Tag Archives: Sega

Dengeki Bunko: FIGHTING CLIMAX Receiving Expansion, Emi Yusa Confirmed

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Dengeki Online just announced a new iteration of their crossover fighter Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. As of now, the expanded release is only set for arcades in Japan, and the expansion’s new title hasn’t been publicly announced. However, it is currently set for release this summer. This expanded release will also feature balance adjustments to the existing cast, too.

Topping off the news of this release is the confirmation of a new playable character: Emi Yusa from Hataraku! Maou Sama/The Devil is a Part-Timer. Emi and Sadao Maou’s personalities constantly antagonize each other, to say nothing of their backgrounds as a holy knight and a devil, respectively. But as they are miraculously transported to the real world outside of the world of magic and demons, their powers are limited and their former lives serve as a sort of bonding point, however shaky that bond may be (perhaps it’s actually stronger than we think!) Now Sadao is a little less out of place by himself, and screenshots already do show him as a support character to Emi to reflect both of them representing the same franchise (though players are free to choose their team combinations, you cannot change whether or not they are playable or assist-only.)

Sega published and assisted with development of Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, though the main development forces were French Bread (Melty Blood) and Ecole Software. The game is rife with Sega shoutouts including characters and stages; hopefully we may see some more with this new release. That we’ll see more new characters besides Emi from within Dengeki Bunko is certain.

The article teases a more detailed announcement of this game on May 28th, so expect additional news around that time!

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

Stella Glow Demo Coming to Japan

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Sega recently announced that Stella Glow, a 3DS RPG from Imageepoch that Sega is publishingi in Japan, will be receiving a demo. And the demo is coming out very soon – May 20th, not long ahead of the game’s June 4th release. Atlus is bringing the game to North America sometime later this year, with no specific release date currently announced. Additionally, demo plans for North America are known as of now.

The demo will allow players to sample the game’s prologue, wherein the evil witch Hilda will clash with the protagonist Alto. From there, Alto’s main mission will involve him recruiting witches to help him stop Hilda’s nefarious plans.

Stella Glow will also very likely be Imageepoch’s swan song, as the company has filed for bankruptcy. It’s been an unfortunate series of events for the company that apparently hasn’t been financially sound for the past couple of years. Gamers were likely first alerted to Imageepoch’s troubling circumstances with the publicized discovery that the company’s CEO had “disappeared.” But before Imageepoch filed for bankruptcy, the company had sought publishers for Stella Glow, and successfully contracted with Sega for publishing duties in Japan.

Credit goes to this Gematsu article for the initial news announcement.

Love Live’s Rin to Promote Sega Franchises in Japan

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Last year, Sega of Japan announced a “Sega X Love Live” cross-promotional campaign wherein Love Live’s Rin Hoshizora would occasionally be used to promote Sega franchises. The campaign has already been put to work, with a handful of media featuring Sonic the Hedgehog and Rin making use of this promotion.

Rin Sonic

However, a new page for this promotion was created earlier this year, asking for input on a specific franchise (among a set of choices) that would crossover with Rin for promotional purposes. One known result for the winner: a special graphical illustration featuring Rin and the winning title. The choices were:

  • Yakuza
  • Puyo Puyo
  • Border Break
  • Chain Chronicle
  • Space Channel 5
  • Virtua Fighter
  • Wonderland Wars

Some current results for the poll were recently announced, and Puyo Puyo is currently in the lead. I can’t help but wonder how interesting it would be to have Rin help promote Yakuza or Virtua Fighter. In addition, that Space Channel 5 was a selectable option is a pleasant surprise, considering the franchise’s inactivity. If the results skew more favorably for Space Channel 5, it might suggest the desire for another Space Channel 5-related initiative. Or, to be more optimistic, perhaps the franchise being mentioned at all might portend good things. Let’s hope Space Channel 5 being featured in the SeHa Girls anime is the start of something more for the franchise!

In any case, Puyo Puyo was followed by Yakuza and Chain Chronicle in the polling results. Off of the heels of the Puyo Puyo play, it’s nice to see the franchise receiving continued attention in Japan. But of course, the polling’s not over yet – it closes on May 31st.

Sega-Sammy Posts Net Loss in FY 2015

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Sega-Sammy have revealed their results for the past fiscal year (ending March 30, 2015), and they’re not particularly good. The company has posted a 11.2 billion yen loss, compared to their 30.721 billion yen profit the year before. While the consumer business (the one with Sega’s console/PC/mobile games) managed to do better than the year before by posting a 4 million yen profit, the Pachinko/Pachislot saw a drastic decline in profit, with income nearly half of that of the year before (still 25.796 billion yen). Things looked particularly bad for the Amusement Machine Sales and Amusement Center Operations side, which both posted net losses. All this contributed to a considerably reduced income, leading to an overall net loss for the holding company.

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Game Symphony Japan’s Sega Concert Update: Program, and More

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Game Symphony Japan’s webpage for their upcoming Sega-themed performance has been updated with some interesting new information. Most notably, the program has been released, naming all of the franchises or titles being represented (without referring to specific music tracks.) The list is below:

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Adventure
NiGHTS into Dreams…
The Rub Rabbits!
Sakura Wars
Space Channel 5
Segagaga
Daytona USA
Virtual On Force
Roommania #203
Virtua Fighter 2
Fantasy Zone

Sakura Wars music has previously been performed by the Game Symphony Japan ensemble and its return is very much welcome. The representation of classics like NiGHTS into Dreams and Space Channel 5 is also pleasing to see. I have to say that I would have wished to see representation from Valkyria Chronicles and Skies of Arcadia and find it incredibly surprising to not see either of those franchises as part of the program. Hopefully they will be present in another iteration of Game Symphony X Sega.

The performance will take place on the October 10th at 4:30 PM JST. Tickets will go on sale during the middle of June and are available for three seating classes: S Seat at ¥8500, A Seat at ¥7500, and B Seat at ¥6500. The featured image for our article displays only a portion of the concert’s promotional poster; if you’d like to check out the entirety of the poster, continue reading!

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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.

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.