Sega buying Atlus

[Kevadu]

http://www.destructoid.com/sega-buying-atlus-parent-company-index-262028.phtml

It's official...

I didn't ask for this...

[Arklight]

Sega's pretty alright with their acquisitions. I mean, they've been letting Creative Assembly do pretty much whatever the eff they want.

...plus Jack Frost in a Sonic suit or Vice Versa.

"Gotta go fast, Hee Ho."
-Sonic Jack 2014

[MeshGearFox]

[Klutz64]

Well this is kind of a 50/50 gamble... either Sega will take advantage of Atlus USA's resources and we'll see more than just Sonic from them over here, or they'll apply their localization policies to Atlus and we'll be lucky to see the next Persona let alone anything else from them.

[Aeolus]

Well fuck!

Never mind losing the Persona-spam, we're going to be losing even that occasional errant oddball title that might have a chance but nobody else wants to take that Altus USA localizes every year (in addition to all the SMT related stuffs).

[Annubis]

[Arklight]

Or, you know. Nothing will actually change at all. That is also a definite possibility, you guys.

[Alisha]

sega has run phantasy star into the ground this is terrible.

[MeshGearFox]

Sega has made a lot of bad business decisions over the past 20 years.

idk I'm mostly worried about Atlus USA. I always felt like they broadened the niche gaming market they were operating in, and helped open the path for companies like NIS and XSeed to start doing more localization work too.

There'll always be other companies to pick up where they left off, it's just kind of... I feel they're reeeeally incompatible with Sega's business model, and end of an era and all that :(

[Dice]

The world as we know it has ended.

[Arklight]

sega has run phantasy star into the ground this is terrible.

Sega has made a lot of bad business decisions over the past 20 years.

The world as we know it has ended.

Well, Phantasy Star (along with that other nice list of games that people like to bring up when taking shots at Sega) have always been in-house titles that were CHOSEN not to be released and were very conscious decisions on Sega's part. In many cases, (not including the Shining series, that was pretty dumb) they were pretty legitimate reasons for not coming overseas. (Much to our dismay as fans of these games, but that's just how things go sometimes.)

But really, the fact of the matter is that Sega has many, many, MANY subsidiaries which have been generally good with releasing their games stateside. Atlus isn't going to stop making the things they make, they're just gonna keep on trucking along. Another thing not to forget is that Atlus isn't JUST a developer. They are also PUBLISHERS who publish their own games. All Sega-Sammy's gonna do is act as the majority stockholder and overseers. The only time they'd really interfere would be if Atlus was in active financial trouble.

Sega may have made some dumb decisions with their in-house studios, but Atlus is NOT an in-house studio. They are an acquisition that will, in all likelihood, be working entirely on their own.

[Aeolus]

sega has run phantasy star into the ground this is terrible.

Sega has made a lot of bad business decisions over the past 20 years.

The world as we know it has ended.

Well, Phantasy Star (along with that other nice list of games that people like to bring up when taking shots at Sega) have always been in-house titles that were CHOSEN not to be released and were very conscious decisions on Sega's part. In many cases, (not including the Shining series, that was pretty dumb) they were pretty legitimate reasons for not coming overseas. (Much to our dismay as fans of these games, but that's just how things go sometimes.)

But really, the fact of the matter is that Sega has many, many, MANY subsidiaries which have been generally good with releasing their games stateside. Atlus isn't going to stop making the things they make, they're just gonna keep on trucking along. Another thing not to forget is that Atlus isn't JUST a developer. They are also PUBLISHERS who publish their own games. All Sega-Sammy's gonna do is act as the majority stockholder and overseers. The only time they'd really interfere would be if Atlus was in active financial trouble.

Sega may have made some dumb decisions with their in-house studios, but Atlus is NOT an in-house studio. They are an acquisition that will, in all likelihood, be working entirely on their own.

The problem is that there's a non-zero chance of Sega going to Atlus Japan and say "Shut it down Atlus USA, SHUT IT DOWN FOREVER!".

[Agent D.]

Sega has done nothing but piss its fanbase off for the last 5 years unless you live in japan. I have nothing but disgust for the company and have 0 faith that this purchase means non-jp gamers will see more games. If anything, I see an extreme loss coming, especially for persona fans and disgaea fans.

[Kevadu]

Persona is the one series that's popular enough overseas that it won't be touched.  I don't know why people are worried about that.  It's everything else Atlus makes I would worry about?

And...Disgaea?  Atlus hasn't been involved in Disgaea since the original (which was before NISA was a thing).

[Lard]

Honestly, people were going to complain no matter what happened in this situation.

If Nintendo or Sony had bought them, people would be complaining that they had to buy a specific console to play Persona 5.

Considering the shit Atlus has been pulling - region locking P4 Arena and Pre launch DLC/jacked up price for SMT 4 - this certainly can't be any worse than where they've been heading.

For everyone whinging about Phantasy Star - they just announced a single player title developed by Tri Ace. That's at least hope.

I'm mostly worried about Atlus USA. I always felt like they broadened the niche gaming market they were operating in, and helped open the path for companies like NIS and XSeed to start doing more localization work too.

That's what Aksys is for now.

Also