Author Archives: Draikin

Bayonetta - Switch

Is PlatinumGames Teasing Bayonetta 1 & 2 on Switch?

Recently, the official PlatinumGames Twitter account announced a new @platinumGames_j Twitter account, intended for their Japanese audience. Where things get interesting is the artwork, designed by Yusuke Hashimoto, which was embedded with the tweet. Fans were quick to point out that the blue & red color scheme and the mirrored view of Bayonetta (in her outfit from the 1st and 2nd game) are reminiscent at the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers. On the other hand, the blue and red colors also match the distinct colors used in marketing for both games, so it doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything in regards to a Switch release. Still, it’s interesting that PlatinumGames went on to “like” tweets pointing out the similarities between the image and the Joy-Con controllers.

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Valkyria Revolution - Featured

Review: Valkyria Revolution (PS4)

Return to console

While we recently got a remastered version of Valkyria Chronicles for the PlayStation 4, Valkyria Revolution marks the first real return to console for the Valkyria Chronicles series. But as the game’s title already hints at, this isn’t actually a sequel to Valkyria Chronicles 3, nor is it a strategy RPG like its predecessors. Instead, Valkyria Revolution is an action-RPG which actually has very little in common with the previous games. Only the fictional mineral “Ragnite” and the legendary Valkyria themselves make a return, but even those have been altered to better fit the game’s fantasy setting.

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SEGA Forever

SEGA Responds to Questions Regarding SEGA Forever’s Launch Problems

Following the launch of SEGA Forever, SEGA’s new mobile service which aims to revolutionize retro gaming on mobile, it quickly became apparent that the emulation of their first batch of games was less than optimal. In particular, DigitalFoundry’s John Linneman told people to stay away from the games altogether, noting the poor performance of the new Unity wrapper used in 90% of the games. Now, SEGA’s Mike Evans has addressed a number of questions from Eurogamer in a rather harsh interview. Reading the interview, I have mixed thoughts about both some of Mike Evan’s answers as well as Eurogamer’s questions.

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SEGA Forever

SEGA’s Mike Evans Discusses Future Plans for SEGA Forever, Including Saturn and Dreamcast Ports

SEGA have officially launched SEGA Forever for iOS and Android today, a service that will offer a growing collection of free (ad-supported) retro SEGA games from a large number of old SEGA platform, with the option of buying each game for $1.99/€1.99 to remove the ads. The games also include new additions like leaderboards, cloud saves and controller support. In an interview with MVC UK, Mike Evans explains how SEGA Forever is really only the first step of their project. Where things get interesting is when he discusses expanding the scope of the project, mentioning the Switch as a possible platform.

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SEGA of Japan Announces Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone DX for PS4

Sega of Japan have announced Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone DX for the PlayStation 4. The game is a new version of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone containing news songs and modules. This time around, it’s being released as a physical version, rather than the digital-only original. It contains all of the songs from the original game: the 127 songs from Future Sound, 95 songs from Colorful Tone, 12 songs from the three Encore Pack DLC add-ons. In addition, three new songs will be included, one of them being “Ghost Rule” by DECO*27.

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Sakura Wars

Sakura Wars Takes Top Spot in Best Simulation Games List in Recent Famitsu

A recent issue of Weekly Famitsu featured the results of a poll where they asked their readers to vote for their favorite games in a certain category. In the Simulation (Strategy) genre, the original Sakura Wars managed to take the top spot, ahead of the likes of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. The original Valkyria Chronicles finished in a respectable 4th place as well. The complete top 20 Simulation games list can be found here.

In an earlier Weekly Famitsu issue, SEGA’s Yakuza 0 also took the top spot in the action-adventure genre, ahead of Shenmue and Breath of the Wild, The complete top 20 list is listed here.

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OG Xbox

Xbox One Backwards Compatibility to Include Original Xbox Games

During their E3 2017 conference, Microsoft that Xbox One backwards compatibility will be extended to include original Xbox games. While only Crimson Skies has been confirmed so far, this is still exciting news for SEGA fans. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future are just two SEGA games that can be considered as classics on the original Xbox, so I imagine there’s a good chance that we might see these games made compatible. Original Xbox games are also said to run better on Xbox One. The first titles are expected to be made compatible later in 2017.
Shenmue 3 Delay

Shenmue 3 Delayed Until Second Half of 2018

After the recent Shenmue 3 update, where it was confirmed the game would not be shown at this year’s E3, many doubted that the game would still be able to meet its targeted release date of end 2017. In a new update on Kickstarter, Yu Suzuki has now confirmed that the game is indeed being delayed to the second half of 2018. Yu explains that “the game has become bigger and more beautiful” than he initially expected, but that they need more time to develop it. Gematsu uploaded the video with Yu Suzuki’s message to YouTube, you can view it below.

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