SEGA Talk #21: Super Monkey Ball (2001)

On this episode of SEGA Talk we look back on a very important game in SEGA’s third party era: Super Monkey Ball! We discuss the arcade original Monkey Ball, the console port and its sequel, the development history, gameplay and the future of the franchise.

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Shenmue III will not have a Steam key option on launch for backers


Poor YS Net has upset some PC fans when they announced a few months ago at E3 2019 that Shenmue III would be Epic Store Exclusive. This lead to people getting upset that after the Kickstarter was done, the studio asked fans what PC service they would want keys on and most people said Steam; it seemed that the studio got a better deal from Epic Games Store.

YS Net has confirmed that there will be four versions of Shenmue III which includes the PlayStation 4 physical, digital and of course the same for PC. But for PC both physical and digital will come with Epic Game Store. But if you want the game on Steam, there will be an option for it if you select ‘delayed steam key’, which means you will have to wait about a year from launch to be able to play it. Yeah, this will obviously piss off backers, especially those that paid extra (100+) for a beta they never got! You can also change the platform to PlayStation 4 if you don’t want to deal with all this nonsense.

But don’t worry, if you are angry YS Net is allowing users to get refunds for Shenmue III backers that expected a Steam Key day one. They still don’t have a way of doing it and will update us on how to request a refund soon. Here is the statement after the jump:

SEGA announces Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega 39’s for Nintendo Switch

SEGA has taken a small break from Hatsune Mike Project Diva games over the years, with the last one coming out in 2017 with Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone DX (a arcade port). It seems that SEGA is back with the announcement of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Mega 39’s for the Nintendo Switch. SEGA promised that the game will come out early 2020 over in Japan.

The trailer confirms that the game will feature 101 songs (91 songs from Hatsune Miku x Sega project, including Mirari spinoff songs and 10 new songs for this game including the theme) are making into the game, over 300 costumes and full cast including: Rin/Len, Luka, Kaito, and Meiko.

If you own Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone and DX, you will be able to play all the new Mega 39’s songs via a DLC update that will hit in 2020.

[Via: Siliconera]

SEGA is partnering up with existing subscription services, not launching their own

GameDaily.Biz had a big interview with people from SEGA Europe including Anna Downing, Vice President of Marketing and John Clark, Executive Vice President.

One of the big questions asked to John Clark was the big focus this year on streaming services from publishers. If you didn’t know, SEGA used to be in the forefront of the ‘Netflix style’ streaming service way back in the early 90s with the launch of SEGA Channel.

“From our point of view, we work with partners, and we’re not considering our own platform or our own subscription service, at this stage we don’t know really what subscription means for the gaming audience. We’ve talked to all the partners that you mentioned. We are part of the plans for Game Pass. And that’ll give us a lot of knowledge. We’ve announced Football Manager as part of that. When it launches, we’ll be able to understand how the gaming subscription audience interacts with the title and if subscription is a viable way forward for the games industry. We prefer, at this stage, to be working with channel partners who are investing their time and money to try and understand the audience what the audience wants.” John Clark, SEGA Europe Excutive Vice President.

What are your thoughts on SEGA Europe focusing more on partnering up with existing services like Game Pass instead of launching their own service like EA, Ubisoft?

Wave Master announces House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn Original Sound Tracks

Wave Master, known for developing soundtracks for numerous SEGA games, recently made an announcement on Twitter that the sound development team will be releasing House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn Original Sound Tracks sometime next month with more official information to be announced later.

I did a arcade review on House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn and I can tell you the soundtrack is really good. Few good examples is that each boss has their own music track and the soundtrack composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi (Hiro) who has also composed music for Outrun, Space Harrier, and Afterburner.

We’ll keep you updated on this article once the official release date is announced.

Panzer Dragoon Remake getting physical release, coming out before March 2020

According to the Polish blog Strefain, Forever Entertainment was surprised at how positive a reaction the gameplay of the Panzer Dragoon Remake got at Nintendo’s E3 stage show. The article does mention some good tidbits of information including that the company wants to release a remake (seems they want to be a company known for remakes of classic IPs) every 12 to 18 months. The company has also confirmed that Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei is already in production.

One troubling note within the article is that the developer MegaPixel Studio has said to have a small budget and that they need to sell units from the production to start earning profits, but didn’t say how money units they needed to sell. They did confirm that Panzer Dragoon Remake is suppose to be shipped before March 2020, at least that is the plan. It seems some sites posted it was coming this winter because of a fake pre-order. We also found out that Panzer Dragoon Remake will be getting a physical release. As of right now its only on the Nintendo Switch, but the company didn’t say it was exclusive.

Outside of that it does say that Forever Entertainment is preparing a trailer with fan reactions.

Review: Judgment (PS4) Back to Kamurocho, With A New Perspective


Judgment is an open world action and adventure game that takes place in Kamurocho, the same setting from the Yakuza series, where you play as Takuyuki Yagami, a former lawyer who later becomes a private detective after a tragic event involving a previous case. Now Yagami must take on a gruesome serial murder case involving a mysterious killer that is gouging the eyes of his yakuza victims. As you take on the case, you’ll be in for a journey where you’ll make use of your detective skills to not only solve the mysterious behind this case but also take on side cases for the residences of Kamurocho, while enjoying the mini games during your spare time.

SEGA announces SolSeraph, ActRaiser inspired game with Yuzo Koshiro involved

SEGA really kept this digital title under wraps, Sol Seraph is a brand new title by ACE Team (Rock of Ages, Zeno Clash) which will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on July 10th for only $14.99! Above you can check out the debut trailer for the game.

If you check out the gameplay in the trailer above, you would probably agree that it seems like this game is directly inspired by the 1990 platformer/building simulator game on the SNES, ActRaiser. Unsurprisingly Yuzo Koshiro who worked on the soundtrack to ActRaiser is involved with SolSeraph. he will be doing the theme song!

What do you guys think about SEGA publishing a spiritual successor to ActRaiser? you excited for this game come next month?

First Gameplay look at Project Sakura Wars with new and returning characters revealed

SEGA had recently streamed its first “Sakura Wars Imperial Theater Propaganda Department Report” official broadcast earlier today showing off introducing a returning character and brand new ones such as Sumire Kanzaki, Kaoru Rindou, Komachi Ooba, and Reiji Shiba, as well as the locations in the Great Imperial Theater and more.

Additionally, Sega announced that it is now accepting registration for the “Imperial Combat Revue: Support Division.” By signing up, users can receive the latest information on Project Sakura Wars by e-mail. Additionally, after the game is released, subscribers will be sent a redeem code to download a Project Sakura Wars original PlayStation 4 theme.

Project Sakura Wars is due out for PlayStation 4 this winter in Japan, and in spring 2020 in North America and Europe. For a closer look at the characters and screenshots of the game, be sure to click the link after this break.

[Source: Gemetsu]

SEGABits At E3 2019: Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Hands-On Preview

Although the game has already been out worldwide, Persona Q2 is one of the last games to be released on the Nintendo 3DS. SEGA and ATLUS usually has a demo every year to promote a title that may not get a whole lot of recognition. And while Persona is one of the companies’ fastest growing series in terms of popularity, I would be easy to miss this title on a dying handheld system. However, Persona and RPG fans alike should dust off their 3Ds’s one more time to check out this unique adventure. Click the jump to find out more about the 5-minute hands-on demo.

SEGA AGES Space Harrier releasing on June 27th in Japan

SEGA of Japan has finally revealed when SEGA AGES Space Harrier will release. The game is slated for a June 27th release date in Japan, for the price of ¥925 (roughly $8.50) on the Nintendo Switch eShop. As a refresher, SEGA AGES Space Harrier will feature most of the content from the 3DS version, including having 16:9 aspect ratio support and the inclusion of the Master System exclusive final boss Haya-Oh. But it will also have new features on top of that, including a new Komainu Barrier Attack mode where Komainu will protect Harrier from most obstacles, a special border meant to emulate the environment of an arcade, and the ability to hold the Joy-Cons sideways to mimic the arcade button layout of the original machine.

On top of SEGA AGES Space Harrier, remember that SEGA AGES Virtua Racing and SEGA AGES Wonder Boy in Monster Land are also planned to release on the same day for international fans, so when you get the chance try to get all three titles!

[Source: Official Website]

Yakuza Kenzan could get a Kiwami remake teases producer

Let’s start this article with a big old Tim Taylor grunt because we got Yakuza Kenzan back in the news. If you never heard of this Yakuza series spin-off, its a samurai themed Yakuza game that features characters from historical Japan’s Edo period and follows legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi (played by Kiryu of course).

In an event in Taipei, Yakuza producer Daisuke Sato was there to celebrate the release of Yakuza 5 PS4 port over in China, which now means the whole Yakuza main series has been released in the region (when are we getting those Yakuza PS4 ports?). At this event people got to ask questions about the future of the franchise.

The following questions were brought up about a possible future Kiwami style remakes. Via Siliconera: