The latest episode of The SEGA Show is now live! Our newest episode, E3 and Blast Processing, is a full recap of our time on the E3 show floor, some very cool interviews (including a special guest), free SEGA related swag, and more classic SEGA tunes!

Episode 2 Updates:

- Added SEGA Startup sound to the beginning of the show. SEEEGAAAAA!
- Less music during interviews, focused more during transitions and other segments.

Coming soon:
- Adding in SEGA Shout outs starting with our next Episode! More details coming soon.
- Adding in Fan Remix spotlight, starting in the August Episode! E-mail us your nominations: communityteam@sega.com

E3 and Blast Processing – Episode Synopsis:

1:00 – SEGA Community: Our impressions from the E3 Show Floor
7:00 – Aliens V Predator - Interview with Rob Bartholomew from SoE
9:08 - The Conduit – E3 Interview with a special surprise guest
16:20 - Alpha Protocol – E3 Interview with Andy Alamano, Producer at SoA
21:47 - Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing – Interview with Dan Gallardo, Brand Manager at SoA
25:58 – Planet 51: The Game – Interview with Jose Manuel, head of development at Pyro Studios.
35:04 - Closing and New Additions to the August Ep
36:00 – Special Thanks

??: ?? - Hidden Contest for special Conduit Swag! It’s in there somewhere – listen in and find it for your chance to win.

Click here to listen to the episode, or right click to download to your PC! We hope you guys enjoy the new episode – would love to hear what you guys thought!

Also, we’re totally serious about the Starbucks gift cards.

Some serious intel for Alpha Protocol was just released with a bit more info on this upcoming Spy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Sega. Right off you’ll notice the final boxart has been revealed for PC above, and we have Xbox 360 and PS3 across our flickr as well.   A bit conspiracy, a bit action, a bit spy secrecy- perfect.

Also available is our newest Developer Diary, showing off new footage from within the world of Alpha Protocol and features some insight into the relationships and decisions you’ll face in the game. Imagine making anyone you come across a friend or enemy depending on how you decide to engage them, the world then changes around you and offers new opportunities, new pitfalls – very exciting.  I keep gushing about it in my blogs, but I love the idea of having conversations with lasting effects on your character and the game.

Lastly, we have news on the official release date, Alpha Protocol will be in stores on October 6th! We’re excited to show more on this upcoming release and hope you enjoy the updates. As always post your feedback here or head on over to our forums!

Consider this your official nod of the head that we are indeed fully localizing those epic anime shorts for Infinite Space that you guys saw from Japan! As of today, the first has gone live – I’m personally quite impressed by the voice acting. Sit back, hit play, and relax as you take your first look into the world of Infinite Space. Enjoy guys!

Infinite Space is making its way to the DS in Spring of 2010. Until then, keep an eye to the blogs for all the latest news – and more snazzy anime episodes.

Looking for something to help you get through those long family barbecues or to pass the time while you wait for the fireworks to start? You’re in luck — we’re giving away Columns Deluxe for FREE on the iTunes Store (iTunes Store link) for your iPhone or iPod Touch for the 4th of July weekend only!

Not only do you get Columns, but you also get Puyo POP! It’s two addicting puzzle games in one app. You can learn more about Columns Deluxe, or you can just grab it from the iTunes Store for free.

It’s free for this weekend ONLY, so grab it while you can. If it’s not marked as free yet, try back in a bit. My sources tell me they are going to change the price by the end of the day today, and it will be free all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Happy puzzling, and Happy July 4th from SEGA!

Three new classic SEGA games have recently made their way to the Wii Virtual Console and are available now–Galaxy Force II, Space Harrier, and Fantasy Zone II. Galaxy Force II and Fantasy Zone II are from the Genesis and Master System, respectively, and Space Harrier is the original arcade version.

Let’s start with Space Harrier: This is a near perfect example of everything that made SEGA unique in the field of arcade games back in the 80s. Nothing else has ever looked quite like Space Harrier. It has the straight-ahead fighter style of games like After Burner, but replacing the ship/plane with a flying guy holding a laser cannon who navigates alien worlds, thusly:

This is the epitome of quarter-eating obsessive arcade action. The Wii version has the bonus that, by simply clicking the trigger button the Wii remote, you can add “quarters” to the game–meaning you can gut your way through no matter how many times you die. And unless you are a highly skilled twitch-gamer already adept at bullet-curtain style shooters, you will die plenty of times.

Considering the difficulty of the game, that’s not a bad move–and yet, there’s still a great deal of challenge in the game for anyone who wants to try to finish with the more traditional 3 lives. Or, if you’re really hard-core & old-school: get a stack of your laundry money and give a quarter away for every extra life you get. Be warned that Space Harrier is a difficult enough game that this approach may leave you quite rank after a while, which may help add to the nostalgia factor of playing this game in dark, seedy arcades.

If you want to see the dizzying maneuvers put on by a pro at Space Harrier, check out this video of someone playing the last 3 levels of the game.

In the same vein as Space Harrier is Galaxy Force II, which is a little more like After Burner in space. This is another trippy-looking game, with a unique targeting system that causes each shot to home in on multiple enemies at once, provided you can wait for them to be targeted. The game is based around your fuel gauge and your ability to speed up & slow down, and the need to get through each stage before running out of fuel. All the elements work together quite nicely, and this is a great example of the basic engine behind After Burner being expanded upon and given a unique look and feel.

I’ve saved my favorite game of this bunch for last, though. Although I certainly have fond memories of Space Harrier (the Master System version, even!), it’s Fantasy Zone II that is the strangest, most psychedelic game of this trio of incredibly psychedelic games. I covered, in a retro/nostalgia piece a while back, the original Fantasy Zone for the Master System, and this sequel (still from the Master System) basically improves on everything from the original.

It’s a side-scrolling shooter, replete with whimsically designed enemies and stages that look like they’re made out of sentient blocks of candy. The music is inspired and the gameplay, which involves deft weaving in and out of swarming mobs of pastel and technicolor bad guys, is oddly hypnotic.

The full title of the game is Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, which is a reference to the ending of the original game. A quick refresher, for those of you not up on your SEGA history: Opa-Opa is the title character, and was actually the official mascott of SEGA up until a blast-processing-powered Erinaceinae took that title.

At the end of the plot of the first Fantasy Zone, Opa-Opa defeats the leader of the invading force only to find out that it’s his father (an enormous version of Opa-Opa himself), who, filled with regret over leading an invading force of flying cupcakes against the peace-loving Fantasy Zone, sheds a single tear before dying.

Last note on Fantasy Zone II: This game looks really good, with (almost alarmingly) bright colors and crisp sprites. The Master System may have been dwarfed in terms of sheer numbers by the NES, but boy howdy, it had incredible color and sound.

All three of these games have a very through-the-rabbit-hole aesthetic. They go nicely with some other recent Virtual Console releases, which I can’t help but highlight here:

Wonderboy III: Monster Lair

The Wonderboy games were always a kind of neat hybrid of side-scrolling action with odd little RPG elements — collecting items and upgrading weapons and armor — thrown in. One can think of Wonderboy as the more naturalistic (naked) cousin of Alex Kidd.

Clay Fighter

One can safely call Clay Fighter a visual feast. A fighting game with a fine sense of humor that squeezed everything it could out of the Genesis.

All of these games are available now for the Virtual Console!

Happy July 4th Weekend everyone! How are you celebrating? Spending quality time with The Conduit? Having a Let’s Tap marathon? Let us know in the comments.

1up.com recently held a contest to give out some special art of Bayonetta signed by PlatinumGames, all their community had to do was come up with a photo of the space they play in and where the art would live. The results ranged a bit from some interesting gaming spaces, some creepy gaming spaces, and some really nice collections of posters and swag.

There could only be one winner and zombrows is walking away with this Bayonetta art dangling from his neck. We hope to see pictures of this in action shortly after the concept art goes out. Congratulations!