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"There?ve been some titles that have partially betrayed that in the past 10 years"

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    #1

    "There?ve been some titles that have partially betrayed that in the past 10 years"

    And the award for understatement of decade goes to Hajime Satomi....


    Sega seeks to rebuild its name and reputation, and this means a refocus on quality when it comes to console games.

    Speaking to Famitsu magazine in Japan (via Siliconera), chief executive officer and chairman Hajime Satomi admitted that some of Sega?s recent console output hasn?t been good enough. He explained that going forward, the studio?s focus would be on quality, even if that means releasing nothing at all on consoles.

    The once-great game studio announced layoffs in January this year, closing the San Francisco office that hosted the launch of its last game console, the Sega Dreamcast. In recent years, the Japanese game publisher has concentrated more on its PC and mobile releases, but Satomi says there?s a chance we?ll see a ?high-quality? console game in the near future.

    ?We did our best to build a relationship of mutual trust with older fans of Sega, but looking back, there?ve been some titles that have partially betrayed that in the past 10 years,? said Satomi. One of those would be last year?s Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric for Wii U which has a Metacritic score of just 32.

    ?Sega in the ?90s was known for its brand, but after that, we?ve lost trust, and we were left with nothing but reputation. For this reason, we?d like to win back the customers? trust, and become a brand, once again.?

    Satomi explained how Sega has learned a lot about the Western market from Atlus, the Japanese studio behind the popular Persona role-playing series. ?If we can make a title with proper quality, I believe there?s a good chance for it to do well even in the West for players that like to play Japanese games,? he said.

    ?I?ve been talking to the employees about how we should start putting serious consideration into quality from this point on. Especially in North America and Europe, where it?s always been more of a focus on schedules, I believe that if we can?t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all.?

    Famitsu asked if Sega would be releasing a high quality console game in the second half of this year, but Satomi wouldn?t commit to anything.

    ?Since we?re seriously considering quality, I can?t make that promise for the time being,? he said, ?but I believe we will announce something for home console at Tokyo Game Show [in September].?

    Hopefully this means the end of the Sonic Cycle:

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    #2
    Guarantee the game he's talking about is a PS4/XBO Sonic title and his comments lead to fan optimism... the cycle begins anew!

    Comment

      #3
      Originally posted by replicashooter View Post
      “I’ve been talking to the employees about how we should start putting serious consideration into quality from this point on. Especially in North America and Europe, where it’s always been more of a focus on schedules, I believe that if we can’t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all.”
      This is the crux of it, I think.

      Sega, when it comes down to it, made a lot of money when they went multi-platform because they leveraged their brand and characters over the quality of their games. They released a lot of stuff, fast, always compromising in favour of budget vs quality (Sonic '06 is the perfect example of this; even their flagship title for that era was an unfinished game).

      Thing is, games like Sonic Heroes, '06, Unleashed - these games made a lot of money. Heroes is the best example; it was one of the best-selling games of the PS2/Xbox/GC era, largely by virtue of being Sonic (who was still popular with kids) and being multi-platform. It went into the "platinum" range on all platforms and sold well for a very long time.

      Their problem is that the public's habits have changed since the Dreamcast/PS2 era, and gaming has changed too. People first turned away from magazines and toward the internet (a medium fuelled entirely by advertising, and thus biased) and later onto social media (a medium fuelled by faux-grassroots successes, and occasional real grassroots successes). In this era, mutton-dressed-as-lamb just doesn't fly anymore. Some core gamers might joke about Call of Duty, but you can't deny those titles are polished, quality products even if you don't like the games.

      Plus, social media thrives on jokes and humiliation. People love a whipping-boy; they love controversy when in the past, people would've just not cared.

      All these conditions make today bad, economically, for games like Sonic and the Black Knight, whereas on release, that game probably sold well.

      I think they need to go back to their roots, which for Sega, I've always seen to be being experimental and edgy. They're like the Channel-4 to Nintendo's BBC. They took crazed leaps on things which now seem perplexing, but at the time, it was great to see whatever they tried to do next. Often they would fail, but fail spectacularly. When some companies' ships sink, it's quiet, dignified; Sega's sinking ship is crewed with naked people, spewing a laser-light show, music by Queen and is ON FIRE.

      Comment

        #4
        Often they would fail, but fail spectacularly. When some companies' ships sink, it's quiet, dignified; Sega's sinking ship is crewed with naked people, spewing a laser-light show, music by Queen and is ON FIRE.
        Quoted for truth and for burning an image onto my brain of a big bright red and blue battleship sinking whilst fireworks are going off and buff sailors have wanton sex on the deck to the sound of 'Don't Stop me now'!

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by Asura View Post
          Often they would fail, but fail spectacularly. When some companies' ships sink, it's quiet, dignified; Sega's sinking ship is crewed with naked people, spewing a laser-light show, music by Queen and is ON FIRE.
          Wow

          What a graphic image that sums up the situation perfectly.

          Sega whored its brand and lost its respect as it kept on trotting out its characters and collecting cheques whilst acting like a pimp with a stable of hoes. Those hoes are now looking tired and the tricks are moving on to greener pastures so they come back with some damage control like this to make it seem like they still give a damn but the tone of Satomi was dripping with insincerity.

          Nintendo may be cheap, stuck in the past and take their time but they always release a quality product. Or that could just be the old fanboy in me still crying...

          The only thing Sega could, should (and probably won't but I'll still hope) do is give me a portable Dreamcast that works exclusively off digital downloads and looks like the original controller with a 6" LED display in place of a VMU. Then all would be forgiven.

          Comment

            #6
            This should fill me with excitement/hype but they are a shell of company. Every time I see a Sega logo on a box it makes look wistfully into the distance as if I'm remembering a dearly departed friend.

            I'd love to think this means a decent Jet Set Radio, Initial D Arcade Stage, Super Monkey Ball, Chu Chu Rocket, Samba De Amigo or dare I say it a 2D Sonic... Sadly I know better...

            Comment

              #7
              Originally posted by Asura View Post
              I think they need to go back to their roots, which for Sega, I've always seen to be being experimental and edgy. They're like the Channel-4 to Nintendo's BBC. They took crazed leaps on things which now seem perplexing, but at the time, it was great to see whatever they tried to do next. Often they would fail, but fail spectacularly. When some companies' ships sink, it's quiet, dignified; Sega's sinking ship is crewed with naked people, spewing a laser-light show, music by Queen and is ON FIRE.
              Oh man, this is such a great paragraph that I just had to quote it. fantasic way to put things.

              Comment

                #8
                Yeah, between this and the Nintendo thread, Asura is nailing framing well realised debating points with crackingly conjured visual imagery. Top stuff!

                Comment

                  #9
                  Originally posted by gunrock View Post
                  Yeah, between this and the Nintendo thread, Asura is nailing framing well realised debating points with crackingly conjured visual imagery. Top stuff!
                  It's heavily related to what I do for a living.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Asura View Post
                    It's heavily related to what I do for a living.
                    What would that be out of interest? Its just the kind of thing we need in politics and administering countries and whatnot so I guess you don't do any of that

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Originally posted by replicashooter View Post
                      What would that be out of interest? Its just the kind of thing we need in politics and administering countries and whatnot so I guess you don't do any of that
                      OK, I wasn't going to tell you guys this, but...


                      I AM BARACK OBAMA



                      Seriously though, teacher, graphic designer... I've done a lot of jobs that involve working in a creative team, so debate is pretty common.
                      Last edited by Asura; 09-07-2015, 16:36.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Asura View Post
                        OK, I wasn't going to tell you guys this, but...


                        I AM BARACK OBAMA



                        Seriously though, teacher, graphic designer... I've done a lot of jobs that involve working in a creative team, so debate is pretty common.

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Originally posted by replicashooter View Post
                          EYESORE.JPG
                          BAN REQUEST

                          Comment

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