Author Archives: InTheSky

Upcoming Game Symphony Japan Performance to Exclusively Feature Sega Music

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Game Symphony Japan recently announced that one of their upcoming performances will be exclusively focused on music from Sega games. It’s a series of symphonic performances that have been active for the past couple of years, tackling various franchises. Crunchyroll notes that while in the past music from Sakura Wars and Phantasy Star Online have been performed, this is the first event under Game Symphony Japan that will be devoted to Sega music. Kenichi Shimura will conduct, the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra will provide the instrumental music, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus will provide choral accompaniments.

The event will take place on October 10th of this year. Notably, the event page on the official Game Symphony website is attached with a subtitle claiming this is “SEGA Special Vol. 1.” The more Sega music that gets performed and the more franchises that receive treatment, the merrier!

Credit for the featured image goes to the above-linked Crunchyroll article.

Sony’s Gio Corsi Taking Questions for Yakuza 5 Interview

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Gio Corsi of Third Party Productions & Developer Relations at Sony will be taking question submissions via his Twitter account until April 3rd, which is next week Friday. He plans to take some of the questions with him to an interview with the creators of Yakuza 5 at Sega.

To make your suggestion, use the #Yakuza5PS hashtag and tweet at him! There are no guarantees any one question will be used, but it is a chance to ask something that’s on your mind.

Yakuza 5 is set to release on PSN in the West this summer.

Puyo Puyo Receiving a Stage Play in Japan

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The stage play fun just isn’t stopping with Sega’s properties. Phantasy Star, Yakuza, and now Puyo Puyo, all within a few months! Jin115.com reports that a new stage play called “Puyo Puyo: On Stage” is coming to Japan. The Puyo Puyo franchise is celebrating its 24th year in Japan, so this is one way to celebrate that occasion. One has to wonder what the play will be about, but since the project is so unexpected, I would personally be interested in seeing it. But of course, I can’t, and for that it’s a cruel world we all live in.

Sega of Japan has put up a website, which you can check out here. The play will run from May 2th to May 6th, with two showings on the 3rd, 4th and 5th (1:00 PM and 5:00 PM), alongisde one 5:00 PM showing for May 2th with a 1:00 PM showing to close out. Ticket prices and cast can also be found on the site, though not in English.

Regrettably there hasn’t been much to write about regarding Puyo Puyo lately. Hopefully Puyo Puyo Tetris gets localized and we can change that.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon: English Wanderer Trailer, Early Release DLC Plans

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Atlus USA yesterday released a new character class video for Etrian Mystery Dungeon, featuring the Wanderer class specially made for this game. They’re different from the other classes – it seems they have more specialized attacks, and have skills that allow players to simply focus on moving through dungeons. Examples of these include Dig which plows through walls in front of your character, and Sudden Squall which scatters enemies about. Perhaps that will be the focal point of the Wanderer.

The #EMDMysterybox promotion continues this week. I’ll assume we all know the drill – go to Facebook or Twitter, share the Wanderer video, and let the magic happen.

It’s also worth noting that Etrian Mystery Dungeon will be supported by a free round of DLC quests in its first month after release in North America on April 7th. The DLC will later require payment to access on May 5th. This is actually the same batch of DLC that Japanese players were treated to following the early stages of Etrian Mystery Dungeon’s release, so it’s nice that those who purchase the North American version will be treated to the same content. The DLC quests are designed for players who may want more assistance easing themselves into the game, but they offer helpful rewards nonetheless. Courtesy of Gematsu, the quests are listed below, reproduced directly from this article:

  • Find a Wanderer for me! Find the master chef Wanderer to unlock three new recipes for the Amber Restaurant! ($1.49)
  • Find a Princess for me! Find the stray Sovereign to unlock a meal fit for a king in the Amber Restaurant! ($1.99)
  • Find a Landsknecht for me! Find the adventurous Landsknecht to unlock three new recipes for the Amber Restaurant! ($1.49)
  • Know the Red Pookas? Slay a Red Pooka wandering around the dungeon to receive a Golden or White potion for extra experience! ($1.99)
  • Slay the Gold Guardian! Defeat an elusive Gold Guardian in the dungeon to receive a Nugget of Gold fragment for extra gold! ($1.49)

Once downloaded, the quests are available when speaking to Niralda at the Amber Restaurant. The last two are repeatable. After May 5th, the DLC quests will be priced at the levels shown at the end of each quest description shown above.

In addition to this, Atlus USA will be offering a 3DS theme for Etrian Mystery Dungeon at $0.99, available on March 31st. To get a look at the theme in action, along with the Wanderer video and its class description, continue reading.

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Neptunia VS Sega Hard Girls for PlayStation Vita Announced!

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The news is rapidly making the rounds. Compile Heart (Neptunia and Record of Agarest War developer) announced two games at the Dengeki Kanshasai 2015 today, and one of them is Neptunia VS Sega Hard Girls for the Playstation Vita. There are no other details on the game so far: no release date, no genre, etc.

It’s a crossover that does make sense – now that it’s announced I almost wonder what took so long. A franchise featuring moe anthropomorphizations of consoles meets another franchise featuring anthropomorphizations of Sega hardware. It’s worth noting that this game may be the first opportunity for the Sega hardware girls to be directly playable in a non-mobile title.

SEGABits’ Sonic and SEGA Fan Jam 2015 Coming This Fall!

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On occasion at Segalization we have taken a look at community/enthusiast productions. Some of you reading this site may be familiar with Sonic and SEGA Fan Jam. It’s a series of annual fan conventions sponsored by our partner site SEGAbits that began last year. On the heels of a new site being launched specifically for this year’s coming event, I thought I’d contribute a small article of my own to draw attention to this fan-organized event.

Sonic and SEGA Fan Jam is a general SEGA-enthusiast convention designed for fans of SEGA’s output throughout the company’s history. The Fan Jam last year featured a variety of content: fan film/media productions, a cosplay contest, and various game exhibitions (including Project DIVA F 2nd and Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, among many other titles), some more modern and some more classic. To see what was on offer last year, check out this SEGAbits writeup.

The 2015 Fan Jam is set to reprise its venue from last year – the Guild Hall in Savannah, Georgia, in the US. The event is set to take place during the Fall of this year, with more details including ticket prices and special guests to be announced over time.

As it stands, event management is accepting donations to cover various expenses associated with running the event (venue fees, special guests, and other elements.) There is a GoGetFunding page available for those willing to contribute – donations start at a modest $1, and are transacted through PayPal accounts. In the future, special prize giveaways for those who donate at particular value levels will be announced. The event hopes to see has a tentative goal of $7,000 (and may be adjusted upwards in the future), so keep that in mind. In addition, event management is also welcoming donations of personal SEGA software and hardware for the use of the event’s attendants. If you may have something you’re interested in bringing to the convention, reach out to the organizers through segabits@gmail.com with your name and address and someone will start a dialogue with you as soon as they can.

Kori-Maru’s (event organizer and multiple SEGA franchise fan extraordinaire) writeup on SEGAbits announcing this year’s Fan Jam has already been published; be sure to check it out! There is also a separate Facebook page for the Fan Jam series if you are looking for another direct information outlet.

*the featured image is taken directly from the SEGAbits announcement article for the 2015 Fan Jam event. If only I had the drawing skill.

Stella Glow’s First Trailer

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SEGA recently uploaded the first trailer for the Imageepoch-developed Stella Glow to their YouTube channel. It introduces several characters (and their voiceover artists!) while showing off some gameplay and animated cutscenes, all accompanied by an opening theme song.

The “LAST SONG FOR YOU” text flashed at the end of the trailer must have some thematic significance – it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out once we learn more of the game. We know from our previous writeup that the witch antagonist Hilda plans to use her powers of song to crystallize the world within the game.

Stella Glow is a 3DS strategy-RPG scheduled for release in Japan on June 4th. No word on release outside of Japan as of yet. Continue reading to check out the trailer!

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Etrian Mystery Dungeon: English Sovereign Trailer

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This week Atlus USA produced a trailer for the Sovereign (also known as the Prince/Princess) class. For a class with such a straightforward visual concept, they’re rather unorthodox. The Sovereign is a specialized support class that can add useful buffs to your allies’ attacks or give them resistances. You may even aid them in evading enemy attacks (scummy Ninjas looking out only for themselves, harumph, very ignoble.) They can also debuff your enemies. Why aren’t they more about the front lines? Well….noblesse oblige and all that.

As usual, the #EMDMysterybox promotion continues once again, so if you want to participate, share the trailer on Facebook or Twitter.

Continue reading to check out the Atlus USA class description and the short character class trailer. The following media can probably only be appreciated by non-plebeian types.

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Live Theatre Production of Yakuza 1 Announced for Japan

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Yakuzafan.com recently broke some awesome news – a live theatre production of Yakuza 1 is coming to Japan! With some translation assistance from Yakuza-focused translation group KHHsubs, they write that the play will feature 8 showings from April 24th to April 28th. The shows will be held at Akasaka ACT Theatre in Tokyo, a performing arts theatre.

The theatre’s website doesn’t show any showtime listings on the “Schedule” section of its website but those are sure to come later.

It’s a unique and unexpected (well, after the PSO2 play, maybe not…) turn of events but it’s certainly welcome. It also goes to show the power of the Yakuza franchise in Japan. A live-action movie, a play, what’s next?