SEGA's Active Brands in the Third Party Era - West and East

[Barry the Nomad]

The SEGA.com redesign got me thinking about what brands are deemed "active" by SEGA - both SEGA of Japan and SEGA West. Specifically consumer brands - not arcade titles, unless they cross over to home consoles and mobile/handheld devices.

I think we all remember when Kotaku fucked up and proclaimed that SEGA would only be making Sonic, Aliens, Total War, and Football Manager games. People freaked out, believing Yakuza, Virtua Fighter, and just about any other game that wasn't one of those four was dead. In actuality, Kotaku was quoting a SEGA West rep who was referring to the brands that SEGA West would be focusing on. SEGA of Japan would still be doing their thing - some games might never see the light of day in the West, but they were still being made.

So I thought it would be interesting to look at SEGA in the third party era and see what brands are active, and perhaps even what brands were active and have since gone dorment or the license expired (Marvel as an example).

I should note, a brand typically pertains to a franchise, not a single game, unless that title is an ongoing online game with new updates. Binary Domain, for example, came and went. Now if SEGA were to announce a sequel, then I'd class it as an active brand.

---

SEGA West

Active Brands - New Titles
Sonic the Hedgehog - Worldwide brand (1991-present)
Total War (2005-present)
Aliens (2010-present)
Football Manager - Available in America, but deemed a SEGA Europe brand (2006-present)
Super Monkey Ball - Worldwide brand (2001-present)
Company of Heroes (2013-present)
The House of the Dead - Worldwide brand (1997-present)
Virtua Fighter - Worldwide brand (1993-present)
Spiral Knights (2009-present)
Kingdom Conquest (2011-present)
Warhammer (upcoming)

Active Brands - Rereleases
Crazy Taxi - Worldwide brand, Dreamcast Collection & iOS (1999-present)
Space Channel 5 - Worldwide brand, Dreamcast Collection (1999-present)
SEGA Bass Fishing - Worldwide brand, Wii & Dreamcast Collection (1997-present)
Jet Set Radio - Worldwide brand, SEGA Heritage (1999-present)
NiGHTS - Worldwide brand, SEGA Heritage (1996-present)
Shinobi - Worldwide brand, 3DS & Vintage Collection (1987-present)
After Burner - Worldwide brand, XBLA/PSN & iOS (1987-present)

Inactive Brands
Panzer Dragoon - Worldwide brand (1999-2003)
Otogi - Worldwide brand (2002-2004)
Marvel (2008-2011)
OutRun (1986-2011)
Virtual-On - PSN/XBLA - 360 and Model 2 Collection titles not released in West (1995-2010)
Valkyria - Worldwide brand, active in Japan, inactive in the West (2008-2010)

SEGA of Japan

Active Brands
Sonic the Hedgehog - Worldwide brand (1991-present)
Super Monkey Ball - Worldwide brand (2001-present)
Yakuza - Available in the West, but deemed a SEGA of Japan brand (2005-present)
Shining series (1991-present)
Hatsune Miku (2009-present)
Chaos Heroes (2013-present)
The House of the Dead - Worldwide brand (1997-present)
Phantasy Star - Phantasy Star Online was revived in 2012, potentially a worldwide brand once the game releases West (1987-present)
Virtua Fighter - Worldwide brand (1993-present)
Valkyria - Worldwide brand, active in Japan, inactive in the West (2008-present)
Puyo Puyo (1991-present)
7th Dragon (2009-present)
Kingdom Conquest (2011-present)
Let's make a J-League Team (1999-present)
Samurai & Dragons (2012-present)
Demon Tribe (2013)

Active Brands - Rereleases
Crazy Taxi - Worldwide brand, Dreamcast Collection (1999-present)
Space Channel 5 - Worldwide brand, Dreamcast Collection (1999-present)
Jet Set Radio - Worldwide brand, SEGA Heritage (1999-present)
NiGHTS - Worldwide brand, SEGA Heritage (1996-present)
Shinobi - Worldwide brand, 3DS & Vintage Collection (1987-present)
After Burner - Worldwide brand, XBLA/PSN/iOS and 3D Classics (rumored) (1987-present)
Virtual-On - PSN/XBLA & 360 & Model 2 Collection (1995-present)
Hang-On - 3D Classics (1985-present)
Space Harrier - 3D Classics (1985-present)
OutRun - 3D Classics (rumored) (1986-2011)

Inactive Brands
Panzer Dragoon - Worldwide brand (1999-2003)
Otogi - Worldwide brand (2002-2004)

[TimmiT]

Company of Heroes is now a SEGA West brand too, Dawn of War possibly as well.

[Barry the Nomad]

Thanks! Forgot about that. Really, taking into SEGA West only, SEGA is at a far better place in terms of brands than they were five years ago.

[FourCartridge]

House of the Dead's still alive? You mean the overkill iOS port, right?

Also, Aliens may not be around in the future thanks to the SNAFU that was Colonial Marines(or maybe not).

[Barry the Nomad]

I consider HotD active thanks to the continuing releases over the years - The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return in '08, Overkill in '09,  Overkill Extended Cut in '11, III and 4 in '12, Typing of the Dead iOS (Japan only) in '12, Overkill iOS/Android in '13

Everything from '11 onwards is still making SEGA money (or, at least, they're still being sold as new). Now if, say, we don't see any more HotD releases from here on out, and the existing games are no longer provided, then the franchise would slip into an inactive state for sure.

Whoop! Forgot Virtua Fighter! Gonna add that now.

---

Crazy Taxi was a brand that was very much active from 1999 through to 2003, with various sequels, ports of the original, and portable titles. The brand was revived in 2007 for fare wars, and then went dorment until 2010 when it hit XBLA and PSN. Then took a two year break before releasing the iOS version. At this point, the brand most likely has slipped back into being inactive. But seeing as how it has been on and off since 1999, and there are two titles currently "active", I'll add it as a worldwide brand.

I hesitate to include NiGHTS and JSR as active brands. They had digital rereleases, but unlike HotD, Virtua Fighter and Crazy Taxi I can't see any more releases down the road. I don't know, what do you think? If Crazy Taxi could be deemed as "active" then perhaps NiGHTS and JSR could as well? Never know if they'll release the SEGA Heritage titles to more devices down the line.

[Aki-at]

Personally would not consider The House of the Dead an active brand but opinions will differ.

There's no point differentiating between Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star Online though. I would say it's safe to say Phantasy Star is an active AND a worldwide brand. The series has always been active since the Dreamcast, we have yet to have a year without a Phantasy Star release and the only title we have missed with Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity.

To add to the list:

7th Dragon - 7th Dragon 2020-ii released in April and third in the series
Let's make a J-League Team - New title coming out in late 2013, first time series is moving onto a HD console, has been pretty active series since the beginning
Samurai & Dragons - F2P PSVita title

House of the Dead's still alive? You mean the overkill iOS port, right?

Also, Aliens may not be around in the future thanks to the SNAFU that was Colonial Marines(or maybe not).

The Creative Assembly is already working on their own Alien title, so we know for sure it will last one more game.

[Barry the Nomad]

Thanks Aki! Added those brands.

I totally get where you're coming from on HotD. Right now, it's sort of in this quasi-new title quasi-rerelease state. On one hand the series had a new release in 2011, on the other hand, since then it has been HD rereleases and iOS versions. Though considering Overkill iOS is a different game than the console versions (different story, different stages, new modes and weapons) I'm gonna keep it classed as an active brand in the new titles section.

I figure new titles vs. rereleases was a good way to split the active brands - so there is more of a differentiation between games that SEGA is creating new entries for, and games that they are dusting off, enhancing, and rereleasing.

[Randroid]

I've got three that probably should be added:
Virtual On
Outrun
Shinobi

[Happy Cat]

according to SEGA's site the only active brands they have are Aliens Sonic and Total War

[Barry the Nomad]

according to SEGA's site the only active brands they have are Aliens Sonic and Total War

When talking packaged titles, developed outside Japan by SEGA West, for sure! Though I'm just expanding on those brands by including digital franchises and rereleases as well.

I've got three that probably should be added:
Virtual On
Outrun
Shinobi

I don't know... I'd argue that these were active a few years back, but have since slipped back into being inactive. Virtual-On, in the West, only has one active title for sale: Virtual-On OT from 2009. In Japan they had 2010's Virtual-On Force that has since become a budget title over there. The only thing that would deem it "active" is the recent Model 2 release of the original game, though that is Japan exclusive.

So I'll add Virtual-On to the "Active Brands - Rereleases" section.

As for OutRun, the latest release was OutRun Online Arcade in 2009 which has since been pulled from digital marketplaces in 2011. So that is a recent, inactive franchise.

Shinobi is nearing inactive, with Shinobi 3DS being the only "active" title of the franchise on shelves. But since Shinobi and Revenge of Shinobi are also still available on digital services, I'll mark it "Active Brands - Rereleases".

[Trippled]

House of the Dead EX was 09 (and in English somewhere, hidden on ROMs...).

I would say it is active...

Kingdom Conquest is actually a worldwide brand. Also Demon Tribe should be added on the East side.
 
No point in adding inactive brands...IMO there is too many

[Randroid]

Can't argue with your classifications, Barry.

Maybe After Burner and Monkey Ball should be included somewhere.

[Barry the Nomad]

Good point, Monkey Ball pretty much appears on every portable platform. Can't believe I forgot that!

After Burner... given that Climax was an arcade port, and iOS version of a console port, I'm gonna class it as active rereleases.

Oh yeah, the "All-Star" games are apparently their own brand... but they're pretty much under the Sonic umbrella.

House of the Dead EX was 09 (and in English somewhere, hidden on ROMs...).

I would say it is active...

Kingdom Conquest is actually a worldwide brand. Also Demon Tribe should be added on the East side.
 
No point in adding inactive brands...IMO there is too many

I'm only adding inactive brands for franchises that have had more than one title and had their last title more than two years ago within the 3rd party era. So the list should be relatively short. Stuff that had their last title in the Saturn or Dreamcast era, or any time before that, aren't included because as you noted, the list would be insane.

Wonder if Space Channel 5 and SEGA Bass Fishing should be deemed active rereleases. They're still on digital marketplaces.

[Skateboard]

Valkyria Chronicles is still alive in Japan with Valkyria Duel. They tweet on a daily basis and recently created (a) new character(s) for Duel.

Project X Zone may also hint on what SEGA of Japan considers to be an active brand.

[Kori-Maru]

Project X Zone may also hint on what SEGA of Japan considers to be an active brand.

Project X Zone is Namco Bandai's work. I would say Sakura Taisen is still active through merchandise and stage shows.