Grab your racket, because on this SEGA Talk Podcast, George and Barry are discussing SEGA Superstars Tennis! Learn about how Sumo Digital decided on tennis for their first Superstars/All-Stars game, and hear our thoughts on the franchise lineup, gameplay and shift to racing.
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 America got three different Yakuza directors from three different Yakuza games that are included in the Yakuza Remastered Collection. They got Daisuke Sato (Yakuza 3 director), Jun Orihara (Yakuza 4 director) and Kazuki Hosokawa (Yakuza 5 director) to sit down and look back on the series’ PlayStation 3 outings.
I really love these director, behind the scene looks into the games and its something that RGG Studios does a lot in Japan leading up to game releases. Glad we are getting the same treatment for this collection in the West. They did hint in the end that they will be doing a separate video on the stories for these games.
The game was designed by Yu Suzuki and had music by the legendary Hiro (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) and Yasuhiro Takagi. It should be a interesting port, I do know that the Mega Drive port wasn’t well received but personally I have only played the arcade version. What do you think of SEGA adding a oddity like G-Loc: Air Battle to their SEGA AGES line-up?
Explore the world of Sakura Wars as SEGA has released a story trailer for the upcoming title showcasing on what players should be expecting in the reboot that retains many of the features that made the genre-defining series such a hit in Japan, including a poetic vision, a strong cast, and a compelling story filled with intrigue, action, and romance!
Here is description of the story, courtesy of the SEGA Press:
“From the large clock tower atop Ginza train station, dominating the city skyline, to the captivating Imperial Theater standing tall at the heart of Tokyo, Sakura Wars exudes a world rich in historical inspiration and enriched with fantastical steampunk technology. The Taisho era represents a time of prosperity and optimism for Japan, an intersection of eastern and western cultures that creates a vibrant framework in which to take on the mantle of Seijuro Kamiyama and bring the Imperial Combat Revue back to glory!
Sakura Wars is set for release in Americas and Europe on April 28th for Playstation 4. You can pre-order a copy on SEGA’s official website for the game and receive a launch edition that will include reversible cover featuring the original Japanese cover art for the game, along with a sticker set featuring the main cast of the game. Click after the break to check out screenshots of the story sections.”
It was 2015 when I posted the four part retrospective of Sega of Japan’s game development. 2015 was the year where they announced a new initiative and went as far as to make their previous corporate divisions their own separate companies. Such as Sega Games, Sega Interactive for arcades and so on (which they are already undoing again in April). Sega Game’s new president, Haruki Satomi, promised that he would right the wrongs of the past, gain back the trust of consumers and also shareholders with their “Road to 2020” initiative. Of course this encompasses the evolution of their Japanese in-house studios, which are arguably the core of Sega.
During the Sakura Wars livestream this morning, Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation (translated as New Sakura Wars the Animation) will be broadcasted in Japan every Friday starting on April 3rd on Tokyo MX 1 at 22:00 JST & BS 11 at 23:00 JST.
This season is truly perfect for Sakura Wars with the new game coming to the West on April 28th. I hope we can watch the anime during the same time it airs in Japan. Hit the jump after the break to see preview clips of an episode featuring the character, Clara and ED credits.
Project GG will be headed by Hideki Kamiya (who directed Bayonetta & The Wonderful 101)
Its the last entry in Platinum Games ‘Hero Trilogy’ which started with Viewtiful Joe and The Wonderful 101 (we forgetting VJ2?)
Will be a ‘big hero’ action game inspired by Ultraman
Will be the first self-published IP by PlatinumGames
Targeting all existing platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and of course PC
PlatinumGames still has two unannounced games and they are new titles; not ports.
Seems like a lot of new information, just surprised we haven’t actually gotten a name for the game. Project GG, well… good game? What do you guys think?
While most of you guys on here probably already own multiple copies of Sonic Generation, you can pick up a free digital version if you own a Xbox console with Xbox Live Gold through Microsoft’s ‘Games with Gold’ program.
Xbox One
Available for the whole month – Batman: The Enemy Within – The Complete Season (normally $14.99)
From March 16 to April 15 – Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (normally $19.99)
Xbox 360
From March 1 to 15 – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (normally $39.99) (plays on Xbox One)
From March 16 to 31 – Sonic Generations (normally $19.99) (plays on Xbox One)
To be quiet honest, its surprising that we haven’t had a ‘remaster’ or ‘re-release’ of Sonic Generation on current generation consoles. Especially on Nintendo Switch considering that the original never came out on a Nintendo console (handhelds don’t count).
If you are a huge rhythm music fan, then we got a epic crossover for you. Hatsune Miku will join Space Channel 5 VR: Funky News Flash! as DLC. We don’t know when this DLC will be released but we do know you will be able to play as Hatsune Miku in the game.
The image above is from Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone, which had a Space Channel 5 costume. Not crazy to believe that this crossover was going to happen since SEGA develops and publishes Hatsune Miku games and owns the Space Channel 5 IP.
We will keep you updated on future news for Space Channel 5 VR. What do you think of Miku making an appearance?
While the build up to GDC 2020 has been steady up to it’s March 16th opening, the official website has been updated with a list of exhibits detailing the latest games from different developers. However when browsing the list of developers and games, one currently unannounced title is listed as “Wonder Boy Universe: Asha in Monster World“. No specifics have been detailed on this title, but the name implies that it will be related to the Mega Drive game Monster World IV and is confirmed to be developed by Studio Artdink. Artdink for reference is a development studio best known for the A-Train series of train simulator titles, along with experimental games such as No One Can Stop Mr. Domino and Aquanaut’s Holiday.
We likely won’t get any official word until GDC 2020 officially opens, but in the meanwhile you can play the original Monster World IV on the SEGA Genesis Mini to pass the time.
We also found out that PlatinumGames has a game announcement on the February 27,2020 issue of Famitsu, which will line up with the ‘second star’ announcement here on their website which teases it for ‘02.26.2020‘.
What do you think PlatinumGames will announce? I personally think this will be their first, 100% owned IP for the company and I think that’s pretty exciting.
DotEmu has released the new character trailer for Streets of Rage 4 by introducing Floyd Iraia, who is the last playable character to be announced for the game and dishes out hard hitting attacks and grappling movesets with his mechanical arms. Here’s is a description of the new character:
“Meet Floyd Iraia, the last Streets of Rage 4 playable character, who dishes out serious damage with his incredibly strong cybernetic arms. Although Floyd’s movement and health recovery are slower than most, he boasts the longest reach among the playable roster and tremendous power, ensuring any combo he puts an enemy through will be devastating.”
Streets of Rage 4 will also feature two co-op mulitplayer options: 2 Player Online and 4 Player Local Co-Op. 4 Player Local Co-Op would be featured for first time in the series.
Streets of Rage 4 will be making its way make its way on to PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Spring 2020.
This past week, George and I were asked to guest on SYFY Wire’s The Fandom Files podcast. The main topic of conversation was our reaction to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and we also talked about the redesign, the overall story of the movie’s development, and our own beginnings in SEGA blogging.
Following up from the previous article, there are more SEGA merchandise revealed at this year’s New York Toy Fair featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.
From Diamond Select’s booth, they are showcasing a statue of “Movie” Sonic on top of Dr. Robotnik Tech and the Ultimate “Classic” Sonic figure with customizable parts. Over at the Jakks Pacific’s booth, the booth has plushes of multiple Sonic the Hedgehog characters including Mighty the Armadillo.
Planning to collect some of the Sonic & SEGA merchandise sometime this year? Let us know in the comments below. Check out images of the merchandise after the break.
