Satoshi Sakai, Art Director on many Phantasy Star Online titles, is teasing an unannouncedPhantasy Star Online project in development.

Speaking to Dengeki PlayStation, Sakai said that the recent announcement of Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity for PSP is “not the only Phantasy Star Online 10th anniversary project” in the works.

The Tokyo Game Show is just around the corner. It’s set to begin in a little over a week from today on September 16. Are we finally in the position for a high-definition Phantasy Star Online? We’ll find out soon enough.

So… we got a possible new Sakura Wars title and a Valkyria Chronicles title also on the horizon, Sega seems to be pushing a lot of JRPGs as of late.

Zavvi.com – Xbox 360 version

Zavvi.com – PS3 version

It’s also the cheapest price available for those who order their stuff through UK stores.

An update at the Red Entertainment staff blog today had a hint about a possible announcement. Closing off the post, the blog’s writer noted that the Tokyo Game Show is approaching. He wrote, “The next time I handle the blog, I believe I will, for the first time in a while, be able to have a splendid announcement.”

With Tokyo Game Show coming soon, it’s almost certain that it will be announced then.

Kotaku wants to assure us all, that even with Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever, Randy Pitchford and his staff over at Gearbox is still working hard at Sega’s Aliens: Colonial Marines:

Gearbox Software’s Randy Pitchford doesn’t want you to think that the house of Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever forgot about their Aliens game. To reassure us the project is alive, his team flashed screenshots of it at Gearbox’s PAX panel.

Aliens Colonial Marines is a Gearbox-developed Aliens shooter of some sort that’s been whispered about for a a couple of years but been just about invisible to an eager gaming public.

Pitchford said that his studio is continuing to work with Aliens movie studio 20th Century Fox and Aliens games publisher Sega to bring the project along. But he wasn’t able to say anything about how or when the game will come out.

That’s kinda it, we haven’t heard of this game in quite some time, we do know of the demise of the Aliens RPG. Why is Sega being so quiet on this matter?

I browsed Wikipedia and I got a partial list of all of Sega’s releases on that console, not counting the third party developed ones, because it’s likely that Sega does not own the rights for those IP, so titles like Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Carrier and Cannon Spike are very unlikely.

Here is a partial list, of how many games have been released on Dreamcast from Sega themselves(excluding the ones mentioned above):

• The House of the Dead 2;
• Headhunter;
• Crazy Taxi 2;
• Confidential Mission;
• Outtrigger;
• Sega Bass Fishing;
• Space Channel 5;
• Zombie Revenge;
• 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker;
• Dynamite Cop 2;
• Fighting Vipers 2;
• F335 Ferrari Challenge;
• Shenmue;
• Shenmue 2;
• Skies of Arcadia;
• Jet Set Radio;
• Chu Chu Rocket!;
• Sonic Adventure 2;
• Phantasy Star Online;

This is a list of 19 possible Dreamcast games that Sega could release through digital download, but some are more likely than others. I picked these games in particular, because they were released at the time in both the european and american markets, so licensing issues are not a problem, I have left out potential titles like Ooga Booga, Sega Tetris and Sports Jam, because they were either never released outside of Japan(Sega Tetris) or just the North-American market(Ooga Booga).

If it were up to me, I would release all these titles on XBLA/PSN, but Sega’s higher ups are the ones calling the shots, I would personally ask, no, beg for a Skies of Arcadia re-release. But here’s what I think are the likely and unlikely releases:

Likely:

• Zombie Revenge;
• Confidential Missions;
• Jet Set Radio;
• Crazy Taxi 2;
• Sonic Adventure 2
• The House of th Dead 2;
• Chu Chu Rocket!;
• 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker;

Unlikely (reasons: costly, impractical, unnecessary, hard to emulate):

• Skies of Arcadia;
• Shenmue;
• Shenmue 2;
• Phantasy Star Online(unnecessary);
• Space Channel 5;
• Headhunter;
• Dynamite Cop 2;
• Fighting Vipers 2;

These are my picks, what do you guys think?

This special video is from SegaOnline.nl, the biggest Sega website in Benelux. It’s the entire Splash Hill Zone level but with new apparent tweaks as the animation looks much smoother and the controls don’t feel as awkward. I’m still trying to adapt to the idea that the homing attack is new to the 2D classic Sonic.

A city destroyed, a ruthless terrorist organization, a new kind of hero with a badass tecno-suit, that’s all you need to know about the upcoming Vanquish.

Enter a world of crime in the forth Yakuza game which features Kazuma Kiryu and a number of new characters.

It’s the same level as before, except a Tails and Knuckles runthrough. Watch the two other members of Team Sonic take their boards for a spin in the video above.

And now it’s time for another Vanquish Preview! Under the watchful eye of many gaming outlets, Vanquish has steadily lived up to, and is expected to live up to upon debut, the pedigree of Platinum Games.  Why? This time 1up is going to tell us why.  Thierry Nguyen is the man behind the pen, and he puts heavy emphasis on the dual-culture nature of Vanquish, saying:

there’s a pretty equal blend of Japanese aesthetics and style with traditional Western cover-based gunplay…

Which is all very great, it’s all we’ve been hearing about these last few months. The tasty stuff is in the gameplay:

While the aiming and the shooting are generally responsive like any other shooter, it’s the combination of the extra style bits outlined earlier that make Vanquish feel special. It’s a game where I can powerslide into a robot and uppercut them with a move straight out of Street Fighter.

The preview is of decent size, and you can read the full thing in the link above. Standing out from the crowd in a smooth blend of over-the-top Japanese aesthetics and western gunplay mechanics? Stomping onto America’s turf and telling them they’re not the only ones that can make this sort of thing awesome? Vanquish, come on over.

A Sega anunciou que a demo europeia do jogo não vai ser lançada amanhã na consola da Microsoft.

O título de acção da Platinum Games vê assim a sua oportunidade para nos impressionar adiada para 2 de Setembro, mas a versão de PS3 não sofreu nenhuma alteração.

«A demo para PlayStation Network será lançada hoje – se tudo correr bem, durante a tarde», afirmou a Sega em comunicado oficial.

«A demo para Xbox Live só estará disponível no Marketplace a 2 de Setembro».

In short, PS3 owners can download the demo today, while Xbox Live owners will have to wait an extra day, landing on September 2nd.

Oh my, some fans… The roundest villain this side of Green Hill Zone took home the gold, and you can see why! If that guy passed me in the street I’d think he’d jumped right out of the game!

Sonic Free Riders brings full body motion controlled fast-paced boarding action, developed to take full advantage of  Kinect for the Xbox 360. You’ll be twisting and turning your way through a range of visually stunning courses in an action-packed Sonic experience unlike any other! Kinect’s unique motion sensor means Sonic Free Riders will see family and friends controlling their fully customizable hover board or bike by twisting, turning, and jumping in an exhilarating race to be first to cross the finish line.

Choosing from one of your favorite Sonic characters or your own avatar, you can reach out and grab a variety of pickups along the course. By throwing, shaking, or swinging your arms to launch your items, you can gain the competitive edge over your rivals in high octane single or multiplayer races.

Sonic Free Riders will be $49.99 when it hits shelves this holiday season.

Mark your calendars for September 15th if you want to get your hands on the first of a series of Dreamcast titles that Sega plans to bring to Xbox Live Arcade with added features including Acheivements.

Crazy Taxi was also announced in the line up is currently without a release date.

Sonic Adventure will be release on Xbox Live Arcade on September 15th for 800 MS points.

So I guess, they are selling this game for roughly 8€. I guess it’s a fair price, it’s very unlikely that you can get a much better deal on Ebay when it comes to this game(though the PC version is still easy to find and dirt cheap). It will be nice to relive those found Dreamcast memories. And I sure hope this is the first of many potential Dreamcast re-releases.

Today Archie Comics announced its offer of international shipping for subscriptions to any of the comics it produces online–including both Sonic franchises.

The “overseas” option is a significant addition to what was once availability of just graphic novels to customers outside the US and Canada.  Only a handful of countries appear exempt from international shipment–we don’t see availability for places like Iraq, Vietnam, and the Phillippines, for example.  The offer is available through the Archie Comics online shop.  Such opportunity comes with a $13 premium charge over the domestic subscriptions.

It would also be great if Archie would also release these comics in digital format, you know, like selling them as adobe pdf files so you can read them on your iPhone or iPad, it would cut on shipping costs, but at least, they have an international shipping option.

The sequel is here and it’s apparentely just as good as the original, according to IGN. Sega took a huge chance with releasing a sequel from the PS3 and moving it to the PSP, but it appears to have payed off. Good for them.

Vanquish (PS3/Xbox 360)
Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity (PSP)
Black Panther: New Yakuza Chapter (PSP)
Shining Hearts (PSP)
K-on! After School Live!! (PSP)
Sonic Colors (Wii/DS)
Virtual On Force (Xbox 360)

Tokyo Game Show starts on September 16th, hopefully by that time we will now what the fuss is about the upcoming Yakuza title.

Well, he would be if he could make it past round 1 of Gamspot’s All Time Greatest Game Villain that you can vote in!

Okay, so he’s not exactly successful in every endeavour, but everyone remember when he helped out the good guys that one…two…three… four times there? Now if that’s not evil then I…wait…

So, to celebrate the coming of Fall and start of another School Year, we are having a special sale: starting August 26th and lasting until September 1st, tons of great SEGA iPhone games will be dropping dramatically in price!

Here’s a list of everything going on sale — this is almost our entire catalog; the only games not affected are those that are already available for the low-low price of 99 cents.

Super Monkey Ball 1 $2.99 $1.99
Super Monkey Ball 2 $5.99 $2.99
Sonic the Hedgehog $5.99 $2.99
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 $5.99 $2.99
Golden Axe $2.99 $0.99
Shining Force $2.99 $0.99
Streets of Rage $2.99 $0.99
Ecco the Dolphin $2.99 $0.99
Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition (iPad) $7.99 $3.99
Phantasy Star II $4.99 $2.99

Shining Force for less than a dollar seems like a mighty fine offer, if you ask me.

In an exclusive interview with games™, head of Sonic Team and NiGHTS Into Dreams co-creator  Takashi Iizuka has expressed his desire to create a third game in the cult Sega series. “I would personally love to make a third NiGHTS game”, he told us before adding “but that decision will always be up to the management at Sega.”

NiGHTS Into Dreams is often cited as the greatest non-Sonic game to be made by Sonic Team and is well loved by fans of the Sega Saturn. Its 2007 Wii sequel, NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams was made in response to years of requests from those fans but ultimately dissapointed, earning itself a 6/10 in the pages of games™. But Iizuka remains proud of the game. “With the Wii version of NiGHTS we were able to implement presentation that was not possible in the Sega Saturn days”, he says, “so from that perspective the team’s goal was fulfilled. We’re really happy with what we achieved.”

NiGHTS isn’t the only Sega franchise that Iizuka is eager to revive. The veteran Sonic Team director was also behind the generally disliked Shadow The Hedgehog and has a surprising answer when we ask him why he’s never made a dedicated Tails or Knuckles game. “I’ve thought of both in the past”, he reveals, “and I actually considered making a game like Knuckles Chaotix at one point, but Sega has unfortunately not given me the green light to do so.”

The complete interview will be available on GamesTM’s September issue. More on this soon.