Sega and Sammy Corp to merge. (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Reported on Bloomsberg:

Sega and Sammy Corp to merge.

Supposedly this deal is upwards of around 1.1 billion. If I recall correctly Sammy Studios (Responsible for Galerians Ash and Guilty Gear X2 recently) is a fully owned subsidiary of Tokyo based Sammy Corp.

A tidbit that has this Sega fan concerned (above the regular concern surrounding this type of merger):

Sega and Sammy will form an integration committee to decide where the company will be headquartered, its new name and Sega President Hideki Sato's role.

New name?:frowning: I believe it would be strange to pick up a "Sega" title without seeing that comforting blue streaked SEGA adorning the bottom right hand corner of the package.

EDIT: News item also posted on Reuters:

Sega and Sammy Corp to merge

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Hopefully hey will keep the Sega name for the games division, & just call the official name something else.

wow...

 

[Andy Sheets]

Well, I guess it's not surprising but I am concerned since the thing I like most about Sega's games is that they're interesting and don't necessarily follow popular trends in gaming, and they've got a lot of style, and I think these are the reasons Sega has trouble selling games to begin with. So, yeah, they have to make money but I hope that they can somehow keep coming out with games that are still quirky and original.

 

[BrianB]

Interesting. There's really not /that/ much hard information in those articles unfortunately. Will CSK still have a controlling interest in Sega? What happens to Sega's dev studios? Is it a merger, a buyout or what?

Sammy just recently set up a US development wing & have been aggressively trying to fill it.

 

[Romier S]

The company now expects group net income of 500 million yen in the 12 months ending March 31, 90 percent lower than its earlier 5 billion yen profit forecast.

Something had to give for Sega eventually. I remember reading an interview a few years back with Bernie Stolar in a relatively small publication (prior to his departure shortly before the NA launch of the DC). He commented on the Dreamcasts up and coming line-up and was quoted as saying "If a system with a line-up of fantastic games like ours doesn't succeed or reach the gaming community then I give up because I don't understand the industry anymore". That sentiment rings true for me now more than ever. Especially when looking at Sega's continued financial instability because of its Dreamcast venture and its complete unwillingness to drive its franchises and intellectual properties to success. Maybe this could be the beginning of a fresh start for Sega and the Sammy Corp? A partnership that can keep Sega alive to continue making the games I love to play. I'm keeping my hopes high.

As an aside I'd be curious to know how long this has been in the works? Also if this merger was quite possibly the catalyst for Peter Moore resigning and his subsequent employment at Microsoft...

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I don't see this deal changing much in terms of either company. Maybe we'll see more Sonic Pachinko games/machines, but otherwise I think the products made will be unaltered.

Couldn't they make one overall company that controls everything, and then make Sega and Sammy two separate divisions under that company, so that we still get the Sega logo on stuff?

 

[GlenHaag]

I was thinking about how poorly Sega has done with some of their titles as of late, the sports ones more than any other, and I wonder if it might not be in their best interest to see if they could "sell" VC to Sony. They could make a great deal of money off it, and we could finally see the 2K series get the attention and sales that they truely deserve by becoming an exclusive PS2 property.

I know I would be bummed about not having those titles on my Xbox, but I would get online play with them on the PS2.

Just a thought.

Glen

 

[Dean DeMass]

Glen,

I am going to have to ask you to never talk about SEGA again.

I hope to God that the 2K3 series never becomes a PS2 exclusive. I have a PS2, but the game runs so much smoother on the X-box and Live is much better for online play than the PS2.

-Dean-

 

[Dan B]

After the merger is complete, Satomi commented, the new company's first order of business will likely be a restructuring of Sega's software development infrastructure. "Sega has many talented development teams, but there are too many software titles, which puts pressure on company results," he said. "There needs to be new ways to bring the tastes of American and European people into development."

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/famit...ws/28207.shtml

 

[Joe michaels]

Did Sammy have anything to do with the Steel batallion controller? I remember seeing that name on the instructions.

 

[KevinRB]

QUOTE]They could make a great deal of money off it, and we could finally see the 2K series get the attention and sales that they truely deserve by becoming an exclusive PS2 property[/quote]

I don't know about that... 989 used to put out some good sports games until Sony neglected them by squeezing as much money as they could out of them without spending on improvements. Who's to say they wouldn't do the same with VC?

 

[Philip_S]

Sammy manufactured the Steel Battalion controller, and various fighting game arcade sticks in Japan.

 

[JamesH]

With any luck, whoever heads this company up will be a crazy man with a big set of testicles. Hopefully he'll be twice as crazy as the man who said "The day Nintendo gets out of the hardware business is the day Nintendo gets out of video games".

Sega's core competency: software
Sammy's core competency: manufacturing


Sammy Dreamcast coming in 2006. Remember, you heard it here first.