SEGA was once only second to Nintendo when it came to name and power in the gaming industry. Now in 2009, SEGA’s fall from grace has been the biggest we’ve seen in the gaming industry. Sonic, has been tossed to the side and our favorite little hedgehog seems to be long gone. Even though SEGA has gone through a major rough patch since the end of the Dreamcast, over the past year it looks like maybe they are turning their fortunes.

It started last year with Valkyria Chronicles, the PS3 exclusive JRPG. The game is considered by many to be one of the best JRPG’s so far this generation, and has been very well received. The game has been praised for it’s beautiful cel-shaded graphics, and tactical gameplay. While it hasn’t sold well it has still been nominated for plenty of GOTY awards, and was a very good launching pad into their big 2009.

In 2009 so far, SEGA has already released MadWorld, Empire: Total War, and House of the Dead: Overkill. All three games have been well received and have received over 85% positive ratings on Metacritic. The good thing about this lineup is it’s diversity. MadWorld and House of Dead are both Wii games, and unlike the typical Wii games they both are made for mature audiences. MadWorld is one of the better Wii games ever released, and House of the Dead: Overkill is a very fun rail shooting experience. Empire: Total War is a well-received RTS that came out for the PC. It got a 90% metacritic and is one of the better RTS’s released this year.

Now going into the Fall, SEGA has a lot of high profile games coming. First is The Conduit which looks to be the first truly great FPS experience exclusively for the Wii. The game is about an infection that takes over Washington D.C. and it’s the players job to save the world from this infestation. Another game on their list is Alpha Protocol which is a action-RPG in development by Obsidian Entertainment. Obsidian has worked on games like KOTOR II in the past, and expect this to be one of the more highly anticipated RPG’s coming out this Fall. The game looks to please those who want a James Bond experience with Mass Effect-like gameplay.

Now the highlight of Sega’s fall lineup may be Bayonetta. Hideki Kamiya’s newest gaming franchise hopes to revolutionize the hack-slash genre like he once did with the original Devil May Cry. Bayonetta is an over the top action game with guns in both the characters hands and on her feet. The game may just be the highlight of the hack-slash genre this year with God of War coming next year. This franchise could develop into a AAA title like all of Kamiya’s previous works.

While our favorite hedgehog may be going through a horrible slump, the company that has made him is on the turn around. They have multiple highly anticipated titles coming out this year, and have already started some successful franchises like MadWorld and Valkyria Chronicles. Hopefully they can continue this success, and bring some major respect back to one of the godfather’s of gaming.

Written By MattG

www.tu4ar.com

One of the greatest fighting games ever, is being re-released in HD for the PSN and Xbox Live this summer. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will be released in summer of this year and it will feature the same awesome cast of characters and it will give us the addition of online play. Also a demo will be released exclusively on the PSN this Thurdasy April 30th.

Here’s the list of features the demo will have:

thisis50

About Proof’s death …

When I say I went into a dark place, it feels like I literally crawled into a hole. There where days I’d sit around all day and take pills and try to numb myself. It was almost an excuse for me to take more pills, like I just lost Proof, so it’s ok for me to take a couple of pills. I was spiralling out of control with my thoughts, with the drugs, with everything. When I would go into the studio, I kept trying to write songs about him. I think I might have wrote and recorded at least 5 or 6 songs about him. None of them came out the way I wanted them to, and all of them made me depressed. All of them made me go deeper into that hole… Nothing I wrote was good enough for him. Everything was like, self loathing.
Did you ever take any personal responsibility for what happened to him?
Yeah, I went through that kind of thing as well. I felt like “Well maybe if I would have been with him at the club that night… He knows I was trying to get him to chill out and stop going to the club so much”.

How much did you react to all the conflicting information that came out immediately following the incident?

I got a bunch of conflicting stories, a bunch of conflicting things and none of them ever made sense to me. There were things that I”d heard that they were saying that Proof shot the dude first. It’s so not his character to do that. There were other stories that matched what I knew Proof would have did. I had to go through the process in my head of like, regardless of what happened, it happened. It’s not gonna bring him back. I don’t know if I’ve accepted it is the right word but I’m dealing with it. Life for me will never be the same.

With all the hype surrounding your comeback and with the terrible state of the record business, the hip hop business in particular, do you feel like you’re coming back to save your label, or hip hop as a genre, or even the music industry as a whole?

I don’t know if I feel like I’m coming back to save anything like that. I mean obviously,if I can you know save the label and help generate more money for that, that’s great too. But the truth is, i get bored just sitting around. I’m ready to be back out there. I love to be respected for the music that I make and that’s what I’m in it for.
The beautiful thing about this record is, I don’t expect it to do anything… Money is not necessarily something that I need anymore, so I’m doing it because I want to do it. I’m doing it because I want people to hear the music and like the music.. if people like it, cool. If they don’t they, don’t. I certainly would like the benefits of what would come with it. If it could help generate more money for the label then that’s good. But at the end of the day, it’s just about the music.

Pictures of you came out last year where it looked like you’d gained a lot of weight. You’re back looking real chiseled now. What happened?

I gained a bunch of weight in my time off. I got lazy. I was eating a lot, just because the pills make you feel hungry. Then just this past year, I got clean, I got sober, and I started running. I had a knee surgery last year but as soon as I could, I hit the treadmill. So I run every day. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been up to 10 miles a day. I’ve been trying to really push myself. Just to see how much I could actually run, but I don’t know what the f**k I’m doing. At the end of the day, I’m an addict. So I have addictive behavior. So I’m obsessive compulsive about a lot of things. I’m obsessive compulsive about my music. I’m obsessive compulsive about working out. I can’t do nothing in moderation. You’d think that the the signs like all the addiction runs in my family, I would have been a little more hip to that. But I just… I guess I wasn’t.

When did you know that it was time for you to go to rehab?

There were a bunch of moments where I felt like, I want to do it, I want to do it. Ah, maybe now is not the time. Maybe I’ll just do this for a little longer. I started realizing like I took a break from the spotlight and I felt like I wanted to be with my family and spend more time with my kids and stuff like that. But the whole time, I’m walking around the house high most of the time. So I’m missing out on the best parts of their lives. There were several moments. And it got to the point where the guilt that I started feeling inside for doing the s**t… I wasn’t fooling anybody but myself. I had to come to that realization. At the time, I’m 35 years old, how long am I going to keep doing this? I felt like I needed to grow up, and if I didn’t grow up, it was like now or never.

Besides Dre, you’ve been working with 50 Cent again too. How is your relationship with 50? He’s going through this whole battle with Rick Ross, with this Pimpin’ Curly stuff. how do you view all of it?

Mine and 50’s relationship has always been the same. It’s always been good. If anything, we’ve gotten closer in the last few years. 50 will just come to my house and stay the night. Stay the weekend in one of the bedrooms and just hang out. And we talk about s**t. I mean a lot of our talk is about music you know. But we just – we talk about s**t and we just make jokes and hang out. It doesn’t always have to be about business. You know, he’s going through this Rick Ross thing which is kinda his thing. I guess, you know, at the moment, it’s just let 50 do 50. I think that the Pimpin’ Curly s**t is f**kin’ hilarious though. I’m sorry, to me that’s when 50’s at his best. When he’s doing the funny s**t. In real life, 50’s a f**kin’ clown man. He’s actually a really funny dude.

Street Fighter 4 is going to have some competition this summer, enjoy the trailer.

Sources:
Gametrailers.com

Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is now available for download on Xbox Live for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) each. This is most likely in anticpation of Max Payne 3 coming out either later this year or early next year. The original Max Payne’s were praised for their fun gameplay including the innovative, at the time, bullet-time action. Both games are well worth checking out for those who missed out on them the first time. My question is why does Sony not follow Microsoft’s lead with Xbox Originals? With backwards compatibility gone from all current retail versions of the PS3 it would be wise for Sony to put the best last gen games on the PSN store. Oh well, at least 360 owners get to enjoy these classic titles.

Check out the first footage from the newly revealed Uncharted 2 multiplayer. The graphics look incredible and the gameplay looks new and refreshing. Also check out the interview that Gametrailers had with the game’s multiplayer designer, as he explains all the info you need to know on the new features.

We all knew it was coming, but now Naughty Dog has given us the first details on the upcoming multiplayer and coop modes in their highly aniticipated Uncharted 2: Among Theives. The competative multiplayer mode will feature five player teams and stronger weapons will be scattered through out the map for players to pick up. You will also be able to melee other players if they are close to you and the game will also feature an abilities system which is similiar to Call of Duty 4’s perks system. 

As for the multiplayer modes, there’s the standard deathmatch and the new mode plunder. Plunder is similar to capture the flag where teams have bring a gold idol back to base. This encourages players to work together because carrying the gold idol makes you walk slower and you cant use any other gun but your pistol.

Uncharted 2 will also debut its brand new 3-player coop mode, where players will play as Drake, Chloe and Sully in objective style gameplay. It was said that the coop in Uncharted 2 will be very difficult because enemies will come at you very hard and their’s also mini bosses that are wearing full body armor and they carry chain guns. Also your team mates will be able to revive you if you are downed.

All of this is making Uncharted 2 look even better and lets just hope the multiplayer won’t feel like its tacked on. So what do you guys think? Do you think Uncharted 2’s multiplayer will be a hit?

Game is looking pretty good