This is what Sega should do.
The Reverend Dr Galactus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Friends, you know well the story of Sega home consoles. A promising early success, a decade of missteps, and a final, redemptive work of genius that simply came out at the wrong time.
The crazy idea for a business model I am about to set before you is not one executable solely by Sega. However, I think they are in the best position to do this – and already have the hardest part of this equation sitting around collecting dust. Here is my idea:
Pretty much all the parts of this model are proven: The big three have proven the viability of lower-price, download-only console gaming, Nintendo is leading with last-gen graphics, and Apple has (massively) proven the viability of low-barrier-to-entry, managed download stores. Sega already has the hardware architecture, making this principally a question of software development with some industrial design.
So, what do you think: Is this idea crazy in a good way or a bad way?
The crazy idea for a business model I am about to set before you is not one executable solely by Sega. However, I think they are in the best position to do this – and already have the hardest part of this equation sitting around collecting dust. Here is my idea:
- Engineer a tiny, disc-less set top box with a miniaturized Dreamcast chipset, small hard drive, and network adapter that you can bring to retail at $99 MSRP.
- Port the old Dreamcast dev kit to a Windows-based SDK and make it freely available.
- Open an online store that is essentially like XBLA/PSN/WW crossed with Apple's App Store: Give indie game devs a super-cheap way to apply to sell their games on the service, and take a decent but fair cut of the sales.
Pretty much all the parts of this model are proven: The big three have proven the viability of lower-price, download-only console gaming, Nintendo is leading with last-gen graphics, and Apple has (massively) proven the viability of low-barrier-to-entry, managed download stores. Sega already has the hardware architecture, making this principally a question of software development with some industrial design.
So, what do you think: Is this idea crazy in a good way or a bad way?
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Sorry I don't have more to say. Also, it should be a bit more powerful then the dreamcast.
I would say, fuck waggle.
Although I would like the VMU concept brought back, it was cool unlocking shit playing little mini-games on it.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
This.
Also, yeah, I don't see how Sega's in the best position to do this. The Wii is cheap enough to develop for, obvious by the huge amounts of shovelware already on it. And I'd have to imagine that 90% of the stuff on this box would also be shovelware.
Sega can just release their games there, right? And third party devs can too. Not to mention PC is a great indie platform as well.
IMO not a bad concept perse, but it propably wouldn't catch on.
I read an article about some devs that made games for Satellite TV boxes. There was no support for moving sprites. Maybe do something like try to get Genesis emulators put into cable boxes or something might be better. $99 is just too close to the price of a PS2 and those aren't really selling since the arcade hit $200.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I would be interested.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I'm happy to be getting Mad World, thanks.
Twitter: Cokomon | dA: Cokomon | Tumblr: Cokomon-art | XBL / NNID / Steam: Cokomon
I'm all for more digital distribution with indie developers in mind though.
?
Just how many DC titles do you think will fit on the Wii's storage space?
Some could, like Chu Chu Rocket.
But I mostly want the first two.
1) Jet Set Radio 3 on Wii
2) Skies of Arcadia 2 on PS360.
3) Dreamcast 2 9.9.09
It would be grand if Final Fantasy XIII were released the same day.
4) Alex Kidd on DS
Steam is great, but it's a different context from sitting on your couch and ordering with the controller, not to mention PC gaming and console gaming have plenty of functional differences that can make an idea work a lot better on one than the other.
I'm thinking this would be a third market. In terms of pricing and size:
Disc games > PSN/XBL/WW > Sega App Store
Remember the big difference here is that in parallelling Apple's App Store, you're making it a lot cheaper for indies to develop for the system. These would likely mean smaller, cheaper games, but with less investment, you tend to get more risk taking. Think long tail.
PSN:RevDrGalactus/NN:RevDrGalactus/Steam
5) Comix Zone 2 on DS
I imagine that, instead of picking up items and weapons, you pick up bottles of ink which you use to draw any item you might need. Doing poorly? Better draw some healing items. Need to get through a wall? Better draw an explosive.
But basically, Sega needs to resurrect its old Master System / Mega Drive franchises on the DS, and its Saturn / Dreamcast franchises on the Wii / PS360.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
This is a very good point and very well said.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'm already picturing how a next-gen Dragon Force would look with more intensive base building and troop combat.
1) Release Yakuza 3 and Kenzan in the US/Europe.
2) Close down both Sonic Team, give the franchise a rest before redesigning the series completely (aka, no shitty friends and get rid of Naka's dickhead-Sonic design, go with the original one).
3) Release a Saturn Ultimate Collection, with all three Shining Force 3 games on it (translated into english of course).
4) Let Platinum Games do whatever the fuck they want.
5) Bring back the real Phantasy Star franchise, single player RPG that rivals FF. Get the Valkyria team to develop it.
6) Have makeup sex with Camelot and get them working on a real Shining Force sequel. No more shitty action spinoffs.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
I'm actually pretty impressed by how much Sega has turned around over the last few years. This year I'm probably going to end up buying more Sega games than any other publisher, which I would've laughed at a couple of years ago.
Solution: make it on the DS.
I probably should've clarified my statement, that it should rival FF in quality, not production values (where there's no chance of them competing with the money Square Enix throws at FF, DQ and KH). If they used the Valkyria engine, the game would still look beautiful and wouldn't really need to have the ridiculous amount of detail Square Enix seem to put on minor backgrounds.
Or they could just make it on the Wii, Ds or PSP...
+
HD Remake ala Bionic Commando
XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
You forgot 'make Valkyria Chronicles 2.'
So we can...
Stop watching TV and start playing TV!
Dreamcast is dead. SEGA is out of the hardware business.
*Typical Panzer Dragoon fanboy reply*
There's tons of things we would all like SEGA to do. Probably won't get many of them at all.
Though a Saturn collection might do well considering. Would be a relatively easy port and they could cash in on the whole old school thing that's going on with the VC/XBLA.
The problem is that, post-Dreamcast, Sega finally gave up on trying to sell their games in America. No matter how good their games were (JSRF, Panzer Dragon Orta), Americans just weren't interested. Subsequently, Sonic became the only console game they were willing to give a budget to. Even now, it's the only console game they're willing to spend money advertising.
When ever they make a game specifically for Japanese audiences, they're as sure-footed as ever. AM2's arcade games and the Yakuza games have both been great. Even that recent Wii visual novel game got a perfect score in Famitsu. The problem is that these games either don't get released here, or they get no publicity when they are.
As sad as it is to admit, I just don't believe that Sega can make the games we want them to and have them succeed in America. It's an either/or choice, and Sega has chosen the latter.
All of this info was gleaned from a message board over at the DigitalPress. It is possible, if both strange and unlikely, that someone was simply pretending to be a Hyperkin employee, but there are photos out there from CES showing the hot pink PSP-esque retroGENmobile prototype on display.
you guys are all wrong.
step 1 is to release yakuza 3 reboot shenmue using old resources beefed up a little on the wii, and release shenmue 3.
step 2 is HD Jet Set Radio, and a seperate wii version
step 3 virtua fighter 6
and finally, they should revive the 3d Shinobi series and try making a Sega GT that doesn't suck.
Also, Virtual On HD.
2) Not make another sonic game whatsoever for several years.
3) Make new:
Shenmue
Panzer Dragoon
2.5d HD Streets of Rage
JSR
4) Pay Fromsoftware to make an Otogi 3 and publish it. That's not that connected to sega but goddamnit I want a new Otogi.