I love crossovers. Whether it’s Super Smash Brothers, Capcom vs SNk, King of Fighters, Warriors Orochi, Marvel vs Capcom, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, or really, anything vs Capcom, there is just something special about taking players from one company and either putting them against or teaming them up with characters from another company. Thus, when Project X Zone hit the Nintendo 3ds in 2012, bringing together characters from Capcom, Sega, and Namco, I had to check it out. I was not disappointed. Of course in 2015 when a sequel was announced with a 2016 release date, that became an instant must-watch game for 2016. Again, I was not disappointed.
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Correction: We incorrectly identified the Michael Hurst who directed The House of the Dead 2 as the Michel Hurst who directed Spartacus and Ash vs the Evil Dead. There are actually 2 Michael Hursts, and the one this article refers to has directed such straight to dvd classics such as Room 6 and The Baby Juice Express.

In 2014, Sega announced plans to expand into TV and Films. We already know that Sega is planning a live action/CG Sonic the Hedgehog film. Now according to Variety, we’ve learned that Sega is planning TV shows based on Altered Beast and Streets of Rage. Stories International, Sega’s multimedia wing, is partnering with Circle of Confusion (Feat the Walking Dead, Powers, Dirk Gently) to create tv shows based upon the two properties. Altered Beast was an arcade game that hit the Genesis as a pack-in game. Playing as a resurrected warrior, players gain the ability to kill demons and absorb their essences to mutate into animal forms. Streets of Rage was a popular beat-em-up franchises starring a group of undercover cops attempting to clean up the city.

Sega is also attempting to bring several other franchises to tv and film, including Virtua Fighter, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, Golden Axe, and House of the Dead. Coincidentally, House of the Dead was Sega’s first attempt at bringing its franchises to the screen. Uwe Boll directed the disastrous 2003 film while Michael Hurst (Room 6, The Baby Juice Express) directed 2005’s even worse straight to dvd sequel. After that debacle, Sega can’t go anywhere but up. However when it comes to movies based on games, past experiences haven’t exactly filled us with confidence.

Ever since the end of the 16 bit era, Sega has been making it’s back catalog of Sega Genesis titles in any way they can, starting with the Sega Smash Pack on Dreamcast, compilations on PS2, Xbox 360, and PS3, re-releases on digital platforms such as android, iOS, and Xbox Live, and more recently Steam. Speaking of Steam, the genesis re-leases were simply bundles of titles with not much of an interface. It was pretty lacking compared to say, Sonic’s Mega Genesis Collection. However, this changed as of a few weeks ago thanks to D3 entertainment. If you own any of Steam’s Sega Genesis games (which include everything from Comix Zone and Streets of Rage to Eternal Champions and Crackdown), you now have access to SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics collection. Upon firing it up, you’ll find yourself in a 3-D room full of 90s Genesis memorabilia, including a couple of issues of Sonic’s comic book. You can adjust any of the options and launch a title by picking it off your shelf. The room’s day and night cycle is controlled by your clock. Not to shabby. However the real treat is that SGMDC now supports the Steam Workshop, Steam’s mod database. That’s right, now you can legally romhack Genesis games. You’ll find everything on the workshop from versions of Sonic featuring Mario and Kirby, Japanese versions of certain games, and what may very well be the greatest Sega mod of all time, “Streets of Rage II except enemies make weird Tim Allen noises when they die”. There is already a selection of Sega games on Steam right now, hopefully this means we’ll see more. Maybe even some Sega CD games, or even Sega Saturn titles!

Project X Zone 2: Brave New World, the mega crossover featuring characters from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega was featured this past week at the Tokyo Game Show, and several new characters were revealed. Chrom and Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakening join the cast, which now means that we could be seeing characters who aren’t originally from a Capcom, Sega, or Namco game. Also, Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles joins Kos-Mos to form a team. These 4 characters will join characters such as Pheonix Wright, Leon Kennedy, and Jill Valentine as just a few of the many playable characters in Project X Zone 2. There’s another new character coming to Project X Zone 2 as well. Find out who it is after the jump.

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Huge multiverse-spanning crossovers seem to be the big theme this summer with DC’s recently concluded Convergence and Marvel’s current event Secret Wars. However, one event you may be missing is Archie Comics’ Mega Man/Sonic: World’s Unite, featuring characters from Mega Man and Sonic, along with Mega Man X, Sonic Boom, and the game libraries of both Sega and Capcom. The sequel to 2013’s World’s Collide, Worlds Unite doesn’t stop with our blue heroes, but instead brings in characters from Street Fighter, Nights: Into Dreams, Breath of Fire III, Alex Kidd, and more to give comic fans the greatest crossover videogame they’ll never play. Check after the jump the see the issue order. With two issues left to go, including next week’s Sonic the Hedgehog 275, you’ll want to catch up on the action.
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A rumor had been flying around for the past few days that Project X Zone 2 was in development. Not only is this rumor true, but PXZ2 will be hitting the U.S this fall, same timeframe as the Japanese release. Like its predecessor, PXZ2 will be a crossover between Sega, Capcom, and Namco which will be hitting the Nintendo 3DS. The developers must have read my mind, because Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Manjima from Sega’s Yakuza series will be among the new characters in this entry. Tekken villain Kazuya Mishima and Devil May Cry’s Vergil look like they’re also going to be joining the fun. Leon Kennedy, Strider, and so many others will be a part of this game as well. Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, Tales of Vesperia’s Yuri and Flynn, and Mega Man X and Zero will be among the returning characters. What other franchises will have characters joining the fray? Streets of Rage? Final Fight? Tales of Xilla? Rolling Thunder? Remember Me? Dragon’s Dogma? Dark Souls? Aww, I’m getting too ahead of myself, I need to calm down. Just check out the trailer above and let us know who you would like to see.

Some of our favorite Famicom and NES games are nearing the end of their respective lifespans. Famicom Disk System games degrade, no matter how well you take care of them. Cartridge games with battery backups will eventually lose power, along with your data, and never be able to save again. Even the batteries that help consoles like the PS2 and Dreamcase keep time are fizzling out. Is there anything we can do to stop it. Sean and Vinnk ponder the move to digital media as a way to preserve their game collections, but at what cost? No, literally, what would that cost? Especially since only a portion of those games are even available on anything but the original release media.

Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV:
http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/107

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We haven’t been to Tokyo Game Show in person, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been to Tokyo Game Show! Famicom Dojo has had an official presence covering the show in 2013 and 2014. This year we got Mr. Presence on the show to discuss what he saw on the floor this year. Sean and Vinnk welcome David to the podcast for the first time to talk about how the console market is going, bemoan Square-Enix’s risk-averse library, and the difficulty of coming down with Sonic Boom.

Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV:
http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/105

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