CBS All Access making a documentary limited series based on Blake J. Harris’ Console Wars book

CBS All Access, a CBS owned streaming platform, will be doing a limited series of documentaries based around Blake J. Harris’ Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation book and its source material. We were lucky enough to interview Blake J. Harris back when the book first released, there was already talk of companies wanting to do projects based on the book. It’s a great interview.

The featured documentary will be partnered with Legendary Television Studios and Oscar-winning documentation Doug Blush. The project will be directed by Blake J. Harris and Jonah Tulis and will be executive produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s company. One interesting bit is that Julian Rosenberg from Circle of Confusion will be producing, this is a company that was in talks to adapt SEGA IP properties to TV and film a few years back.

If you haven’t read Console Wars, you can check out our review here. Basically, pick it up, its good. Will you be tuning in to watch the show on CBS All Access?

[Source: Deadline]

SEGA Talk #23: Shinobi (1987)

On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry knuckle up and kick back to the 80s to discuss SEGA’s ninja arcade classic Shinobi! We discuss the game’s development, the fascination with ninjas and the many ports the game received.

Make sure to leave us a positive five star review on iTunes, it always helps!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories played at the end and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Play Music – RSS – Download]

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!

SEGA Mega Drive Mini delayed until October in Europe

SEGA Europe has announced that due to “unavoidable logistical challenges”, the SEGA Mega Drive Mini would miss the worldwide release date of September 19th and would now release on October 4th. SEGA Europe also said “We are committed to a successful launch for consumers in all territories, and this step will ensure we can meet demand and fulfill all the individual pre-orders and retail orders in Europe and the Middle East at the same time. Customers in those regions are still able to preorder from participating retailers and those who have already preordered will only have to wait an extra two weeks for their little box full of retro magic.”

Some are speculating Brexit has something to do with it, which will undoubtably have an impact on SEGA Europe in many other ways. What are your thoughts on the two week delay?

Project Sakura Wars Release Date announced for Japan and more info on gameplay

SEGA has finished their recent Sakura Wars Imperial Theater Propaganda Department Report stream by showcasing character theme songs, new characters (Shanghai Kagekidan members, Shaolong and Yui), and a battle system vastly different from the original Sakura Wars games.

While the previous entries used a traditional turn-based battle system, Project Sakura Wars seems to use a different approach with more of a platforming and hack/slash combat style game play. You can check out the game play in action here.

SEGA has also announced that the game will be released in Japan on December 12, 2019 with pre-orders to be available with a special PS4 Theme, and the limited edition will have a soundtrack with over 60 songs from the whole series, and an artbook.

A upcoming fan event will also take place on August 21st for Japanese players to get their first hands on Project Sakura Wars. Check out screenshots of the new characters and battle system right after the break!

Cathrine: Full Body demo out now in the Americas and Europe

If you have been waiting to give Catherine: Full Body a try, maybe because you missed the original release or because you just missed the franchise, the demo is on PSN now in the Americas and Europe. The demo is 4.97GB in size.

Catherine: Full Body is set to launch in the Americas and Europe on September 3rd only on PlayStation 4. Who’s picking up a copy?

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Shin Yakuza game details coming August 29th!

Yakuza fans have been very interested in seeing where the franchise is heading following the release of Yakuza 6 and the studio’s detour with the don’t-call-it-a-spin-off Judgment. Well it looks like the wait is just a little bit longer, as Famitsu has revealed details on the upcoming game will be revealed on August 29th at a press conference. Known as Shin Ryu ga Gotoku or Shin Yakuza (“shin” meaning “new”), the game will be developed by the team behind Yakuza 6 and Yakuza 0 and not the Judgment team and will feature a new protagonist named Ichiban Kasuga.

On our SEGA News Bits videos, we mused that Ichiban appears to be the reverse of Kazuma both in clothing colors and attitude, and he acts a bit like Goro Majima. We’re excited to learn more about the upcoming game, and don’t forget to check back here on August 29th for all the details revealed!

Youtuber “Balena Productions” releases statement on troubling situation

Steve Page, creator of Balena Productions and various SFM videos such as Christmas with Sonic and Sonic Zombies, has released a statement about his current situation with Youtube. According to the Balena Productions Discord chat, Page said that half of his ads with disabled on his videos and has tried to work it out with his channel manager, only to have Youtube say that his videos are “working as intended”.

Steve is one of the very first Youtubers that I’ve watched, even back to the SonicDood3 days. It breaks my heart to see someone who wanted to follow his passion and get so far, only for the Youtube guidelines and algorithms to take hold of his channel unfairly. Source Film isn’t an easy thing to do and takes a lot of time, but the quality that holds up is why I keep coming back. All we ask here at SEGABits is to at least show some support. I know that the community is strong and can hopefully get Steve, his girlfriend Riana, right-hand man Apoc Hedgie, and others back up to where they need. Click the link to find out more about the situation and how you can help in any way you can.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD gameplay revealed via pre-order bonus footage

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, set for release on October 29 on PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One and later on PC, was announced with a launch trailer lacking any gameplay footage. Now, thanks to some overseas pre-order listings, we have a look at the game in action and the monkey’s wearing branded shirts and rolling in branded balls. The clips are brief, but give a good idea of how the game will look compared to the Wii original.

On the topic of the pre-order content, Monkey Ball series is no stranger to product placement. The first game featured Dole stickers on all the in-game bananas.

Two Point Hospital releasing to PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch in late 2019

SEGA has announced that the PC game Two Point Hospital, released August 2018 by Two Point Studios, will be receiving a physical and digital console release later this year! PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners can expect all the new features added to the PC version post-launch, as well as expansions including “Bigfoot” and “Pebberley Island”. It’s great to see SEGA PC titles making their way to consoles, and here’s hoping it is a sign of things to come!

After the break, check out the full press release.

SEGA files trademark for ‘Nights Dream Wheel’ in Japan

SEGA has just filed a trademark for the name “Nights Dream Wheel” in Japan, of course we don’t know if there is a new ‘NiGHTS into Dreams…’ game in development, but it seems that SEGA is planning on doing something with the IP?

As fans around the world know, NiGHTS has a unique way that Sonic Team used to spell it (all caps, with the “i” being lowercase), sadly the trademark page has the name filed as all caps (which I think is normal for all trademarks?). The last time we heard of the IP was when SEGA re-released the game on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in October 2012.

What do you think this could be? For some reason to me it sounds like it could be some sort of mobile or pachinko type machine, but we shall see. I mean we are getting the return of Super Monkey Ball later this year, so maybe we could see the return of NiGHTS?

[Update: According to people online the trademark is for 家庭用テレビゲーム (Home TV Game), ROMカートリッジ (ROM Cartridge) and 光ディスク (Optical Disk)]

[Via: Gematsu]

Project Sakura Wars Battle System Gameplay to debut in official live stream on July 25th

SEGA will be hosting a second live stream of the ‘Sakura Wars: Imperial Theater Propaganda Department Report’, and will demonstrate the battle segments of the game and more public information on Project Sakura Wars. The live stream will premiere on July 25th from 20:00 JST to 21:30 JST (4am-5:30am PST) on YouTube and Periscope.

The stream will feature:

– Tetsu Katano (Project Sakura Wars producer)
– Nao Yue (SEGA, director of SEGA Games Corporation)
– Mami Yamashita (assistant MC)

If you can’t make it to the stream, SEGA will have it uploaded to their YouTube archives and we’ll keep you posted on more news regarding Project Sakura Wars as they come by.

Fan-made open beta of Sonic Runners underway

2015 was an interesting year for Sonic. Before the ignition that started with the 25th anniversary party, the Sonic Mania hype, and SEGA Forever, we were gifted as with a few lovely mobile apps for SEGA to dip their toes into the market. With Sonic Jump and Sonic Dash being both moderate and raving successes respectfully, it was time that Sonic Team took a slightly different approach to the next mobile game, leading to Sonic Runners. However, within over a year of its launch, the game was shut down. Now fans have worked their magic again to revive the long-forgotten game app, which was a favorite among the community. Click the jump to find out more.

SEGA Talk #22: Rez (2001)

On this SEGA Talk, George and Barry discuss a game that has been requested quite a bit by our audience: 2001’s musical rail shooter Rez. Created by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, this synesthesia inspired game has a very interesting development history, which we delve into. We also cover the various ports and other works by Mizuguchi.

Make sure to leave us a positive five star review on iTunes, it always helps!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories played at the end and more!

[iTunes – Stitcher – YouTube – Play Music – RSS – Download]

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!

Sonic & Tails to guest star in OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes Cartoon

Cartoon Network released a new trailer for an upcoming episode of OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes at their panel during San Diego Comic Con 2019. The episode titled “Let’s Meet Sonic” will be featuring special guest appearances by Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails with Roger Craig Smith and Collen O’Shaughnessey confirmed to reprise their roles as the unbreakable duo and will premiere on Cartoon Network on Sunday, August 4, at 4:45pm (PT/ET).

OK K.O. Let’s Be Heroes follows the titular character, K.O., and his efforts to become the world’s greatest hero while working at Gar’s Bodega along with his friends, Enid and Radicles, and protecting their home, Lakewood Plaza.

Want to see the trailer in action, be sure to click the link after the break.

SEGA AGES Shinobi coming to Nintendo Switch

SEGA of Japan recently made an announcement that the classic arcade version of Shinobi will be coming soon to the SEGA AGES line up for the Nintendo Switch in Japan with a release date undecided at the moment.

Debuting on the SEGA System 16 arcade hardware, Shinobi is a side scrolling action and platforming game featuring Joe Musashi as he uses ninja martial arts and weapons to attack enemies of the Zeed Organization while saving the children of the Oboro Clan. In addition, you can use the killing Ninjutsu technique to wipe out the enemies in the screen and encounter bosses appears at the end of each mission with extraordinary battles such as a helicopter carrying a ninja army and a huge computer protected by a Buddha statue.

We will keep you posted on more information for SEGA AGES Shinobi once a release date and price has been announced for both regions.

[Source: Official Website]