Sega has put up a teaser site for their TGS 2015 showing. The page draws attention to Sega, Sega Networks (mobile division,) and Atlus (you already know.) As of late, other companies including Bandai Namco and Koei-Tecmo have been revealing their TGS lineups, but Sega is pretty clearly trying to play their cards close to the chest as long as they can if they’re willing to avoid acting in lockstep with other companies (although one could make the argument that you don’t want too many companies revealing their plans next to each other because people will lose focus.) So it appears they’re pretty confident about whatever their plans may be for Tokyo Game Show.
We’re stuck waiting at least another week for the site’s opening and any new info it may contain, barring a Famitsu leak or something of the sort. As it stands, for major consumer division reveals we already have Phantasy Star Online 2 for PS4 and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA X. I do have some ideas on what won’t be there, but keep in mind that this is just speculation.
-Not a new Sonic Team Sonic the Hedgehog title. Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice is releasing in the Fall, but perhaps Sega don’t want to take any hype away from Fire and Ice. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise isn’t a franchise like Final Fantasy that can avoid competing against itself, as it stands. This is assuming Sonic Team are working on a new Sonic title, which is at least inevitable and it’s really a question of when the project becomes public knowledge.
-Not a new Yakuza game. While the Yakuza franchise continues to evolve in terms of getting experimental with its battle systems, side content, and how it tells stories, Sega has been producing Yakuza games at a pretty quick rate with 5, Ishin, and Zero. The sales for the franchise are pretty good in Japan compared to most other titles of its kind, but they are decreasing in slight increments. In any case, Sega may think they can afford to give the franchise a minor break in its homeland. It is still fairly strong in Japan. Maaaaybe it could catch up on its overseas presence in the meantime…
-Not a new franchise. There haven’t been any strong new IPs in the consumer division in the past couple of years. Rhythm Thief (this one depresses me, I loved the music) and Hero Bank (in spite of the sequel and accompanying anime series) never really took off. Generally, I think we can expect most Japanese companies to, for the most part, not go too heavy on new IPs, and instead focus on an existing stable of active franchises (or perhaps revisit old ones, though this is less likely.) One of the exceptions that immediately comes to mind is Koei-Tecmo’s Yoru no Nai Kuni, but even that doesn’t seem likely to become its own extended franchise if I had to guess. There’s also Capcom’s deep down (what’s going on with that?…) and Bandai Namco’s Lost Reavers/Project Treasure, but (and not to minimize my wrongness) they’re sort of these major projects that you expect a company to make in conjunction with a new generation’s arrival, and will probably be products of the time, and for its time only – I am guessing that deep down even it if succeeds isn’t going to be an investment lasting past this generation.
Who knows what the future may hold though. If you think you know, tell us what you think! If you really do know, then tell us too. Ideally, whatever you offer coincides with whatever I was predicting (which wasn’t much, but who’s keeping track?) because it means that I might be amazing at this prediction business! Either way, we won’t have to wait too long.
Featured image courtesy of this Gematsu article.
