Author Topic: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?  (Read 24235 times)

Offline crackdude

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Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« on: February 02, 2016, 04:03:52 am »
Sega has been a bit....slow with its releases lately.


The new restructuring and leadership has put Sega in a position they hadn't been for a long time. A position of peace.
Like a slow growing apple tree, with its main structure firmly entrenched in fresh market soil, we can only dream of what fruit will come of this growth process.
For Sega fans, the growth pain is obvious. One can only manage to find enjoyment in Hatsune Miku for so long, and the game drought is worrying for the untrained eye.


However, this wait has brought serenity to the company, giving opportunity for new ideas to flourish and become great games (we hope). There is however another aspect to this time period: the market perception of Sega.


Not long ago Sega used to be all but bashed, regardless of game quality. Sonic was the cover-b..hedgehog for the "disaster that is Sega's management, which is leading the company into bankruptcy". Comment sections were consisted of walls of text listing every Sega failure and every reason possible (and untrue) to believe that Sega has always been "shit and succ my dick".


This is now changing.
For the first time since I was a teen, I decided to actually load up the comment section of a popular "gaming journalism" website (IGN of all places) and was ready to be disappointed with the gaming community once more.


But what's this?


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I was always a Nintendo kid growing up. (SNES/NES) But i love me some sega games. Especially those arcade games.
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OMG shinobi/streets of rage chiptune composer Yuzo Koshiro is freaking musical genius !
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Gotta mention Panzer Dragoon Saga in any great Sega game discussion!!! Best RPG game I've ever played!!!!!
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Do you guys remember Sega Channel? That service was truly ahead of its time.
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Shinning Force has always been a quality SRPG almost even with Fire Emblem.The Sega Megadrive had FANTASTIC 3rd party support,Sports;Shoot em ups ,a few strategy titles,the prototype first RTS;Herzog  Zwei and their own RPG's...but Sega's very own back catalogue of classic games was numerous and wonderful.
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You dipsticks list off all the great Sega RPGs without even MENTIONING the one that *IS* the best Sega developed game of ALL time--Though I doubt that any of you have ever played it through to completion:  Panzer Dragoon Saga.
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Adventure 2 was the best!
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Sonic gets most of the nostalgic love, but you could probably come up with a ranking of 50 fantastic Sega games before you even started to consider the Sonic games.
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Sega has one of the best back catalogs in gaming - and the best back catalog of arcade/coin-op games, so it's a tough question.
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People always complain that Sega doesn't do fan service and they are sitting on their franchises without giving them proper sequels. Actually, Sega TRIED to do fan service but no one bought those games.

And many many lists of favorite Sega games, both famous and obscure.
I firmly believe that people have consensually moved beyond the "SEGA LOL" meme, and are starting to cherish a company that has been through a lot.

Unfortunately, we end in a sour note. As one comment reads,
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Sega going third-party was almost indisputably the single greatest disaster and greatest loss for gamers in the history of the hobby.
It's a sentiment I share.
But I believe that, after the rainny spring, Sega will collect its fruits, both juicy and refreshing.
After all, to be this good..takes ages.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2016, 04:07:35 am by crackdude »
SEG4GES

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2016, 09:53:45 am »
SEGA's image has no doubt improved in the US and UK thanks to a lack of games. 2015 was light, but the good games were really good (3D Classics, Yakuza 5) and the bad games weren't all that bad (Sonic Runners, Fighting Climax).

I think scaling back SEGA of America was a good decision. As much as I hated to see it happen, when talking with George on a podcast a while back I realized that over the past five years SEGA of America has hardly released any quality packaged titles. None of them were developed in-house, it was all externally developed licensed crap, or externally developed classic revivals that fell flat on their face. The only game that comes to mind that was good in that timespan was Shinobi 3DS. Any other quality titles came from Europe - Viking, Crush, etc.

I would much rather see SEGA focusing on a few big budget titles a year, localizations of Japanese games, the usual output from Creative Assembly, Relic and Sports Interactive, and mobile releases. And of course the occasional surprise.

Offline Kuronoa

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2016, 10:16:59 am »
If only taking away SEGA  of America's toys would lead them to fill in the blanks with translations.

There's a new elephant in the room regarding lacking localizations, so some of that "lol SEGA" hate got migrated to that discussion.  As far as I can tell, people want to play SEGA games again but the language barrier is frustrating the audience and have no trouble calling SEGA stupid again or ask Nintendo to buy out SEGA once more (like that would help the situation, NoA is worse than SoA at times!).

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2016, 10:43:31 am »
I'm a bit lost, are you saying SEGA of America are slacking in localizations? Because the past few months make it seems to be the opposite.

Offline TimmiT

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2016, 01:12:38 pm »
I like how you made this thread right before SEGA announced that they're localizing another game.

Offline Radrappy

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2016, 01:25:24 pm »
quality above all else.  Releasing only a few high quality games over a couple years is way better for a company's image than a whole crop of bad games released with the same number of good games over the same amount of time.

Might not be so great for the pocket books though. 

Offline Sharky

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2016, 01:47:33 pm »
For better or worse you really ran with that fruit tree metaphor...

Anyway, I think it is entirely possible for SEGA to fix their public image issues, I think a really solid Sonic game will go a long way to fixing that... Better localization which I believe they are suddenly focusing on... and hopefully higher quality games all round, which I think from Bertos topic they have been doing for a good while now...

SEGA will always have a slight uphill battle because I think there is still a lot of console wars bias still simmering below the surface for a lot of people...
Made by SEGA

Offline Tad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2016, 02:02:29 pm »
For better or worse you really ran with that fruit tree metaphor...

Anyway, I think it is entirely possible for SEGA to fix their public image issues, I think a really solid Sonic game will go a long way to fixing that... Better localization which I believe they are suddenly focusing on... and hopefully higher quality games all round, which I think from Bertos topic they have been doing for a good while now...

SEGA will always have a slight uphill battle because I think there is still a lot of console wars bias still simmering below the surface for a lot of people...


I suspect it is starting to go. Those brought up on Nintendo are starting to replaced by those brought up with PS1/2 and xbox's.

As for SEGA's image, they're certainly saying and doing the right things so far. But as others have said, it's not going to be easy or a quick turn around. They need to stay focused.

Offline Aki-at

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2016, 02:31:16 pm »
Not until they fix Sonic again.

Their image was briefly mended between 2010 to 2012 as a good to great third party but fell apart after a bad Sonic game and Alien Colonial Marines.

For better or worse, Sonic is SEGAs face and unless the series is good it's not going to mean their image is fixed.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2016, 09:23:19 pm by Aki-at »

Offline Radrappy

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2016, 02:46:48 pm »
For better or worse, Sonic is SEGAs face and unless the series is good it's not going to mean their image is fixed.

sad but ultimately accurate.  Things are teed up now for this next sonic game.  If it's great, this will be a return to form for Sega in everyone's eyes. 

Offline Tad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2016, 03:15:54 pm »
Not until they fix Sonic again.

They're image was briefly mended between 2010 to 2012 as a good to great third party but fell apart after a bad Sonic game and Alien Colonial Marines.

For better or worse, Sonic is SEGAs face and unless the series is good it's not going to mean their image is fixed.

Very true. I just hope the 25th anniversary is the fresh start Sonic needs.

Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2016, 03:20:14 pm »
Its a shame that that is how it is. Main series Sonic games release so infrequently now that SEGA's reputation really shouldn't hinge on the quality of the games. Its like, then what has SEGA had to earn rep off of since October 2013 when Lost World released? And even then, it was a Wii U exclusive, hardly widespread. So really it hasn't been since Generations that a mutli-platform Sonic game has existed to earn SEGA a good image.

Offline Tad

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2016, 03:37:34 pm »
Its a shame that that is how it is. Main series Sonic games release so infrequently now that SEGA's reputation really shouldn't hinge on the quality of the games. Its like, then what has SEGA had to earn rep off of since October 2013 when Lost World released? And even then, it was a Wii U exclusive, hardly widespread. So really it hasn't been since Generations that a mutli-platform Sonic game has existed to earn SEGA a good image.

Just a thought, but maybe they should keep it this way? Have less Sonic games, but make them a big thing when they happen. If they keep this trend, it should eventually change gamers mentality that Sonic is the success or failure of SEGA and allows their other titles to take center stage.

Offline Kuronoa

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2016, 05:26:05 pm »
I'm a bit lost, are you saying SEGA of America are slacking in localizations? Because the past few months make it seems to be the opposite.

Oh it is better now, but people are still burned by Phantasy Star Online 2/Nova and Yakuza spinoffs.  Also Shining Resonance, which fans were expecting a localization because it is no longer burdened by PSP's conditions.

Offline FlareHabanero

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Re: Has Sega improved its image by not releasing games?
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2016, 06:38:28 pm »
Not until they fix Sonic again.

They're image was briefly mended between 2010 to 2012 as a good to great third party but fell apart after a bad Sonic game and Alien Colonial Marines.

For better or worse, Sonic is SEGAs face and unless the series is good it's not going to mean their image is fixed.


It's stupid how people think that way because SEGA is more then "that company that makes mediocre Sonic games". But that's partially a burden caused by SEGA of America and Europe for prioritizing Sonic for years. Making Sonic great again will only fix part of the problem, but thankfully it seems like they're also taking more risks with localizing their other IPs so far. So if things work everyone will win.