also dropped the price of their Genesis classics, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage, to $2.99 each. We have heard really bad feedback coming from SEGA’s classic Genesis, saying they run choppy. Though I hear nothing but excellent stuff about Super Monkey Ball.

[Source: SEGA PR]

Phantasy Star Portable 2 coming west this fall

For some reason, I thought SEGA already made this announcement. Not the Fall 2010 date, but the “it is coming west.” Seriously, I was expecting a summer release date.

Fall? A bit too close to heavy hitters, no? If it is coming this fall, I hope SEGA at least tries to market it. Protip: make ‘pirates’ and people that buy it used pay for a key to play online. Piracy on PSP is really bad and I want the game to do well.

Press release after the break

Alpha Protocol music video trailer


Seems that this whole “music video trailer” thing seems to be a popular thing to do, now SEGA is flexing their rhythm and trying to make you remember the name of the protagonist in Alpha Protocol.

All I got out of the trailer is that Michael Thornton’s name is said by a ton of characters in the game, so much so that they can make a 1 minute music video out of it.

Sonic 4 video interview on Gamespot


[Can’t embed the video due to automatically playing! That is annoying!]

Check it out, its a two for one for SEGA fans since they also have a preview of Ivy the Kiwi?
Gamespot has a interview with community manager RubyEclipse, where he basically admits that SEGA ignored the Sonic fanbase before? I wouldn’t jump on it that way, I do think they have been disconnected with fans due to being mostly in control by SEGA Japan.

Pretty fun to watch, actually the first “On the Spot” I have seen. I’m not too much into visiting IGN or Gamespot.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 awesome update!

Today is the day! The much talked about, much speculated at day of Sonic 4 reckoning. It came in the form of a press release and a Sega rep will be revealed more info on ‘ON THE SPOT’ tonight.

According to this press release, the release date of Sonic 4 will be pushed back to the later half of 2010 to insure the high quality of the game.

To me, this sounds like great news! I can’t wait to scour forums after I publish this article to see the new and inventive ways nerdy Sonic fans can spin this news into a negative light.

Also mentioned on the press release, SEGA confirmed that Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode I will be coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch via Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Hit the jump for the press release, also make sure to tune into ON THE SPOT for the second part of the reveal tonight!

Virtual-On Force screens and website

So SEGA’s countdown has come to a close, reveals the game is Virtual-On Force; then it takes you to the official site. As I expected, the countdown clock finished at four, not one. This has to do with their message about how its not what we expect.

The site opens up with a blog post by Watari, that says Virtual-On Force will be released on disc, not XBLA. The reason for this is because 2010 is the 15 year anniversary of the first Virtual-On game, they wanted to release something that the fans can keep forever. He also said SEGA is looking into releasing a ‘limited edition’ version of the game.

Also, Xbox’s marketing team, “Xbox 360 Special Force Division”, celebrates another success with the announcement of the game. You can view that here.

Alpha Protocol features a SEGA Saturn


This is probably the best news piece out of Alpha Protocol, it has a SEGA Saturn! Reminds me of Shenmue and it also having a SEGA Saturn. Not that it made sense in that game, since it was the 80’s.

But who cares, lets all go on youtube now and watch Segata Sanshiro adverts and wonder if the 3-D SEGA Saturn in game lets you play some Saturn games like on Shenmue.

[Source: UK:R]

Virtual-On Force coming to retail, not XBLA

The Famitsu scans have revealed that the game will be heading to retail, not XBLA like last time.

SEGA has stated it would upgrade the game to HD and add Xbox Live support. Which is not really new, since the XBLA title featured this. Maybe they will re-do the textures? They will also have a mission mode where you can pick up items, though what they do is not specified. Mission Mode is made for single player, but can be played co-op. Also co-op boss fights.

Game, as of now, is 30% complete and is slated for a winter release in Japan. As for the west, no news if we will be getting it. I think this is just SEGA Japan cashing off the success of VOOT, would not be shocked if a cheaper, XBLA version is announced for the west.

[Source: AndriaSang]

So what does SEGA think about Yakuza 3 sales?


SEGA’s community manager has spoken out about Yakuza 3’s sales in the west and it isn’t negative.

“So, while I’m not able to give you any numbers, I can at least still confirm that the initial sales were really positive, and that all of the fans who jumped in to support the franchise in the west did a great job.”  –RubyEclipse, Community Manager

I guess its OK to ask and cry for Yakuza 4 and Black Leopard? C’mon SEGA, you know we are going to start whining, just bring them over.

[Source: 1up]