Michael Westgarth
News Editor. You can see everything I write for the site here on this page, which include news stories, features and reviews. You'll undoubtedly see my name popping up in Top Ten lists and Sega-Addicts Speak features as well. If you fancy seeing what I have to say about non-Sega gaming topics, please check out my personal blog, MegaWestgarth, the link to which can be found below.
Homepage: http://megawestgarth.blogspot.com/
Posts by Michael Westgarth
Rumor: OUYA official store to include Sega Genesis emulator
Mar 26th
UPDATE: It has come to our attention that SuperGNES is in fact a SNES emulator, not a Genesis/ Mega Drive emulator. The Ouya will launch with NES, SNES and N64 emulators available, but no Genesis/ Mega Drive emulator. Thanks to Destructoid for the Ouya launch title list.
The OUYA games console, set for retail release in June, may allow for owners to download the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive emulator SuperGNES via its official store. The store may also contain emulators for the NES, SNES and N64.
So far the only game related to Sega to appear on the OUYA is Double Fine’s The Cave. This being said, its very unlikely that Sega are officially supporting the availability of a Genesis emulator on the OUYA store and it will be interesting to see if it does indeed see the light of day.
Are you planning to pick up the OUYA? Let us know in the comments section below.
[Source: Christian Post]
Sega speaks out about Sony’s PS4
Mar 22nd
Sony’s recent announcement of a yet unseen PlayStation 4 has fuelled the endless discussion of the next-generation of games consoles that has been going on for the last five years or so. Obviously, we Sega Addicts haven’t had much need to shout about the PlayStation 4. Not until now.
Weekly Famitsu recently asked a host of key figures in the Japanese videogame industry for their thoughts on the allegedly super-advanced games console. Two of these figures were no other than Yakuza 5 producer and series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, and Yakuza 5 writer and Sega Section Manager, Masayoshi Yokoyama.
What do they make of the PlayStation 4′s specifications and unique controller? Hit the jump to find out!
[Source: Kotaku]
Leaked image hints at Capcom plans for new Strider release
Mar 22nd
Capcom’s Strider series may be getting a new addition some time soon if a leaked XBLA image and Steam achievement are anything to go by.
Those rascally fellows over at NeoGAF were able to nab the XBLA box art from a game named “Strider” the official Xbox Marketplace website before the entry was taken down. Additionally, they found a Steam achievement in the Steam database that contained an image of Strider Hiryu, which has also now been removed.
Strider was originally released in the arcade, but its Mega Drive/ Genesis port remains one of the best on the console. Although judging by the artwork it would seem as though a new, modern game is in the works, a HD rerelease of the arcade or Mega Drive version would also be welcomed.
Check out the full image after the jump and leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Bananas the Echidna’s bananular music film
Mar 22nd
Bananas the Echidna, Stove, Sink, Dr. Eggbeater and the gang appear in this super-spectacular music video for Tobey McTired‘s song “Tales of a Bananular Existence (Part 1)” from his album POTASSIUM POWER: This ISHT is Bananas: Forming the New Universe: The Story of Bananas the Echidna : As Told By Tobey McTired and (Mostly) His Friends.
Just watch the video and leave your review in the comments section below.
[Source: Sonic Stadium]
Sega SuperBooth appears in random CBS news report
Mar 19th
Like bears to honey, the world’s top figures just can’t stay away from quality Sega products. First the Prince of Wales and his obsession with Sega Touring Car Championship and now CBS Miami’s very own Sytnthia Deamus (or something) has become enamoured with Sega’s SuperBooth.
Watch the report closely, as found through this link, and you’ll catch a rare glimpse of Sega’s special photo booth in the wild, and not in some scummy back-alley arcade, but in a fancy-pants cruise ship. Oh la la, Sega!
Man, those two guys that talk to you as you get ready for your close up sure look annoying, don’t you think? Let us know in the comments below!
[Source: Sega Amusements]
Roll up and get ready for Sega Amusements’ Milk Jug Toss
Mar 19th
Sega Amusements, the arm of the company producing arcade machines like Dream Raiders prizes such as the Sega Tokio Tablet 2.0, and other coin-operated entertainment has released a video showcasing the simple yet allegedly popular Milk Jug Toss ‘skill redemption game’. The machine is manufactured by ICE and distributed by Sega.
According to the video Milk Jug Toss, a ‘global sensation’ guaranteed to offer ‘constant and consistence revenue’ and has proven to earn three times as much as other ‘alley based games’.
While I cannot personally admit to playing arcade games of this type I can certainly see their appeal, and their apparently low level of maintenance are likely to make them a hit with arcade owners, just as the video above suggests.
Maybe not the most exciting Sega game around, but Milk Jug Toss shows that Sega still know how to make some dosh in the world of arcades. Good stuff.
Passionate Total War fan digitalised as a Rome 2 soldier before succumbing to cancer
Mar 19th
In the summer of 2012 a Total War fan by the name of James was invited to play the upcoming Total War: Rome 2 at UK based Creative Assembly Studios far before the game had even reached an alpha stage. James and his brother toured the building, met and spoke with key developers and even offered his own suggestions as to how to improve on the game from previous titles. Perhaps the greatest part of his trip though was being immortalised as a Roman soldier who will be present in the game’s reenactment of the Siege of Carthage.
James was given this fantastic opportunity by British charity Willow who organise incredibly special days out for the terminally ill. Sadly, James succumbed to liver cancer shortly after his visit to Creative Assembly. Total War community manager Craig Laycock shared his memories of James in a recent article on Eurogamer:
When I recently learned that James had died, it was devastating. Even though I had only spent a few hours in his company, it was absolutely devastating, because he was able to show us all here in the studio how passionate he was for our games.
In many ways, James represented what’s best about working in video games: crafting games that people enjoy and that stay with them. It’s why we all do what we do, and why we’re so passionate about it. He really brought that home to us.
More words from Laycock on James’ visit can be read via the source.
[Source: Eurogamer]
Aliens: Colonial Marines PC patch attempts to polish a turd
Mar 19th
Sega and Gearbox (and maybe even TimeGate, who knows) have been up night after night, delving through volumes of ancient texts on the ancient subject of alchemy. As dawn broke on March 18th 2013, both teams stood tall with heads held high as they proudly announced to the world that they have done the unthinkable.
They’d turned water into wine, lead into gold, and they’d fixed Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Truth be told, Sega have made no such claim, but they have indeed released a whopping 3.8GB patch to all Colonial Marines owning Steam users. The patch, which is larger than three or four of your average sized Dreamcast games combined, applies all fixes introduced in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version patches as well as visual improvements, increased texture resolutions, some fixes for PC-owning crashes and my favourite:
Resolved issue where campaign Motion Tracker could incorrectly in multiplayer loadouts.
Yes, that is a direct quote from the official patch notes which can be read in full after the jump.
[Source: Sega Blog]
Fan petition asks for “an HD remastering of Jet Set Radio Future”
Mar 15th
The HD re-release of Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio was a pretty successful venture for Sega and got fair reviews across the board, even from our own Brett Hatfield. If anything it reminded gamers of how innovative Sega were and could potentially be in the future. Speaking of the future, a group of JSR fans have organised a petition hoping to persuade Sega into re-releasing the Xbox exclusive Jet Set Radio Future.
Claiming the game to ‘even’ better’ than the original with ‘tighter controls, cooler music, a large, open world that encouraged exploration, and tons of replay-ability’. In their words:
We request an HD remastering of Jet Set Radio Future, with any issues the plagued the original Xbox version removed completely. We would like to see it on XBLA, PSN,(both PS3 and Vita systems), and Steam. Cross-buy compatibility for the PS3 and Vita versions would also be nice.
Whether or not Sega will take any notice of the petition, which at the time of writing has 89 signatures with a goal of 1,000, is one thing, but whether JSRF is deserving of a remake is another. In my personal opinion JSRF is a game that is visually and sonically astounding, but offers a very cumbersome and tedious gameplay experience. But who knows, the power of social media might see Hatsune Miku make it to the West, and it might very well see you playing JSRF on your PlayStation Vita some time in the future.
Future, future, future. The word’s lost all meaning.
[Source: TSSZ News]
Genesis does Star Fox
Mar 15th
While I loved my Mega Drive as a child there were always a few games that had made me regret my decision to stick with Sega’s 16-bit wonder, one of those games was the 3D space shooter Star Fox (or Star Wing as it was known in the United Kingdom). Luckily for Sega fans with SNES-envy, a team of fans from Romhacker.net have reverse engineered the iconic game and rebuilt it to work on an overclocked Sega Genesis without any additional hardware such as the SvP chip that gave Virtua Racing its polygons.
Granted, the footage as shown above has framerate issues and lacks any kind of sound, however this is only a concept beta build with more features to come. All-in-all it’s extremely impressive to see Star Fox playing in any capacity on a Genesis, and it makes me wonder how much more untapped potential there is in it even after all these years. But for now I think I’ll stick to playing my SNES on the sly.
Yeah I have a SNES. I kinda like it too. You got a problem with that?
[Source: TSSZ News]
