Sega Realignment?
 

I saw this on IGN and was wondering if anyone has heard about this from anywhere else (IGN isn't exactly the bast of sources...).


Link

That's cool. I'd guess they would simply go where the money is if that's true. PS2 is deep into people's homes, so that's one logical choice. Xbox pretty much took their spot and has the deep pockets to offer them lots of money, so that's also a logical choice. Nintendo seems to me to be the least likely contender, but anything's possible... they did get Sonic exclusively, so perhaps I'm wrong. PS2 doesn't see a whole lot of Sega games as it is, so maybe that's out too. Dreamcast used a Windows CE operating system, so maybe Sega's development team will take that into consideration when choosing which platform would be easiest to program for. If this story turns out to be true, I think it would be cool for Xbox to get a huge name like Sega behind them.

What the hell is "Align" supposed to mean?

http://www.crankyman.org/ibforum/htm.../RedFinger.gif

If its the PS2 I will go buy one tommorow. I am that much Segas bitch.

hehe, that works.



Personally I think it wouldn't be a very smart move for Sega (why limit themselves to one console) but it will be a big boost for whichever company they decide to go with.

If an offer was made to buy Sega outright why wuss around it and say they may "align" themselves with somebody?

It doesn't sound like (or it didn't to me at least) that someone is buying Sega. I thought it sounded like they are just making an agreement to produce games for someone, basically becoming a second party company without losing ownership.

:D

I'd agree that just considering the number of currently available titles and the sort of cash it would take to sway Sega, Microsoft would seem to be the most likely candidate.

I'm extremely skeptical about this at the moment, though.

I have a Dreamcast, XBox and a Gamecube and it already pisses me off that I dont have VF4 on any of them. If its Sony that will be the final straw, Ill cave. Ill probally be single, but Ill have my Sega games.

Then why not just say that? Dont try to be cute. IGN can kiss my hairy nads.

This seems unlikely, but we will see. My guess would be PS2 if they go exclusive.

If they leave Xbox it might be how poorly Gunvalkyre and Jet Set Radio sold. Anyone know how World Series Baseball did on Xbox? I thought that would have been a good selling game. Its probably too early to know about Sega GT.

By the same token I don't seem them being a Nintendo exclusive. Monkey Ball and Sonic did well, but Sega seems to not want to put the more mature titles on Game Cube.

If it does happen I would figure it would be PS2, but even that seems strange considering only VF4 has been exclusive to PS2.

I won't be surprised if this rumor turns out to be false.

You know it won't be Sony... I'm not sure if the same powers-that-be are still in charge at sega, but they've had a grudge against sony from what i've read in the mags.

I'd be willing to bet its Microsoft. Microsoft wants those Sega titles and properties all to themself.

Whatever system it is, I imagine alot of SEGA fans to buy it if they dont have it already...

I have an XBOX, and thats all I want.. but if SEGA aligns with PS2 or NGC, I hvae it tomorrow.

-Jim

Well Sega currently has that 11 game deal with MS. How many Sega titles have been released for Xbox? I know that Panzer Dragoon and Shenmue 2 are exclusive titles set to be released soon. Maybe when the MS deal is over, Sega may have a new deal with Nintendo. Sega already has a few 2003 exclusive games in development for Gamecube:

Virtua Fighter Quest
F-Zero
Sonic Adventure
Skies of Arcadia

Plus remember when Shigeru Miyamoto hinted that Sonic may appear in Mario Kart Gamecube? :D Or maybe this rumor is about MS buying out Sega... :p

I have all 3 systems, and I just hope it isn't the PS2. That would create too many good titles on that system, and might help crush Xbox and Gamecube too much... I hope that all 3 systems survive, as it is clear that the consumer benefits from all the price cuts. I kinda hope it is MS, b/c the xbox has some real benefits to it, with its speed, hard drive, etc. I don't want more good games for the PS2, that require me to wait long load times, buy memory cards, and have poorer graphics and sound than the other consoles.

I think I would prefer it to be Xbox or Game Cube as well. PS2 already has a big enough advantage without getting Sega as a second party.

The Triforce thing is confusing. If they have teamed with Nintendo on it, why would they abandon them in the console market.

The company that could least afford to lose Sega is the Xbox. Sony doesn't need them and Nintendo has themselves, but the Xbox would be hurt badly if it lost Sega. That would make them way too dependent on Namco for good exclusive games from Japan.

Microsoft seems to be the most likely candidate.

Sega just announced that all of their new Sports titles on the Xbox would be Xbox Live compatible and they are not doing this for the other consoles. If you think about it Sega jumped on the online gaming bandwagon well before anyone else did and that’s because they realized a long time ago that online is the future of gaming. Now, looking at all 3 consoles which one has the best online plans? Microsoft... So, I think Sega is looking at which console would be the best to align themselves with for the long run not the short run.

To add fuel to that fire why is Inside Drive NOT Live compatable?

Inside Drive sucks anyway... :p :D

Ive been strictly NBA2KX since NBA2K (the first) and I thought Inside Drive was great. When Sega finally released it last year I still stuck with Inside.

Sega should align with EA, Interplay and Sierra and then make their own console - the Dreamcast 2 - it would be exactly like the Xbox except people wouldn't say "Micro$oft" and turn their nose up like babies. The Dreamcast 2 would play all the old Dreamcast games and Xbox games and Capcom would make Resident Evil for it and it would be better than the Nintendo version cuz it would have way more blood - not like when they came out with Mortal Kombat and it had no blood and then they came out with a version where you could have green blood cuz that was stupid. :p :D I'm 10 years old today... sorry. ;)

unless they are getting a ton of money- the XBox is not the best to align themselves with since it is selling so slowly.

Sega should be smart and sell their games to every console making themselves the most money. why limit themselves?

really they have three options-
1- get a ton of money from one of the companies(any one) and go exclusive.
-the least potential payoof unless the money is big or the money is very good and it is the PS2 with 35 Million consoles.

2- make games for all consoles.
can make the most money this way- if no one is able to pay you off to go exclusive.

3- go with the console with the most potential sales the PS2 and try to get the best licensing agreement possible to make the most money on your games.

could be the best deal if they get a real good licensing agreement and they can put all development costs into one console instead of three.

who knows what will happen especially when you are discussing rumors :)

Its seems silly to me to be exclusive. Why sell games on one console when you can sell it on three with minimal extra costs. If Sega cuts their sports title off from PS2 customers they are foolish. Microsoft or Nintendo couldn't possible give them enough money to make up for those lost sales.

I don't know if I buy this rumor, they seem to be doing better off as a multiconsole developer. I found this link at cubenation to a comparison of sales of Sega games across the GC, Xbox and PS2.

LINK

I'm not really sure but for some reason it seems fairly dependable. From those sales I had been wondering why Sega was not bailing on the Xbox until I heard about the 11 game deal contract, as none of the Xbox exclusives even broke 100k units sold. It looks like the PS2 is definitely the way to go if they're doing this realignment thing, though it would be cool if they would make use of the technology of the GC and Xbox. Maybe they are really working with Sony co-create the PS3.....it could stand for Play Sega 3?! I dunno......

Those sales look acurate. I've heard they have yet to break 100,000 with any Xbox title, but I had hoped World Series Baseball would have done it.

Anyone know how the 2K3 games sold?

Literally 75% of my Gamecube games are made by Sega. I hope that the deal is with Nintendo if this rumor is true.

Those sales figures look pitiful for the Xbox. It looks like they're moving about half as many units as the competitors. They are doing better than the other consoles for selling lesser known titles though - if Sega had provided them with a "household name" game like Virtua Fighter or Sonic Adventure 2, then it might be a different story. I can't explain the lackluster performance of Crazy Taxi except that it's just not as good as the Dreamcast versions and that these sales charts may have come out right after the release of Crazy Taxi (which didn't come out that long ago). Perhaps the Crazy Taxi sales will improve. The other title in Xbox's list that people might've heard of before - JSRF - wasn't all that popular on the Dreamcast and is kind of obscure. Sports games are selling much better on Xbox than GCN... the sports games on the PS2 are killing the other consoles because the PS2 has nearly 10 times as many consoles in households as either competitor. I think if you look at it that way, the Sega games - mostly unknowns - are faring quite well on the Xbox. Gunvalkry was a sucky game and yet it did okay. Virtua Fighter, Sonic and Monkey Ball were all guaranteed to sell big. Sega GT might see some decent numbers with the reviews that have been coming out. It's a racing game though, so who knows.

I have always hated the Sony Playstation and the Playstation 2. When VF4 came out, I bought a PS2. 3 out of the 6 games I have are Sega, and I bought Quake III because I loved it on my DC.

I am Sega's bitch as well...

I hope they don't go PS2 only just because I don't want to be forced to play sega games on the most inferior hardware platform of the 3.. (yes I do own a PS2)

Chris

the differences are not that great :)

I really don't care where they go...I just hope they keep pumping out Super Monkey Ball titles. I love those games!

This is your opinion. My opinion is that the PS2 online plan is better and so far it works perfectly and I didn't have to give microsoft my credit card number. Oh, and it is up and running right now.

Looking at those sales numbers Sega would have to be stupid to sign up to only supply xbox with games. If the games Sega puts out now on xbox don't force people to buy the box then why would they all of a sudden start selling so many by going to xbox only? If they want to go with one system I would say it will be the gamecube. Don't put too much into past rivaries though because in the end it is how much money they can make that would determine this. I just think with Nintendo having the cheaper system, the triforce they helped with, and the fact that Nintendo isn't going to force them to build xbox live into the games would be best for them. Signing on with Sony would be good for sales but at the same time they would almost have to build online into the games and maintain servers to keep up with games like madden.

[sarcasm]Yeah - let's all hope Sega joins up with Sony so they can bury the competition and create a console monopoly and drive up the prices of hardware and software so high that only the uber rich can afford them. Yay! Sega games on the oldest and most difficult to program for hardware of the 3... that would be sweet![/sarcasm]

Well I really don't feel like buying another console, so I hope it is one I already have. Sega and Nintendo...that still feels wierd, hell I remember when Tengen brought Sega games like Shinobi and After Burner to the NES...what a long strange trip it has been.

Sony would make the most sense, they have the most consoles out there, just makes more sense to me than MS.

Not trying to slam the X-box at all, it is a great system with great games, and if I didn't already have a DC, GC, PS2, GBA, and Saturn then I would consider it, but I think one more console would be overkill.

20 bucks on Nintendo if this happens.

I hope they stay multiplatform, at least with there sports titles anyway. I don't give a crap about there other games. Occassionally something like Super Monkey Ball is pretty good, but I've hated most of their other post saturn stuff like the Sonic Adventure Series, Jet Grind Radio/Future, Shenmue, etc.

I'd say if this is true, they'll join with Sony. MS has deep pockets, but I doubt they can pay them enough to make up for the smaller sales they'll have on every title as a result of the X-box's (or gamecube's) vastly smaller installed base.

Nintendo seems to be the least likely, as they don't have the deep pockets of MS, or the huge installed base of sony. But they do already have a partnership with Sega on the Triforce arcade board and are letting Sega develop F-zero for it and the Gamecube, (and obviously F-zero isn't going to the PS2 or X-box, so that's at least one project Sega's doing that will have to be GCN exclusive), so who knows.

More than likely it's just a rumor, and they will stay third party.

I will elaborate a little on my above comment.

Simply put I believe that Sega and Nintendo have very similar tastes in how they go about game design. This would be my main reason.
There are several other things that I think could lead to the union, but the fact that they both regard game design in the same light, would setup the merger.

Also I look at it like this. Nintendo has struggled with supplying a steady flow of good games to their last 2 consoles. Sega would help this out greatly.

So...

Rare out... Sega in.

I hope it will be the XBOX then they can put out a driver to make it play all my old DC games. :)

You really think current exclusive Sega Xbox games were their overwhelming draws? GunValkyrie? JSRF? A late, flawed, 7-month-developed WSB? An obvious-to-everybody-but-Sega-unwanted-rehash in Crazy Taxi 3? The just-released Sega GT (which is getting EXCELLENT word-of-mouth, by the way)?

It's nice spin to say 'Sega games don't sell on Xbox', but, come on, everybody on the planet could predict the outcome of VF4 vs Sonic vs GunValkyrie. ToeJam and Earl may have greater sales potential than the Xbox games listed above. If Panzer Dragoon Orta gets great reviews but quickly hits the bargain bin material, then there's a problem.

Here's Sega's total NA game sales on the three systems, as of July 31:

GCN CRAZY TAXI * 108,874
GCN HOME RUN KING 27,008
GCN NBA 2K2 45,098
GCN SOCCER SLAM 32,614
GCN SONIC ADVENTURE 2 439,101
GCN SUPER MONKEY BALL 245,420

PS2 CRAZY TAXI * 330,877
PS2 ECCO THE DOLPHIN * 25,184
PS2 HEAD HUNTER * 90,496
PS2 NBA 2K2 369,955
PS2 NFL 2K2 288,038
PS2 TENNIS 2K2 8,873
PS2 VIRTUA FIGHTER 4 350,391

XBX CRAZY TAXI 3 15,135
XBX GUNVALKYRIE 47,610
XBX JET SET RADIO FUTURE 79,609
XBX NBA 2K2 86,708
XBX NFL 2K2 70,643
XBX WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 89,575

* = Sega games published by Acclaim

Two observations...

- I don't think any other company has such a direct correlation between published review scores and sales as Sega, at the moment... Headhunter seems a little too high, Tennis 2k2 (which is believed to have not caught on much in August) is too low, and CT3 is really low (though easily explainable, since everybody loved it the first time they played it, when it was just called Crazy Taxi), but other than that everything seems to "make sense", if you read all the major reviews.

- World Series Baseball will easily pass 100,000 by the end of baseball season (while Triple Play, PS2's #1 selling ballgame, stood at just 69,143 sold on Xbox).




Cheaper system? By what, $25, after a required memory card purchase? That's not a factor.

Triforce? Sega has arcade boards based on all 3 machines, so that's not a factor, either.

Uh, Sega has been THE most committed online company. What's up with "force" and "have to"? They WANT to. If anything, Nintendo's reluctance to go online would be a deterrence for Sega.

*****

I'm not holding my breath on this rumor coming true anytime soon, in the first place.