What the hell is SEGA planning with their movie initiative?

[MadeManG74]

A Streets of Rage movie would KICK ASS! Just adapt SOR2 scene by scene. Just cops kicking ass and Boss fights. If they're true to Martial Arts (as in they get actual Martial Artists for the fight scenes) then it will work.

I could see it working if they took a risk and made it like 'The Raid' which is basically a one and a half hour fight scene.

Especially if Max is still just using pro wrestling moves on dudes.

[Sharky]

It's all about the direction they take them... All of those listed could make great films if they do it right. The only one that I cant see how itll work is Altered Beast... I know its a beloved classic, but how do you adapt that madness to film?

Rise of Nightmares is weird in that... Who cares about Rise of Nightmares? But I see how it could make a good horror film adaption. Like the first Silent Hill film which I love even though I don't care much for the Silent Hill games.

[ROJM]

About Fing Time!  That's what they should have done from day one. The good thing about this is Sega has control over this since they own the studio that's responsible for this. All sega fans should be happy about this. 

[ROJM]

Don't see the problem, it's no different from Marvel doing it. Who even gave a shit about Guardians of the Galaxy three years ago? Marvel have really become something much bigger than just a comic developer over the past decade... If SEGA can find the same success why not?

A really good Streets of Rage, Shinobi and Golden Axe could be awesome. It's all a matter of getting it right.

Exactly you tell em mate.

[Nirmugen]

I give to Sharky some kudos for that


If we think in context, Sega are pushing many things right now..series,3D Classics, Digital Re-releases, fan pleasing content and more.


Of course, a new game from a particular franchise is the better option for the Sega fan or a gaming enthusiast in general, but at least they are trying to make those franchises relevant and that's good move that is more productive for Sega-Sammy eyes and not bad in general.


Guardians of the Galaxy is a good ex. Now not only the comic is "relevant" but also many children want to be Starlord and listen good old music maybe 

[MadeManG74]

It's all about the direction they take them... All of those listed could make great films if they do it right. The only one that I cant see how itll work is Altered Beast... I know its a beloved classic, but how do you adapt that madness to film?

Rise of Nightmares is weird in that... Who cares about Rise of Nightmares? But I see how it could make a good horror film adaption. Like the first Silent Hill film which I love even though I don't care much for the Silent Hill games.

I could actually see Altered Beast working, but I feel like if it were to be done it would be some horrible vehicle for a guy who looks like a condom filled with walnuts to make a big budget B-grade movie.
See: Hercules, new Conan movie, new Dracula movie etc.

Done right it could be a good old fashioned swords and scorcery movie.

I'm still just baffled by this. They don't want to make games out of these but are willing to make films? The games they chose are just... weird. I can't see anything good coming out of a Crazy Taxi TV series or Streets of Rage movie. I might be wrong, but... really? Did they just throw darts at a board full of random Sega IPs?

[MadeManG74]

Oh and as for Guardians of the Galaxy, I forgot to mention this before, but that was only made by Marvel AFTER they already made Iron Man (x3), Hulk, Captain America (x2), Thor (x2) and the Avengers ensemble film. They didn't kick off with Guardians (Not to mention, they also had Xmen, Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Daredevil et. al. already palmed off and movies made BEFORE they went to Guardians. It was scraping the barrel. I'm glad they did it, of course, but it wasn't a first attempt).

Granted, when they made Iron Man, he was a very B-grade hero too. So that's fair enough.

At the same time, they have decades of stories that they can draw on for Guardians, Iron Man etc. I can't help but feel most of these games work well as games, as anything else... there's not much substance. They can beef it up with original content, sure, but then they may as well just make a new IP for all the relationship it'll have to the originals.

I'm sorry to be so negative, but I can't see much good coming from this so far. I'd love to be proven wrong.

[Randroid]

I think it's a better approach to revive these dormant franchises as movies/tv-shows, instead of making games over them.

New game entries into these franchises would only get slammed (if badly executed) or outright ignored (if executed well). I mean, let's be real here, would the general gaming public care about a new Altered Beast game?

I'm also skeptical that a new (not a remake) SOR game would do well, and apparently, seeing how Sega has shut down new game attempts, they feel the same way.

Remember the new, modernized Final Fight on original X-Box? It was a disaster. Only Double Dragon kinda pulled off their revival, but if a new SOR game means a 2.5D rehash, I'd prefer a quality movie version instead.

I'm struggling to think of Sega property that was made for Film or TV that was bad. Sonic Boom and Sega Hard Girls is proof that they can produce quality viewing in our time. If the production values are good and they just stick to the source material, they'd be a blast.

(Ok, I just remembered the House of the Dead movie. Let's just keep Uwe Boll away from these movies and they'll be fine)

Movie versions for these old franchises can definitely breathe new life into them.

[JRcade19]

Does this mean Sega has learned the magic of advertising things then? Well...outside of Japan potentially?

[Aki-at]

Because Amusement centers were always within Sega's business.

Really, Movies and TV shows are fine, but the IP choice is strange.

I don't think resort complex and amusement centres are anywhere near the same level to be fair! But the point was if the group were determined with something, they'll sure as hell throw money at it, if the results are going to be successful is another question.

This was always the end goal for SEGA Sammy, to become a major multimedia conglomerate. Though I agree the IP list is strange, I'd rather wait and see what comes out of it before judging the success or failure of such a move.

At the same time, they have decades of stories that they can draw on for Guardians, Iron Man etc. I can't help but feel most of these games work well as games, as anything else... there's not much substance. They can beef it up with original content, sure, but then they may as well just make a new IP for all the relationship it'll have to the originals.

Sure if the content is different from the source material but we don't know anything yet.

I'm sorry to be so negative, but I can't see much good coming from this so far. I'd love to be proven wrong.

There's really no need to be negative until we actually know what they're going to be doing or what is for what. Crazy Taxi for all we know could be some comedic anime about how Axel is knee deep in debt and teams up with his best mate BD Joe and go on crazy schemes everyday to try and earn large amounts of cash. It could also be equally terrible and a film be how Axel is an undercover cop going after the ringleader of the Crazy Taxi syndicate, who murdered his wife Gina,"Bastard Driver" Joe.

We don't even know which ones are animes, TV series or films yet, seems premature to be worried about anything. Once we have the information we can judge appropriately.

(I could see Streets of Rage working the best as part cop drama about Axel trying to uncover the syndicate and part mafia showing Mr. X's rise to power.)

Does this mean Sega has learned the magic of advertising things then? Well...outside of Japan potentially?

It really is amazing it took them so long to get here. You'd think the massive success of Sonic X would have pushed them to this course of action much sooner but they probably thought the show was a success because of Sonic and not the other way round.

[Dr. SEGA Monkey]

It's possible that SEGA is trying to generate interest for any future games with these IPs. As of now, nobody will buy a new Altered Beast game, but if there's a movie that people have heard of, it may make more people take notice of the game.


At least that's what I'm guessing. They did it with Sonic Boom.

[MadeManG74]

It's possible that SEGA is trying to generate interest for any future games with these IPs. As of now, nobody will buy a new Altered Beast game, but if there's a movie that people have heard of, it may make more people take notice of the game.

By the same logic, who would want to go see an Altered Beast movie? It's not a well known game anymore and just having 'Based on the video game!' anywhere near it will set off alarm bells for most people.

I guess it could work if Sega throws a lot of money behind it, but... why choose a franchise that's been dead for so long? And one that has next to zero storyline anyway? I just... this is so bizarre.

Also why did they shotgun so many old titles? This whole thing is very vague. "We want to make movies and or TV series out of these random games we used to make". By rattling off so many already it makes me think this is going to be straight-to-video quality stuff, as opposed to 'We want to make an Altered Beast film'.

I mean, I'm pretty sure Judge Dredd is more popular than half of these franchises, and that had a fucking fantastic quality movie, and it still wasn't enough to net a sequel.

Actually that's the main crux of this;

What are you guys expecting this to be?

Are we talking Hollywood movies?
Direct to DVD Anime series?
Direct to DVD live-action TV shows?
Cable only TV Series?
Digital Only mini-series?

I'm expecting a combination of the above, mostly a few Netflix exclusive series or something to that effect.

[Trippled]

http://www.stories-llc.com/pdf/press_201412_02.pdf

Well here is the pdf-document

and the website:

http://www.stories-llc.com/#film

I think it might take some years till does come to fruition. Remember the BBC thing? Took 3 years to come out with the virtual zoo.

[inthesky]

I find some of the franchise choices pretty suspect (why classics?...), but as was suggested a goal for Sega was to make their video game franchises into multimedia franchises. I don't particularly have high expectations from the major-level productions, even though I like to watch a lot of movies I personally have more faith and interest in things like cartoons or anime series. I do hope that video games aren't relegated to the periphery, though it could be a logical consequence if this initiative is a MAJOR success.

[Barry the Nomad]

I'm not thrown off by classics, people remember such properties even if we haven't seen a new Altered Beast or Streets of Rage in years. Kids who remember these IPs are in their late 20s/early 30s now. Perfect time to make movies based on them. Hopefully this will lead to a resurgence in certain IPs and more merch and games. I'm not asking for "Streets of Rage the Movie the Game", but it could lead to HD remakes or sequels.