Thought this was pretty sad... http://sega.jp/topics/071220_1/ After 8 years and previously being the much appreciated D-Direct Sega has made the decision to shut down the Sega Direct online store and all associated services on March the 31st 2008.
They will reopen when Shadowlayer shows them how easy it is to get back into the HW market w/a cheap Wii competitor.
Well, of course. *** Aye, but I do wonder how Yakumo feels as well. I don't have the strong allegiace to Sega that he has. It.. has got to be a downer to know that your once-powerful company is now a mere skeleton, with a bone being plucked away with the years passing by. WELL, maybe I'm being too dark here, but that's how it seems to me.
I actually knew about this over 2 weeks ago. I thought it had already been posted here at ASSEMbler but it looks like I'm wrong. It is sad to see the store close down. Sega Direct were great for extra goodies. Recently they've been giving away badges with every purchase. I got a Phantasy Star Universe on with my Wii Ghost Squad game and Importaku got a Shining Force one with his Wii Shikigami No Shiro III Yakumo
This is certainly bad news for fans and consumers, but is it necessarily bad news for Sega? The way I read this, Sega's new bosses are trimming some fat, which includes some less-than-profitable services. I'm the biggest Sega fanboy there is, and even I recognize that some of what we love Sega for is stuff that served the fans very well and made no money. I would much rather that Sega keep making games above all else, and in that light I don't see this as a bad omen.
It's all Yakumos fault for not buying enough. :lol: Still gives Sony a chance to buy it out and call it Playstation Direct.
B/Sad news. Like some people have said, it was a good source for collection stuff. I bet that many of the SEGA Direct exclusive items are going to increase their prices much (specially on eBay).
mmm.. i hope the End of SEGA isn't near... by the way,,, what's going on with SEGA on the arcade matter?? no news..no new titles... no new games... what is doing currently AM2,AM3,AMPLUS, etc??? I hope the golden compass kind of games are NOT the SEGA set-list.. yeah, i know, there's the new GOLDEN AXE, CONDEMNED, THE CLUB, YAKUZA3,,,, but what is doing right now SEGA OF JAPAN for the arcades?? Damn world.
If you read Japanese, you can go to http://sega.jp/arcade/ and check out what's new. It looks like the focus is on VF5 and the Initial D games, and there's some new Sangoku license that has ranked online play. It doesn't seem like anything that Sega is doing in the arcades will affect the western markets very much.
damn, in the old days, not only sega, but whatever company put in the arcade, was the important thing... those are the last years for the arcade-era...
SEGA will keep going this way until theres nothing left but the logo. Its the way corporations works....
Not like any of the other ones are doing any better though. Sure, Sega sucks now... but pretty much everyone does. Cave is the only company that has pretty much stayed the exact same for 10 years and thrived. The rest have reinvented themselves... which is something 99% of all entertainment industry related companies have to do. They've just reinvented themselves into steaming piles of turd.
anyways, i still have faith in the sega-arcade division,, there's still some kick ass genius over there, and i can't wait to see the future arcade releases..if arcade stays alive of course..
The arcade in the west may not last much longer in the wake of the MMO monster. But in Japan, where people have to leave the house in order to find room to have sex, the arcade will probably continue to be a normal part of their mobile and restless culture. I can see a future where Sega finds it has to survive by shrinking down to a company that only makes arcade games for the JPN region. It'd be sad but interesting to see what western publishers find it worthwhile to publish and/or localize their stuff. I could see Sega surviving (flourishing, even) at the size of a Game Arts or an Atlus, since they're no longer trying to compete at the same level as Nintendo or Microsoft.
