September2021
News Japan's Switch Online Service Gets The Six-Button Sega Mega Drive Controller
The "superior" gamepad
One of the highlights of the latest Nintendo Direct was the announcement Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) games will be coming to the Switch Online service next month as an 'Expansion Pack' service. This includes the addition of new (but old) controllers that are now wireless. There's a Nintendo 64 controller and a...
News 'WATA Certified' Copy Of Sonic The Hedgehog Sells For Record Price
Update: "Our customers trust us" says auction company founder, responding to Yuji Naka
Update (Thu 23rd Sep, 2021 10:30 BST): PR firm Goldin Solutions—representatives of both Goldin Auctions (the seller of this Sonic game) and grading company WATA—has contacted us to highlight the replies of Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin to Yuji Naka in a...
News Sonic's 30th Anniversary Symphony Album Is Now Available On Major Digital Services
Featuring songs from the past three decades
There have been all sorts of video game anniversary celebrations this year, but one of the highlights of the lot would have to be Sonic the Hedgehog's 30th anniversary. Earlier this year Sega held a special Livestream announcing new games and the return of some old ones, and following this was a very...
News F4F Unveils Its Stunning Skies Of Arcadia Aika Statue, Pre-Orders Are Now Open
Estimated release Q1, 2022
It's now been over 20 years since Sega's RPG Skies of Arcadia made its original debut on the Dreamcast. It was followed by the GameCube version 2002 and since then fans have been hoping for more. While today's news might not be directly game-related, it's at least something. Pre-orders for the Skies of Arcadia Aika First...
Random Luigi Has Been Found Inside The Dreamcast Prototype Of Sega GT
L is real!
Over the course of the '90s, Sega and Nintendo were obviously direct competitors - we've seen this documented in texts like the 'Console Wars' by Blake J. Harris. Despite this, it seems there was some rather incredibly weird stuff going on behind the scenes at one of these video game companies - so weird actually, that it was "borrowing"...
News Sega To Announce "New RPG" At This Year's Tokyo Game Show
Update: It's a mobile game
Update [Sat 18th Sep, 2021 17:45 BST]: Sega has now launched a website and released a teaser trailer for its "new RPG", which confirms it's a mobile game. More information including the title of this game will be revealed on 1st October during Sega's TGS2021 presentation. Original article [Fri 17th Sep, 2021 02:45 BST]:...
News Sega Releases Its First Patch For Sonic Colors Ultimate On Nintendo Switch
And more are on the way
When Sonic Colors Ultimate arrived on the Nintendo Switch a few weeks ago some players began encountering all sorts of issues. We had a look ourselves and were also able to replicate these issues by following certain steps. Although there were problems present in o
News Sonic Colours Ultimate Physical Editions Delayed In Europe, Look Set For October
Update: Amazon Spain sets a new target
Update (14th September): A member of the Nintendo Life team received an order update from Amazon in Spain, stating that it will be delivered on 11th October or later, so there's still quite a wait in that case. Original Article (23rd August): Just two weeks out from the September 7th release date of the...
Video Here's Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Sonic Colors Ultimate On Nintendo Switch
Switch version described as the most "problematic" of the bunch
WARNING: The video above contains flashing images Last week, there were reports about Sonic Colors Ultimate players encountering glitches in the Nintendo Switch release. While some of these issues were caused by emulation, others were found within the actual release. Sega and Blind
Video We Investigate Sonic Colours Ultimate's Bizarre Visual Glitches
Warning: Flashing images
WARNING: The video above contains flashing images. Over the weekend it came to light that several early purchasers of the digital version of Sonic Colors Ultimate were running into some fairly major visual glitches in the Switch version of the game, which included a host of flashing textures, blown-out lighting, warped...
News Switch Players Are Encountering All Sorts Of Glitches In Sonic Colors Ultimate
Update: We've managed to replicate the issues
Update [Mon 6th Sep, 2021 10:20 BST]: Although we previously encountered no issues with the game, by following steps published on Youtube by JustLemres (WARNING: contains flashing images) we can now independently confirm that the glitches seen online over the weekend can be reproduced on Switch hardware...
News Jet Set Radio Artist And Former Yakuza Director Ryuta Ueda Returns To Sega
As the Super Monkey Ball creator potentially exits
There have been a lot of key figures moving about in the Japanese video game industry in recent times, and the latest individual now making headlines is the art director of Jet Set Radio, Ryuta Ueda. After spending nearly a decade at Yahoo! Japan, Ueda announced in a Facebook post how he returned...
Random This Lucky Switch Fan Received A Physical Copy Of Sonic Colors Ultimate One Week Early
Digital Deluxe owners can also play the game now
Sonic Colors Ultimate arrives on the Nintendo Switch next week, and while the majority of fans have to wait until then, it seems some individuals are already lucky enough to be playing a hard copy of the game. Reddit user kaydeejay1995 is one of those people - revealing how they received a physical...
Talking Point It's A Golden Era For Video Game Music Fans, So How Do You Listen?
When you're not playing the games, obvs
Being a fan of Nintendo-based video game music has historically been pretty tough. Older aural aficionados would cling tightly to their Killer Cuts CDs, dedicated collectors wept at the triple-digit pricing of rare Japanese CD sets containing most, but never quite all, of a popular '90s RPG soundtrack, and...
News Now Suezo From Monster Rancher Is Confirmed For Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania
Ok...
The Monster Rancher series isn't particularly well known outside of Japan, with long gaps between releases and Europe being skipped entirely for a DS release 11 years ago. Recently, though, Koei Tecmo confirmed that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is bringing the revamped PlayStation originals to the Switch on 9th December, which should be intere
August2021
News Monkey Ball And Yakuza Creator Is In Talks To Leave Sega For NetEase
Founder of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios reportedly poached
It seems as though veteran Sega developer Toshihori Nagoshi is about to be snatched up by Chinese video game giant NetEase in the company's latest effort to stay competitive with their biggest rival, Tencent. Nagoshi, who's been at Sega since 1989 and has worked on everything from Sega Rally to...
Video Sega Releases Episode Two Of 'Sonic Colors: Rise Of The Wisps'
Watch the exciting conclusion
Update [Fri 27th Aug, 2021 02:30 BST]: Sega has released the second and final chapter of its two-part animated web series, Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps. Did you enjoy this short series? Tell us down in the comments. In today’s climactic episode, temperatures rise as Sonic and the Jade Wisp clash with Dr...
News Sonic The Hedgehog Singer Tony Harnell Teases Possible Return
He might have even worked on a Sonic song recently...
According to a story over on the fansite Sonic Stadium, Tony Harnell may be working on a new Sonic the Hedgehog song. Harnell is an American rock singer - best known for his work with TNT and Skid Row. Sonic fans most commonly associate him with the songs 'It Doesn't Matter' and 'Escape from the...
News Idris Elba Will Voice Knuckles In Sonic Movie 2
"Knock knock"
The great Emerald's power allows us to feel extremely excited at the fact that Idris Elba is going to play Knuckles in the upcoming sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (the movie). At least, that's what it looks like from his semi-cryptic tweet of a fist: This probably seems crazy crazy, a graveyard theory, but we took a closer look at the...
Video Sonic Colors Ultimate - Meet The Wisps
Including the new Jade Ghost
Next month sees the release of Sonic Colors Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. It's a remaster of the 2010 game featuring improved graphics and revamped lighting. Ahead of the game's launch, Sega has released a new video showcasing all of the Wisp in action. "Meet the Wisp! Explore the galaxy and reach new heights with...
Random We've Been Wrong About This Streets Of Rage Special Move For Almost 30 Years
Yuzo Koshiro sets things straight
Yesterday, Sega's Streets of Rage series turned 30 – and composer Yuzo Koshiro decided to share a piece of trivia that has blown the collective minds of many fans. Koshiro explains that in Streets of Rage 2, Axel Stone's most famous special move – performed by tapping in the same direction twice and pressing...
News Former Sega And Koei Tecmo President Appointed As SNK's New CEO
SNK says it's ready for "a new phase of growth and development"
SNK Corporation - best-known for series like The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury and the Neo Geo hardware has appointed Kenji Matsubara as its new chief executive officer. Matsubara was previously the president of Koei Tecmo and spent a few years at Zynga's Japan, before moving on to Sega...
July2021
Reminder A Demo For Jupiter's Sega Picross Is Now Available On Switch eShop
Try before you buy
Update [Sat 31st Jul, 2021 20:00 BST]: This demo is now available on the Switch eShop in Europe and North America. It will require around 170MB of free space. Enjoy! Original story [Thu 29th Jul, 2021 01:53 BST]: Yesterday, Sega finally locked in a local release date for Picross S Genesis & Master System Edition (also known...
News Legendary Composer Jun Senoue Joins Sonic Colors Ultimate OST Remix Line-Up
Listen to his sample work
If you needed one extra reason to get excited about Sonic Colors Ultimate, Sega has now revealed legendary Sonic composer Jun Senoue - and the lead guitarist for Crush 40, has joined the remix roster for the upcoming release. Attached to this is a sample of his new remix for vs. Rotatatron & Refreshinator. In the words...
News Sega Confirms Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Will Run At 60FPS On Switch
And gives fans another look at the gyro controls
Sega's upcoming release Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania looks incredibly promising but how will it run on the Switch? In a post over on social media, the company has confirmed the latest entry in the series will run at a silky-smooth 60FPS, alongside another look at the gyroscopic controls: