This is how SEGA rewards the USA!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Joe Rigali]

Just a funny letter I found on IGN.com.
I really admire what Sega has done to reward us DC owners for our loyalty. The DC was somewhat successful here in the USA - it flopped in Japan. And how do they reward us?
To our Sega fans,
First, I want to thank the legion of loyal Sega fans for their unwavering enthusiasm and support over the past years - your dedication has truly been invaluable.
As you all undoubtedly know, this year Sega is transitioning from a hardware manufacturer into a platform-agnostic third party publisher. During this change, Sega has had to make some very difficult business decisions, including the cancellation of Shenmue II for Dreamcast in the U.S. market.
I realize that this announcement is a difficult one for many people to swallow, and I sincerely apologize. While I cannot detail all of the reasons that led up to this decision, I can tell you that it was made with the long-term interests of Sega fans in mind. No matter how difficult it seems, I want you to understand that any difficult choices that are made during this transition time are based on one bottom line: ensuring the longevity of beloved Sega franchises, including Shenmue. Sega is working hard to make the necessary decisions to drive our business forward while at the same time continuing to support our loyal fans. (WHILE AT THE SAME TIME BENDING YOU OVER AND SCREWING YOU)
Although the company may be changing -- we are still Sega. Although the ride has sometimes been rocky, our promise to our fans is this: We will continue to push the boundaries of gaming with new content and technology. We will continue to deliver new and innovative games. We will continue to put out the games that no one else can. We will continue to be Sega and bring you only the best that gaming has to offer.
Bear with us - the ride is going to get a lot smoother...
Best Regards,
Peter Moore
President & COO, Sega of America
(Can anyone find my added message?)
OK now this really pisses me off. I was already pissed at Sega for what they did by killing the DC. I remember reading that when they announced they just because they would stop manufacturing the DC, They still had a ton of new games in development.
We got Sonic 2, a crappy bugged version of NFL2k2 and NBA 2k2. Shenmue 2 was cancelled, as was Half-life, and jet grind radio future, and I'm sure there are more out there that I cant think of.
Im sorry - I think you suck and you have continued to screw over you loyal fanbase - your the Bill Clinton of Videogames. Well this is one videogame slut who has had enough of YOU! Good luck finding more suckers - I've purchased my last Sega product!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I can't fault Sega, and I've got a massive Sega collection.
I'm not happy with the decision since I have a Dreamcast, but it I want Sega to be around. They've hemhorraged cash for years now, and this looks to be the best financial decision.
I guess maybe we'd all be happier if they went out of business like SNK, as long as we get DC ShenMue II.

 

[Mike__D]

I also have DC, and while I'm sad to see it go, the future looks bright. We'll get Shenmue II... only on another system (Xbox I think). And all the Sega sports titles will be on all the systems (well, GC won't get it till the 2K3 series).
As far as NFL2K2 being buggy... how is it buggy... I've played it ALOT and it never seemed buggy to me.
Mike D.

 

[Joe Rigali]

No Maybe we'd all be happier if sega supported their machines instead of just giving up when the competition gets tough. There should still be plenty of life in the DC.
And Nfl2k2 locks up on my DC (no other game does that and I play my DC quite a bit) It also did it when I brought it over to my friends house on his DC.
[Edited last by Joe Rigali on November 06, 2001 at 09:59 AM]

 

[Camp]

No Maybe we'd all be happier if sega supported their machines instead of just giving up when the competition gets tough. There should still be plenty of life in the DC.

Wake up! Dreamcast didn't sell. It no longer exists so there's nothing to support. Sega did what they had to do for the survival of the company. Would you rather Sega games be unavailable anywhere?
This sometimes happens when you back the wrong horse. Get over it and move on.

 

[Mike__D]

We'll see how everyone feels about Sega when they take over the top spot from EA as being the biggest and best third party developer... at least that what I'm hoping for.
Mike D.

 

[Joe Rigali]

WELL... Enjoy your sega games then fellas. My intention was to show you what we DC owners have in store for us, and to let off a little steam. (nothing personal to anyone here)
Sega did do whats best for them, but that doesnt change the fact that they have cancelled some games that I was looking forward to playing on my DC.
And I guess the other thing that bothers me is, I can see Nintendo doing the very same thing. And if the X-box and PS2 outsell the GCN to a large enough margin, and if Sega does dethrone EA as the #1 3rd party publisher... then I have an idea for another topic.
keep the comments comming fellas :p

 

[BrianB]

No Maybe we'd all be happier if sega supported their machines instead of just giving up when the competition gets tough. There should still be plenty of life in the DC.

The DC was a failure, Joe. It's cost Sega a *large* fortune & financially crippled the company. Sega came perilously close to being completely sold off - there were offers from Microsoft, Nintendo, and others. Outside of the US, most DC games simply don't sell - software sales in Europe for the DC have been pathetically low outside of the 'headline' titles. Software sales were better in the US, but still not enough to make it worthwhile.
Continuing with the DC just didn't make financial success.
The *market* decided there wasn't life in the DC, not Sega. Take it up with the people who waited & bought a PS2 instead of a DC. Take it up with Sega's marketing dept. Take it up with the third party publishers who decided to 'wait & see', like EA.
I was annoyed at them dropping support too, Joe, the DC by far gets most of my gaming time spent on it. But I'd rather see Sega scale back support in the shortterm to continue making games like Samba/Sonic/Nights in the longterm.
At the end of the day, simply not enough people bought enough software for the Dreamcast.
And there's nothing to stop you importing Shen Mue2 from Europe - same with Head Hunter, StuntGP etc.
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Drew Dockery]

My only beef with Sega is that they have completed games being released in Europe that they are not releasing in the US market, which forces me to pay out the ass for an import, pirate a copy, or shell out huge $$ for another system they port these games to. That's shit.
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I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!
Drew

 

[Joe Rigali]

I know this is all Would've, Could've, Should've but...
not having EA was a big disappointment. I think that if EA had supported the Dc strongly from the getgo, and if Namco would have brought some more games over (Soul Caliber is still IMHO the best DC game) and if we had some more Sega games - we'd be talking about the 4 console war this Christmas.
Where are they now?
Toejam and Earl
Streets of Rage
Golden Axe
Gain Ground (not a sega game but one hell of an awesome Genesis game)
A DC Metal Gear Solid (with the VR missions thrown in)
Castlevania
Tekken
Ridge Racer
Strider
And the EA library

 

[Mike__D]

I have a bigger problem with EA. It was back on the Sega Genesis that EA became what they are today... and they pay Sega back by not supporting them on the DC. That was a low blow...
...but, if that didn't happen, Sega wouldn't have had to create it's 2K sports franchise, which I think is far better than EA's (speaking strictly about NFL and NBA series). And now Sega will get to compete head to head with EA's sports series. This will be good. EA won't be able to rehash it's same old sports titles with Sega on their heels now. Both companies will have to improve their titles, and that's good for us consumers.
Finally, I don't see Nintendo going the Sega route. There is a MUCH higher demand for Nintendo products in Japan than their was for Sega.
Mike D.

 

[Joshua Moran]

Joe Rigali,
Alot of games lock up on the Dreamcast not just NFL2k2. I think it is a windows ce thing. Resident Evil and Soul Reaver would lockup on me constantly. One reason I got rid of my Dreamcast. Yes I did exchange the copies of my game and even exchanged my Dreamcast but I could get it to lock up everytime in most of the 1st gen games. I didn't keep it long enough to play 2nd gen.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Alot of games lock up on the Dreamcast not just NFL2k2. I think it is a windows ce thing. Resident Evil and Soul Reaver would lockup on me constantly.

1) Those games do not run on Windows CE. 99% of Dreamcast games do not. Those games run fine elsewhere.
2) Sorry if you got a lemon for your hardware. Join the thousands of PSX buyers who got a lemon, too.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Toejam & Earl will be shipping for PS2 and/or X-Box
I'm REALLY pissed about Propeller Arena, I REALLY wanted to play that game ;(
Shenmue 2's coming my way from Europe, I'll buy the X-Box version too. Sega should have made S2 available to its customers through mail order
Jeff Kleist

 

[Morgan Jolley]

What it all comes down to is Sega doesn't consider America that important. We don't get the games that can make some money, we don't get the better versions, we don't get the good stuff. Japan, where the DC launch sucked, got all the good games, but in America, where the DC and its launch were great successes, gets crap. To tell the truth, the Japanese DC library is MUCH better than the American one.
Sega was bought over, simple as that. They hide it with letters, but its the truth. Same as Capcom and the GameCube with Resident Evil.
I would love to play Shenmue II on the X-Box, but only if its the cost that it would have been on DC (max of $50). No way in hell am I buying an X-Box just to play a game or two.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

What it all comes down to is Sega doesn't consider America that important.

Bullshit.

 

[BrianB]

To tell the truth, the Japanese DC library is MUCH better than the American one.

So? Buy them then, the DC is one of the most import friendly consoles around (just like the Saturn!). You don't need any nasty hardware mods.
What games did you 'miss' because they only came out in Japan? Cosmic Smash? Zero Gunner 2? The Capcom remake collections? Lost Golem?
As said before - anyone feeling 'grieved' because they can't buy Shen Mue 2 from EB US should go ahead & buy it from EB UK if they feel desperate to give them money. Your local friendly importer will be glad to take your $50 off you for Shen Mue 2 too by the way.
www.Gameplay.com - $37.82 + delivery from the UK. Biggest UK mail-order company.
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Sega has never shown anything that would support that they think America is as important to them as Japan. We are important, but nowhere as much as they consider Japan to be. I don't know why, but even if I'm incorrect, they don't seem to be acting that way.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Who else brought MMORPG to consoles in America?
Who else brought online gaming to America for free for a couple of years when the model in japan was pay-per-play?
Who else would have brought a game like Samba De Amigo to America, with the (more complicated than dance pads) controllers?
Who brought Space Channel 5, the most heavily promoted dance game ever released in the USA?
Who brought the first integrated modem to the USA (they could have easily left it out)?
Every console worth it's salt has great imports that don't make it to the States. The PSX has Tobal #2, Vib Ribbon, Poy Poy 2, and more. The N64 has Bangai-O (brought here for the Dreamcast, though) and B-Daman.
Sega brought every first party title over here that fit our culture, and some that did not. And they showed a willingness to allow third parties to bring over first-party titles (case in point: Virtual On). And as for third-party titles that don't make it over, that isn't Sega's responsiblity!
Sega has always treated America as very important, even to the point of offering items via mail order to satisfy niche desires (Saturn Twinsticks, Daytona Netlink Edition, DC Broadband Adaptor). They made a hell of a great console (better than the PS2 to many of us, including the game lineup), and they lost their shirts. So all bets are off, unless you want them to disappear like SNK.
So life goes on. And 'selling out' is what businesses do. They try to make money for their shareholders. Sometimes in business you have to make hard decisions, to live to fight another day. But those who spend their time on the playgrounds and not in the business world aren't going to get it. They don't live in reality. Fly away to never-never land, kids.
At least on Usenet you can killfile the fanboys and their incessant Sega and Microsoft bashing.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

To tell the truth, I appreciate Sega more as a software developer than a hardware developer. Their software has always been great, but they hardware wasn't popular (thus, companies won't make as many games on it). When they released the DC in Japan, it bombed. It was a total failure for its whole lifespan. If anything, I was wrong about Sega not concentrating on America because we aren't important. They are concentrating on Japan where they are unsuccessful, so they screw us over in the process. Sega was not the first to bring free online gaming to consoles, and even if they had been, I would rather play better games online for a small fee and see the company live forever than play somewhat good games (excluding PSO) online for free and see the company die because of it (partially). Sega was sloppy in their business, got too cocky, and we sufferred from it.
Even so, the DC had some pretty good first party games, one of which is Shenmue II. They should have released it in America, then released a special edition a year or so from now and not announced it until next E3. At least then we'd be happy.