Japan Gaming Guide

Sega’s Tez Okano says he wants to work on a new Space Harrier game as his next project. The developer has just finished Thunder Force VI for the PS2. The side-scroller is the first in what is hoped to be a series of shoot-em-up revivals from Sega. Future projects are very much dependent on the commercial performance of Thunder Force VI.

[Edge, via Videogamesblogger]

Sega Japan have archived their old newsletter, Joy Joy News. The archives are full of cheerful pics and screenshots from the days of the Master System/Sega Mark III. There’s also a load of info about their old consoles from the SC-3000 through to the Saturn. This is a real nostalgia fest, we found a few long forgotten favourites in here (Thunderblade anyone?). Take a look.

[Sega, via Insert Credit]

Real weather will be visible in parts of Nights: Journey of Dreams, according to Sega Japan. The title will be able to interact with the Wii Weather Channel, and display in-game conditions that reflect those outside the player’s window.

Only the Artificial Life section of the game will include the feature, but the creatures will change their behaviour according to the weather. That means players might end up having to keep an eye on the real weather to make sure their artificial creations can take advantage of the best conditions possible.

[Read]

Update: Since we wrote this article it has emerged that the list is a fake. Apologies to anyone who got as excited as we were about it. It was fun to dream though, wasn’t it? Original article below:

A list of Sega’s Tokyo Game Show offerings has appeared. The list is from an unknown source, but a reliable one according to XBox 360 Rally. The games included are an absolute fanboy’s dream. We have sequels to Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Skies of Arkadia and Virtua Fighter as well as a re-release of Shenmue I & II for those that missed them the first time around.

It does seem almost good to be true, but we’re crossing our fingers and hoping.  Here’s the full list:

Alien Syndrome (Wii, PSP)
After Burner: Black Falcon (PSP)
Beijing 2008: the Official Videogame of the Olympic Games (PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS, PC)
ChuChu Rocket! (XBLA, PC)
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP)
Fighters Megamix 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Ghost Squad (Wii)
Happy Tree Friends False Alarm (XBLA, PC)
Jet Set Radio Next (Xbox 360, PS3)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS)
Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms Visit (PC)
Nights: Journey of Dreams (Wii)
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (PS2, Xbox 360, PC)
Samba De Amigo Fever (PSP)
Sega Classics Collection 2 (PS2,PSP)
Sega Rally Revo (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PC)
Sega Superstar 2 (Wii)
Shenmue 3 (Xbox 360)
Shenmue I & II Plus (Xbox 360)
Skies of Arcadia 2 (Wii)
Sonic Rivals 2 (PSP)
Sonic Rush Adventure (DS)
Sonic the RPG (Xbox 360, PS3)
Space Channel 5 Part 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Space Channel 5 Showtime (Wii, DS, PSP)
The Club (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
The Golden Compass (PS2, PC, DS, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, Wii)
The House of the Dead 4 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Universe at War: Earth Assault (Xbox 360, PC)
Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Virtua Fighter Kids 2 (Wii)
Worldwide Soccer Manager Live (Xbox 360, PC)
Yakuza 3 (PS3)

[Read, via Kotaku]

The world’s most popular robotic cat is about to make his Wii debut. Sega will be bringing Doraemon onto the Wii. The game is expected to be a minigame fest – as often seems to be the case with Wii games. Doraemon Wii: Himitsu Doguo Kettei Sen is coming out this winter.

Sega’s other little blue friend, Sonic, is in the hands of Bioware, currently working on Sonic RPG.

[Read]