Well thats because when Sega trys to emulate the competition they are not doing what they do best
I'm Sorry sharky my good mate, I just don't agree . Streets Of Rage was SEGA emulating the Comp , and SEGA made a game that was Far better, and just took the piss with SOR II. SEGA was ripping off Track and Field with Decathelte, and with it... SEGA made one of the best sporting games ever produced . SEGA was ripping off Diablo with PSO, and it ranks as the one of the true Highpoint of SEGA.
Virtual Racing , Virtual Cop Daytona USA , Panzer Dragoon were in many ways SEGA's answer to Drivers Eye's, Lethal Enforcers Ridge Racer, Star Fox , and it really didn't get any better than those days. Ok, most prob I'm might be the only one, but I loved SEGA GT series too.
SEGA always been great at taking other IP's and putting its own Spin on it .
I couldn't say if Segas best days are behind them (Although probably since having a console is probably the hight of any videogame company) but I can happily say their worst days are... From 2003 too 2006 I hardly baught anything Sega made. While 2010 I have baught more just in the last 4 months then I did in 3 years during that period.
-Bayonetta
-Yakuza 3
-Nepoleon TW
-Sega Racing
-After Burner Climax
Bayonetta isn't a SEGA game , I haven't even played Sega Racing, much less seen it in any Arcades (so can't really comment on that) . Its hard to find any fault with the Arcade Staff and their games, Consumer Divisions, it's a Different story.
Yakuza 3 isn't as good as Yakuza II imo, which was for me the highpoint of the series, and also a technical showcase -In how to get the best out of the PS2 (I can't say the same for Yakuza III).
Yakuza 1& II, OutRun Coast To Coast, SEGA GT Online, VF 4 Evo all came out in the dark days,you speak off. To me they're as good, if not better than anything SEGA produced of late.
Sega easily still hangs onto the medal for best SRPG and probably even best JRPG of this generation so far and Virtua Fighter 5 is yet to be topped in the 3D fighter arena. While I know you are not the biggest fan the Yakuza series is VERY Sega to me and I don't think any other company comes even close to doing what that game does even if the tech is dated now.
Val Is brilliant, but its years old, and to me I enjoyed Blue Dragoon more as an RPG. What so depressing about VAL, is rather than Build on it , and take it forward and improve Canvas , SEGA cut it down, and bring it to the PSP (which I don't think as resulted in better sales).
VF 5 is class , so is VT III , its always tends to be, with the Arcade side making games. How can AM#2 be so word class in the Arcades and push what is in effect a cheap Pentium 4 with VF 5 (that looks better than any next gen fighter), yet most of SEGA consumer teams,are not able to push the Wii I do not know .
I loved the 1st 2 Yakuza games , but the series is becoming stale, taking backwards step in terms of tech and Animation, and offering more of the same , The same shops , the same locations (for the most part), and like Sonic being miked far much, and the teams not given enough development time.
This year as been the worst ever for me as a SEGA consumer fan, it really has.