SEGA teases new game with “hmkd” web address – possibly “Humankind”?

Back in December of 2018 we shared the news that SEGA had trademarked a game titled “Humankind” in Japan. Today, SEGA has shared a teaser site featuring a heart monitor and the web address “hmkd.sega.com“. The URL lines up with the “Humankind” title, which no doubt lines up with SEGA’s AAA game reveal at Gamescom 2019 in a few days.

We’ll no the truth in a few days, but right now it seems all the pieces are falling into place for a reveal of Humankind.

SEGA Talk #24: Last Bronx (1996)

On this SEGA Talk, we return to the world of 3D fighters with the underrated AM3 arcade to Saturn to PC game Last Bronx. While on the surface, the game is similar to AM2’s efforts, there is a lot that sets it apart. Check out the show as we discuss the development history, the intense storyline and the legacy of Last Bronx!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

Capcom’s Hideaki Itsuno wants to make a new Power Stone on Nintendo Switch


If you were a SEGA Dreamcast fanatic back when the console launched, you probably got to try Capcom’s Power Stone which became one of the consoles best party fighting games. Since both Power Stone games came out on the Dreamcast, the franchise has been mostly dead save for a port on the PSP of the first two games with some extras. But now the Guardian spoke with Capcom game designer Hideki Itsuno about the creation of the game (its turning 20 years old next month!).

Here he talks about the idea of making a Power Stone 3:

“I still get messages from fans about the game. People tweet requests to me to make another Power Stone, which I’d love to do if I got the chance. It would be a particularly great fit for the Nintendo Switch.”

I implore you to check out the great write up by Keith Stuart over on the Guardian, a great nostalgic read and has some nice insight into the development of the game. While we are add it, can we get another Project Justice/Rival Schools as well?

Shenmue III will get a Backer Trial Version in September 2019 on Epic Games Store


It looks like YS NET is now giving us more information on the Shenmue III Trial Version that they promised when the kickstarter launched (if you backed the project at the tier to try it before release). Lots of fans have been upset that YS NET has been pretty hush on the whole ‘beta’ version of the game, but now YS NET says it will be coming out on the second half of September 2019 via the Epic Game Store. The issue here would be that its only for PC, not PlayStation 4? Seems lame for fans who are only playing on PlayStation 4.

According to the site the Shenmue III Backer Trial Version will have a PDF along with the trial download that will guide you through the demo. You play as Ryo in Bailu. It is also confirmed that Trial saves will not transfer over to the full game. The Trial Version will also have a ‘expiration date’, so if you don’t hop on quickly it might expire. The demo is suppose to have at least an hour of gameplay.

Shenmue III is suppose to come out November 19, 2019 on both PlayStation 4 and PC. You know, after all these years.

Sonic Boom Season 1, Volume 1 DVD announced for America – includes action figures!

If you’ve been following SEGAbits for a while, you might have caught on that we’re big fans of physical media. From vinyl records to collector’s edition games, we love stuff we can hold in our hands. When it comes to home video releases, I especially like owning every Sonic the Hedgehog show. From the original anime movie to the third Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog DVD that took years to finally release, I’ve happily bought Sonic content as it released to put up on my ever expanding shelves.

So when Sonic Boom was announced and released to TV, I held out hope that we would see DVD releases. We did end up seeing them, but over in the UK as all of season 1 released in four volumes in 2016. It wasn’t until early 2019 that America saw DVD releases with two 8 episode sets collecting an assortment of 16 season 1 episodes.

But now, it looks like America will finally be seeing season sets, as NCircle Entertainment will release a 26 episode Season 1, Volume 1 Gift Set featuring half of the first season and two packed in action figures of Eggman and Sonic. Interestingly, while TOMY produced the action figures for the series, they have since lost the license. However, the included figures are TOMY sculpts as the toy company’s name is on the back of the box. You can pre-order the Sonic Boom Season 1, Vol. 1 Gift Box on Amazon, and it is currently listed for $24.99. Not bad for 26 episodes and two action figures! If you want to save $10 and drop the figures, there is a $14.99 disc only standard edition as well.

SEGA files trademark for Total War Saga: Troy

Its not surprising seeing another Total War trademark considering their last entry, Total War: The Three Kingdoms, was one of their highest selling titles in a long time. This time SEGA and The Creative Assembly are trademarking Total War Saga: Troy. That’s right, its a new thing SEGA started doing with Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, adding ‘Saga’ as part of the name. Unlike Total War Battles series, these Saga games are being listed as part of the main series of games and not a spin-off.

It seems some people are predicting that this might be the AAA game SEGA was teasing a few days ago. It could be, but SEGA also filed trademarks for ‘Humankind’ and ‘Nights Dream Wheel’. Outside of this, someone from The Creative Assembly took to Reddit to say that the teased AAA game isn’t by their studio. Take it for a grain of salt if you want.

[Via: Nibellion]

SEGA/Atlus Tokyo Game Show 2019 website opens, reveals initial lineup of titles


The annual event Tokyo Game Show is only a month away, and as usual SEGA and Atlus are planning to attend the 2019 event. Now SEGA has released their official website detailing what they are planning. The website at the moment is missing details, such as their lineup of merchandising and their stage schedule, but it does confirm the following titles will appear:

  • Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
  • Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games The Official Video Game
  • Project Sakura Wars
  • Persona 5 The Royal

Note that this isn’t the full lineup, as SEGA/Atlus is likely going to announce more titles these upcoming days and during the show. Tokyo Game Show 2019 is planned for September 12th to September 15th at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier releasing on August 22nd in western territories


Two more SEGA AGES titles are coming overseas later this month on August 22nd, Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier! Both titles will be released in both North America and Europe for the pricing of $7.99 and equivalent. As usual with these SEGA AGES titles, both Puyo Puyo and Space Harrier will come with additional features. SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo will come packed with the addition of counter-clockwise rotation and double rotation similar to later games, along with the rare English arcade version and online play. SEGA AGES Space Harrier meanwhile includes the features from the SEGA 3D version, including 16:9 support and Haya-Oh as the final boss, along with a new Komainu Barrier Attack mode where the titular Komainu protect Harrier from everything except enemy fire. This is on top of the usual settings ranging from different picture options to the ability to map your controller buttons.

Puyo Puyo in particular is significant, since this is the first time the original arcade game has been released in western territories since 1992 (or 2003 if you count that weird N-Gage version). Sorry, no mean bean machines this time!

[Source: Official Website, Twitter]

New gameplay trailer for upcoming Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

You might go bananas once you see the new Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD gameplay trailer. The one-minute trailer shows off some courses and bosses from the original Wii version, in beautiful 1080p and 60 FPS to boot. Since this is a multi-platform release, motion controls have been taken out to give the game a more classic control setup that Monkey Ball is known for. If you pre-order the game, you also get a sticker set of Aiai and his friends. The game is coming out October 29, 2019 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch with a PC Steam release slated for later.

New showcase trailer for SEGA Genesis Mini revealed

SEGA of America’s Youtube channel released a short showcase video or the upcoming SEGA Genesis Mini, which is slated to release next month. In the video it opens with a little “blast from the past”, with 90’s Claymation Sonic from the classic Japanese commercial with the “SEGAAAA” jingle accompanying it. It follows up with a brief showing of the size difference between the original & the mini and what games are to come, including Tetris and Darius. The latter also brings it its’ first North American release, although it is an in-house port by M2 and SEGA of Japan since it was an arcade cabinet originally.

SEGA to show off unannounced AAA project at Gamescom 2019

SEGA has been teasing their Gamescom 2019 line-up which will include stuff we already know including the SEGA Mega Drive Mini (this is a German even) and Catherine: Full Body. One of the things that did surprise us was that they are planning on showing off an announced project at the event as well, which SEGA is billing as a AAA project for unspecified platforms.

So what could this AAA project be? My guess will be the already teased Creative Assembly team-based shooter that was teased all the way back in 2015. Why this instead of something like ‘the next Sonic’ game? Easy, Creative Assembly is one of SEGA’s biggest teams and they are a British developer. Makes sense to show off their upcoming game at Europe’s version of E3. We will find out what it is later this month since Gamescom will be running from August 20-24th.

Update: According to The Creative Assembly’s worker Grace, this isn’t a game from their studio. Could this be CA just playing cute? What do you think?

[Source: SEGA Press]

 

SEGA AGES Columns II releasing on August 8th in Japan


SEGA AGES Columns II The Voyage Through Time has finally got a release date. This game will release on the Nintendo Switch eShop on August 8th, on the Japanese store. As usual it will be priced at
¥925 (roughly $8.70), and will come with an assortment of different features.

For a quick recap, SEGA AGES Columns II will come with the original arcade game, which comes with the two modes Flash Columns and Vs. Columns. Flash Columns tasks you with clearing out a specific flashing gem with the difficulty gradually increasing with each stage, while Vs. Columns allows two players to face off against each other. On top of that, there will be other options available, such as the ability to choose between random graphic changes or a static layout based on the first Columns, a Face-to-Face mode where the 2nd player’s board is flipped 180 degrees for tabletop mode, the option to disable the skulls that force your board to be pushed up when cleared, the first Columns included as a bonus game, and a Jewelry Box section for completionists that has an assortment of bonus unlockables obtainable by playing through the game’s stages.

[Source: Official Website]

Fan Re-Imagines The House of the Dead 2 with Unreal Engine 4

Programmer and YouTube user, MoonGlint, has recreated and re-imagined the arcade classic light gun shooter, The House of the Dead 2, powered by the Unreal Engine 4 with short demonstration game play videos of the first level. It amazes me how fans can recreate classic video games with modern technology. Even the new installment, House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn, uses the Unreal Engine.

You can check out more game play clips after the break. Would you like to see The House of the Dead 1 & 2 reimaigned in Unreal Engine 4 for arcade and consoles? Let us know in the comments below.

Summer of Sonic team launches Kickstarter Campaign for Sonic Adventure Music Experience Live in the UK

If you happen to be a Sonic the Hedgehog fan residing in the UK, the Summer of Sonic team has launched a Kickstarter campaign for an official Sonic Adventure Music Experience live UK performance of music from the Sonic the Hedgehog series Sonic Adventure, 2 and Team Sonic Racing featuring performances by Jun Senoue (guitarist), Takeshi Taneda (long-time bassist for Crush 40) and drummer Act. (Crush 40, TSR Soundtrack drummer), on December 8th 2019 at The Garage, London.

The band will perform music from the Sonic Adventure series and the recently released, Team Sonic Racing, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the SEGA Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure in the west. Their Kickstarter campaign goal is to reach at least £13,500 within it’s 3 week duration.

If you want to attend or support the campaign, be sure to check out their Kickstarter page with more details on the event and tiers you can earn.