Toshihiro Nagoshi talks about why SEGA pulled Judgment sales, no sequel planned

SEGA’s Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi talked more about why he voted to pull Judgment from Japanese store shelves after actor Pierre Taki was arrested on a cocaine charge.

During the latest Sega Nama stream, Nagoshi went more into why he voted to delay the game he worked as a director on:

“There is no correct way to deal with the situation. In the end, I also cast my vote for halting sales. Some thought and pointed out “This is going too far” and “It’s unrelated to the game itself,” and I don’t think those opinions are unreasonable either—I can see it from both sides. So when it comes to why I voted for halting sales, it’s because it was just after release. If it was an older game released a considerable amount of time ago, our priorities may have been different, but when it was something that had been released only several months prior, I think it’s a different conversation.”
He also talked about news outlets discussing that SEGA already had Judgment 2, 3 planned out which he said:

New Sakura Wars to ‘reveal a little bit’ at SEGA Fes 2019

It seems that Japanese SEGA fans can’t wait to see the new upcoming Sakura Wars title, which is being titled right now ‘New Sakura Wars‘ (tentative title). Is it surprising? Not really considering it was the Japan’s most requested IP back in 2016 by a large margin.

While back SEGA’s Chief Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi suggested that we would get a reveal during April 2019, but SEGA Fes 2019 takes place between March 30 to 31st… which is cutting it close. This is what he had to say during the latest SEGA Nama broadcast:

“People have been saying things like, ‘Let me see it!’ and ‘What’s going on?,’ but we’re going to reveal a little bit [at Sega Fes 2019],”Toshihiro Nagoshi
Its going to be interesting to see what they show off at SEGA Fes and what they will keep for its April unveiling. Maybe they’ll show off some art assets and wait for April to show off gameplay? What do you think they’ll show off in a few days?
[Source: Gematsu]

Team Sonic Racing mobile port revealed as Sonic Racing joins Apple Arcade lineup


Apple’s newly announced streaming game service Apple Arcade features titles from a variety of studios and developers, and unsurprisingly SEGA is one of many on the list. SEGA has long been a supporter of Apple’s mobile game services, with Super Monkey Ball being an App Store launch title. Now, SEGA will be bringing Team Sonic Racing to mobile with Sonic Racing as a launch title for the service when it debuts this fall. With the “Team” dropped from the title, we have to wonder if the game will lack the team mode which is the backbone of the console version. Interestingly, this also makes the previously leaked 3D ChuChu Rocket mobile game more of a legitimate possibility. Both games appeared as Facebook ads earlier this month. More information as we hear it!

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo releasing on March 28th in Japan


A lot going on with SEGA’s SEGA AGES series. While people in western territories will be enjoying Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground on March 28th, fans in Japan will be instead be enjoying SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo on the same day.

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo is based on the arcade version, with several enhancements available. In addition to the familiar blob popping puzzle fun from the original, players also have the addition of an optional double rotation feature that was absent from the original arcade version, online multiplayer, and most interestingly the inclusion of the extremely rare English arcade version that changes most of the names and the voice clips. SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo is slated for a price of ¥925 (roughly $8.50), so if you have spare yen, maybe pick this up along with the aforementioned SEGA AGES Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Gain Ground titles.

[Source: Official Website]

Persona 5 The Royal officially revealed, teases new female character and more information in April

Atlus of Japan has officially revealed the long rumored Persona 5-related game, a seemingly new game titled Persona 5 The Royal likely planned for the Playstation 4. Not much new information about the game itself has been revealed, but the trailer puts heavy emphasis on a new female character. Based on the very few pieces of information, said character is a first year student who apparently resents the Phantom Thieves, feeling that they don’t actually solve the problems they claim to being fixing. What her exact role in the game is currently unknown.

However, this ties into another rumor that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will introduce a female counterpart to Joker, based on data mining finding code talking about “Jane” as an alternative costume and having a ponytail, the latter notably matching with the design of the new female character teased. Atlus is also promising more information about Persona 5 The Royal on April 24th, which is also coincidentally the same month when Joker is planned to be available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A possible simultaneous reveal? Well whatever your stance is, Persona 5 The Royal is already shaping up to be an interesting direction in the Persona series.

[Source: Official Website]

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Sonic X complete series on SDBD arriving in late May!

Discotek Media announced today on their Facebook that they’ll be bringing the complete Sonic X series to SD Blu-ray on May 28th 2019. All 78 episodes will be available in standard definition on 2 Region A Blu Ray discs with English language dub and optional closed captioning in English. Sonic X’s was SEGA’s second attempt in bringing Sonic to the world of animation and it was highly successful for the publisher’s animated subsidery TMS Entertainment who said by 2007 it became their best selling anime abroad. Fans of the series can pre-order the title from Rightstuf for the discounted pre-order price of $45.47 (From the usual $69.95)

Sonic X aired over 3 seasons and started off with original storylines before adapting several of Sonic’s game adventures.

[Source: Discotek Media Facebook]

No Western delay for Judgment as SEGA opts to replace Pierre Taki

There was good news for those waiting for Ryu Ga Gotoku’s latest title Judgment today as SEGA confirmed on twitter that the PlayStation 4 detective adventure is still set to hit Western shores on June 25th 2019. There was some worries that Pierre Taki’s arrest on hard drugs charges was going to delay the game but the publisher came out today to assure fans the game will still be arriving on time. On twitter SEGA had this to say:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the character model and Japanese voice for the character of Kyohei Hamura will be adjusted for the Western release of Judgment, launching on June 25, 2019. Screenshots and trailers featuring Hamura have been temporarily removed from all of SEGA’s official channels. Updated versions of these materials will be made available at a later date.

The bad news is obviously Taki will no longer be part of this game due to his run in with the law. If you’re familiar with Taki’s work how does this make you feel, or if you think of a suitable replacement, why not drop a message in our comment section?

SEGA News Bits: Retro SEGA Games Survey Analysis

SEGA of America recently released a survey, which you can take here, and it includes a bunch of classic retro non-Sonic SEGA franchises. Everything from Shining to Jet Set Radio to Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star Online. What does this mean? On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry break the survey down and speculate, analyze and yes… react. Enjoy!

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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.

A Certain Magical Virtual-On digital and physical sales temporarily halted in Japan

For Japanese players out there, you might of remembered a video game called A Certain Magical Virtual-On, an unusual crossover between SEGA’s Virtual-On IP and Dengeki Bunko’s A Certain Magical Index IP released in 2018 last year for the Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita. Well for those that still want to try it, you might be much more hard pressed to obtain a copy, as SEGA of Japan has temporarily halted production of physical copies and pulled the game from digital stores for “various reasons”. Though they never specified what these reasons are, the most likely explanation is that contracts with using the A Certain Magical Index IP might be expiring, meaning that SEGA legally cannot distribute A Certain Magical Virtual-On until the situation is fixed.

Though A Certain Magical Virtual-On is being pulled from the market, SEGA of Japan has noted that this will have no impact on the production of both the three Virtual-On ports and the twin stick controller by TANITA. This further adds evidence that the reason for the sudden pull might be copyright related.

[Source: SEGA of Japan / Gematsu]

Google Stadia takes shots at SEGA Dreamcast before GDC reveal


The picture above was Google’s GDC advertisement to what would be the reveal of the Google Stadia, a Google streaming box that will allow you to steam your games at ‘4k 60fps’. The photo that was posted by Nibellion shows off failed gaming products including the NES Power Glove, the famous Atari E.T. and lastly the legendary Dreamcast.

While I don’t want to wish bad omens on Google’s Stadia gaming entry, I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to have half the users of SEGA’s Dreamcast which sold close to 10 million units in about 2 years. But what are your thoughts on this and Google’s gaming entry?

2/2021 Update: Why tack on an update for a 2 year old article? Several comments are saying this is fake news, that we need to retract it, that this is photoshopped, etc. This is a real photo, as you can see from this Tweet showing two angles of the E.T. game on display. What is likely is that later in the event, the E.T. and PlayStation swapped places. But the point stands that the above photo is real and this did happen. So… NO RETRACTION!

Yakuza 5 for PlayStation 4 launching in Japan on June 20

While we are still waiting for SEGA West to announce release dates for Yakuza 3, 4 and 5; Japan is already finishing up their releases of the PlayStation 4 ports. Yakuza 5, the last of these ports is slated to release on June 20, 2019.

Its going to be interesting to see what SEGA West will do with these titles, especially a entry like Yakuza 4 which replaced one of the main actors due to him being accused of using cocaine.

[Via: Gematsu]

SEGA AGES Virtua Racing slated for Spring 2019 release, multiplayer information revealed


After several months of silence, SEGA has dropped new information regarding to SEGA AGES Virtua Racing in the latest issue of Famitsu. The main bulk of the new information is regarding to the game’s multiplayer. SEGA AGES Virtua Racing will support both local and online multiplayer, the latter notable due to it being the first online-supported multiplayer title in the SEGA AGES line-up that isn’t related to a puzzle game. For online multiplayer, players will be restricted to one vs. one matches, while for local multiplayer people will have the option to play up to 8 players and the option to change the amount of laps between 5 and 20. Local multiplayer will use the “old-school” style of displaying all the racers, using a classic split-screen approach.

In addition, it’s revealed that SEGA AGES Virtua Racing will be slated for a Spring 2019 release date in Japan. However, due to SEGA’s track record of these SEGA AGES titles being delayed, expect a summer release date instead. No other information regarding to a pricing or release dates outside of Japan have been revealed.

[Source: GematsuRyokutya2089]

SEGA posts survey asking fans for feedback on Sonic the Hedgehog, Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, Phantasy Star, & more


If you have been like me, sitting around and waiting for SEGA to ask for our opinion on how they’ve been handling the Phantasy Star franchise; then you are in luck! SEGA has tweeted out asking for fans to give them feedback on their on-going and some legacy brands. You can take the survey here.

This survey is also good for the future direction of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, considering it was announced that the next Sonic the Hedgehog game has already begun production.