Sega out of the sports business, Visual Concepts is sold

None of you seem to realize that Sammy owns Sega... Sammy is a huge, huge company, Sega isn't going anywhere. This isn't the start of a big selloff of units, Visual Concepts was an American unit they bought, and didn't feel particularly attached to. They won't sell their internal development units. Sega is actually doing just fine.

Dreamcast failed because of a lack of a DVD drive, lack of marketing, and Sony's false hype. Anyone that thinks that PS2 completely blows the Dreamcast out of the water graphically is living in fantasyland. Play Skies of Arcadia, Soul Calibur, or Grandia II through the VGA box.
 
I just hope that we don't hear another announcement next week:

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, it seems that mega-corporation EA Games had made a secret deal with Take-Two Interactive to have them purchase Visual Concepts from Sega. And Take-Two has just announced the whole deal publicly, including the acquisition of Take-Two by EA Games.

:evil:
 
HI!
My name is TRUTH nice to meet you.

Sega isnt going anywhere anytime soon, if the go anywhere it'll be deeper into Sammy and if I recall correctly they originally spent 18 million on their sega sports devision so technically you could say they made a profit.

Also the DC did not fail because of Windows CE or hacking, it failed because the PS2 played DVDs, had more impressive graphical specs and because Sega GAVE UP on it dispite it's actually being a pretty cool system. Sega has always made poor decisions and their merger with Sammy was a direct result of too many of them (of course they came very close to being M$'s bitch instead so they could have made a worse decision for once.)
 
This sucks horribly. It's a shame there's not really anything WE can do.

Real gamers can all boycott EA, but their sales aren't driven by the generally good games our type plays.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']HI!
My name is TRUTH nice to meet you.

Sega isnt going anywhere anytime soon, if the go anywhere it'll be deeper into Sammy and if I recall correctly they originally spent 18 million on their sega sports devision so technically you could say they made a profit.

Also the DC did not fail because of Windows CE or hacking, it failed because the PS2 played DVDs, had more impressive graphical specs and because Sega GAVE UP on it dispite it's actually being a pretty cool system. Sega has always made poor decisions and their merger with Sammy was a direct result of too many of them (of course they came very close to being M$'s bitch instead so they could have made a worse decision for once.)[/quote]

That pretty much sums things up IMO. The handing over of VC was pretty much a done deal once Sega made that deal with Take-Two last year. Lots of people saw it coming. And for the last time nobody is losing any of the sports games (save the NFL one). Hell you all do realize that Take-Two was the reason the 2k series was budget priced this year. Sega and Sammy could probably care less about American sports games.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']None of you seem to realize that Sammy owns Sega... Sammy is a huge, huge company, Sega isn't going anywhere. This isn't the start of a big selloff of units, Visual Concepts was an American unit they bought, and didn't feel particularly attached to. They won't sell their internal development units. Sega is actually doing just fine.

Dreamcast failed because of a lack of a DVD drive, lack of marketing, and Sony's false hype. Anyone that thinks that PS2 completely blows the Dreamcast out of the water graphically is living in fantasyland. Play Skies of Arcadia, Soul Calibur, or Grandia II through the VGA box.[/quote]

Ahh the voice of reason chimes in :D
 
Well once again this is the fault of the EA...but consider this...

If Sega and Nintendo had joined forces back when the had a chance this would be a non-issue. Now Nintendo is struggling...what could be better than an alliance between a plumber and a hedgehog?
 
[quote name='Heretic777'][quote name='Chris in Cali'][quote name='Jrunt20x'][quote name='Chris in Cali'][quote name='Jrunt20x']Sega is truly becoming an empty shell. It's like we've watched the life and death of it. Very sad.[/quote]


They've been making bad decisions left and right lately. There past three or so Sonic games have been less than stellar, and instead of a new Nights (which everyone wants) or Shenmue III, they go with Matrix online. this is sad though, their sports games were good. Everyone go buy Outrun2!!![/quote]

Hey, I'm niot saying they didn't run themselves into the ground, but it's still sad.[/quote]

I know, I was just kinda commenting on how I think they went downhill, besides the fact that the Dreamcast didn't sell well. By the way, why didn't it sell well, it was a good system, with good games. Was it just too soon out from the gates or what?[/quote]

The Dreamcast died earyly because they based the operating system on Windows CE. This left the door wide open for hacking and piracy...very bad move. They should have developed their own proprietery software like Sony or Nintendo...much more difficult to hack. Dreamcast was the only system you can play pirated games on without a mod chip installation...led to rampant piracy and reduced game sales worldwide. Sure PS2, Xbox, GC has its fair share of piracy, but it's much more difficult and you have to install a risky mod chip to do it...the average person won't risk opening their system and voiding the warranty. Where as the Dreamcast...anyone can buy pirated games and play them right away without any mod chip whatsoever. There's your answer to the early death of the Dreamcast...my personal favorite system of all time. I bought 10 Dreamcast systems at EB when they were selling it for a mere $14.99. Later.[/quote]

No, that's not the reason at all that Dreamcast didn't do so well...the reason that it sucked was Sega Japan/Sega America problems. Two seperate companies NOT working together to bring out quality products. Sales of Dreamcast were much higher in Japan than in the States because bottom line Sega Japan = awesome...while Sega America = pile
 
[quote name='gnawingonfoot']This sucks horribly. It's a shame there's not really anything WE can do.

Real gamers can all boycott EA, but their sales aren't driven by the generally good games our type plays.[/quote]

My sentiment exactly. As far as the Dreamcast, I'm shocked this thread turned into a discussion on it, but then again, much of it's success was based upon the "2K" games from Visual Concepts. It's a complicated story of why the Dreamcast folded so quickly, but chalk it up to a combination of these things: Sony's PS2 stole it's thunder, even with the lousy launch, the Sony name sells and coupled with PS1's stellar sales, it was tough to overcome. Sega lost tons of money on Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, etc. that it was hard to stay afloat with just the Dreamcast.

Many hardcore gamers loved the DC, but EA wasn't onboard(among other things), and thus the casual gamers were never brought into the fold. The fact that Sega was in trouble financially and EA stayed away scared others from developing games for the console. Piracy hurt to some degree. The low, low price couldn't have helped, but considering the fact that the Saturn was $400, what could Sega do. Hype for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube helped do it in. There isn't a whole lot of room for 3 consoles, let alone four.

$20 million "wasted"(I use the term loosely Shenmue fans :) ) on that game. No DVD support. A lot of focus, marketing and money spent on 'online' play at a time when gamers didn't care for it as much as they do now. I probably left out a lot, but I'll let everyone else speak.

As far as VC, sad to see them go, but hope Take 2 takes more pride, money, marketing and focus on the "2K" line of games. VC is a very talented developer, comprised mainly of former EA employees... How ironic that EA said they couldn't make good football games(madden 96' PS1)...
 
I feel sad for Sega it seems now they are getting smaller and smaller. Which I hope will mean even better games. But ultimately it means less choices for sports games.
 
This really sad news. I was really hoping that SEGA would pick up the NCAA college football so I'd have at least some kinda football game by SEGA to play with. Or maybe even go into the boxing genre. That would have been awesome if VC had one into boxing instead of being sold off.

Oh well. That is life...
 
You could still get a college football or boxing game one day down the road. This isn't the end of Visual Concepts, just a new chapter.
 
[quote name='kingtz']This really sad news. I was really hoping that SEGA would pick up the NCAA college football so I'd have at least some kinda football game by SEGA to play with. Or maybe even go into the boxing genre. That would have been awesome if VC had one into boxing instead of being sold off.

Oh well. That is life...[/quote]

What's with some of you people? How many times must it be mentioned? VC isn't going anywhere, the sports games aren't going anywhere, Take-two plans to make (mostly) the exact same sports game only now it won't have a Sega logo on it. This was likely to happen regardless of EA's dealings (though that probably accelerated it). In reality, Sega had little to do with the development of the entire 2k series even in the DC days, they bought VC and enjoyed the ride. VC and Take-two can make a boxing or NCAA football game if they really want to.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell'][quote name='kingtz']This really sad news. I was really hoping that SEGA would pick up the NCAA college football so I'd have at least some kinda football game by SEGA to play with. Or maybe even go into the boxing genre. That would have been awesome if VC had one into boxing instead of being sold off.

Oh well. That is life...[/quote]

What's with some of you people? How many times must it be mentioned? VC isn't going anywhere, the sports games aren't going anywhere, Take-two plans to make (mostly) the exact same sports game only now it won't have a Sega logo on it. This was likely to happen regardless of EA's dealings (though that probably accelerated it). In reality, Sega had little to do with the development of the entire 2k series even in the DC days, they bought VC and enjoyed the ride. VC and Take-two can make a boxing or NCAA football game if they really want to.[/quote]

Yes but I don't know if I can in good conscience BUY a Take-Two game until I know for sure if "James Earl Cash" was in reference or tribute to "James Earl Ray". Sorry I know that sounds ridiculous but I want to know WHY they happened to pick that first two name thing for "Manhunt" and if they picked it in tribute I don't know if I can in good conscience buy ANY product from them ever again. Anyway, onto to some other stuff I need to sort out.
First off, the DC didn't do well for a variety of reasons: 1.Bad marketing. 2.Lack of EA. 3.Sega not waiting.
Here's the deal ya'll. For #1 Sega's marketing is fucking awful. I LOVE Sega's commercials but they don't sell the games, get peoples attention.
On the topic of the Dreamcast the PS2 wasn't necessarily better. Sure in SOME specs. between the two it was but overall if the PS2 was better than the DC it's just a LITTLE bit better than the DC. Also here's something signifigant, the PS2 only has 2 MB. of V-RAM while the DC had like 4-6.
For everyone talking graphics between the two I only have to mention RE:CV or SC. The first had MINOR enhancements for the PS2 version.
I have to disagree with Dafoomie on the no DVD drive bit though it would've been nice. Now on the subject of DC sales, WRONG! From what I've heard the DC sold the best HERE and not Japan or Europe and in fact sales in both of those areas were poor. In Japan a DC Point Bank was setup whereby you buy so many DC games you get enough points you'd get a free one.
Seriously it's Europe and Japan that hurt the DC the most saleswise in territories.
EA was important and I don't appreciate them driving the nail in the Dreamcast's coffin.
Anyway, I'll discuss this more later.
 
Hmm, it's really sad to see Sega exit the sports genre. Well, it's good to know that Visual Concepts and Kush Games will still continue making sports games, but for Take-Two Interactive...

On a side note, I would love to see Electronic Arts crumble to the ground, before my very eyes, one day...:D
 
This has been coming for a while. I don't see a happy ending for Sega. They continue to lose gallons of money and can't create a hit game. They lost almost a billion dollars on the Dreamcast.

They've made huge mistakes. They lost $50 million on Shenmue alone. They lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the Saturn, almost a billion on the Dreamcast, hundreds of millions on Seganet, millions on Panzer Dragoon Orta, millions on Billy Hatcher, millions Shenmue 2, millions on the EPSN series, millions on low profile titles like Gunvalkrye, millions on the Phantasy Star Online series, millions on Seaman, millions on Super Monkey Ball, millions and millions and millions. When a game sells well, like Sonic Heroes or Virtua Fighter 4, there are ten games like Jet Set Radio Future that don't sell at all.

They couldn't turn games that were hugely critically acclaimed, like Jet Grind Radio or Panzer Dragoon Orta, into hits. They don't have an audience. Having the critics sing your praise does not mean you have a hit. They have no advertising, no mainstream appeal, and now they can't even trade on their name value. They have none left.

I like Sega. A lot in fact. But this is a company that has been reckless for a decade now. A decade's worth of mistakes is now catching up to them. They need a series of hits and they need them right now,. I don't see it happening. For them to make a comeback will require a hit on the scale of Grand Theft Auto or Halo. I don't see the next Jet Set Radio Future to be that kind of hit. I don't see a Sonic game being that kind of hit. If they want to build a bank roll they need to stop publishing games and start licensing out the remaining francises they have that are profitable to companies that know how to make a HIT game, not a good game.

License chacaters to Nintendo a do a Smash Bros: Nintendo vs. Sega. License Virtua Fighter to Namco and let them do Tekken vs. Virtua Fighter. Give Streets of Rage to Rockstar and let them try their hand at a modern Streets of Rage. Not that I think Sega can't make a good game or a hit game, but their track record has not been very good in the last decade. Time to throw out the gameplan.
 
[quote name='CrashSpyro123'][quote name='TJordan522']So this means my precious NHL 2K series is gone?[/quote]

No, it's in Take-Two's hands now.[/quote]

Oh, OK. Well maybe it will still be good.
 
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