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[charlequin]

SEGA's history of acquisitions has been sterling.

This is a point that really needs to be raised much more than it is currently. In lieu of doing my own research, here's a copypasta from Nirolak about devs that Sega has bought and generally treated well, allowing them to maintain relative independence, continue working on the same sorts of things, and even expanding:

(08:48:50 PM) Nirolak: The Creative Assembly Sega Europe 2005 Total War series, Viking: Battle for Asgard (2008)
(08:48:53 PM) Nirolak: Sports Interactive Sega Europe 2006 Football Manager series
(08:48:54 PM) Nirolak: Three Rings Design Sega America 2011 Spiral Knights
(08:48:56 PM) Nirolak: Hardlight Studio Sega Europe 2012 Sonic Dash, Sonic Jump <- Was going to be handheld, went to mobile, but to be honest I can't blame them
(08:48:57 PM) Nirolak: Relic Entertainment Sega America 2013 Company of Heroes series

(In the case of Creative Assembly, Sega even picked up the Warhammer license for them.)

Ugh. The only worse outcome would have been Sony.

This is absurd. Look at some of the other options in Japan and tell me honestly that this would be worse than... Konami? Than Square-Enix?

 

[Crash55118]

Seriously, name a bad thing SEGA's done that would be equitable to the ATLUS side. I'm a huge Yakuza fan, but even I'll admit that those games are huge localization efforts. The work that needs to be put into those games far exceeds all but the biggest ATLUS titles. Heck, even the Persona series is probably an easier job. Valkyira Chronicles 3? Again, pretty damn large game and on a dead platform. It's almost a guarantee 2 lost them money. PSO2? An MMO is the BIGGEST of localization efforts. Add on top of that the fact most of the US fans that would play it are already playing and paying via the english patch.

ATLUS games make money, in the US as well. Even their niche titles, like the EO games, do quite well for the size of the franchise. As long as that doesn't change, things are going to be just fine.

Not sure who is footing the localization bill, but just FYI, English translated PSO2 is coming to Asian Territories.

Persona will be fine. Not quite sure about games like EO Untold though.

 

[Zornack]

I just want Persona 5. ;(

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Is there a shred of hope that Atlus USA would be kept around as the more fan-friendly and competent localization arm for niche titles instead of Sega of America?

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

Damn, Sony could have bought them. As a future PS4 owner, I want Atlus' games on the PS4.

 

[LiK]

I just want Persona 5. ;(

gonna take time to change all the models to Sonic characters

 

[RyoonZ]

I just want Persona 5. ;(

I hope you own a 3DS

 

[Femmeworth]

clearly sega sammy's executives will see the wisdom of abandoning atlus's inferior turn based series and making trauma center the focus for their 2014 business plans

A F2P Trauma game would make sense.

 

[yami4ct]

I don't think the localization of Persona is easier than the localization of Yakuza... certainly not the minimalistic level of effort that Sega of America took in localizing 3 and 4.

Unwillingness to fund Bayonetta 2, forcing Nintendo to save the title.

Sega shouldn't fuck with how Atlus is currently run, but I can't help but think that they're going to... and it won't be for the better.

There is a lot of text in the Persona series, but the Yakuza games are on a whole different level. Persona games have US voice acting, but that's not really the issue. Persona, which are undoubtedly the biggest games ATLUS put out text wise, also sell like crazy. The lower selling titles also cost leaps and bounds less to bring out than the Yakuza games.

As for Bayonetta 2, Nintendo wanted to throw core gamers a bone and take a chance on a title that didn't make that much the first time around. It's also a big, expensive AAA title the likes of which Atlus never comes close to making. Seems irrelevant to this discussion.

 

[chrominance]

Given what happened to Valkyria Chronicles 3 and what might be happening to Yakuza 5, I'm very pessimistic about the future of Atlus USA going forward. I'm just glad there are no significant franchises with cliffhangers that need to be resolved, because then I can just ignore any Atlus Japan announcements from now on (and pretend Persona 5 never existed) if the worst comes to pass.

 

[Soulflarz]

gonna take time to change all the models to Sonic characters

Lik is depressing me

 

[Quasar]

At least it isnt nintendo buying em.

 

[goomba]

Only fanboys would want them to be bought by a platform holder.

 

[tafer]

I don't like the way this sounds.

Any chance Sega will leave them alone?

 

[Gucci Messiah]

Can't wait for my ios Persona endless runner

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I don't like the way this sounds.

Any chance Sega will leave them alone?

Yes. Read Charlequin's posts.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Is there a shred of hope that Atlus USA would be kept around as the more fan-friendly and competent localization arm for niche titles instead of Sega of America?

Yes. I can't see Sega dumping Atlus USA's personnel when Sega of America is not very active and could use a team with strong localization talents and PR experience.

 

[Pureauthor]

I don't like the way this sounds.

Any chance Sega will leave them alone?

Sega has fuck-all to do with the purchase. Sega-Sammy is the one who bought them.

 

[QuiteWhittle]

Damn, Sony could have bought them. As a future PS4 owner, I want Atlus' games on the PS4.

Does Sony(or any of the big three) have use for any of the other subsidiaries being sold along with Atlus?

 

[Gamerloid]

I can see the fears some of my fellow GAFfers have, but I don't see why it's so excessive. The bad immediately came out full force when there's actually good that can come of all this.

Atlus USA can localize Sega's games as well. That's one of Sega's main flaws. Some good games never make it overseas. Atlus can really come in handy here. Sega owning Atlus can really help them in more ways than just having their library.

On the case of mobile games:
There's some really good mobile games out there. The platform keeps on improving at a very fast pace as well. With the specs inside devices like the iPhone, ATLUS could really make some darn good games probably gimp free. TWEWY made it to iOS with just the second screen the only missing feature (obviously). I don't think Sega would just go and try to milk well known franchises on iOS/Android. If they have a good idea for a mobile game, they'll do it. I don't expect them to put out crap. iOS is a good platform and at its currently level I can expect nice quality from games.

Most of all:
Shin Megami Tensei isn't going anywhere. I expect to see business on this part continue as normal.

 

[Caffeine]

now we just need sega to merge into nintendo and capcom sell off megaman to nintendo and the world will be good

 

[randomkid]

It would have made the individual top 10 if NPD published charts that way.

This is less an indication of Shin Megami Tensei brand strength than it is an indictment of 2013 NPD software sales!

 

[Buddha Beam]

Nintendo is gonna own so many franchises when they finally buy Sega from the mafia.

 

[KillerTravis]

In the adult world; where I have multiple responsibilities and don't have the time or space for multiple consoles. My backlog with one console is large enough.

In this specific case shouldn't you be happy you will have one less game to play since Bayonetta is not releasing on other platforms? I can't believe people are still having this conversation.

 

[androvsky]

This is a point that really needs to be raised much more than it is currently. In lieu of doing my own research, here's a copypasta from Nirolak about devs that Sega has bought and generally treated well, allowing them to maintain relative independence, continue working on the same sorts of things, and even expanding:



(In the case of Creative Assembly, Sega even picked up the Warhammer license for them.)



This is absurd. Look at some of the other options in Japan and tell me honestly that this would be worse than... Konami? Than Square-Enix?

That reminds me, Sega added a Company of Heroes kart racer character in Sonic Racing Transformed pretty fast after the purchase, maybe Sumo's got a Persona character lined up.

 

[GuardianE]

There is a lot of text in the Persona series, but the Yakuza games are on a whole different level. Persona games have US voice acting, but that's not really the issue. Persona, which are undoubtedly the biggest games ATLUS put out text wise, also sell like crazy. The lower selling titles also cost leaps and bounds less to bring out than the Yakuza games.

As for Bayonetta 2, Nintendo wanted to throw core gamers a bone and take a chance on a title that didn't make that much the first time around. It's also a big, expensive AAA title the likes of which Atlus never comes close to making. Seems irrelevant to this discussion.

Nah, it's not irrelevant. It shows an unwillingness to take calculated risks on quality and put forward a solid effort in those initiatives- which is a large part of why people love Atlus.

If Sega doesn't fuck with the operations of Atlus, it's gravy. The more they tinker, the worse off it will be for everyone.

 

[Takao]

Yeah Konami would've been the worst. They bought a profitable Hudson, and basically demolished them just because they could. Square Enix would've also been jank. We're not exactly seeing a bunch of Taito games.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Damn, Sony could have bought them. As a future PS4 owner, I want Atlus' games on the PS4.

They can do that without Sony buying them.

 

[grandjedi6]

This is a point that really needs to be raised much more than it is currently. In lieu of doing my own research, here's a copypasta from Nirolak about devs that Sega has bought and generally treated well, allowing them to maintain relative independence, continue working on the same sorts of things, and even expanding:



(In the case of Creative Assembly, Sega even picked up the Warhammer license for them.)



This is absurd. Look at some of the other options in Japan and tell me honestly that this would be worse than... Konami? Than Square-Enix?

I think the biggest question is whether Sammy keeps Atlus separate or absorbs them into Sega itself. At least that would be more telling on Atlus USA's fate.

 

[fvng]

and to conmemorate this sad moment my first Atlus game:

This was my first, which makes it welcome foreshadowing for me. (I'm not upset by this acquisition)

 

[cLOUDo]

i don't know how take this news

 

[Soriku]

This is a point that really needs to be raised much more than it is currently. In lieu of doing my own research, here's a copypasta from Nirolak about devs that Sega has bought and generally treated well, allowing them to maintain relative independence, continue working on the same sorts of things, and even expanding:

(In the case of Creative Assembly, Sega even picked up the Warhammer license for them.)

That's good news.

 

[BronsonLee]

This is a point that really needs to be raised much more than it is currently. In lieu of doing my own research, here's a copypasta from Nirolak about devs that Sega has bought and generally treated well, allowing them to maintain relative independence, continue working on the same sorts of things, and even expanding:

(In the case of Creative Assembly, Sega even picked up the Warhammer license for them.)

I lost the copypasta, but EXACTLY. When Sega gets a company, they don't fucking tip over the boat. They make changes, but seem to go the extra mile to get that company prepped to keep doing what they're doing, and make more money. They didn't need to go get the damn Warhammer license for Creative Assembly.

Also another point for that: The Warhammer people don't just fucking hand out that license. If SEGA got it, they were on board. Index picked SEGA here. I highly doubt they'll change their MO on this.

I just want Persona 5. ;(

I hope you own a 3DS

Why, so he can never play it?

 

[Caelestis]

This is not the news I wished to see before I go to sleep. The nightmares will be brutal tonight.

 

[cafemomo]

you guys do realize their are other ips at stake than persona right

 

[Bruno MB]

SEGA has released 8 niche jrpg titles in the last 3 years, none of them was released in the West.

[PSP] 7th Dragon 2020-II (SEGA) {2013-04-18}
[PSV] Phantasy Star Online 2: Special Package (SEGA) {2013-02-28}
[PSP] Shining Ark (SEGA) {2013-02-28}
[PSP] Shining Blade (SEGA) {2012-03-15}
[PSP] 7th Dragon 2020 (SEGA) {2011-11-23}
[PSP] Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity (SEGA) {2011-02-24}
[PSP] Valkyria Chronicles III (SEGA) {2011-01-27}
[PSP] Shining Hearts (SEGA) {2010-12-16}

 

[Elaugaufein]

Valkyria Chronicles 3. Its fate makes me pessimistic about ever seeing Atlus stuff translated again. Still I'll wait and see.

 

[Acid08]

Given what happened to Valkyria Chronicles 3 and what might be happening to Yakuza 5, I'm very pessimistic about the future of Atlus USA going forward. I'm just glad there are no significant franchises with cliffhangers that need to be resolved, because then I can just ignore any Atlus Japan announcements from now on (and pretend Persona 5 never existed) if the worst comes to pass.

Those franchises sold like garbage and thus stopped coming over here. Surprised we even had Yakuza games past two.

Valkyria Chronicles 3. Its fate makes me pessimistic about ever seeing Atlus stuff translated again. Still I'll wait and see.

Pretty sure stuff like Persona and SMTIV sold more than VC ever did.

 

[jello44]

I hope you own a 3DS

lol

It's coming on PS3.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Well, this is a thing.

Sega is certainly more desirable than what some other outcomes would have been. Certainly compared to some financial company with no stake in gaming. I'm nervous about what this means for Atlus USA and the continued localization of Atlus games, but hopefully things will work out.

It might be awhile before we really have a good handle on how things will go. As mentioned, though, Sega has had a pretty good track record with acquisitions in recent years, so there's at least some reason to have hope.

That's Aksys, a company who confuses me. I can't imagine they make money.

999 and VLR had to have made them a shitload of money. (Didn't 999 go through something like 8 or 9 printings?) Combined with how low profile most of their games are, I imagine they have very manageable expenses.

 

[braves01]

Only fanboys would want them to be bought by a platform holder.

If the choice is owned by a platform holder but treated right vs. whored out by a third party at every street corner where there's a smartphone, I'd be fine with a platform holder owning it.

 

[AzureSkies]

 

[MagiusNecros]

lol

It's coming on PS3.

Put the 3 in front and turn the P upside down to get 3ds.

 

[synce]

The only worse companies would've been Nintendo or Microsoft... This is really bad news. Today's Sega is not company I grew up with and respected.

 

[Takao]

Does Sony(or any of the big three) have use for any of the other subsidiaries being sold along with Atlus?

Sony and Microsoft make phone games. Neither do arcade stuff though.

 

[charlequin]

Worst Case scenario: Sega shuts down Atlus USA and moves Atlus JP to smartphone development.

This is not actually a plausible scenario.

That's possible certainly. I'd like to think the reason Sega's been silent on major localizations (outside a quick and dirty Miku print run for Cypton's US release) is that they were hoping the Atlus purchase would go through, leaving Atlus USA to handle all the text-heavy niche stuff. Since they're actually good at it.

I'm not going to be nearly this optimistic, but I would note that Atlus USA is probably a hell of a lot cheaper to run than Sega USA used to be and could probably put together profitable localizations on some titles that Sega otherwise couldn't.

 

[XxSlasherMcGirkxX]

I'm not the biggest Atlus fan but even I feel bad about this. Atlus was the biggest company when it came to localizations of a wide variety of stuff. Truly a sad day in gaming.

 

[yami4ct]

Yes. I can't see Sega dumping Atlus USA's personnel when Sega of America is not very active and could use a team with strong localization talents and PR experience.

The Atlus US brand and PR are worth a crap ton for the territory. Half the reason Atlus's lesser known titles sell so well is brand loyalty. Sega Sammy would have to be idiotic to squander that. I think the way they've handled their PC dev purchases proves they know how to handle acquisitions. The problems with getting their Japanese games out has more to do with Sega the developer than Sega Sammy the company.

 

[TheSeks]

SEGA has released 8 niche jrpg titles in the last 3 years, none of them was released in the West.

[PSP] 7th Dragon 2020-II (SEGA) {2013-04-18}
[PSV] Phantasy Star Online 2: Special Package (SEGA) {2013-02-28}
[PSP] Shining Ark (SEGA) {2013-02-28}
[PSP] Shining Blade (SEGA) {2012-03-15}
[PSP] 7th Dragon 2020 (SEGA) {2011-11-23}
[PSP] Phantasy Star Portable 2: Infinity (SEGA) {2011-02-24}
[PSP] Valkyria Chronicles III (SEGA) {2011-01-27}
[PSP] Shining Hearts (SEGA) {2010-12-16}

Small correction: That was released in the West... technically. Infinity is a re-release of PSP2 with a few new content items, but basically the same game they released in the west.

 

[GoofsterStud]

So Sega has no money to keep it's best developers and best developing teams.... Also Sega is going to stop making games...

WTF? This makes no sense.