Sega to downsize, axe certain games

[Voyant]

I'm really sad now...

No Bayonetta 2......

[Blue Blood]

and lets also be real: Other than Sonic what other IP would the general public know that Sega creates.

They might recognise Monkey Ball as "that boring kids game with Monkeys".

Saddening as this news is, it's definitely time something happened. SEGA just doesn't exist nowadays. They seriously need to invest in marketing.

[Voyant]

They might recognise Monkey Ball as "that boring kids game with Monkeys".

Saddening as this news is, it's definitely time something happened. SEGA just doesn't exist nowadays. They seriously need to invest in marketing.

Here too hoping this is a wake up call to SEGA though...perhaps maybe we will all get that ACE....AAA Sonic game everyone has been waiting for.

To be honest if any Sonic game was to get high success across the board like Uncharted 3....it will sell loads. Being in the high 70s isn't going to cut it these days with such a "if it isn't a 9, I'm not buying" community.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Voyant

[#EndyGate]

I just saw the news on TSSZ, I feel really sorry for any Sega employees here in america who ended up getting, like for starters poor Kate Burning who had a pretty short lived run in the industry. Hopefully others like Ken and Aaron didn't get the shaft as well

They might recognise Monkey Ball as "that boring kids game with Monkeys".

Saddening as this news is, it's definitely time something happened. SEGA just doesn't exist nowadays. They seriously need to invest in marketing.

:,<

[Jeffhog]

That heavily blows... I feel awful for Kate right now. D:

[HunterTSF]

If there is another Hyperdimension Neptunia they likely won't translate it over and publish it outside Japan. The future of Valkyria Chronicles looks very grim.

Actually, SEGA wasn't the one to localize Hyperdimension Neptunia overseas to begin with, that was all Nippon Ichi America's doing.

As for Valkyria Chronicles, I definitely agree. Unless SEGA regains some initiative to bring these titles to wider audiences, chances are we are going to see a lot less of SEGA's more ambitious and interesting outings make it overseas.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Just think. Valkyria Chronicles could have actually been a very popular western series had they bothered to put a trophy patch on it.

[Arle985]

That heavily blows... I feel awful for Kate right now. D:

Same here. She was the most nicest person ever.

And it looks like there won't be anymore Puyo Puyo games either...........

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

The only other SEGA titles other than Sonic that a lot of people want for sequels are Bayonetta (obviously) and Valkyria Chronicles in the PS3/360.

For me, outside Sonic, the only SEGA franchise I care about is Bayonetta. I'm surprised that SEGA hasn't done anything to this gold mine franchise apart from adding her to Anarchy Reigns (and Anarchy Reigns will get more sales IF they add Bayonetta playable to the West). Did SEGA profit from Bayonetta or not?

Valkyria Chronicles is pretty much dead now. It started off as a lot of people's favorites, then they HAD to make the sequel for it on the PSP. Bad choice, SEGA. There are a lot of PS3 owners that don't own a PSP. So unless you re-release the sequel on PS3 (and maybe to Vita), this franchise maybe put to bed. Sadly. And it could have done well. The fact it had an anime adoption showed this franchise was good.

ALSO NO TROPHY PATCH FOR THE GAME! We begged SEGA for it and they rejected our request. Another bad decision from them, it's like they wanted Valkyria Chronicles to die. =/

Super Monkey Ball will be another franchise that SEGA's keeping but after playing their iPhone versions, I have no interest in this franchise anymore.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Ming Ming Love

[PSI Wind]

Just think. Valkyria Chronicles could have actually been a very popular western series had they bothered to put a trophy patch on it.

Um, no. It would've been popular if it got more advertising. Since when did Achievements make a game sell?

[Badnik Mechanic]

then they HAD to make the sequel for it on the PSP. Bad choice, SEGA. There are a lot of PS3 owners that don't own a PSP. So unless you re-release the sequel on PS3 (and maybe to Vita), this franchise maybe put to bed. Sadly. And it could have done well. The fact it had an anime adoption showed this franchise was good.

It's not exactly as simple as that.

The problem is Sega's research into games and how they perform. What I suspect they did is simply look at the sales figures for the game and noticed that it was selling well in Japan and noticed that PSP games do quite well in Japan (there are tons of RPG's which never make it outside of Japan that are PSP exclusives.

So they had an rpg that was selling well in Japan, and had a system that was pretty good for rpgs... but in the west this was never going to work. Mainly because the original Valkyria Chronicles.

The PSP has quite a large RPG following in Japan, so it made sense for the sequel to VK to be on the PSP in that region. However, when the original was released in the west it was just as the PS3 got trophies for the first time, a lot of people wanted to see what this new thing was, so a lot of games decided to patch trophies into them, suddenly you see games like Warhawk and Uncharted getting a second boost in sales.

Now had Sega even so much as announced a trophy patch, I suspect that Valkyria Chronicles would have sold tons more than it did since it was out at the perfect time to take advantage of it.

Since when did Achievements make a game sell?

Since... always.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Um, no. It would've been popular if it got more advertising. Since when did Achievements make a game sell?

It could WOULD have sold more if it had a trophy patch (and/or many more people would actually be bothered to go back to the game).

http://share.blog.us...ria-chronicles/

Out of 1,245 votes, 805 people wanted the patch. So yes, trophies DO play a part on sales. There are over 100,000 people who are in to trophies. You think it's silly but it's not.

It's not exactly as simple as that.

The problem is Sega's research into games and how they perform. What I suspect they did is simply look at the sales figures for the game and noticed that it was selling well in Japan and noticed that PSP games do quite well in Japan (there are tons of RPG's which never make it outside of Japan that are PSP exclusives.

So they had an rpg that was selling well in Japan, and had a system that was pretty good for rpgs... but in the west this was never going to work. Mainly because the original Valkyria Chronicles.

The PSP has quite a large RPG following in Japan, so it made sense for the sequel to VK to be on the PSP in that region. However, when the original was released in the west it was just as the PS3 got trophies for the first time, a lot of people wanted to see what this new thing was, so a lot of games decided to patch trophies into them, suddenly you see games like Warhawk and Uncharted getting a second boost in sales.

Now had Sega even so much as announced a trophy patch, I suspect that Valkyria Chronicles would have sold tons more than it did since it was out at the perfect time to take advantage of it.

But why can't they release the game for the PSP AND the PS3? Or release the sequel on PSP exclusively in Japan and PS3 worldwide? Sega are ridiculous if they only focus and care for Japan. JAPAN isn't the whole world Sega.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Ming Ming Love

[Scott]

Personally, the only thing I've wanted is their old franchises brought into the new age.

They all have the potential to be innovative even in this day. Imagine a new Ecco game in beautiful HD? Imagine jumping and throwing Shurikens as Joe Musashi in gorgeous environments. Imagine blasting balls of pure (HD) energy at the many orbot enemies in Vectorman.

Heck, imagine exploring an upgraded zanier than before world as Alex Kidd and lastly, imagine a good Golden Axe in the modern era.

It can be done, SEGA has just chosen not to for years, now theres possibly no chance at the moment :/

[Tornado]

JAPAN isn't the whole world Sega.

And now you see the thing they've struggled off and on with since 1995.

[Badnik Mechanic]

But why can't they release the game for the PSP AND the PS3? Or release the sequel on PSP exclusively in Japan and PS3 worldwide? Sega are ridiculous if they only focus and care for Japan.

Why would you release a PS3 and PSP version of a game that didn't sell? Not to mention split up the development like that?

Is the question Sega would ask themselves when they try to understand why Valkyria Chronicles didn't sell. And to be honest it's a jolly good question to be asking.

JAPAN isn't the whole world Sega.

No but it's PSP market might as well be.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Why would you release a PS3 and PSP version of a game that didn't sell? Not to mention split up the development like that?

Is the question Sega would ask themselves when they try to understand why Valkyria Chronicles didn't sell. And to be honest it's a jolly good question to be asking.

The first game didn't sell well, but it did receive very well positive reviews. Let's not forget, this game came out in 2008, when PS3 itself was still trying to find its ground in the US and Europe. If this game came out today, it would have picked up way more sales.

No advertisements for the game, no trophies...not to mention strategy RPGs are quite hard to please the West. But Sega didn't listen to its fans for the West, therefore suffered for it.

No but it's PSP market might as well be.

I know, but they still lost the plot. If they are going to release the sequel to the West, release it on PS3 NOT on PSP. Even I don't have a PSP. Fans of the game would already have a PS3 (otherwise there would have been no fans to begin with). Sega had shut most of the Western fans out with this move.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Ming Ming Love

[neezTHEhuman]

This is disastrous news and only reinforces my belief that we will never have a great 3D Sonic game because of :

a) budget - more money you spend the better the game and Sega are making losses

time constraints - with less IP's that means releasing Sonic games more often because the series is Sega's biggest cash cow. Lack of development time will mean shorter and inferior quality games

c)dearth of creative talent - to attract the best artists, designers, programmers etc you need to offer the highest wages. Sega are in the red so forget it.

[Badnik Mechanic]

This is disastrous news and only reinforces my belief that we will never have a great 3D Sonic game because of

Didn't we just have a great 3D sonic game? It was called Sonic Generations, it got a lot of great reviews and sold very well.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Didn't we just have a great 3D sonic game? It was called Sonic Generations, it got a lot of great reviews and sold very well.

Yeah. Great 3D Sonic game. Shame we have to slap the word "Sonic" in that sentence...

I mean even Sega's other franchises Valkyria Chronicles and Bayonetta has got much better reviews than Sonic Generations. And we are seeing less of them.

Edited March 30, 2012 by Ming Ming Love

[Your Vest Friend]

I'm also feeling sympathy for SEGA in these hard times, but fuck those general SEGA fans blaming Sonic fans for this mess!

[turbojet]

If they advertised their fucking games to begin with, they wouldn't be in this trouble. They have interesting and unique IPs and yet they do nothing to advertise them. I didn't even see any ads for Vanquish or Binary Domain yet when Sonic Colors and Generations were released, it was all day, everyday. Hell, Sonic was on a progressive commercial.

[neezTHEhuman]

Sonic Generations was a good/solid game but was far from great. The most glaring deficiency is its short length, took me 3 hours and just one sitting to complete the main story in the game. It sold ok: 1.6 million units across 4 platforms, compare this to Mario 3D Land which over the same period sold 5million on just one platform. Also Metacritic score in the 70's not the 90's so reviews were not all great.

[McGroose]

I honestly wish Sonic wasn't their highest selling franchise sometimes. Like other's, I'd rather see Old Classic's be brought back into modern day, such as Vectorman and Streets of Rage.

I've got all the Sonic games I need at this point. Generations will keep me happy for a long time, I don't need anymore Sonic for a long time. But if Sega Made a different game as opposed to making another Sonic game, The Sonic game would still get more sales, which Sega knows.

This news is disappointing. I'm losing more hope for a new Streets of rage game. The closest we got to one was a remake for Java compatible phones for Japan only...

[Carbo]

If they advertised their fucking games to begin with, they wouldn't be in this trouble. They have interesting and unique IPs and yet they do nothing to advertise them. I didn't even see any ads for Vanquish or Binary Domain yet when Sonic Colors and Generations were released, it was all day, everyday. Hell, Sonic was on a progressive commercial.

While I can understand the unusual case of Sega not bothering to market Vanquish and Binary Domain on account of it being some incredibly easy sells for the mainstream market, expansive advertising campaigns on the grounds of the popular creator's last title bombing because of lack of such is never a surefire guarantee for a title's well being, no matter how much the campaign will warp and sidestep some of it's shortcomings in the eyes of a mainstream crowd.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

If they advertised their fucking games to begin with, they wouldn't be in this trouble. They have interesting and unique IPs and yet they do nothing to advertise them. I didn't even see any ads for Vanquish or Binary Domain yet when Sonic Colors and Generations were released, it was all day, everyday.

Surprisely Bayonetta only had one commercial, hardly to be seen on TV while it was released and still manage to have around the same amount of sales Sonic Generations had put altogether.

Hell, Sonic was on a progressive commercial.

But to be fair, Sonic IS Sega's official mascot and their symbol so, it makes sense Sonic was used in the progressive commercial. If it was Nintendo, you really think a character like Kirby will be used in a progressive commercial ahead of Mario?

Edited March 30, 2012 by Ming Ming Love