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Wii Warm Up: Sega Saturn, shiro!
"Sega Saturn, shiro!" means "Play Sega Saturn!" and is the catchphrase of the Saturn's Japanese mascot, the very burly and heroic Segata Sanshiro. It's also what we've been daydreaming about since we heard all the Saturn-related rumors. We love that Sega and Nintendo are pals now, but we wish we could get a little bit more of the good Sega, and a little bit less of the Shadow the Hedgehog era Sega. The Saturn is chock full of classic Sega awesomeness, and we want to know what part of that ... uh, full, uh, chock of awesomeness you'd plop your Wii Points down for first. We're in total speculation land here, so Japanese games are okay to suggest. Our pick? Segata Sanshiro Shinken Yuugi, which we are desperate to play despite hearing that it's not very good. Listen to that theme song!
Rumor: NiGHTS remake/sequel for Wii? [update 2]
[Update: decided to go ahead and actually post the images.][Update 2: changed the title, which was by coincidence identical to Game|Life's.]Another Sega Saturn-related rumor! Maybe Segata Sanshiro is hitting the press circuit, drumming up renewed interest in his favorite console.The latest rumor comes from the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine, who placed a teaser image in the back page of their March issue, advertising that a revived classic would be revealed in the next issue. The image consisted of a field of stars with an outline of some kind of shape.NeoGAFfers did some detective work and found the image that had been outlined: a character portrait of Sega's NiGHTS character. NiGHTS more than counts as a classic game! The implication here is that a new game in the series might be headed to the Wii.We're still skeptical for a few reasons: first, the next edition of ONM will be the April issue, and it's imprudent to trust any news item that comes out in a game magazine in April. Second, the "revival" might be the original game on Virtual Console ... which would actually still be great. Finally, there's always the possibility that the NiGHTS picture was a deliberate misdirection, and the new game could turn out to be Dizzy or something. We hope that isn't the case-- Sega fans have been put through a lot, and many of us could snap at any moment.We've posted both the original teaser image and the NiGHTS-added version after the break.
Remembering Segata Sanshiro, Sega Saturn's dutiful mascot
SEGAForce.net remembers Segata Sanshiro, the outspoken hermit who trained with a giant Sega Saturn on his back. "Sega Saturn shiro!" he would shout, exploding grown men with a single toss; mercilessly beating club goers; and strangling little leaguers. But Sanshiro's violence was bound to honor (see the video of his death below) -- and for that he was praised.Sanshiro's character is significant because it did not evolve from (or into) an actual game franchise. Developed solely for a span of roughly twenty commercials aired in Japan from 1997 through 1998 for Sega Saturn, Sanshiro would never truly transcend his TV roots; and would be limited to a few game cameos and a popular theme song turned music video. Nevertheless, this parody of legendary judo master Sanshiro Sugata continues to live on through YouTube and the like; a marketing device begging to be recycled.
More Japanese game commercials: so plausible, I can't believe it
Not content with brutalizing your brain the last time, Bits & Bytes & Pixels & Sprites have deemed it necessary to post another collection of bizarre Japanese video game commercials. This batch makes it very difficult to believe that the people who made them could possibly exist in the same reality as you, implying that all of this comes from an alternate dimension where disembodied heads, bunny-eared women and homoerotically charged controllers are very much de rigueur. You'll find our favorite clip embedded in the second part of the post, chosen based on its high content of post-apocalyptic wastelands, Bomberman plushies, inhuman voices and Segata Sanshiro's patented man-flinging techniques. Watching it may cause you to explode. Come to think of it, there's an exploding man in there too.[Thanks Daniel!]
Japanese game commercials: you watched it, you can't unwatch it
Over at the wonderfully named Bits & Bytes & Pixels & Sprites, a set of Japanese video game commercials has been assembled for your entertainment and inevitable, irreparable and incredible psychological breakdown. Repeat viewing is not advised, though we suspect that for several of you, the lure of seeing grown men dressed as enormous microphones or Segata Sanshiro hurling human missiles about will be too great to resist. It certainly was for us.Our favorite commercial, one filled with painful foreign stereotypes and truly unnerving facial expressions, is embedded in the second part of the post. [Thanks Dan!]
