Who's buying Sega?

[IntvGene]

This was from Business Week Online:

"Microsoft and Electronic Arts are both considering bids for Japanese videogame developer Sega, according to Friday's Wall Street Journal. Sega last week announced a curious agreement to basically be acquired by pachinko machine manufacturer Sammy. Sega's properties, including Sonic the Hedgehog and several sports games, have appeal. Sega would also help each of Microsoft and Electronic Arts to strengthen its presence in Japan. Although the two companies have the resources to acquire Sega, S&P thinks Sega's pending deal with Sammy and its history of losses reduces the likelihood of a combination. "

Any comments?

[IntvGene]

Also, Smartmoney.com has this report:

http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20030228-000011-0027


Say it ain't so!! >)

[ventrra]

"Microsoft and Electronic Arts are both considering bids for Japanese videogame developer Sega, according to Friday's Wall Street Journal.
Considering what decisions EA has made with some of it's other companies (Gee...now where did that company that created Ultima go?) I sure wouldn't want them to become the owners of Sega.

[Tempest]

I think Nintendo and Sega should merge. Now that would be interesting...

Tempest

[Alex Kidd]

If there's any truth to this pleas please PLEASE PLEASE let EA be the company to buy Sega... if MS buys sega... oh man... manoman... oh god no

[bill paxton voice]Gameover Man, Game OVER[/bill paxton voice]

Alex Kidd

[Raedon]

EA just wants to buy sega to bury sega sports. That is not a good thing.

MS would be the better choice for any Sega fan as 1) they would get competition with sports titles so a choice. 2) MS also owns Rare who I think could develop some interesting Sonic Games. 3) EA has no interest in Phantasy Star.. I'd rather not see another PSO as I played on the GC, but I wouldn't mind a Phatasy Star V.

[Arcade Antics]

If there's any truth to this pleas please PLEASE PLEASE let EA be the company to buy Sega... if MS buys sega... oh man... manoman... oh god no

[bill paxton voice]Gameover Man, Game OVER[/bill paxton voice]

Alex Kidd

:o

IMO, EA buying Sega would be the WORST possible outcome for gamers.

[Alex Kidd]

EA might wanna buy them just to bury them, but you know what... Sega needs to buried... said, but true.
I really wish that when the Dreamcast failed they had just quit then... I mean ever since they've just been straggling along... They produce good stuff, just not enough people buy it... like a lot of stuff...

Microsoft will just use the Sega name franchises to further put money into bill's wallet, and if what they produce with Sega's stuff is anything like what they produce now... It'd be a shame... MS might try to do Sega justice, but they just can't. MS should have never gotten into console gaming.

Plus I believe EA is one of the main reasons the Genesis took off. I'd say with out EA's games the Genesis would have dwindled along like it was in it first few years and then when Super Nintendo came out that would have been it's end... I'm not saying EA made the Genesis big, just kept it around long enough to get it's foot in the door.

Alex Kidd

[kainemaxwell]

This is getting sad really...soon you won't be able to tell who's who cause all the big companies will swallow up the smaller ones.

[Arcade Antics]

EA might wanna buy them just to bury them, but you know what... Sega needs to buried... said, but true.
I really wish that when the Dreamcast failed they had just quit then... I mean ever since they've just been straggling along... They produce good stuff, just not enough people buy it... like a lot of stuff...

The hell you say! So, a good game company who still produces good games needs to be buried? Uh... I don't get it.


Plus I believe EA is one of the main reasons the Genesis took off. I'd say with out EA's games the Genesis would have dwindled along like it was in it first few years and then when Super Nintendo came out that would have been it's end... I'm not saying EA made the Genesis big, just kept it around long enough to get it's foot in the door.

So Altered Beast, Ghouls N Ghosts, Revenge of Shinobi, Forgotten Worlds, Strider... ad infinitum... had less to do with the Genesis' success than EA? Gotta disagree with that one. Altered Beast alone put the Genesis into about a million households. EA just jumped on the gravy train. :-D

[Cafeman]

Digital Press is buying SEGA. O_O

[Arcade Antics]

Digital Press is buying SEGA. O_O

Shhh! Ietquay 'bout the urchasepay...




:-D

[kainemaxwell]

[quote="Arcade AnticsAltered Beast alone put the Genesis into about a million households. [/quote]
...and Sonic and Sonic 2 made the Sega Genesis more of a contender against the SNES.

[digitalpress]

Just a quick reminder to post your news stories to our submission page. It only takes a moment (faster than posting it in the forums in fact), and each news item of yours we use adds one more entry into our monthly prize drawing. Ask Six Switch, he won last month.

For your convenience the "Submit News" link is included in the link bar above these very forums!

That is all.

[Bratwurst]

If it wasn't for the Genesis, EA wouldn't /be/ where they are now. Nintendo would have treated them like Tengen if they tried to bypass their lockout routines for the NES/SNES. Sega instead worked a deal with 'em that benefitted both parties.

[Raedon]

If it wasn't for the Genesis, EA wouldn't /be/ where they are now. Nintendo would have treated them like Tengen if they tried to bypass their lockout routines for the NES/SNES. Sega instead worked a deal with 'em that benefitted both parties.

Sorry, EA wouldn't be where it is today without computer's like the C64 and Amiga.. They made millions during the 80's before EA Sports with titles like:

Pinball Construction set
Adventure Construction Set
Archon I, II
Skate or Die!
One On One
Seven Cities of Gold
Bard's Tale I-III
Legacy of the Ancients
Ultimate Wizard
Mail Order Monsters
Home conversions like Marble Madness
M.U.L.E.
Skyfox
..and probably 20 more that I can't remember right now.

[Zaxxon]

I thought Sega's parent company CRI, has a ton of money, it was just the Sega division that was losing money. I read that Sega was now profitable again. I can see them wanting to unload the arcade/Gameworks division and keep the home side.

[Achika]

Oh fuck. This is really shitty. Besides this, Peter Moore is resigning from Sega to go over to Microsoft. If this happens, it's basically like he never left. And IMO, that's why Dreamcast met such a poor ending in the US, because of Moore.

Excuse me, with all this talk about Sega going down the pooper, I'm gonna walk off the top of a 10 story building now.

[geelw]

as sucky as this sega news is, if you walk off that building, someone else will get your t-shirt tomorrow... :-D

[IntvGene]

This is really bad news.:(

Over the years, I've learned to hate both the prospective buyers. I remember Electronic Arts from the early days of the Atari 8bit, when they reminded me much like Activision and the sweetness of Archon and Mail Order Monsters, etc. Then, the hated years when they boycotted the Saturn and pretty much dumped it in the trash. Ironic now, that they may actually buy the company they helped destroy.

And Microsoft is playing the fool as always. Look, I've got billions of dollars to waste! It's like fishing with dynamite. Too bad, they still have no clue on how to run a console business.

[Sylentwulf]

I wouldn't mind EA Buying them at all, EA/Square had a great impact (ya know, Squaresoft games BEING RELEASED IN THE U.S. again?!?)

Microsoft buying Sega would be a sad sad thing, and I think, much likelier to happen. Sega has been "going down" on microsoft since the x-box first came out.

[Daniel Thomas]

I honestly don't know where all the anti-Microsoft bashing is coming from. This whole personal hatred of Bill Gates is just wierd. Why would a Microsoft purchase of Sega be a bad thing? The simple truth is that Sega is dying. If there isn't a purchase or merger in the near future, the company will go extinct. Haven't you learned anything from the Atari Games funeral?

Think about it. No more Sonic, or Toejam, or Virtua Fighter, or Phantasy Star. Sega is one of the finest console developers ever. I don't want to see all these games fade away, and I don't want to see their studios scatter apart.

The choice of Sammy is an odd one; what good is that? A Microsoft purchase would be much better than EA. If EA buys Sega, what will happen to Visual Concepts' brilliant sports games? Personally, I think their games are consistently better than EA's efforts (although both company's football games are terific).

That leaves Microsoft, which desperately needs some A-list material. The smart thing for them would have been to buy out Sega months ago, where they would be reaping the rewards now. I say given the circumstances, this is where Sega should go. How such a move would affect their exclusive content on the PS2 (like Virtua Fighter) baffles me.

Let's all hope Sega can still survive.

[kainemaxwell]

Pretty soon it'll get to the point where oyu can't tell who's who in the industry.

[IntvGene]

In a related story...

Sega is planning on cutting 20% of its workforce at the US headquarters in SF. This is supposedly to streamline for the Sammy merger.
(Note to DP: I didn't think this one was "submittable news"-worthy)

And, the next question I have is what is going to happen to F-Zero??
Sega teamed up with Nintendo to make that new F-Zero that's now hitting the Japanese arcades and soon to be GC. But, if Microsoft takes over Sega... would this become a Microsoft/Nintendo game on the GC?!? @_@

I shudder to even read the newspapers anymore.. My world is spinning...

[ventrra]

Maybe if it keeps up there really will be just one console availiable from some huge video game conglomerate company. :D
:-D
:)
:|

[Achika]

I honestly don't know where all the anti-Microsoft bashing is coming from....Why would a Microsoft purchase of Sega be a bad thing?...

Think about it. No more Sonic, or Toejam, or Virtua Fighter, or Phantasy Star.

By editing your own words (leaving whole sentences) you answered why there's Microsoft bashing going on in this thread. IMO Microsoft will throw all of Sega's winners out the window and just use the name to shuffle the same boring War Sim, boring MORPG, bad Sports Games, and FPS out the door. Looking over the games I have for Xbox comparing what's out there, I'm realizing about 50% of my library are Sega titles. If they did keep those titles, Microsoft would probably dilute them from their former glory.

As for EA, I think they know there are good points to the Sega 2k titles that Maddens, Lives, and NHL's just don't have. I can see them adopting them both into a format that might give a little to each audience. Or make them both, I mean who needs NCAA & NBA? It's all basketball to me, what's one more going to hurt?

[geelw]

intersting point, BUT...think about THIS. microsoft is gonna let a couple of million selling franchises go down the toilet? i DON'T think so. if anything, they'd stop putting out crappy games like sneakers, whack(ed)!, and the like, and have the sega teams totally blow gamers out of the water with NEW games featuring the old standbys. i sort of have the feeling that this has been in the cards for ages. simple point: sega can no longer survive on its own in the current market for a number of reasons. it's not all peter moore's or bernie stolar's fault- sega is based in japan, and they've made costlier errors there, if you think about it. a number expensive of peripherals for the DC (even as it was floundering- dreameye, anyone), advertising up the yin-yang (lol- always wanted to use that "word"), and well, not being able to synch up with sega of america and europe on a number of issues.

no matter who buys sega, not everybody is going to be happy. to generalize: nintendo makes too many kiddy games, sony is hated because they're too unstoppable (in the minds of the millions of folks who only have that one system), and well, bill gates owns microsoft. :hmm: i'm reading these posts, and it's remarkable that hardly anyone has thought of the good that this will bring forth in the long run.

as i said above, i think this has been in the works for a bit. think about it (again). sega makes gunvalkyrie (xbox) super monkey ball ('cube), and virtua fighter 4 (ps2). basically, if you consider these tech demos to see what they can do with each system, the xbox (and nexbox, lol) has an advantage for sega's game dev teams, who will have the best hardware to create the best games. you also have to remember that microsoft has panzer dragoon orta, and toejam & earl III which shows not only commitment to the platform, but a sort of alarm to true gamers that they refuse to let those older games die. sonic will probably appear in his own new game for the system within a year. that's probably why he's getting a nintendo-fied version of the dc game on the cube this year. no real new content, just the usual "challenge" points that make you replay mont first party nintendo games over and over until you get EVERYTHING, lol...

sega probably has some commitments to other platforms to fufill, so they ain't dead as a free agent yet. here's another thought: this buyout/merger/whatever will keep them in the game longer than if they just went out of business, and we should all be happy about that, right? sure, microsoft is committed to xbox live, but i doubt there will be a sonic online game, and some franchises like VF will thrive as live games, because all those smack talkers will get the crap beat out of them by REAL players. in a way, even if you HATE microsoft, you have to show them some respect for coming to the rescue of one of the best pure game companies in the business.

now, we can finally see all of shenmue, maybe get a better daytona than on the DC, and imagine being able to play all of shining force III (with updated visuals)...personally, i can't wait... :-D

[NvrMore]

in a way, even if you HATE microsoft, you have to show them some respect for coming to the rescue of one of the best pure game companies in the business.

It's a very idealistic view, but if MS were to buy out Sega they wouldn't be "coming to the rescue", they would be doing it to feed off the brand name.

As others have stated, MS would want to "re-focus" Sega's developments to put them in-line with their own interests, which would mean pressing them to produce games which are more in-line with what MS deems their userbase will want, which in turn would mean the types of games that MS are currently pushing.
Whereas it's nice to think that idealistically MS would throw money at Sega and give them all the freedom they want to produce games, it's just not realistic. MS would be buying Sega to further their own interests, not Sega's and MS's biggest interest in Sega, sadly wouldn't be their games, but rather their brand name which they would seek to use to save the Xbox's flailing sales in Japan.

Another problem is that although you seem to think that all of Sega is more inclined towards Xbox, there is actually division within the company regarding platform preferences, with most of the higher ups such as the chairman leaning towards MS, while several of the dev teams, including Sonic team, aren't anywhere near as enthusiastic. So if a merger were to happen, it could see many of the key staff at Sega leaving either immediately, or after a short period, essentially Bullfrogging Sega.


here's another thought: this buyout/merger/whatever will keep them in the game longer than if they just went out of business, and we should all be happy about that, right?

Not neccesarily. Personally I hate to see a once great company stripped and dilutted for the gain of another. Especially if you've been a fan of said company, it's massivley disheartening to see them drained to a shadow of their former self. In some cases it's better to see the company go out on it's own merit and it's own path.


Whatever the case, I'd be very sorry to see either company buy out Sega. Sega's one of the few real developers remaining who still consider innovation and originality important, I'd hate to see them lost to a 'cash over quality' production line company. :(

[Achika]

I'm just SO worried that if MS buys Sega, the games will get diluted (if not getting the axe). As far as Whacked & Sneakers is concerned, IMO they'll still be pushing that out the door, because Gates has the money to do so, even if he looses profit on them, he makes it up other places, so in the MS world, it's justified.

[geelw]

there's nothing wrong with a little idealism, especially in this case. common sense says you don't buy up a company with a stable of well-established characters, throw them all away, and enslave developers into making games with bland american-style personalities. (and no, atari never counted, lol- that was always about the games more than anything). i seriously doubt microsoft will let these franchises go, but if they do, that's a mistake they simply won't recover from in the long run. if you think they're not considering keeping as many sega characters as they can in addition to having new content created, well that's just plain pessimism. too many sega diehards are sitting in a hot bath with a razor crying for no reason. you have to have an open mind and a bit more hope that things will turn out for the better.

in other words, microsoft's best bet is to "further their own interests" by putting out games with classic sega characters. i think it's nearly impossible to create a new character that people will take to simply because every possible idea has been done to death. same goes for gameplay. sony has a number of million plus selling original characters (more due to some clever and well-timed advertising), but a few of them have left the fold, appearing on other platforms. sony just makes more of them, and they get less and less appealing (but the games sure are interesting). other than halo, there are NO current original xbox titles that have memorable characters (or gameplay for that matter). japanese sales may be gurgling for air, but i think more japanese gamers will support a microsoft/sega link up than u.s. gamers will initially (especially if they're getting more good sega games)

as for any "bullfrogging" i believe artoon is composed of a number of ex-sega employees, but to date all of the three games they've released so far (pinobee for the GBA, blinx for the xbox, and ghost vibration for the japanese PS2) have been lacking in one way or another. the only major question i have is this: if sonic team refused to go along with the deal and broke off, would sega still own the character (forcing st to turn into another camelot or climax and create new franchises)???. call me crazy, but i don't think microsoft will let that happen without a fight (throwing money at them to stay for a while, lol). maybe sonicc team will split and we'll get a new treasure in the process- who knows? i say this: wait and see what happens, and if i'm wrong, well, i'll be the first in line charging the gates at microsoft HQ, lol...

[geelw]

I'm just SO worried that if MS buys Sega, the games will get diluted (if not getting the axe). As far as Whacked & Sneakers is concerned, IMO they'll still be pushing that out the door, because Gates has the money to do so, even if he looses profit on them, he makes it up other places, so in the MS world, it's justified.

good point, but if they have the more popular sega characters, bill can make profit with them, and bury the crap games completely. that's the main point i'm trying to make. maybe microsoft KNOWS it has some pretty uninspired original content, and this would give them a much-needed shot in the imagination gland. much like miyamoto guided/supervised/oversaw games like metroid prime, i can see some of sega's developers whipping microsoft into some kind of decent shape (so they wouldn't have to keep buying everyone up, lol)... :-D

[IntvGene]

I agree.

Microsoft knows that most of its In-house development is pretty bad (there are exceptions though!). And, it makes sense for them to go after Sega. I know that nobody knows what will happen to Sega if they do get taken over. We hope that they would remain quite independent.

But, I am also really worried about EA... mainly because I love the Sega Sports titles and think that the competition between the two of them is great, and healthy for the videogame market.

Lets face it... competition helps. And, we all know how easy it would be if there were only one system to buy from, and one big game company, that it would also hurt the quality of the games coming out.

I believe that the bigger the game company, the more it has to worry about its bottom line. And these companies will tend to take less chances, tend to be less original in their game production. Rez was a completely awesome game, and Sega and UGA took a huge chance on that game. I don't know if Microsoft would take that chance in making a game like that... who knows?

But, we also have to remember that these are individuals who make and design these games. They can also vote with their feet. If they can't make the games that they want, they can always leave the company... Look at Treasure. They have explicitly said when they were asked about making Ikaruga on the DC, that they don't simply care about profits. They make the games that they want to make. So, IF Sega gets bought out, I wouldn't be surprised if you see people leave it, IF the company loses a lot of its freedom.

[NvrMore]

there's nothing wrong with a little idealism, especially in this case.

Indeed, I agree that holding a little idealism certainly isn't a bad thing, however I would disagree with it in cases such as this where there is so much to be lost, because it can only lead to placing support behind something which, in light of other factors, is very unlikely to produce the result which was hoped for.


if you think they're not considering keeping as many sega characters as they can in addition to having new content created, well that's just plain pessimism.

No, the concern is (as Achika has already pointed out) that the franchises and work will be either stripped down and used only as a marketing tool to get MS's proverbial foot in the door, or that they will be diluted and/or worn down / milked for the purposes of profiteering until they are phased out in favor of projects more suiting of MS's liking and vision for the Xbox, or that they will be lost and warped into something which ultimately only shares their marketable image.


too many sega diehards are sitting in a hot bath with a razor crying for no reason. you have to have an open mind and a bit more hope that things will turn out for the better.

Again it's nice to be idealistic, but in reality it's hard (if not almost impossible) to retain a role of creating innovative and new games and concepts when you're tied up and the those pulling the strings are more concerned with the marketability of your name and reputation and the most profitable way to make use of them. Sadly, it's a rather large conflict of interests.


as for any "bullfrogging" i believe artoon is composed of a number of ex-sega employees, but to date all of the three games they've released so far (pinobee for the GBA, blinx for the xbox, and ghost vibration for the japanese PS2) have been lacking in one way or another.

My point wasn't that the people leaving would be successful (if it were to happen, I sincerly hope they would be), but rather that if said people were to leave, it would severly cripple Sega, essentially leaving little more than the a shell / brand name. Thus, big loss.


the only major question i have is this: if sonic team refused to go along with the deal and broke off, would sega still own the character (forcing st to turn into another camelot or climax and create new franchises)???.

If Sonic team were to go, I think it would be most likely that Sega would retain the characters and the likes (otherwise it would have to be the result of a separate buyout, be it commercial or private), but without the team who made the games what they were, the characters wouldn't be much more than marketable names / commodities.

[lionforce]

I never would have imagined anyone buying Sega, at least not in my lifetime, but things change rapidly in the present day if Microsoft aquires Sega then you will truly know that Bill Gates is the devil in disguise :P