new awesome Mike Hayes interview !

[Suzuki Yu]

Part1 : The Sega West boss on Madworld, Yakuza, Natal and much more besides...
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar ... ?id=239411

that was really really nice to read ! interesting stuff indeed

part2 is coming soon

Check back tomorrow for the second and final part of our interview with Mike Hayes, in which he'll discuss E3, 3D gaming and the tricky MMO market...

[Barry the Nomad]

Natal Jet Set Radio, please.

The core GG's crew plus a character builder. Use Natal to create a JSR-style character model of yourself. Dress him/her us, make some custom skates and graffiti and then hit the streets of a virtual Tokyo-to. Hang out and trick with other players via Live, share graffiti, start gangs, hold races. The game is played with the standard controller, but tags are made with arm motions. Hell, use Natal to record custom victory dances.

Yeah, yeah. Mike said Natal will probably not get a game like that, but a Sega fan can dream.... cast....

[Sharky]

Mike Hayes says all the right words to make me pitch a tent. Take me Mike I'm yours!

I hope he can follow though with what hes saying, and I'm confident he can after how he turned around Sega Europe.

[Waffle]

I am not really impressed with him. I have heard all of these lies from SEGA before, so I need proof that any of this is going to be true.

And what is impressive about SEGA publishing boring titles of other developers? I do not care about Vanquish or anything Gearbox/Rebellion makes. SEGA has never been known for FPS games.

As for Sonic, he says they want to develop more games like Sonic Heroes. What kind of strategy is that? He is also very unclear about Sonic 4 and the franchise in general, leading me to believe he has no control/knowledge of it.

Overall it was just a boring set of PR things about 'how good the future will be with outsourcing' and 'we learned our lessons'. We have all read this before in the last 5 years.

[Barry the Nomad]

And what is impressive about SEGA publishing boring titles of other developers? I do not care about Vanquish or anything Gearbox/Rebellion makes. SEGA has never been known for FPS games.

^There is so many things wrong with this^

[Sega Uranus]

But Kogen is right, SEGA has never been known for FPSs. I know tons of general SEGA fans that do not care about these games either because... Well, they are fans of a company that has never been known for those genres.

I am the same way, I rather they still make games that appeal to me. I know that sounds selfish, but I rather they make good games that are similar to what they used to make, that is how you keep fans. Yakuza is not enough, and I cannot even play it much, so why should I care?

[Barry the Nomad]

But AvP is simply one FPS game, for whatever reason he also lumped Vanquish in with the fps genre despite the fact that it looks to have more in common with Virtual-On than with a fps game.

Also, sales, previews and reviews clearly go against the idea that AvP and Vanquish are "boring games". Bayonetta, people. BAYO-fuckin-NETTA!

[Sharky]

I think you would have a point if Sega wests games were instead of Sega Japans games but that isnt the case. They are 'as well as' Sega Japans games.

If you don't want to play them simply don't, but Sega like all Japanese companies are GOING to expand west and as Mike Hayes is the COO of Sega West hes bound to talk about that side of the company.

At the end of the day Kogen you like the Total War series and so do I, while it isnt what Sega is known for it's a series I think Sega are better off for being a part of.

[Waffle]

Well Barry, my lad, there is also Aliens Colonial Marines. These are a lot of FPS big projects coming up. And while not as 'FPS', that spy game I forgot the name of is of the same 'atmosphere' as generic FPS games. I just have no interest in these things, which is why I rarely play EA, Ubisoft, and so on games. It does not mean they are bad.

As for Ryan Lincock, I have no idea what your first paragraph means. But SEGA can do things like action games, rpgs (not gay ones like they tried recently), racing games, platformers, and other stuff we are used to them doing. All of these are popular genres.

[Sega Uranus]

I meant SEGA in general, they barely make anything that appeals to me anymore.

Sure, it is nice that they are doing so great and expanding their fanbase out, but I barely care about anything they do anymore I am slowly noticing. Pretty sad considering almost every game I own is made by them.

I know it sounds selfish, but I loved almost all of the games they released in the Master System/Genesis/Saturn/Genesis days. I even love most of their GameCube/Xbox/PlayStation 2 games.

[Barry the Nomad]

(this is directed at Kogen, not Sega Uranus)

So Sega is allowed to do games for genres which they have done in the past, but are not allowed to make games for genres that they have yet to venture into?

By that logic, hasn't Outtrigger already opened the door for AvP and Aliens: Colonial Marines to exist?

Alpha Protocol is considered RPG and it isn't even a fps. It's third-person in the same vein as Headhunter. Also, Alpha Protocol does something very "Sega-ish" and puts a spin on a tired genre. An espionage RPG with third-person shooter elements.

[Aki-at]

I meant SEGA in general, they barely make anything that appeals to me anymore.

If they did that, I wouldn't get to play Valkyria Chronicles and would be lumbered by with Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing instead.

Basically, we all have different tastes, it's a shame you do not like the majority of the current crop of games by them, I like quite a few. You can try and pin down something with a SEGA style or not, but not everyone is going to like every game.

But as you pointed out, why should you care anymore either way? The majority of their best games are inaccessible for yourself, wither it's on another console (Yakuza 3) or arcade (R-Tuned, SEGA Race TV etc)

[MadeManG74]

I like that he said they are going to treat their old IPs with more respect, but I'll have to adopt an attitude of 'I'll believe it when I see it'.

As for the rest, good to see they are looking to enhance their presence on PS360, and I'm especially glad he sees the potential for Yakuza in the west. I've said all along that there is no reason for that game not to be popular outside of Japan, and I hope that Sega can figure out ways to accomplish that.

[Sega Uranus]

I do not see how All-Stars Racing is closer to what SEGA used to make? It is just the characters from their IPs and stuff. I also hate Valkyria Chronicles so I do not think you made a good point to me. I know what you mean, so we should leave it at that!

SEGA's arcade releases are much more of what I want, but like we all know, I just cannot even get the opportunity to experience these. It is actually really sad.

The best news was with them trying harder with Yakuza outside of Japan. I assume this means more than just PlayStation 3 as well, hopefully. The worst news is that they are looking into making a new Sonic Heroes like game... =/

[Aki-at]

I do not see how All-Stars Racing is closer to what SEGA used to make? It is just the characters from their IPs and stuff. I also hate Valkyria Chronicles so I do not think you made a good point to me. I know what you mean, so we should leave it at that!

That was my point, you hate Valkyria Chronicles, I however like Valkyria Chronicles therefore it appeals to me. I do not like SARS, neither the gameplay, you do however, especially the gameplay, therefore that appeals to you. That was my point, appeal, not quite just the SEGA style, but appeal can swing both ways. That was just my point, there will come a point when SEGA appeals to me less and more to you, is all I meant to say and by that I don't mean making SARS and not making Valkyria Chronicles, but stuff like Ecco which appeal way more to you.

SEGA's arcade releases are much more of what I want, but like we all know, I just cannot even get the opportunity to experience these. It is actually really sad.

Oh well, I get to play it. It is a shame you cannot experience, but as I can, I enjoy them.

The best news was with them trying harder with Yakuza outside of Japan. I assume this means more than just PlayStation 3 as well, hopefully. The worst news is that they are looking into making a new Sonic Heroes like game... =/

You honestly thought they would stop developing Sonic games where you could play as multiple characters? They've made it clear they would do this anyway from that SEGA France guy long ago.