Why Sega should release a new console

Cnet-"Sega is in trouble. According to its latest filing in Japan, the company incurred a loss $501 million during its 2008 fiscal year and its video games division lost about $56.3 million. And as the company was quick to point out, something needs to be done on the video game front."

[Vip3r]

Even if they did release a new console it'd be part of the next gen around 2010 which is still a while off and wouldn't help them in the short term.

But if they were to make half decent games and not some crap Sonic game then they might actually make some money.

[fenderputty]

for 3 consoles. They would bury their own company trying to release another console.

Especially if they're competing with the hardcore consoles. Both MS and Sony sell consoles at a loss at first. No way can Sega do that.

[gaffyh]

Sony should buy sega.

[SuicidalTendencies]

This guys article is stupid. There is no way SEGA could afford to make another console. The only way they could do it is if they teamed with Microsoft and released a console together. MS has the financial backing and SEGA has the franchises and familiar trusting name that can win Japan. Don't hold your breath for that to happen though.

[iamtehpwn]

and its bad for everyone.

[Tmac]

Sega is in some serious money troubles, they couldn't afford releasing a new console. They can't even make decent games.

[hay]

That's a shame. I really love Dreamcast and games it have. I'm keeping it till now, good ol' DC.

[crck]

Sega has less of a chance in the hardware space then it does doing software only.

1. All of their beloved franchises besides Virtua Fighter and Virtua Tennis have gone to hell.

2. Most of their creative talent have fled to greener pastures. Or in the case of Yuji Naka disapeared completely.

3. He proposes Sega releases a super console. The most powerful on the market. MS has invested 21 billion and lost 6 billion on the Xbox project over 7 years. Sony has so far lost $3 billion dollars on the Ps3 project. How does he expect Sega to secure that kind of funding? Its simply stupid.

4. EA hates Sega. They didnt support the Dreamcast and they likely wouldn't support a new Sega console. A lot of gamers hate EA but lets face it they are one of the biggest 3rd party publishers and if the buy Take Two they will be the biggest again.

[zslash]

How would releasing a new console help now? Especially when competition is so fierce. Plus SEGA is not as popular as they once were, it's not like they could sell a new console on their brand name alone.

Sure there's always the die hard fans, but they are few and far between.

[JadedWriter]

They'll make this thing, it'll flop and they'll be bought by EA.

[proArchy]

That's exactly what we need is another platform for fanboys to scream about. Seriously though, there's no need. Ps3, 360, and Wii all have strengths that cater to a very wide audience. Wii is a pickup'nplay machine. The Playstation brand has always had the rpg market behind it. 360 has tons of shooters. I'm not attempting to stereotype by saying these are all these consoles are good for. In fact, in this generation the overlap of multiplatform games is awesome, making your console of choice really just a matter of looking for exclusives that appeal to you. What exactly could Sega bring to the market that would be worth buying into another machine? It would have to be a drastic difference like the Wii's controls, but I'm not sure if there's really room for another novelty console. Not to mention, with yet another console to develop for we'd be looking at a worldwide price increase of for games to protect the profit margin. There would be more risk in developing games, and would decrease the amount of experimental, boundary pushing games on the market. Perhaps Sega would be better served if they focus their energy on developing a worthwhile Sonic game, or a fresh IP that really grabs people's attention. Or maybe they should look into partnering with one of the BigThree, and developing exclusively for one console/brand.

[jackdoe]

Yeah, that's smart. Spend even more money launching a console, selling it for less than it costs to build, and try to enter in an already saturated market. "Great" way to make money.

[xsteinbachx]

I'd prefer not to see Sega go bankrupt.

[Kwertie]

The best COA for Sega would be to merge with Nintendo. If I had said this 10 years ago, you would have called me batsh1t insane, but it can work seeing as they are both old school and have similar styles. MS and Sony are the "young fools" who only seem to care about graphics and don't really have a key first party franchise or mascot to associate with.

[qohelet]

sega + nintendo = nerdgasm
i hope someone will hear you....

[american_ninja]

One of the changes in our society is how information plays a huge role in our lives, but when it's false, nobody can tell apart.

Anyway, the C-Net article is yet another pointless opinion piece from a largely discredited media group which happens to include Gamespot(the comments on the guy's article is proof enough for me).

Fact of the matter is, Sega has done a estrategic move, one that's likely not going to change for in a long time, if ever.

Climbing from struggling in a 14th spot to a comfortable 5th place as the games company with the largest share of videogame market is better for the most part then having to experience financial disaster with a console that's never going to compete with a Nintendo,no matter how much the publicity kicks their head in.

Seriously people get over it...

His comment is also misleading, as the figures he points out have nothing to do with Sega, at least directly, these figures are from the parent company Sega Sammy, which only concerns itself to the japanese branch of Sega's bussiness. However, what they mean by losses, simply means reduced income, which why I beleive some game journalists are not prepared or at least don't seem to understand the numbers as well as they should.
They seem to jump in and take the numbers as just assuming it's all bad.
Never mind the fact that Sega Sammy also happens to own a major japanese movie chain, a major TV studio and animation studio(TMS), music studios and other 10 or so companies that are in various branches that aren't even related to video-games.
Essentially, Sega Sammy is a japanese News Corp and Hajime Satomi is a japanese Rupert Murdoch, just to put things in a proper perspective.
Sega accounts to 25% of Sega Sammy's total bussinesses.

If you actually read Sega Sammy's report, you would know that Sega, only one of the many corporations, is actually proving itself to be lucrative.

However, is is true that the japanese market is making life miserable for every games company in the land of the rising sun.
So obviously things are not well for many of these companies.

However, one unshakeable fact is that international users are becoming more and more receptive to Sega's games as game sales have increased.

Anybody who says that nobody is buying Sega's game's is clearly out of touch:
http://www.n4g.com/industry...

[OOG]

make a new console.....lmfao.....sounds like this article suggest that they make their company go bankrupt and disappear.....deff not enough room for sega....they just are not a big enough name to do it anymore

[kewlkat007]

with a console maker to help it's image.

[ikkokucrisis]

because they are totally out of touch with reality.
They are now in the process of being bought out by CBS.
Serves them right for selling out to you know who.

[american_ninja]

The writer who claims that Sega's titles since going 3rd party have had very little hits.
Again out of touch...

http://www.n4g.com/industry...

One perfect example is Sonic and The Secret Rings, a game released on March 2007 that to this very day, still finds itself on charts slowing becoming one of the best-selling Wii titles.

Even a game like Ghost Squad, an average Sega title has generated some good income.
Mario&Sonic is a huge phenemenon and even more mature titles like Condemned 2: Bloodshot and Viking: BfA are having better then expected results, with Condemned 2 pulling in better numbers then it's criminally overlooked prequel.

Even the games based on movie licences also seem to be performing well.
So how exactly isn't Sega big anymore?

[NegativeCreepWA]

After the Sega CD. I will never buy a console from them again. Dream Cast was a decent console. But still a failure.
Its funny when people say MS has failed. All you got to do is look at Sega's history to see what failure really is.

[misterssippi]

Sega would not do well in this new gaming setting. Sega was once the choice of the hardcore, mainly because they were putting out all those arcade ports and games that Nintendo was afraid to put out (House of the Dead, Virtua Fighter, Streets of Rage, Fatal Fury etc.) Sega was the badass smoking in the mens room at school.

Well, now sony and microsoft kinda share that title. On top of that you have companies like Apple, and Nokia, showing interested in entering the home console market during the next go round.

Sega just doesn't have it anymore. Plus, pockets are deep these days and Sega is hemmoraging money by the bucket load. Its a lose/lose proposition. I mean, people still remember being left high and dry after choosing the Dreamcast during the 64bit war.

[Baka-akaB]

What a stupid article , they should just not crap unto their established franchises and properly use them .
Their news ones are pretty good and performing well enough , problem are the 16 and 32 bits era ones .

What kind of success do you expect of a shining force game when you sh*t on it for two series of games in a row ? 2 action rpg damnit (and lets not even mention shining soul) when everyone want a great shining force alternative to fire emblem and nippon ichi stuff

Phantasy star ? Nothing against the mmo , but why not AS WELL do an ambitious solo rpg a la final fantasy??

Skies of Arcadia ? Why are we only hearing now about the sequel ? It should have been out already on ps3 or 360 or wii , or all of them to fill the current void of non-tactical jrpg .

Where the frak is shenmue ? I dislike it personally , but shenmue would a nice complement to Yakuza ...

After a good first dreamcast berserk game , and a great second on ps2 ... with titles such as god of war , ninja gaiden , their own viking , devil may cry ... where the Frak is a next gen Berserk action game ?

What the hell is Sega doing with bleach ? The only attractive and good bleach games were the psp ones ..
Why werent the ps2 fighters of the same style ? And where is bleach next gen ?

Where is panzer dragoon ? What happened to Sakura taisen , and why the hell didnt they profit of the interest of the occidental world for jrpg , to release any sakura taisen ? They could release with success very hard to access titles like the shin megami tensei series , dont tell me it would be to hard to get ...

Where is crazy taxi ? Alex kid ? Why was altered beast so crappy ?

Proper use of a few of their anime licenses on many platforms , and of even two of those old franchise , alongside their surpringly overall good new ones , would help alot .

[Wii60PS3DSPSP]

9/9/09

[Eclipticus]

yeah, i think ATARI should come out with the JAGUAR 2. like back in the day with 5 consoles!

[supremacy]

in trouble it has been for the last what? 2 and half years? seriously if sony were to buy this company than both ms and ninty would have their hands full thats for sure. i mean guys this is the perfect opportunity for sony to increase their overall game division and with quality ip's at that.

sony buys segasammy. the press would read something like this.

just imagine the line up and properties if these two were to fully become one.

segasammy> otagi, sonic, streets of rage, jet set radio, shenmue, panzer dragoon, outrun, virtua fighter, virtua cop, house of the dead, monkey ball, sega gt, daytona 500, ultra beast, skies of Arcadia, phantasy star, phantom 5th saga, golden axe, shinobi, space channel 5, toe jam n earl, vector man, virtua tennis, zombie revenge, guilty gears, rez ect.

combined these ips with sony's own like say oh i don't know god of war, genji, untold legends, everquest, folklore, twisted metal, syphon filter, ico, granturismo, wipeout, getaway, killzone, motorstorm, heavenly sword sony own property made by ninja theory, uncharted, jak n daxter, ratchet n clank, resistance, medevil, pursuit force, singstar, buzz, field commander, tourist trophy, lemmings, dark cloud, white knight story, rogue galaxy, the legend of dragoon, wild arms, the agency, 8 days, socom, ect.

imagine this with the ongoing exclusivity sony has over tekken a tekken vs virtua fighters would be a possibility.

or even better imagine this with sony's psn and psone games part of its initiative owning sega would be like opening the door for a rival to nintendo's virtual console, i mean lets think about this for a sec.

you'll have all of sega's platforms along with sony's previous platforms via the ps store.

Dreamcast, psone, Saturn, sega cd, sega Genesis,sega master, pstwo, game gear, psp, all compatible with all ps3's and psp systems. imagine playing Dreamcast games in hig res on your ps3? or playing Saturn and Dreamcast games on the go with your psp? that alone is crazy if you come to think of it.

not only would sony bolster its line up of properties but also get a leg on in its retro gaming service as well.

sega has been losing money due to its poor decision making with some of its ip's, also not to mention back to back flops in the sonic department. they've been stumbling with their marketing and strategies over the last past few years, like capcom sega's approach has been to provide many platforms as possible although it seems they're struggling. lets not forget that this is a company with great properties and good resources. now all they need is a giant with great resources and multiple venues of income like..sony.

[Baka-akaB]

years ago i would have hate the story , since i always liked the idea of sega on his own .... but in the end sega already got its strings pulled by others , and it choice in their poor management of properties and use of them .

So now yeah , as silly as it might sound , i'd gladly welcome a buyout by Sony or something else , that would manage its many properties properly .

[gogators]

and I don't think they can come out with Daytona anymore. Well I guess that depends on the Nascar contract with EA. Still, Sega has a lot potential money making IP's that really need some reinvigoration. An owner with better vision might help.

[sumfood4u]

SEGA needs no new system, just stay selling games an make your Cheese that way!

[Bizmal]

Go completely away sega.

[Skynetone]

where are the hits sega

[unjust]

Where is the new Shinobi or Afterburner there are so many titles they could bring back and make better.

[unjust]

Lets face it the market is bad right now, however If Sega marketed a new system correctly it could work, but they would have a long road ahead of them. I had a SMS,Genesis, and a Dreamcast all great systems through the eyes of a true gamer. Sega ran the arcade in my day with many titles that had a lot of people in ahh. Its a real shame for a company like this to go bottoms up, but as far as them joining forces with another company thats just a bad idea. If Sega was to join another company they would lose who they are in the industry. If anything else I'm sure they could create something better than the Wii to compete against PS3 and Xbox360. I really would like to see this though.

[Baka-akaB]

But they already did , by merging with sammy , and it shows by their many bad decisions .
It's already done , now what is left is getting bought by a company that would manage them properly or get a grip .
Finally they made some good move with new ips , especially with the announce this week of mad world and bayonetta from the ex clover guys .

Also i still completely disagree with you about the console thing . they simply do not have the shoulders for it . They arent doing great yet with games alone , and you cant launch a console on such an emp stomach ... with your main property's reputation in the mud right now , with a serie of crappy sonic games , and no major exclusives for your hypothetical console , bare maybe a shenmue , who was never much of a seller to begin with .

[xc7x]

this will either finally kill them off or give 'em that big break if it works,so be it.

[ApocalypseShadow]

i would never sell my dreamcasts because it was home to their last mega hits.but the new sega just doesn't listen to the fans.

want shenmue3?want streets of rage 4?want virtua cop3,house of the dead4 or after burner3 from the arcades?

"screw you!"says sega.

and that's their downfall.no mega hits.signing "platinum games"(clover) was a good idea.and we'll see how that pans.but really.

another thing.the dumbest thing they did was turn down a merger with namco.instead,they get bought by sammy.and namco merged with bandai.

vf vs tekken anyone?they blew it badly.sega deserves to be kicked.no console they release would get bought unless it blew away everyone with something that smokes the wiimote.

megaton.................

[Baka-akaB]

i'm personally glad tekken vs virtua didnt happen ...
While virtua is THE fighting simulator , and tekken a middle between sims and arcade fighting game ... virtua characters offers very little charisma and advantages to a tekken game .

Sega/namco btw wouldnt have been so great , only better in some aspects than sammy , for us gamers .
Namco got the same nasty habit than sega to never translate import some of their games , in a way baffling logic ...
Namco is as well left with plenty unused old franchises and ideas .

[american_ninja]

Sega apparentely is now stucj in a "damned if you, damned if you don't situation".

When releasing brand new IPs, the gaming community rejects them all at once, demanding classic games to be brought to the next-gen.
When Sega does release a remake or new version of a classic game, the samne videogame community then becomes outraged that they butchered a classic IP and show look for new titles...

These Sega haters honestly beleive that just repeating lines like "Sega sucks", "Losing money", "Not what they used to be","Sonic sucks" and a couple of others, will somehow make a difference.

But these lines are not only untrue as they are for some people, blind beliefs.

Sales reports and market share news mean nothing to them...Since that's how you measure the sucess of a company... not because you say "This Sega game sucks...".

That will get you nowhere...