Should Nintendo Acquire SEGA?

[Nz17]

The house of Alex Kidd has been hurting lately, bad enough to fire a large part of its international workforce with more layoffs on the way. Right now, SEGA Sammy Holdings is hurting and it would be easy for another company to buy up sets of IP or the whole enchilada. The question is, if the choice is dying an unrefined death or selling the company to another business, who should acquire SEGA? Should it be split up and auctioned off to multiple buyers or kept as a whole in a worst case scenario?

[The 1 2 P]

I don't think Nintendo would want them. Furthermore, it might not even be worth it to them depending on how much purchasing all of Sega-Sammy would cost. If it were more than a billion dollars Nintendo wouldn't even be in the race. Not because they don't have that much but because I couldn't see them paying that much for them. But if they only cost like 200 million then maybe they'd grab them.

But Sega-Sammy is still doing better than THQ. I still believe they will be closing in the next 2-3 years. Sega will continue to skate by and they will probably start to rely even more on their cross-over titles with Nintendo(the Olympics series). Also, even though Sonic games continue to get pretty mediocre reviews on average they are still making Sega money because people still buy them.

[BoringSupreez]

I think it would be great if Nintendo bought Sega. Nintendo is stricter about the quality of their games, and if they applied those standards to Sega, imagine the stuff we could get! Stuff like Sonic '06 certainly wouldn't happen anymore.

[Press_Start]

I think, instead Nintendo buying up, Sony should team-up with Sega and create.....the Dreamstation! :D

No, I'm serious.

The two really compliment one another as sorta the yin and yang of video game refinement. Sony has the heavy hardware muscle to back itself but lacks the imagination. Sega has two decades worth of creative history under their belt but lack the resources to jump back into the console frey. Such a partnership would be mutually beneficial. Sony gets to add amazing fan-favorite franchises to its arsenal such as Sonic, Nights, Gunstar Heroes, Jet Grind Radio, Crazy Taxi, Rez, Yakuza, Shining Force, Phantasy Star, Panzer Dragoon, Valkyria Chronicles, and Project DIVA(?). Sega will have the resources and a bigger platform to jump start, grow, and promote various projects at Nintendo's level as they are two biggest giants when it comes to the best, unforgettable, impressionistic, out-of-the-box creation and character rarely seen these days.

[NayusDante]

Sega these days is just as much a publisher as they are a developer. Their business model involved pursuing all console platforms, which doesn't jive with Nintendo's outlook. If Nintendo were to acquire another developer, my bet would be on someone with Android experience to help them compete in the mobile sector. They're losing market share to Apple, and I don't see them publishing for Windows Phone. Sega is one of the biggest publishers on Windows Phone, and I don't think Nintendo would be interested in pushing someone else's platform in a sector that's become a huge threat to their business.

[Griking]

I think it would be great if Nintendo bought Sega. Nintendo is stricter about the quality of their games, and if they applied those standards to Sega, imagine the stuff we could get! Stuff like Sonic '06 certainly wouldn't happen anymore.

I just wish that Nintendo was stricter about the games that it allows 3rd parties to release for its consoles.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Lets not forget that Nintendo has been shedding a lot of money lately as well. They may not be in good enough shape to buy out a company.

[skaar]

An incestuous marriage between royal houses...

[kupomogli]

I think it would be great if Nintendo bought Sega. Nintendo is stricter about the quality of their games, and if they applied those standards to Sega, imagine the stuff we could get! Stuff like Sonic '06 certainly wouldn't happen anymore.

First party titles are usually going to be better than most third party. It's not because they're more strict on it, it's just that being the first party manufacturer, if they throw out shovelware, it's going to hurt their integrity as a company.

Anyways. I think any of the three would purchase Sega if they could. There's a long list of great IPs that Sega owns, some current, some that need to be brought back. Total War is one of the best strategy series of all time, Sonic is garbage but a money maker, Yakuza, Crazy Taxi, etc, etc, etc.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

No. I don't want SEGA content relegated to one system.

I know that the general gaming public isn't keen on their business practices these days, but I think that Capcom would be a good fit for a merger with SEGA. They seem to have similar histories/sensibilities and gamers seem to be similarly fond of their licenses, characters and properties.

[RCM]

Sell Sega to Treasure and have Treasure handle the revival of Sega's classic IP internally. Then the entire Internet would get excited, but only the same 20 people who buy all of Treasure's/Sega's stuff buy the new games.

[buzz_n64]

No. I don't want SEGA content relegated to one system.

I know that the general gaming public isn't keen on their business practices these days, but I think that Capcom would be a good fit for a merger with SEGA. They seem to have similar histories/sensibilities and gamers seem to be similarly fond of their licenses, characters and properties.

I like this idea. If not Capcom, Konami would be my second choice.

[kupomogli]

Capcom would be a good fit for a merger with SEGA. They seem to have similar histories/sensibilities and gamers seem to be similarly fond of their licenses, characters and properties.

This is a terrible idea. We would see frequent milking of a few high profit IPs, and not much else. Anything of Sega's that is of low profit would be guaranteed to fall into obscurity under the helm of Crapcom.

[Leo_A]

I certainly don't want to see that.

And Nintendo has never been one to pick up developers left and right. And I don't see anything Sega has that Nintendo would be willing to spend hundreds of millions on just to secure as exclusives for their platforms.

So why would they?

[Aussie2B]

Is Sega really doing that poorly lately? Relatively speaking, I mean. Isn't practically every Japanese game publisher hurting right now? What with the poor economy and the yen being so ridiculously high.

I don't know how the recent titles have been doing, but wasn't Yakuza 3 the best-selling PS3 game ever (in Japan) at its time of release? That was only three years ago. A lot can happen in three years, sure, but it's not like that's the only series/game they have that can generate good sales.

Well, anyway, I'd like to see Sega stay on their own, if possible. All of these endless mergers have already done enough to screw over gamers. Taito is completely forgotten within Square Enix, Hudson got absorbed into Konami until it no longer existed, Enix dropped basically all of their non-game activities, etc.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

This is a terrible idea. We would see frequent milking of a few high profit IPs, and not much else. Anything of Sega's that is of low profit would be guaranteed to fall into obscurity under the helm of Crapcom.

You think Capcom "milks" popular/successful IPs more than SEGA does?

Seems to me that they BOTH work to get the most bang for their buck out of all of their most profitable franchises and leave an equal number of middling (yet fan-favorite) franchises untouched for years.

Frankly, I can't think of two more similar Japanese publishers.

Sure, each one has its own nuances, but I really can't think of a better fit for a potential merger if that's even a realistic possibility.

[Clownzilla]

I would love Nintendo to purchase SEGA but they are in no position to do this. Nintendo has poured a crazy amount of money into their 3DS and upcoming Wii-U so they need to make sure to use their resources 100% on those two systems. I DO think that a more likely scenario would be Samsung acquiring Nintendo if the Wii-U dosen't reach their desired sales.

[Retrocade Fantasia]

I will never game again if that happened. I hate Nintendo so much I hate everything Nintendo stands for I hate everything Nintendo does. I hate nintendo for what they did in the 80s, I hate them for their censorship in the 90s, I hate them for ordering the hit on Gunpei Yakoi, I hate them for forcing gimmicks down our throats. I HATE NINTENDO.

But I love the NES and SNES. Gamecube wasn't a shabby console either.

BUT I HATE NINTENDO!

[Aussie2B]

I hate them for ordering the hit on Gunpei Yakoi

Uh, you do know that that's a BS urban legend, right? Yokoi was simply involved in a minor car accident, and while he got out to inspect the damage, he got hit by another passing car. There's nothing more to it that that.

[Oldskool]

There's got a be a few millionaires here at Digital Press. Someone should offer up a fair amount of cash to Sega and see if they bite. Then, because the buyer would be a local DPer, that means he could finally release the Dreamcast 2. :ass:

[Retrocade Fantasia]

Uh, you do know that that's a BS urban legend, right? Yokoi was simply involved in a minor car accident, and while he got out to inspect the damage, he got hit by another passing car. There's nothing more to it that that.

They want you to think it was an urban legend.

Besides Nintendo's affiliation with the Yakuza is well documented.

[Aussie2B]

Is it really? Because the only connections I've ever read about are nebulous at best, usually just linking them because yakuza have historically been heavily involved in gambling and Nintendo was (and still is) a playing card producer.

But if you want to talk well-documented, information on the driver who hit Yokoi is freely available. We know his name, his profession, and that he's just a normal guy. The police looked into him, and there was nothing more to the story.

Besides, what on earth would be Nintendo's motive? Why would they take such a massive risk? Nothing that Yokoi was doing was any big threat to them, and if they wanted him dead, why would they let him sit with a window job, getting paid to do absolutely nothing? If anything, he probably did exactly what they wanted. They didn't want to fire him, but they passive-aggressively pushed him to quit by not allowing him to do anything of significance.

[Rob2600]

I hate Nintendo so much I hate everything Nintendo stands for I hate everything Nintendo does.

Another one of kupomogli's alt accounts here on DP?

[kupomogli]

Another one of kupomogli's alt accounts here on DP?

No, but I like this guy already.

[Ryudo]

I would love for this to happen. The two best Gaming companies ever once bitter rivals under one roof and I'm more of a SEGA fan.Nintendo got the best RPG maker with Monolith and put out Xenoblade which is amazing. Nintendo of Japan has many more IP's and even a few published dark games like Dynamic Zan. The Last Story published by them is great and Pandora's Tower had a really dark theme and story. If Nintendo got them I would prefer similar to Monolith remain it's own studio and just have more quality control. (Tho Sonic Colors & Sonic Generations are great games)

For those worried about Nintendo. They have 14$ Billion in the bank. And last couple years been opening and buying dev studios. They are fine. Also as to SEGA people freaked out of the loss but the made more money in the fiscal year than they lost.

[Clownzilla]

They want you to think it was an urban legend.

Besides Nintendo's affiliation with the Yakuza is well documented.

That and the fact that the license plate of the car that hit him said "MARIO 1" and had a bumper sticker on back that said "I brake for the Yakuza"

[Retrocade Fantasia]

Nintendo being in Kansai means Yamaguchi Gumi it's in their best interest to work for/with them.


Another one of kupomogli's alt accounts here on DP?

No I had other accounts here but lord knows what they are I totally forgot them. I don't even remember what the Screen names were or the E-mails. Figured I'd sign up again and try to plug my YT show but it's found it's niche.

on the Sega Saturn UK forums I'm The Rev


I really exaggerated on my hate for Nintendo. Those are all valid claims (Ok not the Yakuza one but I toss that in to make an angry rant angrier) What I don't like about Nintendo is they rely too much on Gimmicks and Old IPs rather than trying to innovate gameplay in other ways.

[duffmanth]

I don't think Sony or Nintendo are in any position financially right now to acquire Sega, they've got too many of their own problems to worry about. Sonic would compliment either company's mascots nicely though lol. Adding the 2K sports franchises might be a nice addition to Sony's lineup? It probably wouldn't be a great fit for Nintendo?

[kupomogli]

Sega hasn't owned 2K sports in years. Take Two purchased them from Sega awhile ago.

[Retrocade Fantasia]

if anyone buys Sega it'll be Microsoft. They've always had a great relationship.

[goatdan]

If Nintendo buys Sega, we'll see a loss of just about everything with the exception of the Sonic franchise, but he'll pretty much be constantly playing second fiddle to Mario. I mean, I like and respect everything that Nintendo does and has done, and the same with Sega, but Nintendo doesn't take risks quite like Sega, and I doubt we'd see Sega redoing Jet Grind Radio, for instance.

What I think makes the most sense and would be the right fit is for Microsoft to buy Sega. Not just would it help them capture more of the Japanese market they simply haven't made any headway in since releasing the first Xbox, they would let them do experimental stuff to help move hardware. A lot of what we look back so fondly on with the Dreamcast is the games that Sega went and took these insane risks on... because it wouldn't just sell the game, but might sell hardware too. It's way easier to justify losing a couple million on a game if you will make it back with other royalties and hardware sales. Microsoft is uniquely positioned to do this, and I would argue should, as Xbox exclusive titles aren't nearly what they once were.

[The 1 2 P]

if anyone buys Sega it'll be Microsoft. They've always had a great relationship.


What I think makes the most sense and would be the right fit is for Microsoft to buy Sega. Not just would it help them capture more of the Japanese market they simply haven't made any headway in since releasing the first Xbox, they would let them do experimental stuff to help move hardware. A lot of what we look back so fondly on with the Dreamcast is the games that Sega went and took these insane risks on... because it wouldn't just sell the game, but might sell hardware too. It's way easier to justify losing a couple million on a game if you will make it back with other royalties and hardware sales. Microsoft is uniquely positioned to do this, and I would argue should, as Xbox exclusive titles aren't nearly what they once were.

It's true that Microsoft is in a much better position to purchase Sega than Nintendo or Sony. And while I think this would be a good idea for them in theory, I also have my doubts. How long ago did Microsoft purchase Rare? And yet still no new Killer Instinct or Battletoads games? So I'm doubtful that we would get much more than a bunch of new and remade Sonic games instead of them utilizing all of Sega's long dormant properties. But this would probably happen regardless of who purchased Sega. Although if Microsoft purchased them atleast there would be a Shenmue III....for whatever thats worth.

[Gamevet]

It's true that Microsoft is in a much better position to purchase Sega than Nintendo or Sony. And while I think this would be a good idea for them in theory, I also have my doubts. How long ago did Microsoft purchase Rare? And yet still no new Killer Instinct or Battletoads games? So I'm doubtful that we would get much more than a bunch of new and remade Sonic games instead of them utilizing all of Sega's long dormant properties. But this would probably happen regardless of who purchased Sega. Although if Microsoft purchased them atleast there would be a Shenmue III....for whatever thats worth.


I believe it would be a good fit, at first, but once MS has milked out all of Sega's arcade games through LIVE, what would they do with Sega then? I can't imagine a lot of Sega's top programmers sticking around though and it would be more about Sega's properties, then the talent they have left in the stable. Maybe they could release a legit sequel to Valkyria Chronicles for the 360.

If Nintendo bought them, it would be a real shame, because I didn't buy a Wii, and I more than likely won't buy the Wii U, since I don't believe Nintendo has a grasp on what western gamers want. The Wii U will be dated hardware, with another gimmick as its selling point. I have no doubts that it won't sell as well as the Wii either.