Sammy begins Invasion of Sega

Buro Destruct · Feb 17, 2004

http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6089487.html

Sammy president becomes Sega chairman

Hajime Satomi assumes the top management position at the Japanese publisher.

TOKYO--Following today's stockholder meeting, Sammy president Hajime Satomi has been appointed as chairman of Sega. Effective February 17, Satomi will take over the top management slot at the company, pushing former chairman Hideki Sato into the vice chairman's seat. Sega's current president, Hisao Oguchi, will continue to hold his position in the company.

In a related story, Yoshiharu Suzuki, Sammy's executive in charge of arcade games, has also been appointed to Sega's board of directors. Suzuki’s position in Sega will be also effective on February 17. To accommodate the changes, CSK chairman Masahiro Aozono and CSK director Makoto Kaneshiro resigned from their positions in Sega on the day before the meeting.

Sammy Corporation, Japan's leading Pachinko machine manufacturer, acquired a 22.4 percent stake of Sega from CSK in December, becoming Sega's top shareholder. Satomi previously commented that Sammy is considering the acquisition of additional Sega shares, and to possibly make Sega a full-blown subsidiary in the future.

Sammy has been aggressively extending its reach into the arcade market, developing and releasing a library of new titles for their arcade cabinet, Atomiswave. While Sega has been relatively silent about their relationshipo with Sammy, its president Hisao Oguchi announced earlier in the month that Sega will be working together with Sammy in the arcade game business, merging their overseas operations and possibly developing titles for Sammy’s Atomiswave platform.

Satomi’s inauguration as chairman of Sega comes only three days before the February 20-21 AOU arcade show kicks off in Japan. Sammy is expected to make a number of announcements regarding its Atomiswave at the show, although it is unknown if they will be related to Sega.

By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot [POSTED: 02/17/04 12:10 PM]

I really.

REALLY.

REALLY.

Fucking hate Sammy.

qube · Feb 17, 2004

Takumaji · Feb 17, 2004

Okay JHendrix, so the Sammy-Sega takeover thing that had been posted a while ago was a joke, eh?!

There we have it.

To hell with all those shareholder bastards and the ppl who support Sammy. :mad:

Freelancer · Feb 17, 2004

This is probably the best thing that's happened to Sega in a long time. Hopefully the US division will see similar changes. Admit it, Sega's finest hour as a company came during the Genesis era of the early 1990's with Tom Kalinske at the helm.

Bernie Stolar and that jackass Peter Moore brought years of mismanagement and ultimately RUIN to Sega.

ShockXtreatment · Feb 17, 2004

Just wondering?
Where the Hell did SAMMY come up with all this money?
GG,GGX,GGXX,GG#reloaded and Galerians series doing that well? :eek:

jaydubnb · Feb 17, 2004

I wait to see how this pans out before I make any judgements towards Sammy, 'cause as much as I love Sega, let's face it they've fucked up several times under their own power.

evil wasabi · Feb 17, 2004

ShockXtreatment said:
Just wondering?
Where the Hell did SAMMY come up with all this money?
GG,GGX,GGXX,GG#reloaded and Galerians series doing that well?

Big Game Hunting Games.

Takumaji · Feb 17, 2004

Freelancer said:
This is probably the best thing that's happened to Sega in a long time.

Yeah.

Nothing better for a video game company than to get swallowed by a Patchinko giant.

:annoyed:

Neon_Sonic · Feb 17, 2004

Damn.

Freelancer · Feb 17, 2004

ShockXtreatment said:
Just wondering?
Where the Hell did SAMMY come up with all this money?
GG,GGX,GGXX,GG#reloaded and Galerians series doing that well?

They've been in the industry for a long time. They made NES games, Neo games (Viewpoint), as well as their current coin-op and console franchises. Plus, those of you who own STEEL BATTALION for the XBOX---the controller is made by SAMMY (not Capcom)!

Magnaflux · Feb 17, 2004

lithy said:
Big Game Hunting Games.

Those stupid ass cabs go for ridiculous sums :eek:

shir0 · Feb 17, 2004

Pachinko = Big Business in Japan.

Sammy is probably raking in the dough.

Later

shir0

ClassicMode1985 · Feb 17, 2004

The Sammy-Ways disgrace the legacy... :annoyed:

...kanashimi..

gmw · Feb 17, 2004

ShockXtreatment said:
Just wondering?
Where the Hell did SAMMY come up with all this money?
GG,GGX,GGXX,GG#reloaded and Galerians series doing that well?

This is actually a good question. The answer is that Sammy's in big fucking trouble, because the Sega buy-out put them into very serious debt. Just this past week, in an attempted stock offload, they released 40 billion JPY in bonds to try and lessen their immediate debts to creditors.

The real worry for Sega fans isn't that Sammy will take over development control. It's the possibility that Sammy management will sell off Sega assets, properties, and licences, as well as laying off developement staff, as a means of freeing up cash assets quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if entire Sega teams fall by the wayside.

Takumaji · Feb 17, 2004

gmw said:
[...] The real worry for Sega fans isn't that Sammy will take over development control. It's the possibility that Sammy management will sell off Sega assets, properties, and licences, as well as laying off developement staff, as a means of freeing up cash assets quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if entire Sega teams fall by the wayside.

Agreed. It just reeks of the same shady business practises of companies like Aruze. All they wanted back then when they tried to swallow SNK by a more or less hostile takeover was the IPs of some game series, namely Samsho and KoF, to feed their Patchinko biz.

I wouldn't be surprised if this takeover/buy-out thing we have now would turn out the same way.

I'm sorry guys, but I can't see something good in all that. Yes, Sega made some bad decisions in the past and badly needs a financial shot in the arm, but question is if it has to be an octopus like Sammy that comes up with that.

BarfHappy · Feb 17, 2004

i d bet they will close several R&D studios not productive (all but hitmaker ?) and give directive to develop for AW instead of Naomi 2.

I hope they won t eject programmers, designers, musicians, game planners etc ... SEGA knows how to fill a game with adrenaline sucking material (i am a HOTD fan

)

GunstarHeroblack · Feb 17, 2004

Takumaji said:
Agreed. It just reeks of the same shady business practises of companies like Aruze. All they wanted back then when they tried to swallow SNK by a more or less hostile takeover was the IPs of some game series, namely Samsho and KoF, to feed their Patchinko biz.

I wouldn't be surprised if this takeover/buy-out thing we have now would turn out the same way.

I'm sorry guys, but I can't see something good in all that. Yes, Sega made some bad decisions in the past and badly needs a financial shot in the arm, but question is if it has to be an octopus like Sammy that comes up with that.

Shit this news is Bad- what a dissapointment- I really was a long time fan of Sega- but shit this is Rock Bottom- all of their sytems that have been abandoned and the the poor marketing strategies theyve used- you know this takeover thing-" big fish swallowing little fish" seems to be the trend these days- I know its been around long before, but now it seems more than ever-

Many Banks in general have merged, Electronics companies, Airlines, even the Hostile takeover attempt offer of Disney by Comcast?............- not neccesarily for the better.... :oh_no:

Loopz · Feb 17, 2004

Deep breath, Sega fans. Relax.

This will obviously go one of two ways.
Sammy could commit the same sins Aruze did with SNK, which is to rough up the talent until they leave, or force them to do stupid projects. I don't think they took over Sega just to fuck everything up though. Perhaps they'll just be better bean counters and let the teams work their magic. If we get a new Burning Rangers out of it somehow, I'd be a happy muthafucka.

Sega's put out a lot of crap lately, like Sonic Heroes. If Sammy forces the cancellation of that shitty looking VF Cyberkids or whatever the fuck its called, they'll make me happy.

Where's my Streets Of Rage 4? Or a new Nights? Hello?
These guys have been on the wrong track for a while.
Oh yeah, please cough up OutRun2 and Virtua Cop 3 on the Box while you're trying to please us, mmmmkay?

Devils Child · Feb 17, 2004

Sammy better treat Sega right. They've got a company that can jump right back into the thick of the action on the console market and in the dying arcade scene. Sega has truly been making some silly games as of late, but House of the Dead 3 was kinda cool. And with all the Sega franchises in-house, like Nights, SOR, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon, Sonic (don't know about Sonic) and the Virtua Tennis, World Series Baseball enterprises lurking out in the shadows, who knows maybe Sega could make a resurgance and build hardware again someday. Really I could care less now though, I saw this new game coming to the Cube, PS2, and X-Box called 'The Movies', it looks cool. I'm just waiting for GameCube releases, as Nintendo is still alive and kicking, and I plan to support them until they go under.

Buro Destruct · Feb 17, 2004

I don't think this is another Aruze/SNK situation, I'd be hard-pressed to believe that Sammy doesn't understand the kind of money-making potential Sega has in its staff (didn't Sega just recently post a profit for the first time in like a decade recently?) and completely gut the company.

This seems more like an "above the line" merger with the real people sticking their necks out being upper management the kinds of decisions they make on what team produces what and who goes where. If they leave Sega to do the Sega thing with their games (F-Zero GX was great, although a Nintendo license, it was still an AV project) there shouldn't be a problem. I don't think we'll start seeing Atomiswave only software and Sega developed GG fighters or Sammy developed Sonic games.

Doesn't change the fact that I still hate Sammy with a passion.

IoriYagami n8 · Feb 17, 2004

I think Sega was starting to do a lot of good. They might not have had the highest quality stuff they have had in years but they were starting to dig back into older series and push more things on multiple platforms. All I can see is Sammy fucking things up. I think Sammy is grabbing for to much to fast, and Sega already knows how that turns out. If Sammy starts getting to pushy I wouldn't be suprised to see a lot of key people hoping over to places like Nintendo and Capcom or even setting up their own small studios.

jethrek · Feb 17, 2004

Takumaji said:
Okay JHendrix, so the Sammy-Sega takeover thing that had been posted a while ago was a joke, eh?!

There we have it.

I think it was pretty obvious this was coming.

There is a possible upside, which is that Sammy is poised to begin its wanted revival of arcades. People always talk about arcade's dying due to the customer end- but I think that's a bald-faced lie. They are dying because the arcade companies all went totally home console on us. If there was a reason to see arcades, we would.

Mike Shagohod · Feb 17, 2004

Until I see something worthy on ATOMISWAVE I won't buy their products... and as far as the SEGA Invasion, err... FUCK SAMMY!

MERCENARY X99

neobuyer · Feb 17, 2004

Holy crap guys-

Am I right in thinking that I am not alone in thinking Sammy's flagship title 'Guilty Gear X, XX/whatever' AIN'T that great.

Cause with some of the sentiment I've read on this site over the last 2 years, I'd have thought that people would think this was a good thing.

Please, please tell me we are all on the same page in thinking GGX, XX, etc. were ok, and not groundbreaking milestones?

I'm starting to feel like I understand the universe again.

Cause JHendrix and one of those dork ass 'Minnesota' guys were acting like the game was ejected from their assholes in much the same way a human infant would be sprung forth from a woman's vagina. Like it was the son of god in the VG world.

Please tell me I'm not alone...

Buro Destruct · Feb 18, 2004

neobuyer said:
Holy crap guys-

Am I right in thinking that I am not alone in thinking Sammy's flagship title 'Guilty Gear X, XX/whatever' AIN'T that great.

Cause with some of the sentiment I've read on this site over the last 2 years, I'd have thought that people would think this was a good thing.

Please, please tell me we are all on the same page in thinking GGX, XX, etc. were ok, and not groundbreaking milestones?

I'm starting to feel like I understand the universe again.

Cause JHendrix and one of those dork ass 'Minnesota' guys were acting like the game was ejected from their assholes in much the same way a human infant would be sprung forth from a woman's vagina. Like it was the son of god in the VG world.

Please tell me I'm not alone...

See my original post for my thoughts on all things Sammy.

Sammy begins Invasion of Sega

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