I know I'm late to this discussion but... Why are people still discussing SEGA's strategy? I thought they made it clear several times over and you can put me in the disappointed camp but for other reasons.
I am fine with SEGA only releasing a select few franchises, even if this means Yakuza 5 should be sacrificed (Yakuza 5 will not get translated, the sheer size means it will have to do very well to be profitable, took me over 30 hours to complete the story alone) but my issue is that titles like Miku and PSO2 should have been at E3. Not having a title releasing in August nor having a title they have said they will bring over yet hold back showcasing is bad decision and shows the problem at SEGA American plain and simple. I am also concerned what is happening to CA's Alien game...
But the fact is now with Company of Heroes, SEGA has more than enough big titles for the West to not bother with their Japanese titles. Rome II will do a million plus, Company of Heroes 2 will do over 2 million easily (Original did over 4 million) and Sonic will do a good amount, probably in the 2 million region too. And that is going to be their main focus; Sonic, Company of Heroes, Total War, Warhammer, Aliens and Football Manager.
We might not like it but it will be the most successful SEGA has been here in the West for a long time and it's financial suicide for them to continue down the path they were going in.
As for SEGA's presence at E3... other japanese publishers have been absent as well. Strange but it seems many japanese publishers have been either absent or have few games at e3 for some reason
With the exception of Namco, what other major third party is absent?
Konami made a big splash with Metal Gear Solid V and the new Pro Evo is probably going to slowly start to challenge FIFA again, Capcom had Dead Rising 3 whilst Square showed off two big games (even if they have bad J-pop band members as the main characters)
And in general Japanese games were the strongest they have been in a long time, Killer Within, Gran Turismo 6, Sonic: Lost World, Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart 8, Dead Souls 2. If anything, this was the E3 that Japan returned in style.
And as for Sonic Lost World, don't be fooled by the excitement on Neogaf and Sonic-related websites, the gaming industry and gaming press at large does not give a flying hoot about this game nor the excitement over the prospect of exclusive Sonic deals on Nintendo's Wii U.
Nintendo didn't even bother to have a proper conference, so this "alliance" has already proven to be unhealthy out of the gate.
The game industry in general do not give a hoot about Sonic, if they did then I certainly did not see it in the excitement for Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed nor Sonic Generations. People have to understand Sonic Team's continued incompetence has damaged the brand to the point its a b-tier series. And if Nintendo is paying for exclusivity then what difference does it make to SEGA?
People should also remember even the disaster know as the Gamecube, which the Wii U is currently tracking as, still managed to sell 2 Sonic titles that both did over a million. Besides the fact its on the 3DS also helps it substantially.
At least Nintendo showed off Bayonetta 2 which looks great. Sega can eat a dick for not publishing this themselves.
That was not SEGA's decision to make.