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Could be very interesting - might be good if Sega's back catalogue could be mined for future releases (well as long as it's not another 3d-Sonic!)

I hope not im really looking forward to Sonic Unleased, i dont want Microsoft to make it 360 only.

No no no no no no no

This would be awful, I think sega are in the best position they have been in for some years, I'm always hoping they can one day re-enter the hardware market.

[off topic]

Ohh $h!7 Richard Hammond is a Neowin Member!!!!!!!!

not quite, most games they've released lately have been horrible, Sega was at its peak during the Genesis era and then everything went downhill from there

I'm not sure if Sega will be THAT great a purchase, but MS sure as hell need to beef up their first party developers.

Outside of this new Sonic, that for once is actually looking decent, Shenmue 3 is the only really big title that could hugely help I think...

I would go after Nintendo.

Joke of the day

As mentioned in the article, the first thing that came to mind is Microsoft starting to pull out the big guns in attempts to get further into Japan. They've come back a little recently with some moderately successful B-tier titles but nothing AAA or even AA. They dont have the resources to launch a console in this day and age. If it happens it could work out.

And Nintendo? even Microsoft doesnt have that kind of cash. It's now Japan's third biggest company. Not that they'd sell anyway......

lol, good luck with that

before the ds and the wii they might have had a chance but there's no way they could buy nintendo now

yay lol but it would work but will never happen

I can see why Microsoft want to do this, but I really hope they don't. Because SEGA exited from the hardware market, they need to leverage their software skills to the widest possible array of platforms. If Microsoft buys SEGA, they will no doubt limit publishing rights to the XBox or Windows platforms only.

Now as an avid Sony fan and a long time hardcore Sonic fan, I'd probably be quite distraught if Microsoft/SEGA published the next few titles on 360 only. This move will upset Nintendo the most I think, but I would like to see a new Nights game for the PS3, lush, but a dream I know.

I don't know if this would be worthwhile, the titles that Sega have done lately haven't exactly been the greatest.

Weird name.

Back on-topic, personally, I'd really like to see MS buy SEGA. SEGA have had it. They don't make any good games anymore. The only new SEGA games I've liked are Condemned (the first one; the second one sucks), Virtua Fighter 5 (the first VF game I've actually liked), and Full Auto.

Oh come on. It wouldn't be that hard. They would just build a giant fortress and trap NOA (which is pretty much right across the street from Microsoft in Redmond) inside with them. Then, NOA is theirs

I've heard that MS has something up their sleeve for E3, but I seriously doubt it's out of any kind of desperation. That's a loaded statement.

-Spenser

I would prefer SEGA to be brought by MS because then maybe will be get some decent, high quality games again that made SEGA famous and loved.

Most of the crap they throw out now it's very poor. Every Sonic game has been poor after Sonic Adventure, Condemed 1 & 2 were both awful aswell.

SEGA were much better when thery were in the hardware market, maybe they should re-enter.

Condemned 1 was awesome, Condemned 2 was alright, could have been better but I agree with the Sonic games, all were rubbish. I doubt Sega will re-enter the hardware market, do they even have enough money and resources to do so?

I think Microsoft would only buy them if they did some promising games such as Shemnue 3 and a new Jet Set Radio or something which would be awesome.

If Microsoft were to buy Sega then they should do it only with guarantees!

Condemned both got great reviews... and they were made by Monolith, not Sega. Sega the developer and Sega the publisher are very different beasts.

If SEGA wants to re-enter the market, then they will need to come up with something original in hardware like Nintendo did with the Wii. If it is just another console then it would never stand a chance against the PS3 and Xbox360 (or probably PS4 and Xbox720 by the time they got it out of the door).

Now that would be kickass! It might happen, as Shenmue II and Jet Set Radio Future were both released on the Xbox.


Now that is damn near impossible. Then again, SEGA did do this before with the Dreamcast. The first console ever to have online play, but it was on dial-up, so it wasn't that good. Look at the consoles now. They're all online!

As much as I'd like to see Sega re-enter the hardware market it feels like it won't happen.

We really don't know the outcome of Sega's future, hopefully they won't be bought out my Microsoft because that just leaves the potential for future console hardware out the window.

I thought you had 360?

even if he does.'

I would want it to come out for other consoles as well.. just because (I own a 360 & Wii)

We'll have to wait for E3 to see what MS has to say. The games they've listed for E3 so far have all been shown already so it's gotta be something big. Or I'd like to hope so.

When is E3 again? July?

Sigh, I wish Sega re-entered the hardware market also. I loved the Dreamcast, and I still think they could make a kick ass system for the next-gen era down the road. But, it'll probably never happen.

Dreamcast 2 would no doubt kick arse, but throwing another contender into quite a crowded home console market would be a bad idea.

I've always wondered what a Dreamcast 2 would be like. Bet they wouldn't make the same mistakes again, even though the DC did rock, it just didn't get the support it needed.

If Sega should re-enter the hardware market again, they will have to shoot for a timeframe where MS begins to slow down in crucial areas of its gaming segment, like all game companies do.

Yup - 15-17 July

What's with all this Sega "re-entering" the hardware market talk? You guys mean the "console" market, Sega still makes arcade hardware. It's why it merged with Sammy.

That said, I think there are lots of smaller 3rd party Japanese devs that MS could buy that would help it better than Sega can. But then again, I'm sure having Segas IP would help as well.

We just gotta wait to see what surprises MS has at E3.

Oh man this thread just reminded me of how much I want a JSRF2. For the win.

Sega had a vibrant soul w/ the Geneis, Saturn (Japan), and the Dreamcast. To this day no other hardware company can capture the imagination put forth into a console and bring out truly fun and momentous games.

I believe the only reason Sega doesn't do that well is because they aren't working on their own platform anymore. imo

Microsofts strategy of, "when no ones buys our product we will simply buy our competition and force it down your throats". They ruined PC diversity and now they want to flush gaming diversity down the toilet too? Sega hasn't put anything out worthwhile in ages but still.

Microsoft isn't EA..

They actually utilize the competition they buy quite well.

I remember the old Sega games .... Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Sonic & Knuckles, along with Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, and Ultimate MK 3.

I had that entire line up what you just described..

The ONLY way Sega could ever make another console is if they had backing from another mega-corporation, such as Toshiba/Samsung/etc. They couldn't afford to stay in with just Sony and Nintendo as adversaries; no way they can be profitable vs. those two AND Microsoft, who all have billions in leeway.

Heck, partnering/selling to MS (or Sony) could be the best thing for Sega; no more worries about profitability, leaving them to concentrate on making great games again.

Heh, but nowadays I still have the PS1 and N64 versions of MK Trilogy.

PS1 - 1-button fatalities, health recovery, Unmasked Sub-Zero, Human Smoke, Chameleon(male), all 4 bosses, almost all the arenas, and 4 classic versions of the characters
N64 - Free Play, Fatality Time on/off, Human Smoke, Khameleon(female), 2 bosses' fatality, some arenas modified, a REAL supreme demo after beating Shao Kahn on the Champion level, and multiple endurance rounds

I know with MK7: Armageddon on the Wii, you get 63 characters, including the once-forgotten Khameleon.

Oh man... I hope this doesn't happen. I wish Sega never stopped making consoles, but unfortunately the Dreamcast wasn't as successful as planned... Still, I really don't want this to happen. I wouldn't mind if Nintendo bought Sega though. After all, the Sonic Advance games were relatively successful on the GBA, and I doubt Nintendo could actually kill the line-up. In fact, why the heck wouldn't they want TWO mascots? Sonic and Mario remain fairly popular to this day.

*sigh* But Microsoft buying Sega? Sonic would really go down if that happened...

Guns? Sure! Gigantic explosions, courtesy of the Halo team? Of course! *sigh*

I wonder what would happen to Sonic Team? To this day, I still hold a great respect for those worked on Sonic Team, past and present. Of course, there are only two games that REALLY hold my interest these days - Sonic the Hedgehog CD (aka "Sonic CD") for the Sega/Mega CD and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis/Mega Drive. After all, the Sonic community is still finding things in Sonic 2, and the missing R2 level in Sonic CD is a mystery to this day... Speculation makes it all so exciting. The only thing from Super Mario that excites me a little bit is in the Japanese version where you can "beat" the game rather easily, or the same trick in the non-Japanese version that forces an infinitely looping level until time runs out or you run out of lives.

In any case, MS: don't buy Sega. Really. You'll ruin Sonic for those that still enjoy it...

1st off Yuji Naka and the rest of his crew on AM8 (Sonic Team) have left. That's the primary reason the quality went down.

I really don't know if the outcome of this is good. It's quite hard to tell.

I'd go for it if I were MS. I don't know much about their in house stuff but Sega has quite a respectable publishing arm.

Can't honestly say I care whether or not it happens, though.

The biggest problem with Sonic Team at the moment is that it was divisionalised into Sonic Team US and Sonic Team of Japan. Sonic Team originated from Japan, and that's where all the good stuff came from. The latter (Sonic Adventure 2 [which I didn't mind], Sonic Heroes and the newer Sonic The Hedgehog) titles all came from the US team, but don't quote me on that.

SEGA need to be able to publish games on multiple platforms if they want to stay in the business AND do well. Sonic has proved to be a great success after migrating to the Nintendo platform, mainly because Sonic games are generally geared towards the family market, and not the hardcore gamer. Sonic the Hedgehog (360, PS3) was OK, but nothing like it should have been. Sonic Unleashed looks set to be a killer comeback, but as I mentioned before, its being directed from the US Sonic Team.

My all time favourite Sonic game was S3+K (Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles), was epic. I didn't mind Sonic Adventure, but it wasn't as linear as Sonic games should be. What I really want is the classic gameplay: running, spinning, chaos emeralds, super sonic, etc. Actually having Super Sonic available to play in the bulk of the game (and not just the end-boss [SA, SA2, Heroes, etc.]) was awesome.

Anyone remember Burning Rangers on the Saturn? NiGHTS into Dreams (and Christmas NiGHTS)? There are some great Sonic Team properties, but don't forget about all the other SEGA IPs (Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter), etc. Jet Set Radio? Smilebit!

If Microsoft decided to buy SEGA, all those IPs would be locked into a single platform, which means there probably wouldn't be any DS games, PSP games either.

And remember, SEGA spelled backwards is AGES...And you spend AGES playing SEGA.... and SEGA spelled backw---- you get the point.

What the heck are you talking about? Ruined PC diversity? What does that even mean? They don't even make PCs. That other company does.



What about Billy Hatcher 2? Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg sure looked and sounded like a kid game but it was really fun.

I still have/play NiGHTS. One of the best Saturn games.

^^ lol!!!

Sega == Win

Tomonobu Itagaki has just resigned from Tecmo. (very friendly towards MS)

Microsoft interested in Sega.

Microsoft wants a bigger slice of the pie in Japan.

Could all these things be linked? My tinfoil hat is still in for repairs and my spidey-sense in tingling!!

I doubt it. ^

Microsoft purchasing Sega would be great for everyone but Sony as Microsoft makes games for the DS currently I am sure they will continue to do so as long as it is profitable for them (which it would)

Sega does have some great franchises besides Sonic (which needs alot of work)

Sega Rally
Sega GT
Jetset Radio
Phantacy Star
Extreme Hunting
Ghost Squad

along with many others

It wouldn't benefit Nintendo, as they wouldn't have anymore Wii games from Sega.