Sega Sells Visual Concepts

[Dave Long]

...and so another era in Sega's rise and fall and minimal rise again comes to an end.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/24/news_6117016.html

I hardly know the company that sold Visual Concepts today.

--Dave

[DaveC]

...and so another era in Sega's rise and fall and minimal rise again comes to an end.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/24/news_6117016.html

I hardly know the company that sold Visual Concepts today.

--Dave

This saddens me. I was disheartened when they got out of hardware, but now that they seem to be getting out of console software as well I think it's only a matter of time before Sega exists as a name only like Atari.

[Dave Long]

They haven't sold the farm yet. Sammy wants them to focus on arcade games. But then they haven't really announced any new arcade stuff either. Sonic Team seems to still be committed to the home game and Feel the Magic XX/XY for DS is definitely innovative. A new Sonic game seems to be in the works too. Yu Suzuki's new team is probably working on something home game related. There's no telling what Amusement Vision is up to other than Super Monkey Ball 3.

They're not dead yet, but Sega has always been strong in sports (development-wise) and now they're basically just gone from it entirely.

--Dave

[fuzzyslug]

Too bad they didn't sell them to EA. EA could then release both Madden and NFL 2K6 and claim they don't have a monopoly.

[Wholly Schmidt]

They haven't sold the farm yet. Sammy wants them to focus on arcade games. But then they haven't really announced any new arcade stuff either. Sonic Team seems to still be committed to the home game and Feel the Magic XX/XY for DS is definitely innovative. A new Sonic game seems to be in the works too. Yu Suzuki's new team is probably working on something home game related. There's no telling what Amusement Vision is up to other than Super Monkey Ball 3.

They're not dead yet, but Sega has always been strong in sports (development-wise) and now they're basically just gone from it entirely.

--Dave
I'll eat my hat if we ever see another really good Sonic game. It's been only decent at best since the Dreamcast. I'd sure like a great Sonic game, but I just don't see it ever happening.

[Dave Long]

Sonic Heroes is pretty good. Definitely worth getting at $19.99 or less. It uses that team dynamic thing but the gameplay basically keeps the best part of the Sonic Adventure games while ditching the Adventure part.

I'm not sure what they'll do with him next, but I suspect we'll get something that's more of a throwback.

Oh, the last boss of Sonic Adventure (the first one) is still one of the best bosses in the series and one of the best in any platform game. That was a ton of fun and really cool too.

--Dave

[Simpilot]

Why in hell's name don't they make an NCAA football game?!?! They could use the existing engine and it would still be miles better than next year's Madden crap!

[Wholly Schmidt]

Why in hell's name don't they make an NCAA football game?!?! They could use the existing engine and it would still be miles better than next year's Madden crap!
Well I imagine they will. Who said they won't make an NCAA football game? I mean, "they" just means Visual Concepts over at Take-Two now instead of Visual Concepts over at Sega being published by Take-Two. That's the only difference, unless someone has heard specifically that they will not be making an NCAA game.

Does anyone know what the deal is with NCAA and the players? Who's behind the "no college atheletes in games" rule? Is it someone who can be bought or convinced otherwise?

[Dave Long]

The NCAA won't allow that. Put names on the jerseys and technically the players should be making money from that too. No way that happens.

They'll make a college football game, but college football games are not NFL football games in both play styles and in sales.

--Dave

[Squirrel Killer]

The real story is that Take-2 felt that it was worthwhile to spend $25m on VC. Despite the characterization of that amount as a "very low-sounding price", it's still a good chunk of change, one that indicates that VC is going to continue to compete in the sports game sector. Combined with their purchase of the ex-Microsoft sports developers, Take-2 may be trying to build an EA-like stable of sports games.

The only question I have is how are they going to brand it? A strong brand could offset some of the loses from not having a league/players association license, heck Madden could probably endure losing the license with barely a hit. Sure they could pursue Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, etc..., but after the chaos of EA buying their brand out from under them, coming up with an in-house brand would ensure more stability.

[steve]

Maybe Fox will buy Take 2...

[Squirrel Killer]

...that'd at least get them the stability needed to invest heavily into building up a brand.

[Wholly Schmidt]

The NCAA won't allow that. Put names on the jerseys and technically the players should be making money from that too. No way that happens.

They'll make a college football game, but college football games are not NFL football games in both play styles and in sales.

--Dave
Where do they draw the line? I can buy a jersey with my favorite player's name and number, do the players get a cut of that? I'm just curious of the extent that this is controlled.

[Jose Liz]

Am I the only one that noticed that Take-Two can't keep a brand alive very long besides Rockstar? (Gotham, then Global Star, now 2K Games) :|