SEGA's 2013 Plans

[Aki-at]

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.

Damn right, I think if Cain was the main character then this game easily would pick up a lot more sales. Plus when was the last time we had a major game released starring a robot?!

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).

It gets much much better. You basically played the tutorial parts.

[Radrappy]

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

not a chance. 

[Barry the Nomad]

not a chance.

Please explain, I'm curious to hear why.

[MadeManG74]

You need to define 'Major Seller'. If you mean break even/worthwhile making then maybe, but blockbuster? That seems dubious.

I think that Shenmue now has that kind of mystique about it that it could actually help marketing. You could do all that '10 years in the making, the saga finally will be completed' 'most anticipated game ever' blah blah blah, but at the end of the day it's going to come down to a lot of things.

Will SEGA have the money to do a big marketing push? Will it capture new fans or just the small die-hards? I've been following games for a long time and even worked in the category for a while, and I still can't pick a winner everytime. It's really difficult to say if it would work or not but I really wish Sega would at least try. Unfortunately I think they've mothballed the series for good.

[Radrappy]

You need to define 'Major Seller'. If you mean break even/worthwhile making then maybe, but blockbuster? That seems dubious.

I think that Shenmue now has that kind of mystique about it that it could actually help marketing. You could do all that '10 years in the making, the saga finally will be completed' 'most anticipated game ever' blah blah blah, but at the end of the day it's going to come down to a lot of things.

Will SEGA have the money to do a big marketing push? Will it capture new fans or just the small die-hards? I've been following games for a long time and even worked in the category for a while, and I still can't pick a winner everytime. It's really difficult to say if it would work or not but I really wish Sega would at least try. Unfortunately I think they've mothballed the series for good.

Pretty much this.  Shenmue, like Nights Into Dreams, Jet Set Radio, and Samba De Amigo is a cult classic.  Which above all things implies that while its quality is acknowledged, it is by no means a popular franchise.  It may have pushed the boundaries of what a game could be for its time but if a 3rd installment were to be released in this post-GTAIII age, there is very little that would convince audiences to get on board. 

I mean, even sonic games have a hard time moving units these days.  What chance would a property like Shenmue have?

Just play Sleeping Dogs and pretend its Shenmue.  That's what I do.         

[Barry the Nomad]

Okay, I get you now. Maybe I shouldn't have said "major seller" because that brings to mind GTA or Halo levels of sales. I do think, however, that a Shenmue 3 made on a Yakuza 5 or Binary Domain budget would make profit. It would easily sell more than Binary Domain. Like Mademan said, if they market it right then they could have a success on their hands. Rerelease the first two on PSN/XBLA/WiiWare (or whatever Wii U has as a digital marketplace) and then make a big reveal at something like E3. Press conference not needed, do the booth reveal like the Danica Patrick ASRT car or invite journalists to a nearby movie theater where a trailer would be shown.

I really think that in this day and age, with online game sites and social networking, that word of Shenmue 3 would spread like wildfire. Free marketing right there. I know we would go all out, and I'm sure other sites would too. SEGA could be a bit more open with interviews and perhaps offer up exclusive reveals to the major gaming sites. And like I mentioned, release an episodic interview with Yu Suzuki, discussing the third game. Something like that would cost little to sit down and shoot, and could be released over time. StarWars.com is doing that with a George Lucas interview discussing Episode VII and people are going nuts each time one releases.

Once the game releases, perhaps offer up limited editions (fuck, I'd be all over that). Offer up a Phoenix Mirror replica, some art cards, a soundtrack CD and download codes for the first two games.

As for Sleeping Dogs, fun game but I will never ever pretend that a game is Shenmue. Shenmue is Shenmue. Sleeping Dogs is Sleeping Dogs.

[Nameless 24]

Since Burning Rangers was put into their crossover racing game I hope that it gets a proper XBLA/PSN release for 1200/1600 points (1600 perhaps because people have rarely played it).

I wish they had more games lined up, but they don't even know when to release their games...never mind marketing...

Who thought that Resonance of Fate would sell well on FFXIII's launch? Or perhaps even one of their established IPs on the same week as Call of Duty?

[ROJM]

If Sega was clever about BINARY DOMAIN they could have made this a Wii U launch title.

[Psycho Echidna]

Seeing the marketing campaign and the faith SEGA had in BD, am not surprised they are not being smart about it  ;D

[Grant360]

So with 2012 finished there are a distinct lack of SEGA games in development. The ast 1/4 saw JSR, Sonic Adventure 2, NiGHTS, Sonic Transformed etc.

What do you think is coming. My Guesses:

Confirmed (or certainties):
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Football Manager 2014

My guesses:

Likely:
PSO 2 (XBLA/PSN)
Skies Of Arcadia HD (XBLA/PSN)
Sonic Adventure 3 (360/PS3)
Sonic Wii U
Burning Rangers HD (PSN/XBLA) (Just because it was a random inclusion in Sonic Transformed)
Virtua Striker (PSN/XBLA)
Virtua On (PSN/XBLA)

Maybe:
Panzer Dragoon (XBLA/PSN)
Sega Rally HD (PSN/XBLA)
Sega Touring Car HD (PSN/XBLA)
New Space Channel 5 (PSN/XBLA)

Dream:
Shenmue 1+2 HD
Ristar HD Remake
ToeJam & Earl 4
Streets Of Rage 4

[Barry the Nomad]

Hey Grant360! We actually had a 2013 topic going that was bumped to the second page of general SEGA discussion, so I merged your post.  ;D

Shenmue 1+2 HD is far from a "dream" release, since it was mentioned in the same sentence as Skies Of Arcadia HD. I'd say it's "likely". Sonic Adventure 3 is much more of a "dream" release, and not sure what Sonic Wii U is. I'd think we'll see a multi-platform Sonic title on 360/PS3/Wii U. No way would SEGA release an HD Sonic game to 360 and PS3 and develop a totally separate game for Wii U. I'd expect something more like All-Stars Racing Transformed, where it had Wii U exclusive gimmicks and modes.

[Grant360]

My bad Barry... didn't pay enough attention.

The only reason I say SA3 is because:

1) SA1&2 have been released on live
2) I just don't see the next Sonic being Generations 2. I feel that was a anniversary thing.

As for the Wii U version. I have a feeling Sega will try and do something different with the gamepad. But use thier mascot to minimise risk... It's just speculation but I think there will be more than 1 title in 2013.

As for Shenmue, I stopped hoping for that long ago. If it happens it happens and given the fan demand for it I almost feel like if they were going to do it they would. I think they may drag it over 2 releases though. Shenmue was 3 GD roms (Although worth noting that probably 25% of the disc was repeat environments and code. Add in HD textures and everything else and even with good compression you are looking at a 3GB game. Add in Shenmue 2 as well and you could be looking at a 6GB XBLA game.

[Kori-Maru]

I'm sensing more MODEL2 Collection games on the way and hopefully one of them is the original House of the Dead. If they were able to bring back VF2, then I don't see any problem of them porting THotD to PSN. Loving Deads: HotD EX could be a possible game to be released on either PSN or Wii U (due to the pedal features.)

On Japan's side, there's the Space Harrier 3D game and Shining Ark. I hope Sega West can get back on their feet to bring some of these games to the West as I am still waiting on news on the Western release of PSO2. AM2 is planning some for Virtua Fighter and I would really like to see Overworks port one of the Sakura Taisen games on Japanese PS2 Classics on PSN or a standalone game with trophies.

[Trippled]

I'm kind of worried.

Before 2010, 2011 and 2012 we knew those are gonna be great years, based on everything that was announced beforehand. But now? We only know of Sonic for sure. New IP's won't happen due to the bad handling of Rythm Thief and Binary Domain, which I'm extremly dissapointed in.

I mean hopefully we get something, maybe the Yakuza Team announces their new IP releasing this year? Or maybe a new RPG from the VC Team...

Hopefully we see lots of (newer) Arcade games ported to consoles. Border Break, and some obscure cool stuff like Sega Race TV done by the AMPort Team. I mean they are doing Virtua Striker, so there should be some neat stuff, that's not necesairly highly requested.

Again digital is supposed to be a huge focus, so I hope we see:
Lot of Arcade games that never were on consoles.
Maybe cool games from Sega of Japan not for damn iOS but maybe XBLA/PSN.

Basicilly I hope too see neat games for Handhelds and Consoles, and not just fluffy, online, F2P touch crap.

A great thing for them to do, would be announcing a new Arcade Unit with new games (HoTD 5, Outrun 3,Virtua Fighter 6...just my wishlist), and a simultionuos relese for Western for downloadable services.

[CrazyT]

I think this may become a sonic year where the only thing SEGA is going to anounce and hype up is the next big sonic game. Which isn't a bad thing nesceseraly. Especially if it ends up really good. It would have been time they put a lot of attention into their flagship franchise. SEGA's got great franchises but sonic really carries the brand so I hope they take this next big title really serious.

I hope for more 3DS support though. Building a game for 3DS seems less expensive and since the handheld is doing so well, I think SEGA would be smart in creating a big title for the 3DS.