Untitled (Rant On The Canning of The North American Version of Shenmue II
Why do people talk like Sega is so poor? Like Sega can barely rub two nickels together, therefore they can't release Shenmue 2 in America? Especially after Isao Okawa gave $500 million to Sega once he died, I think Sega is much better off than what you think. Sega just isn't rich enough to start and fully support a new console. If Sega was so poor, why do all those arcade releases? Most people don't buy a lot of their games for arcades except for their large franchises. Super Monkey Ball wasn't going to be a success; why release that game? See, a simple $50,000 at most translation is not a problem for Sega. Sega could probably make a profit from Shenmue 2 if they sell more than 5,000 copies. Why do you think Working Designs stays alive without money problems? A simple translation does not cost much money. They profit from any game that sells more than 10,000 copies because its so simple to translate it.
The truth of the matter is, Sega sees gamers looking at other systems. Third parties are now backing out and cancelling software. Sega of Europe cans all kinds of projects for the Dreamcast. Sega sees all these game programmers talk about what they want to do for PlayStation 2, XBox, and Game Cube. Meanwhile, Sega is standing there and the Dreamcast is like the little kid who clutches to your leg. Sega wants to shake off that kid to hop onto the bandwagon. So what Sega wants to do is to phase out of everything for the Dreamcast. The first phase was to announce multiplatform support. Second was to develop software for these other consoles. The next step is the step that hurts most Dreamcast users. They start to can games that aren't massive projects. This is how games like Far Nation, Agartha, Take the Bullet, and even Head Hunter are canned. I guess the next step is to take out all projects. I will be shocked if Sega releases a first party title for American markets in 2002. Capcom or Agetec may pick up Zero Gunner 2 or something to America but that'll be just about it for Dreamcast.
To sum it up, Sega is embarrassed of the Dreamcast. They hate it just like all the third parties and consumers. They want to have that "Me too! Me too!" ideology and while thats all nice and good, at the exchange of this, Sega basically spit on all the fans. These Sega fans defended your products in stores and even help sold thousands of systems. DC was the first console ever to sell a million in less than 90 days. Who led the hype to this? Definitely not Sony and Nintendo fans. It was Sega fans who touted the Dreamcast as a powerhouse of the next generation of gaming. It was the Sega fans who talked in class, in the cafeteria, in the gym, etc. on how great DC is. I personally convinced about 10 people to get a Dreamcast. All of them loved the system after getting it. I'm not the only one.
However the system we were supporting and defending is now disgusted at the sight of the system by the same people who developed it. Sega basically spit on its fans and now expects us to follow like sheep to whatever system they choose? I know Sega was going to leave the Dreamcast but not in this shameful of a manner. They can most of their games and can releases of games people actually wanted. Sega has just about no respect in the industry anymore. Do you see the attention given to them in the gaming forums. Sorry, not everybody is embracing them. In fact, most are hating them right now. Don't take my word for it, just troll around some of the major internet forums. I've never heard so many "Fuck you, Sega" messages in one time period in my life. No surprise as Sega ruined the respect they had. Its their loss and they are going to pay dearly for it. Some people (including me) are saying besides a couple Sega Sports games, they are never buying a Sega product again. On any system. Its not a "Its their loss situation" Many (hundreds) are saying this and this is just on major forums. This thing is probably in the thousands and this will cripple Sega from being the proposed software third party powerhouse.
Sega has a history with screwing people over. I'm angry but not that surprised. Sega delivered some great games with the Dreamcast but yes, they screwed us over. I have little if any respect for Sega now. Like most people, I'm not going to buy products from someone who regularly turns on its fans, bites the hand that feeds them, etc. I think Virtua Fighter 4 for PS2 will be the last game I buy. Since I buy on average 30-40 games a year, thats about $2000 to be had. So far I've bought many Sega games, maybe the total comes to $600 to $800 a year. This is quite a bit actually. Imagine if 5,000 people (my estimate of how many are actually not going to buy Sega products) no longer buy their products and spend this much (some of these people spend much more) The total comes to $4 million. There is probably more than this amount of people and some spend much more. $4 million is not that much but then again, its $4 million. This also takes away some of its fanbase so there is less hype, meaning less sales for games. Plus Sega has a bad rep here and without the hype from its fans, it will not sell well. So the damage here can be as little as $5 million or as much as $50 million a year.
This is probably the longest rant I've ever done and with good reason. Its reckoning day for Sega and when they start to see the slumped sales of third party software, it'll make them wish that they didn't make the mistakes they did. I thought Sega changed with the Dreamcast (an old, tired excuse from the fans) but the only thing they changed this time around was delivering a Sonic launch title, creating a stronger sports lineup, and produce an easier to program system. Business wise, they didn't change at all.
Plus where is the great sales their third party efforts at? So far, it seems like their third party idea is turning into a big bust. Chu Chu Rocket for GBA didn't even land on the charts in Japan and probably did even worse in America. Super Monkey Ball sold like ass, especially for a launch title. I also don't see all kinds of hype and anticipation for their software except for three games: Virtua Fighter 4, NBA 2K2, and NFL 2K2. I think Sega's idea of a huge software empire is not going to pan out. This is a different issue than what I explained above but Sega has to start changing. It may be horrifying but Sega may have put their major franchises on the PS2. Shocking, I know but PS2 is the most profitable platform out yet. Game Cube is Japan is tanking right now and PS2 just sold 20 million systems in 1 1/2 years. Forget how much they shipped; I don't see PS2s all over the nation, the sales are probably 16-18 million; an amazing number in just 18 months.
If Sega was really serious about profiting, then they need to change. First, you start by developing games on PS2. So far, there isn't anything Sega is making that can't be done on the PS2. Its a profitable system and has the best chance of turning a profit for the software. Its the truth. If the Game Cube is just now breaking the 200,000 point according to both Game Japan and Famitsu, its not a profit house. -Shin Egg Robo X
