After heavy criticism of Sonic’s on-screen appearance in the first trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, director Jeff Fowler has made it clear that changes to the design are, “going to happen”. Fowler’s full tweet regarding the backlash is below:
“Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast”
This is quite an interesting development and something that likely comes with a heavy development and marketing cost. It also shows a greater commitment to protecting Sonic’s status as one of the most recognisable mascot characters of the nineties, who was previously reported to be more recognisable than Mickey Mouse in the 6 to 11 year old demographic in 1992.
The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer has currently been viewed 21.7 million times with 283 thousand likes and 479 thousand dislikes. The film is due to be released in the US on November 8th 2019. Sonic himself will be voiced by Ben Schwartz.
The SEGA AGES re-release of SEGA’s arcade smash-hit Virtua Racing is now available to download from the Japanese Nintendo eShop. The game will run you 999JPY.
Unlike previous ports, this is a straight re-release of the arcade version. The downside to this approach is it means no new tracks or cars, as was the case in Virtua Racing Deluxe. However, the game supports 8-player local multiplayer and 1v1 online play. It also includes a specialised replay feature, based on the live broadcast function of the extremely rare “Virtua Formula” release of the game.
There’s currently no Western release date for this or SEGA AGES: Puyo Puyo, but we’ll let you know if one shows up.
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.
Persona 5 Royal has been formally announced. The title is essentially an expanded remake of Persona 5, with a slew of new content. It is currently a PS4 exclusive.
This includes new outfits, a “third semester” added to the year the game takes place across, updated graphics, new areas and two new characters – Yoshizawa Kasumi and Takuto Maruki. The game launches under the title Persona 5: The Royal in Japan on October 31st, but western gamers will have to wait a little while longer.
This just leaves the question of what “P5S” is – presumably we’ll find out at the second day of Persona’s Super Live event, which is tomorrow.
The Japanese trailer is far more in-depth and can be seen below:
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 previously Eastern-exclusive Puyo Puyo eSports will launch in the West on May 7th 2019 as Puyo Puyo Champions, for PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC.
This title is built heavily on the Puyo Puyo Tetris engine and focus heavily on both local and online multiplayer. You can check out the reveal trailer below:
Puyo Puyo Champions will release for £7.99 as a digital-only release.
A collection of floppy disks previously owned by SEGA Technical Institute employee Tom Payne has ended up in the hands of Jason Moorhouse, a California-based retro game shop owner. With the help of Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation, Bob Morgan and Jessie Perez, these disks have been dumped and converted into a readable format and some incredible discoveries have been made.
The most interesting of the bunch is an unreleased Mega Drive game called Spinny & Spike vs the Nightmare King. The game is not in a playable state, but various art assets have been ripped and a selection of them are viewable here:
Also included are a huge selection of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 development documents. A lot of these documents are previously released concepts by Yasushi Yamaguchi, but there are some new discoveries in here and we’ve included a selection below.
If you want to read the full story on the origins of the box of floppies and exactly what is contained on each disk then click here to go to the Megabits blog and have a look around. There is some truly fascinating stuff here.
A fresh batch of games have been announced for the Mega Drive Mini. As with the first set, the titles vary by region, but there’s some surprising picks for both regions – namely in the form of the Disney Mickey Mouse titles! The announcement also confirms the previously mooted “one game per series” policy only applies to the Japanese version of the mini console, as Sonic 2 has been confirmed for the Western edition now.
The new batch for the Western Mega Drive/Genesis Mini is:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Earthworm Jim
Streets of Rage 2
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
Shinobi III – Return of the Ninja Master
Thunder Force III
Super Fantasy Zone
Contra Hard Corps/Probotector
Landstalker
The new batch for the Japanese version is 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.
Legendary side-scrolling shoot-em-up Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer is getting a reprint 27 years after its initial release for the Mega Drive. This new run will release on the 6th of June 2019 and pre-orders can be placed on Amazon Japan right now. It’s not a cheap item though. Pre-orders are priced at 11,966 yen which currently converts to around £81.70 in British sterling. Regardless, this is still substantially cheaper than the current resale value of an original print copy.
This new print is not officially sanctioned by SEGA and comes courtesy of the people at Columbus Circle, who previously released Rhythm Land for the Mega Drive in February.
The Dragon of Dojima’s latest outing, Yakuza Kiwami 2, is coming to PC on May 9th.
The game is a remake of the original Yakuza 2, redone in Yakuza 6’s Dragon Engine. The move to PC means unlocked framerates and 4K resolutions, a considerable leap over the console version.
Pre-ordering the PC version nets you the Clan Creator Bundle, with rare leader cards and exclusive weapons, outfits and bonus items.
It’s great to see the Yakuza series continue to make it’s mark on PC, and there’s not long to wait either. The game is £24.99 on Steam.
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.
A fresh batch of SEGA Ages titles have been revealed for Nintendo Switch at SEGA Fes. There’s a heavy focus on SEGA’s arcade history with these announcements – 5 of the 6 titles are all arcade ports.
The revealed games are:
– Shinobi (arcade)
– Puzzle & Action Ichidant-R (arcade)
– G-LOC Air Battle (arcade)
– Herzog Zwei (Mega Drive)
– Fantasy Zone (arcade)
– Wonder Boy in Monster Land (arcade)
Herzog Zwei is an interesting inclusion as it marks another instance of SEGA drawing on Technosoft’s library of games, which SEGA acquired in 2016.
There is currently no word on release dates for any of these titles. We are still expecting SEGA Ages ports of Sonic 2, Puyo Puyo 2, Virtua Racing, Thunder Force AC, Columns 2 and Space Harrier. These will likely release before the newly announced titles.
A new Sakura Wars title is in development for PS4. Temporarily called Project Sakura Wars, this title will also receive a Western release – quite a rarity for the Sakura Wars series. This new title also features character designs by Tite Kubo of Bleach fame.
Sakura Wars is a series of strategic mech combat games that feature a heavy dating simulation element. This new title is the first entry in the series since 2005’s Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love for PS2 and Wii.
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