Are we a popular enough demographic to make money off of?

[Original_Name]

I just read a little bit of the thread of general disgust regarding NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams and how Sega took a cult-classic game with a large fan base (for a Saturn game) and watered the whole thing down into a lame mess for the masses to eat up (which I'm not even sure they did. Did that game turn a profit?). And it got me thinking about how often franchises get watered down for the masses for the sake of sales, and generally no one really likes them a whole lot, especially compared to their counterparts. Look at the titles which have been dumbed down for sales: NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Shining Force: Not SRPG, Bomberman: Act Zero, et cetera, and none of them have been as well-received as their predecessors, nor do they turn as high a profit (taking the inflation of the gaming population into account). Then take a look at the franchises which haven't been dumbed down: Ninja Gaiden, Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid. All of these franchises are doing better than ever!! So why would developers (particularly Sega) continue to dumb down their franchises for demographics who didn't care about the game in the first place? It doesn't help sales, in fact it generally hurts them; and it sure as hell doesn't help the reviews! So I wonder, if developers like Sega were to look at our demographic and say, "These guys sure liked the way the old NiGHTS, Sonic, and Shining Force games were made!" and create games accordingly, would they actually sell better than their more dumbed down efforts to bring these franchises to the current generation? I understand that Sega is no longer the company they used to be in both spirit and personnel, but judging by the success of Prince of Persia and the like, it seems to me that actually advancing the series as opposed to watering them down is the most profitable and respectable way to go.

Or am I wrong and our demographic isn't large enough to sustain these franchises?

[lordofduct]

I love me some Sega.

But Sega is dead my friend. She died a long time ago. What's left is a crazy old man walking around in a skin suit made of Sega going "Sonic Booom Sonic Boooooom!"

[chairmanlove]

Nights on the Wii has left a bad taste, but I'd argue that Sega has a renewed commitment to "our" demographic now more than ever. They stepped up to support Platinum Games after Capcom let Clover dissolve, and brought us Valkyria Chronicles, one of the best PS3 exclusives to date, and still managed to make a deal with Tri-Ace to bring Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity) to market - which is the first Tri-Ace game not done in conjunction with Square-Enix.

I'm not sure if any Nights sequel would have made me happy per se. The original was just at the right place and time and was as much about hardware ability as it was about hardware limitations.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Nights on the Wii has left a bad taste, but I'd argue that Sega has a renewed commitment to "our" demographic now more than ever. They stepped up to support Platinum Games after Capcom let Clover dissolve, and brought us Valkyria Chronicles, one of the best PS3 exclusives to date, and still managed to make a deal with Tri-Ace to bring Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity) to market - which is the first Tri-Ace game not done in conjunction with Square-Enix.

I'm not sure if any Nights sequel would have made me happy per se. The original was just at the right place and time and was as much about hardware ability as it was about hardware limitations.

Platinum Games could just as easily say F-SEGA we're going to Sony or Microsoft, SEGA just got damn luck to file a contract first.

SEGA themselves hasn't made a game truly worth playing in 4 years or so.

[Dreamstation]

The fact they release retro compilations every year and that they sell well should answer your question. Ebay is full of retro game stuff and sells fast. there is a market for an almost anything just a matter knowing how to market and sell it. Humans are obsessed with looking back into history and we (the gaming world) have a unique ability to actually go back in time and relive history

[Jrecee]

I maintain that there's a big enough market to be able to create a new 16-bit system and sell games for it. Unfortunately I do not have the know-how to create a system.

[the7k]

Don't forget Deus Ex 2. It basically took everything that was great about Deus Ex (Diablo-style inventory, leveling up skill sets, and independent damage for each limb, the torso and head, that would cause you to move/shoot differently depending on how damaged they got) out to make a bland Sci-Fi FPS where a headshot would only do about 1.2x the damage of a footshot, an inventory system where a pistol takes up the same space as a rocket launcher and leveling up is completely taken out. Many believe this was done because it was made to appeal to Xbox players, but everybody who loved Deus Ex hated the changes.

The problem is that Sega, Ion Storm and other companies that continually fuck things up don't ever ask the fans what they want. They always ask the lowest common denominator. They want mass appeal, so they ask the masses - the problem is, the masses never know what they really want.

Making a Sonic game with God of War elements or a Deus Ex that is more like a console shooter might appeal to whoever you are 'test grouping' the product too, but when it comes out, will they care? If I want to play God of War, I'll play God of War. If I want to play a generic console shooter, I'll play a generic console shooter!

[otaku]

I actually read an entire book on making 8/16 bit consoles and put together a unit with the help of a website cost me a few hundred bucks but it was fun to work on and get a game running on. I don't know about making a new system but making clones and making 2d old school games for new consoles is cool and can be successful. I'd love to create a new console with someone I think I could even pull it off I know enough technical people but lack funds haha

[corn619]

Like the previous posters said, retro compilations and retro games services like Wiiware make tons of money. The bottomline is, you make sucky games nobody will buy it.

[Jrecee]

Otaku, I must know more.