SEGA's 2013 Plans

[MadeManG74]

Rome 2, Yakuza 5 and Anarchy Reigns are the ones I have my eye on.

[Aki-at]

Add Ron Gilbert's The Cave to the list. Played it at Eurogamer and found it an extremely charming title, think a lot of people here would love it too.

Outside of that, I think we will get more releases come March, probably a new Mario & Sonic game too for Wii U and 3DS? Would not be surprised either to see another announcement from Ryu Ga Gotoku studio too for Japan (Though doubt it would be a mainline Yakuza game)

[MadeManG74]

Oh yeah, forgot about The Cave. It's Double Fine, so it should be ace.

[Mengels7]

I'll take that console/pc port of Shining Force Cross any day now...

[Suzuki Yu]

LOL! They only have this for the next year:

- Miku (PS3)
- 7th Dragon 3 (PSP)
- Shining Ark (PSP)

 and... nothing else. -____-


 WTF!?!? I mean, WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!? They are not even bringing Sega Superstars Racing 2 to Japan... nothing.

 They are almost dead.

PSO2 Vita?

[STORM!]

PSO2 Vita?

  OH! Completely forgot that one!!! What a shame... but I wanted it on PS3!! My God! If the game is free to play, why the hell it is not on the PSN??? I don't own a Vita and have no plans to buy one.

 The game is also inferior from the original PC version (graphically saying).

 2ch is fullfiled with Sega employees and related persons, and they are only talking about mobile telephone games...

 They are very agressive with people who tries to talk about the old Sega or home consoles games. They said that Yakuza 5 is the last on the series... and Sega is not going to create any new IP packaged title outside Japan anymore...

 I'm getting tired of Sega, but let's see what happens next year, since they have not made a press release this year for the consumer area. Sega has only done a press release for mobile phone games...   

[Aki-at]

OH! Completely forgot that one!!! What a shame... but I wanted it on PS3!! My God! If the game is free to play, why the hell it is not on the PSN??? I don't own a Vita and have no plans to buy one.

You probably have Sonic to look forward to as well.

2ch is fullfiled with Sega employees and related persons, and they are only talking about mobile telephone games...

 They are very agressive with people who tries to talk about the old Sega or home consoles games. They said that Yakuza 5 is the last on the series... and Sega is not going to create any new IP packaged title outside Japan anymore...

 I'm getting tired of Sega, but let's see what happens next year, since they have not made a press release this year for the consumer area. Sega has only done a press release for mobile phone games...   

If SEGA does go solely mobile phone games, they will not last until 2016. The only good thing I can think of right now is that package games performed much much better than digital games for this half year and might make them reconsider their options.

[STORM!]

  I'm thinking the same thing. The package titles has saved Sega this half year, and almost paid all the money lost from consumer division. Accord to Nagoshi, Yakuza 5 already has the highest number of copies sold on pre-order on the series.

 Hopefully they will end this fiscal year with profits!

 The biggest issue that made Sega changed their plans was the fact that Binary Domain, Rythm Thief, Max Anarchy have failed hard on sales... arrggh! If they have sold more 

 Someone said (on 2ch...) that the probability of Sega making some new package titles for old IPs still exists... but in the other hand we have the fact that Nagoshi everytime says he does not wants and also hates Sega's old titles (that failed on sales).

 Just bring Yu Suzuki back and let the man do his things  Shit!

[Barry the Nomad]

Question: Would a Shenmue 3, made on the budget of a Yakuza game, be a major seller?

Seriously, I mean we've had this conversation many times before in other threads, but I'm curious if fans would accept a Shenmue 3 if it meant a lower budget than the first two, a little more of the same in terms of in-game gimmicks (magic weather, collectables, arcade games, menial jobs) and a greater emphasis on story? Personally, I want STORY resolution. New gimmicks would be great, but I'd rather SEGA not spend a load of money to reinvent the wheel and try to redefine adventure games.

Would this be so crazy a way to get to Shenmue 3: In 2013 release Shenmue HD, in early 2014 release Shenmue 2 HD, if sales are strong and Shenmue hype has reached strong levels announce Shenmue 3 at E3 or TGS in 2014 (E3 preferably, given the series popularity in the West) and begin a series of videos released to the SEGA YouTube channels discussing the game's development. Make it very apparent that Shenmue 3's focus will be story as well as enhanced fighting mechanics (borrow ideas from VF5). That way people's expectations will be set, and we won't have a Phantom Menace on our hands.

Then, in 2016 release Shenmue 3 to PS4, XBOX 720 and (I guess) Wii U. Or, make it a console exclusive a la Bayonetta 2 to put more money behind it. I'd prefer MS or Sony, but even if Nintendo backed it I'd be okay with that. Just want a third game made one way or another.

---

I guess what triggered me thinking all this was playing Binary Domain over the weekend. It's a fantastic game, but it got me thinking about how it's a new IP that didn't have the strongest of sales (did it?). Yet it got released. So why is it so hard to release a single game like Shenmue 3? Surely a Shenmue 3 made with a budget equal to, or a little greater than, Binary Domain would sell very well. I just think that the Shenmue series has long since passed it's cult status and that a game in today's world would sell very well. Especially if SEGA built up the series again via HD rereleases and then gave us a third title next generation. If we can get multiple Yakuza titles and new IPs like Binary Domain, why not a Shenmue 3 with a smaller budget but a bigger focus on story? Team Yu Suzuki with the minds behind the Yakuza games and give us a really strong finish to the series that pulls at our heartstrings and nostalgia. Leave reinventing action/adventure games to games like Watch Dogs.

[Aki-at]

I'm thinking the same thing. The package titles has saved Sega this half year, and almost paid all the money lost from consumer division. Accord to Nagoshi, Yakuza 5 already has the highest number of copies sold on pre-order on the series.

 Hopefully they will end this fiscal year with profits!

 The biggest issue that made Sega changed their plans was the fact that Binary Domain, Rythm Thief, Max Anarchy have failed hard on sales... arrggh! If they have sold more 

 Someone said (on 2ch...) that the probability of Sega making some new package titles for old IPs still exists... but in the other hand we have the fact that Nagoshi everytime says he does not wants and also hates Sega's old titles (that failed on sales).

 Just bring Yu Suzuki back and let the man do his things  Shit!

The issue with Binary Domain was SEGA went about it completely the wrong way in marketing it, the first trailer effectively made it a laughing stock. Nowdays you get loads and loads of people discovering the title, posting about it on Twitter, NeoGAF and the like and shows SEGA's marketing screwed up the game big time. Also should have starred Cain. Rhythm Thief I think would just be a failure irregardless for short term sales but it should have been viewed as a long term seller which is its strong point, whilst Anarchy Reigns should never have been greenlit for consoles.

I agree with Nagoshi that older retail titles that failed probably should not get a sequel unless SEGA is on a run of multiple successes, at the same time I find it odd if Yakuza 5 is going to be the last in the series and they will move onto solely mobile phone games. Nagoshi does not strike me as the type of man who will be satisfied working on phone games unless he is already planning on jumping ship?

What SEGA needs to do is start slowly, I can understand just making certain games for a year or two, build profits up and then start making new IPs to complement their already established franchises. But shifting packaged goods to only four franchises (One of which they do not own) and then relying on games that sell for a bottle of water is a recipe for disaster. What happens when Sonic etc suffer franchise fatigue and how would cheap iOS game keep a company of 2,000+ employees afloat? Seems extremely short sighted and will end in disaster. Look at Zynga after all.

They also really need to stop focusing on Japan only, 7th Dragon should have been released here, as should Valkyria Chronicles 3. These games might be failures on the respective platforms in the West but bringing them to Steam/PSN/XBLA would have been a good way to ensure additional sales.

[Barry the Nomad]

Cain is one of the best new SEGA characters from the third party era. They really should have given him more face time in the marketing. Make him more prominent on the box. I liked Dan, but he is not the star of the game.

[Trippled]

At this point, I think a new Shenmue would be a complete Reboot with the entire Story and Chapters in one game. If they were in for big-budget Retail Release anyway.

Yu Suzuki wants to make it, he could start a Kickstarter, for a game that merely is supposed to finish the Story. Sega would be on it, just for the IP. Similar to Bayonetta 2.

Don't know anything could happen.

About Sega's future I think for the PSN/XBLA space it's looking bright. AM2 said that they plan to get most of their catalouge on there, and I assume (hopefully) it's the same for AM1. With the success they see that are having with that Strategy, we might even see some strong Original titles made for download services. AM2 even talked on their Twitter about Fighters Megamix 2. And with Arcades dying also in Japan, it's a real possibility, that they will directly develop for XBLA/PSN.

[Kori-Maru]

They also really need to stop focusing on Japan only, 7th Dragon should have been released here, as should Valkyria Chronicles 3. These games might be failures on the respective platforms in the West but bringing them to Steam/PSN/XBLA would have been a good way to ensure additional sales.

My thoughts exactly and promote them in the right places.

[Trippled]

My thoughts exactly and promote them in the right places.

Yeah, like market them to the Anime crowd. That's what Atlus and NIS have been making with games like that.

[MadeManG74]

Concerning Binary Domain:
I started playing this last weekend and was really nonplussed by it. It was kind of okay, but I didn't really find it very enjoyable at all to be honest.
I'll probably try again because it seemed to be getting better (I stopped playing right when they jump down the sea wall and they're sliding on their backs).
Then again, I just haven't felt like playing much of anything recently apart from KOF and VF, so...

As for Shenmue 3:
I used to be really positive, but I now I think it's never ever going to happen. Maybe someday Yu Suzuki will have an interview with some Japanese website and will say 'Oh yeah Shenmue 3, the original plan was to have him kill Lan Di and then Lan Di's son comes to kill Ryo as the twist at the end. Yeah, shame about that...' and that'll be that.

I really don't expect any more games to ever be made about it, which is a crying shame, but let's be realistic here.

However, hypothetically if they made a game on Yakuza's budget, fuck yeah I would be happy. They don't need to blow us away graphically again, or create some massive fuck off world the size that no-one has seen before. They've already created what we want to play in Shenmue 1 and 2, just give us that again and I'll buy two copies.