SEGA finally confirmed the other day that they will not have an exhibition booth at this year’s E3. Following the news, it came as no surprise that much of the internet have been commenting on news stories being posted by ‘gaming journalism’ websites, spitting false claims that make me wonder if anyone even read the statement SEGA gave Game Informer. So without further ado, we will be looking at the most frequently made statements by internet users and whether these statements are true or false. I hope you guys enjoy.
SEGA will not be at this year’s E3!
False: SEGA has confirmed that it will not have an exhibition booth at the event, but stated it will have a presence at E3 2015 by collaborating with their ‘business partners’, one of those business partners right now just happens to be Sony who are helping SEGA localize Yakuza 5. Not only that, SEGA also has another Sony exclusive game called Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax that is coming over later this fall on both Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita. Sony has a long history of showing new titles for their legacy platforms, so don’t count on a ‘no SEGA presence’ at this year’s E3.
I noticed that most sites have been labeling the move as ‘SEGA not attending E3’ but its more of them not having the staff to get a booth set up and running this year. Like they said in their statement, they are focusing on their move to Southern California.
SEGA is exiting the console market, that is the reason they’re skipping E3
False: I already wrote a lengthy article on this subject here. People commented and pointed out that SEGA have cut back on their console titles, which was something they warned us about all the way back in 2012, but the fact remains that they haven’t stated that they are leaving outright and anyone saying otherwise is just speculating.
SEGA doesn’t have enough games to fill up a booth
False: Now I’m not saying that SEGA has a huge amount of upcoming titles, I’m just stating that they have enough to put a booth up if they wanted to. Sure, the SEGA of today isn’t putting out 20 or so titles a year like pre-2012 SEGA used to do (and most of those titles usually sold badly). But since they only had three titles at last year’s booth, I think its safe to say that SEGA has enough titles this year to fill a booth if they wanted to.
So what titles does SEGA have to show off?
- Total War: Warhammer (PC)
- Yakuza 5 (Playstation 3)
- Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (Playstation 3 & Vita)
- Tembo the Badass Elephant (Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC)
- 3D Streets of Rage 2 (3DS)
- 3D Gunstar Heroes (3DS)
- 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (3DS)
I think the ‘3D Classics’ that SEGA picked for this batch are really focused on appealing to a Western audience. Streets of Rage 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 where two of the top selling Genesis/Mega Drive games and having the definitive versions on handheld is a big deal to us SEGA fans. They totally deserve some limelight.
Games not mentioned: Later this month Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX hits the Nintendo 3DS, coming out before this year’s E3 convention, so that is why I didn’t put it on the list. We also didn’t post the rumored ‘Sony x SEGA Projects’ that people over at NeoGAF have been talking about or the new ‘blockbuster AAA’ Creative Assembly multiplatform unannounced game that SEGA teased earlier this year. Considering that SEGA only had Alien: Isolation, Sonic Boom and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd last year; I’d say SEGA has enough to fill a booth.
SEGA is suffering because they don’t bring back old IPs
False: SEGA not bringing back old games like ‘Ecco the Dolphin‘, ‘Shenmue‘, or whatever other IP you really liked growing up has nothing to do with why SEGA isn’t going to be at E3. Believe it or not, it most likely is about them moving their offices to Southern California. I know, strange right?
Personally I’m a bit dumbfounded that fans really think that games they ‘liked’ will turn a company around, especially when some of those talked about IPs stopped being supported forever ago. Oh, because you liked the franchise? That makes sense. Great business move.
The issue here is that most SEGA fans don’t want to face the truth, even SEGA’s flagship franchise fails to sell as much as Total War and Football Manager games do on a constant basis. I’m all for bringing back old IPs, but let’s not pretend they are going to make astounding amounts of money and don’t pretend that just because SEGA isn’t making sequels to your favorite niche retro title that its the reason they didn’t go to E3 this year.
SEGA doesn’t have a E3 booth due to restructuring and moving to Southern California this June
True: The Facts are that SEGA is missing E3 not because they are ‘lol dead’, but because they just fired a ton of employees, restructured and are moving locations from San Francisco to Southern California. Not to mention a lot of their workers declined to move due to most of them already having established lives in San Francisco, considering a lot of employees have worked there for a decade or more. If SEGA starts skipping Tokyo Game Show later this year, then we might have a problem.
This article isn’t saying that SEGA hasn’t done anything ‘wrong’ as a publisher, they aren’t perfect. Do I want them to bring over more Japanese titles? Of course. Do I want their Japanese studios to have more game output? Of course. Do I want SEGA to have E3 conferences with exciting new big triple A games? Of course. The truth is the way SEGA was operating before 2012, with them releasing over 20 titles and most of them not getting marketed well and then selling under 20k units can’t be healthy for any company. SEGA has to buckle down and get a new game plan because whatever they where doing during the last 2012 restructure is obviously not working for them. Since then they made Alien: Colonial Marines, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Boom, and even Total War: Rome II launched buggy. If SEGA thinks this latest restructuring will change things around, then let’s sit back and see what they have in store for us. But SEGA has to remember that costumers money goes to what they think the best game available is…
Time to read mainstream gaming press talk about how ‘they have been long time Sega fans’ and how the company is ‘dead’ while they post misinformation…
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So what titles does SEGA have to show off?
Total War: Warhammer (PC)
– DLC: The game
Yakuza 5 (Playstation 3)
– Ten years old, and only released because Sony paid for translation. Digital Only.
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (Playstation 3 & Vita)
– MUGEN game, God only knows why they bothered with this drivel.
Tembo the Badass Elephant (Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC)
– Flash game that belongs on newgrounds.
3D ROMS
– Can’t wait to play these games. Again. On a dying platform.
GG Sega, no re.
(that should put the cat amongst the pigeons)
Before everyone gets their jimmies rustled, I am actually really excited to see more of Warhammer & Yakuza.
I do however think that Dengeki is rubbish, and i’m really not sure why it was brought over at all, considering how niche it is.
‘Stop liking what I don’t like’ – The comment.
It was a joke, I even said so because I knew people would get their jangles rangled.
For real though, Dengeki Buko is terrible.
What the… No, it’s not. Have you play the game with Akira or Selvaria? Dengeki is not terible. It’s a solid fighting game. Yes, the control’s too easy, but it’s still enjoyable to play.
I have played as both Selvaria and Akira, the game is the most jank fighting game I’ve ever played!
I’m being harsh on it, if you can enjoy it that’s fine, I think it’s a cool concept, but I couldn’t stomach playing it much. I think the game looks cheap (bad animation) and is basically just feels like it was really lazily put together.
It might be a fun party game, but even playing it with friends I didn’t like it much apart from ‘Holy crap this game is weird and silly’ which wore off after a handful of matches.
Sega is skipping Gamescom for years now. They let Koch media handle the few games they have…
That or their games are at the booths of platform holders.
THANK YOU!!!! I’ve been trying to get this point across for a while now. Thank you for getting the facts straight.
“Personally I’m a bit dumbfounded that fans really think that games they ‘liked’ will turn a company around, especially when some of those talked about IPs stopped being supported forever ago. Oh, because you liked the franchise? That makes sense. Great business move.”
Selling yourself into prostitution might be a great business move, but it doesn’t mean you should do it. Sega not having a brand identity is going to cause irreversible long time damage. No one would be a fan of this studio if they were known only for “football manager” and movie franchise adaptations.
“The issue here is that most SEGA fans don’t want to face the truth, even SEGA’s flagship franchise fails to sell as much as Total War and Football Manager games do on a constant basis. I’m all for bringing back old IPs, but let’s not pretend they are going to make astounding amounts of money and don’t pretend that just because SEGA isn’t making sequels to your favorite niche retro title that its the reason they didn’t go to E3 this year.”
This is almost as saying: ” if you don’t like Atlus games, Football Manager and Total War you may as well stop being a Sega fan”. I remember in the days of Mike Hayes he always explained how some titles success allowed others not so successful to be possible, I remember the best House of the Dead in the whole franchise appeared from a British studio around the time, I remember how Sega partnered with ex-Clover studio then Platinum Games to make awesome franchises that peaked until today what classic action games can be.
I still ask myself why am I following sega (yeah, sega, not Sega and specially not SEGA) if they have no intention to continue delivering anything of what I loved SEGA for.
Legend of Oasis 3 would bring Sega back to the Top. It’d be a great business move because I say so.
Sega has become more of a business house- they own their IPs and deal over them.
They rarely make console/PC games for the west.
Maybe once in a while.
Mobile gaming has changed the eco system.
We can only adapt to changes and expect more changes in future.
This is still a young industry.
Sorry, but your article really just underscores the problems with Sega today. You’re arguing with the reasons why they are in a bad way – but it doesn’t dispel that they are in a bad way.
Calling all the suggestions outsiders have made as “false” is simply your opinion – and you’re writing it off as fact by calling it false.
The fact is Sega is in a tough spot, making questionable business decisions, and is not communicating well with a community that is readily capable of helping them. The Sonic 3 Remastered letter writing campaign is an excellent case-in-point of this.
I don’t think you understood the article, saying that bringing back IPs, most of which didn’t even break half a million mark and where considered niche over two decades ago would change the outcome of having a E3 booth (both of which aren’t even connected, they are not having a E3 due to their move from San Francisco) is wrong.
And I even said in the article (that your commenting on) that SEGA has made questionable decisions and they are trying to rectify that and is restructuring and changing focus to the departments that are bringing in the money. SEGA hasn’t even moved yet, how about waiting to see what ‘announcements’ they have planned for us?
Glad you enjoyed the article
Ubisoft (yes, the atrocious ubisoft) has made some awesome “indie-like” games in the past years, something sega could perfectly do with all their backlog IPs, or even new ones (like Tembo), no need to a huge investment, and no need to reach a portion of a million sales either.
True, but at least one of the designers of those ‘indie style’ games has already left Ubisoft as he felt it wasn’t going to be an ongoing opportunity there.
The True and False comments all refer to whether those things are the reason SEGA does not have a booth at E3 this year. It’s not an opinion that SEGA will not have a booth this year because of “lack of games” or because “they are not making packaged games anymore” (both of which are untrue, as pointed out in the other linked piece and SEGA’s lineup).
This sorts of “damage control” articles are starting to gets annoying.
It would be like like nintendo fans saying “Nintendo is fine, Amiibos sells like hotcakes…”.
Try to convincing people of the opposite will not change the reality of facts, there is a reason if world thinks that Sega is dying, instead of worrying about how the world, the internet and tha fans react to these news, you should worry about the state of Sega.
When you read on a Sega site basically to just give up and enjoy non-sega games like Creative’s, Relic’s and Atlus’ output that the company now offer, it means that you’re just fans on an EMPTY LOGO.
And yes, SEGA is suffering because they don’t bring back old IPs, the lost of image and identity is what is doing the real damage here.
The single series could not sell much on their own, but it was the combination of them that made Sega a powerhouse and helped selling other sega games as well.
Now Sega is known to the public for just mediocre sonic games and for withdraw in mobile market, they don’t even get the credits for their PC lineup (pc gamers see total war as a Creative series, COH as relic’s, FM as Sports Interactive not as Sega games, same for Atlus and their Persona series).
Just sitting back and wait that some ignorant white collar destroy a 40 year legacy, while self deceptioning that this is the best way, will not do any good.
You misunderstood the article. George is not saying “SEGA is fine”, he is dispelling excuses people have fabricated for why SEGA is not at E3 this year. It’s only damage control in the sense that when you search “SEGA E3 2015”, far too many articles appear that claim SEGA will not be at E3 at all. This is untrue, they will have a presence via business partners, most notably with Sony. Also the reasons people are tossing out there are wrong. A sizable chunk of SEGA of America were laid off or left and a large rehiring process is taking place. They simply do not have the manpower to pull off E3 this year as the move is taking place at the same time as the show. Notice that SEGA is still putting money into sending a team to Momocon for panels about upcoming games. Momocon doesn’t stack up to E3 in size and coverage, but it shows that they are not pulling the plug on promoting upcoming titles and are trying their best with the limited resources they have at the moment to get out there.
That’s all well and good except that the prevailing tone/message from the site’s previous articles and the forum is that “Sega is fine, enjoy Total War and Atlus or shut up.” Sega is not fine. They’re a husk of what they used to be. Stop pretending otherwise.
Please direct me to where we have said “Sega is fine, enjoy Total War and Atlus or shut up”.
I very clearly said tone.
If you’re looking for a website that focuses on moaning about how things aren’t like they used to be, you’re too late – UKResistance already shut down.
A tone you’re imagining.
Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue never comes.