Tag Archives: Sega

Toshihiro Nagoshi Hypes New Sega Game at Upcoming Tokyo Game Show

Draikin August 24, 2015 2 Replies

During a NicoNico Live stream, Toshihiro Nagoshi (the man behind Daytona USA and more recently the Yakuza games) said that he’s anxious for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show where Sega will be announcing a new title. While Nagoshi didn’t reveal details about the title, it’s expected that this will be an original game from the same team that developed the Yakuza titles. Nagoshi also mentioned that he thinks that “Sega’s live showing at Tokyo Game Show will be the most exciting one we’ve seen in a while”. We’ll find out soon enough if that’s the case, as the Tokyo Game Show starts in a few weeks from now, on September 17!

What do you think it will be?

Source: Hachima, via Siliconera

Sega Launches ‘neXt39’ Teaser Website For a New (Project Diva?) Game

Draikin August 24, 2015 Leave a reply

Our friends at SEGAbits noted that Sega has launched a new teaser website for an upcoming game. The website shows the text “3939.00 / 3939”, which seems to hint heavily at a Project Diva. Fans of Project Diva and Hatsune Miku will no doubt know the relevance of the number “39”, as those numbers can be read as “mi” (3) and “ku” (9). This means the name of the website can also be read “next miku”. That said, it’s not clear what the uppercase X is hinting at. I find it unlikely that it would hint at an Xbox One version, given how that console is almost irrelevant in Japan. The equation is also likely meant to hint at something, but it’s again unknown at what exactly. Gematsu noted the Tweet from the official Project Diva Twitter, telling people that Sega will have a new project to talk about soon, and hinting for more details to be revealed near the end of August and September.

We’ll be sure to share more details as they become available!

Sega-Sammy Posts Loss for Q1 2016 Due to Lack of New Titles

Draikin August 2, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega-Sammy has revealed its financial report for the first quarter of the financial year, detailing the performance of the Sega-Sammy Holding. While the group posted an operating income of ¥8,953 million ($72 million) in Q1 2015, they now posted an operating loss of ¥9,455 million ($76 million). Rather than bore you with all the numbers, I thought it’d be more interesting to make a few charts to show you how the results differ from the Q1 2015.

First, here’s a comparison between the net sales of all three segments mentioned earlier, in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2015, and the first quarter of the fiscal year 2016.

What stands out is of course a considerable drop in sales for the Pachinko/Pachislot business. In terms of sales, the results for the Entertainment and Resort business were more or less the same as the year before. Next, a similar chart, but now showing the actual net income.

As you can see, the big difference here between Q1 2015 and Q1 2016 is that the Pachinko/Pachislot side also posted a loss this time around. Evidently, with all the subsidiaries losing money, this explains why the group ended up posting an overall loss this time around, as the Pachinko/Pachislot business wasn’t there to make up for the losses incurred elsewhere.

Posting a loss is of course never a good thing, but the reason for it is obvious: they simply didn’t have a lot of new content to release in the first quarter. Something worth noting is that in terms of sales, the Entertainment business actually far exceeded the results of the Pachislot/Pachinko business this time around. Nevertheless, something that remains a problem for Sega-Sammy is the profitability of their gaming business (now reformed into “Sega Games”). The recent company restructure was no doubt done in order to resolve this situation and reduce costs.

For the Entertainment Contents business, the group did highlight the continued strong performance from titles such as Chain Chronicles, Puyopuyo!! Quest and Phantasy Star Online 2, alongside new releases such as Hortensia Saga and Monster Gear which are said to be “off to a flying start”. Sega-Sammy now expects to return to profitability for the second quarter, with several titles being released in the Pachinko and Pachislot business. On the mobile side, they’ll also be launching new mobile games “XUCCESS HEAVEN” and “CHAOS DRAGON.”

It’ll be interesting to see the result for the next quarter, as those will give us a better idea of whether or not the restructure proved worthwhile.

Wonder Festival 2015 Sega and Atlus Figures/Garage Kits – Goro Majima Announced, and Much More

InTheSky July 30, 2015 1 Reply

This past weekend, the Summer Wonder Festival 2015 (second Wonder Festival of the year) showed off a variety of garage kits. Sega and Atlus properties were well represented at this event. Shockingly, there are figures for 7th Dragon III Code: VFD! Also, besides the previously announced figma for Kazuma Kiryu, a figma was also announced for Goro Majima to be in production at this event, as shown above.

Find a list below of Sega and Atlus related figures, with links to teaser images courtesy of myfigurecollection.net. Please keep in mind that some of the material is NSFW (as noted), and some of the images are promotional/serve as teasers for the art that is later to come. Some links will not display near-final renders of a figure.

Interestingly, it seems Sega is listed as manufacturing a handful of anime-related figures. None are so important as this one below:

Yahari Ore no Seishun LoveCome wa Machigatteiru. Zoku’s Yui Yuigahama

Only making a figure of Yui, of all characters from that series? Sega solidifies themselves as arbiters of taste by choosing the best character. After all, she was brought to us to bring justice to this world. If you are a fan of Iroha Isshiki, you are probably pretty cool, but if you are a fan of Yukino Yukinoshita, I am beyond disgusted.

Sega’s CEO Responds to Reactions of Fans and Media to his latest Famitsu interview

Draikin July 24, 2015 Leave a reply

The latest Famitsu interview with Sega’s CEO, Haruki Satomi, generated a lot of interest from Sega fans accross the world. It seems Sega noticed this as well, as both Destructoid and Siliconera received a follow-up statement from Sega’s CEO:

Seeing our fans across the world respond to our recent interview with Famitsu, lets us know we’ve made the right first step in acknowledging who we are and where we want to be. Sega is dedicated to bringing you quality gaming experiences and becoming a brand you love and trust again.” — Haruki Satomi, CEO of Sega Games

It’s interesting to see the CEO of Sega reach out to the fans like this, and we hope it bodes well for the future. While these are still just words, it’s a positive sign to see the CEO reach out to the fans not just in Japan, but around the entire world. His comments directly addressed concerns from the fans regarding the localization of Sega games, and it’s a good sign that Mr. Satomi believes that games from Sega of Japan can also sell well in the rest of the world, as long as the quality is there to meet fans’ expectations. We look forward to see what the new Sega Games has in store for us!

Sega CEO Haruki Satomi Wants to Win Back the Fans’ Trust

Draikin July 7, 2015 5 Replies

UPDATE: the interview was done with Haruki Satomi and not his father, Hajime Satomi, as the article initially stated. We edited the article to correct this.

Haruki Satomi, the founder of Sammy Corporation and also the current CEO of Sega, recently had an interview with Famitsu in which he talked about the past and future of Sega. Siliconera has posted a translation of the interview, revealing some interesting information. When asked about the state of the current console market, he recognized that the PlayStation 4, while not doing all that well in Japan, is selling very well in the rest of the world. He went on to note that the sales of Yakuza Zero in China have exceeded their expectations.

“As far as the Western market goes, we learned a lot from Atlus.”

In regards to the West, Satomi says they learned a lot from Atlus. In particular, he mentioned that “if we can make a title with proper quality, I believe there’s a good chance for it to do well even in the West for players that like to play Japanese games.”. Obviously, that’s something we believe as well, so it’s good to hear Satomi himself recognize that they can learn from the way Atlus manages to sell niche Japanese games in the West.

“If we can’t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all.”

When asked about America and Europe, Satomi had the following to say: “Especially in North America and Europe, where it’s always been more of a focus on schedules, I believe that if we can’t maintain quality, it would be better to not release anything at all.”. He goes on to note that Sega will focus more on quality from now on, and because of that he won’t promise that they will be able to announce a new console game soon, although he does believe they’ll have something to announce at the Tokyo Game Show. When Famitsu asks what they can look forward to from Sega in the future, Satomi states that back in the ’90s, Sega was known for its brand, but has since lost the trust from its fans and has mostly been relying on its past reputation. In the future, he wants to win back the consumers’ trust, and wants Sega to become a brand again.

It’s certainly interesting to see Haruki Satomi himself make these comments, as for the most part they do echo what many fans have been saying over the past years: Sega lost what made it such a strong brand back in the console days by repeatedly releasing games that don’t live up to the quality we expect from them. It’s also really encouraging to see that Satomi thinks that Japanese games do have an audience in the West. So, Mr. Satomi, about Phantasy Star Online 2…

Project X Zone 2: “Crossing Paths” Trailer, Release Date Change

InTheSky July 2, 2015 Leave a reply

The first promotional video for Project X Zone 2 that Banpresto have been working on finally hit the internet, in commemoration with a media blitz that Bandai Namco is pushing for their games as part of Japan Expo 2015 in Paris. Be sure to watch it! There isn’t much in the way of new content, but this is actually our first peek into the voice acting for the game. In addition, we get to see a lot of the attacks that the characters will be able to use in this game.

There’s a discrepancy between the Japanese trailer and the English trailer – some of the video content from the Japanese trailer (namely things like Adventure of the Valkyrie DLC, 3DS themes) weren’t present in the English trailer. The segment on the “Original Game Sound Edition” was also omitted from the English trailer. The game is coming out on November 12 in Japan, but the English trailer notes (from Bandai Namco Europe) an early 2016 release date. Odds are this could very well apply to North America, too, so let’s prepare ourselves.

You can check out both trailers after the break. We’ve also attached a gallery with select images based on the trailer’s Japanese version for your browsing, too. Remember that the roster is certainly not stopping here. Wish for your favorites!

…I still find it funny that the Yakuza team’s super attack is called “Ryu ga Gotoku.”

“SE-GA!”

Akira Yuki and Kage-Maru alongside the Tekken team

Kazuma Kiryu

Kiryu and Majima’s super: “Ryu ga Gotoku”

Familiar boxart?

Sakura and Gemini come to support!

Sakura has a new attack, involving using a mop

All four Sakura Wars characters

Le Chat Noir

Sakura in a new super cut-in

Axel Stone’s opening cut-in image

Ulala’s closing cut-in sequence

Welcome to the World of Yakuza 5: Interview Series wth Sony and Sega

InTheSky June 25, 2015 Leave a reply

Gio Corsi’s Yakuza 5 develop interview project is now hitting the internet; the first of three parts of the Yakuza 5 interview series was announced on Sony’s PlayStation blog and their social media accounts. In addition to talking to Yakuza series director/bronze sculpture of Sega Toshihiro Nagoshi and Yakuza 5 producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, Gio Corsi also answers some questions collected through the #Yakuza5PS hashtag on Twitter when the interview project had been first announced.

The interview uploaded onto YouTube is restricted by a content warning, meaning that it cannot be viewed as easily as most videos. Alternatively, if you check out the Playstation Blog entry for the interview, simply responding to the age gate verification will yield the footage for your viewing pleasure.

It’s interesting content! As the autumn approaches, it’ll be nice to have this interview series on hand and hopefully there will be more ways to engage people with the world of Yakuza.

Project X Zone 2 E3 2015 Trailer; Ulala, Felicia, Valkyrie Confirmed in Separate Image

InTheSky June 16, 2015 Leave a reply

Bandai Namco Europe just uploaded a new trailer for Project X Zone 2 for E3 2015 promotional purposes. It’s the first glimpse of gameplay in motion for the game. It features two teams in action from each publisher. The trailer theme is a remix of the previous trailer’s background theme; looks like it will be the main musical theme for this game.

From Sega, it’s Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima from Yakuza, and Akira Yuki and Kage-Maru from Virtua Fighter. From Bandai Namco, it’s Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima from Tekken, and Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo from Tales of Vesperia. And from Capcom: Mega Man X and Zero from the Mega Man X series, and Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter. Attacks from each pair of characters can be seen in the trailer. The combat interface is different, and even returning teams have new attacks.

The thumbnail for the E3 trailer shows Project X Zone 2-styled art for Felicia from Capcom’s Darkstalkers, Valkyrie from Bandai Namco’s The Legend of Valkyrie, and Ulala from Sega’s Space Channel 5. Presumably they are all support characters; while there will probably be more teams that branch across publishing companies (like Strider Hiryu from Capcom and Hotsuma from Sega) there’s nothing quite yet to suggest that any of these three is a pair unit. These characters aren’t present in the trailer, but it’s confirmation of their presence nonetheless.

Continue reading to check out the trailer!

SEGA Celebrates 55 Year Anniversary With a Promotional Video

Draikin June 5, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega celebrated its 55th anniversary on June 3rd, and Sega of Japan posted a new promotional video to commemorate the occasion. The video takes a look at both the past and present Sega, including their consoles and games like NiGHTS and Virtua Fighter, but also the company’s more recent Yakuza and Total War games. It also features footage from Persona 5, and a look at some of the CGI animations from Marza studio. The video also includes a group photo of Sega of Japan employees, with Nagoshi at the center. With all the difficulties the company has known over the past decade, it’s easy to forget just how long Sega has been around. It’ll be interesting to see what they have planned for the future! You can watch the promotional video below.