Sega May Be Cleaning Up Their Act Soon...

Post by **racketboy** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:39 pm

I came across this small article:
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/02/seg ... hes_f.html

The article is basically about Sega moving their focus from the PSP to the DS. But the thing I thought was most interesting is this quote:
"We have to do a lot of thinking about titles for Nintendo's hardware, because Nintendo's own titles are extremely strong. It really is difficult to sell a title as a third party. What that means is that we've got to go after it with force: "heave-ho!""

If you have been paying attention to Sega's releases the last few years (actually ever since they went software only), they quality and creativity has really gone downhill. Could they finally have realized that they aren't going to go very far making mediocre games?

Post by **Perseid** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:36 pm

Well, someone somewhere got the right idea on the DS because Sonic Rush is the first Sonic game in years that didn't make me start to twitch. The problem is, though, I see that as a fluke, rather than the start of a trend. I would like to be proven wrong, though. Hear that, Sega?

Post by **Mozgus** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:00 am

They may have realized they suck, but that won't make them not suck anymore.

Post by **Zork** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:44 pm

Mozgus wrote:They may have realized they suck, but that won't make them not suck anymore.

I disagree. While yes as a whole their quality has gone down (maybe because they didn't have to fight for survival anymore?) they've not sucked. The only Sega branch that sucked would be Sonic Team in my opinion. Release after release was just bad. Sega's other little in-house teams did just fine for themselves I'll say. But hopefully we'll start to see more vision and fire from them in the coming years, especially after saying they're going to focus more on the DS and the Wii I suppose.

Most of the time I would say that Sega was just..."Good" or "Decent" after Dreamcast, but good and decent isn't enough for me.

Post by **jemsic** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:43 pm

You're forgetting that alot of the in-house staff quit after the Dreamcast ended. Just because its Sonic Team doesn't mean its the same old Yuji Naka-led group.

Post by **Mozgus** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:23 pm

Zork wrote:
Mozgus wrote:They may have realized they suck, but that won't make them not suck anymore.
I disagree. While yes as a whole their quality has gone down (maybe because they didn't have to fight for survival anymore?) they've not sucked. The only Sega branch that sucked would be Sonic Team in my opinion. Release after release was just bad. Sega's other little in-house teams did just fine for themselves I'll say. But hopefully we'll start to see more vision and fire from them in the coming years, especially after saying they're going to focus more on the DS and the Wii I suppose.

Most of the time I would say that Sega was just..."Good" or "Decent" after Dreamcast, but good and decent isn't enough for me.

Name some good titles, excluding F-Zero GX, which came from Sega post-Dreamcast.

Post by **lordofduct** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 5:58 pm

Mozgus wrote:
Zork wrote:
Mozgus wrote:They may have realized they suck, but that won't make them not suck anymore.
I disagree. While yes as a whole their quality has gone down (maybe because they didn't have to fight for survival anymore?) they've not sucked. The only Sega branch that sucked would be Sonic Team in my opinion. Release after release was just bad. Sega's other little in-house teams did just fine for themselves I'll say. But hopefully we'll start to see more vision and fire from them in the coming years, especially after saying they're going to focus more on the DS and the Wii I suppose.

Most of the time I would say that Sega was just..."Good" or "Decent" after Dreamcast, but good and decent isn't enough for me.
Name some good titles, excluding F-Zero GX, which came from Sega post-Dreamcast.

ermmm...

uhhhhhh

Panzer dragoon Orta

I think that is about all I can think of at this moment.

Though that "Crush" title on the PSP looks like it will be freakin' awesome. (I love puzzle style games)

Post by **racketboy** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:24 pm

I remember when Sega had just become software-only and I was wondering what console I would choose since there was some good titles on each of the newer platforms. But that was back in 2002. I haven't had that feeling in quite a while.

F-Zero GX (which was a team effort between Sega, Namco, and Nintendo IIRC), Panzer Dragoon Orta, Outrun 2, and the new Virtua Fighters are about the only console games since then that were really worthwhile. (Maybe I'm missing a couple)

But keep in mind, most of those were released YEARS ago.

Post by **ImportBoy** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:05 pm

Well - pretty much all Sonic games post Dreamcast have sucked....

As for other Sega games I've played post Dreamcast -

Virtua Fighter 4: Good and what I expected from playing previous games in the series.

Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst (Japanese PC version): Eh...never really was a PSO fan anyway, I picked this up in Japan cause it looked cool. Ok game, the included soundtrack CD was also nice.

Phantasy Star Universe (Japanese / American PC versions): Ok game, English voice acting in the American version kinda sucked though. Star Wars lightsaber knock off swords...

Ryu Ga Gokotu/Yakuza (Japanese / American versions): Good game so far, I have not yet had time to finish it. The voice acting and the translation on the American version REALLY SUCKED - it felt like I was watching an episode of the Sopranos - so I ditched it and have been playing the Japanese version exclusively. Somehow I just don't see Japanese Yakuza members screaming the f word constantly....

Medievel 2: Total War (PC) - Great game, not sure if I'd count this as Sega though, since technically they are only the publisher.

Meh probably forgetting a few others...

I'll be importing Virtua Fighter 5 whenever I decide to get a PS3. Probably will pick up Ryu Ga Gotoku 2 once I finish with the first along with the prequel DVD. And of course Shenmue 3 whenever it comes out....

Post by **Mozgus** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:17 pm

ImportBoy wrote:Medievel 2: Total War (PC) - Great game, not sure if I'd count this as Sega though, since technically they are only the publisher.

I'm sure they were just a Publisher, and an odd choice at that. The rest of the games you mentioned were mostly built off of previous Sega series; the farthest stretch being Ryu Ga Gotoku kinda being like Shenmue.

racketboy wrote:F-Zero GX (which was a team effort between Sega, Namco, and Nintendo IIRC), Panzer Dragoon Orta, Outrun 2, and the new Virtua Fighters are about the only console games since then that were really worthwhile. (Maybe I'm missing a couple).

From what I read, Sega was the real worker behind F-Zero GX. Nintendo more or less just watched over the whole project to make sure Sega didn't screw things up, and Namco just provided some of the technology.