Josh Newey
Sega and I high-five. A lot. Mostly over classic Sonic and the Dreamcast, but these days are looking pretty high-five-able too.
Posts by Josh Newey
Sega’s list of games at PAX East is looking quite impressive
Apr 4th
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.
Maybe you couldn’t glean it from my eloquent musings above, but I simply couldn’t afford to attend PAX East this year, and now that I’ve seen the list of Sega games that will be present at the show, I’m really kicking myself. Hard. Damn it. Damn. IT.
Here’s the full rundown:
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (EEEE!!!!)
- Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (WAAAAAA!!!!)
- Sonic 4: Episode 2 (HAROO!!!)
- Jet Set Radio (YAAAA!!!)
- House of the Dead 4
- Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
- Virtua Tennis Challenge
- Total War Battles: Shogun
- Alexandria Bloodshow
- Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (WHHHAAA???!!!!)
That’s right–Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Hell Yeah!, and Aliens: Colonial Marines will all be at the show, effectively making me actively hate myself for not attending.
Seeing House of the Dead 4 and Jet Grind Radio on this list is a big relief after the last few days of uncertainty, but one glaring omission has me quite concerned–Anarchy Reigns. God I hope this isn’t as damning as it looks.
Wow, I really said “damn” a lot just now.
[Source: Destructoid]
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit is safe (and almost finished)!
Apr 2nd
Of all the recent news of Sega’s financial woes, one question has had an understandable amount of fans (myself included) extremely nervous–what previously announced titles could Sega be planning to cancel?
Well, here’s one more we can cross off that list. As of this morning, I have received word that one of my most anticipated Sega games of the year, Arkedo’s Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, is thankfully safe and still being published. In a recent email, Arkedo co-founder Camille Guermonprez has revealed that the game is nearing completion, following up with “spread the news, we’re not dead yet!”
Oh thank you Jesus.
This doesn’t say anything for Sega’s larger, riskier endeavors, but it does give me an inkling of hope for the publisher’s willingness to release new and interesting titles. Now we just cross our fingers and hope that Anarchy Reigns has made it as well.
Review: Game Gear on the 3DS
Mar 29th
Ahhh, the Game Gear. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost fifteen years since Sega pulled its support for this polarizing little (ok, massive) handheld. While many gamers still glean a sick pleasure out of criticizing the system for its ludicrous, vampire-like battery sucking and its debatable dearth of quality games, some of us still insist it is a memorable and underappreciated chapter in the early days of handheld gaming.
Now, for the first time in well over a decade, Sega has released three of the most discussed Game Gear games on Nintendo’s 3DS. While the 90s children in the crowd stifle their outrage at such blasphemy, the rest of us are getting the chance to once again play these forgotten bits of handheld history, deciding for ourselves whether or not the system is worth remembering at all.
So, does Sonic: Triple Trouble deserve to be held up as single-handed proof that the Game Gear is more than a mere reactionary thrust of the sword at Nintendo’s Game Boy? Does Shinobi hold its own when compared to its more modern counterparts? Is Dragon Crystal an involving RPG that just deserves a few more modern players? Or should the Game Gear just remain a fond memory and nothing more?
Read on as Scott Morrison, Flake, and I tackle the first batch of 3DS Game Gear releases.
Review: Binary Domain
Mar 15th
When I first heard about Binary Domain, my skepticism was loud and proud. Team Yakuza still has yet to really grasp the hearty following it deserves in the US, and games like Binary Domain just looked like desperate attempts to appeal to a specific market using sensibilities and assets that just came off as horribly forced and stereotypical. Yakuza is a wonderfully unique series, and for its developers to succumb to cliches just to attract a new audience would be to tarnish the studio’s generally lauded portfolio.
Well, Sega’s latest robots vs. humans game has finally arrived. Has Team Yakuza utilized their substantial developing pedigree to deliver a worthy entry into the admittedly overdone cover-shooting genre? Or is this just a forgettable attempt at snagging a few extra fans with uninspired content and unfulfilled promises?
Well, let’s just say that I’ve never been more happy about being dead wrong.
Sega Addicts Anonymous: Join us for some Renegade Ops (TONIGHT!!!)
Mar 2nd
[UPDATE: Tonight is the night folks! Be sure to join us at 7PM Eastern for some riproaring fun with Renegade Ops (or whatever else we feel like doing)! Head to the forums to give us your Skype name and/or Gamertag, and we will be set for one hell of a ride.]
Yes, we know–you don’t have a problem. You can stop playing Sega games any time you want. That copy of Ristar isn’t yours; a strange man in a trench coat just asked you to hold onto it for him. There he goes! You can still catch him, officer!
Come on–you’re not fooling anybody.
If do ever come to terms with your Sega obsession, your friends at Sega Addicts Anonymous are here to help–and when I say “help,” I mean “severely exacerbate your uncontrollable downward spiral”. What’s Sega Addicts Anonymous, you ask? Well, it’s an overly elaborate way of announcing a gaming night with the Sega Addicts community!
Next Friday night (March 2nd), your good friends and enablers Stevie Grant and Josh Newey will be hosting a Sega Addicts gaming party online. We will be starting up an online multiplayer session in some of Sega’s best games, and anybody and everybody from our staff and community is welcome to join in! Next week, we will be starting up a rousing game of Avalanche’s G.I. Joe-inspired manfest Renegade Ops on XBLA!
If you’re interested in our maniacal little shindig, say so in the comments. Be sure to let us know when a good time is for you, and we will schedule an exact meet-up next week.
We’re still piecing this all together, so please bear with us as we work out the kinks. If it goes well, who knows? Maybe we’ll throw one of these together every other week!
Review: House of the Dead III (PSN)
Feb 26th
Ask any group of gamers about their most prized moments at the arcades of old, and you are bound to hear the words “House of the Dead” uttered at least one or two times (with the phrase “suffer like G did” lurking just behind it).
Even after the lamentable demise of the arcade culture, Sega has blessedly kept one of the era’s most memorable (and memorably hokey) shooters alive, delivering sequels and ports to consoles, even into the modern era. As long as there’s a light gun or something like it, there will always be a House of the Dead game lumbering and moaning just around the corner.
It makes sense, then, that Sega has been porting a handful of House of the Dead titles to Sony’s latest market share-seeking snafu, the PS Move. Last year, we received a serviceable port of a fantastic game, Overkill: Extended Cut. Now, to much delighted retrophile fanfare, House of the Dead 3 has hit PSN for $6.99. But is that asking price too much for an old on-rails classic? Hit the jump to find out.
Drink in these brand new Sonic 4 Episode 2 screenshots
Feb 17th
Not to be outdone by the unofficial leak of screenshots from earlier in the week, Sega has released a generous handful of lovely shots on their official blog, showcasing what looks like some water-logged ruins, a snowy holiday wonderland, a theme park, or perhaps some amalgam of the three.
As if these shots aren’t exciting enough, Sega also announced that Episode 2′s first gameplay trailer will be debuted on Gamespot’s website at 9AM Pacific on February 23rd.
Hit the jump to see all the shots, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Sega joining forces with Atlus…in distribution
Feb 17th
In what could be the most exciting bit of nerd-dom news I’ve heard in the past several months, Sega has joined hands on a new distribution deal with Index Holdings, the parent company for the beloved Japanese developer Atlus.
Starting in April, Sega will be in charge of distributing future packaged Atlus games in Japan, giving the underdog developer access to a larger network and thus getting their games into the hands of many more eager gamers.
This may only be a distribution deal, but seeing Sega’s interest in niche developers like Atlus is a source of endless excitement for me. Atlus is such a daring company, and while they are just now starting to build an audience outside of niche gamers and anime fans, their unique style and diverse library really fits in well with some of Sega’s more daring releases.
Let’s just hope this leads to a more expansive relationship between these two companies. Sega has the audience, and Atlus has the content. Just considering the thought of their names being together on a box has me grinning like a doof.
[Source: Destructoid]
The obligatory Binary Domain PS3 vs. 360 comparison post
Feb 5th
Binary Domain is just around the corner, with the lucky folks over in Japan getting their first taste of the game in a recently released demo.
As with any visually robust shooter, it was only a matter of time before the video and screenshot comparisons started making their way onto the Internet. Japanese blog Game wa Kimama ni is first in line, offering up an in-depth look at both versions of the game. Hit the jump for some specific stats, as well as a handful of screenshot comparisons (Hint: Mark another “L” in the PS3 column).
[Source: Game wa Kimama ni via Andriasang]
Sega reveals Sonic 4 Episode 2′s best concept art yet: Serpentleaf
Feb 3rd
Sega has posted the latest concept art for Sonic 4 Episode 2, and boy, this one’s a doozy. This week, we are being treated to our very first look at a boss for the game. As you can see, this one has Robotnik riding in a flower-like machine that doubles as a laser.
This may not seem like that big of a deal, but honestly, this is the most exciting Episode 2 news I’ve seen yet. Episode 1 had quite a handful of flaws, but my biggest issue with the game was just how unwilling it was to try anything new with its presentation or art design. Dimps were so dedicated to paying tribute to the classic stage themes and bosses that they totally forgot to actually add anything original to that legacy. At the very least, this brand new Georgia O’Keeffe-pleasing boss is an indication that the folks at Sega might have something fresh tucked in their Episode 2 holster.
Hit the jump to see more shots of this beastly boss.
[Source: Sega Bits]
