- Kotaku reports:
‘Yesterday, we got an e-mail from a Kotaku reader named Jacob. He said he was bummed out. See, he really wants to play Phantasy Star Online 2, the free-to-play online RPG that was released in Japan last year, but he can’t, because it’s not out in the West, and publisher SEGA hasn’t told anyone what’s going on.
Last year, SEGA announced that Phantasy Star Online 2 would get an English release in early 2013. Then they said it had been delayed. Fans hoped they’d say something at E3, but the trade show went by without a word.
So I reached out to SEGA to ask what’s up. Here’s the statement they sent me:
‘SEGA can officially confirm that PSO2 has been delayed. We don’t have any specifics but will update everyone as soon as there are more details to share.’
- NintendoLife reports:
‘SEGA has revealed that it is working on a 3DS RPG by the name of Hero Bank, where the ultimate goal isn’t to save mankind, but to earn as much moolah as possible by taking part in a cyber sport known as “Hero Battle”.
Apparently, players can download “hero data” based on real-life individuals and use it in the game. It sounds a bit like Barcode Battler for the web age, if you ask us.
Hero Bank is hitting Japan on December 19th, and there’s no word on a western launch at present.’
- This week’s entries in the UK Full price Top 40:
[#22](-2) Football Manager 2013 - This week’s entries in the UK Budget price Top 40:
[#13](+1) Aliens: Colonial Marines
[#19](-1) Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed [360/PS3]
[#29](+4) Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
[#33](-7) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
- SEGA reports: ‘E3 2013 awards for SEGA’s Games’.
- SEGA reports: ‘Kingdom Conquest II’s 2nd Season begins’.
- SEGA Japan uploaded a trailer of Shining Force Cross EXLesia.
- Groupon are selling AtGames’s Genesis with cartridge slot (at $39.99).
- HuCast are giving away two copies of Dux 1.5 (Limited Edition).
- A newsstory we missed earlier: Total War gets it own fragrance line.
- Sonic the Hedgehog is #1 in Google Play’s ‘Top selling New Paid’ chart.
- Siliconera reports:
‘For this year’s E3, SEGA has brought the latest adventure for Sonic, and to many diehard fans of the franchise, it may feel like a blast from the past.
Sonic Lost World feels very much like Sonic X-treme, at least to those who are familiar with SEGA’s answer to Super Mario 64 in the days of the SEGA Saturn—a game that was never meant to be.
For unacquainted: it was essentially Sonic in a 3D space, but unlike Mario, he moved much like he did in his original 16-bit exploits, as in left to right, in a straight line. Though also towards and away from the player, but again, in a straight line.
The key distinction was the fish eye lens viewpoint, which gave everything a very circular feel. Fast forward many years and we have Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii, a game that many diehard Sonic fans believe was heavily inspired by Sonic X-treme.
To these people, a Sonic game that appears very Mario Galaxy-like is a full circle of sorts.’
- SEGA reports:
‘SEGA is proud to announce four new classic Game Gear titles are now available in the Nintendo 3DS eShop!
The color (!!!) portable system from SEGA’s 90s past – the one that ate batteries like tater tots and had a TV Tuner, which was pretty awesome even if it ate even more batteries – has previously joined forces with the finely-crafted Nintendo portable system. We’re back with more, adding four of the games that helped define the Game Gear:
Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Shining Force: Sword of Hajya!
If you’re a fan of Game Gear’s unique portable offerings, then we have more on the way in the near future — for now though, let’s plug in the car adapter and buckle in to the backseat for a trip down memory lane to look at these titles.’
- AppAdvice reports:
‘SEGA has announced at E3 that its popular platformer The Cave is set to hit the App Store “later this summer,” according to TouchGen.
The game, in which players take control of a number of different characters as they make their way through “a magical talking cave,” has so far appeared on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U, through the consoles’ respective storefronts.
TouchGen managed to take The Cave for a spin at E3, and explains:
The Cave is an adventure puzzle platformer by Ron Gilbert, where you take control of a team of explorers as they travel deeper into the cave. Released through SEGA by Double Fine onto consoles and PC’s earlier this year, the game is now making its way to iOS.‘
PC Gamer SEGA E3 Booth Tour
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F announcement trailer
Sonic Lost World (Nintendo 3DS) trailer
- SEGA reports:
‘Company of Heroes 2 is at the SEGA booth in full force with both Singleplayer and Multiplayer demo areas available. In addition to great content on floor, Relic Entertainment is supporting each session with members from the development staff. The booth looks slick, but the game is even slicker.
[..] Overall the feedback for Company of Heroes 2 has been fantastic. From both singleplayer and multiplayer, people are walking away excited to get their hands on the final game later this June. Be sure to check out our Flickr album for all the new media from the E3 floor.’
- SEGA reports:
‘Total War: Rome II at E3 this year is massive. The Creative Assembly team have a huge stage with full presentation and hands on demo of the Battle for the Nile within the main campaign. The walkthrough is excellent, showing off the incredibly detailed new Campaign Map.
[..] Our interpretation of The Battle of The Nile will appear as a historical battle in Total War: ROME II, and enables players to employ a number of exotic units.
At E3, the battle can be played from the Egyptian perspective as they defend their hilltop encampment, or as the Romans as they assault the hill. Playing as Rome is distinctly more challenging!’
- SEGA reports:
‘SEGA, in collaboration with Disney Interactive is pleased to release new screenshots for the upcoming digital release of Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, a complete re-imagining of the iconic Genesis side-scrolling adventure first released in 1990.
Developed by Sega Studios Australia, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse will be available worldwide for digital download on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Windows PC in summer 2013.’
Remember the days you could buy a new Dreamcast game and hooked up your system to the internet to dive into an online game?
Well, apart from a select few most of the servers for these games are long gone. However, several Dreamcast enthousiasts have been working to resurrect them and now another game has been brought back to life!
Planet Ring was a European collection of four minigames that could be played online. Players could also message each other and use their microphones to chat. For the time it was an impressive effort by SEGA Europe. As the game had no offline mode as such it became a very nice looking collectible but little more. Fast forward roughly 10 years and now it’s back!
- Triplepoint newsroom reports:
‘Green Throttle™ Games and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced a partnership that will bring two iconic SEGA games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog to the Green Throttle Arena with full Atlas Controller compatibility.
The Android versions of Sonic 4: Episode I and Sonic 4: Episode II, available from Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, will be updated soon to include support for Green Throttle, giving fans a new way to enjoy their favorite spiky blue speedster.
Fans can purchase the Atlas controller from store.greenthrottle.com or on Amazon.com and enjoy mobile-to-TV multiplayer action using the Android device that they already own. Compatible devices include the Kindle Fire and many of the latest Android smartphones and tablets on the market today.’
- This week’s entries in the UK Full price Top 40:
[#20](+3) Football Manager 2013 - This week’s entries in the UK Budget price Top 40:
[#14](-3) Aliens: Colonial Marines
[#18](+2) Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed [360/PS3]
[#26](-) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
[#33](RE) Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition - This week’s entries in the UK Wii U Top 10:
[#7](-1) Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed
- SEGA reports: ‘Company of Heroes 2 open BETA is now LIVE’.
- SEGA reports: ‘Godsrule: War of Mortals launches on iPad’.
- Loads of new Sonic Lost Worlds (Wii U & Nintendo 3DS) footage.
- DCEmulation reports: ‘Little Ninja Update’ and ‘Saviour Dreamcast RPG’.
- MCV reports: ‘SEGA shows faith in Ouya with Sonic partnership’.
- More footage of Total War: Rome II (Cleopatra trailer) & Project X Zone.
- Got kids and want them to play outside? Check out the latest Sonic toys.
- Sonic Lost World (Wii U)
- Castle of Illusion (XBLA/PSN/PC)
- Company of Heroes 2 (PC)
- Total War: Rome II (PC)
- The Cave (Mobile platforms)
- Eurogamer reports:
‘If you ever see an elephant in the wild, I really think you want to be standing behind it rather than in front of it. Standing behind it when it charges is dazzling, in fact - at least if Total War: Rome 2 is anything to go by.
Rome 2 features a new close-up unit camera, and it allows you to swoop across a vast battlefield and plonk yourself right behind any of your individual squads.
Tag yourself to an elephant team in full pelt, and you get a real sense of the seismic horrors at your command. Everything’s so big, so detailed!
You can see the folds in the elephants’ grey skin, while the chinks and dings in the armour of the enemy soldiers you’re rushing towards really drives home the fact that these guys are, y’know, paid to stand in front of elephants for a living. War is terrible! the unit camera declares. And war is brilliant!’