Could SEGA find a niche in todays digital only world?

[crispymorgan 1,054]

Quote

Dear Sega,

 

I hope this letter finds you riding the wave of nostalgia and innovation that has always been your hallmark. I am one of the countless fans whose voice has longed to see Sega leap back into the console hardware race, even though the timing never seemed quite right. The landscape of gaming has evolved, with future consoles setting their sights on a digital-only horizon. Yet, in this shift, there lies a unique opportunity.

 

There’s a palpable charm in the tactile feel of a game cartridge or disc, in the artistry of a physical case, and the permanence of owning a tangible piece of gaming history. This magic is what a segment of gamers fear losing in the all-digital future. Sega, if you were to release even a console with modest hardware that champions physical media, I believe you would garner an instant following overnight. There are so many of us who still wish to buy and cherish our games in a form that we can display, share, and enjoy in a traditional sense.

 

This approach could be a brilliant strategy for Sega to carve its way back into the hardware market. Not only would it appeal to the retro enthusiasts and collectors but also to those who simply crave the option to own physical copies of their games, an audience that feels increasingly marginalized as the industry pivots towards digital-only offerings.

 

Imagine a console that captures the essence of Sega’s pioneering spirit, one that embraces the past while looking to the future. A machine that balances performance with the promise of a tangible library, perhaps even offering creative incentives for physical purchases. It’s a bold move, but boldness is part of Sega’s DNA, is it not?

 

As a company that has always dared to dream differently, this could be a momentous opportunity to reconnect with old fans and capture new hearts, all while reigniting the passion for physical media that seems to be slowly dimming in the gaming world’s collective consciousness.

 

Thank you for the memories, the innovation, and the dreams. Here’s to hoping you’ll once again disrupt the gaming world with a touch of that Sega magic.

 

Warm regards and best wishes,

 

Dee Becker

Games for me have lost their way.  The lust for bigger worlds, betterererer graphics and realism.  Even sonic lost its charm in a 3D world.  Would games find their magic if they were constrained by older tech, could innovation and retro collide to make a gaming future where you don't download updates?  Multiplayer on the net only, no DLC, no payment plans.  Sounds good to me.

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

Sadly I can't see Sega ever making a comeback in mainstream console terms. The company just doesn't have anywhere near enough money required to even fulfil global hardware production and distribution let alone produce an array of new games. They've been acting as a publisher for way too long whilst the likes of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have been capitalising on massive revenues along with research and development. If Sega were to throw together a machine, it would likely be off-the-shelf hardware and all a bit desperate. They are however looking to revive a few classic franchises so that's worth keeping an eye on. 

 

With Nintendo adopting a lot of bad modern day practices, I've kinda lost a lot of hope and things like DLC, subscriptions, live services and DRM is pretty much engrained in the industry. If Microsoft and Ubisoft keep pushing, the next generation of consoles could see us not even being able to buy or own games outright - it'll all be subscriptions and other bullshit. 

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

On 1/19/2024 at 9:47 AM, J4MES OX4D said:

Sadly I can't see Sega ever making a comeback in mainstream console terms. The company just doesn't have anywhere near enough money required to even fulfil global hardware production and distribution let alone produce an array of new games.

 

I'd agree with this as it seems on the face of it their company are structurally ready to be able to get a new console break into the market. That has been getting harder and harder to do out there...but equally as with everything in the world, it isn't impossible.

 

I really genuinely believe in the world we do have a cyclical process on how we do things though - I can see a world where some games go back to basics, build them all on one disc without digital updates and people will lap them up. Indie games have had a revival and now they are a mainstay of what games many gamers love to watch out for. I feel like a mid-tier group of games set around 30-40 pounds would generate some interest with offline play to keep and play forever. Good marketing tool anyway, just sayin'.

[Luseth 1,948]

I don't see why Sega would even consider making a new console, reading that letter it is a letter wrote after someone has just played their old sega for the first time in 30 years....

 

Physical media is coming to an end, there are positives to physical and I am a big fan of owning and collecting it but I do not see how we can continue to make physical media in a world with limited resources and the issues creating physical items brings about. This will ultimately bring about the end of physical consoles in the way that they are today and Microsoft can see this and have been getting ahead of the curve with their streaming service and subscription offerings. Sony have also cottoned I think now and that is what the PS Portal is about, a dedicated streaming device, I suspect the PS Portal 2 will be standalone and just stream titles from PS Plus.

 

I even think Nintendo will get caught out if they don't consider things going forwards, people have a lot less money today to keep committing to paying full price for Nintendo First Party titles (even when they have been out a number of years).

 

There is also the R&D costs to create a new console today, I don't think Sega have anywhere near the funds to achieve creating something new and different.

33 minutes ago, GazzaGarratt said:

 

I really genuinely believe in the world we do have a cyclical process on how we do things though

 

Correct me if I have misread this Lee but some things we do, fashion for example but not all, do you really think USB's or physical hard drive's will keep going as more and more people move to cloud storage? When was the last time you bought Microsoft word on a disc?

 

Vinyl has come back but that's because it has made listening to music more of an activity again, you have to take your time and you savour it more but you would not see cd's or tapes make the same sort of return. While video game's, the activity is playing them, not many people (especially in the modern world) appreciate the manuals, appreciate the box art and such, it's niche to collector's and that's why collector's editions of games still do well.

 

I think physical media has largely been kept alive by the ability to buy and sell second hand for a while.

[GazzaGarratt 11,049]

More of generalised thought process @Luseth, I'm pretty sure not everything will. When you think of two ways stuff changes, it either evolves or there is a revolution, the revolutionary ideas and ways society drive have becoming far less as we developed all the amazing things we have over the past 200-500 years. So things will evolve and I do think digital media will be the mainstay of what we see, but it evolves over time like you mention about Vinyls and other such physical items in their own categories like gaming, music, etc. You see artists now try to create money through special edition vinyls because they realise they can't make as much money with digital media.

 

And that's where I think most things now get driven by - money. One of the highest, well known games that made a huge profit was Witcher 3, and a lot of that was down to how they packaged their physical media and accessories within it. As I watch prices go up more and more for retro items and things people want to 'own', the key here is that humans enjoy that owning feeling and when its not tangible, they can't see or feel it and that doesn't fill them with joy. Digital will be 80% and 20% will be the specialist items we all want to have in our hands, kind of scenario. So both can be right to a certain extent. Chad @Riff Machine  goes into it a little on their latest podcast too after Ubisoft guy went and said the thing you shouldn't say.

[Andy_White_07 68]

36 minutes ago, Luseth said:

I think physical media has largely been kept alive by the ability to buy and sell second hand for a while.

 

Just to add to this, and I can't remember if I saw an article about this or whether it was just mates talking but we discussed having some kind of point system, where if you decide you no longer want a digital game, you could revoke your rights to it and earn some points which could be used as currency towards a new game/DLC. 

 

If that was the case, I feel physical copies of games would die down even more, especially with the price of games increasing. I gameshare with a friend so we split the costs of our games to make it more affordable. 

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

2 hours ago, Andy_White_07 said:

Just to add to this, and I can't remember if I saw an article about this or whether it was just mates talking but we discussed having some kind of point system, where if you decide you no longer want a digital game, you could revoke your rights to it and earn some points which could be used as currency towards a new game/DLC. 

The trouble is who would subsidise the loss against the new product? You could buy one AAA game for £50, withdraw the licence and then claim such points against an indie game for instance. The developers of that will then either have their income reduced or someone like Sony or Nintendo would have to foot the deficit created by the points generation. The beauty of digital gaming for the likes of publishers and developers is that they have no physical media and shipping costs plus more importantly the purchase is set in stone where licences cannot be sold onward as second hand.

 

A similar thing came up on Steam recently regarding Steam Points where someone suggested that these should be converted into vouchers to spend in the Steam Store. This was not feasible because these points are generated out of thin air so if someone spent £50 on a AAA game, got £5 in return and used that to buy an alternative product from a different developer, Valve would have to pay it out of their own pocket. Based on my estimations, if each active account earned just one voucher on average per week, it would cost Valve £2,000,000,000 a month which is 25% of their annual income that would result in a yearly loss of -$16bn.

 

Digital games and optional DLC were partly designed to combat against the second hand market but it's now become the ultimate income stream especially with production and shipping costs further reduced or in the case of Alan Wake 2; removed altogether. 

[Luseth 1,948]

13 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

This was not feasible because these points are generated out of thin air so if someone spent £50 on a AAA game, got £5 in return and used that to buy an alternative product from a different developer, Valve would have to pay it out of their own pocket.

 

Isn't that similar to how Playstation rewards works? How tesco clubcard points works etc etc? Albeit not with handing back rights to a video game but you purchase something, they give you points and then when you have accumulated enough you then exchange that for a voucher?

 

 

[Andy_White_07 68]

46 minutes ago, Luseth said:

 

Isn't that similar to how Playstation rewards works? How tesco clubcard points works etc etc? Albeit not with handing back rights to a video game but you purchase something, they give you points and then when you have accumulated enough you then exchange that for a voucher?

 

 

See, I think this would be a great idea. I’ve recently signed up to the PlayStation Stars system so need to check out exactly how that works but I think if you’re buying all your games via the PlayStation store you should be rewarded with some points or in game content to unlock. 

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

1 hour ago, Luseth said:

 

Isn't that similar to how Playstation rewards works? How tesco clubcard points works etc etc? Albeit not with handing back rights to a video game but you purchase something, they give you points and then when you have accumulated enough you then exchange that for a voucher?

 

 

Tesco sell their own wholesaled goods whereas Playtation sell other people's products and take a cut. Playstation Rewards are facilitated as a perk by PS+ revenues so what people think is a sweet offer is actually based off the back of their own money in the first place. It's a carefully measured offering where they do not lose any money. If they had to subsidise a digital resell or revoke market out of their own pockets for other people's products then that would cause a devastating knock-on effect for either developers or Sony like we've already seen with microtransactions when they were first introduced to combat the preowned resell market. 

 

Sure, companies like Sony could offer a digital revoke points system but it'll essentially be coming out of their own pockets and be going against their own terms of service. The likes of Tesco use Clubcard to drive and reward sales and consumer loyalty but a model like this cannot be transitioned so simply into a completely different business framework. Everything Tesco sell with a Clubcard price is their own product so if they want to take off 30p on beans they can do that but if they tried to apply that to non-wholesaled products that they sell on behalf and take a cut then they will have to pay the difference out of their own pocket and/or waive the cut and further pay some of the difference. 

[Andy_White_07 68]

35 minutes ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Tesco sell their own wholesaled goods whereas Playtation sell other people's products and take a cut. Playstation Rewards are facilitated as a perk by PS+ revenues so what people think is a sweet offer is actually based off the back of their own money in the first place. It's a carefully measured offering where they do not lose any money. If they had to subsidise a digital resell or revoke market out of their own pockets for other people's products then that would cause a devastating knock-on effect for either developers or Sony like we've already seen with microtransactions when they were first introduced to combat the preowned resell market. 

 

 

Just trying to get my head around all of this, by the way i'm finding all this information useful.

 

Playstation Stars is a free rewards system in which you only need a PSN account. You can then earn PSN vouchers to put towards anything or buy other in-game content through the points you earn such as fifa points to buy packs. Couldn't they just expand on this? 

[J4MES OX4D 10,033]

1 hour ago, Andy_White_07 said:

 

Just trying to get my head around all of this, by the way i'm finding all this information useful.

 

Playstation Stars is a free rewards system in which you only need a PSN account. You can then earn PSN vouchers to put towards anything or buy other in-game content through the points you earn such as fifa points to buy packs. Couldn't they just expand on this? 

Those free rewards are still financed by income generated from PS+ revenues whether the user has bought it or not. The rewards given away don't grow on trees - Sony have to subsidise the likes of EA in full on the contents given away exactly the same way how someone like Epic pays developers an install sum for the games they give away for free through their store. If I spend £50 on a Playstation Store game and then get a free £5 voucher and buy an indie game for £5, they don't get paid in a free voucher - that £5 has to be generated somewhere in real money so the indie developers can get paid for their game and the only ones that can do that is Sony because they provided the voucher. 

 

If Valve gave away a £5 voucher to every active account on the Steam platform then they would have to find £450,000,000 in real money so the recipient of the products bought actually get paid because they aren't going to give away their stuff for free or at a discount just because a provider decided to give away free vouchers out of thin air. This model only really works if the store owns its products and can dictate pricing and distribution. Sony probably owns about 1% of the digital stock sold in the Playstation Store and the majority that sell their stuff demand to be paid in full especially if they are already relinquishing 30% for the privilege  on the cut alone.