Sega News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

There's a Cantonese saying I've been looking for an excuse to use in one of these columns for months, and with the year drawing to a close, I'm going to drop it here as a little present to myself.

Sega has detailed more of its plans to revive a swathe of classic game franchises, including Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Shinobi and Steets of Rage.

Microsoft has appointed Jill Braff as head of Bethesda/ZeniMax studios.

The Yakuza series has enjoyed a significant explosion in mainstream popularity in markets outside of Japan in recent years, and that, as you may expect, has resulted in increased sales as well. In fact, the series’ eighth mainline instalment, Yakuza: Like a Dragon – which reinvented the franchise as a turn-based RPG – has enjoyed solid sales in particular.

Sega announced reboots for five of its classic franchises at The Game Awards earlier this month, and a new instalment in the Streets of Rage franchise in particular took many by surprise, not only because the series already saw a successful revival with 2020’s Streets of Rage 4, but also because Sega’s new instalment is going to be fully 3D, a first for the classic 2D sidescrolling franchise.

Sega announced not one, not two, but five reboots of classic franchises at The Game Awards earlier this month, and in a recent management meeting, the company revealed some more new tidbits on those titles via a presentation.

At The Game Awards earlier this month, Sega announced reboots of five of its classic franchises, and a reboot of Jet Set Radio, which had been previously leaked, was probably the one that got the most people out of their seats. Following that, the company has revealed some more brief, new details on the game in a presentation shared at a management meeting.

After a 32-year career, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is officially stepping down next week, with his last day at the company being Friday, December 29. Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced a series of key leadership changes as it works to bring Activision Blizzard into Xbox's fold.

The reboot of noughties gem Jet Set Radio teased with ruthless efficiency during The Game Awards has had a smidge of new information revealed. For being such a small detail, though, it’s a very intriguing - if perhaps a tad predictable - one indeed.

SEGA shared new information and artwork of its recently announced legacy franchise revivals Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, and Streets of Rage during its Management Meeting 2023 presentation on December 12. The new information appears to suggest Jet Set Radio will be set in an open-world Tokyo, and the Streets of Rage game is titled Streets of Rage: Revolution.

Sega has provided some new details about its recently announced reboots of five classic series.

Publisher SEGA and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have released a new set of character spotlight trailers for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

is a polarizing series in gaming, but it's impossible to deny the strength of its overall legacy. During the early 90s when SEGA was struggling to establish itself as a formidable competitor to Nintendo, Sonic arrived and gave the company the mascot (and the hit game) it needed to convince customers to buy the Genesis/Mega Drive console. Inconsistent release quality, however, has led to mixed reception over the years.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name has been warmly received on PS5 and PS4, but there’s been controversy surrounding its English dub. While most fans generally prefer to play the franchise with subtitles anyway, SEGA has found success adding English voiceovers to the series in recent years, making the franchise more accessible than it’s historically been.

Publisher SEGA and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have released new information and screenshots for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth introducing the game’s substories, personality stats, and bond level.

If you're considering taking a trip to Japan in the coming months and have strong and unresolved feelings about the fate of characters from across Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchises, then boy, do we have the cultural event for Kir-you. Beware of SPOILERS below.

SEGA’s excellent Yakuza series is well-known for its minigames, but Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth looks to seriously expand upon the expectations of fans with an unprecedented number of side-activities and distractions. Chief among them is the inclusion of some fairly famous Model 3 arcade games, including SEGA Bass Fishing, SpikeOut, and Virtua Fighter 3tb. These are brand new ports, and it’s the first time SpikeOut has been playable on console since an iffy Xbox spin-off almost 20 years ago.

SEGA says it hopes to display an “edginess and rebellious mindset” when it revives five classic franchises in the near-future. The legendary Japanese publisher confirmed at The Game Awards that it’s working on new versions of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Streets of Rage – an effort enabled by the ongoing success and growth of the Yakuza, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Persona franchises.

I may not put much thought into Christmas lists today, but back when I was a kid they were practically an art form. From the presentation to the content itself, I pulled out all the stops to draw attention to whatever it was I coveted at the time.

Trust was a key reason Hideki Kamiya left Platinum Games earlier this year.

The Japanese department store Parco is holding an exhibition in collaboration with the Like a Dragon series, which is themed around some of its most notable dead characters.

I haven’t been keeping up with player reaction to the latest Twar and Twarhammer games, but it seems players are none too pleased with Creative Assembly right now. In a rather dramatic open letter, the company's vice president Roger Collum has acknowledged that Total War: Warhammer 3’s Shadows of Change add-on and the recent historical strategy outing Total War: Pharaoh did not ship in a desirable state, with complaints ranging from wobbly execution to overpricing. The studio will try to make things right by offering partial refunds to Pharaoh owners and giving away DLC on top of the usual updates.

Creative Assembly has apologised for «missteps» it made with the Total War series and is offering partial refunds of Total War: Pharaoh on Steam.

Earlier this month, Ryu Ga Gotoku confirmed that Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name would be getting its previously announced English dub as a free update sometime this month. That update is available now, so if you’ve been holding out so you can play the game in English, now’s your chance to jump in.

Developer Creative Assembly has released a statement regarding recent negative feedback concerning the pricing for Total War: PHARAOH, as well as the Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3. In its statement, the studio acknowledges the mistakes it made with the game as well as communication surrounding it, and as a result, both Total War: PHARAOH and Total War: Warhammer 3 will see some changes.

P-Studio and SEGA have finally released their latest addition to the Persona series, Persona 5 Tactica (P5T). This spin-off is a tactical role-playing game that takes the lovable characters of the series and transposes them into a cute, surprisingly rewarding tactical game.

The Yakuza (or Like a Dragon) franchise is known for being a tad wacky, but publisher Sega is bringing the weirdness to the real world by basically hosting a funeral for all the series' dead characters in Tokyo.

A new trailer for Atlus’s Persona 3 Reload is now available, highlighting the infamous Velvet Room. This otherworldly location sees players meeting Igor, its owner, who can fuse cards to create a stronger Persona. Check it out below.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's roster of minigames sound just as whacky as I'd hoped.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has shared some new details on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, specifically the minigames that players can indulge in. It already showcased Crazy Delivery and Dondoko Island, but there’s also Miss Match, an app that protagonist Ichiban Kasuga can use for matchmaking.

Publisher SEGA and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have released new information and screenshots for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth introducing the countless minigames users will be able to experience across Hawaii and Japan.

On paper, 1995’s Cool Riders sounds great. It was the follow-up to 1993’s Outrunners, which itself was a multiplayer follow-up to 1986’s Out Run. Only this time, it’s on motorized bikes. Then you see it, and you realize Cool Riders is one of the least cool games to exist.

The original creators of Jet Set Radio are involved with the series' new games announced last week.

Antstream Arcade, the world's largest officially licensed retro gaming platform, is adding 27 Bandai Namco classics to its lineup of over 1,300 games, including Pac-Man, Galaga, Splatterhouse, Dig Dug, and Pac-Mania.

Carrying on something of a series tradition, Sega has announced some new free that fans can grab to celebrate the holiday season.

Sega has discussed its plans to revive five of its classic franchises.

During The Game Awards 2023, Sega announced its plans to revive quite a few of its classic franchises, including Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. In the press release announcing the revivals, Sega has revealed that the company has felt emboldened to bring back its legacy franchises thanks to the recent successes it has seen with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Last night, Sega announced new entries in the Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Shinobi, and Streets of Rage series all at once, and it seems that the company is making a conscious attempt at returning to the rebellious energy it hasn't really displayed since the Dreamcast era. Frankly, it's about time.

Japanese games giant Sega is making new entries in a number of its existing franchises.

If you missed The Game Awards 2023 livestream, as it was on overnight here in the UK, and are looking for a one-stop shop on what the big celebrity cameos and new game reveals were during the three-hour-plus event, we’ve got you covered.

Nintendo has today added a trio of Nintendo 64 games to the Switch Online library.

While Sega’s other properties, like Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and Shinobi, were the bigger deal at The Game Awards, RGG Studio’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth received a new trailer. It focuses on side story content for Kazuma Kiryu, the long-running protagonist of the series and deuteragonist of the sequel. Check it out below.

SEGA made a big splash at The Game Awards 2023 by finally giving its fans what they've been clamoring for over a decade: the revival of five of its classic, most beloved IPs, as reported a while ago.

The Game Awards took place on Thursday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and delivered a host of exciting announcements.

Time is fleeting at The Game Awards 2023, where speeches are sandwiched between free Steam Deck giveaways and bits about Muppets. Sega, however, wasted none of the 1:33 it had in the limelight — the publisher revealed more than five new games from some of its dormant franchises.

During The Game Awards, Sega dropped a lucid hallucination of a trailer briefly highlighting five games allegedly in development. This includes a new Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi. The also tease a “and more.”

Tonight, during The Game Awards, Sega announced it had numerous remakes and new projects in development – including some of its coolest and most unique games.

Sega has announced that it is developing new entries in five of its classic series.

Last week Sega teased that an announcement was coming up at The Game Awards, sending out letters to influencers that simply said «New Era New Energy» and «make sure to tune in to The Game Awards December 7th». Some of us had our fingers crossed for the announcement of a new Jet Set Radio, and we got our wish. But we also got way more.

Alongside Capcom, Sega have been once of those publishers sitting on countless classic gaming franchises from decades past that we would love to see return, but aggravatingly just seem to be keeping them locked up. At least until tonight at The Game Awards, when Sega made a big announcement that some classics would be returning…not as big as a Dreamcast 2 announcement, which some of us were hoping this would all lead up to, but the announcement that five classic Sega franchise were finally getting new games and are in development right now, as seen in a first glimpse with the trailer below.

World premieres at The Game Awards usually revolve around a single title, but Sega, promising a “new era” with “new energy”, has announced five. After many rumors, the publisher confirmed that a new Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi are in development. But that’s not all – Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe are also getting new titles. Check out the trailer below.

I don't want to encourage more publishers to create irrelevant, self-indulgent trailers for Geoff Keighley's Advertganza, but I'll cut Sega a break for their one. Sure, the first 52 seconds are some live-action skit, but the following 41 seconds announce no less than five games. Sega are returning to their glory days once again, with new games coming based on Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe, Shinobi, "and more." You can get a few tiny glimpses at those in the trailer below.

Sonic the Hedgehog publisher Sega has announced five new projects at The Game Awards this evening: new chapters in a slew of classic franchises.

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Atlus released a sumptuous new trailer for Persona 3 Reload, its remake of the 2006 role-playing classic, highlighting different aspects of the game. It reveals some here-to-unseen footage from the dungeons in Tartarus, battles against various enemies and new story scenes (including the beach and Summer festival). Check it out below.

The Game Awards 2023 is almost here, and it’s sure to deliver a hearty dose of the things the show is known for – speeches, musical numbers, Geoff Keighley awkwardly reading ad copy, and, of course, new trailers and reveals. This year, the show is dropping the “World Premiere” branding for the new trailers and footage shown, but Geoff Keighley actually promises more reveals than usual.

Looking for an RPG you probably haven’t played before? Maybe check out Tengai Makyou: Zirai, a 1989 PC-Engine CD-ROM² game that just got a fan translation.

Nintendo is canceling several Japanese events due to threats, the company announced in a news release Thursday. Nintendo did not share details, except that the threats were “persistently” targeting Nintendo employees, event staff, and spectators. Nintendo Live 2024, scheduled to be held Jan. 20 to 21 at Tokyo Big Sight in Japan, has been canceled entirely, while the Splatoon Koshien 2023 finals, Splatoon 3 world championship, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe finals, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe championships have all been postponed until the company can “ensure the safety of our customers.”

UK developer Creative Assembly, after a brief dalliance with first-person projects on PlayStation like 2014's Alien: Isolation and the recently cancelled Hyenas, will shift focus back to strategy games and PC. It's likely the last console players will see of the Horsham-based company, at least for the foreseeable future.

In one of the more genuinely exciting teases ahead of the video game industry's night-of-nights, The Game Awards, SEGA is bringing a «new era, new energy» to the show, so much so the company sent out letters advertising the fact.

Sonic Superstars is a side-scrolling platformer available on multiple consoles, but it was always going to have a hard time in 2023 against a critically acclaimed Super Mario title. Speaking as part of its latest financial sales report, publisher SEGA hinted that launching the co-op outing against Nintendo’s latest – as well as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – may not have been the brightest idea.

December’s update for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis (PSO2:NGS) looks like it’s shaping up to be one of the most player-friendly updates the game has seen to date. With increases to XP, some streamlining of gear, and a host of updates to the Creative Space, there’s a lot for new and returning players to get excited about. We were able to pass along some questions to Series Producer Yuya Kimura, who has been working with SEGA for the past 15 years, including on multiple Phantasy Star series. Here’s what he had to say about the updates and where PSO2:NGS is headed.

It can be tough to think of clever gifts to buy for someone who really loves video games. Gamers are already among the toughest to shop for, and it ramps up in difficulty if you’re getting a gift for someone who tends to buy the newest accessories and games for themselves.

Racing games come and go, but the best of them manage to combine memorable visuals with fantastic handling and game modes. New Star GP is a racer that looks firmly to the past while crafting a racing game of the future, with retro-influenced visuals – think Sega classics like Virtua Racing and Daytona – but a thoroughly modern outlook. While it’s currently out in Early Access on PC, you can hop into a brand new demo on Xbox right now, all in preparation for the game’s release in 2024.

Developer Ryu Ga Gotoko Studio has announced a free update for Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which will bring with it a fully voice acted English dub to the game. The update is slated to hit the game on all platforms in December.

Racing games come and go, but the best of them manage to combine memorable visuals with fantastic handling and game modes. New Star GP is a racer that looks firmly to the past while crafting a racing game of the future, with retro-influenced visuals – think Sega classics like Virtua Racing and Daytona – but a thoroughly modern outlook. While it’s currently out in Early Access on PC, you can hop into a brand new demo on Xbox right now, all in preparation for the game’s release in 2024.

Persona 3 Reload has received a new trailer focusing on Shinjiro Aragaki, a founding member of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Voiced by Justice Slocum in English and Kazuya Nakai in Japanese, he’s rarely at Gekkoukan High School but still assists the S.E.E.S in taking out Shadows. Check out some of his moves below.

CyberConnect2-developed digital board game Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board! will launch for Switch on April 26, 2024 in the Americas and Europe, publisher SEGA announced.

With The Game Awards just around the corner, Sega has teased a new game announcement at the event. Sending teaser letters to fighting game content creators, it points towards a Virtua Fighter 6 reveal at Geoff Keighley’s show.

As exciting as it can be to see new games in popular and established franchises getting announced, nothing quite beats the unveiling of an exciting and completely new IP. Interestingly enough, we might have plenty of that to look forward to in the very near future.

Sega is bringing a «new era, new energy» to next week's The Game Awards.

Despite being one of the longest-running action RPG series from Japan, the franchise avoids one of the iconic JRPG tropes with its hero Kazuma Kiryu. Typical JRPG protagonists are very young, often teenagers thrust into dangerous situations, where their heroic growth doubles as a coming-of-age story. Sega also publishes the series, which takes place in the modern era, like the games, but centers on high schoolers battling supernatural threats. avoids science fiction and supernatural elements, but it is more noteworthy for its hero being a mature adult, as Kiryu is currently in his 50s in the game’s timeline.

With The Game Awards now less than a week away, we’ll likely be getting details on several announcements and reveals that are planned for the event in the coming days. In fact, it looks like Sega is going to have some important news to share.

Sega appears to be teasing an announcement for The Game Awards next week.

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Regarding Phil Spencer, he’s been saying quite a bit about Xbox recently and what Microsoft plans to do with it and some of its programs. For example, he noted that he’s looking for some developers to help with Microsoft’s mobile store. That’s something that many developers have been looking at recently, including SEGA and Atlus. Another thing he talked about was the Xbox Game Pass and whether it may come to other consoles in the future. At present, it’s not. But in a special interview with Windows Central, he also talked about the big acquisition of Activision Blizzard and what it could mean going forward.

Experis Game Solution workers who do quality assurance testing on games like Forza Motorsport and Halo Infinite voted Thursday to unionize.

Surprise, surprise: Capcom are working on another Resident Evil remake in their successful series of ground-up rebuilds for the survival-horror franchise. As for whether we’ll barrel straight into Resident Evil 5 from this year’s RE4 Remake or jump back to Zero or even, uh, sideways to Code Veronica? They won’t say - yet.

Alongside a new trailer showing what Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will sound like in English, Sega also confirmed Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name's English dub will release for free this month. The new trailer shows scenes that will be familiar to anyone who watched the Japanese trailer back in September, but it's nice to hear familiar voices connected to this new footage. The trailer also gives us a chance to hear Daniel Dae Kim's Masataka Ebina and Danny Trejo's Dwight. Here's what Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has to say about the two characters.