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CheatCC Rewind: Is Sega a Lost Cause?

CheatCC Rewind: Is Sega a Lost Cause?

Sega has asked its fans to fill out a survey . “We’d like to learn more about you. Please take a moment to fill out our survey.” I thought this was very interesting. “Help us make our games better,” reads the banner at the top of the survey image. This took me by surprise, and I have to say it was a rather pleasant surprise. As an old-school Sega fan, it seems to me that Sega’s brand has taken a big hit in recent years, and we no longer associate the name with quality. When I think Sega, now I think cheap Sonic spin-off games on smartphones and the occasional HD remaster of a relative classic. Maybe this survey could be the beginning of a serious time of change for Sega; change for the better. On the other hand, the fact that Sega is reaching out for our opinions with a survey that ends up asking way too many questions about mobile game preferences could just be the writing on the wall. Either way, it matters to me.

Growing up, Sega was just as much a part of my life as Nintendo was, and I played my Sega Genesis probably just as much as I played my Super Nintendo or NES. I had a Game Gear, too, and you’re not likely to find a bigger Dreamcast fan. Lately, I’ve been really disappointed in most of what Sega has had to offer. There have been some sweet hits off and on – Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza 3, Bayonetta 2, and Alien Isolation come to mind – but long-time fans like myself have been starving for a return to the glory days. It used to be that Sega was full of surprises, and it would crank out games that seemed too bizarre to be commercial successes, but they were always so fun. There was a consistent trend of original, innovative, challenging games that looked different than what everyone else was doing at the time, and that continued all the way until the death of the Dreamcast.

In the survey it asks you to describe “Sega” using three adjectives. I wrote, “Innovative, quirky, and lost.” Sega does seem lost. Thinking back and remembering the joy I felt running through levels in Sonic and getting the music stuck in my head, being whisked to a fantasy world as I flew about in Panzer Dragoon , playing Jet Grind Radio for the very first time and losing my mind over how good it looked… What on earth happened? It’s like after the Dreamcast fell all wind just left Sega’s sails and it hasn’t had the same creative fire that it used to. Now, I’m worried that we may be looking at a future in cheap smartphone cash-ins, and Sega deserves so much more than a slow death on mobile.

CheatCC Rewind: Is Sega a Lost Cause?

I’d say that almost half of that survey is concerned with mobile gaming. Sega wants to know how often you game on your phone or tablet, why you enjoy it, how often you look for new games, how you look for new games, and which of its games you’ve already seen or played. This made me feel a little sick to my stomach. I certainly got the impression that Sega wants to focus more on the mobile, and it wanted our answers to help map out the best strategies. I really hope that I’m wrong, or at least I hope that the majority of Sega fans who took this survey communicated through their answers that more mobile games aren’t what we want. No one is dying to play another Sonic Dash. If Sega is staying out of the hardware business for good, it should at least commit itself to becoming one of the top developers and publishers again.

I’ve gone from forum to forum, watching the discussions and reading everyone’s answers to this survey. If Sega is lost and without direction, all it needs to do is follow the sound of its fans. We’re still cheering and wishing; we’re still rooting for Sega to make a big comeback. Having a generally optimistic disposition, I’d like to point out the following: Sega recently offered so many of its incredible classics for free on Steam as part of a promotion, Shenmue III is finally happening, and Project Dream has finally reached Sega and let it know that tens of thousands of us want another Dreamcast. Now we get to fill out this survey, and hopefully Sega will read it. If things are going to change, they’re going to change soon. We’ve voiced our opinions, and we’re hoping for the best. We’ve prepared a banquet for the return of the prodigal game company we once knew and loved, but we can’t make the journey; Sega has to do that. I’d sure love to meet them halfway.

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