To clarify (finally), Sega Sammy wants to revitalize Index's handheld and home console games division. Sega has been loosing money the last two quarters largely due to a downturn in the Western gaming market [according to the article, dunno if it's true].
Atlus, Index's gaming brand, has quite strong gaming franchises, like Shin Megami Tensei and has been making a yearly profit recently. Sega Sammy would like to use the assests of Atlus productively, including the idea of them developing games for smartphones.
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HuhTHIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!!!!!
But then SMTxFE would be canceled, are you saying you don't want to play this suppossedly amazing game
For who? Not me as a consumer.There's no "even" here. Nintendo would've been the ideal scenario.
On the other hand that may mean they REALLY don't see a point in Atlus USA and rip them apart anyway. Ideally, yeah, they just expand Atlus USA to be the new Sega USA and buff them up into a bigger localization arm, but I get the feeling more and more companies would rather move most of their international operations to Europe.Is it? Sega over the last year has pretty much decimated Sega USA, moving most operations outside of simple marketing to Europe. Coincidentally, Atlus has no presence in Europe. As far as I know, there's surprisingly little overlap.
A third party without serious game investment or without a western branch would've been ideal. Index for example was fine as far as what we consumers saw (or so it seemed) and mostly failed due to their shady accounting, a company like that WITHOUT the scandalous crap sinking them would've been the ideal, not another game company. And hell, if we HAD to go with another game company someone like Gung Ho really probably would've been best, they have a western branch but I don't know how big it is and they may be at the right size they'd just run both of them. Or at least favor Atlus USA.There's no "even" here. Nintendo would've been the ideal scenario.
Huh. Funny. Found this alpha shot of Catherine 2.
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!!!!!
Turning it into a browser card game isn't exactly helping things.
Huh. Funny. Found this alpha shot of Catherine 2.
SMTxFE is probably Nintendo funded project.
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!!!!!
Watch Nintendo buying Sega next week for a massive Megaton
Were someone to choose a rock to stand and complain on, it should be about their games going more AAA than mobile only.
Atlus USA though, yes there are notably real worries here, and perhaps some worries about localization for things they don't see as flagships.
SMTxFE is probably Nintendo funded project.
People not buying Valkyria Chronicles killed Valkyria Chronicles.Sega killed Valkyrie Chronicles i will never have faith in them.
A very good chance. People need to look at this process with some logic instead of just flipping out.
Atlus itself -- not Index as a whole, but the consumer games development division that we're talking about here -- is a consistently profitable enterprise. The listed sale price is $141m in US dollars -- a price that would be quite excessive simply to pick up a couple IPs whose value is heavily invested in their current, dedicated-niche-fanbase manifestation. Sammy also bought Atlus over a variety of other bidders, after Index specifically talked about looking for a buyer who would maintain some continuity in the operation.
Paying that kind of money to just loot the corpse and turn currently profitable IPs into mobile waste dumps would be quite pointless when, as it stands, they can buy Atlus, let them remain profitable doing what they already do, and also exploit them via sleazy mobile titles and so on.
Atlus USA is definitely the bigger concern here.
I'm kind of leaning that way, honestly. ATLUS US has been one of the most consistently profitable companies localizing Japanese games. No reason to believe that they won't keep those guys around. They be stupid not to. If anything, this should hopefully revitalize SEGA's localizations. If anyone gets axed over redundancies, it'll be on the SEGA side, not ATLUS.
so, they are now tied down to Sammy Sega, at least with Sony we would see their games worldwideDefinitely not. Atlus doesn't need to be tied down to a company.
yes, i dont see the appeal thereBut then SMTxFE would be canceled, are you saying you don't want to play this suppossedly amazing game
They brought out five fucking Yakuza games in the US. FIVE. Of a franchise that sold like shit here.
But of course one that sells well, like Persona has proven it can, definitely makes sense it won't come over here. Makes total sense.
Huh. Funny. Found this alpha shot of Catherine 2.
Sony'd at least bring the games to the west ... Sega on the other hand.....At least it wasn't Sony...
Right. The concern that Atlus is going to see an inevitable talent drain now, or they'll be pressured to scale their titles up unsustainably, or that they'll start to move into social/mobile gaming over a long period of time -- that's all pretty reasonable. But the idea that Persona 5 is going to come out and not be released in the US is dopey.
He's saying it'd be better for Sony to acquire Index Corp rather than SEGA SAMMY. So if Sony acquired them do you think it'd not be canceled even if it's Nintendo funded project?