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[Aeana]

Is there any real possibility Sega would ever stop developing console Sonic games? I mean I can buy the story if not for that.

My main concern now is who will publish Platinum's games??

Publishing Platinum's games is probably one of the reasons why Sega is in this predicament to begin with.

 

[shinobi602]

My main concern now is who will publish Platinum's games??

EA

Spoiler

>

 

[DeVeAn]

This better not be fucken true!

 

[hatchx]

Publishing Platinum's games is probably one of the reasons why Sega is in this predicament to begin with.

lol

Poor Platinum Studios. So much talent, so little sales results.

 

[iavi]

Is there any real possibility Sega would ever stop developing console Sonic games? I mean I can buy the story if not for that.

My main concern now is who will publish Platinum's games??

I wouldn't be surprised if Platinum soon ends up under a publisher's wing a la Tango or Valhalla.

 

[Nirolak]

Is there any real possibility Sega would ever stop developing console Sonic games? I mean I can buy the story if not for that.

My main concern now is who will publish Platinum's games??

Probably the same people publishing tri-Ace's console games these last two years.

 

[Dark Schala]

It's another parallel with how the games industry has been mirroring the film industry really, with its blockbuster mentality. The first $100 million film, then the first $200 million. It's used as a promotional tool in itself, implying a guarantee of spectacle for the consumer.

The gaming industry is just far more cagey about costs, being a younger and more volatile industry, so has just used AAA as the all encompassing term for the high-production value games.

Ah. The thought regarding the film industry did occur after considering the bounce from AAA to AAAA, and how big some budgets seem to be. Thanks for the clarification.

Someone had to put that nightmare version together though. Does that person have a name?

According to Sonic Retro:

BioWare - Audio
Audio: Steve Sim
Additional Music: Richard Jacques

But the rumour was that they had better music prepared for the game, but apparently they didn't know that SEGA didn't have the rights to the Dreams Come True stuff (so all of the music from Sonic 1 and 2), so they had to come up with their own stuff at the last minute... which resulted in the very rare bad Sonic soundtrack.

 

[Nirolak]

I wouldn't be surprised if Platinum soon ends up under a publisher's wing a la Tango or Valhalla.

Um yeah... about that...

 

[maquiladora]

This better not be fucken true!

 

["God's Beard!"]

 

[iavi]

Um yeah... about that...

I had forgotten all about that. Damn.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Probably the same people publishing tri-Ace's console games these last two years.

Ouch.

 

[Green Biker Dude]

this is going to be capcom's future if they don't stop outsourcing all their games to shitty western developers and treating their customers like shit

sega was actually better as far as i'm concerned

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

I'm a terrible person because my first thought was that Nintendo could buy the Shining IP for cheap and get Camelot to make SF games again.

 

[DECK'ARD]

This is a horrible thing to do

 

[iavi]

this is going to be capcom's future if they don't stop outsourcing all their games to shitty western developers and treating their customers like shit

sega was actually better as far as i'm concerned

Umm, Capcom keeps outsourcing cause most of the outsourced games have sold damn well - Dead Rising 2, RE: Operation Raccoon city, there's more I'm forgetting too.

 

[Dark Schala]

I'm a terrible person because my first thought was that Nintendo could buy the Shining IP for cheap and get Camelot to make SF games again.

But then you realized that Nintendo probably wouldn't localize them, right?

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Publishing Platinum's games is probably one of the reasons why Sega is in this predicament to begin with.

I mean I don't know the specifics but didn't all of Platinum's games sell well into the hundreds of thousands? Or at least most of them. Something is effed with console development if you can sell that much and still take massive losses.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

But then you realized that Nintendo probably wouldn't localize them, right?

NoE would!

 

[Kokonoe]

This seems to be a huge exaggeration.

 

[iavi]

I mean I don't know the specifics but didn't all of Platinum's games sell well into the hundreds of thousands? Or at least most of them. Something is effed with console development if you can sell that much and still take massive losses.

Just Bayo, iirc.

 

[GillianSeed79]

Sonic will live on in Pachinko machines. What am I saying. I've never even seen a Pachinko machine.

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

I don't think Yakuza is considered AAA in budget. I mean, it makes money on like 400-500K sales in Japan..

With how much Japanese games cost I sort of wonder if that's like 2 million here, assuming that the profit between publisher/retailer is MUCH larger and the cost of production is the same or slightly higher. Still, even at 2 million that'd be relatively tame compared to what some western AAA games apparently need.

I'd be interested to know what Yakuza 4/5 dev cost is too. I agree it would be considerably less than a comparable title developed in the West.

 

[Bollocks]

Is this even a big deal?

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I mean I don't know the specifics but didn't all of Platinum's games sell well into the hundreds of thousands? Or at least most of them. Something is effed with console development if you can sell that much and still take massive losses.

Probably just Bayonetta. I think the fairly high numbers that usually are attributed to Vanquish are just shipped copies. Madworld and Infinite Space couldn't have sold that well either.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Just Bayo, iirc.

According to Wiki (lol?), MadWorld's sold 640,000 worldwide. For a 5-hour long Wii game, that had to have made some serious cash unless they grossly misappropriated funds to its development.

Solid numbers-wise, it sold at least 123,000 in the US after six months. It's crazy when breaking the 100k mark isn't even worth anything anymore.

 

[CecilRousso]

My only concern when it comes to SEGA is Creative Assembly and Sports Interactive. I´m pretty sure the Football Manager games doesn´t count as AAA games, but I´m a bit worried about hearing AAA games being mentioned around Creative Assembly. If they f*ck up that studio because their inability to profitable elsewhere, then I´m.............sad.

 

[Gomu Gomu]

Man, If this is true, Next-Gen will be very scary.

 

[ULTROS!]

I don't think Yakuza is considered AAA in budget. I mean, it makes money on like 400-500K sales in Japan.

What are good examples of AAA, AAAA, AAAAA, or even B titles? I'm kinda confused with that one and how their expected sales go.

 

[Alx]

I'll be sad if it happens, but not really surprised either. The console market has changed, and in a time where having an "arcade flair" is considered to be a flaw, and people look for immersive/gritty/realistic games, most of Sega's history and know-how is pointless. At least for big retail games.

Other markets for short downloadable games may be more suited for genres born from a "pay per play" model in the arcades, but I'm not sure il will allow for a full revival. Most interfaces will still be touch-based, so it will have its consequences on the games that can be made. And there is a tough competitions of simple and cheap minigames.

 

[Busaiku]

So what does this mean for Sonic?

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

So what does this mean for Sonic?

Amy Rose mobile dating sims until the end of time. Exciting times, Sonic fans!

 

[Tookay]

Okay, this is horrible news, but I busted up at this.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Yakuza is probably their most expensive game.

Just look at the facial graphics alone.

 

[speedpop]

Man, If this is true, Next-Gen will be very scary.

I am expecting to see a lot of it more studio closures down the track. Whether it is to be solely blamed upon game development budgets due to the rise in complexity of developing in the next cycle of consoles, who knows.

 

[Dark Schala]

NoE would!

NoE has gotten so good in the past few years.

Silly NoA!

So what does this mean for Sonic?

It hasn't been His World for a while. Though we can probably expect Endless Possibilities, even though it's probably the case that Sega hasn't Lived and Learned.

I'm sorry. I'm certainly hoping for the best, though Sonic's popular enough so I don't think the IP will go down that easy.

 

[Emitan]

Keep our terrible puns in the community thread!

 

[Tookay]

I am expecting to see a lot of it more studio closures down the track. Whether it is to be solely blamed upon game development budgets due to the rise in complexity of developing in the next cycle of consoles, who knows.

Embrace your new EA/Activision/Ubisoft overlords everybody.

 

[Dark Schala]

Keep our terrible puns in the community thread!

The joke was right there and I couldn't help it.

 

[Femmeworth]

Publishing Platinum's games is probably one of the reasons why Sega is in this predicament to begin with.

Eh, I doubt they lost much money, if any, publishing Platinum's games. Unless you factor in opportunity cost, but then what would they have published in their place?

 

[Dalthien]

According to Wiki (lol?), MadWorld's sold 640,000 worldwide. For a 5-hour long Wii game, that had to have made some serious cash unless they grossly misappropriated funds to its development.

Solid numbers-wise, it sold at least 123,000 in the US after six months. It's crazy when breaking the 100k mark isn't even worth anything anymore.

For the LTD in the US, add a good 50%+ to that number. MadWorld is tied with Bayo 360 LTD in the US. Bayo PS3 is quite a bit lower, and then Vanquish on each platform is way, way down from there.

 

[Professor Beef]

Keep our terrible puns in the community thread!

It's not her fault she was able to Work It Out.

 

[Kokonoe]

It hasn't been His World for a while. Though we can probably expect Endless Possibilities, even though it's probably the case that Sega hasn't Lived and Learned.

I'm sorry. I'm certainly hoping for the best, though Sonic's popular enough so I don't think the IP will go down that easy.

Sonic will Live and Learn, and Reach for the Stars. All you have to do is Open Your Heart, because I saw Sonic Kick The Rock! off his shoulder with Sonic Generations.

For True Story.

 

[Huw_Dawson]

Sega to pare back AAA console title publishing?

Given that two of their biggest published titles - Total War and Football Manager - are both PC exclusive, this isn't actually all that surprising.

Sega's done a good job in the PC space in the last few years.

 

[iavi]

According to Wiki (lol?), MadWorld's sold 640,000 worldwide. For a 5-hour long Wii game, that had to have made some serious cash unless they grossly misappropriated funds to its development.

Solid numbers-wise, it sold at least 123,000 in the US after six months. It's crazy when breaking the 100k mark isn't even worth anything anymore.

Interesting. I had no idea it did even that well.

Sega's done a good job in the PC space in the last few years.

Yeah, I'd love to see some numbers to their efforts. BD's and Generations' would be nice.

Sonic CD has at least 14k~ on the leaderboards - no huge numbers, but it's had no steam sale, and will probably get a HUGE boost as most games do when it eventually has one.

 

[sublimit]

I think those rumors are very exaggerated.I refuse to believe them at least for now.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

holy shit

please still localize yakuza, sega usa!

 

[Saty]

The Creative Assembly game at E3: do they mean a new Total War (dunno if Sega lables it AAA) or the Aliens game they are working on? Don't think they will cancel either of those.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

For the LTD in the US, add a good 50%+ to that number. MadWorld is tied with Bayo 360 LTD in the US. Bayo PS3 is quite a bit lower, and then Vanquish on each platform is way, way down from there.

And yet MadWorld was their only Wii game... strange...

 

[abrack08]

Well maybe if you bought it sooner they wouldn't be in this situation.

All your fault.

..............................................




I bought it used. I know! I know. I'm the reason the industry is in trouble. And I'm trying to get a job in it too. But I'm so poor, the only way I can play games is to trade in ones I've already beaten. And they had buy 2 get 1 free.