Sega To Take X-Box To Arcades

kikta writes "Well, after our previous speculation about what Sega would do after they got out of the hardware biz, it appears we have our answer. CNN is reporting that they will be producing motherboards to port the Xbox to the arcade. GamePro also weighed in on the announcement."

Comments

Sega never got out of the Arcade business...

[Thomas M Hughes]

I didn't think this was all that big of a deal. There have long been suggestions of Sega working with Microsoft on the XBox. Didn't we even hear that the XBox might play Dreamcast discs natively at some point? Rumor or not, this isn't really huge news.

Unless you look at the hardware, of Sega discussing building an arcade version of the XBox. Again, I really don't consider this news. Sega pulled out of the _home_ console market, they were always doing well in the arcade market, and never intended to pull out of that at all.

So put two and two togeather. Sega makes games for XBox, and Sega makes arcade games. Wouldn't it make sense that Sega would want an Arcade version of XBox in order to make the transition from Arcade to home easiest?

Glad to see Sega still around.

[dave-fu]

They may not have put out a good (read: profitable) game system since the Genesis, but innovative games like Jet Set Radio and the ridiculously addictive Samba de Amigo should show everyone that Sega's still got plenty to offer when it comes to the often-stale world of video games.

Who is making these decisions?

[w.p.richardson]

This is a poor decision on Sega's part. First of all, arcades have been dying for years. The arcade of today is stuffed with crappy driving and ski simulators that cost $1.50 per 20 seconds of play. This is the environment Sega thinks that they can be successful in?

Furthermore, who on earth is going to pay ($1.00 or more?) to play arcade ports of games that are available for a home system? Just go buy an Xbox and the games and you don't have to pay to play. If you want to try the game first, you could always rent it or borrow it from a friend.

Re:Who is making these decisions?

[Ahchay]

Ummm. Have you been to an arcade recently?

After far too many years of formulaic beat 'em up nonsense, there has been quite a resurgence recently in arcade games providing experiences you won't get at home. The best examples of these are games such as Dance Dance Revolution (which although looking like no-one in their right mind would play in public is hugely successful) but head to head racers (daytona is still the no.1 blueprint) and even FPS games (anyone seen SWAT 24/7? Cracking game) are light-years ahead of home consoles - mainly because designers have finally got rid of the up-down-left-right-fire mentality so beloved of the JAMMA era

Arcade designers are, it seems, finally realising that they can't really compete with home consoles on the graphics and sound front and are pretty much returning to root design principles. Make the _game_ different in the arcade; provide controls customised for the game; put players head-to-head; in short give the player something extra!

Or are you intending to buy different controllers for each game you get for the x-box? Your living room is going to be pretty cluttered...

Personally, I think this is great news. The easier arcade games are to produce the better.

Re:Who is making these decisions?

[CaseyB]

This is the environment Sega thinks that they can be successful in?

No, this is the environment that Sega knows they have been and ARE successful in.

This is only about introducing the Xbox as another arcade hardware platform for the company, not a change in their strategy. I imagine they'll use Xbox hardware for the "commodity" games, and they'll continue to use their custom hardware for the "A" games.

Re:Who is making these decisions?

[Anemophilous Coward]

I have to say that the life of the Arcade is precariously balanced right now. They are doing the right thing by changing the style of the games to make them different than the home console games. What is cutting off their oxygen supply however, is the ease with which to play with your buddies at home and networked play. This however, could be slowly changing...

I remember through the early Quake years a rash of upstart 'gaming' houses, where some guys put a bunch of crappy computers in their basement and charged others by the hour to play Quake and Duke Nukem at the time. But they pretty much died off as people got better computers at home with good modems etc. However Arcades might have the necessary financial backing to make this work again.

One place that seems pretty successful is the Metreon(sp?) out in San Francisco. It's a large mall like structure with movies, stores and large arcade. The games there are different variations on computer games, one is *sort* of like Tribes (I use that comparison lightly). What is nice is that all of the consoles for that game are networked together to form a big game world...nearby consoles might be on the same team, which fight against people on the group of consoles across the room (there's maybe 40 total consoles of this particular game). Now take that concept a step further - have several of these games at arcades across the city, nation or world(what with broadband speeds becoming fairly prevelant in big cities). Now you could have your group of friends play at one arcade against others in another city.

It's kind of the next evolution of the big LAN party tournaments. More people could join in certain competitions because it would be easier for them *not* to have to drag around their computer (I know, I know, most of the fun of LAN partys is the file trading and being at someones house till the wee hours...I don't see those private gatherings going away). The Arcade may not be open all night, but it could be open almost every night...much easier to have a consistantly open gathering place to game. Anyway, some things to think about.

-A non-productive mind is with absolutely zero balance.
- AC

Great...

[devnullkac]

So now I can look forward to paying 50 cents to see the blue screen of death. I wonder if the arcade attendants will need to get MCSE certification...

Re:Great...

[sharkey]

I wonder if the arcade attendants will need to get MCSE certification...

Speak for yourself. I can't wait for the sit-down, wraparound-sound, motion-simulator versions of Minesweeper and Solitaire to be out. They'll rock the standup version in no time flat!

the real drag is...

[spyderbyte23]

The reason to do this is so that Sega can move games from arcade to XBox or vice-versa, right? So I think, reading this, you have to expect that Sega intends to do a lot of development on XBox. Currently they are supporting all three consoles by their former rivals, but most of the interesting stuff was going to PS2 and Gamecube. Until Friday, when it was announced that Shenmue II was cancelled in the US on Dreamcast and would be exclusive to the XBox.

I would reluctantly guess that we can expect to see more of Sega's best stuff on XBox. I am of two minds about this, because it will tempt me to buy an XBox, and I already wanted a Gamecube.

What SEGA SHOULD be doing....

[squaretorus]

This may be seen as off topic, but...

SEGA has done two great things for the world. Hedgehogs and driving games. SEGA should do hedgehogs and driving games. Simple as that.

Do one or two things exceptionally well, bugger volume! I'd pay a premium to play SEGA hedgehog or driving games on ANY platform - Arcade(yes please!), PC, Xbox, PS2, gamecube, handheld... you name it, I'll play it.

Hedgehogs and driving games!
Sonic Team - the U2 of games!

Re:What SEGA SHOULD be doing....

[Cutriss]

SEGA has done two great things for the world. Hedgehogs and driving games. SEGA should do hedgehogs and driving games. Simple as that.

I beg to differ. Watch as I karma-whore my way into greatness by rallying Sega-fanboys and geeks alike by reminding you of Sega's other immense successes:

Phantasy Star series
Alex Kidd series
Shining Force series
NiGHTs Into Dreams
Panzer Dragoon series
Ecco the Dolphin series
Toejam and Earl series
Eternal Arcadia (Skies of Arcadia in US)
Jet Set Radio (AKA Jet Grind Radio)
Virtual On series
Sakura Taisen series
Virtua Fighter series

And then, you have all the *real* old school stuff...Shinobi, Out Run, Space Harrier, Alien Syndrome, Flicky, Bloxeed, Psycho Fox...

Not to mention a wide array of some excellent third party titles that have a significant background history, like Capcom's port of Strider, Radiant Silvergun, all the SNK home ports...The Genesis may have been Sega's highlight in history...but that doesn't mean that everything else they've done was a failure.

Re:What SEGA SHOULD be doing....

[iapetus]

I'm no Sega fanboy, but hoorah for Cutriss.

Except for two things, of course.

1) Defining these as 'immense successes' is dubious to a certain extent. Sure, most of them were great games, but very few were commercial successes. Jet Grind Radio sold remarkably few units, NiGHTs was likewise a sales disaster (despite huge critical acclaim). The biggest sellers you list there are Virtua Fighter (the arcade hardware for VF4 is Naomi-based, and the home console conversion is targetted at PS2) and Sakura Taisen, which is squarely aimed at the Japanese audience.

2) You forgot Burning Rangers.

A Shining Force sequel for XBox would, of course, cement my purchase of the system.

An obvious development, back in March!

[AtariDatacenter]

Back in March, I posted this reply to a story about capcom calling it quits. Specifically, I said:

Today, the situation is quite difference. In fact, the X-Box seems to put the final nail in the coffin. Arcade game manufacturers may very well stop creating arcade games on custom hardware. Instead, they'll compile for an X-Box style platform. Why? For the ease of conversion to the home game. That's where the money is. The arcade game is just the 'advertisement' to create the buzz.

I don't pretend to have my finger on the pulse of the arcade industry, but it seemed like an obvious development. There isn't much need to create custom arcade hardware when you've got something like the X-Box that you can develop arcade games on and later port to the home PC (and X-Box game console).

Quite a good strategy, for Microsoft and Sega.

Please please

[SubtleNuance]

I wonder if it would be possible to build/hack a JAMMA adapter for Sega's new board...??

Why people go to arcades

[Migelikor1]

This is a legitimate business move. One of the main reasons people go to arcades is to play other people. A good friend of mine bought a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for his Dreamcast and hardly plays it anymore. He's had it maybe three weeks. However, he still goes to arcades and spends hour after hour playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The Dreamcast version he can play at home on his big screen TV is arcade perfect (arguably better than the arcade version), but playing a computer-controlled opponent just can't compare to playing another person. Computer-controlled opponents have routines and tendencies that become familiar to players after a while. On the other hand, if console networking continues to improve that incantive decreases. There is a lure to having a physical opponent to scream insults at, but is it strong enough?

Longevity of Sega Properties

[disc-chord]

I can't believe how many people are rushing to post speculations without reading the articles. Posting without reading the articles is like a first post, useless to the discussion.

This is more than just a power play to be the arcade hardward source (despite the speculations of some people here, Sega has been doing pretty good in the arcades) this is also a good oportunity for Sega franchises to continue on a new platform. Think about the first time you saw Sonic? Everyone instantly fell in love with him. For those of you that play imports, Sakura Taisen probably holds a special place in your heart. Phantasy Star, admitadly a knock-off on Final Fantasy, is hugely popular. While some people are questioning this move, I think this is Sega playing to it's strenghts.

Not too surprising

[ackthpt]

For years arcade games were built around custom computers and very costly. Lately I've seen a string of machines which have a certain 'vanilla' look to them. Different (large) adhesive panels affixed and of course the requisite controls for the particular game, but arcades don't appear to be the gold mines they once were, either.

Heck, there's a couple games at the laundry I often use and only once in over a year have I seen anyone play them.

Putting the xbox guts into these machines might be a cost effective solution, but I dunno. If the whole thing is supposed to sell for $499, even at cost I think they could do better. I wonder if there'll be any marketing through stenographic or subliminal messages...

Insert 1 coin for one player

Insert 2 coins for two players

Insert 5 coins for customer support

Insert 20 coins to recover from blue screen

Insert 100 coins if you don't want captured video of you getting your worst score ever published on the web

WINners DOn't use drugs!
WinnerS eXPerience the
GOOD LIfe! Never Underestimate
the power of the Xbox, Boys AnD
girls!

Arcades will be the real test for XBox chipset

[SysKoll]

I was wondering if Microsoft would get away with putting a crappy OS in a consumer box.

Now, arcades are not exactly the place where you tolerate crashes or BSODs. The mobo has to be glitch-free, and the software shouldn't crash ever.

Point 1 (mobo never crashing) is hard enough with server PCs. Considering the speed of the XBox graphics subsystem and the corner-cutting (a.k.a. price-reduction engineering) required in a high-volume chipset, this will be no mean feat.

Obviously, Sega will develop specific motherboards for this application, but they'll need to use the same chip set, which already suffered from the usual bane of highly complex chips (bugs founds in production). Sega can't allow these chips to glitch their arcade machines. The arcade manager would pull the plug at the first crash and call service. How are they going to solve this problem? Sorting and cooling? Anyone knows?

Point 2 is interesting. If the XBox's OS and DirectX layer can really withstand the day-long, intensive use of a high-perf game machine without crashing, then Microsoft should be commended for a great QA job.

And if it cannot stand the intensive load, then a lot of gamers will see these "XBox Inside" Sega machines with the plug pulled and an out-of-use sign. This will not look too good for the sales of the XBox.

If MS can survive this, they'll have an impressive product on their hands. Hyperactive teens pounding on your mobo are no substitute for good design, but they are a good substitude for a high-speed test vector generator! :-)

-- SysKoll