It infuriates me when people ask for a new Shinobi or Golden Axe or whatever, and ignore that Sega has released new games of the series in the last 10 years that nobody bought.
I know. Games like Bayonetta, VC 3, Alpha Protocol,Chromehounds, Journey Into Dreams, Binary Domain ALL were completely ignored by console gamers.
The worst crime and biggest Travesty was Sonic Generations. SEGA put ALL their effort,money,budget and marketing into this and the result: It STILL didn't sell as well as hoped. What sold instead? Call of Duty Modern Warfare. And people keep DEMANDING Sega make a new PS4/Xbox One Sonic game that they know is going to be scrutinized. Transformed is another travesty "We Don't want another Sonic racing game. We don't care how good it is".
Its pretty clear and obvious why Sega Games,Ltd is mostly focused on PC and Mobile titles and wants to find as many IPs as they can to port to PC. These are markets easy to please. Console Gamers today are so picky and finicky that it takes too much effort or money just to make the perfect title. And when it doesn't even sell well, they blame the publisher and not themselves for overgeneralizing it and then turning around not buying it. SEGA's Arcade division Sega Interactive,Ltd also bears watching. SEGA makes its STRONGEST and BEST IPs in the Arcade market, and the fact that Sega is now expanding its Arcade gaming business overseas is a great opportunity to win people back and also puts the prospect of SEGA Interactive,Ltd establishing a home consumer hardware & 1st party software division back on the table. SEGA must take their biggest strengths and show the world that they are a GRAND gaming company and that Arcades are their specialty.
[/size]The original Golden Axe was never top tier arcade gaming, but it was a damn fine beat em up to play while a bit buzzed.
True that. I've been a lifelong SEGA fan since 1991. Golden Axe itself was a typical early 90s beat 'em up that I did kinda enjoy as a kid. Of course it hasn't aged well. Neither has Final Fight. Both were above average and solid for their time. But age definitely hasn't been kind to them.
TThe 3DS Shinobi game was pretty good, though. No complaints there. But I still want a PS2 Shinobi sequel.Not the best examples since several of those didn't bankrupt themselves out and were just absorbed by other bigger institutions. Midway and THQ did go under, though.
Shinobi on PS2 sold dismally. It only did well in Japan, but bombed overseas.
The 3DS version broke even, but that was about it.
As for those publishers, they DID go under. LucasArts wasn't just Star Wars. They made games in the 80s that few people remember like "Maniac Mansion". After selling off their Star Wars licenses to Disney, LucasArts folded up after 25 years.
Eidos was a publisher for over 15 years. They shut down their publishing and business offices in 2009 selling its main development Core Design to SquareEnix.THQ had dozens of large IPs, they went bankrupt with "U Draw" their PC development team Relic Entertainment of course was purchased by SEGA.And yes, Midway is defunct. WB Games is only the remnants of Midway.
In April 2009, Midway was liquidated and sold off piece by piece. Warner Bros Interactive acquired Midway's main catalog. The Arcade division they had held since 1978 was also dissolved.