Sega announced the Sega Mega Drive Mini (tentative tile)

[soprano1]

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/13/se ... announced/
Announced yesterday during the Sega FES 2018. It's to be in the same line as Nintendo's Mini consoles. Maybe the quality won't be as shit as those available for years on the market. Since the info is so sparse, here are some other good news from this FES:

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/13/sh ... velopment/
New Sakura Taisen title.

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/13/sh ... ox-one-pc/
Shenmue I and II ports for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Steam page says it has Japanese voice acting as an option, scalable screen resolutions, classic and modern control schemes and a new UI.

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/04/13/se ... do-switch/
Sega Ages for Switch, by M2.

[Immryr]

cool, sega actually doing something! i wasn't expecting shenmue hd. i never got round to buying shenmue 2 so this is a good opportunity for me to play through 1 again and then into 2.

i hope sakura wars gets a worldwide release.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Ha, look forward to the same games Sega have been rolling out for years on that MD Mini. I'd be surprised if there's anything on that that's not on ye olde Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for PS360.

Still, Shenmue re-release is welcome ahead of 3's release - maybe some bug fixes in there along with general improvements? I gave up on II when I failed something but it wouldn't let me leave a small area, I'd have to hang around until the day rolled over and it teleported me back to my hotel. After having to carry books and catch leaves, I was out of patience and started playing Soldier of Fortune instead. Not to mention the game opens with your cash getting stolen so if you carry your Shenmue save over and don't have an epic figurine collection to flog, "would you like to try a game of lucky hit?" becomes a soviet brainwashing trigger phrase. Beautiful to look at for the time but man, glacial stuff that second game.

Did Sakura Wars do well enough for its only Western release to get another showing outside Japan? I feel it'd do okay if there was more game in there - went you weren't reading walls of text it had some solid strategy stuff in there that'd go down well with the modern Fire Emblem crowd. But it took hours to get to those battles.

[BulletMagnet]

Did Sakura Wars do well enough for its only Western release to get another showing outside Japan?

I don't have a source in front of me, but I seem to recall reading that sales were poor.

[FinalBaton]

Fucking ATgames is making the Mega Drive mini, hahahahaha

[BrianC]

I read a comment somewhere that claimed the AtGames Genesis systems were being localized for Japan, but I didn't remember where I read it. I was afraid that the Mega Drive Mini would be another AtGames thing. I'm definitely excited over the M2 collection for Switch, but I'm frustrated at Sega of America's often inconsistent choices in bringing over Japanese games that aren't Sonic (the main offender is Phantasy Star Online 2, but there is still no word if the 3DS collection with Turbo Outrun, Thunder Force III, and Alien Syndrome is coming here either).

[SuperDeadite]

New Sakura Taisen? Hell yeah. Oddly enough I've been replaying the series again recently. ST5 was overall a bit meh, hope they don't screw this one up.

[Marc]

I read a comment somewhere that claimed the AtGames Genesis systems were being localized for Japan, but I didn't remember where I read it. I was afraid that the Mega Drive Mini would be another AtGames thing. I'm definitely excited over the M2 collection for Switch, but I'm frustrated at Sega of America's often inconsistent choices in bringing over Japanese games that aren't Sonic (the main offender is Phantasy Star Online 2, but there is still no word if the 3DS collection with Turbo Outrun, Thunder Force III, and Alien Syndrome is coming here either).

Bah, got all excited when you mentioned the M2 collection. Thought it might the a port of the awesome DS games. Turns out to be more fucking Mega Drive ports.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Fucking ATgames is making the Mega Drive mini, hahahahaha

My thoughts exactly.

I'll just stick with any of the Genesis compilations instead of wasting money on this.

[BrianC]

Bah, got all excited when you mentioned the M2 collection. Thought it might the a port of the awesome DS games. Turns out to be more fucking Mega Drive ports.

As far as I know, the full game list hasn't been announced, and it's named Sega Ages, so I'm expecting it to be more than MD/SMS ports. At least it's not a port of the Steam MD games like the PS4/XB1 collection.

edit: Looks like the Sega Ages for switch will be individual ports ala VC and Arcade Archives rather than a collection.

[soprano1]

Fucking ATgames is making the Mega Drive mini, hahahahaha

No!...

[gameoverDude]

Fucking ATgames is making the Mega Drive mini, hahahahaha

Are you serious? Will have to pass on it then.

[Specineff]

Way to drop the ball, Sega.

[FinalBaton]

At least the Shenmue I & II re-release for current gen is a good thing, and the physical edition is priced fairly ($30 USD)
Sakura Teisen : well that must be welcomed by the fans of the series
M2 compilation : again, must be welcomed for Switch owners

So the other anouncements are quite allright

[dan76]

I was hoping for an Outrun 3 announcement...

[Steamflogger Boss]

At least the Shenmue I & II re-release for current gen is a good thing, and the physical edition is priced fairly ($30 USD)
Sakura Teisen : well that must be welcomed by the fans of the series
M2 compilation : again, must be welcomed for Switch owners

So the other anouncements are quite allright

I think the biggest problem with the Shenmue 1/2 release is it might drive down Shenmue III sales to some extent. A big part of the interest from a lot of people is the mystery from people that haven't really played the series I think. It's going to need a lot more sales than just old fans, and hell the game didn't sell that well back in the day if we are being honest. Lots of more modern only gamers are going to hate Shenmue 1/2. It's really a relic of a bygone era. It was trying to be the first to do things that so many games do better now. I say this as a Shenmue fan that used to replay 1/2 every year over Christmas break and will pre-order Shenmue 1/2. Another nice point besides the price point is that both games will be playable with Japanese audio. Hallelujah.

Something really unfortunate is that from the sound of it Yu isn't going to end the story with this game. He thinks he can make Shenmue 4 happen. I'm not so sure the sale will be there.

I'm kind of tempted to pop in Shenmue and see how far I get now.

Hopefully the new Sakura Taisen game is a real game. I played the first four back in my printing off and stapling translation guide days as a youngin.

[FinalBaton]

I think the biggest problem with the Shenmue 1/2 release is it might drive down Shenmue III sales to some extent. A big part of the interest from a lot of people is the mystery from people that haven't really played the series I think. It's going to need a lot more sales than just old fans, and hell the game didn't sell that well back in the day if we are being honest. Lots of more modern only gamers are going to hate Shenmue 1/2. It's really a relic of a bygone era. It was trying to be the first to do things that so many games do better now. I say this as a Shenmue fan that used to replay 1/2 every year over Christmas break and will pre-order Shenmue 1/2. Another nice point besides the price point is that both games will be playable with Japanese audio. Hallelujah.

That's some fair points, indeed

[Steamflogger Boss]

I should add that I hope I'm wrong about that and we see Shenmue 4 because I want to see the story end out, even if it's a fairly simple story.

[BulletMagnet]

Something really unfortunate is that from the sound of it Yu isn't going to end the story with this game. He thinks he can make Shenmue 4 happen. I'm not so sure the sale will be there.

You have to both admire and facepalm at how devoted he still seems to the series, in spite of how many rough spots it's hit (with more quite possibly to come).

[FinalBaton]

How many chapter did he have already written back in the day? wasn't it like 9? or 11? And the first two games covered chapter 1 to 6 or something?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Golden Axe pretty much guaranteed to be on it, eh?

[GaijinPunch]

The Shenmue re-release seems necessary, but only for people that never played it before (or want to play it and don't have a DC). Not wooing me...

[BryanM]

It's still trippy to me that this is the company that owns Atlus now.. and also that Atlus didn't catch on fire and burn down immediately the day after acquisition..

[HueSaturation]

The thing that would make the MD mini worth it to me is if they really faithfully nailed the classic 6-button design with that style of Dpad that has basically been dead since the Saturn.

I get that you can buy nice Hori 6B pads for your PS360 but they are always cross shapes that aren't as good as mounted disks or the Neo CD mini arcade stick, durability problems aside. Plus the Horis have those annoying extra ahoulder buttons that just compromise the authenticity of the experience.

[Shelcoof]

I should add that I hope I'm wrong about that and we see Shenmue 4 because I want to see the story end out, even if it's a fairly simple story.

Your wrong don't worry about it

We'll eventually see Shenmue's story end out in all its glory!

[GaijinPunch]

I should add that I hope I'm wrong about that and we see Shenmue 4 because I want to see the story end out, even if it's a fairly simple story.

Your wrong don't worry about it

We'll eventually see Shenmue's story end out in all its glory!

It really does make one wonder if Sega's marketing is in touch w/ reality. I guess we'll find out when it goes on sale, but they've sat on the IP for ages and then it becomes the largest kickstarter in history.

[bigbadboaz]

The thing that would make the MD mini worth it to me is if they really faithfully nailed the classic 6-button design with that style of Dpad that has basically been dead since the Saturn.

The upcoming Retro-Bit reissues (also a newly Sega-licensed product) are probably a better bet for you to just go out and grab some controllers.

Of course, just as with this new Mini, there are no real indications that the Sega license is actually going to stand for any type of quality.

[BrianC]

The hyperkin controller isn't bad, but still not as good the official 6-button (though it comes closer than a lot of other third party controllers). Hyperkin controller also acts odd on Forgotten Worlds with the b button working as pause when mode is held before starting up the game. To be fair, Forgotten Worlds is also one of the infamous games that doesn't like 6 button controllers.

[bigbadboaz]

Hyperkin supposedly has the official molds but IMO the D-pad and buttons are just God awful (materials and feel are far inferior).

If you want a USB controller, swapping the Hyperkin PCB into a real Sega pad works beautifully. But if you're looking for an actual Genesis pad, that's kind of a pointless exercise.

[BrianC]

Hyperkin supposedly has the official molds but IMO the D-pad and buttons are just God awful (materials and feel are far inferior).

If you want a USB controller, swapping the Hyperkin PCB into a real Sega pad works beautifully. But if you're looking for an actual Genesis pad, that's kind of a pointless exercise.

I wouldn't say they are that bad. There are far worse third party controllers out there. I definitely agree that it doesn't compare to the original Genesis six butttons and many of the Sega three buttons.