Remember a few months back when we said the Shining Force mess on YouTube had finally been addressed? Yeah, it turns out it hasn’t.

For those of you that missed the initial mystery, in a strange swoop Sega of Japan started taking down all Shining Force-related YouTube videos under a copy-right claim. When this was later clarified as to why they had been taken down, it was explained that the videos were “slanderous” – but they never were. Even YouTube gaming star TotalBiscuit was affected. But then Sega bit their tongue, apologised and it all look to be sorted. However. TotalBiscuit recently posted this on Twitter:

I’d like to remind everyone since they’re sweeping it under the rug that it has been over 6 months since SEGA falsely flagged videos. Aside from my copyright strikes, plenty of channels are still closed and have not had theirs revoked. SEGAs actions were abusive.

When someone queried had Sega not stuck to their word on a resolution two months back, TotalBiscuit replied “they did not. I repeatedly followed up with the channels affected and nothing happened.” Luckily, TotalBiscuit was cleared of his copyright claims – but what about all of the other channels affected?

Hopefully this issue will be resolved sooner rather than later, it all seems a little odd.

[Source: tssznews]

Following news that an Ultimate version of Dead or Alive 5 was on its way, two new characters have been added to the expanded roster: Ein and Jacky Bryant.

While Ein – though just Karate-styled alter-ego of Hayate – is making his return from Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Jacky Bryant joins his sister and makes the fourth guest appearance from related Sega franchise, Virtua Fighter. Coming to the West this Autumn, we already know Mojimi from Team Ninja’s sister series, Ninja Gaiden, will be joining the ranks as well as series staple Leon.  With no other characters confirmed so far, there’s a flickering flame of hope for a lot of us that Ryo Hazuki may yet still make an appearance (well here’s to optimism!)

I was a bit worried when Sega didn’t have a booth at PAX East this year, but could partially understand it with the Aliens Colonial Marines fiasco happening only months before it. According to E3′s floor plan though, it looks like this convention is going to be a different story. As you can see in the photo above, Sega has a decently sized booth. For comparison, the booth to the left of Sega in that photo is actually Activision/Blizzard. I’m sure we’ll see a decent amount of mobile games from Sega, but would a mobile-only booth really warrant an area that size? Let the speculation begin!

Shit just got real y’all. Last night, we reported on Sonic Retro getting their hacky little hands on a 1998 AutoDemo of Sonic Adventure, one of the very earliest builds shown to the general public at Japanese game shows.

Already we’ve seen some amazing stuff come from this find, such as soundtrack WIPs, early cutscenes and levels, and a couple of test levels which imply there were some very very different gameplay mechanics that didn’t make it to the final game. However, there was one thing many Sonic fans thought we’d never see again included in the disc as well: The original Windy Valley.

Long thought to be lost to history, the original form of the game’s famous second level was found late last night by hacker darkspines35. While nothing has been made playable yet, and getting the level to its former glory is going to take quite a bit of time, the geniuses at Retro are already hard at work, with amazing progress already being made, as seen in the screenshot above.

This is one of the coolest things I’ve had the chance to see the Sonic community unearth, and it feels like we’ve found a Hidden Palace Zone for a new generation almost. I’m really looking forward to having to chance to play it when, not if, the hacking community makes it possible.

Source: Sonic Retro Forums

Though it’s only a brief and blurry shot (who can say they’re surprised for a Sonic the Hedgehog character) First 4 Figures have released a teaser trailer for their upcoming Shadow figure. If First 4 Figures’ typical quality standards are anything to go by, expect this be a great addition to the collection, though with a cost to justify the quality.

In fact, expect it to fit comfortably with their recently released Modern Sonic figure if you were lucky enough to purchase one of those. Though they haven’t given a specific pre-order date, the trailer promises “soon” and you’d be sure to pre-order it as soon as possible – these figures are typically on a limited run and are extremely popular. If you’ve never heard of the company before, this isn’t the first time they’ve shown Sega love and you might be interested to check out their previous Ryo Hazuki, Tails, Knuckles and Super Sonic releases.

[Source: Sonic Stadium]

We were already a little giddy from the news that both Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games were heading our way, but Sega Europe have confirmed an additional third title is on its way to the Wii U too. In discussing Sega’s new publishing deal with Nintendo, after mentioning the two already known titles it was also let slip there is a third, unannounced title as part of the deal.

This is what Jurgen Post, COO of Sega Europe had to say to GamesIndustry International:

Sega have chosen to exclusively partner with Nintendo to distribute or publish the next three Sonic the Hedgehog titles throughout Europe and Australia. This is a strategic partnership that does not affect our existing distribution network across these territories and with whom we are looking forward to working with on the upcoming releases of Total War: Rome II and Company of Heroes 2.

It’s not much to go on, but it’s certainly exciting. This new deal is representative of Sega’s attempts to restructure, focusing on publishing in the PC market with titles like Total War: Rome 2 and the mobile market with recently released House of the Dead Overkill: The Lost Reels and Sonic Dash, while resorting to publishing home console titles externally.

Any ideas of what it could be? I’m hoping it’s the rumoured Mario Kart and Sonic All-Stars cross over.

[Source: GamesIndustry]

Buckle up, ladies and gents. Things are potentially about to get very interesting. Sonic Retro users Orengefox and Jen have acquired two discs containing early prototypes of the Japanese versions of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast.

The SA1 disc is a simple AutoDemo and the SA2 disc seems to be a Japanese press copy, and is standard fare aside from constant mentions of Shadow’s original name, Terios, in the file list.

While neither seems like much on the surface, both have enormous amounts of potential for looks into the development of both games. The SA1 disc has already provided unused textures and WIPs of various stage musics, as well as having a ton of differences from the final release, as it’s one of the very earliest demoed builds.

Neither game has aged very well, but they’re still landmark games for Sega, and any look into the development of these two is cause for being excited. Is anyone else as hyped as me for whatever else might come from this find? Tell us in the comments.

[Source: Sonic Retro]

Wonderful 101, Platinum Games’ new action/Pikmin-like/superhero/strategy…. adventure is shaping up to be an interesting title. I don’t really know how to classify the game as you can tell from my genre I created for it, but the game looks like its own genre, which the gaming world really needs.

Confusion aside, the game finally has a release date of September 15th for the Nintendo Wii U. Anyone plan on grabbing it?

[Source: Destructoid]

Nintendo will be starting off their Nintendo Unleashed Tour at the upcoming MCM London expo and will be showcasing playable demos of both Project X Zone and 3D Space Harrier. So far Sega’s entire range of “3D” Nintendo 3DS ports have been exclusive to the Japanese eShop.

So why show off 3D Space Harrier at  MCM London? I don’t know, but I intend to find out.

That’s right, Sega Addicts’ Michael Westgarth will be heading over to the London ExCel exhibition centre this Friday to play Project X Zone, 3D Space Harrier and whatever else we can get our grubby little mitts on. There’s also going to be a retro gaming exhibition with playable Mega Drives. So if you a tried, sweaty British fella playing on a Mega drive, that’d be me. No wait, that’d be pretty much everyone. Hmm.

Expect reports on MCM London’s offerings on Sega Addicts sometime next week!

[Source: Official Nintendo Magazine]

Platinum Games’ Metal Gear Solid spin-off Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be ported to PC platforms. The news comes straight from the lips of Metal Gear series producer Hideo Kojima who let the cat out oft he bag in a a recent Konami podcast. Platinum Games Creative Producer JP Kellams then confirmed the PC port in a recent Tweet.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was of course develops for and published by Konami, but anyone who had played it will see its ties to Anarchy Reigns, Bayonetta, Vanquish and more. Of interest to Sega fans is the fact this port may lead to the possibility of their Sega published games receiving similar PC ports.

Check out our review of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and let us know if you’d be interested in a PC port by leaving a comment below!

[Source: NeoGAF via Gematsu]