Sharky's corner of negativity: "SEGA of America f***ing sucks"

[MadeManG74]

Barry please... When I helped create Segabits, long before you weaseled your way in. Swearing was a non-issue, we swore on the front page, we swore in the podcast. It's just a word. Segabits wasn't trying to be SEGA's little bitch, Playing the bitch is the reason both George and I lift SegaNerds and went our own way in the first place.

Police report shots fired in Jersey.

Anyway back to my corner of negativity, SEGA of America may have done some good, Relic is a great start but that doesnt negate the fact that almost all of the really big issues over the past decade have been linked to SoA to some degree. SURE we can find issues with SoJ and even some with SoE, but it's SoA's level of ridiculous decisions that damages SEGA's overall image that I'm so wound up about. I hear rumours that the whole Sonic Boom band has cost SEGA over 20 million dollars and I don't know how true it is but it doesn't seem so far fetched and its success hinged on a game they couldn't even bother to ship out without making sure it's not a shit game, let alone bug free... Which it bloody well isn't!

Sonic Boom could have been such a brilliant move. Or at least a really ambition project that could have put Sonic back into a more relevant position. Sonic has been tarnished so much over the years, that a re-birth like Sonic Boom could have been something very good for the brand. I personally was so excited to see a new vision of the characters, a new developer and even a tie in Cartoon and comics etc. While I still think the Cartoon looks quite good and could do well, it's such a shame that the game turned out like this. I mean, this is really something that Sega should have been paying the utmost attention to and GUARANTEED it was the best quality possible.

It really seems like the bet the farm on Sonic Boom but then couldn't be arsed to make sure the game was a success. Had I been in charge of a re-imagining and relaunch of the businesses major mascot, spawning several forms of media, I would make sure that the cornerstone of the endeavor, the actual game, was the best it could be.

I don't know if BRB were doing something amazing when they contracted them, but you'd think you wouldn't trust something like this to anyone but the most reliable developer. Shit, I would have gotten AM2 or Platinum to try it out. Not much experience in platformers sure, but good god they have nearly a flawless track record for quality.

tl;dr, I'm an AM2 fanboy.

[Nirmugen]

The problem is how they handle all the marketing and contacts with everybody who they make a deal to developed a game. Both SOJ and SOE had a really good way to do it, SOA doesn't.

I don't know who is in charge of this things in USA. It happen before, now and it could happen later. Danica Patrick in ASRT (2012), CM fiasco (2013) and now Boom games (2014)  are clearly the examples of poor marketing decisions.

The good side of this? Maybe we could experience another time when a European president takes the lead in America and develop a handful of good PR and releases.

[JRcade19]

Don't all western branches have to report to Jurgen Post of SOE currently though?

[SuperSonicEX]

I thought that was the case with the 2012 restructure..I've always wondered if SoA managed to get someone like Jason Rubin as president and if it would work.  Yea, there was the whole THQ thing, but that was waaaay out of his control from what I've heard.

Was the Danica Patrick thing that bad of a decision? it didn't seem to help much but it didn't hurt them either (aside from her doing poorly in a race with the promotional car).

[JRcade19]

THQ was more or less dead by the time they put Rubin up. Their stock was all but gone and they had laid off hundreds of workers. His job was to do what he could to keep the company stable and attactive and he did not fail in that regard, as IP and Studios fetched quite decent prices when they eventually collapsed.

[George]

Barry please... When I helped create Segabits, long before you weaseled your way in. Swearing was a non-issue, we swore on the front page, we swore in the podcast. It's just a word. Segabits wasn't trying to be SEGA's little bitch, Playing the bitch is the reason both George and I lift SegaNerds and went our own way in the first place.

It isn't about the cursing really, its about someone that represents the site as an moderator to go out and literally tell a company which we cover to 'fuck themselves' because of something they did 5+ years ago.

Logic isn't there. Why isn't anyone talking about how there really hasn't been a SEGA America in years and is actually SEGA West, having the same President running both Europe and America? You praised this move when it happen, yet you seem to ignore it when you want to blame something solely on SOA.

Sonic Boom? Are we going to pretend that Sonic games are shitty because of SEGA America? Are we going to pretend that SOJ hasn't fucked up a ton of games which everyone here just happens to ignore and let slip?

[Mariano]

The problem is how they handle all the marketing and contacts with everybody who they make a deal to developed a game. Both SOJ and SOE had a really good way to do it, SOA doesn't.

I don't know who is in charge of this things in USA. It happen before, now and it could happen later. Danica Patrick in ASRT (2012), CM fiasco (2013) and now Boom games (2014)  are clearly the examples of poor marketing decisions.

The good side of this? Maybe we could experience another time when a European president takes the lead in America and develop a handful of good PR and releases.

Is in it John chang in charge of SEGA america and Jurgen post in charge of SEGA europa?

[Sharky]

It isn't about the cursing really, its about someone that represents the site as an moderator to go out and literally tell a company which we cover to 'fuck themselves' because of something they did 5+ years ago.

I don't see why that's a problem. This is the forum, it wasn't an opinion piece on the front page, it's my personal opinion, on the forum.
And it very much was about the swearing, which is god damn ridiculous. You have to ask yourself why we actually have quite a few people on these forums! Why are they here and not on the official SEGA forums? This forum should be a good alternative to the SEGA.com forums where adult SEGA fans can come and chat shit, and yeah talk smack and have a rant every once in a while. That was what has always separating us from the official SEGA forums!  Turning Segabits into SEGA's free PR machine was literally the shit that eventually turned SegaNerds into the crap it is today and the reason we both left...

Logic isn't there. Why isn't anyone talking about how there really hasn't been a SEGA America in years and is actually SEGA West, having the same President running both Europe and America? You praised this move when it happen, yet you seem to ignore it when you want to blame something solely on SOA.

Sonic Boom? Are we going to pretend that Sonic games are shitty because of SEGA America? Are we going to pretend that SOJ hasn't fucked up a ton of games which everyone here just happens to ignore and let slip?

Weather they report to SOE or not, something is clearly wrong with the project management. When SoE scooped up CA and Sports Interactive they had a plan to become something of a force in Europe. And are routinely making some pretty good moves with a few slip ups here and there. While SoA continues to slip up constantly with a few rare gems few and far between. What SoA needs is a clear strategy but for ages now it has seemed like they're just throwing shit at the wall and hoping something sticks.

As for Sonic Boom it's a colossal fuck up in my opinion, everything from the new character design, to the story, gameplay.... The entire package is an unnecessary waste of money. Was anyone excited for this when it was announced? Hell even the TV show which is quite good has been slightly tarnished by the shit sandwich that is the Sonic Boom game. And the game's are the one thing SEGA should have done right.

I'm simply incredibly frustrated with SoA spending so much money on such a colossal failure and on another new, unproven developer to develop a game in a series that should have SO MUCH more care taken over it...

Also, and I may well be wrong but doesn't SoE and SoA now both have separate presidents again and act somewhat separately? I feel like I remember being sad after reading it had gone back when Mike Hayes stepped down. I know when the press release from SEGA stating they were happy about Valkyria PC sales was released it was the SEGA Europe President who was credited not SEGA West.

[Team Andromeda]

Sonic Boom band has cost SEGA over 20 million dollars and I don't know how true it is but it doesn't seem so far fetched and its success hinged on a game they couldn't even bother to ship out without making sure it's not a shit game, let alone bug free... Which it bloody well isn't!

It cost a fair bit, but don't put all the blame on SEGA America . Lots of focus groups said the 'Sonic' Brand was damaged and needed a outside developer to work on it and well that's what's happened and even that looks like it didn't work out  . Also SEGA America put endless requests into SEGA Japan/Sonic Team to make just a solo Sonic game back in the XBox and 360/PS3 days , but all rejected by SOJ/Sonic Team . Only after the huge backlash to Sonic 06 and Sonic Unleashed did SOJ/ST really start to thing about making a main single Sonic game for the core series


And again Sonic all goes through SEGA Japan and Sonic Team -they're as much to blame in this mess too

[Mengels7]

Sharky, can you just go make a new Sega site that's edgy and doesn't ride Sega's dick posting Sonic fucking Boom articles? I'm despising how mainstream this site is getting. Your posts in this thread nail everything.

[Sharky]

Sharky, can you just go make a new Sega site that's edgy and doesn't ride Sega's dick posting Sonic fucking Boom articles? I'm despising how mainstream this site is getting. Your posts in this thread nail everything.

I assume you're being sarcastic? I genuinely can't tell lol.
If you are or aren't the answer is the same. As much as I'm venting right now I love Segabits, it's a great site and I think all the contributors do a brilliant job. As much as I'd like to be a regular contributor again I simply can't a lot has changed in my personal life since we started this site. (Deaths in the family leading to falling out over various shit. A pretty gnarly break up and in and out of pretty crappy depressive phases.) On to of that I'm trying to get back into writing and art for books which takes up a lot of my free time.

I do love the site though, I just really hope we don't forget why we even started it... It was all about being opinionated and funny, putting our own spin on the news back then.

[CrazyT]

I'm sorry, but we don't use that type of language on this forum, please edit your post or you will be reported.

And that's just putting it mildly(obviously jokin around)

I personally hope PC benefits them a lot so they can get back to business in... Well first localize the couple of games we didnt get, and new stuff. After valkyria's succes it should be the obvious thing to do. PC multiplats with the console(s). It seems their audience is reachable on steam compared to exclusive on a divided fanbase by platform

[pirovash88]

I just wanted to throw my two cents in here and say that I really enjoy coming here because it isn't as strict as Sega Boards.

Just cause Sharky made a negative topic about Sega doesn't mean that we're all going to do the same. Nothing wrong with criticizing a Company that you're a huge fan of.

[George]

Again: it isn't about the fucking language, I curse all the time. But why does it have to be a topic title? Why can't you just have normal topic titles? We just don't want everyone to start using curse words because you did in their titles. Imagine going to a forum that everyone just had "Valkyria Chronicles: What a shitty Namco game" and "Alien: Isolation - more like cunt faced bitches". Why not just have a normal title? Whats wrong with a normal title.


It isn't about criticizing SEGA. You guys are more than free to do so. I do it all the time. Just approach it a bit more subtle. There is a difference with criticizing and just sounding angry. Seriously, could you have thought of a better title than 'SEGA of America fucking sucks" regardless of your opinion?

I see you conveniently skipped the part where I stated SEGA of America doesn't exist anymore after it was renamed SEGA West along with SEGA Europe.

[tarpmortar]

I agree with Sharky that SegaBits forums need to be a place that allow more speech but I also really disagree that Sega of America is responsible for most of the issues in this thread. So much of it is guess work and what little we do know is massively in their favor over the Genesis/Saturn/Kalinske situations.

I also think the Marvel games could have been huge, if well developed. Look at the Batman games. They should have bought out Next Level Games (instead of Secret Level) and put those guys on all of them since their Captain America game was actually solid and they are a good developer. Now they make games for Nintendo instead but hindsight is 20/20.