Sega developed Dreamcast games published by other companies

[ExedExes]

As a Dreamcast and gaming history buff, something has always bugged me about US DC releases. As you know, Sega made/ported most of the games for DC, but they were not always PUBLISHED by them. As I look through my collection, I notice these Sega-developed games published by different companies:

F355 Challenge -- Published by Acclaim
Illbleed -- Published by AIA (Jaleco was to get it first, but AIA snatched it up)
Sports Jam -- Published by Agetec
Virtual On: OT -- Published by Activision
Daytona USA -- Published by Hasbro Interactive (have this one, thanks Redifer!)
WWF Royal Rumble -- Published by THQ (also have this one, thanks CD AGES!)

It might sound like a silly reason to start a thread, but I was wondering why Sega's own games would be farmed and licensed out to other publishers, when they published a lot of their own games. There may be other DC titles to add to this list.

[bacardipr05]

If i remember correctly going back 10+ years and 1000 beers later Acclaim had the license for Ferrari. The rest im not sure it could be Sega had no interest in releasing some of those games stateside. However, this i just a guess on my part. Illbleed wasnt develop by Sega i dont think Crazy games the same folk who made Blue Stinger.

[vlame]

the illbleed info in op is totally wrong.

[CD AGES]

Illbleed was developed by Climax so fix that list.

Anywho, this isn't unheard of you know. In PAL territories, there was even more Sega titles published by other entites on Dreamcast. As an example, about every Capcom game on the DC was published by various publishers like Eidos, Virgin and Big Ben. Anywho the reason usually stems from a publisher not seeing the their game making much of a profit in a certain territory. So they liscesnce their titles to other publishers and allow them to carry the potential risk and have them market and localize the product. It's why games like KOF XIII and SamSho Sen are published out here in the U.S. by Atlus and XSeed respectively. It's a very business concious decision, and a smart one at that.

[Breetai]

Better a few games than an entire console. The Master System was Published by Tonka for years. The Genesis was published by Majesco at the end of its life.

[vlame]

Majesco did the same reprints with the SNES and psx as well. Iirc.

[ExedExes]

Thanks for posting all. I know it's a rather offbeat topic, but I appreciate all your input so far.

If i remember correctly going back 10+ years and 1000 beers later Acclaim had the license for Ferrari. The rest im not sure it could be Sega had no interest in releasing some of those games stateside. However, this i just a guess on my part. Illbleed wasnt develop by Sega i dont think Crazy games the same folk who made Blue Stinger.

Right, Crazy Games is on the packaging as such (and a final end-boss, Bullstinger makes a reference to that game) -- But I see on the title screen Sega Corporation 2001 -- Plus how could an outside developer make such an obvious evil "Sonic" as the boss in Level 6, complete with rings you have to shoot to damage him? I am thinking Sega had some sort of hand in this.

Illbleed was developed by Climax so fix that list.

Anywho, this isn't unheard of you know. In PAL territories, there was even more Sega titles published by other entites on Dreamcast. As an example, about every Capcom game on the DC was published by various publishers like Eidos, Virgin and Big Ben. Anywho the reason usually stems from a publisher not seeing the their game making much of a profit in a certain territory. So they liscesnce their titles to other publishers and allow them to carry the potential risk and have them market and localize the product. It's why games like KOF XIII and SamSho Sen are published out here in the U.S. by Atlus and XSeed respectively. It's a very business concious decision, and a smart one at that.

Good points, CD AGES. I see Climax listed on sites as a possible developer, but again I know Crazy Games had a part in it as it's on the packaging. Nowhere do I see Climax on the case or in the game, however, unless my reading is poor I just wouldn't imagine Sega doing that to games they made themselves, unless they had a pretty crowded release schedule on their own.

Majesco did the same reprints with the SNES and psx as well. Iirc.

Correct, as the guy above you stated, Majesco would be releasing Genesis 3 consoles on behalf of Sega as they were working on the Saturn later on. They also reproduced SNES carts with black and white cartridge labels and manuals (a huge disappointment for me when I bought NIB Mega Man X and Top Gear back in 1997)

I'd like to see a few more ideas here, keep them coming!

[aaron]

Majesco did the same reprints with the SNES and psx as well. Iirc.

add game gear to that list. the majesco game gear is actually kind of superior to the sega version...

[Hobie-wan]

The NES was marketed by Mattel in Europe at first.

[bacardipr05]

Climax later changed their name to Crazy Games.