Page 1 of 2

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 12:35 pm
by BanjoPickles1
So, I was going through my PS3 games when I came across Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. I marveled at the abundance of quality games on the collection, but it got me thinking: Sega seems content to let their entire history be summed up solely by their 16-bit output. We'll never get a comprehensive Saturn compilation. A Panzer Dragoon Saga rerelease will never happen (Sega claims they lost the source code! How does that even happen??). I held out hope that an HD Shenmue rerelease would happen, but I've completely lost faith. When was the last time that Sega rereleased Virtua Fighter 1-3, Daytona, Burning Rangers (never happened), Shining Force III, etc.?

It just seems sad to me that a company with such a vast catalog would leave 75% of their legacy in the dust. What do you guys think?

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 5:15 pm
by Sut1
Completely agree it's almost as if nothing after the MegaDrive/Genesis happened.

32x
Chaotix - Ok not the greatest game, but surely should have been included in a Sonic compilation by now.
Star Wars Arcade - A release with this and the Sega Star Wars trilogy arcade game would be awesome !
Virtua Racing - Come on Sega this game is iconic, give it some love.

Saturn
Sega Rally - OK it's been rebooted, but what about a HD collection of Sega Rally 1-3 ?
Panzer Dragoon Trilogy - Again screams out for HD Collection
Nights - They ballsed up the Wii release but would be great on a Saturn compilation
Virtua Cop - Again classic games crying out for a rerelease.

And I haven't even started on the Dreamcast !

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 5:43 pm
by VideoGameCritic
I agree completely.  It's bad enough Sega squandered so many classic properties (Streets of Rage anyone?), but they seem to have no appreciation for how great these franchises were!  
I think a lot of the old series would have sold well on name alone in the past.  Sadly, it been so long since they were in the mainstream, that window is probably closed.

Since the Dreamcast, what has Sega even done?  Before Bayonetta 2 was hit, I was assuming Sega had folded up, and I'm the Video Game Critic for crying out loud!

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 6:05 pm
by HardcoreSadism1
Sega is just like every Software Development branch out there these days, they listen to the gullible wannabe geeks and Christian Chandler (okay that part was a random jab). 

Sega got arrogant when releasing 500$ add-ons that were not only built weak but most of it capitalized on grainy film rather than raw game play. Sonic CD is probably the greatest game on that system but it hadn't aged well, for sure. The Saturn was supposed to be a beast but Sega had problems adapting to anything past a *16-Bit* console. They literally expect a retired hardware to carry their legacy, and only now more people are emulating these systems and not buying them outside of Flashback iterations which often do not run on all the authentic hardware or are neutered to a degree.

What a joke.

Speaking of which I consider the Saturn a near-equal to the DreamCast. Too bad no Saturn flashback with built in games exist. I'm glad people who actually care about the quality in games still produce Homebrew for the DC.

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 6:09 pm
by BanjoPickles1
And Bayonetta 2 wasn't even their game!

They squandered Streets of Rage, the Shining Force series, Phantasy Star, Vectorman, Altered Beast, Toejam and Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Panzer Dragoon, Nights, Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel, Daytona, Sega Rally, Outrun, Golden Axe, Virtua Racing, etc.!

They haven't touched Comix Zone in twenty years! The same goes for Eternal Champions! What about Virtua Cop? Zaxxon? Skies of Arcadia? All of those awesomely-horrible FMV games?

All they have left is the legacy that they built with the Genesis/mega drive, and the diminishing returns of increasingly-poor Sonic games.

I mean, if you're going to focus on the past , focus on your WHOLE past! I love Atari, but Atari is just as guilty. However, Atari never released a successor as great as Saturn or Dreamcast.

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 6:26 pm
by Pimphand_Gamester1
Well they did give another go at modernizing a few classics like Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Shinobi, they just didn't do a very good job of it apparently and because they failed, it likely prevents them from ever trying again. I don't think their 4.5 million is enough to risk resurrecting these titles again but then again the people at Sega right now don't appear to have any passion.

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 9:51 pm
by Astrosmasher1
The Dreamcast in the UK was not very good to be honest.  It was out for a year and then folded.  Since then Sega have done very little.  Every time they release a game it is the could do better bracket.  Aliens Colonial marines... should have been the finest Alien game ever.  It wasn't even close.  Though I blame Gearbox for that.  Next Up Alien Isolation.... really good if you want to run and hide.

The Saturn was a good game system.  They released a reboot of nights on Xbox live. 

I look at all the great games they made then shelved.  Panzer Dragoon RPG anyone. 

Well it is Sega after the Genesis they lost the magic touch.  By my reckoning Sega were huge for 10 years...

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 25th, 2015, 10:14 pm
by Gentlegamer1
Sega suffers from the same malady affecting the whole industry: the relative death of the "middle class" game. The big AAA publishers have sucked all the room out of the market for games that don't aspire to AAA budget production values (and endless DLC, microtransactions, etc.).

So while Sega has many great legacy IPs that could be dusted off for modern re-imagining, the current market basically won't allow it, unless they go digital only at maybe a lower price point.

In fact, I'd say THQ was the "modern Sega" in how they actually had a great catalog of IPs in the "middle class" level, but because of the AAA effect, and colossal financial mismanagement, it had to shut down.

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 26th, 2015, 1:12 pm
by JustLikeHeaven1
The real reason is that SEGA doesn't have much of a legacy with average gamers.  Think of all the gamers out there today who never touched a Genesis, Saturn, 32x, Dreamcast...they have absolutely zero love for the company.  On a site like this...yeah we recognize that they have a rich history and they should totally exploit it.  However, if they did go ahead and release a Saturn collection, I think it would pretty much bomb.  Or at the very least...they would think it would bomb.  So they just don't do it.  

Your average gamer doesn't know about Panzer Dragoon, Nights into Dreams, Burning Rangers etc... Plus the mainstream gaming media would prob give the compilation a horrible review stating these games are old and simply not up to today's standards...BOOM terrible Metacritic score and then the collection quickly goes to bargain bins across the globe.

For years I've thought SEGA has squandered their rich gaming heritage...but the more I think about it, the more I think it's only a small niche clamoring for SEGA's glory days.

Sega's Depressing Legacy

Posted: January 26th, 2015, 2:11 pm
by Jon1
Excellent point about the death of the "middle class game". It's like if the film industry had no independent films, no film festivals for the best movies to get distribution deals, nothing but Godzilla or Twilight. No chance for up and coming filmmakers to get discovered. That's what it's like. The DLC advantage that these companies have makes thing thinks might get even worse. I'd be interested in a Saturn collection, some of my favorite games were Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop series, and Daytona. That and countless other games proves that they were more than just 16 bit gaming. I wouldn't get my hopes up; they found a way to screw up the Neo Geo collection with basically half it's classic titles missing.