SEGA of America

Some of SEGA of America’s staff confirmed to be working in Atlus USA’s offices

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Back in late September we speculated that SEGA of America had moved in with Atlus USA at their offices in Irvine, California. While all signs pointed to “yes”, we didn’t want to be 100% certain until we had official word from SEGA. Thanks to SEGAbits forum member NoirSuede we have confirmation from SEGA that they indeed have moved in to the Atlus offices.

In a recent official SEGA Twitch stream, NoirSuede asked “is the non-Sonic Sega of America staff in the Atlus USA office?”, to which SEGA replied “some of them”. So the official word is some, but not all. So where are the others? The SEGA West corporate page lists the Atlus address, as well as an address in Burbank, California at 250 East Olive Avenue. These offices house Marza Animation Planet, but we have heard from some fans that this office now doubles as the Sonic brand office. Burbank would be a fitting location for Sonic, given the upcoming Hollywood film from Sony Pictures.

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SEGA Twitter account teases “Still Thinking” – Could more Nintendo 3DS themes be on the way?

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During and since the transition to Southern California (to possibly the Atlus USA offices), SEGA of America has played it pretty safe on social media. Typically we’d only see press releases and links to trailers and announcements, but today the SEGA Twitter account shared a 14 second video of the SEGA Genesis “Welcome To The Next Level” logo accompanied by the Dreamcast hardware startup sounds and the Western Saturn startup jingle and the text “Still Thinking”. Would could SEGA be teasing?

While we’re merely speculating, it’s possible that new Nintendo 3DS themes are on the way featuring Western SEGA Dreamcast, Saturn, and Genesis/Mega Drive sounds and images. We know that SEGA of Japan released their own collection of console inspired 3DS themes, and later the US got Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier themes. We also know that SEGA of America staff expressed interest in bringing more themes – like the hardware ones – to the West, but noted that they would have to be localized as they were region specific in design.

Of course it is also possible it is a tease of something bigger, but let’s keep expectations in check.

Update: The letters in the video light up to spell “THEME”. I think it is safe to say that Dreamcast, Saturn, and Genesis themes are on the way to the Nintendo 3DS!

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SEGA News Bits: Has SEGA of America moved in with Atlus USA?

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During the summer, SEGA of America closed their San Francisco offices and moved to Southern California. Oddly, SEGA had been pretty quiet when it came to revealing the exact location of the office, but after a little digging we may now know where they ended up! Based on various sources, it appears that SEGA has moved in to the existing Atlus USA offices in Irvine, California.

In this SEGA News Bits, Barry and George share how they came to this conclusion and give their thoughts on this development. As a bonus, enjoy a slideshow of pictures taken when Barry visited SEGA’s San Francisco offices in 2013, and check out the original SEGAbits Visits SEGA of America, Inc. articles here: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 

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SEGA almost licensed the technology that created the Virtual Boy

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SEGAVirtuaBoyFormer SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske has revealed on a Reddit community podcast that not only was SEGA in talks with Trip Hawkins about releasing the 3DO console (also talks with other manufactures including Sony), Tom reveals they also dodged another bullet by not entering an agreement with Reflection Technologies – the company that went on to make Virtual Boy with Nintendo. Seems that SEGA America was really interested in Virtual Reality headsets (they even showed their own prototypes at public events, but nothing was released).

“It was pretty cool. You could put it on and literally you were in a virtual world, and it moved as you moved your head.

One of the problems was almost everybody got sick. It caused severe motion sickness. Other people got severe headaches. I think we were right in turning it down.” – Tom Kalinske, former SEGA of America President on Virtual Boy tech

What are your thoughts? Did SEGA do the right move by passing on the ‘Virtua Boy‘?

[Via: Nintendo Life]

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Why SEGA refusing to localize Phantasy Star Online 2 is a bad sign

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Given that we know the news that SEGA doesn’t have plans on publishing Phantasy Star Online 2 outside of Japan, at least for the Playstation 4 (though the PC and Vita versions have been out for over 3 years, so I assume those aren’t coming either). I stated in my original article that I thought it was a really bad decision and got many people upset while they tried  to debate me on the topic even though I never really stated why I felt it was a bad decision. So, here it is, my article talking about why SEGA West not bringing Phantasy Star Online 2 is just another stupid decision by the company that has had a long history of bad decisions.

I decided that it was time I did a write up about why SEGA West not bringing Phantasy Star Online 2 outside of Japan is bad,  not only for their in-house IP but also for their overall brand.

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Swingin’ Report Show #80: Interview with Aaron Webber, Sonic the Hedgehog PR & Social Media Manager

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He’s back! After leaving SEGA of America in 2014, Aaron Webber has returned as the PR & Social Media Manager for the Sonic the Hedgehog brand. Since returning, Aaron has been making waves on the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, catching both fan and media attention with his sly wit and deep knowledge of the franchise.

Aaron was kind enough to sit down with us for an hour in his first interview since returning to SEGA to talk about his new role, SEGA’s move to LA, his approach to interacting with fans, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, his favorite Sonic games, and answers to some burning canon questions!

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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Swingin’ Report Show #78: Interview with Sam Mullen, Localization Producer, SEGA of America

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On this episode of the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show, we’re joined by SEGA of America Localization Producer Sam Mullen! In his role at SEGA, Sam has managed the localization process of several Japanese titles including Binary Domain, Rise of Nightmares, and the Hatsune Miku titles. Currently he is working on SEGA’s line of 3D Classics titles which include arcade and SEGA Genesis favorites as well as Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX for the Nintendo 3DS.

Learn about what the process of localization entails as well as what to expect from SEGA’s upcoming 3DS titles in this week’s show! Oh, and see a surprise cameo from former Brand Manager Aaron Webber who happened to be at SEGA of America HQ while we were recording this episode.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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Get your facts straight: SEGA not having a booth at E3 2015 and what it really means

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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.

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Former SEGA of America CEO Tom Kalinske has harsh words for the company

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Tom Kalinske oversaw SEGA of America in the early 90s during the Genesis era, arguably the company’s most successful time in the console space. Despite their incredible Western success under his leadership, his relations with SEGA of Japan were sometimes strained, most notably with regard to the launch of the Saturn. He departed the company in 1996.

Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz at the DICE Summit, shortly after the recently-announced downsizing and relocating of SEGA’s American headquarters, he does not mince words when discussing his former company.

“[Their departure from hardware] was not inevitable,” Kalinske said. “It could have been avoided if they had made the right decisions going back literally 20 years ago. But they seem to have made the wrong decisions for 20 years.”

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SEGA of America going through another huge restructure, main office is relocating

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Here we go again.

First it was Europe, now SEGA of America is getting hit with some major restructuring. In a statement released earlier today, SegaSammy Holdings announced an “Implementation of structure reform” for SEGA of America. Included in this are some potential layoffs in the forms of “voluntary Retirement” and the San Francisco office moving to a new location in Southern California. Also, there will be a more narrow focus on the “amusement business” division.

However, it’s not all bad news. There will be a reinforcement in the “Sonic and merchandising businesses” and the PC and Mobile divisions will be getting a stronger push possibly due to strong current sales in those markets. The full statement can be found here.

I hope that not too many people are affected by the downsizing and those that do find themselves out of a job, that they find a new one quickly. I guess we shall see how this goes for SEGA.

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SEGA says Gearbox just as involved with marketing Aliens: Colonial Marines

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Seems that the drama never stops for SEGA of America and Gearbox Software, continuing with details on a new court filing by SEGA on September 2nd. According to SEGA’s attorney that despite what Gearbox said about them not being responsible with marketing. SEGA disagreed and stated that they had equal part and would sometimes overstepped their boundaries. SEGA went as far to say that they were kept in the dark about certain promotional decisions.

One of these claims is that Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford wold go to events and state to the press that the demos where “actual gameplay” which of course is false.

SEGA has already admitted to wrong doing and will pay $1.25 million dollars, Gearbox was allowed to join in with SEGA if they would agree to pay a additional $750,000 in the settlement, but it seems they will continue to fight on. According to Gearbox they operated as a contractor and that SEGA had final word on the game and marketing.

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Watch the full ‘Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation’ San Diego Comic Con panel

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This past weekend, SEGAbits writers Ben, Shigs, and Nuckles hit San Diego Comic Con and SEGA’s game preview event located at the nearby Nerd HQ. While Comic Con isn’t as game centric as E3, there was quite a bit of SEGA goodness to be found. We were able to check out the latest preview builds of Alien: Isolation and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, as well as interview Archie Comics on the upcoming Sonic Boom comic book series. But the main event had to have been Sunday’s Console Wars panel. The panel, which centered around the SEGA and Nintendo rivalry of the 90’s, featured special guests Tom Kalinske (Sega of America), Al Nilsen (Sega of America), Bill White (Nintendo of America), and Perrin Kaplan (Nintendo of America), as well as Console Wars author Blake J. Harris and Julian Rosenberg, producer of the upcoming Console Wars documentary.

Thanks to Blake, Nuckles and Shigs were given the VIP treatment and secured some awesome seats – allowing us to film the panel and Q&A session and meet the SEGA and Nintendo legends! Check out the full panel above, and make sure to pick up your copy of Console Wars if you haven’t already!

Want more Console Wars discussion? Check out our three part interview series with Tom Kalinske, Al Nilsen, and Blake J. Harris.

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Simon Jeffery, former SEGA of America CEO (2004-2009), moves to Myo Armband creator Thalmic Labs

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Many of you may be familiar with Simon Jeffery. For those unaware, Simon Jeffery was the CEO of SEGA of America from 2004 to 2009, who would be followed by Mike Hayes. Jeffery also worked at LucasArts prior to his arrival at SEGA and and more recently he worked at mobile game publisher ngmoco within the past couple of years. As far as SEGA is concerned, he is perhaps well-known for his public statement confirming SEGA not moving forward with a re-entry to the console market at E3 2008, alongside his philosophy on SEGA of America as an autonomous arm and with regards to the company’s direction during his tenure (which can be seen at this Gamasutra interview.)

MarketWatch is reporting that Canadian company Thalmic Labs has hired Simon Jeffery as its chief “gaming evangelist,” where his primary responsibilities will be to forge relationships with game developers, a sort of outreach work that should be familiar to him considering his career. Thalmic Labs is the producer of the Myo armband, a piece of hardware that allows for digital interaction through motion-sensing technology. It can be used for video games, computers, entertainment devices and probably as a means of interaction with smart home systems. Wearable tech is a market that consumers and tech companies alike will be watching closely, from smartwatches and Google Glass to the buzzed-about Oculus Rift. It will be interesting to see what sort of work Simon Jeffery does for Thalmic Labs

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Charles Bellfield, former SEGA VP of strategic planning and corporate affairs, has passed away

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Sad news this morning as we have learned that Charles Bellfield, SEGA of America’s former VP of strategic planning and corporate affairs from 1998 to 2003, has passed away. Bellfield was best known as the spokesman for Sega of America during the launch of the Dreamcast. The news of his passing came from his brother Edward through Facebook, saying that Bellfield had passed away in San Francisco on Friday night. Bellfield held other positions in the gaming industry including executive roles at Edelman, Capcom, Codemasters, 3DV Systems, EmotionPlay, and Imagination Technologies’ Pure North America division.

Peter Moore, Bellfield’s SEGA boss during the Dreamcast era, described him as “good time Charlie. The life of every party, a true bon vivant. The quintessential Englishman abroad. You’ve left us way too soon Charlie, but you’ve also left us with a hundred stories to tell and a thousand smiles on all of our faces. The room was a better, more fun-filled place when you were in it.”

We here at SEGAbits send our condolences to Bellfield’s family and friends. He will be missed.

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SEGAbits Visits SEGA of America, Inc. in Sunny San Francisco – Part 3

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Welcome to the third and final part of our visit to SEGA of America! Check out the first part here and the second part here. In part three, we’re going to take a look at several rare, cool, and sometimes strange pieces of SEGA history pulled from SEGA’s archives from SEGA community managers Kellie Parker and Julian Mehlfeld. Consoles in their original boxes, cool accessories, rare statues, and a few items from the Kellie Parker Collection™ can all be seen after the break!

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