How do you respond to this? (Sega-related)

[max_cady]

Dear SegaBits users, I would like to ask you ask a question.

It's not a major issue, but here's what I mean: I like video games, I especially like Sega video games. I buy lots of them, many of my games collection are Sega games.

But have you ever been confronted with someone who finds it odd(raising an eyebrow, even) that you keep buying Sega games?

Or let me use an example: Would you still buy Bayonetta, even if it wasn't published by Sega? Would you still buy Condemned even Sega hadn't been the publisher?

I'm excited about Vanquish, but I've played other third person shooters, I had Stranglehold, Dark Sector and other titles, but no Gears of War. And some have found it odd.

What I'm saying is that they might suggest that I would buy games that wouldn't normally buy games of these genres if they weren't published by Sega...

Do you guys think brand loyalty an issue?

[Barry the Nomad]

Well, for me SEGA games made up for about 70% of what I played from 1991 to 2003 before I left for college and put gaming on the back burner. I don't think anyone could argue that I was playing a majority of SEGA games because they were of AAA quality in those days and the fact that SEGA made consoles sort of made it hard to avoid playing a good majority of SEGA games. Upon returning to gaming after college, I picked back up on the one publisher that I was most familiar with and the console that I most trusted (I went with the 360 as I had nothing but problems with my PS2 back in the day and my old XBOX was much more dependable and had better SEGA games).

So it wasn't so much that I felt I had to be loyal to the brand as it was that I made my choice with what console maker to play (or actually my grandma made the chose by buying me a Genesis in 1991) and since then I was more familiar with their games. As such it was easier for me to pick up and play stuff like Shenmue, Sonic Adventure and Jet Set Radio than it was for me to get into other consoles and games.

Really, it was SEGA that kept me coming back for more, as they were masters of intertwining their brands. New IPs like Samba de Amigo and Shenmue had that extra draw for me as they also included call backs to previous games that I enjoyed. Sure the new and innovative gameplay (F.R.E.E. and maracas) was enticing, but I couldn't say no to finding Sonic toy capsules and playing maracas to Let Mom Sleep and Super Sonic Racing.

So I guess after typing all of the above, I'd say it was a combination of a franchise domino effect and the fact that SEGA earned my trust in their hardware and game quality early on. I'll admit, Bayonetta is not a game I'd usually buy. However, the fact that SEGA was backing it and the game itself had numerous retro SEGA references caught my interest made me want to get it. Now with Vanquish on the horizon, the game may not have SEGA references but it is coming from a studio that I now trust (PG) and so the domino effect continues.  

---

Also, I find it helps if I remain focused on a small section of video games. If I went all out and played every new Sony, Square, Capcom and Nintendo product I'd be both broke and short on time to play that many games. So I decided to stick to SEGA and the XBOX while dipping my toes in old GBA games and iPod apps. Why the XBOX? Easy, JSRF, Orta, CT3 and Shenmue 2 led me to the console and since then I've stuck with it as my main source for SEGA games. Sometimes it works out: better version of Bayonetta, OutRun Online Arcade is US XBLA only, better version of Unleashed. And sometimes it doesn't: Unable to play Colors and Yakuza.

[Aki-at]

I think that might pay as slight part in it, I've often asked this question myself since my Playstation 3 collection is over 50% SEGA games. Although the fact that;

- I was not interested in Sonic & SEGA Allstars Racing when it came appearent the game seemed closer to Mario Kart than what I was hoping it would play like.
- Was not interested in trying out End of Eternity or Infinate Space
- I avoid almost all Sonic games
- I would not buy Valkyria Chronicles 2 or Yakuza PSP (Keep in mind this is my favourite series from SEGA now) because I don't own a PSP and would not buy one for just those two
- I was playing Football Manager before SEGA bought out Sports Interactive!
- On the Playstation 2 I had a much wider range of games from other publishers
- I enjoy series from other developers! Zelda and Metroid from Nintendo, GTA and Mafia from TakeTwo, Resident Evil and some Megaman games from Capcom etc

So from all that, I conclude the games that I do own from SEGA are pretty much games I would have mostly bought anyway, I think I would have enjoyed Bayonetta regardless if SEGA published it or not (Like I owned the original Devil May Cry, although Bayonetta is everything Devil May Cry tried to be and much more) I would probably still own Viking (Large simplistic action adventure are rare these days) and something like Virtua Fighter, Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles is pretty obvious. So I myself do not think I am loyal to the brand, just that very company makes a lot of good games or publish them, rather, considering my collection the previous console generations, this generation appeals on the whole a lot less to me than the fourth, fifth and sixth generation of consoles.

I mean if there are SEGA games you avoid (Like I do too) then I don't think you are quite just loyal to the brand, the games you mentioned, Bayonetta is one of the best action games made and for some the best action game ever made whilst Condemned is probably considering one of the scariest games made, in particular for this generation. SEGA are just pretty good at making or supporting good games.

[Barry the Nomad]

I've avoided things like Condemned, AvP, Valkyria Chronicles, Football Manager and Total War mainly because I don't enjoy the genres. However, I could stand behind them and recommend them simply because of positive word of mouth I've heard and the fact that SEGA published them.

So in that situation, brand loyalty was not at play in my feeling an urge to own all things SEGA however brand loyalty did come into play in the way that I think about how the quality of the games may be. That and I trust the words of most other SEGA fans.

[crackdude]

I'll go in the line of what Barry said.

When I was a kid there was the MegaDrive and the Super Nintendo. Both had different styles of games, Sega was super arcade. So I got used to that kind of games. I played them for days! As I was a kid I had a limited number of games (about 10 or 12), ranging some genres, so those became the genres I'm actually good at: racing, sports, puzzle, arcade action, beat em ups.

When the 32bit gaming was on rage my father got me a Playstation. Looking back at the games I had for it back then it was about 80% racing games, then 3 or 4 FIFAs, Bust a Move and Crash Bandicoot. There was a clear lack of action games that I could relate with. There was missing the Sega style I actually liked.

So as soon as the Dreamcast came out (well, as soon as it was cheaper) I got one and got to play some action games I could relate to. There was also those new experiences like Rez and such.

Nowdays, it's rare for me to like mainstream gaming. The Halos and Gears of War and Gods of War and GTAs...they don't entertain me a whole lot.
Sega on the other hand, while it has evolved, still remains that crude arcade feel in most of it's games (one of the reasons sometimes Sega games fail critically and I love them nevertheless [The Club, Beast Rider, etc]).

So yeah, I buy Sega games because I trust that they will be a good experience.
Still, I'd say only 20% of my current-gen games are Sega. Where I usually spend bucket loads is on Sega-console games.

[Barry the Nomad]

Thinking about it, my tastes haven't really changed since 1991.
I still buy SEGA games in the platforming, adventure, puzzle, racing and fighting genres, then the occasional non-SEGA "big commercial game of the moment" (FF7, Kingdom Hearts, Halo 1, Red Dead Redemption) and finally movie and tv adaptations that are worth playing (the early Disney Interactive games, Ghostbusters Genesis, TMNT: Hyperstone Heist, Star Wars Arcade, Simpsons Hit & Run, Force Unleashed, Ghostbusters 360)

[max_cady]

OK, I see what you guys are saying.

And frankly, there was only one or two times when I felt a little blind and that was when I bought Golden Axe: Beast Rider and Sonic The Hedgehog '06.

I admit that I felt burn by these and it did take me a long time to trust Sega's input on a Sonic game even when Unleashed came out.

But the feeling I get from some people is that when I bought Bayonetta, they wondered if I werever or not I was a big fan of the genre, but when you get down to it, I've played Otogi and Ninja Gaiden(never owned them, though).

But back to Condemned, one of the reasons I played it and owned as well as the sequel was that it looked completely different as a FPS. At the time I was sick and tired of the genre, I had become nauseated by it. So Condemned was something refreshing at the time.

And Bayonetta to me felt better than Dante's Inferno and maybe Ninja Gaiden 2, and even as an action game, every stage feels different enough that you're not busting your thumbs every single minute. Yet for some reason, not owing Ninja Gaiden 2 while having actually owning Bayonetta is considered "weird".

Funny story about the AvP game. A friend of mine bought the Xbox 360 and this was his first game, why? Because he's an Aliens and Predator nut. I don't even think he realized that it's a Sega game, but there was clearly some interest in that title.

To me it's weird to go by word-of-mouth, because nobody I know(apart from these boards) owns Sega games on any console they have, but when I suggest them that a certain game that's made by Sega and tell them that it's good, again they raise an eyebrow.

Is it because they think I'm biased? Trust me, I'm a huge RPG fan, I own a ton of RPGs and this generation, the only Sega JRPG I own is PSU, but only for the offline story mode, everything is either made by Namco Bandai or Microsoft Games Studio(and Ubisoft).

[Sharky]

I will almost sertainly give Sega games the benifit of the doubt right off the bat until they are proved to be shit.

While other companies have to prove to me their game is not shit before I buy it.

So yes there is some brand loyalty but I wont buy a shit game or a game im not interested in... Be it from Sega or not.

[George]

People find it odd, yes. But then again, I also get lots of other games, mostly acquired by trading other games. Its odd, I always have games coming in, some that I 'maybe I will like'. I like trying new games all the time. So i'm not strictly SEGA, no.

I would have gotten the Platinum Games regardless of publisher, since I was looking forward to their game before the 'partnership' was announced.

[matty]

Not sure this applies to me since the last Sega game I bought that they brought over was Overkill (Sonic DS was for my niece).
Brand loyalty in general, though, unless you count SNK collections, no. I'm pretty picky. It's a bad habit. I should be more open-minded.

[fluffymoochicken]

Or let me use an example: Would you still buy Bayonetta, even if it wasn't published by Sega? Would you still buy Condemned even Sega hadn't been the publisher?

Well first off, I didn't buy Bayonetta or Condemned. I don't simply purchase whatever SEGA happens to shove out there on to the marketplace. The only games of theirs I'll buy are ones that at least appeal to my own personal tastes in some fashion or another. I feel no sense of "brand loyalty" to anyone, SEGA or otherwise.

So no, I haven't been confronted by anyone for making SEGA purchases in particular. The closest I've come to that sort of thing would be a Gamestop employee who was like "Oh, Yakuza 3? Yeah, I've heard good things about it myself."

[cube_b3]

But have you ever been confronted with someone who finds it odd(raising an eyebrow, even) that you keep buying Sega games?

Yes, the majority of the middle east looks at me weird. My mom asked me once is your dad a drug lord or something cause you buy the same game from America for 50$ that you can buy from PK for Rs. 50 (Roughly 50 cents).

I've never really had any luck trying to explain her the difference between an orignal and a pirate disk.

Or let me use an example: Would you still buy Bayonetta, even if it wasn't published by Sega?

I won't buy it cause it is published by Sega, if it was under Capcom I would've definetly been tempted.

Would you still buy Condemned even Sega hadn't been the publisher?

Definetly not, the game is not designed for me and I am pretty sure the game designers were sure that people like me would not buy it.

What I'm saying is that they might suggest that I would buy games that wouldn't normally buy games of these genres if they weren't published by Sega...

Do you guys think brand loyalty an issue?

Yes, but my motivations are not the same as yours. As I was raised in Pakistan and lived under piracy till 2001 things were very different for me.

EDITED OUT: my origin story, it isn't exactly relevant.

Rewritten brief relevant part:
When I walk in a video game store, their is a voice in my head that will drive me insane if I don't buy a Sega game though but I have been working hard towards killing it, and it isn't easy.

I bought Condemned, even though playing the game is as fun as writing an extended essay on a Poem, that I ideally wouldn't even want to read.

To day, I have successfully killed 50% Sega voices in my head, now I have a refined focus, I only buy In-Housr Sega games, that is something I can't walk away from no matter how crappy they might be.
For Example By the time I ended Yakuza 2 I had started hating it, yet I will not be able to control my self and will buy Yakuza 3 as soon as I finalize a deal on a 60gb PS3.

But I will not buy shit like HOTD:OK, MadWorld, Bayonetta, GA:BR and all the non AM games.

At one point I had to gave up my life savings (every single penny) in the name of Sega games, but not anymore now atleast not for all Sega games.

End of the day, I try to use the defence mechanism of intellectualization when buying a game I map out where my money will go and if I would want to invest in this particular Sega endeavour and then and only then will I transfer extremly hard earned money from my bank to Sega

* Please don't take offence of the games I say I hate, cause it is just me hating them, you can love them all you want.

[Barry the Nomad]

Well first off, I didn't buy Bayonetta or Condemned. I don't simply purchase whatever SEGA happens to shove out there on to the marketplace.

I would hardly call Bayonetta a game that was "shoved out there". Lots of love and effort was put into that baby.

But I will not buy shit like HOTD:OK, MadWorld, Bayonetta, GA:BR and all the non AM games.

...

But I will not buy shit like [...] Bayonetta

 :evil:

[max_cady]

Well, that's the thing, I've liked Sega games on the Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast and Xbox so it's not odd for me to gravitate towards Sega games.

But there's only particular side of the story I hadn't revealed yet.

You see, one of my friends is perhaps the most vocal when it comes to Sega, for all the negative reasons, he bought a Sega Saturn when it came out and was dissapointed to learn that it died out pretty quickly, so since then he has been on a raging anti-Sega mood for many years to the point where, today we joke about it.

[Emmett The Crab]

If I didn't have a little brother, I wouldn't be a Sega fan today,  When I was in Jr. High School he NES came out, and I played it at a friend's house.  I had a Sears-branded Atari 2600, so I was totally jealous.  I asked for a NES and got one for Christmas, along with a little TV for my room.  My little brother got a Sega Master System.  The NES was good, but the SMS was awesome.  I spent most of my time playing the SMS Space Harrier, Alex Kidd, Miracle Warriors, Shinobi (Phantasy Star was $70!).  They were more colorful and interesting than games on the NES.  

Since then I've gravitated toward Sega, but like George, I sell a lot of games too.  I try most of Sega's games, but a lot of them aren't made for me.   I got stuck right away in Bayonetta, and I was only interested in playing throug the Condemned games once.  Brand loyalty is fine, and Sega has earned it, but I am also disappointed a lot.