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[Grief.exe]

I might actually restart it on Tuesday.

I'm off on Monday so I will have a chance to plan things out, do some research, and get everything ready.

 

[Draikin 2]

I'm going to quote Clumsyorchid's response on the Sega forums here, since it's very relevant to this campaign:

Appreciate the rallying behind good games to new platforms, but let's talk a bit about tweet bombing and it's effectiveness. A bit long, but worth a the read...

First and most importantly, I need to point out that I'm not in a position to comment on anything you guys are asking for, however I'm happy to discuss the method. I'll do my part to circulate emails to people within the company so they too are aware, but only if we agree not to tweet / retweet bomb our @sega handle. Here's why...

Tweet bombing and retweet spamming makes it harder for the community team (me and a few others) who monitor the @sega handle to manage the day to day conversations with people. Right now there's a lot of customer service response that go out to various people, as well as follow ups to product announcements, or just general replies based on incoming tweets. We reply as much as we can, when we're not able, be sure that we're reading everything. We care, it's a big deal for me and the entire Community team at SEGA to bring customer concerns to people inside the company.

Tweet bombing / retweet spam also does a big disservice to your cause. It creates a good deal of noise, but it doesn't tell the story you want to tell - people want these games. You want to create a space where there's a quantifiable interest, individual interest from people who would buy these games. I don't put too much faith in petitions, but they are a good space to show individual attention towards a cause. It may be more helpful to point to individual games, rather than the whole group, as you might have some who like a particular game, but don't intend to buy everything.

In my opinion, tweet and retweet your cause, drive towards a petition site or unique sign up site and rally. There's just not as much need to include @sega in every post. I'll also end that this may not come of anything, but I want to respond when I can so people at least understand that these things are being read by people in company.

 

[Peff]

Hm, it's something. I think drawing attention to Rising's seemingly great performance so far could help with Platinum's games.

 

[Alo81]

It may be more helpful to point to individual games, rather than the whole group, as you might have some who like a particular game, but don't intend to buy everything.

Sega mans on point ;p

 

[Camp Lo]

I'm going to quote Clumsyorchid's response on the Sega forums here, since it's very relevant to this campaign:

I wonder if there's a handle for such a campaign like this if not @sega. I get not tweet bombing but addressing the tweets early on would eliminate the questions before shit gets out of hand.

 

[sirseanconnery]

MFW this thread

We can't even get them to localize Yakuza 5 on PS3 and you expect them to make PC ports?

This is a pipe dream and half.

 

[angular graphics]

We got a response. Cool.

 

[Krusenstern]

I'm going to quote Clumsyorchid's response on the Sega forums here, since it's very relevant to this campaign:

So, what should we do again?

 

[Nokterian]

I'm going to quote Clumsyorchid's response on the Sega forums here, since it's very relevant to this campaign:

Well they should make a new account called Sega_Support for example like valve does with steam or Blizzard.

 

[angular graphics]

So, what should we do again?

Petition ala Dark Souls for a ***specific*** game instead of "port all your games pls" tweets, is what he recommends I believe. And I agree.

 

[Tain]

lol nobody else is going to go along with this but the one focused game should be Vanquish or Anarchy Reigns. They have the most to gain.

 

[Krusenstern]

Petition ala Dark Souls for a ***specific*** game instead of "port all your games pls" tweets, is what he recommends I believe. And I agree.

His words are my command.

I suggest we pick the most demanded games and throw them in a single petition.

 

[antitrop]

Whelp, I guess Bayonetta would probably be the best place to start. I would personally rather have Vanquish, because of its 30fps console framerate (as opposed to Bayonetta's 60), but I think Bayonetta would probably be the easiest to rally support behind out of any of them.

 

[Krusenstern]

Vanquish and Bayonetta are the most requested ones by far. I think we should put them both in one petition.

 

[catabarez]

Vanquish and Bayonetta are the most requested ones by far. I think we should put them both in one petition.

Let's do both of these. Two separate petitions would probably work out.

 

[Peff]

Bayonetta, Vanquish and Valkyria Chronicles are by far the most likely to succeed.

 

[ArjanN]

Let's do both of these. Two separate petitions would probably work out.

You could have one petition for both considering they're both Platinum games. Having a couple of games also has the added benefit of not splitting the fanbase too much.

MFW this thread

We can't even get them to localize Yakuza 5 on PS3 and you expect them to make PC ports?

This is a pipe dream and half.

Localizing Y5 to PS3 would be more work for less payoff than porting something like Bayonetta to PC. Also, Sega makes most of their money on PC now.

 

[Grief.exe]

I'm going to quote Clumsyorchid's response on the Sega forums here, since it's very relevant to this campaign:

Appreciate the rallying behind good games to new platforms, but let's talk a bit about tweet bombing and it's effectiveness. A bit long, but worth a the read...

First and most importantly, I need to point out that I'm not in a position to comment on anything you guys are asking for, however I'm happy to discuss the method. I'll do my part to circulate emails to people within the company so they too are aware, but only if we agree not to tweet / retweet bomb our @sega handle. Here's why...

Tweet bombing and retweet spamming makes it harder for the community team (me and a few others) who monitor the @sega handle to manage the day to day conversations with people. Right now there's a lot of customer service response that go out to various people, as well as follow ups to product announcements, or just general replies based on incoming tweets. We reply as much as we can, when we're not able, be sure that we're reading everything. We care, it's a big deal for me and the entire Community team at SEGA to bring customer concerns to people inside the company.

Tweet bombing / retweet spam also does a big disservice to your cause. It creates a good deal of noise, but it doesn't tell the story you want to tell - people want these games. You want to create a space where there's a quantifiable interest, individual interest from people who would buy these games. I don't put too much faith in petitions, but they are a good space to show individual attention towards a cause. It may be more helpful to point to individual games, rather than the whole group, as you might have some who like a particular game, but don't intend to buy everything.

In my opinion, tweet and retweet your cause, drive towards a petition site or unique sign up site and rally. There's just not as much need to include @sega in every post. I'll also end that this may not come of anything, but I want to respond when I can so people at least understand that these things are being read by people in company.

Seems like we got heard and he let the appropriate people know of the situation. Sounds like the best way to generate some buzz is get a petition going.

Get GAF, Reddit, Twitter, and some mainstream media attention and we are in business.

I was going to restructure the campaign around Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Valkyria Chronicles anyways. Those three have the highest chance of success, and the former two have a direct line of development through Platinum after the MGR experience.

I'll get some stuff together on Monday and make sure that you guys get a look at it and throw in any suggestions.

MFW this thread

We can't even get them to localize Yakuza 5 on PS3 and you expect them to make PC ports?

This is a pipe dream and half.

You realize Sega is making the majority of their profits off the PC market right now?

It wouldn't be that outlandish to expect them to want to make some easy money. A Yakuza port to console would make them money for about a month, maybe two, while a PC port is capable of producing revenue for decades.

That port would also be to a platform that is showing quick signs of reduced software sales when you compare it to a platform that is exploding.

Food for thought.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Is there a way to create a very simple survey with a list of games that just says "Which of the following games would you purchase if they were available on Steam/Windows?" People click the check box for each title they genuinely want.

Then you get specific counts for each title and they'll get some sense of rank order. A single petition can't do that, and a petition for each title seems dumb and unnecessary.

"MFW" and gif

Is this heaven? Such glorious posting.

 

[ArjanN]

Seems like we got heard and he let the appropriate people know of the situation. Sounds like the best way to generate some buzz is get a petition going.

Get GAF, Reddit, Twitter, and some mainstream media attention and we are in business.

I was going to restructure the campaign around Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Valkyria Chronicles anyways. Those three have the highest chance of success, and the former two have a direct line of development through Platinum after the MGR experience.

I'll get some stuff together on Monday and make sure that you guys get a look at it and throw in any suggestions.

Yeah, seems like the best course of action.

 

[EMT0]

Seems like we got heard and he let the appropriate people know of the situation. Sounds like the best way to generate some buzz is get a petition going.

Get GAF, Reddit, Twitter, and some mainstream media attention and we are in business.

I was going to restructure the campaign around Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Valkyria Chronicles anyways. Those three have the highest chance of success, and the former two have a direct line of development through Platinum after the MGR experience.

I'll get some stuff together on Monday and make sure that you guys get a look at it and throw in any suggestions.



You realize Sega is making the majority of their profits off the PC market right now?

It wouldn't be that outlandish to expect them to want to make some easy money. A Yakuza port to console would make them money for about a month, maybe two, while a PC port is capable of producing revenue for decades.

That port would also be to a platform that is showing quick signs of reduced software sales when you compare it to a platform that is exploding.

Food for thought.

Are you going to be setting up the petition Grief?

 

[Sentenza]

Petition ala Dark Souls for a ***specific*** game instead of "port all your games pls" tweets, is what he recommends I believe. And I agree.

Yeah, good luck with that, then.
Can't say I care anymore.

 

[ArjanN]

I just checked the successful Dark Souls petition and it's at 93,439 signatures.

Oddly enough the latest signature was from today, by someone who didn't quite get the memo yet I guess.

 

[Momentary]

I'm ready to put my John Hancock on a petition.

 

[Grief.exe]

Are you going to be setting up the petition Grief?

I'll get it ready to go, but I'll make sure everyone gets some input and discussion to make it the best piece of material we can get.

 

[Miguel81]

MFW this thread

We can't even get them to localize Yakuza 5 on PS3 and you expect them to make PC ports?

This is a pipe dream and half.

The PC platform doesn't have a holder, so the community use their voice. Yakuza 5 would probably bomb, but Steam ports make money.

 

[Draikin 2]

Is there a way to create a very simple survey with a list of games that just says "Which of the following games would you purchase if they were available on Steam/Windows?" People click the check box for each title they genuinely want.

Then you get specific counts for each title and they'll get some sense of rank order. A single petition can't do that, and a petition for each title seems dumb and unnecessary.

Certainly possible but I think we want to avoid fragmenting the votes too much as well. There's not much point in holding a separate survey if we also have a petition going. I think one petition for Bayonetta, Vanquish and Valkyria Chronicles would be a good balance, if that's what Grief.exe intends to do.

 

[Nillansan]

Hi Grief,

As I mentioned previously in this thread, I wrote a partition a while back with the aim of getting a PC port of Bayonetta and Vanquish addressed to SEGA, I will post it here - hopefully you can salvage a few bits from it or expand on it to include Valkyria Chronicles. This the first and only draft, I am feeling a bit iffy about some of the wording.

Bayonetta/Vanquish PC Movement

Bayonetta and Vanquish are both highly acclaimed third person action games developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega. Bayonetta holds a 90/100 Metascore (Xbox 360 version) and Vanquish holds a 84/100 Metascore.

Bayonetta is a third person action game directed by Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya. Bayonetta features a tight and responsive combat system akin to Kamiya’s previous endeavour, Devil May Cry. The combat, which is easy to learn, yet hard to master, successfully empowered players as they executed spectacular combos. Bayonetta provides an unparalleled experience thanks to its elegant yet impactful combat, strong lead character and stylish presentation.

Vanquish is a third person shooter directed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Vanquish centers around tactical and reactive play at breakneck speeds. The game features a Boost system that allows the player to perform special moves such as high speed sliding and slowing down time for increased accuracy. The Boost system can be depleted rather quickly encouraging players to be more resourceful when engaging enemies.

Why do we want to see Bayonetta and Vanquish on PC?

While the PC does boast a vibrant library of games, third person action titles like Bayonetta and Vanquish are sadly underrepresented on PC.

Bayonetta and Vanquish could both benefit from increased resolutions and a higher and consistent frame rate. Given how SEGA has handled the PC versions of their multi-platform games, a plethora of PC specific enhancements are to be expected, if Bayonetta and Vanquish were to be ported.

A better resolution could mean that the carefully crafted worlds of both games could stand out even more than their console counterparts. For reference, please see all the incredible texture detail that was revealed once Dark Souls was unshackled from its native console resolution (source). A higher and consistent frame rate would increase the sense of fluidity even further.


Why do we believe that there is still hope for PC versions of Bayonetta and Vanquish?

Sega have listened to the requests of PC gamers before. There was a demand for a PC version of Binary Domain. Sega delivered a quality port in April 2012 (source).

Sega has steadily increased its PC support over the last few years. Sega has been providing PC gamers with great ports like Sonic Generations, Binary Domain and Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed. Sega has also released ports of games from their back catalogue. Such games include, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Jet Set Radio and NiGHTS Into Dreams.

Atsushi Inaba of Platinum Games believes that the PC market in general has huge potential and he has expressed a lot of interest in bringing their games to Steam (source).

What would Sega gain from this?

We believe that Sega, as any other publisher, will benefit hugely from the extended shelf life, which games are given by being on Steam and other Digital Distribution platforms.

Bayonetta and Vanquish will both have very little competition on PC. Both games provide a fresh take on the third person action genre, which sets them even further apart from the select few games on PC that bears any liking to them. SEGA should take advantage of the unique qualities that both games have.

Late ports seem to be rather successful on PC. Dark Souls sold over 300.000 copies via digital distribution, which is over 3 times the number of signatures that the petition gathered. Furthermore, Dark Souls 2 has been announced with PC being the lead platform (source). The PC version of Alan Wake recouped the development and marketing costs in 48 hours (source).


The Dark Souls for PC movement demonstrated that, with a large and passionate community, it is possible to make a publisher listen.

Please sign this petition to show Sega and Platinum Games that there is a market for Vanquish and Bayonetta on PC.

 

[Nzyme32]

I'll get it ready to go, but I'll make sure everyone gets some input and discussion to make it the best piece of material we can get.

Good stuff. It's great that we've got some sort of response. You should see if there is a way to let people know who have been tweeting that we have been heard in some way so that people tweeting know how important they are.

I was gonna offer my help in writing the petition but Nillansan is on the ball

 

[Trojan X]

Seems like we got heard and he let the appropriate people know of the situation. Sounds like the best way to generate some buzz is get a petition going.

Get GAF, Reddit, Twitter, and some mainstream media attention and we are in business.

I was going to restructure the campaign around Bayonetta, Vanquish, and Valkyria Chronicles anyways. Those three have the highest chance of success, and the former two have a direct line of development through Platinum after the MGR experience.

I'll get some stuff together on Monday and make sure that you guys get a look at it and throw in any suggestions.



You realize Sega is making the majority of their profits off the PC market right now?

It wouldn't be that outlandish to expect them to want to make some easy money. A Yakuza port to console would make them money for about a month, maybe two, while a PC port is capable of producing revenue for decades.

That port would also be to a platform that is showing quick signs of reduced software sales when you compare it to a platform that is exploding.

Food for thought.

Yes, what you said make sense but sorry to dampen your spirits but this is Sega. SEGA. The company is notorious for not making any sense; they hardly ever listen to the fans and when they finally do they always missed the boat which would have made it a win/win for everyone. Plus, when they finally do react they always miss out something vital in respect to features that would have made the product a hit. Such a shame, and sadly, it has been that case for over 10 years. So yes, i don't have any faith in Sega regarding this nor anything else. Sorry to say all this but i have been on this road many times before; jump off thd road while you still can before you get hurt.

 

[RedSwirl]

Bayonetta, Vanquish and Valkyria Chronicles are by far the most likely to succeed.

Bayonetta and Vanquish are probably the most likely. They're both from Platinum, and one of Platinum's games just got ported to PC running on the same engine. Those two games also already have 360 versions which are probably easier to port from.

VC is a bit tougher since not only is it PS3-only, but that franchise has basically tanked in North America.

I'm still wondering about the classic Dreamcast ere games though. A long time ago someone from SEGA already said they were aware of how much fans requested HD versions of Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Certainly possible but I think we want to avoid fragmenting the votes too much as well. There's not much point in holding a separate survey if we also have a petition going. I think one petition for Bayonetta, Vanquish and Valkyria Chronicles would be a good balance, if that's what Grief.exe intends to do.

I don't know if I'd consider it fragmenting the votes so much as providing very precise and accurate data (depending of course on the respondents' honesty). I was suggesting it instead of a petition, not as a separate thing.

I don't think a petition is a bad idea, but if I was at Sega and really considering this, I'd want more detailed data rather than less. It might also provide fewer false positives. I think a ton of people will sign a petition for a handful of Sega games on PC because why not? Who wouldn't want Sega to port them? But if you want the number of respondents to more closely match up with the number who would follow through with purchases, asking specifically "Would you buy game X?" "Would you buy game Y?" might be more effective.

 

[angular graphics]

I vote to keep the requested games as few as possible; namely Bayonetta and Vanquish ports for now.

 

[hateradio]

Localizing Y5 to PS3 would be more work for less payoff than porting something like Bayonetta to PC. Also, Sega makes most of their money on PC now.

You realize Sega is making the majority of their profits off the PC market right now?

It wouldn't be that outlandish to expect them to want to make some easy money. A Yakuza port to console would make them money for about a month, maybe two, while a PC port is capable of producing revenue for decades.

So what you're saying is, Sega should port Y5 to PC, not just localize it for PS3.

I agree.

 

[Gamerloid]

I'll get it ready to go, but I'll make sure everyone gets some input and discussion to make it the best piece of material we can get.

I got your back on this, Grief.

 

[Draikin 2]

VC is a bit tougher since not only is it PS3-only, but that franchise has basically tanked in North America.

The franchise tanked because it was moved to the PSP. The first game did well all things considered. Despite a terrible launch, it continued to sell because of word-of-mouth marketing. When Gamestop had a discount six months later, it sold almost as much as it did at launch. While we don't have accurate numbers, it likely outsold the PS3 version of Bayonetta and Vanquish almost certainly sold worse. And on top of that, VC has no PSN version (unlike Bayonetta) so that's potential sales lost there as well.

I don't know if I'd consider it fragmenting the votes so much as providing very precise and accurate data (depending of course on the respondents' honesty). I was suggesting it instead of a petition, not as a separate thing.

I don't think a petition is a bad idea, but if I was at Sega and really considering this, I'd want more detailed data rather than less. It might also provide fewer false positives. I think a ton of people will sign a petition for a handful of Sega games on PC because why not? Who wouldn't want Sega to port them? But if you want the number of respondents to more closely match up with the number who would follow through with purchases, asking specifically "Would you buy game X?" "Would you buy game Y?" might be more effective.

You may be right, but then we do need separate petitions for all three games.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

I vote to keep the requested games as few as possible; namely Bayonetta and Vanquish ports for now.

I'd like to have a little diversity in the mix, say Bayonetta or Vanquish and something different like Valkyria Chronicles.

I really just want JSRF right now (ok and skies of arcadia: legends) but we already have the prequel and we've been given a little glimmer that such a thing may already be in the pipe.

 

[Draikin 2]

As I mentioned previously in this thread, I wrote a partition a while back with the aim of getting a PC port of Bayonetta and Vanquish addressed to SEGA, I will post it here - hopefully you can salvage a few bits from it or expand on it to include Valkyria Chronicles. This the first and only draft, I am feeling a bit iffy about some of the wording.

I'd very much be willing to write something for Valkyria Chronicles, I already wrote this article for VC3 for example, although I won't have time for that until tomorrow.

Grief, are you thinking of making one petition for all three games or three separate petitions?

 

[TaroYamada]

I say push for Bayonetta, Vanquish and VF5. VF5 would probably be the easiest to port given it runs on Pentium 4 processors and embedded linux in arcades, these three have the highest likelihood of success imo.

We also desperately need a 3D fighter on PC and we can use the recent success of 2D fighters as an argument for VF5's port.

 

[Tain]

I say push for Bayonetta, Vanquish and VF5. VF5 would probably be the easiest to port given it runs on Pentium 4 processors and embedded linux in arcades, these three have the highest likelihood of success imo.

We also desperately need a 3D fighter on PC and we can use the recent success of 2D fighters as an argument for VF5's port.

VF5's a good call. I think earlier versions are Linux, but Final Showdown is actually a Windows game. And it would be wonderful, even if the benefits aren't as drastic as Vanquish.

 

[Rickenslacker]

I would really want VF5FS, and the PC desperately needs a quality 3D fighter of some kind.

 

[Grief.exe]

I'd very much be willing to write something for Valkyria Chronicles, I already wrote this article for VC3 for example, although I won't have time for that until tomorrow.

Grief, are you thinking of making one petition for all three games or three separate petitions?

One petition, don't want to fragment the community.

 

[Draikin 2]

One more reply from Clumsyorchid over at the Sega forums, as a reply to my post where I mentioned I was quoting him in this thread:

Yes, that's fine, but I want to be sure everyone understands this is just a means for compiling data, and a single data point at that. There's quite a lot that goes into making a game come to any platform, this is one factor, but not the only factor. Please keep this in mind.

I will pass along the Neogaf thread and track it towards whatever goal site you build from, but I cannot promise anything more than that. There may not be a further response on it, I cannot be more clear.

So that seems clear enough. It's up to us now to show them results.

One petition, don't want to fragment the community.

Sounds good, are you using change.org?

 

[Tain]

http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=910&gid=19035#19035

According to this VF5 Final Showdown is Windows-based. Anyone confirm/deny?

 

[aeolist]

http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=910&gid=19035#19035

According to this VF5 Final Showdown is Windows-based. Anyone confirm/deny?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sega_arcade_system_boards#Sega_Ring_series

arcade hardware has used generic pc parts and (mostly) windows-based operating systems for a while now

 

[TaroYamada]

http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=910&gid=19035#19035

According to this VF5 Final Showdown is Windows-based. Anyone confirm/deny?

Interesting that they switched from embedded linux for FS, that makes this even easier.

One petition, don't want to fragment the community.

Add VF5 in, it makes more sense than Valkyria Chronicles, which is a harder port and a higher risk. We have proof of fighter success on PC, there's an easier argument made for VF5.

 

[Oriel]

I really cannot understand why publishers are so hesitant to release their back catalogue on Steam and other digital platforms. Without the overheads involved with physical retail releases they stand to make much more money, with less risk involved. Not to mention not having to bother setting up expensive distribution networks. Only today I bought Crazy Taxi off Steam, a title I wouldn't have been able to source for PC down at my local GameStop given their pitiful PC games section.

 

[the licensee]

Vanquish would seem like a good one to test the waters. IIRC it was designed to appeal to a Western audience (?) and it's an excellent game with a small cult following already. Kinda similar to Dark Souls.

 

[Funchameleon]

You realize Sega is making the majority of their profits off the PC market right now?

Do you realize how often this idea would have made it onto business execs desks then?

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Do you realize how often this idea would have made it onto business execs desks then?

SEGA is not and never has been the brightest company of the bunch.