Sega Studios To Be Amalgamated In Sammy Merger

jasoncart writes "News from Japan today informs us that the Sega-Sammy merger is progressing apace ahead of the October completion date, with the announcement of new appointments at the holding firm, and news that 'Sega's seven internal divisions, including famous studios such as AM2 and Sonic Team, will be amalgamated ahead of the merger.' Sammy boss Hajime Satomi argues: 'I feel that Sega has high individual capabilities, but it's too separated into different subsidiaries... It's about time that we returned back to the old Sega' - there's also a new company logo for the holding company. At a time of great change for Sega, the only thing now certain is this great shift, with which Sammy aims to push Sega back into profitability."

Comments

Bring Back The Old Sega

[MBCook]

Bringing back the old Sega is fine with me. Let's get a really good Sonic game for the 'cube (or PS2 or anything else). The reviews I saw for the latest Sonic game said that the speed sequences were fantastic, but everythin in between wasn't very good at all. Bring me a game the quality of Sonic 2 or 3. And bring back the Sega attitude. Sega used to be "hip". All their commercials had the "Sega scream", which I liked. When you start to play a game, show the little Sega logo like you used to get on the Genesis where a female voice sings "Sega". Bring them back to who they were.

Today, Sega doesn't seem like much to me. They make a Sonic game once and a while, and they make sports games. What else do they do? Sure they released Toejam & Earl III (which wasn't supposed to be too hot), or occational House of the Dead sequels, but let's get them making a bunch of games again. They seem to be stuck in sequel-ville with many other parts of the industry.

If it makes Sega better, I'm all for it.

But get a better logo. Use the old Sega logo from the 16bit days.

Re:Bring Back The Old Sega

[Doomstalk]

Sega's produced some fantastic titles in recent years (Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, Phantasy Star Online, Skies of Arcadia, the ESPN Sports line, ect.) Indeed, I'd aruge that they're one of the most innovative publishers out there today. The problem, it seems, is that for the most part people don't like games that break the mold. Great example: Jet Set Radio. It was the first game to feature cel shading, was an absolute blast to play, and featured a fantastic soundtrack. What happened to it? It flopped because it was "too weird". Sega can't get past people's pre-conceptions to get people to see a truly phenomenal game it is (a problem which is plaguing Nintendo too). People are too focuses on "gritty" or "realistic" games instead of quality ones. Hell, I bet you that Toe Jam & Earl would flop today for that very same reason. The truth is, a game which doesn't stray too far from a "tried and true" formula like Metal Gear Solid 2 gets all kinds of attention from press and fans alike while adding almost nothing to the gameplay. A game like Zelda: Legend of the Wind Waker, on the other hand, gets tons of flak for looking nothing else on the market (despite being gorgeous). I gusss people just like homogeny in their entertainment.

Own personal opinion

[UltimaL337Star]

Sega and even Sammy's own individual logos looked much more appealing. If I didn't know better I'd guess that it was the logo of some random manufacturer or rice cookers or appliances. Their old logos just had that coolness, and white and blue go with almost anything... Now they're Luigi colored...

Sort of replying…sort of ranting

[drunken-sosage]

I remember the Sega marketing engine made a small sputter towards the old school Sega commercials (with the SEGA scream) around SegaNet's launch. Couldn't tell you what happened there, but it was at least an attempt to go back to that "old school" marketing trend you've mentioned.

Sega was hip and did titles that meant something during the Dreamcast era, yet no one bought into it (Space Channel 5, Sea Man, Jet Set Radio, Shen Mue, Typing of the Dead, Rez ((ok...it got a limited Japanese release on DC)) and Phantasy Star Online...just to name a few). *That* was when Sega was making their come back publishing/backing genuinely great ideas, yet it felt like no one wanted to support it (going back to marketing...it isn't as if they helped themselves by not running more advertising...). I sometimes think we don't deserve this romanticized Sega we talk about, because we'll just piss on it anyways.

P.S.: I agree. Sonic CD is by far my favorite Sonic.

Re:Bring Back The Old Sega (MORE)

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

You may have enjoyed the advertising scheme for the launch of the Saturn but it is routinely cited as yet another mistake Sega made at and around the time of the Saturn. Sega's scream commercials had cemented the company into the hearts and minds of teenage boys. The Theatre of the Eye commercials were a bit too avant garde for your typical teenage boy AND they didn't show nearly enough of the games themselves.

I will note that Sega reverted back to the scream commercials for the Saturn some time after launch but it was too late at that point and they had lost that generation of consoles.