The House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels is available now on Android and iOS, but here’s something you may not know – you can play through the game using Vectorman’s Ball Gun! Similar to our Shinobi update, this unlock lets you to replace the minigun with the signature Vectorman Ball Gun for maximum violence and maximum fun!

Each time you gun down a mutant, you’ll be treated with a particle effect shower much like the original Vectorman game. As an added bonus, you’ll see Vector Ball gun during each reload as would appear if in 1st person – pretty sweet. The Vector Gun with Minigun unlock will set you back ~70,000 Ka$h (not including Minigun upgrades), so we’ve got some more handy tips to help out!

Grab the Vector Ball Gun Today!

Prioritize your upgrades! Be sure to pick up the Combo Upgrade pack in gadgets as your first upgrade to boost your score modifier to x6 (up from x3). The score boost should help you get high ranks and earn more Ka$h faster!

Buy the Combo Extender Consumable! If you are having trouble keeping your new 6x multiplier up, pick up the Combo Extender, which will help you earn S Rank (and the most Ka$h possible) with each level.

Increase the Difficulty! The harder the level, the more the Ka$h (bosses excluded). Play some missions from Ballistic Trauma or Naked Terror (if unlocked) to earn the most Ka$h possible.

Find the Ka$h! Play levels where you can get an S Rank and pick up all in level Ka$h – this will help you quickly get the funds needed to pick up both the Colt and the Shinobi upgrade. Easy!

The Vector Ball Gun is badass and is the perfect tool to use against the oncoming threats within House of the Dead – and it’s fun too! The high cost takes a bit to earn, but once you have it set up, you won’t put it down…

Pick up House of the Dead on Android
Pick up House of the Dead on the App Store

Are you playing House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels? Do you love the Shinobi & Vectorman upgrades? Let us know!

It’s time again for Free Stuff Friday on Twitter! As you can see, we have some great stuff to give away this week. Read on for details about each item, including eligibility requirements (for the games). If you need a refresher on how to enter via Twitter, details are at the bottom of the post.

On the Block This Week

Item 1: SEGA Polo Shirt

A black polo shirt with the SEGA logo, just like the ones that SEGA employees wore at E3 2009. Size medium. Everyone is eligible to win.

Congrats to the winner, @skryerx!

Item 2: Phantasy Star Zero Rappy Armband

An inflatable Rappy armband for Phantasy Star Zero. Everyone is eligible to win.

Congrats to our winner @tcouto!

Item 3: Daisy Fuentes 8×10

An 8×10 image of Daisy Fuentes from E3. Everyone is eligible to win.

Congrats to our winner, @Jeremy_LaMont!

Item 4: Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii) and 4 Finger Bands

1 copy of Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii, plus 4 finger-sized sweatbands. Must live in the US, Canada, Mexico or Latin America to win.

Congrats to our winner @Ronster415!

Item 5: Virtua Tennis Headband and Finger Bands

A Virtua Tennis 2009 headband and 4 finger-sized sweatbands. Everyone is eligible to win.

Congrats to our winner @British_Brat!

Item 6: Let’s Tap Taprunner Figurine

A blue Tap Runner figurine from Let’s Tap. Everyone is eligible to win. (Let’s Tap comes out next week!)

Congrats to our winner @panicpuppet!

Item 7: House of the Dead: Overkill Comic

A sealed House of the Dead: Overkill comic. Must be at least 17 years old to win. All regions are eligible.

Congrats to our winner @Tabenya!

Item 8: Stormrise for PS3

A copy of Stormrise for PS3. Must be 17 or older to win, and must live in US, Canada, Mexico or Latin America.

How it Works

1. You must be following us on Twitter to be eligible. (If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can create one by going to http://www.twitter.com and click the green “get started — join!” button in the center of the page.)
2. At random times on Friday, we will announce the prize we are giving away, and what number of response you need to be to win. Send us a direct message (DM) via Twitter and be that number to win the prize. (@ replies do not count as entries!)
3. All followers are eligible to win all prizes, unless a restriction is noted. Restrictions are usually due to the prize being region-locked. For example, US games that won’t work on UK gaming systems.  There may also be age restrictions due to the rating of the game.
4. We will announce the winner on our Twitter feed once eligibility is confirmed.

Make Sure We’re Following You on Twitter

If you are currently following us on Twitter, please be sure that we are following you as well. You can do this by making sure that SEGA is in your “followers” list, or by going to DoesFollow and typing SEGA in the first blank, your Twitter username in the second, and pressing the “check” button. You can reverse this to be sure that you are following us. If you are following us, but we’re not following  you, please send a message to @SEGA and we will follow you. This is important, because only people we follow can send us direct messages (DMs), and DMs are the only way to enter the giveaways.

How to Send Direct Messages on Twitter

There are a few ways to send us a Direct Message on Twitter. The easiest way is to go to our Twitter page and select “message” under the “Actions” heading in the side bar. If you do not see “message”, this means that we are not following you. Please send a message to @sega to let us know, and we will follow you. When you click “message” you will be taken to a window where you can type a message and press send.

You may also select the “direct messages” tab from your Twitter homepage, and select SEGA from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. Again, if you don’t see our name there, it’s probably because we’re not following you. Let us know, and we’ll follow you.

There are also many Twitter clients that you can use instead of using the website. These include TweetDeck, Twitteriffic, Tweetie, and Twhirl. Each of these programs works differently, so you’ll want to figure out how to send a direct message on the program you use. If you want to send us a test message, we’ll let you know if we received it or not.

The voting has begun! The 27th Annual Golden Joystick Awards are here, and SEGA has a strong presence in just about every category out there.

To vote, just click here, pick your entries and submit! I voted earlier today – here’s what my list looked like:

Yeah, I voted for Valkyria in every category I could. (You should too. ) MadWorld and Headstrong games (Who created Overkill) were also easy choices for me.

If everyone votes together, there’s a great chance that a number of SEGA hits could end up winning. Above all though, just vote for the ones you want and make sure to get your votes in, then spread the word  - I’m looking at you, Valkyria Fans!

Finally, here’s the full list of SEGA games or entries:

—
FAMILY GAME OF THE YEAR
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Beijing Olympics 2008 — The Official Videogame
Iron Man
Samba de Amigo
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic Unleashed
The Incredible Hulk
Valkyria Chronicles

HANDHELD GAME OF THE YEAR
Bleach: Dark Souls
Football Manager handheld 2009
Iron Man
Phantasy Star Portable
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
The Incredible Hulk

MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR
Samba de Amigo
Sega Columns Deluxe
The Incredible Hulk

MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
Beijing 2008
Football Manager handheld 2009
Football Manager Live
Madworld
Samba de Amigo
Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection

NINTENDO GAME OF THE YEAR
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Bleach: Dark Souls
Earthworm Jim
Ecco Jr
Iron Man
Madworld
Samba de Amigo
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic Unleashed

THE ONE TO WATCH
Aliens vs. Predator
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Bayonetta
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
The Conduit
Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame
Virtua Tennis 2009

ONLINE GAME OF THE YEAR
Empire: Total War
Football Manager 2009
Football Manager Live

PC GAME OF THE YEAR
Empire: Total War
Football Manager 2009
Football Manager Live
Incredible Hulk

PLAYSTATION GAME OF THE YEAR
Beijing 2008
Football Manager Handheld 2009
Golden Axe
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
OutRun Arcade
Phantasy Star Portable
Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection
Sega Superstars Tennis
Sonic Unleashed
The Incredible Hulk
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza 2

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR
Sega

SOUNDTRACK OF THE YEAR
Empire: Total War
Madworld
Samba de Amigo
SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection
Sonic Unleashed
Valkyria Chronicles

ULTIMATE GAME OF THE YEAR
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Alpha Protocol
Beijing 2008
Earthworm Jim
Ecco Jr
Empire: Total War
Football Manager 2009
Football Manager Handheld 2009
Football Manager Live
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Iron Man
Madworld
OutRun Arcade
Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection
Sega Superstars Tennis
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic Unleashed
Space Siege
The Incredible Hulk
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza 2

XBOX GAME OF THE YEAR
Alpha Protocol
Beijing 2008
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection

If you read my earlier blog post this week, then you know that this Saturday and Sunday SEGA is going to be present at the Cherry Blossom Festival here in Japantown, San Francisco.

I mentioned that we had some swag to give away and that we were going to have a Trivia contest… Since then, we’ve finalized our plans and dug deep into hidden rooms here at the SEGA office to find the coolest stuff possible.

Now, it’s time for all of you not attending this weekend to turn hedgehog blue with envy – and for all of you who are making the trip – or anyone on the fence – we’ve got 300+ good reasons to look forward to it.

It’s going to be a very cool weekend.

I want you to focus on breathing normally now. Deep breaths in and out – now pinch yourself once. You aren’t dreaming.

Sunday at 3 PM is our SEGA Trivia Contest at the SEGA Booth, and whichever one of you knows your SEGA stuff the best is going to be rewarded for it – and seriously so. The Grand Prize is a stack of TEN newly released SEGA games, AND the exclusive Sonic T-shirt we found the other week in the Box of Awesome. The winner gets everything you see here:

To the winner go the spoils… and a really cool T-shirt.

The games will be given out at specific times during the day, so feel free to visit our booth and ask when the next giveaway will be. Oh, and if you do something to really show off your SEGA love – like wearing a SEGA/Sonic shirt or cosplaying as a SEGA video game character, we’ll see to it you get rewarded for your efforts with some of the rare merch shown above. (JSRF Soundtracks, NiGHTS Pillowcases, etc) Special bonus points if you cosplay as anyone from Valkyria Chronicles, since our DLC is coming out next Thursday!

We hope all of you attending this weekend are as excited as we are – of course, you can also be the first to play Let’s Tap! and Bleach: Third Phantom before they come out later this year, but we imagine what you guys really want is the free stuff.

We’ll see you there!

Sometimes SEGA fans go above and beyond simply enjoying a game – and in some cases, they actually go so far that it both scares and impresses you at the same time. But between the two, we were definitely more impressed than anything else when SEGA forum user MrTaco shared his Overkill masterpiece with us – it is, by far, the coolest way to burn an Overkill soundtrack that we’ve ever seen.

Check it out:

“Just because [A soundtrack] doesn’t officially exist doesn’t mean you have to go without. Somewhat inspired by the ice cream truck scene, I decided it would be cool to put some of the music onto a tape, which I could then take and play in my car whenever I was out driving.

I decided wanted something that looked old. A nice black cassette. Which was actually quite hard to find, surprisingly. Somewhere along the line, someone decided that it would be totally rad if all tapes went transparent. I disagree.”

“Next…The case. Screw using the cardboard insert for the tape I found, especially the generic one from a blank tape. I want to make my own cover for it. In fact, I want to go all out. Make the whole thing like an official creation. Why the hell not?”

“Next was collecting the last of the music. Dug around inside the game disc hoping to find the music just floating around on its own, but no such luck. That meant having to do it the dirty way. Turn down the SFX and Movie volume, then play the level. First knife-throwing mutant I get to, just sit there. Shoot his knives. Again. And again. And again. Clip after clip plucking his projectiles from their path. Constantly wondering if I’d caught it all yet. Thinking it would have been a whole lot easier if I’d moved the TV back out of my room already so it was near the computer…

With my ideas collected, it was off to delve into Paint Shop Pro to rig a rough idea of how it should look. Then putting a proper thing together, refining it all. Several days and a bunch of printouts later, and it was done.”

You, sir, get the gold star of the week award. (And a free copy of the Overkill Pre-order Novel.) You can also read his original topic about how he put the tape together here.

Awesome work!

HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL BREAKS [AN EFFIN'] RECORD FOR THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS GAMER’S EDITION

London, UK – 9 March, 2009 – The global authority on record-breaking, Guinness World Records, today announced that recently released The House of the Dead: OVERKILL (SEGA®, 2009) has broken into the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition for most swearing in a video game with a whopping 189 uses of the f-word.

Setting a record in this brand new category, the title recognizes The House of the Dead: OVERKILL as the most profane video game in history. During three hours of relatively limited dialogue, the campaign features 189 uses of the f-word, which equates to just over one per minute and three percent of all words spoken in the game.

Video Games Records Manager for Guinness World Records, Gaz Deaves, said: “This record category pre-existed for movies, music and television, but House of the Dead: Overkill is the first video game to be awarded the title in the Gamer’s Edition. It’s a mark of the times.”

The new record will be shortlisted for inclusion in next year’s Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition. Meanwhile, the 2009 Gamer’s Edition hit stores last month and has already received critical acclaim from both the gaming world and the mainstream press. Enjoying a top ten position on the UK book chart, Gaming Guide Kotaku said about the book: “With entries for professional gaming, top selling games in history, the history of hardware and Guitar Hero, the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer’s Edition looks to be a must have for fans of gaming.”

The House of the Dead: OVERKILL uncovers the ugly, terrifying, red hot secrets behind the House of the Dead; the daddy of all over-the-top shooters. While staying true to the classic gameplay this highly successful SEGA series takes on a new retro look with distinctive graphics, sound and attitude that add to its horror cool status. Also, because of the Wii RemoteTM, players will fight off zombies when they get too close; pistol-whipping jaws off and smashing in skulls with their shotgun butt.

Cortzjester over at GoNintendo has just announced their latest House of the Dead: Overkill Contest, and they’ve partnered with us here at SEGA to give away 10 of the limited edition collector’s Overkill VHS Tapes!

The contest is simple, but creative: come up with a caption for an Overkill Postcard! The twist: write it from the perspective of a zombie – on vacation. They’ve already supplied the postcard image, so all you have to do is work that photoshop (or paint, if you’re on a budget) magic and have some fun.

Check out GoNintendo’s contest page to enter, and take a look at some of the entries people have already done in their contest forum thread. You’ve got until this Friday evening to submit your entry!

Good luck everyone! Get those creative juices flowing and have some fun – just make sure to keep your brains in your own head.

Overkill fans, it’s about time we made good on a promise. Remember back when so many of you asked us for more pictures, media, and especially some of the groovy music tracks in the game? We said they were coming – and here they are!

The Kit has screenshots, character art and sketches, wallpapers, and some MP3 tracks from the game -Washington’s Theme and the very awesome Zombie Shuffle. As a fan of the series, I put this together with some hidden extras too, but you’ll have to follow your House of the Dead lore to find your way to the extra goodies… Once you download it, extract it to make sure you can take part in our little scavenger hunt.

Enjoy, and hope you’re all having a blast with Overkill! We took a slightly different approach in making this Fan Site Kit unique, so I’d love to hear what you guys think of it.

We had lots of great announcements and coverage this week. From New York Comic Con wrap-up to the new titles we announced this week, there’s lots of SEGA links to go around! If you see a SEGA-related link you think we should know about, you can leave it in the comments, post it to our forums, or send it to us via Twitter.

Before we delve into the game-specific roundups, I wanted to point out a cool video and article from Nerve. They visited our NYCC booth and got some video of The Conduit, Sonic and the Black Knight, and The House of the Dead: Overkill.

Madworld

Madworld had some of the longest lines at our NYCC booth, and it’s easy to see why. The game is fantastic, and I can barely wait to play it when it ships on March 10th. To satiate you before it’s on the market, here are some hands-on previews and interviews.

BuzzFocus calls it an “instant eye catcher” and “bloody buckets of fun“. There are also some photos of people playing the game at our booth at New York Comic Con.

TrueGameHeadz did a hands-on preview at New York Comic Con, and called it “a work of art”, “so creative, so imaginitive”, and “bloody, offensive, disturbing, and at the same time beautiful, creative, and fascinating”.

GamingAngels published their interview with Inaba-san and Nishikawa-san from Platinum Games, developers of Madworld.

The House of the Dead: Overkill

The House of the Dead: Overkill shipped this week, with a new trailer to boot.  I’ve been working my way through this game over the past week, and I’m having great fun shooting everything that moves. Finishing the game is on my list of things to do this weekend.

Tech Gaming calls it “quite enjoyable”, “one of the best light gun games in recent memory”, and having a “marvelous presentation”.

The Conduit

The Conduit had a great showing at NYCC and was very well received among the fans at the booth.  We really love showing this game off and being able to have hands-on sweetens it even more. Big thanks to the Conduit community for coming out and supporting us, be sure to check out what people have been saying!TrueGameHeadz did a hands-on preview at New York Comic Con,  calling it “a solid, more traditional gaming experience on the Wii”, and that it’s “shaping up to be one of the Wii’s must-play experiences of 2009″. They also did a video interview with Eric Nofsinger from High Voltage Software, developers of The Conduit.

GamingAngels also interviewed Eric at our New York Comic Con booth.

Sonic and the Black Knight

One of my favorite memories from NYCC is from Sunday (aka Kids Day), and watching the young Sonic fans line up to play this game. Their smiling and giggling as they zoom through the field of targets still makes me smile. I remember one young boy in particular, who sighed heavily before explaining to his father that this game was *totally different* than Sonic Unleashed, because this time Sonic had a sword.

We released a new trailer for the game this week, with more to come! The game is shipping on March 3rd.

Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection

We also shipped out Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection this week, and it’s been getting some great reviews.

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, GameDaily gave Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection an 8/10.  More review scores are starting to come in, including a 9.0 from IGN for the X360 version as well as the PS3 version. Tech Gaming gave it an A-, and 360 Junkies said “you can’t go wrong”.

Aliens vs. Predator

On Thursday, we announced the new Aliens vs. Predator game, set to be released in early 2010. In case you missed it, here’s some coverage from around the web.

Gamezine says their “ears pricked” at hearing the game was being developed by Rebellion.

Tech 2.0 says their “prayers have been answered”.

SEGA Nerds is “very excited” about this game.

Kotaku calls the release “very good news”.

The announcement made Gaming Nexus “very happy”.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Yesterday, we announced the upcoming Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, including a new teaser video. I know that I’m looking forward to using my Wii Balance Board on many of the sports. What sports are you looking forward to?

Remember, if you see a SEGA-related link you think we should know about, you can leave it in the comments, post it to our forums, or send it to us via Twitter. Happy weekend!

Grab your best friend and prepare your Wii-motes: Today, The House of the Dead: Overkill is shipping to retailers nationwide! The game has already received some great solid reviews, including an 8.3 from IGN, an 8.0 from Eurogamer, and another 8.0 from Edge Magazine!

As if a whole new game of two-player co-op zombie blasting wasn’t enough, the cool folks here at SEGA have even more awesome House of the Dead stuff up for fans across the world to enjoy! While you’re waiting on the game to arrive at your door, kill some time creating your very own Overkill movie poster here! Then post your creation here on the forums – make an awesome poster and we might just hook you up with a copy of the limited edition Overkill graphic novel!

If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s also a sweet Zombie Soundboard now live for all your Grindhouse-esque voice acting and music needs - check it out here at the official site! (Find it under Secret Files.) Finally, a little shout out to all of our Zombies – one shown above – who joined us at the New York Comic Con last weekend! You all suffered like G. did, and we commend you for it completely.

House of the Dead fans, you have your mission – blast your way through the game this week, and send us over some of your most creative House of the Dead posters! Post them here, make us laugh, and you may be in for a treat from the SEGA community team!

Happy House of the Dead Day, everyone!