Is 2013 one of SEGA's worst years ever? (Long-winded rant)

[Sega Uranus]

Before I start, I think it should mention that 2012 was one of SEGA's best years ever, truly. Tons of fan favorite games new and old were released, SEGA had a bit of everything for everyone. They made clear marketing mistakes, but generally their fans were satisfied with releases like Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed, Binary Domain, Virtua Tennis on Vita, Hell even Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II did a lot of things right! A ton of ports fans have been asking years for like NiGHTS into Dreams, Daytona USA, Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter 2 and even hugely unexpected stuff like a newly-translated Monster World IV came out! With only a few stinkers like Rhythm Thief, Crush 3D and arguably Yakuza Dead Souls (I personally loved it), I find it hard for anyone into games in general to not like at least a handful of SEGA's output in 2012.

It should be obvious to most that the reason we are getting far less games from SEGA at the moment is because of their mass cancellations from last year. That is barely an excuse to me, though.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is too obvious, but do most people know it has $80+ worth of extra DLC? The game is mostly Gearboxes' fault, but the fact SEGA would even let it happen speaks volumes. Not in just lack of proper management abilities, but quality control and wasted potential of the license disappointing several people who waited years.

Anarchy Reigns was sent to die after several delays. For such a community-focused game, this could not have stung more. It is also considered one of PlatinumGames' worst.

The Cave. Considered one of Double Fine's lamest games, but given more marketing than probably Binary Domain. Who even cares about this game? Coming out soon for mobile devices!!!

Total War: Rome II is considered the biggest disappointment in the series yet. This somehow was glitchier than Empire: Total War was at launch, a feat not considered possible due to the scale and development cycle of this game. Not counting spin-off releases like Total Warrior or Total War Battles, the fan backlash of this game has been so negative that several directors have apologized on the Total War forums.

Virtual-On and Virtua Striker for XBLA/PSN both cancelled outside of Asian regions. I am not sure what the specifics are for PlayStation Network, but releasing a game in more regions than one on XBLA does not cost anything outside of ESRB, PEGI and all of the other types of rating system deals. As these games are in full English and already have been widely available in markets all over the world, my conclusion is that SEGA West is specifically trying to kill the IP.

I know a good few amount of people here are fond of how Sonic Lost World is turning out, but the game just seems like a mess to me at best. Overly complicated design with bloated features, gimmicks, the worst new characters the franchise has gotten since Charmy Bee's redesign and what I consider the dumbest art direction the series has seen since probably... Sonic Schoolhouse? The Nintendo 3DS version looks even worse, and this is especially upsetting for me because I have been waiting eons for a proper 3D Sonic game on handhelds.

We have no idea what is happening to Phantasy Star Online 2. It is probably still being released outside of Asia, and I am sure it will be big (huge, actually), but the way SEGA is treating the fans for this is just insulting. Check out http://segahates.us/ to see a bit of what I mean. Samurai & Dragons had a similar fate, where it is fully in English, but not being released outside of strange Asian markets. At least you can still play it if you have a Hong Kong account, right??

I still have a bit of hope Yakuza 5 is going to get an English language version, but the longer this takes, the less people will care. It will be a Yakuza 2-like situation all over again. Do not even get me started on all of the Japan-only games SEGA is making at the moment. Puyo Puyo Tetris sounds absolutely wondrous, but will we ever see it?

We have not gotten a single word about when to expect the 3DS classic remakes. Nintendo themselves had to announce the games were coming at all, a full year after after most of them had been on the Japanese 3DS eShop! SEGA will likely all launch all of them on the same day and cannibalize most potential sales. I would bet on it, even. I hate having to check Nintendo sites every Thursday just to see if something was silently released. This is a horrible way to treat your fans.

Castle of Illusion was a fantastic re-imagining, Company of Heroes 2 is about the same quality as the original (never played it, but this is what I have heard!), Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz is the best game the series has seen for almost a decade and some smaller stuff like the new mobile version of Sonic 1 have been very good, but Castle of Illusion's development team has already been kicked to the curb and stuff like Miku Hatsune's game was only released on PlayStation 3, not Vita like many fans wanted/expected.

Besides a bunch of games not announced for release outside of Japan, what does SEGA have coming out anytime soon? Heroki? GO Dance? No thanks. 

Not even Shenmue III could have saved this year.

[CrazyT]

If sonic lost worlds blows, yes. Terrible year

[tarpmortar]

With only a few stinkers like Rhythm Thief, Crush 3D and arguably Yakuza Dead Souls (I personally loved it), I find it hard for anyone into games in general to not like at least a handful of SEGA's output in 2012.

Rhythm Thief is hardly a "stinker", general consensus is it's an average game, (76 metacritic, 80 user score).

It should be obvious to most that the reason we are getting far less games from SEGA at the moment is because of their mass cancellations from last year. That is barely an excuse to me, though.

From a consumer perspective, I hear you. I definitely wanted to see more from SEGA this year. From a business perspective though, I don't see an alternative. The AAA industry in general is faltering.

Anarchy Reigns was sent to die after several delays. For such a community-focused game, this could not have stung more. It is also considered one of PlatinumGames' worst.

Saying "PlatinumGames' worst" means very little, it's still a good game. Furthermore, I fail to see how it's a failure on SEGA's part, literally nobody has managed to make major successes of Clover/PG titles, not Capcom, SEGA or even Nintendo. The only profitable games they made have been MG Rising (not original IP, developed for Konami, of course), VJ1 (made during a very different time, as far as dev. costs go) and Bayonetta (which supposedly profitted slightly).

The Cave. Considered one of Double Fine's lamest games, but given more marketing than probably Binary Domain. Who even cares about this game? Coming out soon for mobile devices!!!

Lots of people cared about this game and for good reason; Ron Gilbert + spiritual successor to PC classic Maniac Mansion. It was a disappointment but there was good reason to believe it wouldn't be.

Total War: Rome II is considered the biggest disappointment in the series yet. This somehow was glitchier than Empire: Total War was at launch, a feat not considered possible due to the scale and development cycle of this game. Not counting spin-off releases like Total Warrior or Total War Battles, the fan backlash of this game has been so negative that several directors have apologized on the Total War forums.

Fair, a mis-step no doubt. Creative Assembly is hard at work correcting it but the game should have been delayed, or released as a Steam Early Access title, wherein it would have a valid excuse for its current status.

Virtual-On and Virtua Striker for XBLA/PSN both cancelled outside of Asian regions. I am not sure what the specifics are for PlayStation Network, but releasing a game in more regions than one on XBLA does not cost anything outside of ESRB, PEGI and all of the other types of rating system deals. As these games are in full English and already have been widely available in markets all over the world, my conclusion is that SEGA West is specifically trying to kill the IP.

Nobody turns down guaranteed money unless they are incompetent. Suggesting incompetence is fair, I'd agree in quite a few cases. Suggesting intentional SEGA West conspiracy to A. Turn down guaranteed profit and B. sabotaging Japanese IP? Delusional.

I know a good few amount of people here are fond of how Sonic Lost World is turning out, but the game just seems like a mess to me at best. Overly complicated design with bloated features, gimmicks, the worst new characters the franchise has gotten since Charmy Bee's redesign and what I consider the dumbest art direction the series has seen since probably... Sonic Schoolhouse? The Nintendo 3DS version looks even worse, and this is especially upsetting for me because I have been waiting eons for a proper 3D Sonic game on handhelds.

I love the art direction & I think it looks fantastic visually. With that said, I'm not sure how I feel about gameplay either and given the quality of the Sonic franchise? I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up a purely average platformer. Sonic Generations was an average platformer but I got some enjoyment out of that. I also think the sprint/run button is a good idea and a welcome addition.

I still have a bit of hope Yakuza 5 is going to get an English language version, but the longer this takes, the less people will care. It will be a Yakuza 2-like situation all over again. Do not even get me started on all of the Japan-only games SEGA is making at the moment. Puyo Puyo Tetris sounds absolutely wondrous, but will we ever see it?

Tetris has a sizable fanbase in the west, so it's plausible imo.

Castle of Illusion was a fantastic re-imagining, Company of Heroes 2 is about the same quality as the original (never played it, but this is what I have heard!), ..... some smaller stuff like the new mobile version of Sonic 1 have been very good, but Castle of Illusion's development team has already been kicked to the curb and stuff like Miku Hatsune's game was only released on PlayStation 3, not Vita like many fans wanted/expected.

CoH2 < CoH1, no doubt. It has the potential to become the better game long term but right now? No way. CoH1 is the best RTS ever but CoH2s faults really cannot be blamed on SEGA, the vast majority of the fault lies with THQ who woefully underfunded the game due to their horrendous financial position. Sonic 1's remake is good but being exclusive to mobile? Joke. WTF happened to PC? SEGA Australia being closed made business sense to me, I feel Hardlight can take over a lot of their responsibilities. Vita is irrelevant in the west, Miku seems to be doing fine on PS3, I don't feel this is a valid complaint when a Vita release would cost extra money for an already niche game.

Besides a bunch of games not announced for release outside of Japan, what does SEGA have coming out anytime soon? Heroki? GO Dance? No thanks. 

Get used to the mobile shit, SEGA loves it.

Not even Shenmue III could have saved this year.

SEGA could announce tomorrow they were canning every game for the next two years, dedicating the entire company to Shenmue 3 and as a fan? I'd be ok with that.

P.S.: ACM & PSO2 issues go without saying & are completely fair critiques, particularly considering ACM's false advertising.

[Radrappy]

I know a good few amount of people here are fond of how Sonic Lost World is turning out, but the game just seems like a mess to me at best. Overly complicated design with bloated features, gimmicks, the worst new characters the franchise has gotten since Charmy Bee's redesign and what I consider the dumbest art direction the series has seen since probably... Sonic Schoolhouse? The Nintendo 3DS version looks even worse, and this is especially upsetting for me because I have been waiting eons for a proper 3D Sonic game on handhelds.

wat. 

[Trippled]

Rhythm Thief is hardly a "stinker", general consensus is it's an average game, (76 metacritic, 80 user score).

The general consensus that it is a good game. Better than Binary Domain on Metacritic at least (which had 74 metacritic)

It is not a stinker because it reminded us Sega can still do creative and quirky games like Space Channel 5  and Jet Set Radio.

Also I think the reason we haven't seen that much is because the NEXT-GEN is coming up! Sega can't do digital stuff as well since the digital stuff won't transfer from 360&PS3, they are waiting for the new consoles. And games TAKE TIME, even smaller things.
Sega pretty much vanished packaged western games, and international aimed japanese games they had (from 2009's Madworld to 2012's Binary Domain)
So that only leaves us with hoping, that Sega seriously ups their digital output again with not JUST ports (or at least ports of interresting stuff) but original content, and get's a grip and bring japanese games over here (and by that at least letting other companies letting handling their games).

I hope that this is just transitional year. Back then 1997 wasn't the hottest year either for Sega.

[Sega Uranus]

Why are people mentioning Metacritic? Guitar Hero II is rated higher than almost every SEGA game ever on there, along with games like Just Dance 4 on Kinect rating higher than NiGHTS into Dreams.

Saying "PlatinumGames' worst" means very little, it's still a good game. Furthermore, I fail to see how it's a failure on SEGA's part, literally nobody has managed to make major successes of Clover/PG titles, not Capcom, SEGA or even Nintendo. The only profitable games they made have been MG Rising (not original IP, developed for Konami, of course), VJ1 (made during a very different time, as far as dev. costs go) and Bayonetta (which supposedly profitted slightly).

Did you play it? The game is awkward for sure. Even the biggest fans of it say it is disappointing, but the way SEGA handled it was just wrong.

I wanted to say Infinite Space was their worst game, but apparently they did not design that.

Either way, Bayonetta was a pretty big success. Sold over two million across both platforms last I checked. Not at full price, but it could have been a genuine franchise if they made the sequel two years ago. Now I feel it is too late.

I hope that this is just transitional year. Back then 1997 wasn't the hottest year either for Sega.

1997 was a good year. We got Virtua Fighter 3 in the arcades, Shining Force III, The House of the Dead, Die Hard Arcade, SEGA Bass Fishing, Sakura Taisen Columns, several SEGA AGES releases on Saturn, Sonic JAM, The Lost World... This is all off the top of my head. 96 and 98 were better, but 97 was not a bad year at all.

[Aki-at]

In terms of localised Japanese content? Yes.

In the grand scheme of things I'm not too sure it comes close to 2005. The Creative Assembly always botches their launch, Sonic: Lost World will probably be a decent to good platformer, Company of Heroes 2 was still salvageable from where THQ was headed with it, Hatsune Miku I suppose is one of those oddballs, Castle of Illusion was a good remake from all I hear and Football Manager will continue to be the best in its genre (Not that is really has any competition)

But that is about it for this year. SEGA West need to find a way to supplement SEGA Japan's titles into their lineup somehow instead of just tossing them aside, having Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin, Puyo Puyo Tetris and Phantasy Star Nova available for launch in 2014 already massively brings up that years prospects. Just like if they had Yakuza 5 and Phantasy Star Online 2 available this year.

But highly unlikely if management is not shuffled at the top brass of SEGA West.

[Team Andromeda]

Apart from SEGA Europe the rest of SEGA had a year to forget

[Trippled]

Why are people mentioning Metacritic? Guitar Hero II is rated higher than almost every SEGA game ever on there, along with games like Just Dance 4 on Kinect rating higher than NiGHTS into Dreams.

I don't believe in Metacritic. But Yamada brought it up for measuring it's quality.

1997 was a good year. We got Virtua Fighter 3 in the arcades, Shining Force III, The House of the Dead, Die Hard Arcade, SEGA Bass Fishing, Sakura Taisen Columns, several SEGA AGES releases on Saturn, Sonic JAM, The Lost World... This is all off the top of my head. 96 and 98 were better, but 97 was not a bad year at all.

I forgot Shining Force III (altough that came out in 98' in the west) and House of the Dead, you're right.

Sakura Wars Columns, well is just a puzzle game, Sega brought out Puyo Puyo Quest too. VF3 and Die Hard Arcade came out in 96', Sega Bass Fishing in 98'. And in terms of Lost World, this year Sega had the Transformers Arcade game (testing at least in China).

As far as Sega Ages goes, well there were the 3D Classics, and ah...Sonic compilation? Really?

I dunno you are counting Arcade releases. Sega had some excellent releases such as Le Mans 24 and Motor Raid, and some rather cabinet focused stuff such Top Skater, Ski stuff etc.
This year they also had 3 arcade-exclusive releases with Code of Joker, K.O. Drive and Transformers Arcade.

[Nameless 24]

I wouldn't say it's a bad year given that releases have been extremely low to compare past years line up (which was a good year, but the titles released were quite a few!), but SEGA have certainly been on the non-creative side, so to speak.

I actually believe this is due to R&D in the PS4, XBO and Wii U (to an extent).

Puyo Puyo Tetris sounds like it didn't have much R&D in it, however I look forward to this crossover.

Sonic Lost Worlds is likely being collaborated with a few Nintendo Staff, and we know that Platinum is being funded by Nintendo for Bayonetta 2 (although that comes out in 2014).

I am quite happy with the announcements of Yakuza Ishin and Phantasy Star Nova, but the only thing about SEGA is that the West have no clue on how to localise the games (or don't care to).

I am all for reshuffling SEGA Wests side, but it'd be better to get someone from SoJ to become SoA CEO and tell them to market some of the games instead of one article on it before it's forgotten.

Bad year in terms of SoA not localising games for sure, but overall, I am happy with what few announcements we did get.

[Barry the Nomad]

2013 was lighter on games than past years, but I don't think that makes it "the worst" or even a bad year in general. And like others, I chalk that up to One and PS4 development coupled with third party devs jumping the Wii U ship (Sonic Lost World being an exception).

The only stinker this year was Aliens: CM.

Anarchy Reigns was as good as MadWorld, I thought, which itself is not an amazing game. Good, but not great. The Cave wasn't Double Fine's best, but I'd much rather see SEGA working with devs like then than release shitty Marvel games. Again, the game was good but not great. Like PG's Anarchy Reigns, it was a game from a fantastic dev that ended up being "the worst" game from that developer, which is actually a pretty good game. A "bad" game from Double Fine and Platinum Games averages a review score of 70%. I'm sure SEGA was hoping for 9/10 or 10/10 scores for games from those devs, but like I said, 7/10 is far from "awful" territory.

I can't really comment on the RTS PC games, as I haven't played them. However, I've been seeing a lot of 8/10 scores for the games. Again, not as high as the previous titles, but far from awful and PC games can always fix problems via patches. Ideally, they shouldn't need patches because the problems should exist to begin with, but at least the opportunity is there and hopefully it can bump the quality of the games up and erase some issues fans have.

Virtual-On and Virtua Striker... no major losses. Hell, you're the only person I've heard still complaining about their lack of launch to the West. To be honest, I can see why SEGA didn't go to the effort. Virtual-On OT is already available, and old sports games really only appeal to a small group of people. Even less in the US given it is a soccer game.

The worst thing that I can think of is the lack of Yakuza 5 and PSO2 in the west. The former is likely a risk for the company and an expensive and expansive translation. PSO2 is still delayed with an unknown ETA. Not great, but better than cancelled. If PSO2 was outright cancelled, I'd be much more down on 2013 for sure.

SEGA 3D Classics are coming, we just don't know when. I know you get easily angry over the lack of news, but why stress out over it? They're "coming soon", an announcement was made. They're not new titles, so its not like waiting a few months is killing us.

Sonic Lost World is releasing soon, which I'm really excited for. You're in this crazy minority that hates the game, so I really don't know what to tell you. The one big game that I could point to that shows it is not a bad year and you hate it for crazy reasons.

---

My hope is we get the 3D Classics in the fall, and some real PSO2 news for the West. Perhaps a early 2014 release?

I don't see how 2013 can be judged when we're only 3/4th of the way through it. Talk to me in January of 2014. 

[TimmiT]

A year of average games is far from Sega's worst years ever.

Besides a bunch of games not announced for release outside of Japan, what does SEGA have coming out anytime soon? Heroki? GO Dance? No thanks. 

Yeah, Heroki clearly isn't worth paying attention to.

You can go ahead and dismiss GO Dance though. :V

[Barry the Nomad]

Heroki is a SEGA Alliance title: http://segabits.com/blog/2012/08/16/just-what-is-sega-alliance/

So I really don't think it's draining SEGA's resources or making them look bad. At most, SEGA is publishing a little known title from a small developer. They're providing them with marketing, production support, and creative consultation. The game looks to have been largely completed before SEGA stepped in.

Best to judge the game AFTER playing it.

[Bartman3010]

Man, I wish Heroki was coming to Android, the game played great when I tried the demo at PAX (and you can read how I felt on the article TimmiT linked.) I don't get why theres such hate on the game if you haven't even experienced it. Unless you're the type of people who cling onto the whole "Tablet gaming is for non-gamer" hoopla. They did mention that they're likely to add in game controller functions if touching screens really isn't your thing, although there IS a degree of control you lose as a result, at least in the game's current form since it's not done yet.

[tarpmortar]

Why are people mentioning Metacritic? Guitar Hero II is rated higher than almost every SEGA game ever on there, along with games like Just Dance 4 on Kinect rating higher than NiGHTS into Dreams.

Did you play it? The game is awkward for sure. Even the biggest fans of it say it is disappointing, but the way SEGA handled it was just wrong.

I'm not huge on MetaCritic but MetaScore and user scores can indicate a general consensus. Not all the time but sometimes. Bottom line, I know from previous discussions with you that you aren't very receptive to individuals holding opposing views on games. I provided MetaCritic because it provided a contrasting view to your allegation of "stinker" status. Obviously it's not perfect and in most cases I would discourage it but given I also know real people who enjoyed Rhythm Thief and would even like a sequel? and I know how often you can refuse to acknowledge that somebody might like something you don't? I've deemed it appropriate.

 You also disliked Rhythm Thief before you even played it or owned a 3DS, IIRC, mostly due to the visual style.

Either way, Bayonetta was a pretty big success. Sold over two million across both platforms last I checked. Not at full price, but it could have been a genuine franchise if they made the sequel two years ago. Now I feel it is too late.

Source? Last update was somewhere between 1-1.5 million IIRC.