SEGA Forever have published a new video to celebrate the 24th Anniversary of the beloved SEGA Saturn title NiGHTS into dreams…‘s launch in North America.
As well as being a great watch for those looking to learn more about NiGHTS, it has a nice bit of fanservice for those who already love the game to pieces – a glimpse at an unused take on the game’s US boxart, seen at the 1:39 mark!
The scrapped design is certainly an… interesting take on NiGHTS, but we can’t say it getting the axe is something to lament too much. All the same, it’s fantastic to see new discoveries and material unearthed from the depths of SEGA, and even better than this is from an official platform.
For those unaware, SEGA Forever recently transitioned away from being SEGA’s retro mobile brand, and now focuses on the preservation of SEGA’s classic material. As an example of this, the Twitter account has been regularly posting high-resolution assets and renders from old titles, just in case you ever needed the Gain Ground packaging artwork in 4K resolution.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
Back in the day, SEGA music was so beloved that it was frequently performed live by SEGA’s own in-house band, the SEGA Sound Team Band (S.S.T. Band). They gave us some of the most incredible performances of SEGA music the world’s ever known, and in recent years several members of the group actually reformed under the new banner of Blind Spot. Their latest albums include both entirely new original pieces, as well as covers of classic SEGA tunes – and now they’ve announced a fourth album (technically their fifth?) is on the way.
With 12 tracks on offer, Blind Spot IV offers a mix of new and old tracks from beloved composers such as Katsuhiro Hayashi, Koichi Namiki, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and more. In the SEGA department, the album promises remixes of tracks heard in Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and even a new arrangement of the main theme of NiGHTS into Dreams – complete with a fresh vocal track!
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
We love a bit of weird SEGA trivia here at SEGADriven, and this certainly fits that bill!
Very recently, a cuddly soft toy called “Cheerful Usa-Chan” was released in Japan. It seems like it’s a spin-off from another popular product, IWAYA’s “Cheerful Kuma-chan”, and the idea is that it’ll sing kids a lullaby to help them sleep. Which is all well and good, but has absolutely nothing to do with SEGA. Or does it?
Turns out one of the songs included with Cheerful Usa-Chan is none other than a brand new arrangement of “Dreams Dreams”, the main theme of SEGA Saturn cult hit NiGHTS into Dreams! Specifically, it’s a new spin on “Dreams Dreams in Silent Memory”. Composer Tomoko Sasaki goes into detail about the surprising inclusion on her blog – from the sounds of things, she asked SEGA for permission to use the track and they granted it, so you can officially have your kids put to bed by a stuffed rabbit singing old SEGA music at them. The rabbit’s singing for the track is even provided by Sasaki herself! For those unaware, her resume includes Ristar and Burning Rangers, and later on tracks for Namco’s “The iDOLM@STER” series. She even voiced the Chao in Sonic Adventure!
Fortunately Twitter user @mid0_ring0 already got their hands on the plush, and being a NiGHTS fan they’ve provided a video of the new arrangement, after the jump:
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
Some unfortunate news for the musically inclined – several SEGA OSTs that were previously available for streaming on Spotify have suddenly vanished from the service.
SEGA doesn’t appear to have mentioned the removals on any social media accounts or statements, making the removals rather mysterious. It’s a pretty sizeable set of removals too; the affected soundtracks include:
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
While Rodea the Sky Soldier won’t be published in the West by SEGA, the game’s origins lie with ex-SEGA developer Yuji Naka. His new studio Prope developed the original Wii version of the game before it was shelved. The game was then remade for Wii U and 3DS but limited edition versions of the Wii U game will now come with Prope’s original Wii version which varies slightly to the Wii U and 3DS games. The Wii version has a greater score attack focus (similar to Naka’s NiGHTS into dreams…) which is at odds with the Wii U and 3DS’ focus on exploration. You can now watch a large section of Wii gameplay below:
Rodea the Sky Soldier is released in the West on the 25th of September through NIS America. Day one editions of the Wii U version will come with the Wii game as a bonus disc.
First 4 Figures have unveiled a new statue and this time it takes the form of NiGHTS. The statue is modeled on the signature pose NiGHTS pulls on the original game’s title screen but the character is in the costume that was introduced with the game’s sequel, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. The crescent moon also lights up which is quite a lovely little touch.
The NiGHTS statue is limited to 500 pieces worldwide and is available to pre-order now. The entire statue will cost you $234.99 with an initial $20 down-payment. You can go straight to the statue’s entry on First 4 Figures online store by clicking here.
Well how cool is this!? A special edition of the Wii-U version of Sonic: Lost World has surfaced called Sonic: Lost World Deadly Six Edition and it contains DLC that adds NiGHTS into Dreams boss battles!
You can see the NiGHTS characters in action in the new UK trailer below:
I think it’s brilliant that Sonic Team are still so enamoured with the NiGHTS franchise that they’re still referencing it even today. How about a new game now eh?
Prope’s NiGHTS-like Wii and 3DS game Rodea the Sky Soldier is still due for release despite being announced in 2010. We even spoke to Yuji Naka back in 2011 and he confirmed that the finished game had been submitted to Kadowaka Games which meant we all assumed it was almost time to go gold.
Yoshimi Yasuda who is the president of Kadowaka Games has revealed that Kadowaka who are porting the Wii version to the 3DS were having trouble adapting the control scheme. Yasuda also said that the version is about 70% finished and that there will be more information in the near future.
SEGA have dropped the prices on all their digital titles available on XBLA. The sale lasts until the 24th of June. Full details and American pricing below (we will update as we get UK/EU pricing):
Condemned: Criminal Origins (Games on Demand) – $9.99
Crazy Taxi – 400 MS Points
Daytona USA – 400 MS Points
Guardian Heroes – 160 MS Points
Jet Set Radio – 400 MS Points
NiGHTS into Dreams – 400 MS Points
Renegade Ops – 320 MS Points
SEGA Bass Fishing – 160 MS Points
SEGA SuperStars Tennis (Games on Demand) – $9.99
Sonic Adventure – 160 MS Points
Sonic Adventure DX Upgrade – 80 MP
Sonic Adventure 2 – 400 MP
Sonic Adventure 2 — Battle Mode DLC – 120 MP
Sonic CD – 160 MP
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 – 400 MP
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 – 400 MP
Sonic & Knuckles – 160 MP
Sonic the Hedgheog – 160 MP
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – 160 MP
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – 160 MP
Tails Avatar item – 80 MP
Sonic Generations (Games on Demand) – $9.99/£8.99
Sonic Unleashed (Games on Demand) – $9.99
Space Channel 5: Part 2 – 160 MP
The Cave – 600 MP
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown – 400 MP
VF5 Customisation Pack #1 – 400 MP
VF5 Customisation Pack – 400 MP
The sale appears to be North American only. Checks on the UK XBLA show the original prices are still live on this side of the pond.
ORIGINAL STORY
SEGA is having a sale on the Xbox Live Marketplace which affects 5 of their digital-only titles. Check below for the full list of reductions:
NiGHTS into Dreams… – was 800 MSP now 400 MSP
Sonic the Fighters – was 400 MSP now 160 MSP
Fighter Vipers – was 400 MSP now 160 MSP
Virtua Fighter 2 – was 400 MSP now 160 MSP
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown – was 1200 MSP now 400 MSP
While it’s not made apparent on the SEGA Blog, this appears to be a worldwide sale and not just North American only. More on this as we get it.
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