SEGA is having yet another organisational shift, as the start of the new fiscal year looms. From April 1st, corporate functions will be integrated between the SEGA SAMMY Holdings group (aligning the operations of SEGA and Sammy more, from what we understand), and there’ll be some staff shifting about too. Perhaps none more eye-catching than Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, who’ll be stepping back from his role as SEGA’s CCO (that’s Chief Creative Officer) and into a Creative Director role.
The corporate changes aren’t anything surprising and are fairly normal around the start of a new fiscal year, and it might not even mean a whole lot to the average SEGA fan; but SEGA’s getting it out of the way quite early, and Nagoshi stepping back is at least somewhat of a surprise. He’s certainly had a bumpy couple of years; with his revelation in 2019 that he’d had heart surgery, and the furore he kicked off in 2020 after managing to insult a pro Puyo Puyo player live on air. Either way, we do wonder if this could mean Nagoshi gets closer to the games being developed at SEGA again, because that would obviously be no bad thing.
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.
Tags: sega japan, sega sammy, Toshihiro Nagoshi Posted in News | Comments Off on SEGA Reshuffling Management And Structure Again, Toshihiro Nagoshi Steps Down as CCO And Becomes Creative Director
Roger Craig Smith’s tenure voicing SEGA’s beloved mascot Sonic the Hedgehog has come to a somewhat abrupt end, as he’s announced through Twitter that after 10 years, he’s moving “onward to new zones.”
It’s certainly a surprise; for the past decade, Smith’s voice has become synonymous with the hedgehog for an entire generation of young fans. The older generations couldn’t seem to agree, but for our money he was probably the most consistently solid English voice Sonic’s had to date.
Should this mean we won’t be hearing Smith in the next Sonic game, it’d mean his final role as Sonic wasn’t actually a Sonic game; he recently voiced the blue blur in Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, as part of a recent content update.
It goes without saying, but we wish Smith all the best in whatever’s next for him. For many Sonic fans, now the question is – who’s next? Unsurprisingly, Ben Schwartz is a name popping up quite a lot on Twitter right now, after his stellar perfomance as Sonic’s movie counterpart – but only time will tell.
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.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 will be making its long-awaited PC debut on March 23rd, as that’s when the game will be coming to Steam.
The game’s Steam page doesn’t have pre-orders open right now, but we expect it won’t be long now until they are. The trailer’s description also confirms the recent content update will be included, as well as the upcoming ones. On top of that, the next content update for the game is set to be showcased on a Japanese Puyo stream at the start of February, and we suspect Western announcements won’t be far behind.
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.
The upcoming remake of Monster World IV, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, has received a new trailer and a fresh round of details to go along with it.
The trailer is notable as is showcases a fair improvement over the previous ones; Asha’s animations appear to have been reworked, and on the whole it looks a bit nicer( you can also search about photorealistic animation here)The latest press release makes particular mention that the developers have been taking on feedback, and given the frosty reception to the initial showings, it’s sure looking like it.
The trailer also gives us more of the Japanese voice acting being added to the game, as well as a new Q2 2021 release window. There’s also a reaffirmation that physical copies of the game will include the original Mega Drive title on a separate cartridge for Nintendo Switch, and as a download for PS4; Gematsu reports that this version will now be available at retail, whereas previously it seemed like it’d be exclusive to Strictly Limited, with only 3000 copies being made.
Japan has received a more solid release date of April 22nd, and will also be getting physical versions; their Special Pack will include two artbooks.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is launching for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 later this year.
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.
— みどりぷよ（ぷよぷよシリーズ公式）『ぷよぷよテトリス２』好評発売中！ (@puyopuyo20th) January 14, 2021
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2’s first major update has been released, and it brings along with it 4 new characters. Alongside fan-favourite characters such as Lidelle, Ms Accord and Ocean Prince from the Puyo Puyo Fever titles, Sonic the Hedgehog himself has joined the Puyo Tetris battlefield – and it’s not a mod this time!
Other additions include a raid-style boss battle mode, inspired by a similar feature in Puyo Puyo Chronicle. You can earn Skill Battle cards not available through Adventure Mode by teaming up with other players to take on boss characters. Speaking of Skill Battle, the Sonic-themed cards have now been added into the main game, too.
There’s also four new music tracks, to go along with the new characters; including Tropical Resort, from Sonic Colours.
This… certainly came out of nowhere. We suspect this is what SEGA Europe were teasing for tomorrow’s stream, in which case they weren’t kidding about it being special. Currently only the Japanese announcement is available, but our Playstation 4 downloaded the new update, and Sonic and company are indeed present and accounted for.
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.
Upcoming Monster World IV remake Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World will be getting a few physical editions of varying complexity, from Strictly Limited Games.
The contents of each pack vary; there’s the regular edition which simply gets you a physical copy of the game for either Nintendo Switch or Playstation 4 (there is no physical option for the PC version), followed by the Collector’s Edition which comes with the entire kitchen sink – including your very own squishable Pepelogoo. Finally there’s the Mega Collector’s Edition, which has the contents of the CE as well as some more extras on top; including a sticker, pin badge, and even an exclusive statue of Asha and Pepelogoo.
Most notably though, all physical versions will include the original Mega Drive version of Monster World IV, ported to the respective platform. For Switch owners, it’ll be included on the cartridge, while PS4 owners will receive a download code for the MD title.
According to Gematsu, pre-orders will open later today. They also have a detailed run-down of what each edition contains. If you want one you’ll have to act though; even the regular edition is limited.
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.
Rings? Check. Sneakers? Check. Speed? SONIC. SEGA’s legendary video game icon Sonic the Hedgehog races onto Netflix in a new 3D animated series from @SEGA, @WildBrainHQ and @ManOfActionEnt premiering in 2022. pic.twitter.com/JQYTYU6uPo
Netflix have announced a new 3D animated series based on Sonic the Hedgehog will be coming to the service in 2022.
The series will be produced by Man of Action Entertainment (Ben 10, Mega Man: Fully Charged) and WildBrain (The Aquabats Super Show!). SEGA will also be involved, and going off the teaser image, it seems it’ll be based on the video game series rather than the movie.
A new Sonic animated series has been rumoured for a while, so it’s exciting to see one finally happening! Now how do we pass the time until 2022…
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.
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Persona 5 Strikers, knowing as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers in Japan, has finally had a Western release confirmed. Better yet, it’ll also be coming to PC via Steam now!
Produced by Koei-Tecmo’s Omega Force, what we have here is essentially Persona 5 Musou. The game acts as a sequel to the original game (that is, the not-Royal version), to the point one of the Japanese trailers briefly flashed “P52” on the screen. Now the Phantom Thieves are tasked with helping an aggressive detective solve a new mystery, or Joker will be arrested… again. It’s certainly an interesting genre shift for a sequel, but Persona 5 Strikers seems to push the boat out a lot more than just being a typical Warriors game with the P5 license slapped on. We’re excited to get our hands on it!
The game will launch on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC via Steam on February 23rd 2021. There’ll also be a Steelbook for the game, but right now it appears that will be exclusive to Best Buy in America, and only available for the Nintendo Switch version. The Digital Deluxe version of the game allows you to play it 4 days early, and includes extra DLC content, a 40-track soundtrack, a digital artbook, and behind-the-scenes video.
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.
The next SEGA Forever retrospective video is here, and this time it’s Golden Axe’s moment in the spotlight.
The video offers an extensive look at the history of the series, from the original beat-em ups to the one-on-one fighting game, and even the RPG spinoffs; the latter, I didn’t realise actually existed! Even as someone who’s not the biggest fan of the original Golden Axe, the video has made me want to check out some of the side-ventures I’d missed.
Fair warning: at around the 1:30 mark there’s an extremely harsh strobe pattern that would’ve worked fine on the Game Gear but is a bit eye-melting on a 1080p screen. If you’ve got epilepsy you might want to sit this one out.
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.
Sonic R released on this day back in 1997 over the pond, and to commemorate it, SEGA Forever have pulled off something very special – a brand new piece of artwork based on the game, from Sonic the Comic’s Richard Elson!
It’s a beautiful tribute; no surprise, as Elson’s stuff is always gorgeous. The art has a sort-of blend of his own Sonic the Comic style and the more style-guide accurate Classic Sonic art, to make something really special! It’s lovely to see something for the Sonic the Comic fans in audience, and hopefully this acknowledgment could lead to more down the road, as we’d be very much down for reprints!
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.
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