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SEGA Technical Institute’s Canceled 16-Bit Game ‘Astropede’ Revealed for the First Time

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SEGA Technical Institute had a short life at SEGA with the team being responsible for games like Kid Chameleon, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Spinball, and a lot of canceled project. Some of these we know about, one that we didn’t know about has made it online for the first time ever. This canceled game was called “Astropede’ and was shared by artist Craig Stitt on the Facebook group ‘SEGA Retro Gamers’

“The only surviving video of ‘Astropede’, a game I pitched and went into production at SEGA (STI) circa 1994. Unfortunately after 14 months it was shelved after being starved to death by a lack of resources. The character had a train of pods with various power ups that would be pulled behind him. If hit, the pods would fly apart similar to Sonic and his rings. (my original intent was to have it be part of the Sonic universe) Somewhere I have a playable prototype… I just have to find it and hope it can be made to work!“

We have some assets that Craig has shared, including this concept art that really makes it seem like a ‘Sonic type’ game (hit the break to see that!), the animation loop on top of the page and he even found a protoype of the game… will he share it online tho?

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Craig Stitt shares his ‘Boomer the Turtle’ designs that were cut from Sonic the Hedgehog 2

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Craig Stitt has been posting a lot of old video game content on the SEGA Retro Gamers Facebook group, if you don’t know Craig Stitt worked at SEGA Technical Insitute on Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Kid Chameleon, Sonic Spinball, Spyro the Dragon and many more games. He was also one of the artist at SEGA Technical Institute that was part of the competition to create Sonic’s buddy, for the sequel, which we all know was won by a Fox we all know as Tails. But did you know that Craig Stitt designed “Boomer” or as the document called him “Boomy” as competition for the orange fox?

“For Sonic 2 we needed a buddy / player two for Sonic. This little guy was my submission. He would have been tough with the shell, but vunerable, needing Sonic’s help, if he got flipped on his back. He would have helped out Sonic by being able to ‘fly’ if Sonic pushed him up to speed. Then Sonic would jump up and ride on his back over lava, spikes etc etc.” – Craig Stitt

When we did notes for the SEGA Talk Sonic the Hedgehog 2 podcast, we talked about “I wonder what Boomer would have looked like” and I love that Craig Stitt posted these documents so I can rest easy. So what you think of Boomer the Turtle?

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SEGA Talk Podcast #50: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992)

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On this, our milestone 50th episode of SEGA Talk, George and Barry look back on the development, release and legacy of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. We cover the game’s unique creation in America, the debut of Miles “Tails” Prower and the comics and cartoon adaptations that took place following the game’s release.

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read 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!

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Did You Know: Sonic the Hedgehog Sneezes When Danger is Near!

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Just as we shared the news that Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu is a virgin, comes another bombshell about a favorite SEGA character. Did you know that Sonic the Hedgehog sneezes when danger is near?

The obscure Sonic fact came up when we posted a couple of weird Sonic the Hedgehog 2 pins on Twitter, one of which appears to have Sonic sneezing on Tails’ butt. We received a reply from @RanenWise who said “It was an early Sonic thing (that’s kinda mentioned now..at times?) that he’d sneeze when danger was approaching. I mainly remember it being in Sonic CD’s intro.”

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SEGA’s President & Chief Publishing Officer Kenji Matsubara resigns

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It seems that SEGA’s President and Chief Publishing Officer from SEGA has resigned this week as it was revealed via a short press release from SEGA-Sammy. The reason for his departure was listed as “personal reasons”, whatever that means. Matsubara held a few roles at SEGA like initially working as CTO for SEGA Network division before he was appointed COO of SEGA Games in 2017. He was named President and Chief Publishing Officer only four months ago, on April 2020 and has already resigned. Not a great look.

Before this Kenji Matsubara worked as CEO for Tecmo Koei and Zynga Japan, so he will most likely find work easy enough after leaving SEGA. What is your thoughts on the sudden departure of Kenji Matsubara?

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Phantasy Star Online 2 launches on Steam on August 5th

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Phantasy Star Online 2 has been available in North America for several months, but only for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. All that changes on August 5th when Phantasy Star Online 2 releases to Steam for PC. Along with the date announcement came a slew of special rewards which allow you to wear costumes and decorations from Half-Life, Team Fortress and Portal. This isn’t the first time SEGA and Valve joined forces, as fans might remember when Renegade Ops and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed crossed paths with Valve franchises.

Read more about the Steam rewards at the PSO2 website, and in the meantime mark your calendars for August 5th!

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Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima present BALAN WONDERWORLD, a new platformer published by Square Enix

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While we’re quite late in covering this, I did think it was necessary to news the reveal of Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima’s project at Square Enix seeing as we had an article about Naka’s Square Enix project last year. BALAN WONDERWORLD is an entirely new 3D action-platformer with hints of NiGHTS into Dreams and classic Squaresoft art styles. As described in the video above, the game features a costume system (of which there are over 80) which gives the player various actions. Different costumes will allow the player to solve the game’s puzzles and progress through the stages.

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figmaPLUS SEGA Consoles collection now available for pre-order – tiny accessories for your Figma action figures!

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If you’re unfamiliar with Figma, Figma is a Japanese action figure line produced by Max Factory and distributed by Good Smile Company. Various anime, movies, video games and even the occasional celebrity have Figma figures, what what’s so cool about them is that they are all the same scale, are super articulated and can mix and match accessories. The figmaPLUS line focuses on accessories and playsets, and of interest to SEGA fans is the figmaPLUS SEGA Consoles collection, which is now available for pre-order!

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Koei Tecmo’s financials suggest Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers is coming west

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You know one thing that companies don’t mess around about, that’s their money. According to the latest Koei Tecmo’s financials presentation, it was listed that Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers would be coming to North America and Europe for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The issue? No release window announced.

While Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers was published by Atlus in Japan, it was developed by Koei Tecmo’s studio Omega Force.

Would be interesting to see if Koei Tecmo or Atlus publishes this title.

[Via: Gematsu]

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SEGA Talk Podcast #49: Gunstar Super Heroes (2005)

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On this episode, we return to a Treasure classic with a look back at the Gunstar Heroes sequel Gunstar Super Heroes! Being our first Game Boy Advance game on the show, we also share our thoughts on Nintendo’s handheld, including the best games and our preferred models. As for Gunstar Super Heroes, we dive into the game’s development, how it compares to the original, and discuss the many elements of SEGA fan service that did and DIDN’T appear in the final product.

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read 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!

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Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Sequel to be released in theaters on April 8, 2022

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[Image by Sonic the Cosplayer]

According to Variety, Paramount Pictures has announced the official date for the sequel to this year’s box office smash for April 8, 2022. That would give the movie enough time to be filmed and go into post-production.

Not much else has been revealed about the movie sequel besides the official date. How do you feel about the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie sequel and what would you like to see in the film? Let us know in the comments below.

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Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis releasing 2021, updating original game system and graphics engine

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Today’s Xbox Game Showcase had a surprise for SEGA fans. What initially looked like episode for Phantasy Star Online 2 turned out to be a complete overhaul to the existing game entitled Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. Dubbed “the latest entry in the series” and released to celebrate the original PSO’s 20th anniversary, the game will update PSO2’s game system and graphics engine and is planned to release on a global scale, including Japan and North America.

The official accounts have said your progress will carry over. The game will release to Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Windows 10 in North America and for Japan it is set for PlayStation 4, Windows PC and the cloud (PC and Switch). More information as we hear it, and in the meantime check out the official website.

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SEGA News Bits: Yakuza: Like A Dragon Gets English Voice Cast, Release Date and More

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Today was a big day for Yakuza: Like a Dragon fans, as SEGA has finally went ahead and given us a big portion of the English voice actors that will be featured, plus we got a release date and several editions of the game being promoted. Check out all the news and catch the conversation as we talk everything Yakuza: Like a Dragon on this episode of SEGA News Bits.

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon announced for PS5, English dub to feature George Takei

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IGN has announced a slew of Yakuza: Like a Dragon news today! First up, the game is confirmed to be coming to PlayStation 5. Not surprising, given the game was previously announced be playable on Xbox Series X. The game is set for a November 2020 release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC with a holiday release to Xbox Series X. The PS5 version will release “at a later date”, however SEGA has confirmed an upgrade path is being planned for the PS5 version to fall in line with the Xbox Series X version’s free upgrade.

You want surprising news? The game will feature an English dub and the cast will include Star Trek actor George Takei as antagonist Masumi Arakawa. Other actors include Andrew Morgado as Koichi Adachi, Greg Chun as Yu Nanba, and Elizabeth Maxwell as Saeko Mukoda.

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