Support NeoGAF

[MAZYORA]

At first I was sorda against it, but now it really makes sense. I think Sega has been spread too thin over the past few years. I think it's gonna be good to have every team under 1 roof and have them share resources. I've noticed that each division creates their own graphics engine, I think Sega should make a whole team just devoted to Graphics engines and libraries and every team can use them. I just read an interview with the president of Sega(Hitmakers former pres, I think is name is Ogouchi) where he agreed and said the consolidation of the teams is a good thing and he said Sega hasn't felt the same since the team splits, and is looking forward to bringing them all together again. I wonder if each team will keep their respective brand name(AV, Smilebit, SonicTeam, AM2, etc.?)

 

[Ill Saint]

Possibly. I just hope the talent (I can see the jokes now) stays and the company gets their shit together and produces more great games.

 

[jarrod]

There's rumblings that Suzuki might be leaving...

 

[DrGAKMAN]

I think the reason why they want Sega to be consolidated and profitable is 'cos they eventually want to sell off Sega to the highest bidder. Imagine if Nintendo, Sony or MS could get ALL of Sega's games exclussive one of these generations.

I dunno...

 

[Optimistic]

I think it's a good move. Perhaps now we'll see a truly great 3D Sonic game.

 

[MAZYORA]

There's rumblings that Suzuki might be leaving...

No there isn't! That's you making shit up again. Go post another thread about what games each Sega team is working on right now and stay out of my threads.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Mr. Suzuki HAS been rumored to be leaving for a while now though *cough*okamoto*cough*...

 

[Dyne]

Frick. As long as I get my Virtua Fighter FT, Shenmue series, and Phantasy Star Universe intact, soon, the regroup really means nothing to me.

 

[jarrod]

No there isn't! That's you making shit up again.

Maybe you should go fishing?

 

[callous]

Yes, I think it could very well be a good thing for Sega.

 

[DECK'ARD]

Only if they let each (or some/most?) of the development teams keep their identity. Otherwise you are just going to compromise a collection of talented artists. One big Sega is just one big compromise of everyone's idea there. And you can bet that this current compromise wasn't shaped by the artists themselves

I'd rather have 2 people developing a game if possible, than a bunch of 20 say. It's entirely possible just those 2 people could come up with more inventive stuff than 20 people round a boardroom table. It happened in the 8-bit and 16-bit days *all* the time. The problem is that the current business model doesn't allow just 2 people to do a game anymore.

Or does it ...

 

[jarrod]

It could go either way imo. While I do think the various studios needed to be "roped in" and no longer operate as independant subsidiaries, I'm not sure the entire giant R&D pool concept is sound either. Something more inbetween would've been best imo, maybe consolidating teams more and bringing them under one management but still maintaing a group identity and structure for each.

As far as the Suzuki stuff...

What's eating Yu Suzuki? Nobody seems to know what the heck he's actually doing nowadays. He's been off the game creation oversight panel that Naka and Nagoshi have spearheaded for a while, and his DigitalRex crew has yet to show, well, anything. He could be seen wandering the show floor this year - alone. Previous times, he always had a little entourage of AM2 folks and PR lackeys with him. While many of the Sega staff went to parties and talked in groups (Naka and Nagoshi seemed especially close), Suzuki seemed strangely distant from the rest of the Sega staff. Perhaps the most telling incident was seeing Naka, Nagoshi, Miyamoto, and Itagaki standing in a group having a conversation at the Nintendo party - with Suzuki standing alone just a few feet away, talking briefly only to those who recognized him.

 

[Ill Saint]

"Perhaps the most telling incident was seeing Naka, Nagoshi, Miyamoto, and Itagaki standing in a group having a conversation at the Nintendo party - with Suzuki standing alone just a few feet away, talking briefly only to those who recognized him."

That's some depressing reading.

 

[DECK'ARD]

Here's a good analogy for the Yu Suzuki thing:

It's the same as 2 people walking past a tramp with a guitar, not even listening to what he is playing or singing, just because he looks like a tramp. If they ignored the fact he looked like a tramp, they'd find out he was a very-talented clasically trained musician who'd just fallen on hard times.

Not that I'm saying Yu Suzuki is a tramp But he *is* going unnoticed. Only a few recognised him, and talked to him.

Why?

Because the people who run the games instrustry are *not* the creative people. The people in charge of projects are *not* the people who created them! And therefore they can't spot the people with talent. An artist can recognise another artist, a businessman just sees a money-making opportunity. And this is where things *always* go wrong. When the artist loses control of their creation, people who don't care about that creation will endanger it. Because they aren't as protective of it as the person who gave birth to it.

Big business and the arts are not compatible - big business makes money by exploiting artists. Artists are not going to put up for this for much longer, if someone comes along with a better business model.

 

[Mashing]

Or maybe it is because the Shenmue series is a steaming piece of shit

 

[DECK'ARD]

Or maybe it is because the Shenmue series is a steaming piece of shit

Which is just YOUR opinion, and you are making the assumption that your opinion is fact? I can point to lots of fans of Shenmue, I'm sort of in the middle. But anything that evokes a feeling of some kind is a work of art. Personally I'd rather go around encouraging people to create stuff, rather than trying to snuff it out like you just did with what you've just said.

What you said is exactly the sort of thing that makes people give up. And *that* is very sad. What are you going to do to make-up for the fact Yu Suzuki is obviously thinking about giving up on games? People on the internet seem to live in this insular bubble, that gives them the right to say whatever they like about anything and anyone. But don't they realise that in the same way as they have the freedom to say it, the target of their attack has the freedom to read it. How would you feel if you were Yu Suzuki and read what you'd just written - a sweeping generalisation that offers no explanation of what you like or dislike. Just damns his creation. Personally, if I was him I'd be fed up of fighting to do something he believes in when people like you, and maybe even some of the people in Sega/Sammy above him, just try to bring him down.

Maybe, just maybe, Yu Suzuki has more to offer the world of videogames than you? And it's just your jealousy speaking?

 

[TheGreenGiant]

honestly, SEGA has been pretty bad with their business model (releasing ports, games on xbox); we can go over this to death and we have on the forum. This merger if anything might just make SEGA work again. It sure as hell can't get any worse.

 

[DECK'ARD]

People just can't see the wood for the trees.

And as my mum always told me, if you want something done, do it yourself

I did it in 1995, and that was without a track-record or any finance at all. In theory I should be able to make a much bigger splash this time, and we intend to.

Watch this space ...

 

[Mashing]

Which is just YOUR opinion, and you are making the assumption that your opinion is fact? I can point to lots of fans of Shenmue, I'm sort of in the middle. But anything that evokes a feeling of some kind is a work of art. Personally I'd rather go around encouraging people to create stuff, rather than trying to snuff it out like you just did with what you've just said.

What you said is exactly the sort of thing that makes people give up. And *that* is very sad. What are you going to do to make-up for the fact Yu Suzuki is obviously thinking about giving up on games? People on the internet seem to live in this insular bubble, that gives them the right to say whatever they like about anything and anyone. But don't they realise that in the same way as they have the freedom to say it, the target of their attack has the freedom to read it. How would you feel if you were Yu Suzuki and read what you'd just written - a sweeping generalisation that offers no explanation of what you like or dislike. Just damns his creation. Personally, if I was him I'd be fed up of fighting to do something he believes in when people like you, and maybe even some of the people Sega in above him, just try to bring him down.

Maybe, just maybe, Yu Suzuki has more to offer the world of videogames than you? And it's just your jealousy speaking?

Let me rephrase, the Shenmue series is a piece of shit next to Skies of Arcadia (which didn't get a sequel and Shenmue did... the money pit that it is). While SoA didn't sell all that well (the edge goes to Shenmue on that one), it also cost them much less to develop it.

So in conclusion, if Shenmue 3 is made before SoA2... I'll have to firebomb Sega/Sammy

 

[DECK'ARD]

Let me rephrase, the Shenmue series is a piece of shit next to Skies of Arcadia (which didn't get a sequel and Shenmue did... the money pit that it is). While SoA didn't sell all that well (the edge goes to Shenmue on that one), it also cost them much less to develop it.

So in conclusion, if Shenmue 3 is made before SoA2... I'll have to firebomb Sega/Sammy

I prefer to think a bit more long-term than a sequel to one of my favourite games ...

 

[belgurdo]

Considering Sammy is a one-hit wonder and they could use Sega's lineup to actually make bank on the console scene, I don't see how it's all that bad.

 

[jarrod]

Sammy's one hit being Viewpoint, right?

 

[DECK'ARD]

Considering Sammy is a one-hit wonder and they could use Sega's lineup to actually make bank on the console scene, I don't see how it's all that bad.

Or they are just going to milk Sega for it's best assets and leave the other artists to starve? Isn't that already happening?

Personally, I'd rather ensure the future of certain artists, than take a leap of faith.

And you'd be surprised what a tramp with a guitar can do, if he has a plan

 

[jarrod]

And you'd be surprised what a tramp with a guitar can do, if he has a plan

Work at Namco?

 

[ge-man]

Man that post jarrod made was sad. I hope Suzuki does leave if he's unhappy.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I doubt we will ever see a shenmue sequel. It just didn't set the industry/charts on fire. Bombed out twice too, once on the DC and then on the XBox. I enjoyed the first one, contemplated strongly getting the sequel today (but didn't).. AND this from a SEGA fanatic who loved the Dreamcast.

The new direction SEGA should take should definitely involve LESS/NO sonic titles. As a gamer, I am sick of their sonic crap. Its like they'd forgotten that they have the ability to make cool new games. They've also been ignoring their other classic IPs which pisses me off a bit. Hopefully, we'll see some RPGs out of them, a new nights, a fantastical PS RPG, more weird shit like SC5/rez and more greatness in their JSR franchise (which also didn't set the world on fire). And seeing how they've moved along. NO MORE PORTS to x and y consoles. Especially wasted resources on Sonic, Shenmue, PSO titles to the current gen consoles.

:|

 

[Blackace]

Sammy has tons of money... I mean tons... more money than Sega has ever had! They are very interested in the entertainment business... very... they want to stay on top... of it.. (They rock pretty hard in Japan... Pachinko kings!!!!) So all in all I think this move is very good for Sega... They will get all the money theu need to bring back the Sega magic

(I hope)

 

[ge-man]

I doubt they would ignore Sonic. While most of us may deplore the quality of the 3D Sonics, they have been one of few things to generate a profit for Sega in the console realm. The only thing I do see changing is maybe Sammy reconsidering where Sonic's home should be (everthing seems to indicate that Sammy wants Sega to be a big PS2 supporter). And the the Phantasy Star Universe annoucment indicates that the PSO games will not die off soon (though deep down I'd wish they give us a real sequel of PS4).

 

[TheGreenGiant]

Sammy's one hit being Viewpoint, right?

I believe they also had a hit with the Guilty Gear series.

 

[akascream]

I think they should leave sonic team alone to make PSO games and leave AV alone to make whatever they want. You can consolidate or do whatever you want with the rest of em.

 

[Mashing]

Sammy would be fools take Sonic off the Nintendo platforms... it's already been proven that Sonic fanbase is moved to the Nintendo camp...