what's happened to Sega?

[Atangana]

i'm a bit behind on the console news. have they stopped making consoles? forever? i notice you can get Sonic for like the PS2. i thought that was weird.

[D J Kix]

Yes, Sega have stopped making consoles. Now they're gonna just concentrate on software. Not just games mind, you might even see Sonic pop up on a PC giving you lessons at work or something...


Originally posted by Atangana
i notice you can get Sonic for like the PS2. i thought that was weird.


Christ, show me some links, etc. The only Sega related stuff I knew of on the PS2 was Crazy Taxi. Links, links, links...

[Spider Jerusalem]

Sega turned thmselves, overnight, from a faltering console hardware manufacturer into one of the biggest software companies in the world.

I haven' heard any cross-platform Sonic news other than a GBA game, yet. I'm guessing the next Sonic will be on the Gamecube, as that's the direction Sonic Team seem to have taken.

[Sturae]

I disagree, i reckon the next sonic will be on xbox...dunno y....
just a gut feeling i have

[Spider Jerusalem]

I dunno, with Sonic already Gameboy bound, and the PSO ver 2.0 heading for the GameCube, along with Amusement Vision's Monkey Ball, I think the GameCube will be getting a fair bit of the big Sega support. Possibly the $199 price tag is helping that, possibly they're banking on the early adopters going for that in November, instead of the X-Box at $100 more.

[Sega GameSation X]

Originally posted by Sturae
I disagree, i reckon the next sonic will be on xbox...dunno y....
just a gut feeling i have

I thought A Sonic game had already been confirmed for GameCube.

Wonder if there's any truth in the rumour that Sonic will be a hidden character on Super Smash Bros Melee.

Sonic Team are only currently official developing games for GC outta to 128-bit powerbeasts.

[ChrisRedfield]

Well when interviewed (and this was regarding sonic 2) about which console Sega fans should look to for their sega fix the sonic team said the Gamecube, so if the creaters of Sonic are saying Gamecube I tend to believe them.
Don't forget that platformers did amazingly well on the n64, mario 64, Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, DK64, Rayman 2, Conkers Bad Fur Day, if they are going by what nintendo followers have come to expect its probably a good platform to choose anyway.

[Amnion]

I think we'll see all Sega games on all formats. All the main ones anyway...

[ChrisRedfield]

No doubt they'll being making "exclusive" deals left right and centre so that no one really ends up being better off.
Lets face it, sega have become sell outs.

[hyper!! james]

Lets face it, sega have become sell outs.

Errrrm. They've always been sell outs. But now they have to sell out harder.

Let's get a few things clear.

Each Sega R&D dept is now financially independent of the main company, whilst still being part of the Sega group.

Therefore it's up to each development team to choose which platform(s) they want to make games for.

Sonic Team have fallen in love with the GameCube (Clearly there WAS some significance with Yuji Naka being spotted at Space World last year).

AM2 are putting the majority of their eggs in the PS2 basket.

And Smilebit are whoring their wares at Microsoft.

This as a whole will give Sega as a whole a good idea as to which platform proves the most profitable, and show individual teams which userbase likes which games.

Sonic Team have always been about colourful characters and narrative and thus fit in with the Nintendo image, for example, so may find more success on the 'Cube than they would on a style-obsessed platform such as the PS2 or Xbox.

Smilebit will be providing the coolness of JSR to Xbox which allows Smilebit access to incredibly powerful hardware to fulfil their visions, and also provides Microsoft with a funky title which helps them towards shedding their stuffy image.

But don't think it will stay this way.

Sonic team may find that Xbox owners are more open to titles such as Sonic than they thought, or Smilebit might decide to pervert childrens minds with evil grafitti on GameCube.

If they don't choose the right platforms, their profits will suffer and the parent company will have to assess the viability of each team.

It's not that they've sold out - they are in so much financial trouble that they HAVE to choose the right platforms, else it might not be just the little dev teams that go under.

[JackG2]

God, I hope Sonic games only end up on Nintendo. I like that idea. If there is one company I want Sonic to have to be on, it has to be Nintendo. Sega and Nintendo are like long lost brothers.
But I doubt it. Sega is "multi-format" now. :P

[Mr_Sarcasm]

imagine sonic on x-box and ps2...

23fps and realistic gun battles.....

geez

[Eternal_God]

Originally posted by hyper!! james
Each Sega R&D dept is now financially independent of the main company, whilst still being part of the Sega group.

Can you please provide evidence that states this?

[D J Kix]

Originally posted by Eternal_God
Can you please provide evidence that states this?
You been living under a rock this last year???

Here's a link (http://dreamcast.ign.com/news/19988.html)


Originally posted by hyper!! james
Sonic Team have fallen in love with the GameCube (Clearly there WAS some significance with Yuji Naka being spotted at Space World last year).

AM2 are putting the majority of their eggs in the PS2 basket.

And Smilebit are whoring their wares at Microsoft.
I was pleased you posted that list HJ, I was too lazy to work it all out myself. But, when looking for a link for Eternal_God, I found this list:

Xbox: Smilebit, Hitmaker, Wow Entertainment.

PS2: AM2, Overworks, Smilebit, United Game Artists

GameCube: Amusement Vision, Sonic Team

Looks like I had to get off my lazy arse after all :)

[Edited by D J Kix on 18-07-2001 at 09:18 AM]

[Eternal_God]

Originally posted by D J Kix
You been living under a rock this last year???

Here's a link (http://dreamcast.ign.com/news/19988.html)

Wow, thanks. I was aware that the developers had changed their names but I didn't know that they were now independent for some reason.

[Spider Jerusalem]

Makes it easier for individual teams to concentrate on a single target platform, and makes the benefits of working with said platform in terms of revenue more easily measurable.