Sega CEO Satomi Admits “We’ve Lost Trust”

72 Comments

1. SEGA – just make really good game with hardcore, several playable characters, really good story, cool-looking and beautiful locations, rock’n’roll music, Chao Garden and Ryan Drammond in Sonic roll!!!! And we all – Americans and Europeans will be happy!!

   1. Ryan Drmmond said he won’t come back as Sonic because it would require him to quit his talent Union.

      1. “It”? The one who required him to quit his union was SEGA. So if SEGA really did have change of heart, they would no longer make such an outrageous demand. If they will focus on the quality now, they will take Ryan back. They themselves admitted (as obvious from the same article where the thing about his union was stated) that Ryan was the best for the role in the entire audition by a long shot.

   2. I agree with everything here, though I can live without a Chao Garden or Ryan Drummond, I like him though I think Roger could do a good work if Sonic was characterized better, except for Sonic he makes every character sound badass like Batman, Captain America, Ezio (Assasin’s Creed), Chris Redfield (Resident Evil), Siegfried (Soul Calibur), etc.

   3. Maybe it’s just me, but other than maybe “cool-looking locations,” none of that sounds important. It’s the gameplay that counts.

      1. Story is important to a game, it adds a lot to the whole experience when done right (like in Metal Gear Solid games, Uncharted, etc.).
         Also multiple characters could add a lot of variety and depth to the gameplay like in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3, Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure.

         1. Story is important to certain types of game 😛

         2. @RaceProUK
            Like Sonic games before Sonic Colors *sighs*

         3. Indeed Raw. Some Sonic games can be without story, like Racing Transformed or games like that. But a big budget game for a new generations of consoles that is supposed to bring Sonic back and prove that he doesn’t suck – that’s the right opportunity where they should bring story back.

         4. @Mithrandir
            Couldn’t agree more, and even some of the Sonic spinoff games had (good) story modes like Sonic Battle (fighting game), Sonic Rivals and Sonic Riders (both racing games), I think that comes natural since Sonic world and mithos is very flexible to any kind of story (ancient gods, goverment experiments, alien invasions, inter-dimensional travels, etc.) and its characters are very appealing.

         5. @ Raw
            I agree with all but Rivals’ story. Mainly because of it’s “Eggman Nega is from the future” BS. Then again, I’m one that isn’t too fond of the Rivals series, I’d much take Riders instead.

   4. We don’t “need” Ryan Drummond to come back as Sonic, Roger Craig Smith is doing just fine. Drummond was nice but he wasn’t the sole thing that made the Adventure games fun to begin with (though for me he did make it funny, intentionally or not). And while all those other ideas do sound great, other fans might have different ideas about what would make a great Sonic game. I think the bare minimum should be fun and addicting gameplay, those “cool-looking and beautiful locations”, a great story that’s fairly balanced between humor and drama that doesn’t over-sell or undermine itself, and good dialogue that doesn’t make you want to slam your head against a wall. And overall, just do Sonic justice, don’t overemphasize any part of his personality (especially not his witty humorous side, he doesn’t have to be THAT funny). Just portray him as the laid back, easygoing adventure seeker with a sensitive heart of gold, a strong sense of justice, cocky attitude, and AT TIMES a mild sense of humor. He doesn’t have to talk in jive, he doesn’t have to sound “rad” or “hip”, he doesn’t have to have a romantic interest with every female he comes across, he doesn’t have to crack a joke every 5 seconds, and he doesn’t have to be the cynical straight-man. He just has to be everything we ever loved about the guy in the past, not just a few things overamplified.
      Oh yeah, but we do need Crush 40 back, or at least SOME band or artist! I’ve missed my character and credits themes…

      1. Amen brother!

      2. “Roger Craig Smith is doing just fine.”
         Sounding like a bored, throaty 40 year old guy ? No.

         1. You speak as though he was the one writing the dialogue. And that’s your opinion, forgive me for thinking differently than you.

         2. Okay then, P/e duke, let’s hear how majestic your Sonic impression sounds!

   5. Took you long enough to admit, but better later than never I guess.
      I hope that you didn’t mean ’06 as well because if so, again, the problem with ’06 was the EXECUTION, not the CONTENT!
      Also, Unleashed and Black Knight were pretty awesome games as well, so let’s make that betraying thing a “the past 6 years” instead, will you? 🙂

   6. See this is the other issue. Fans having a misplaced value of not only what Sonic is, but what a game is altogether.

      1. It’s not unreasonable to demand good content in a video game.

      2. Misplaced values, as well as differing values. Like ShayMay’s Sonic Spitball videos said, the next game could be dramatic and people would hate it. The next game could be comedic and people would hate it.

   7. Because that’s soooo easy.

   8. @c0mf0rta61ynum6
      My biggest gripe from this top thread alone; all I see is…
      -have multiple playable characters
      -make the story line great
      -this voice actor, that voice actor
      -hardcore
      What the fuck is this!? Fucking where is the GAME discussion? “Make the levels look beautiful” fantastic, one aspect. Let’s talk about speed, platforming, 2D?, 3D?, physics/terrain based?, boost/trial & error based? These are GAMES everyone. Not interactive narratives. Literally EVERYTHING comes second.

      1. Now that you mention it I would love if they made the new game’s gameplay like the one from the Sonic Adventure games (Sonic’s stages) but much more physics based rather than script based, more or less like in this video but with a lot more of polish:
         
         Not to mention that it would be great if it had several playable characters but everyone should play the same stages, just with different abilities.

      2. Just because it’s a game does not mean that gameplay should be the only thing that matters. Also, stop using the word “literally” incorrectly. That word is so misused all the damn time, that quite frankly, it’s lost its meaning to the point where its became an emphasis word instead of a word associated with literature, the root of the word “literally”. I myself have problems with the overly childish writing and Sonic being the only playable character.

      3. ” Let’s talk about speed, platforming, 2D?, 3D?, physics/terrain based?, boost/trial & error based? These are GAMES everyone. Not interactive narratives. Literally EVERYTHING comes second.”
         Says Who? Why is this even a legitimate argument? Gameplay VS Story is one of the most meaningless ‘debates’ I have witnessed in this fandom (and that’s saying something) from both sides as it deconstructs video games into a very black and white perception that is simply false. Just drop it already..

      4. @Jmack Why does that bother you so much? This IS game discussion. Playing as only Sonic is a problem to people. The childish writing is a problem to people. There’s more that goes into a game than just gameplay. The fact that this franchise has been playing it safe since 2010 has ultimately negatively impacted this franchise. Also, another incorrect usage of the word “literally”. That word is NOT meant to be used for emphasis.

         1. @c0mf0rta61ynum6
            It bothers me because THATS ALL THATS EVER DISCUSSED when it comes to Sonic nowadays and very few ever discuss the actual gaming aspect…you know the part that you actually interact with. I agree that there are more elements that can go into a game to further extend the value and makeup of it, but Tetris, Pacman, Asteroids, Donkey Kong (to name a few) all these things existed as video games well before there were deep story narratives implemented into games and they were loved still because of their gameplay. Same with Mario and Sonic. Both had very little narratives at all but were lauded for how fun they were as “video games”. They’ve played it safe…I’ll agree that that has been hurting them also the past couple years, but it’s a culmination of things hampering the franchise, mainly anytime the game tries to do something it has no business doing in the first place. Shit that nobody wanted or asked for.
            Also…literally. Sorry for misusing a word professor. How long have you been on the Internet? You don’t expect people to use language improperly at this point…even purposely? You look no smarter.

         2. @Jmack It’s discussed because the fans feel they’re being ignored just so they could pander to the “Professional” criitics who don’t know what’s truly good for this series. Sonic had more of a narrative in the classics than you give them credit for. They took advantage of the technical limitations of the Genesis, and worked around that. Especially the case with Sonic CD and 3&K. Just because it’s the Internet does not mean I can’t expect better. The word “literally” has been thrown around so much as a word of emphasis that it has lost its meaning thanks to the exaggeration of people on the Internet.

   9. @c0mf0rta61ynum6
      “Pander to professional critics” ??? Is that at all true? Because those professional critics almost unanimously have been saying the same shit for years…go back to how Sonic was. The best they got was Sonic 4, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations. By critics 4-1, Colors, and Generations were well received (4-2 was not). After that…Lost World. Boom. And recently Boom: Fire and Ice…shit no critic asked for cause Lost World was either liked or hated, Boom altogether was shat upon and nobody asked for second helpings…so Fire and Ice why? Because they can make bullshit for kids and they’ll buy it up.
      Im almost certain that I’m more of an authority than you on Sonic/video games just from the way you’re speaking.The narrative was not that deep sir. Yes one was presented in a short paragraph in the manual, but nothing on the level of the convoluted mess that is say…Sonic 06. There were games around that time period and technology that had the prowess to include meaty narrative in their games…A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, hell Mega Man X even had narrative included into the games. You could make the argument that they’re all Super Nintendo games and they had a hardware advantage…okay, Gunstar Heroes (had chat bubbles), Shining Force, Tmnt: Hyperstone Heist, Phantasy Star. Sonic’s story was in the manual, and it was short an concise. Whatever was in the games it was expressed and conveyed in short cutscenes, but things mostly moved at a brisk pace to keep the player involved with the game. CD had an opening and closing cinematic (no words except the music…hmmm why didn’t they take that opportunity to tell a story and instead have someone rap and sing, cause the shit wasn’t THAT important). You controlling your character was the marquee experience. Not how Sonic got to where he was or why he was doing it or why he was there.
      Again the word “literally” I’m not arguing with you over that. It’s misused. Get over it.

      1. Genesis limitations my ass

      2. “Go back to how Sonic was”. And what exactly is that? Nobody can ever seem to agree on what that is. If you claim to be a bigger authority on Sonic than I am, then that must be pretty tragic. Sonic 3 starts off immediately where Sonic 2 ended, Sonic flying on the Tornado, jumping off, and transforming into Super Sonic.

         1. @c0mf0rt
            So you’re twisting my responses up. The critics would specifically state “Genesis days”, obviously when Sonic’s reputation shined brightest, they wanted that. I don’t understand the point of you stating how Sonic 3 started…? Again, there was a story (like I said) but they chose to use short an concise cutscenes instead of speech bubbles or written dialogue (which was absolutely possible at those times).
            “If you claim to be a bigger authority on Sonic than I am, then that must be pretty tragic.”
            Why exactly?

      3. Story VS Gameplay is not a relevant argument! Sonic Team could eliminate all stpry elements from future Sonic game as you suggest…and the game could still bomb and receive mediocre to poor reviews.Sonic 06, a game incorrectly used by many fans as an example of story ‘ruining’ could be released with the omission of the entire plot and it would still suck. That game failed not because of ‘ambition’ but beacsue it was a rushed game with a diminishing development team and an ill fated concept with horrible execution. I don’t see why you are so upset with the mere idea that there are Sonic fans that care for more aspects of the franchise than soley gameplay when Sonic Team and Sega have been pandering exclusively to the exact things you stated for nearly 5 years…and it’s not working anymore. Sonic should utilize elements from successful games in the past as a footstool to jump ahead into modern gaming instead of living in the past. Quite honestly, I had enough of this ‘nostalgia’ and legacy nonsense recently and so are many fans. You can still ask for this ‘actual’ gaming aspect all you want, but let the many other Sonic fans that care for the overall concept and lore of the series prosper.
         By the way, critics don’t ‘buy’ Sonic games, so pandering to a small exclusive collection of professionals over the consumers or the same fanbase that is carrying this zombie franchise AKA people that will buy the game, is a bad move.

2. Some titles that have “partially betrayed that trust … ?” Does he mean “taken out behind the barn and shot it?” or is he talking about another Sega I don’t know about?

   1. It is my understanding that Satomi is vaguely hinting at “something”. Not necessarily a game.

      1. And that “something” is most certainly NOT a new Sega console. It will never happen. They’re struggling to ship retail games, let alone release an entire console with all the manufacturing, licensing, globalizing, advertising and marketing that comes with it.

3. Good luck, Satomi-san. Thank you for admitting you’ve made mistakes.

4. Sounds so good that almost feels like and April fools joke, I don’t always believe what any representative of Sega says but they at least must be planning something big in the future to reckon their errors from the past 10 years, and after all I really hope they DO learn something from Atlus, I’m a big fan of Atlus and even when their products are very japanese oriented they’re so good that they’re beloved worldwide. Also:
   “It may look rough if you look a it from a Japanese standpoint, but on a global scale the PlayStation 4 has a record-selling history, so I believe there’s a good opportunity there”
   Considering the Sonic movie is being developed by Sony I think is safe to say the next home console Sonic game will be heading to PS4, I don’t think it will be exclusive though.

   1. Well the sheer fact that he even admitted anything along the lines of “betraying the fans’ trust”, especially in the past 10 years (Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 2006, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Boom), does give me some hope that at the very least SOMEONE official is aware of all the funky bullshrimp they’ve given us, even in recent years (kudos if you get the reference).
      As for the Sony speculation, I would be DOWN for a PS4 Sonic, exclusive or not! I don’t know why, but for me Sonic always felt right at home whenever it was on the Playstation, or at the very least multiplatform. I mean, PS2 era aside, a majority of the PS3 major titles were a positive experience for me (well, 2 out of the 3 ever made, but they were still good!), so I wouldn’t mind something as groundbreaking as Unleashed and Generations on the PS4.

      1. Agreed, and me too feel like the Playstation is the most suitable home for Sonic, maybe because of the 3 companies Sony is the one that resmebles Sega during its console era the most, and sorry but I didn’t get the reference 😛

         1. Yeah, same here (must have something to do with Japanese companies that start with “S”…). Although it’s strange to think at one point people considered the XBox 360 to be the “spiritual successor” to the Dreamcast simply due to the fact that they had an exclusive Dreamcast Collection. And then they made Sonic Free Riders and pretty much every other game and policy that Microsoft has become infamous for. If anything, I’m pretty sure that Microsoft was one of the main reasons why Sega lost in the console race in the first place, so I really don’t understand how it became “adopted” by Sega fans for a time. Maybe Sega and Sony’s synergy also stems from the fact that they both started out as rivals to Nintendo, both trying to capitalize on disk media rather than cartridges. Either way, I am a Sony fanboy at heart, so as far as I know this could just be me trying to come up with excuses to make Sony look good and Microsoft look bad…which I can’t deny, a small part of me loves doing that. Why lie, right? X)”

         2. @Hero
            I still think those are very valid reasons, I’m not a fanboy of a particular company, I own a Wii, Nintendo 3DS and PS3 and also play on Steam and still think Sonic would be better at Playstation or simply multi-platform.
            Also talking about Sony let’s not forget Sega borrowed them Shenmue.

         3. @Hero: Microsoft had nothing to do with Sega losing their hold in consoles; it was because after the 32, Saturn, and Dreamcast were all released so close to each other, and causing the one before to be abandoned, everyone decided ‘Actually, we’re gonna wait for the PS2’.

5. Make a good game, definitely. Regain trust, definitely. PS4, great idea. BUT ALSO MAKE IT FOR THE PC DANGIT

   1. As long as there isn’t any exclusivity deal I could perfectly see it coming to Steam, though even Capcom made a console exclusive deal to release Street Fighters 5 on the PS4 and Steam only.

6. I kinda like this but at the same time I’m apprehensive. They had the same epiphany concerning Sonic game quality after 06 and we got a string of fun, solidly built(If not a bit polarizing) games from them, but they’ve recently started to fall into old habits. They’ll have to put their money where their mouth is for real if they want to stay afloat for real-real this time.

   1. I actually think they veered off into the opposite direction after 06. Prior to 06, they were wading into the muck of bloated, glitchy 3D gameplay and convoluted plots that didn’t always make sense. When people complained, they tried to turn Sonic into Mario, a feat which they completed with Lost World (to my chagrin).
      Boom was a spinoff, but it failed as badly- or worse- than 06, not only due to being unfinished but also being incredibly juvenile, cheesy, and bland- all things that 06 was not (IMO). Hopefully Boom gives SEGA the same wake-up call that 06 did.

7. “Sega in the ‘90s was known for its ‘brand, but after that, we’ve lost trust, and we were left with nothing but ‘reputation. For this reason, we’d like to win back the customers’ trust, and become a ‘brand,’ once again.”
   Take note of that, people. Satomi is referring to the “brand” they were before your time.

8. Now, these are encouraging news. The CEO is assuming the fault, and the Toky Game Show event oughta be good.

   1. Now whether both pieces of news are actually about Sonic, only time will tell. It is likely though, since Sonic is clearly the only thing that fans and Sega seem to care about lately.

   2. That have to be the first positive comment you make, but I agree, this could be the most encouraging news in a very long time.

   3. I just really want to see a new Sonic game that 100% tries to move the series FORWARD, and doesn’t rely on nostalgia at all. Honestly I think Unleashed really was the last time they successfully did this.

9. I’m with Raw, Sega could learn quite a bit about making appealing/satisfying and generally great games from Atlus. I’m not even all that knowledgeable about the company aside from a handful or 2 of its games, but so far I’ve yet to be disappointed.

   1. Thanks!! Most than anything I love the Persona and Devil Survivor series, those games always have interesting stories, appealing characters, very good gameplay and awesome music, and a cool style, they share several similarities with Sonic games though they could use some help with the gameplay, with crafting a good story, tone and characterizations.

10. Cross your fingers Sonic Fans! If Sega is being Honest, 2016 is going to be an interesting year for the Blue Blur! 😉

11. As long it has eye candy visuals and gameplay, not to mention a great story WITHOUT plot holes, I’m happy.
    I just want Sonic Boom (the games) to burn in hell =_=

12. Does this mean that Sonic Team will stop being worked like a sweatshop? Anyway, this is pretty good news. Let’s hope Hajime Satomi lives up to his words.

13. This is a bit heart-warming to me and it is a good sign. I agree with the majority that whatever is planned for 2016 is going to be big. It starts here ladies and gentlemen. Let’s hope for the best. 🙂

14. I am afraid that Sega might butcher the Persona series.:( I don’t want it to be bad.

15. What’s that? They announced at TGS a Sonic & Persona crossover mobile game with microtransactions and DLC up the butt? 😀
    (If you want, imagine that in Ryan Malis’ voice)

    1. LOL! Though I hope we could get a Sonic RPG developed by Atlus, that would be insane! Though it should be more action oriented than Sonic Chronicles.

16. The first step is admitting you have a problem…

17. We’ve heard this before Sega, you’re gonna have to prove you mean it this time. A more autonomous USA branch would certainly help matters Sega. A good step in that direction might be reopening STI or Sonic Team USA. Releasing your currently Japan only games like PSO2 and the 7th Dragon series is probably a good idea, there’s not much to lose if you go digital only either. It would be great if you could start treating Sonic’s games (development) with a bit of care too. We as kids grew up on Sonic content that wasn’t breaindead, why should Sonic content these days be relegated to that?

    1. You’re right. As of now, it’s just PR. We need Sega to show us how these improvements will be made. I must say, I like the title of this petition.
       http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/re-gain-our-trust-sega-phantasy-star-online-2

       1. Ha, looks like I’m not alone in that school of thought.

18. What scares me is that they’re NOW just saying, “Oh, hmm, maybe we should make some better quality games.” Like, really? I’m not surprised that SEGA failed out of the hardware business if these are the kind of individuals heading the company.

    1. Japanese pride, it takes FOREVER and A LOT to make them FINALLY get over it.

    2. You have no idea what you are saying, do you?

       1. SEGA is a racist company, staff have complained about this since the 90’s, what do you expect me to say? The divisions hump each other?
          Now that this superiority mess and ego/pride is SEEMINGLY ending, MAYBE the company can succeed again.

       2. Me or Chris? I know exactly what I’m saying. Does any of it confuse you?

19. There is much that needs to be done at Sega. I don’t want to point fingers but I would like to have game directors that are good for sonic. Actually all the sonic game directors moved on to better places……. and their all successful except one.

20. It seems that my comment was lost.

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