Sonic Team dissolved??

[Ochre]

This is related to PSO in some ways, although not enough to stick it on the General board. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif I just saw this this morning...Sonic Team has been dissolved by Sega... o_O

Well, it's not as bad as that comment may seem. Actually, according to Play Magazine, that Sega's various development teams have been dissolved and reorganized into different divisions. I'm sure everyone figured something big like this was going to happen after Sammy bought Sega, really, so I don't think this comes as a suprise. Anyway, now they've got three divisions with several departments in each division:

Global Entertainment....develops games for consoles. Yuji Naka is still at the helm for PSU, however.

New Entertainment...Develops new ideas and content for arcade and console markets. I suppose it's like an R&D division.

Amusement...Develop games for arcade. Sammy being an arcade company, you had to figure this one. ^_^

Maybe a little reorganization is just what Sega needed. I wonder who's in charge of PSO now, though. At any rate, I wonder if this could be the reason for the lack of attention to PSO....just a thought.

EDIT: I did a bit of searching and I haven't been able to find anything about this so-called restructuring. Maybe it IS just a rumor after all. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Ochre on 2005-03-01 17:25 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Ochre on 2005-03-01 17:29 ]</font>

[Skett]

Is this for real? I seem to remember a rumor similar to this, except it said Yuji Naka was going to leave Sega altogether.

[BOC]

fuck. that aint good.

first ion storm now sonic team?

whos next? ID? team ninja? VALVE?!?!

meh, maybe it'll work out for the best. little re-organisation may help put the fear of god into them and get them inspired.

PEACE!!!

[Hrigg]

Heh, that doesn't sound good. Hopefully, it will turn out good, but if it doesn't... http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_nono.gif

[Solstis]

Nooo!

Next thing, Blizzard will split into: Flurry, Snowstorm, and Precipitation.

[Daikarin]

The end of the world is nigh!

...Let's just hope they don't screw up the next GC Sonic game.

[anwserman]

On 2005-03-01 12:45, BOC wrote:
fuck. that aint good.

first ion storm now sonic team?

whos next? ID? team ninja? VALVE?!?!

meh, maybe it'll work out for the best. little re-organisation may help put the fear of god into them and get them inspired.

PEACE!!!



Thats what I'm thinking.
Sonic Team will probably still exist, even with the reorganization, in some way or another. Sonic Team, along with AM2, are probably Sega's most recognizable developers. Getting rid of the names would be stupid on Sega's part.

...

I wouldn't put such a manuever past them tho.

[Jason]

Yeah, not good. I care more for Shigeru Miyamoto though. Nintendo!!

[Ochre]

Hmm, I can't find ANYTHING about this on the net, except for the little post on ocremix.org where I first heard about this. Maybe it IS just a crazy rumor...I don't know WHY Sega would remove it's most popular and recognizable names like that.

Hmm, crazier things have happened...like the time Microsoft, of all companies, released a game console. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

Okay, that's REALLY off-topic. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Deathscythealpha]

From what I've heard, SEGA arent really 'disolving' the teams, but are merging a lot of them. Same thing as they did a few years ago and why 'Project Rub' is more related to the Jet Set Radio teams style then Sonic Teams (at least i think it was the JSR team, im a bit fuzzy on the names at the minute).

[HUnewearl_Meira]

Deathscythealpha's got just about the right idea. Sega isn't exactly dissolving their development houses, but they did combine a few after Sammy's purchase. This all happened when Sega re-internalized its development houses. They've basically reverted back to the structure they had before the externalized their development houses into independent businesses.

Mind you, they externalized the development houses because it made it easier on them economically when they were in trouble. The fact that they've sucked them back in is an indication that they're doing better.

[PJ]

On 2005-03-01 20:20, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:
Mind you, they externalized the development houses because it made it easier on them economically when they were in trouble. The fact that they've sucked them back in is an indication that they're doing better.


So, all in all, good news? http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

It doesn't worry me much. It's just a label change, right? [Insert rose/name Romeo and Juliet quote here]

[BOC]

i dunno, i still think shuffling around developers is asking for trouble more times than not.

Look at westwood, made cracker c&c games, then when they did renegade (not so cracker admittedly), got sliced up and sucked into EA. Since then the re-organised team has only released Generals and Battle for middle earth, and while i haven't played either the reviews i've read have all suggest they ain't great.

and even from a purely marketing standing to disolve the sonic team brand is stupid! It is one of the most instantly recognisable names in the game industry, plenty of publishers + developers would kill just to own the sonic team brand.

example:
when 'sonic team' announce a new game, people sit up and take notice. it gets magazine covers, big previews, lots of media attention and hype generation - good for business

if 'global entertainment' announce a new game, who is really gonna care? may get a small mention in a magazine, little previews, little media attention overall - unless it looks like a truly outstanding game

(look at stalker, few plp knew about that until a few months ago, but i remember reading small articles about this unknown ukrainian team making a game. if it had been id or valve making that...)

er. im sure i had a point. yes! even if they have disolved the team, they will still have to keep the brand name alive! to keep that yen following into the company!

PEACE!!!

[PrinceBrightstar]

Didn't we go through this 8 months ago?

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2005-03-03 13:14, BOC wrote:
and even from a purely marketing standing to disolve the sonic team brand is stupid! It is one of the most instantly recognisable names in the game industry

Right behind the "SEGA" brand name. When I was younger, "SEGA" announcing a new game was a sign of the Second Coming of Chirst, as far as all my buddies and I were concerned.

[RFB]

Actually, if I remember right, Sonic Team is going to keep it's name. I doubt Sega would be stupid enough to do otherwise.

I just hope they allow AM2 to keep it too.

[HUcastShinobi]

On 2005-03-01 15:14, Solstis wrote:
Nooo!

Next thing, Blizzard will split into: Flurry, Snowstorm, and Precipitation.



CRAP!