[Parn]

Quick edit to incorporate an important synopsis:

Some people in this thread seem to be confused. Sega is not deleting videos of their new game Shining Ark but of videos for the old shining games Shining Force 3 and, probably more importantly, Shining The Holy Ark. Due to the similar names, you get more results for their old games than you get for the new game when searching on YouTube. This is something they want to stop, since they apparently regard YouTube as an important part of their marketing, but don't care for neither the old Shining games nor the fanbase of these games -- to the point that they would rather destroy the work of these passionate hardcore fans.

Original post continues below:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo9-RQ_Uy9g

Yes, you read that correctly. Sega is literally getting Youtube channels shut down for their latest RPG, Shining Ark. What's this you say? This doesn't make any sense whatsoever? Indeed, you're right! This makes absolutely no sense at all, and yet, here we are. I think their intent is to maximize exposure for this game through keyword search results, and you'll see what I mean shortly. Almost two weeks ago, my Youtube channel was hit with two strikes for a copyright violation:



I was puzzled at first, but naturally outraged since I consider myself a longtime Sega fan, despite the hilarious emotional rollercoaster ride it has been through the 32X, Sega Saturn, and so forth. I started whining about this problem on a few Sega related forums and Sega's own forum, only to discover that I was not the only one being hit with copyright violation notices. The one thing that each channel shared? Videos of either Shining The Holy Ark, or Shining Force III, two Sega Saturn era RPGs. I chose to delete all Sega related content from my channel, but others chose to try to fight the issue. Some folks have had their Youtube accounts shut down entirely as a result. Whether it's merely gameplay footage or Let's Play videos, Sega is on the rampage.

It was mostly us smalltime Shining Force fans that were being hit. Who cares about the little guys with videos of 14 year old games, right? Out with the old, in with the new. Well, then Sega made a bigger mistake. They went after TotalBiscuit's channel. I'm not kidding. He has just been served with his second copyright strike, which means that if he gets hit with one more strike, his entire channel with all the ridiculous quantities of valuable, entertaining content gets shut down. His crime? He has a bunch of Let's Play videos for Shining Force III.

TotalBiscuit has nearly a million subscribers and a lot more viewers. He has since removed all Sega content from his channel, but he's lucky. Most folks who didn't immediately take down their Shining videos after the first warning shots by Sega had their Youtube accounts closed and didn't get a second chance to comply. He was that close to being completely shut down so Sega could maximize Youtube views for Shining Ark.



https://twitter.com/Totalbiscuit

A Reddit post was made on the subject, but I don't think it received as much attention as it deserved. But it contains a lot of good information on the subject matter.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/commen..._users_videos/

Not even Electronic Arts would stoop so low. No other game company on this planet would consider attacking their own fans via Youtube. Sega has thus far ignored the issue. What say you, GAF? Feel free to let Sega know what you think! I'm sure Fujii_Matsuhiro@sega.co.jp would love to hear your thoughts!

[Meelow]

Random Youtube channels or channels that post anything about the game?

[Gadirok]

Thats weird. Is this a publicity stunt or what?

[Computer]

SEGA died with the Dreamcast.

[GotEmRunnin]

Sega's washed up.

[Meccanical]

Has Sega gone nuts or what?

[ColossalLazy]

So they dont want other people to know about their games? Genius.

[AkimbO_Arcana]

youtube link?

Edit: ah... it's there. Must. read. OP. first.

[Persona86]

Ah PSP....we need more RPG's on the PS3 AND have them released in the west. :(

Trailer didn't give me a good sense what the game is like.

[Takao]

Actually, there are a few Japanese publishers who do this on seemingly recurring intervals. Just recently Kadokawa was taking down videos about people playing Zero No Kiseki Evolution for Vita.

[Why would you do that?]

Yes, everyone or just ones putting advertisements or with certain music?

I'd imagine there's a specific reason why they're doing this for this one game.

[Meccanical]

Sega's washed up.

[Neuromancer]

I'm going to email Fujii Mutsuhiro and ask him what's up.

[Schobeleth]

A new Sega RPG ... is it in the Shining series, or are they just playing off that name? Also, kind of surprised it's on PSP, but I understand they're putting games where the install base is bigger, because I'm also assuming that this won't make it out of Japan.

[Parn]

Yes, everyone or just ones putting advertisements or with certain music? I'd imagine there's a specific reason why they're doing this for this one game.

Trust me. I do not run advertisements on my Youtube videos to make money, nor did any of the other folks that got shut down. We had nothing more than content from fourteen year old video games.

[FStop7]

Now I feel like at $10 I still overpaid for Binary Domain.

[dantevsninjas]

I can't stop crying. SEGA died.

Thanks a lot Sonic, for not showing up.

[djplaeskool]

-Has videos of Shining the Holy Ark on YouTube
-Quietly goes to remove them before getting blasted

[stuminus3]

Shit, now Sega can't get into my wallet!

[phosphor112]

Was about to post this.

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Footage of Sega removing the videos from YouTube:

[Xander51]

This makes no sense, especially in light of all the good will Sega has garnered in the hardcore community of late with things like classic game re-releases. Randomly attacking folks that post Sega content to manipulate search results is in really poor taste. It's a shame because I just loved the demo of Sonic and All Stars Racing transformed. Glad I didn't post a video of it!

[TheSeks]

Do you think they're doing it so they will announce a localization in the west? (Hah, doubt it) Seems like that would be the only non-batshit insane reasoning behind it.

[Bgamer90]

I will never understand this.

"YES! WE NEED TO GET RID OF FREE ADVERTISING!!!"

Companies need to get in tune with the 21st century. Most people putting up video content of your game do so to help & tell others about the game(s).

[Tizoc]

*Obelix 'these SEGA people are crazy'.jpeg*

[Mesoian]

Sega's PR is famously terrible. They probably re-uped with Youtube's ContentID and didn't click the correct boxes, resulting in the Youtube going house on anything related.

Trouble is, if this is true, I don't think Sega can fix it at this point.

[gumby_trucker]

Sega PR: "Shining Force?
nope, never heard of it.."

probably because the youtube channel makes more money than them.

Zing!

[Criminal Upper]

Why?

Because Sega, that's why.

[Takao]

A new Sega RPG ... is it in the Shining series, or are they just playing off that name? Also, kind of surprised it's on PSP, but I understand they're putting games where the install base is bigger, because I'm also assuming that this won't make it out of Japan.

You're a bit LTTP on Shining games for PSP.

Shining Hearts (2010)
Shining Blade (2012)
Shining Ark (2013)

I've heard some not so good things on the ones that are out, lol.

[cicero]

Streets of Rage Remake ahoy!

In a statement, emailed to Wired.co.uk, a spokesperson from Sega said, "Sega is committed to supporting any fans that take an interest in our games, and where possible we do so by involving them in Beta tests and other development, marketing or research opportunities." "However we need to protect our intellectual property rights and this may result in us requesting that our fans remove online imagery, videos or games in some instances."

Just more of the same! You really should have stuck with becoming involved in official "Beta tests and other development, marketing or research opportunities." if you wanted to be a fan.

[Acosta]

This is beyond stupid.

[DMPrince]

probably because the youtube channel makes more money than them.

[Somnid]

Don't try to stop them. It's what they want, it's what they need.

At this point, I'm hoping for a quick death. Nobody wants Sega the company, they died long ago, give the franchises over to someone who can treat them the way they deserve.

[Shadow Hog]

Out of curiosity, I decided to double-check an old account I'd visited in the past, one who hosted lots of Sega Saturn videos, including some of Shining the Holy Ark.

Yup. Terminated.

What the hell? Sega hasn't done this for any other series. Why this one?

[Mesoian]

Do you think they're doing it so they will announce a localization in the west? (Hah, doubt it) Seems like that would be the only non-batshit insane reasoning behind it.

No, in fact it could be the opposite. Sega did the same thing when Anarchy Reigns was close to release back in May, and Platinum had to reupload stuff like trailers, combo videos, and gameplay examples when Sega crashed all their own stuff when they delayed the game 8 months.

Sega doesn't know how to do free marketing at all. They've always stuck to an incredibly firm, you put the commercial on TV, you buy the banner ads, you get the print stuff, and then that's it formula, which is why most people don't even realize they have games coming out. Bayonetta's PR was famously terrible as well and I don't remember seeing a single ad for Sonic And Sega All Star Racing, Transformed or otherwise. If it wasn't for SUMO Digital pushing the game in places like here and the Sega forums, I probably would have never bought that game, and it's a GREAT game!

TL:DR - Sega needs to reshape their advertising arm, because they are so focused on their non-gaming side that the gaming branch makes the entire company seem incompetent.

[djplaeskool]

You're a bit LTTP on Shining games for PSP. Shining Hearts (2010) Shining Blade (2012) Shining Ark (2013) I've heard some not so good things on the ones that are out, lol.

I thought Hearts, Blade, and Feather were much improved in most respects from the PS2 action RPGs and actually worthwhile titles.

Good lord, those PS2 games though...
HOT STUFF COMING YOUR WAY
HOT STUFF COMING YOUR WAY
HOT STUFF COMING YOUR WAY
HOT STUFF COMING YOUR WAY

[gumby_trucker]

Don't try to stop them. It's what they want, it's what they need. At this point, I'm hoping for a quick death. Nobody wants Sega the company, they died long ago, give the franchises over to someone who can treat them the way they deserve.

I call dibbs on JSR/F

[Parn]

Out of curiosity, I decided to double-check an old account I'd visited in the past, one who hosted lots of Sega Saturn videos, including some of Shining the Holy Ark. Yup. Terminated. What the hell? Sega hasn't done this for any other series. Why this one?

That's what has been the most puzzling part of the whole deal. The NiGHTS community certainly didn't receive this kind of treatment. They got a whole HD remake.

[Currygan]

creating hype by shutting down the hype

ooo-kay Sega

[Schobeleth]

You're a bit LTTP on Shining games for PSP. Shining Hearts (2010) Shining Blade (2012) Shining Ark (2013) I've heard some not so good things on the ones that are out, lol.

Yeah wow, I didn't know they made all of these lmao. I'm pretty behind when it comes to PSP RPGs, but the fact that this one is being called a "fantasy life RPG because players can spend time baking bread or watering vegetables" really gets me excited. I'm pretty much dying for new Harvest Moon esque stuff on the PSP or Vita, although I doubt we'll be seeing anything like that tailor made for the Vita for quite some time :(

[shagg_187]

Biting the hand that feeds you. Good work, Sega. Good fucking work. Clearly we were using Youtube to play these games, right?

[wrowa]

Some people in this thread seem to be confused.

Sega is not deleting videos of their new game Shining Ark but of videos for the old shining games Shining Force 3 and, probably more importantly, Shining The Holy Ark. Due to the similar names, you get more results for their old games than you get for the new game when searching on YouTube. This is something they want to stop, since they apparently regard YouTube as an important part of their marketing, but don't care for neither the old Shining games nor the fanbase of these games -- to the point that they would rather destroy the work of these passionate hardcore fans.

[beanman25]

That's ridiculous. This does nothing but hurt Sega.

[DEATH™]

I remember one time when every footage of Catherine, from youtube vids, and even ither streaming stuff, and being taken down. It's made to avoid spoilers for people interested buying the game... Second they made a exclusive deal with publisher Atlus that made the advertisments for themselves for their profit...

The good thing you can take from this is they are considering/doing localization...

[Freshmaker]

Streets of Rage Remake ahoy! Just more of the same! You really should have stuck with becoming involved in official "Beta tests and other development, marketing or research opportunities." if you wanted to be a fan.

Yeah, I can see how outright stealing Sega's IP and doing whatever with it is exactly the same as posting a video of someone playing a game made by Sega...

[Meccanical]

Don't try to stop them. It's what they want, it's what they need.

Ey, yo
Stop wit cha proceed
Cause this is what you need

I had to.

[jiji]

This is utter anti-consumer dumbfuckery. It's brute-force SEO with a machine gun.

Videos of old Shining games don't provide free marketing for new Shining games, given that the series has fallen so far away from what it used to be. Sega has no interest in Shining as it was pre-Taka Tony, so they have no reason to preserve any goodwill with older fans of the series.

It's a middle-finger and should be treated as such. I don't know who's been buying new Shining games, but whoever they are should boycott the franchise going forward.

Edit: Hang on, we're going on three PSP Shining games with no US release and Sega is cleaning out YouTube? jerryimout

[shagg_187]

The good thing you can take from this is they are considering/doing localization...

Too bad I won't be touching it.

[MrCunningham]

Nooooooo... My Linkin Park Shining Force tribute video is in danger :(

[Berordn]

So when the game sells negative copies because of this, who's left to blame?