SEGAbits Monthly June 2010 E3 issue

Not only is this our first issue, but its also our E3 issue. That is, if we actually ran a magazine. Wouldn’t that be something? Here are some of my favorite stories from this month. What stories did you enjoy?

If you didn’t come on the site or on the computer for awhile, this is the post you want to check. We round up some of the best content and deliver it to you via hyperlinks. Sounds complicated? All you do is click and the content is yours.

Aliens vs. Predator DLC “Bughunt Map pack” coming July 7th

SEGA and Rebellion are set to release new DLC for their game, Aliens vs. Predator. The DLC will be titled “Bughunt” and will be a series of maps to play online.

  • Crashsite – Multiplayer Map
  • Furious – Multiplayer Map
  • Monument – Survivor Map
  • Tempest – Survivor Map

It is confirmed that they will be coming out on all 3 platforms on the same day. The maps will also feature new weather effects and environmental hazards (like the fire in the trailer). They will run you $6.99 or 560 Microsoft points and will also hit Steam for those PC gamers.

[Source: SEGA Blog]

Alpha Protocol to sneak into Playstation Home


Alpha Protocol is set to make its Playstation Home appearance soon, as soon as this Thursday. You will be able to look like the smug face Michael Thornton while you sexually harass female avatars and secretly hope they are really women.

After that you can stick to the main plaza and dance around like a fool. Isn’t that what Home is all about?

[Source: Playstation Blog]

SEGA might re-release Saturn games


[Fuck yeah, playing Sonic Adventure with no widescreen]

Yosuke Okunari, who is producing the SEGA Dreamcast re-releases and produced the Sega Ages 2500 series, has an interview with Impress Watch. In the interview, they asked him about the SEGA Saturn, you know, the only major SEGA console not to get digital re-releases?

“What we announced this time is a project where we will have consecutive releases of titles that were debuted on Dreamcast. Separate from this, we’re of course thinking about ports of Saturn games. It’s the same as how Sega Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It’s not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests.” – Yosuke Okunari

Hum, we can start off the list by saying NiGHTS. You know, that campaign that was launched by NiGHTS fans? But I will be greedy and demand Panzer Dragoon Saga. Go me! He also says that the second batch of Dreamcast titles have already been chosen.

For those of you wondering what team is porting the Dreamcast over, that they can’t even add widescreen to Sonic Adventure. Well, its SEGA Shanghai, the team that did the PS2 port of NiGHTS into Dreams and Dynamite Dekka. He also confirms that the games are not running via emulation. He said both Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi will run at 60fps. That is nice.

[Source: AndriaSang]

New Yakuza game to appear at TGS


Some new details on an unannounced Yakuza game have emerged online, stating that they don’t know yet if it will be a numbered title. The information coming from Famitsu suggest that it will star, our favorite bad guy, Goro Majima!

  • The main character is Goro Majima
  • The story will be something that could not be done for anyone but Majima
  • The keyword and concept for the game are “Destruction”
  • Game systems will see changes at the most fundamental levels
  • Details on the game will be announced at September’s Tokyo Game Show

It should be interesting playing as Majima, seeing as he is the most intresting character in the Yakuza series. No platform has been announced yet, but its safe to assume it will be on the Playstation 3. Maybe they will shock us and make it a Nintendo 3DS title?

[Source: AndriaSang]

NIS might bring Neptune to America & Europe


You might have seen posts around here about Neptune RPG for the Playtation 3, which is set to be publish by SEGA in Japan. It is even going to feature classic SEGA cameos. What about us in America and Europe? No fear, NIS America is here.

“All I can say now is Idea Factory asked us to localize the game for the US and Europe. We are eager to do that. We are in discussion about the conditions for licensing the title. The deal is almost done. ” – Haru Akenaga, President of NIS America

Glad that are looking into the licensing issues and I hope they do not have to change too much stuff.

[Source: Siliconera]

How much does SEGA-Sammy CEO make?

Every SEGA fan always dreamed of the day that they could control SEGA and make Shenmue 3. Of course, they never thought about the type of money they would be making in the process. SEGA-Sammy’s CEO, Osamu Satomi makes ¥435 million (about $4.90 million) a year. Wow.

To put it into prospective Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito, only gets ¥115 million. So what good is the car business? They don’t make Shenmue! How much did Nintendo pay Satoru Iwata this year? ¥187 million.

Where are those damn applications…

[Source: AndriaSang]

Tournament Of Legends: Jupiter vs. Kara

Another ‘trailer’ for Tourament of Legends, High Voltages fighter for the Wii.

Not much to say about the game really… Bad trailer, poor graphics, crappy character design, waggles game play… Any hint of skillful game play seems to have gone out of the window a long time ago.

It’s basically everything I avoid in one game. The Wii audience will love it.

Mike Hayes on Sega Wests OnLive plans

In an interview published today over at GamesIndustry.biz, Mike Hayes was questioned about On Live and how it would fit into Sega’s strategy.

According to Hayes, Sega West currently have three titles in the works for OnLive although all are ports of existing games. Alpha Protocol, Sega & Sonic All-Star Racing and an unspecified Virtua Tennis title were the games mentioned.

“We’ve got three titles with OnLive – Virtua Tennis, Alpha Protocol and Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing. Those would be managed out of the USA as part of the digital business. If we were starting from scratch we’d run it all out of the US but the heritage of electronics sales just happens to be in Europe, and it doesn’t make sense to move it across.”

I think this is a good way to start… I honestly don’t see this technology going anywhere fast and Sega would be silly to make games specifically for OnLive. Personally I was expecting Aliens vs. Predator and Napoleon: Total War to be among the first on the service, they seem like games that could benefit from OnLive more so than something like Sega All-Star Racing.

For anyone that isn’t familiar with OnLive it is a device that essentially lets you stream games from another computer to your own so there is no need for you to have a top of the line PC and you can still play games with high end graphics… Although many are skeptical about the delay in button commands when streaming a game, you also need a constant internet connection.

You can read the entire article HERE.
(Note: you must be a registered member.)

SEGA bringing GRID to arcades


Code Master’s GRID was a hit on consoles back in 2008 and had high acclaim. Now SEGA will help bring the game to arcades. The game sits in the SEGA Racing Classic cabinet. But what will the arcade version feature? In test locations it featured quick race for both mutliplayer and single player; also ‘championship mode’ that had 3 tiers.

The game will feature a ton of licenses cars; like Dodge Viper, Saleen S7, Aston Martin DB9, Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda, and Jaguar XKR. Real world locations of San Francisco, Washington and much more.

The game will feature damage, but will not effect how the car handles, so crash up your cars just to see them break!

[More info: Arcade Heroes]

Sega Private Show 2010 (Arcade Heroes)


“Every year Sega Japan holds a “private” summer show where they give select persons a view of some of the new content that they are bringing to arcades later that year. But it’s only private in the sense of it being who gets an invitation as every year sources reveal the content from that event. The most recent show took place on Saturday and we now have a look at a few new arcade products in development although it is likely that they will not get any official support internationally.”

This year Sega were showing off,
Sangokushi Taisen – A new game in the hit series
Sega Card Gen MLB 2010 – A brand new baseball game
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown – The latest version of VF5
World Club Championship Football Intercontinental Clubs 2009-2010
Heat Up Hockey – Virtual air hockey puck and board for more options
Border Break V2.0 – New version of their online Mech game
Star Horse 2: Final Destination – Horse racing with a massive cab

Go to Arcade Heroes for a more indepth write up on each game.

Weekend reading: Eggman a lame boss?


I read a ton of stuff online, mostly video game related articles and I never post my favorites. I will try to start highlighting some intresting stuff I read on the internet.

What interesting posts have you guys read around the interwebs?

Swingin’ Report Show #6: Post E3 Special


Welcome to the 6th SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show. This is our Post E3 Special, where we talk about all things that happen at E3, including new SEGA news and rumors.

[audio:http://www.segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Segabits-Swingin-Report-Show-6.mp3]
[RSS] – [Direct Download]

I know I promised I would get the iTunes feed up again, I have decided to submit a new one. I will update this post when I get the OK e-mail from iTunes.

More info on Sonicon 2010


I have never been to Sonicon, but they have lined up more “Sonic related guests”, like voice actors from the Sonic X series. They will even have Jason Anthony Griffith, the guy that voices Sonic now.

They will also have a live performance by Alsdead, some Japanese band that has male members that look like girls. Not my type of stuff. Unlike Summer of Sonic event that is free this year, this one you have to pay to get in.

I won’t be going, but if any of you guy, make sure to send us some pictures!