This weekend is the yearly Cherry Blossom Festival here in San Francisco! The festival, which takes place in Japantown, is a great chance to immerse yourself in some modern and traditional Japanese culture, get some tasty authentic Japanese food, and take a look at all sorts of Japanese things – and SEGA video games from Japan are no exception!

Play unreleased SEGA Games!

We’re going to have a lot of playable demos at the show, including:

• Let’s Tap – EXCLUSIVE
• Sonic and the Black Knight
• Samba De Amigo
• Sonic Unleashed
• Bleach: Third Phantom – EXCLUSIVE
• Phantasy Star Portable

Especially notable on that list are Let’s Tap! and Bleach: Third Phantom, which I highlighted (for good reason) in bright cherry blossom pink. Both of these games have never been demonstrated to the public in the US before – so if you’re in the area, you have a chance to be one of the first in the country to check out these games in English!

Meet the SEGA Community Team!

Kellie, Clumsyorchid, and RubyEclipse from the SEGA Community team are also going to be there, so feel free to drop by and say hello to us! Kellie and Clumsy will be there early Saturday afternoon, and Ruby will be dropping by Sunday afternoon. Also feel free to work on your conversational Japanese with Clumsy, as he’s been learning recently. (We’re sure he’ll appreciate the extra practice!)

Compete in a special Community contest!

Drop by our booth on Sunday, April 11th, at 3 PM for the first-ever Cherry Blossom SEGA Trivia Contest! Ruby is going to be bringing along some special merchandise to give out to the hardcore fans who score the most points in this contest of both old and new SEGA knowledge and speed – be the first to shout out the right answer to the question he asks, and you’ll score a point. Get the most points and you’re going home with something to show for it!

Get free SEGA stuff!

And there was much rejoicing. We’re going to be giving out free goodies all weekend to people who visit the booth! Drop by and ask what kind of stuff we have left, and we may be able to get you hooked up with some SEGA merch that’s normally exclusive to press or employees internally!

Of course, there are tons of other things to check out at the festival too, which you can find listed here. If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll join us this weekend for a fantastic mix of Japanese and SEGA fun!

Update: The SEGA Booth will be located in the Imperial Ballroom B, and will be open from 11-5 both days!