• Light/Dark

Sega of Japan research, information & discussion

Reader mode
Spedfrom

Spedfrom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,140
Dooble said:
speaking of shining, at least the nu shining artist tony taka still gets jobs through sega.

2be1d277c3041979eff3c7a4c67d441c4eb336d4.jpg


makes me curious what kind of lifetime contract he got with sega. it is suspicious.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is absolutely nothing like Camelot-era Shining art style. Tony Taka does *not* do the Shining series justice.
 
Tailzo

Tailzo

Fallen Guardian
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,020
Spedfrom said:
This is absolutely nothing like Camelot-era Shining art style. Tony Taka does *not* do the Shining series justice.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yoshitaka Tamaki passed away, only 55 years old last summer. He worked on the first Shining Force, Landstalker and Shining Soul. Really top tier art. I fully agree with you.
 
Culex

Culex

Member
Oct 29, 2017
6,934
Tailzo said:
Yoshitaka Tamaki passed away, only 55 years old last summer. He worked on the first Shining Force, Landstalker and Shining Soul. Really top tier art. I fully agree with you.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's a shame because it's similar to if Toriyama passed and having to fill that vacuum of a unique art style. OG Shining Force art is sublime.
 
Spedfrom

Spedfrom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,140
Tailzo said:
Yoshitaka Tamaki passed away, only 55 years old last summer. He worked on the first Shining Force, Landstalker and Shining Soul. Really top tier art. I fully agree with you.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Indeed. It was a terrible loss at an age that is still relatively young.

Regarding the art, there are different artists out there that have a more smilar style to Tamaki's. Tony Taka is not one of them.
 
OP
OP
Dooble

Dooble

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,482
Spedfrom said:
This is absolutely nothing like Camelot-era Shining art style. Tony Taka does *not* do the Shining series justice.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I was ironic wih my post. Ideally Tamaki would have been commisioned by Sega after Shining Soul.

Shining series should have never been rebooted by Sega itself. Many games were produced from 2004-2018, all of the money should have been used for...anything else really.

Shining Force was the second best selling game on the Mega Drive in Japan (300k) was the main motivation I guess. But then did nothing like it except the GBA remake, which had limited reach. A 3D Remake on PS2 would have been a sensible choice IMO.
 
Spedfrom

Spedfrom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,140
Dooble said:
I was ironic wih my post. Ideally Tamaki would have been commisioned by Sega after Shining Soul.

Shining series should have never been rebooted by Sega itself. Many games were produced from 2004-2018, all of the money should have been used for...anything else really.

Shining Force was the second best selling game on the Mega Drive in Japan (300k) was the main motivation I guess. But then did nothing like it except the GBA remake, which had limited reach. A 3D Remake on PS2 would have been a sensible choice IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A PS2 remake would have been a dream. And today we would be waiting for SF5 or 6 instead of Shining basically being non-existent.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,861
Vice City
ted90909 said:
The second part of that Archipel documentary on the Dreamcast's game creatives where Kodama and others start saying how they kind of blame themselves for its failure is nothing short of depressing

View: https://youtu.be/kzXSZTk-J8A
When I first watched it I just wanted to reassure her that much bigger things were the problem and her games like Skies are still beloved to this day for their undeservedly ignored qualities, even if only by a niche minority :(
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


so now i have to watch this tonight but my heart absolutely isn't ready 😭


shadowman16 said:
Damnm that hurts to read :( Sega's sheer incompetence in the mid 90s doomed the DC before it even had a chance to live, the actual games on the DC were straight up excellent, its like, the one thing no one can criticize the DC for... poor devs ;(
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

for real, the creators of such beautiful works believing what went down was somehow on any of them is absolutely heartbreaking 💔

Spedfrom said:
It absolutely does. I've never played Scenario II or III and can't go through the faff of following a fan translation. Also, my SEGA Saturn is still in my possession, but its internal battery is drained and it turns itself off shortly after turning it on, so it's impossible for me to replay my games using that hardware
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

given the unlikelyhood (sp?) of them finally porting them, it's worth mentioning that emulation (and i believe FPGA cores too) have really stepped it up, and it's easy to find places with already patched copies too. absolutely worth your time!

Spedfrom said:
actually didn't know that, thank you. I assumed they were a wholly owned subsidiary. If that's the case, I'm quite angry at SEGA for not striking a deal with Camelot and making up for the way they treated them around the time of SFIII. No one after Camelot has done a good Shining game and for them to not even attempt to reconcile with a software house that has created one of their best old school IPs is appaling.

Shining the Holy Ark will forever remain the game that made me fall in love with gaming.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

so much love for ark! and yeah i just assume sega has atlus and assumes the genre is covered, even if they're in a really boring "let's do persona 5 on all the genres" place, sadly

Tailzo said:
Yoshitaka Tamaki passed away, only 55 years old last summer. He worked on the first Shining Force, Landstalker and Shining Soul. Really top tier art. I fully agree with you.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

huge loss, RIP
also was shining soul good? i think i have that & tears but was worried about both

Culex said:
It's a shame because it's similar to if Toriyama passed and having to fill that vacuum of a unique art style. OG Shining Force art is sublime.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

couldn't agree more, nor could our resident shining archivist, my man Laevateinn

Dooble said:
A 3D Remake on PS2 would have been a sensible choice IMO
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

right?? i know ages 2000 was a budget line, but seeing phantasy star get the love while shining was denied seemed like such a missed opportunity
 
The man who pushed for Jet Set Radio
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    xbox18.jpg

    Excellent Sega researcher and Sega Radio playlist Manager Nicolas Haaman expanded on the Sega Retro page of producer Takayuki Kawagoe.

    We often forget the people who greenlight and push for certain games to come out in the first place. Kawagoe-sans was the one who pushed for Jet Set Radio, and he always had a knack and fascination for the Sega of America games like Comix Zone, The Oouze and ToeJam & Earl when marketing them in Japan, which adds great context to why JSR was made. He then was producer on Xbox Smilebit trilogy, Panzer Dragoon Orta, GunValkyrie and JSRF.

    He was General Manager of Sega from 2007-2012, and I think IMO he likely was one of the ones who was very much in favour of the Platinum Games deal during the late 00s.

    A true Sega man imo.
     
  • Index
    • IrishNinja

    IrishNinja

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    9,861
    Vice City
    Dooble said:
    xbox18.jpg

    Excellent Sega researcher and Sega Radio playlist Manager Nicolas Haaman expanded on the Sega Retro page of producer Takayuki Kawagoe.

    We often forget the people who greenlight and push for certain games to come out in the first place. Kawagoe-sans was the one who pushed for Jet Set Radio, and he always had a knack and fascination for the Sega of America games like Comix Zone, The Oouze and ToeJam & Earl when marketing them in Japan, which adds great context to why JSR was made. He then was producer on Xbox Smilebit trilogy, Panzer Dragoon Orta, GunValkyrie and JSRF.

    He was General Manager of Sega from 2007-2012, and I think IMO he likely was one of the ones who was very much in favour of the Platinum Games deal during the late 00s.

    A true Sega man imo.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    what a legend
    would absolutely watch a piece on him - i'm here watching those "8 developers on the dreamcast" videos and wishing there were deep dives on every one of them
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    Although that interview clarifies much more (we know they support everything technical from consoles to arcade), a lot still isn't clear. Despite not being mentioned I think it's pretty likely their division encompasses what is left of Sega's much-reduced hardware engineering R&D, mainly working on those further iterations of the ALLS boards.

    Because arcades are mentioned in it I also assume both Kataoka and the other one will continue their involvement after Sega Fave is launched. Even the new-style UFO Catchers need some engineering for their small UI control panel screens (a specially modified version called "ALLS EL", apparently?).

    Also following on from the brief chat about patents for a potentially-forever cancelled Sega arcade title from Keiichi Matsunami and maybe AM2 in another thread on here, here's a relevant and pretty interesting example for this one that was more recently published (via Chizai-watch.com):
    2024010566-9.jpg

    This would appear to be outlining the interlinking metaverse-esque framework that will connect all of the 'new era' games that Sega have mentioned in one or two interviews. Not sure whether to think the specific games depicted here ("AAA RACING"??) are anything significant.
     
    OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    Probably not that exciting and more along the line of this that you see in both the new RGG game and Sonic Frontiers

    logos1280x720_3.jpg
     
    Takenobu Mitsuyoshi doing console games again
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    maxresdefault.jpg


    It's been so long, perhaps since Shenmue I think, that the voice of Sega, has participated in console games again.

    He is at it with Sega's console releases, Like A Dragon 8, Samba de Amigo Party Central and Sonic Superstars


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZen6MESRI&ab_channel=Charismaentertainer


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wwCdttlIXU&ab_channel=James05


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9KgQnjvFg&ab_channel=James05


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAcYk-znSk&ab_channel=SEGA-Topic

    True Sega vibes!

    Forgive the double post, but I hope it being Mitsuyoshi excuses it!
     
  • Index
    • shadowman16

    shadowman16

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    32,400
    I appreciate the posts at least. Its really cool to see what the greats at Sega are doing these days, and with a number of their series doing better than ever, Im happy that they are seeing success! (I think Superstars was a bit under Sega's sales expectations but its continuing to sell so I reckon it'll get there in the end, Yakuza is the best its ever been sales wise)

    Its why Im hoping that these Sega revivals do well. I just wanna go back to the 90s where Sega had a range of amazing arcade and console series. So Ill definitely be buying all of 'em.
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    Dooble said:
    maxresdefault.jpg


    It's been so long, perhaps since Shenmue I think, that the voice of Sega, has participated in console games again.

    He is at it with Sega's console releases, Like A Dragon 8, Samba de Amigo Party Central and Sonic Superstars


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZen6MESRI&ab_channel=Charismaentertainer


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wwCdttlIXU&ab_channel=James05


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9KgQnjvFg&ab_channel=James05


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAcYk-znSk&ab_channel=SEGA-Topic

    True Sega vibes!

    Forgive the double post, but I hope it being Mitsuyoshi excuses it!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I know they're not Sega inhouse but he did more recently specially contribute to a few console things like Ridge Racer and Smash Ultimate, as well as Sonic Gems and Sega Rally 2006 a bit further back in the 2000s
     
    batfax

    batfax

    One Winged Slayer
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    7,437
    Does PSO2 not count as a console game? He's done multiple new songs and even had in-game concerts based around him.
     
    batfax

    batfax

    One Winged Slayer
    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    7,437
    Composing wasn't mentioned, just "participated," but I guess I didn't know he didn't compose We're Arks since that was the only name ever given for the event in-game. I always assumed, but sure enough, the album actually lists Tadashi Kinukawa and Halko Momoi as the composers. Cool that he's doing more original composition stuff now!
     
    Sega Sapporo Studio
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2...=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1708129497

    The Japan Times
    Sega developers say new Sapporo studios lead to better lives

    Sega developers say new Sapporo studios lead to better lives

    "We're responsible for titles such as Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! in cooperation with the bases in Tokyo and overseas," Segawa says. "We are also participating in the development of Triple-A titles, including Crazy Taxi (a recently announced reboot of the arcade classic).
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    All but confirmed that Crazy Taxi is a "AAA" game.
     
  • Index
    • ThatMeanScene

    ThatMeanScene

    The Fallen
    Oct 25, 2017
    9,930
    Miami, FL
    After seeing the way Division 3 has handled PSO2 NGS I honestly really worry about JSR and Crazy Taxi. Hopefully they don't take the same budget approach with the actual gameplay content (and make cosmetics nearly the sole focus).
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    Code of Joker mention reminds me of those trademarks for it some months back. Wonder if that mobile revival's still happening... or maybe it got cancelled after 404 bombed so hard
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    Dooble said:
    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2...=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1708129497

    The Japan Times
    Sega developers say new Sapporo studios lead to better lives

    Sega developers say new Sapporo studios lead to better lives



    All but confirmed that Crazy Taxi is a "AAA" game.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Bit late but also only just noticed via this that Tomoaki Takayanagi is now a director with Sapporo Studio. He was previously involved with the arcade stuff for Sega Amusements at Shanghai Studio, following the same trajectory as Makoto Uchida and others from AM1 via things like Die Hard Arcade and Alien Front Online...
     
    IrishNinja

    IrishNinja

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    9,861
    Vice City
    Giant Enemy Crab said:
    I think the remakes are a smart way to ease the small but vocal old fanbase like us 😆.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    i gotta say, i know we've interacted but getting this reply from a pac-man + sonic avatar just feels right 😂
    it's true though; from the astro mini to the saturn xbla releases like a decade ago, i've always tried to send sega the message that they should indulge their classic fanbase. here's to hoping!
     
    shadowman16

    shadowman16

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    32,400
    Giant Enemy Crab said:
    According to Midori, there are full priced remakes AND GAAS reboots of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi. :grain of salt:
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hmm... do you have their post when they mention that? Just curious to have a look, they've been fairly accurate on Sega/Atlus stuff in the past, would love to see it. A remake of JSR though? The remaster didnt do great so that'd be surprising to see. I mean, Im there day 1 to 100% it yet again (I did that on JSR remaster three times lol)
     
    Giant Enemy Crab

    Giant Enemy Crab

    Member
    Apr 21, 2018
    3,223
    shadowman16 said:
    Hmm... do you have their post when they mention that? Just curious to have a look, they've been fairly accurate on Sega/Atlus stuff in the past, would love to see it. A remake of JSR though? The remaster didnt do great so that'd be surprising to see. I mean, Im there day 1 to 100% it yet again (I did that on JSR remaster three times lol)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    View: https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1759702112710062434?s=20

    Dooble
    Because i'm a very bad bad bad old school fanboy 😆 but to be fair, i think a GaaS Crazy Taxi could be cool. So as a gigantic Gaas Yakuza with all the cities to explore.
     
    OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    Giant Enemy Crab said:

    View: https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1759702112710062434?s=20

    Dooble
    Because i'm a very bad bad bad old school fanboy 😆 but to be fair, i think a GaaS Crazy Taxi could be cool. So as a gigantic Gaas Yakuza with all the cities to explore.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    I'm the same way about mobile games. That's the lowest bar there. If you fail at there, there is no where to go but up unless you exit the game industry. That has been the case for Japan for a long time now.
     
    shadowman16

    shadowman16

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    32,400
    Giant Enemy Crab said:

    View: https://x.com/MbKKssTBhz5/status/1759702112710062434?s=20

    Dooble
    Because i'm a very bad bad bad old school fanboy 😆 but to be fair, i think a GaaS Crazy Taxi could be cool. So as a gigantic Gaas Yakuza with all the cities to explore.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    Failing GAAS games would be bad for Sega though. Im not interested in seeing Sega damaged... again. Id rather they do well.

    Still not sure how a full priced JSR remake works, but hey, Im there lol. I need Future more though since that never got remastered.
     

    tobenate

    Member
    Feb 5, 2021
    4
    GAAS Craxy Taxi sounds like the best thing since sliced bread, but of course there is obligatory backlash due to current failure stories.

    At this point I'd rather SEGA either go big or go home swinging for the fences after over a decade of serious stagnation.

    It'd be very smart on their part if they do a GTA style thing and have "offline versions" of the games from the start in order to weather the storm. I imagine all the assets and engine tech will be shared between the remakes/reboots anyways.

    It's a best of both worlds situation, but the real hurdle is if SEGA can really pull this off properly.
     
    3rd generation of Monkeys?
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    A big turnover of employees with leadership and staff changes is currently happening at Sega, and I think this is actually reflected on the new Monkey Ball having their 3rd artstyle likely made by a new artist
    1st Monkey Baller Monkeys by Mika Kojima. She is an artist that worked on stuff that goes all the way back to Virtua Fighter 2 CG Portraits

    super-monkey-ball-wallpaper-background-altar-of-gaming.jpg


    Then came the 2nd design by Saizo Nagai, who began as an assistant artist on SMB2, and redesigned the characters for the DS/Wii Monkey Balls. Funnily enough he was a lead artist on Total War: Shogun 2 because of his experience on working on Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan on PS3 lol. Saizo Nagai last title was Art Director of Yakuza 5 in 2012
    2281466-asr_aiai.png



    Here come the Banana Rumble redesigns:

    super-monkey-ball-banana-rumble-official-switch-reveal-trail_hbq2.1280.jpg


    The new character designers that worked on the recent remakes and likely this one, had their history mostly embedded in the Yakuza series. We'll find out who redesigned the monkeys on June 25th I guess

    Speaking of new employees. The staff joined around 2018-2020 and worked on Sonic Frontiers and RGG8 have had interview on Sega's website:
    mainimage.jpg

    mainimage.jpg

    https://www.sega.co.jp/recruit/episode/episode15/

    The women in charge of DonDoko Island joined RGG in 2020. And as we have seen former AM2 members that worked on arcade titles like Kancolle Arcade and Border Break on PS4 are choosing to join RGG. However some staff that worked on Fate/Grand Order Arcade or Hatsune Miku are working in Division 3. So staff is all over the place I guess.
     
  • Index
    • ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    Kind of wish we'd get more light shed on what Sega Shanghai Studio are actually doing now outside of their old development support standby, in the same way as those website interviews - we never do see anyone from them outside of the occasional Makoto Uchida appearance, as it's pretty much always been.

    I recently even picked up on some rumours from Chinese quarters of the Internet that they were being closed in January, but as far as I can tell that's not been officially confirmed anywhere. I get that they've lost the function they latterly came to occupy as creating all those original arcade games that Sega Amusements sold, but that doesn't mean they'd be lost on console things.

    Would still personally place bets on them being behind the new Golden Axe as has been speculated before. As I understand it they even nearly made one for the Amusements arm in the 2010s but that proposal got shot down by their sales team
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    I would want to believe if multiple official sources (Okunari, M2) hadn't outright said it'd be a long time coming still at anything approaching a remotely affordable price, lol. The harsh but obvious truth whenever it comes to this topic

    If anything I can more easily see there being a new arcade cab mini with the amusement branch and Sega Toys merging. Would be a much better way to celebrate that legacy with the original arcade versions than the Saturn ports anyway.
     
    Giant Enemy Crab

    Giant Enemy Crab

    Member
    Apr 21, 2018
    3,223
    ted90909 said:
    If anything I can more easily see there being a new arcade cab mini with the amusement branch and Sega Toys merging. Would be a much better way to celebrate that legacy with the original arcade versions than the Saturn ports anyway.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'll take another arcade cab mini and yeah, Saturn Daytona is pointless 😬.

    Also
    www.timeextension.com

    It's Official! Sega Poll Reveals Fans Want The Sega Saturn Mini Next

    Sega Japan announced the results during a special livestream today
    www.timeextension.com www.timeextension.com
    (2023)

    "Interestingly, another question asks "if a remake or sequel to a classic Sega IP were to be released, would you buy it?", while other questions ask what you'd want from a 'revival' series."
    👀😆
     
    OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    Yosuke Okunari has some type of retro project every year:
    2020 was Game Gear Micro
    2021 was nothing...a biiiig stretch but there the debut of Master System emulation in Lost Judgment, and he coordinates the development with M2
    2022 was Mega Drive Mini 2
    2023 was again...nothing, except him promoting his book about Sega hardware

    Hope 2024 will have something

    My educated guess is that they have plans for Dreamcast/NAOMI stuff before Saturn. Just because we heard rumblings of M2 4 years ago and RGG Studio wanting to move right ahead to NAOMI emulation.

    Speaking of patterns. Division 2 has Sonic X Shadow Generations, but that seems almost too little. I think they have another release. Valkyria Chronicles 5 or new Sakura Wars release soon? Job postings imply it. There is also the Mario & Sonic/Sonic Origins staff.
    There is also rumblings of a Apple Arcade Puyo release, but woudn't that be a Division 4/Mobile Division release?

    I stil think we still some more announcements like with Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble. It's a busy year with a full 4 new releases by Atlus, I think Sega has one more game in them to match that.
     
    fiendcode

    fiendcode

    Member
    Oct 26, 2017
    24,988
    Isn't Okunari on Genesis NSO with M2? I always figured that was the similar "next thing" he promised after Sega Ages and the curation screams Okunari imo.

    It's also way overdue for an update, I'm hoping that means something big (Sega CD, SVP, etc).
     
    OP
    OP
    Dooble

    Dooble

    Member
    Oct 28, 2017
    2,482
    fiendcode said:
    Isn't Okunari on Genesis NSO with M2? I always figured that was the similar "next thing" he promised after Sega Ages and the curation screams Okunari imo.

    It's also way overdue for an update, I'm hoping that means something big (Sega CD, SVP, etc).
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I always forget that and the Virtual Console stuff as proper projects

    During the period where Sega Ages 2500 ended in 2008 and things started up again with PSN/XBLA stuff in 2010, he was primarily concerned with Wii Virtual Console
     
    ted90909

    ted90909

    Member
    Apr 11, 2022
    176
    I can definitely see Okunari pushing Mega CD and even 32X stuff next for NSO. In recent interviews he sounded pretty gutted that he couldn't feature anything from the latter for the MD Mini 2, not even Virtua Racing Deluxe. Feel like Dreamcast/NAOMI things may still be a ways off comparatively (timed better to capitalise on the new JSR and Crazy Taxi releases and next big LAD titles in 2025/6?)

    He did also say off the back of the success of his 2023 book he'd likely do another, possibly about Sega arcade hardware this time
     
    Reader mode
    You must log in or register to reply here.