Shenmue.com Muecas Update 12/24

[b_ren]

No seriously Sammy does only own 17 %. Dont worry bout it.

What he says.

[Beck]

I thought they owned 22% of Sega's shares. And Sega only own 11% of them. (I think...)

[KiD]

I heard that as well... Sammy owns more of Sega than Sega owns of itself... which is weird, but possible.
On another note, I've been thinking, if Digital Rex does develope Shenmue 3, do you think it would be 2 GD-ROMS long? I think it would be... but if it did come out to be 2 GD-ROMS, I think splitting the game into 2, as in Shenmue 3 and Shenmue 4, would be the better business decision. if they already made 2 gd-roms worth of material, then all they would have to do is put a new label on the second gd-rom and a Shenmue 4 cover label, which would not cost them a lot... then for every 2 gd-roms sold, it would sell for 100 dollars rather than 50... they'd make two times what they would make if they released only one more game rather than 2 more games (not including costs to make labels of shenmue 4)... that would be a much better business approach... also, to save them more money, i'd have no problem if the english version was japanese voices with english subtitles

[Beck]

They won't be on GD-Roms. The Dreamcast used GD-Roms, and it is VERY unlikly that they would develope it for the Dreamcast. These days they come on DVD-Roms, so if it was on 2 DVD-Roms it would be one HUGE game. So like you said splitting the game up into two separate games would be best.
But we'll just have to wait and see.

[sushiglowfreek]

um..odd..

[waser2]

that is kind of dissapointing. im going to go play some resident evil

[KiD]

i posted this on another thread, but not alot of ppl check that compared to this one:

i went back and read the interview with the first designer from last month's muecas update... something caught my attention, at the end he says, "since we'll keep working hard, keep supporting us"... kinda makes u think, they're working hard on something we keep supporting, which could only mean Shenmue... they ARE giving us hints that they're workin on Shenmue... first the "bread and butter" remark, then he slipped something right under our noses... i wish they gave audio feed of these interviews, so we can hear the tone and personality of their voices when they say these things... that would be awesome

[reporter]

Read the following item very closely

Sammy president to push for arcade focus at Sega

Tom Bramwell 14:12 12/12/2003
Satomi planning to encourage work on profitable arcade business


The first clear indication of Sammy's intentions for Sega following its acquisition of a large shareholding in the publisher earlier this week has emerged, with the company keen to see Sega focusing more heavily on arcade products.

In an interview with Bloomberg Japan earlier this week, Sammy president and CEO Hajime Satomi said that he wants Sega to concentrate on the arcade games business and be more strict about pouring money into loss-making home console releases.

The decision makes business sense on a number of levels. Not only is the arcade division of Sega profitable - as compared with the loss-making home console division - but its business ties in neatly with Sammy's own interests in the Japanese and global arcade markets. "Our earnings capability is restricted for the arcade market," explained Satomi-san in a shareholders meeting this week, "so we hope to strengthen that aspect of our business through the partnership with Sega."

Satomi-san hopes Sega will make use of Sammy's Atomiswave system, a low-cost, cartridge-based, JAMMA-compatible arcade setup that runs on the same CPU as Sega's Dreamcast console and Naomi arcade systems, and which the company has rolled out on a worldwide basis. "It's low cost enough that even a single play at 10 yen [around eight cent] a game can turn a profit," he said this week. "We can sell it in third-world countries as well."

In its last reported six-month figures, Sega posted a massive loss - 2.5 billion yen (€19 million) - in the home console business, which was only offset by a similarly gigantic 5.6 billion yen (€42.5 million) profit in the arcade sector. Its home console titles continue to review relatively well, but Sega has struggled to harness that critical momentum.

However, it's not all doom and gloom for Sega's home console division by any means. The division has high hopes of entering profitability next year, and has gradually been creeping towards the break even line over the past twelve months - and many aspects of Sega's development work are likely to continue unaffected, since they are already profitable.

Some areas of home console development at Sega will certainly be endangered by the move, however. While work on licenses such as Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally, Sonic and Shinobi is unlikely to run into difficulties, the loss-making Sega Sports projects are likely to be high on Satomi-san's hitlist.

Sammy's arcade ambition puts Sega in an awkward position. Whether or not the company agrees with Sammy's edicts, by purchasing a 22.4 per cent stake in Sega from one-time parent company CSK, Sammy has become Sega's largest shareholder, with Satomi-san, who owns over 50 per cent of Sammy, now holding the largest individual amount of voting stock.

It's only a matter of time before Satomi-san is elevated to the Sega board - with a meeting scheduled for February 17th effectively to install him in an advisory capacity - and he's already said that "if [Sammy's] vision does not agree with that of Sega then we might have to consider taking more shares."

This is effectively executive speak for "Struggle and we'll just squeeze harder," and Satomi-san himself admits that relations between Sega and Sammy following the stock purchase are not as good as they could be. "It's true that our original merger proposal was rejected, and that some Sega executives have been opposed to the stock acquisition," he admitted to shareholders this week.

"However, the majority of Sega's management team has been friendly and cooperative throughout the past several months," he continued. "The maintenance of that relationship is one of the reasons that we continued to pursue an investment with Sega."

Following events this week, Sega is reportedly planning to hold a special shareholders meeting in the next few days to discuss Sammy's recent acquisition of CSK's stake. Meanwhile, other reports suggest that Sammy will soon attempt to appoint two of its executives to Sega's board, one to head up arcade and one to handle home entertainment. However the full scale of Sammy's plans for the publisher has yet to emerge, and Satomi-san has already said he "won't rule out the possibility of making [Sega] a subsidiary."

Additional Reporting by Rob Fahey

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_pa ... b&aid=2705

Not good news, not good news at all.

[Yukupo]

It's only a matter of time before Satomi-san is elevated to the Sega board - with a meeting scheduled for February 17th effectively to install him in an advisory capacity - and he's already said that "if [Sammy's] vision does not agree with that of Sega then we might have to consider taking more shares."

This is effectively executive speak for "Struggle and we'll just squeeze harder," and Satomi-san himself admits that relations between Sega and Sammy following the stock purchase are not as good as they could be. "It's true that our original merger proposal was rejected, and that some Sega executives have been opposed to the stock acquisition," he admitted to shareholders this week.

That is exactly why I'm worried.

[Rhayno G.]

Here's what I think. And remember, this only my personal interpretation of what has tramspired over the last day. I think, without a doubt shenmue 3 is ready to go. They might as well just say that they are working on it right now. The problem must be that they haven't got the green light from sega yet. The know they will bring the rest of the saga to us, they just cant speak on it yet because they are not positive if it will be in video game form, but im sure they want that as bad as we do. So we know s3 is coming, but it might be a book, dvd, etc. But of course, this is all opinion.

btw, It says "sign up" for the card from digital rex on new years. Where do you do this? i saw nothing on the dr website

[code l name]

Not shocking, all those expecting any announcement of importance was setting themselves up for dissapointment.

What I gather is, all things are pointing to E3, making or breaking the series. It certainly seems they are working on Shenmue III and it looks like they are planning on showing something in May when the expo starts, otherwise it just looks absolutely bleak for Shenmue fans.

[Kiyuu]

Sammy could be a headache!
There's no doubt digitalrex is working on Shenmue 3 right now, with SEGA's go sign.
But I wonder how strong the influence of the words of Sammy is. It could be strong enough
to stop the development already started? I hope not!!

[KiD]

GEEZ I really HATE SAMMY for putting this doubt in our minds... hopefully Digital Rex won't be affected by this until after they release SHENMUE 3 :?

"While work on licenses such as Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally, Sonic and Shinobi is unlikely to run into difficulties, the loss-making Sega Sports projects are likely to be high on Satomi-san's hitlist. "

HOW COULD THEY STOP SEGA SPORTS!? the titles are of such great quality... i really really really hope Shenmue 3 gets to us before Sammy gets to Digital Rex... and if that means Shenmue 3 is the last installment to our beloved saga... then so be it... as long as we get to experience the entire saga in the way we already have........ BUT, if Digital Rex has already began development and made a great portion of Shenmue 3, then I think it'd be a better business decision at this point to make the rest of Shenmue 3 and release it in order to get back the money they spent on what they've already developed... right? i mean, if they've already spent money on Shenmue 3, at this point SAMMY would have to ask themselves, "would it mean less money lost to stop development of the rest of Shenmue 3 now, or less money lost by finishing up what is left of Shenmue 3 and releasing it"... HOPEFULLY, Digital Rex has made a great portion of Shenmue 3 and it's the second option rather than the first

PLEASE SAMMY, PLEASE DON'T STOP SHENMUE FROM BEING DEVELOPED AND RELEASED TO US!

[Kiyuu]

I hope digitalrex is strong enough to protest any interference of Sammy!

BTW, KiD, did you see my reply to your question about the card digitalrex will send?
It's under LanDC's "I think I understand the meaning of the message.." post.

[Gangsta Ren]

What does Sammy know about making Hit games>>>> Whens the last time sammy had a hit game? the Genesis days????
Only reason Sega sports loses money is they make a new game every year in each sport, and nobody has the money to keep buying every yearly update. They should wait three years before making a udate sports game, and make theire current games patchable.


Good news is at least sega is acknowleging SM fans and they havent given up.