Back when Korean company Snowpipe announced their new “Sakura Wars M” mobile game, I was surprised to find that the copyright section no longer referenced the company that developed the past Sakura Wars games, Red Entertainment. Back in 2005, Red Entertainment had separated from their parent company SEGA by buying back a major portion of their SEGA-owned stock, a move that allowed them to regain their independent status. Nonetheless, they still retained part of the Sakura Wars IP, as any copyright mention related to Sakura Wars games noted “©SEGA ©RED”. Puzzled by seeing Red Entertainment not mentioned on the new Sakura Wars M game, I went and verified Red Entertainment’s website, but it was still listing their company as a Sakura Wars copyright owner. So I couldn’t be sure if Red Entertainment had indeed lost control over the Sakura Wars IP.
Tag Archives: Sakura Wars
SEGA Forgot to Renew the Official Sakura Wars Domain Name Again, Website Is down as a Result
It seems like SEGA of Japan once again forgot to renew their www.sakura-taisen.com domain name, and as a result the official Sakura Wars website is no longer accessible and simply displays a parking page (screenshot posted below). This isn’t the first time they forgot, as the same thing already happened in 2014. The domain name expires on 29th of December, which may explain why SEGA tends to miss the renewal. Nevertheless, they should be getting reminders via e-mail long before the domain name actually expires, so it’s curious to see how this continues to happen. Even more so given that this is still one of SEGA’s most iconic franchises in Japan, and also topped SEGA’s own poll for franchises that fans want to see revived. Unfortunately, this doesn’t inspire confidence that SEGA actually intends to resurrect the franchise anytime soon. In any case, SEGA should have some time left to recover the domain before anyone else can attempt to claim it.
Sakura Wars Takes Top Spot in Best Simulation Games List in Recent Famitsu
A recent issue of Weekly Famitsu featured the results of a poll where they asked their readers to vote for their favorite games in a certain category. In the Simulation (Strategy) genre, the original Sakura Wars managed to take the top spot, ahead of the likes of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. The original Valkyria Chronicles finished in a respectable 4th place as well. The complete top 20 Simulation games list can be found here.
In an earlier Weekly Famitsu issue, SEGA’s Yakuza 0 also took the top spot in the action-adventure genre, ahead of Shenmue and Breath of the Wild, The complete top 20 list is listed here.
Sega of Japan’s Franchise Revival Poll Results Revealed! Sakura Wars Takes Victories!
About a week ago, SEGA of Japan announced that they were running a series of polls to gauge fan interest levels in particular characters and franchises – most notably featuring a variety of legacy SEGA options.
During today’s SEGA Fes. stream, the results of the polls were announced. The corresponding NeoGAF thread (with specific post cited below) has compiled both the ranked results for each of the three polls and the number of votes each franchise received, with the top ten options being listed for each poll.
To recap, there were three questions: which franchise do you want to see revived, which brand are you most invested in, and who is your favorite SEGA character. The results are as follows (credited to NeoGAF user The Bankslammer, and Phanton River Stone for additional entries):
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Sakura Wars Events in Japan: 3rd Sakura Wars Museum, “Sakura Wars: The Movie” Screening
While the 20th Anniversary of the Sakura Wars series has come and gone, events are still being held throughout this year to commemorate the storied history of the franchise.
First, Cinema City and Kotobukiya are partnering together to screen “Sakura Wars: The Movie” in Tachikawa, Tokyo. Chisa Yokoyama, the voice actor for Sakura Shinguuji, will also be present for a talk segment. The screening begins at 4:30 PM on November 3rd, and tickets cost 2,500円 across 382 seats.
ARTFX J is also developing a Sakura Shinguuji figure, which can be seen at this page. A short PV has also been produced and uploaded to Kotobukiya’s YouTube channel to promote the Sakura figure:
The figure will cost 13,800円 and is produced at 1/8 scale!
Additionally, a third iteration of what has now became the Sakura Wars Museum series will be held at the Akihabara GAMERS location! The next Sakura Wars Museum will be open from November 4th to November 20th. A new round of character goods will be introduced, and this time some of them goods will feature more characters from the Paris Assault Force. For example, the new round of acrylic key charms will feature all women of the Tokyo and Paris Assault Forces. However, members of the New York Combat Revue will also be present in the A4 file set and the mouse pad. There are many items to be purchased, once again!
The festivities seem to be continuing for Sakura Wars! Perhaps we may yet see more from this series in the future? Let us hope.
Sakura Wars X Chain Chronicle: New Cards, New Trailer
SEGA Networks recently announced another round of content for the Sakura Wars X Chain Chronicle collaboration event. Formally announced a little more than a month ago, the collaboration takes the popular SEGA mobile game Chain Chronicle and features the Imperial Assault Force characters from Sakura Wars.
The news post linked at the top of this article describes which characters will receive SSR or SR cards. The list will be reproduced as follows:
Sakura Wars Goods at Tokyo Game Show 2016
The 20th Anniversary of the Sakura Wars franchise is right around the corner – September 27th marks the release date of the first Sakura Wars game in Japan. But before then, Tokyo Game Show 2016 will be held at the Makuhari Messe on the weekend of September 15th – 18th. At this event, SEGA will be further celebrating the lead-up to the Sakura Wars anniversary by offering new pieces of merchandise for sale. There’s a preview page up on the official Sakura Wars website!
New Sakura Wars Mobile Game to be Launched in Korea in August 29
In March, we wrote an article that in part discussed “Sakura Wars: The Legend Begins”, a game for Android devices being developed by the Korean mobile media developer Snowpipe, whose official website can be seen here. 4Gamer recently published in article announcing that The Legend Begins will release in Korea on August 29, and is accepting pre-registrations. An iOS version is also in development, though it will not be releasing concurrently with the Android version.
Sakura Wars X Chain Chronicle Collaboration Announced for Japan
In light of its 20th anniversary this year, the Sakura Wars series has seen several crossover projects with other games, including Granblue Fantasy and Phantasy Star Online 2. At a recent event for their hit mobile game Chain Chronicle, SEGA has now announced that the game will also be getting a crossover with the Sakura Wars series.
Few details are known at this point, but SEGA did launch a new website for the collaboration event. Judging from the silhouettes in the artwork found there it seems that, aside from Sakura and Ogami, other characters of the first game might also make a return. Sega has promised they’ll be updating the website periodically, so we’ll keep an eye out for more details.
Sakura Wars X Granblue Fantasy: Epilogue Video
We’ve been uploading videos for the Sakura Wars X Granblue Fantasy event since the event ended, and today we reach the end of that video archive with the story’s epilogue. Those who viewed the previous episodes will know that, after the initial prologue, the main cast found themselves in the world of Granblue Fantasy. The epilogue sees Sakura, Ogami, Gemini, Shinjiro and Erica reunited in a decisive battle against the series’ recurring villain, Aoi Satan. Take a look below for the epilogue and an overview of all the other videos we posted so far! And if you watched the videos, feel free to let us know in what you think about this crossover in the comments. And for those who play Granblue Fantasy and unlocked the characters, we’re looking for help to record their Fate Episodes.