Haruki Satomi apologizes for low quality games

[Happy Cat]

He says they have learned from Altus and to expect at least one high quality home console game at TGS. Also sounds like he wants to release more Japanese SEGA titles in the West.

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/07/07/sega-learned-about-making-quality-games-from-atlus-aim-to-regain-trust-from-players/

[Sharky]

I get 'page not found' can you copy paste the article?

[MadeManG74]

EDIT: I got you, Shark-bro

Aside from acquiring Atlus, we haven’t seen Sega make a splash in a while, but Sega CEO and president Hajime Satomi recently spoke with Famitsu on what they’ve learned from Atlus along with some of their plans for the future. [Thanks, Hachima]

 

During the interview, Famitsu asks Satomi about his thoughts on the current home console market.

 

“It may look rough if you look a it from a Japanese standpoint, but on a global scale the PlayStation 4 has a record-selling history, so I believe there’s a good opportunity there,” says Satomi.

 

He goes on to say that he also feels good about the Asian market, where the Chinese version of Yakuza Zero had sold much better than expected.

 

“As far as the Western market goes, we learned a lot from Atlus,” continues Satomi. “If we can make a title with proper quality, I believe there’s a good chance for it to do well even in the West for players that like to play Japanese games.”
 

Next, Famitsu asks what are they’re looking to focus on more when it comes to home console games.

 

“I’ve been talking to the employees about how we should start putting serious consideration into quality from this point on,” responds Satomi. “Especially in North America and Europe, where it’s always been more of a focus on schedules, I believe that if we can’t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all.”

 

Satomi continues, “We did our best to build a relationship of mutual trust with older fans of Sega, but looking back, there’ve been some titles that have partially betrayed that [trust] in the past 10 years.”

 

Famitsu asks if it’s safe to expect a high quality title to be released sometime in the second half of this year.

 

“Since we’re seriously considering quality, I can’t make that promise for the time being, but I believe we will announce something for home console at Tokyo Game Show,” says Satomi.

 

Finally, Famitsu asks about what more can we look forward to in the future.

 

“Sega in the ‘90s was known for its ‘brand, but after that, we’ve lost trust, and we were left with nothing but ‘reputation. For this reason, we’d like to win back the customers’ trust, and become a ‘brand,’ once again.”


Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2015/07/07/sega-learned-about-making-quality-games-from-atlus-aim-to-regain-trust-from-players/#bsA8GWsErgvRfE5m.99

I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm kind of surprised to see Sega acknowledge this. I thought they were fine with leaving their purchased franchises and Sonic for the west.

I wonder what this will actually mean, if anything, for future releases.


Also, does this confirm that TA is actually Hajime Satomi? Or that I'm not too cynical about Sega making rubbish games?

[Happy Cat]

Thanks for pasting the article mademang. I'm on my phone and it gave me a long mobile url and I tried shortening it but I must of broke it by doing such.

[SOUP]

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/07/07/sega-learned-about-making-quality-games-from-atlus-aim-to-regain-trust-from-players/

[Sharky]

Thanks!

And no I still think you are too cynical and TA has gone off the deep end.

He's right and nobody is going to disagree that SEGA aren't now as good as they were in the 90's and when a game like Sonic Unleashed, NiGHTS JoD or Golden Axe Beast Riders comes out it does betray older fans trust. I'll be the first to tell you I hate shit like that.

But SEGA will still make mobile games, like it or not... And I'm still fine with that. Especially when they're good quality games and they have been.

[Sharky]

URL fixed.

[MadeManG74]

Thanks!

And no I still think you are too cynical and TA has gone off the deep end.

He's right and nobody is going to disagree that SEGA aren't now as good as they were in the 90's and when a game like Sonic Unleashed, NiGHTS JoD or Golden Axe Beast Riders comes out it does betray older fans trust. I'll be the first to tell you I hate shit like that.

But SEGA will still make mobile games, like it or not... And I'm still fine with that. Especially when they're good quality games and they have been.

I agree with you 100% (including the bit about me being too negative).

The poorly made sequels to beloved franchises did an awful lot to hurt Sega's reputation. Even though some were SoA related more than SoJ, the fact that so many niche titles didn't come here or took a lot of time to get ported/translated also hurts the reputation (Final Showdown, Yakuza series, Valk, etc).

[Aki-at]

Some interesting things of note:

- SEGA has "learned" from Atlus about quality control, I hope they can also learn about marketing in the West.
- Yakuza beat expectations in China, what was the expectation? Hopefully Asia can help the slack in the Japanese industry.
- Satomi recognizes the success story of the Playstation 4, probably the strongest indication of continued Playstation 4 development by SEGA.
- Console announcements at TGS \o/ the fact he mentioned GLOBAL success might be an important thing to consider. We shall see.

I agree with you 100% (including the bit about me being too negative).

The poorly made sequels to beloved franchises did an awful lot to hurt Sega's reputation. Even though some were SoA related more than SoJ, the fact that so many niche titles didn't come here or took a lot of time to get ported/translated also hurts the reputation (Final Showdown, Yakuza series, Valk, etc).

Think this only really applies to the third Valkyria title and the fifth Yakuza title, otherwise SEGA was pretty on point with localisation.

[Kuronoa]

I think the localizations bothered me more.  All the game I want to play come from Japan, and they don't want me to play them.  I think that is a little worse than bad sequels because it means their good games go unnoticed and they fade into obscurity.  We still have people refusing to buy Sega games after Dreamcast, and also people who are uninformed about what Sega does because they gave up on them.

[Radrappy]

well now this is a pleasant surprise

I believe that if we can’t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all

This philosophy would have really come in handy for oh I don't know the past 10+ fucking years or so. 

[Trippled]

Knew that the Atlus purchase would have positive effects, I mean really in the long term its to align term to allign in the best possible duality imo.

[Aki-at]

REMEMBER GUYS THE VIDEO.

Let's change the game.
FOREVER MORE.

Knew that the Atlus purchase would have positive effects, I mean really in the long term its to align term to allign in the best possible duality imo.

I knew it when Nagoshi was saying about how he sits down with people at Atlus and find out what their plans and future development plans.

[Radrappy]

Think this only really applies to the third Valkyria title and the fifth Yakuza title, otherwise SEGA was pretty on point with localisation.

Don't forget the swollen pustule of bad press that was PSO2 tho

[Aki-at]

Don't forget the swollen pustule of bad press that was PSO2 tho

What is this mystical PSO2 creature you speak?