SEGA and their many franchises

[Barry the Nomad]

This isn't a thesis, or a strongly formed opinion topic, I'm mainly just throwing the subject out there and rambling.

I've noted that many SEGA fans (myself included, at times) call for sequels to both long forgotten and recent franchises. While I'm 100% for doing this (though I can't tell you how much it pisses me off to see cries for stuff like Shenmue 3 in a SEGA Facebook post about something completely unrelated), I have to question: is it SEGA's modus operandi to keep franchises going? Could it be that it is far more typical of them to keep a franchise going for 2-3 generations before moving onto something else?

While there are a handful of franchises that have spanned hardware generations, even up to this day (Sonic, Virtua Fighter, Shinobi, Phantasy Star, Shining series), there are far more franchises that have been retained to a single generation, or at most seeps into the next generation with a few more titles at most (Jet Set Radio, Alex Kidd, Fantasy Zone). There are also the franchises that are very much rooted in one generation, and we've either seen nothing more from them (Space Channel 5), or a single new title generations later (After Burner, OutRun, Golden Axe, NiGHTS, Castle of Illusion, Panzer Dragoon).

In the case of Jet Set Radio, the team has largely moved on to Mario & Sonic and Yakuza. JSR spanning the 6th and 7th generation of consoles, while Mario & Sonic thus far is a 7th generation franchise and Yakuza is a 6th, 7th and soon to be 8th generation franchise.

Panzer Dragoon was very much a 5th generation franchise, with a new title appearing much later in the 6th generation.

I have to wonder, does the developer or franchise creator play a strong part in this? I've noted that SEGA (especially SEGA of Japan) is usually not so quick to develop a new title of a series under another dev team. If that team has broken up, or moved on to another company, the franchise is typically finished. Only to appear in crossover titles (Project X Zone, ASRT) or very rarely being revived in a totally different game (Golden Axe Beast Rider, Zaxxon Escape). In the case of NiGHTS, SEGA had Iizuka around to spearhead a sequel two generations later.

Anyway, just throwing all this out there for discussion.

[Kori-Maru]

I wonder what happened to the Virtua Cop team?....

[Trippled]

I wonder what happened to the Virtua Cop team?....

Still making rail-shooters.

By large, AM1, AM2 and AM3 stayed pretty uneffective of the many restructurings Sega had. And there was really not that much of a 'cohesive' HotD or Virtua Cop team. Sega's designers switch pretty frequently from different types of games. Like Yu Suzuki who made a rhythm game and was less involved in Virtua Fighter 1 then 2.

[Barry the Nomad]

Something I'm curious about, does anybody think that a part of the drive for sequels comes from the developers and directors themselves? I mean, sure SEGA higher ups push for sequels to titles that sell well (like Sonic) but I gotta wonder if games like JSRF and Orta came largely from the devs pushing to make another. If the team isn't pushing for it, since they're busy on another franchise, could that play a part in why we see select franchises confined to a period of time and then the team moves on to another project and simply has little interest in another title.

[Randroid]

Interesting topic. I too would love an accurate breakdown of the general process for approval, both for original titles and sequels from within Sega.

I think you're theory is correct. I too believe that apart from the truly breakthrough titles, each team is responsible for pushing for release of their titles.

[Nameless 24]

It's SEGA's selling point that they make a great franchise on it's debut, but more often then not, cannot improve on it any better then they did the first time...although some argue that JSRF is better then JSR and Space Channel 5 Part 2 in the same breath.

Personally...I would love to see at least one franchise given another chance (Ristar, Burning Rangers and Astal), but SEGA seems to more often then not, never recapture what made them so special.

This is somewhat related, but Nintendo, despite the critique they get for spawning more Mario games and Zelda, seems to dedicate their time into their franchises that aren't as popular too. As of late: Kid Icarus Uprising (I don't like this game), Luigi's Mansion and even Fire Emblem have all had sequels. Nintendo's got the opposite problem...they CAN make new franchises, but choose not to...and when they do make newer franchises (Pikmin), they don't seem to make as many of them.

Both could learn from the other in terms of creating newer franchises and sustaining older ones.

[Barry the Nomad]

Thing is, Nintendo often relegates the risky sequels of home console games to handheld. I guess, though, that it could be argued that the 3DS is a huge step up from the NES, even if 3DS isn't a home console. So stuff like Kid Icarus and Fire Emblem are a step up for the NES originals.

I have to wonder if SEGA fans would be open to more sequels to home console titles on handheld platforms? a JSR3 or Space Channel 5 Part 3 or a traditional Phantasy Star RPG on 3DS? Sonic 4 Episodes 1&2 were kind of that, existing only on digital distribution and being portable by way of mobile devices.

[Nameless 24]

Fire Emblem works on a handheld due to it's SRPG nature, and despite some Valkyria fans complaints, it works on the PSP too.

I would certainly be open to more Handheld input from them, it'd justify owning a 3DS for me since Nintendo's offerings have been poor in my own personal viewpoint...only justifying itself for Luigi's Mansion 2 and Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Traditionally, I have always loved Nintendo's efforts on the handheld since it's their riskier nature to add new IPs there, so I wonder why SEGA haven't gone the opposite route and included sequels on the 3DS yet?