Why has SEGA not capitalized on the Demand for the return of Classic IP's?

[MrThunderwing]

Every time they tried nobody bought the games. Remember Toejam and Earl 3, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shinobi etc last gen? They also revisit the past frequently, the problem is that SEGA AGES is Japan only. =/

Good point. I've often wondered why so many of Sega's classic IPs seem to have been forgotten about, but as you rightly say I think the trouble is a lot of them didn't actually sell all that well in the first place and are just very fondly remembered by those of us who were fairly hardcore Sega fans and actually bought them. I think these days Sega just aren't big enough to compete with the likes of EA and Activision in terms of marketing and TV spots, so unfortunately their games aren't really getting much mainstream attention and I think the aforementioned companies have managed to tap into the casual market with their far more aggressive marketing. Unfortunately though, in the declining years of when Sega was still a force to be reckoned with, and they could actually still afford to get adverts on TV, their marketing was just terrible. Shockingly bad. Adverts that left you scratching your head about what was actually being sold and zero gameplay footage. Don't just take my word for it though, check out this example:



Sega were the first games company I ever loved when I was just about tall enough to reach the controls of an arcade machine and I stuck with them through every machine during their days as a hardware developer, but I think they're in a bit of a no-win situation now - their new IPs are getting largely ignored but I suspect a lot of their back-catalogue is now probably seen as too obscure to be considered financially viable. I'd love to see new modern day sequels to Panzer Dragoon, Wonderboy, Streets of Rage, Alex Kidd, Golden Axe, Daytona USA, Scud Race, Outrun and the like but I think probably only myself and a handful of other people would actually buy them (the poor sales of such a great game like Outrun 2 really broke my heart, I'm not sure how the likes of Afterburner climax did, but I can guess...) But conversely, I'm in my mid-thirties now and fall very much into the casual gaming bracket and even as someone who once loved Sega I find I'm just not interested in their new games. I'm sure as hell not interested in countless Sonic updates and there's nothing about the new IPs that makes them, IMO, stand out from the crowd, they just seem like they're trying to emulate other games that are already out there (e.g. Bayoneta = Devil May Cry, Binary Domain= Mass Effect 3, AVP = CoD with space marines). People on this very forum have made good suggestions for way of re-invigorating old IPs, Like the Racers Megamix idea but unfortunately it just seems to fall on deaf ears.

[jtthegame316]

They need to continue to make new and bring back classic ip's as they have been doing. with platforms like xbox where peeple can try before buying there are ips out there that might not of sold well in the past would would now. Also if something is not made available it can't sell so i would say give more classic ips a chance.

[bitmaster]

Every time they tried nobody bought the games. Remember Toejam and Earl 3, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shinobi etc last gen? They also revisit the past frequently, the problem is that SEGA AGES is Japan only. =/

PDO and Shinobi on the PS2 were so awesome. I blame their marketing team. PDO still holds up visually! I remember Shinobi getting flack by reviewers for being to hard, but most of the shmuks who played and reviwed it didnt know jack shOt! about the "tate" system.

Its also so terrible when they outsource their own IPs

[Beat]

Good point. I've often wondered why so many of Sega's classic IPs seem to have been forgotten about, but as you rightly say I think the trouble is a lot of them didn't actually sell all that well in the first place and are just very fondly remembered by those of us who were fairly hardcore Sega fans and actually bought them. I think these days Sega just aren't big enough to compete with the likes of EA and Activision in terms of marketing and TV spots, so unfortunately their games aren't really getting much mainstream attention and I think the aforementioned companies have managed to tap into the casual market with their far more aggressive marketing. Unfortunately though, in the declining years of when Sega was still a force to be reckoned with, and they could actually still afford to get adverts on TV, their marketing was just terrible. Shockingly bad. Adverts that left you scratching your head about what was actually being sold and zero gameplay footage. Don't just take my word for it though, check out this example:



Sega were the first games company I ever loved when I was just about tall enough to reach the controls of an arcade machine and I stuck with them through every machine during their days as a hardware developer, but I think they're in a bit of a no-win situation now - their new IPs are getting largely ignored but I suspect a lot of their back-catalogue is now probably seen as too obscure to be considered financially viable. I'd love to see new modern day sequels to Panzer Dragoon, Wonderboy, Streets of Rage, Alex Kidd, Golden Axe, Daytona USA, Scud Race, Outrun and the like but I think probably only myself and a handful of other people would actually buy them (the poor sales of such a great game like Outrun 2 really broke my heart, I'm not sure how the likes of Afterburner climax did, but I can guess...) But conversely, I'm in my mid-thirties now and fall very much into the casual gaming bracket and even as someone who once loved Sega I find I'm just not interested in their new games. I'm sure as hell not interested in countless Sonic updates and there's nothing about the new IPs that makes them, IMO, stand out from the crowd, they just seem like they're trying to emulate other games that are already out there (e.g. Bayoneta = Devil May Cry, Binary Domain= Mass Effect 3, AVP = CoD with space marines). People on this very forum have made good suggestions for way of re-invigorating old IPs, Like the Racers Megamix idea but unfortunately it just seems to fall on deaf ears.

The thing that bugs me here is that you don't seem to notice the games that are more unique. You list games like Binary Domain and Bayonetta, but you don't notice the games that really are creative, like Rhythm Thief, Crush, Phantasy Star (Well, Phantasy Star Online was unique at the time), NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (I know its kinda old, but hey, it did come out this generation), and Valkyria Chronicles. It just seems that whenever SEGA makes a creative game, it is ignored completely.

[bitmaster]

See, this is really awkward for SEGA. SEGA has lots of amazing franchises that have become cult classics, like Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, and Ristar, but when you think about it, none of these games sold. Jet Set Radio had tons of marketing and yet had poor sales, despite getting amazing reviews. Other games, like NIGHTS and Billy Hatcher, sold decently, but not nearly enough to be considered a success. This leaves SEGA with lots of classic franchises that are cult classics, with a select amount of people desperately seeking for a sequel. However, it just isn't enough for a sequel to actually take off. SEGA has shown me that a great game can get great reviews and lots of advertising and still not sell. Which puts SEGA in a really awkward position- they can make a sequel and risk losing lots of money, or not make a sequel, and risk losing or dissapointing fans.

You fail to forget one very important key factor......tons of marketimg does not equel
quality marketing. JSR comercial was seen very rarely here in So Cal, Shinobi was an
amazing game but the comercial was very veryyyyyyy uninspiring and Orta, as beautiful
as that game still looks today it never got a TV comercial as far as I could tell.
Only time Sega was on top of the commercials was w the Dream Cast run n gun
spy commercials. Since then...........*face palm*

[kadosho_16bit]

The word collection defines both console and handheld. Noticed a bit more collections from more than one company lately. However Sega's brand has been one that has contained many classics that anyone can enjoy. Even past titles still keep us engaged today.