Following departure of Simon Jeffery, Naoya Tsurumi takes over publisher's entire consumer business, as Mike Hayes assumes control of American, European arms.
On Monday, mobile developer-publisher Ngmoco announced that it had tapped former Sega of America president Simon Jeffery to lead its new publishing efforts. The news was somewhat surprising, considering that until Ngmoco made its announcement, it was assumed that Jeffery was still leading Sega's North American operations, a position he has held since 2005.
Today, Sega broke its silence on Jeffery, confirming the executive's departure as part of a reorganization of its global business structure. As part of the shake-up, Sega's current head of video game operations Naoya Tsurumi will now lead up the publisher's entire consumer entertainment business, a segment within Sega Sammy that also encompasses toys and mobile phones.
Sega also named a new head of its Western operations. Current Sega of Europe president and chief operating officer Mike Hayes will now be responsible for both sides of the Atlantic, taking on Jeffery's former role at Sega of America. Hayes will report directly to Tsurumi.
The mix-up at Sega's top level comes as its parent company struggles through the ongoing global economic crisis. In May, Sega Sammy reported fiscal-year revenues of ¥429 billion ($4.49 billion), a year-over-year contraction of 6 percent. The Japanese company did manage to substantially trim its losses to ¥22.9 billion ($239.5 million), down from ¥52.5 billion ($549.5 million) in fiscal 2008.
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
one thing i dont get is if Shenmue is one of the most requested fan games of all time, how come they spend so much releasing other titles people don't care about as much. But who knows new management maybe they will reconsider..but i suppose thats more a japan business unit thing.
All-right, new management! Maybe now SEGA will make Sonic Team produce a game that is actually good.
Sega still taking losses. A great game developer with poor management. I guess that in the worst case scenario Nintendo probably would buy Sega for Sonic due to the popularity of the Mario Sonic rivalry.
I know it will probably never happen but, new hardware, new hardware please Sega! Hopfully one day though Shenmue 3!
I wish Sega would release a brand new 2D side-scroller Sonic game similar to the classic Genesis games. Controlling Sonic speeding around in 3D is simply too difficult and awkward. Just because consoles are more powerful now doesn't mean everything has to be in 3D. Give Sonic back his 2D side scrolling action, toss in some impressive 3D background graphics and you'd have an awesome game. If they don't think anyone would pay $50 for it, offer it as an Xbox LIVE and PSN download. Sonic Rush on the DS was one of the best Sonic games in years. Quit it with the 3D, Sega, and let Sonic shine as his 2D self. Also, stop trying to relive your glory days by porting your old arcade hits to consoles. The arcade days are long over and console gamers expect much more than 10 or 20 minutes of fun. It's time to come up with something new.
y2kern. The are working on a new system called "Ringedge". http://fgnonline.webs.com/ (It's a SEGASammy blog and it also includes the specs for Xbox Natal as well.)
I can't say it enough...I would absolutely abandon everything Microsoft, Sony AND Nintendo to see another Sega console released to the market!!! Ok, maybe not completely abandon them, but I would certainly invest in another Sega machine. Dreamcast is still my favorite console!
the worst move sega ever made was giving up on the dreamcast, because of intimidation from sony, it costed them. but its still not to late for them to pull together and create something new, like a new console. dreamcast was the first console to offer online gaming.
Funny how Sonic haters like to complain every time "Sonic", "Sega", "hedgehog" or just about any other noun in the English language is mentioned. If you really don't like the new Sonic games, wouldn't you...I dunno...ignore them? But seriously, the only really bad new-school Sonic games are Shadow and '06, and with the exception of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, all of the Genesis-era games are overrated. =O
You people all make me sick? What the hell does mediocre Sonic games have to do with SEGA changing thier managment? It's clear SEGA is trying to rebrand thier name. They have expanded thier arcade hardware to be sold in Dubai, are involved in a secret console project codenamed "Ringedge/Ringwide" and really want to find common ground to develop better titles. How it's it a bad thing that Simon Jeffery is gone and that Mike Hayes will take over? SEGA has been talking about unity for the past Spring. Appointing Mike Hayes to run SOA as well as SOE is the first step towards intergration. Just so you know, Sonic Unleashed is not a bad game and you are all dumb for believing GS and IGN.
Wow, being responsible for Europe and North America is going to be hard. Well, a lot of work and responsibility anyway. I hope he asked for a lot of money...
hyperdarksonic said: "Does the existence of Sonic games really effect any of you guys?" Yes, it does. Specifically, the existence of bad Sonic games affect me because, at least for a while, I spent money on them. I no longer purchase Sonic games, but the existence of bad Sonic games still affects me. I'd like to buy a new Sonic game; ten years without a good one is too long. However, new installments seem to be nothing more than half-done cash-ins. I'd find the existence of these games more tolerable if the revenue generated from them were still used to offset losses from games like "Rez" and "Jet Grind Radio." However, Sega doesn't make those kinds of games anymore. Eh...it's business, and Sega is doing what is has to do to get along. Still, it doesn't make the company's products any less worthless.
Lol, it's so lame to see people complaining about Sonic when a article abput SEGA shows up. It's time to get a life idiots. If you don't like them, then fine! Everyone has their own opinions and your only a bunch of kids that is complaining about a video game character that isn't a real human bein or something! That's just so lame. And OK, I don't really care, I don't work att SEGA or something. I'm just buying some of their games, but thanks for the info.
Does the existence of Sonic games really effect any of you guys? I mean seriously every time an article pops up that's Sega related half the comments are "Well they should stop making those bad Sonic games" or "There hasn't been a good Sonic game since Sonic 3" or whatever. Granted, I'm not blind (Ignore the user name it was made years ago). Beyond Sonic Adventure 1, possibly 2, and Unleashed (this is personal opinion here. I know that many of you hate it but I don't even think many of you have given the game a chance either), Sonic games have ranged from bad to abysmal (Looking at you Sonic 06). But I do know that while for some reason the existence of a video game character makes all of you sick (if that's the case then wow get a life), Sega will keep making Sonic games, no matter who is in charge. I'm happy right now though. There is no real Sonic game announced that we know of (Mario and Sonic and Sonic Kart or whatever are not Sonic games. They're party games). So hey there we go, a break.
I used to have respect for SEGA, at one point they were the BEST... All that went to the waistland with the DrEaMCaSt........ RIP Yesteryear Sega.....
ParallaxAbstraction said: "Problem is, people keep buying these bad Sonic games. Sonic Unleashed was one of Sega's best sellers last year. If people would stop buying crap, they'd stop making it." I absolutely agree. It saddens me that people pass up games like "Shenmue" and "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" and buy anything with the Sonic license. Vhial said: "The wonderful Sega of yesteryear is no longer in business...they ended around the same time Dreamcast died." I totally agree with you, too. I am excited about Sega's lineup this year. "Alpha Protocol" and "The Conduit" look cool, and "Madworld" was great. This is refreshing considering how bland the company's lineup had been in recent years. However, it's not the same Sega. The "old" Sega made these crazy, innovative Dreamcast games that put a smile on my face and had me yelling "WTF?!?!" in delight. Unfortunately, those games didn't sell.
Sega makes horrible games because their good games didn't sell well enough in the first place. Not enough folks bought the Saturn or Dreamcast. Apparently, nobody liked Sega's games enough to support them.
they need to make great games again not just crank out crap sonic games. like wha vhial said, sega lost its vision when the dreamcast died
if i was the Pres. of SEGA 1st thing i do, 1.Call Nintendo and ask for legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto. 2. Say "Hey that new Metroid: other M looks cool, but I got something even Better!! 3. Push a Mario & Sonic sports game! NO! even better, a Mario & Sonic side-scrolling adventure game!! 4. 1-2 years later, make boat loads of $$$, NUFF SAID!
The wonderful Sega of yesteryear is no longer in business...they ended around the same time Dreamcast died. All Sega does anymore I care about is Yakuza games...that's it.
More problems @ Sega? I've started to wonder lately if they are even in business anymore. But it seems the ghost of Peter Moore still looms large indeed.
Put me in charge. Vhial for President of Sega!!. I Promise no more crappy Sonic games!. No more Sonic spin-off games!. No more crappy "party" games!. I promise NEW Jet Grind/Set Radio games!. Shenmue 3!. Yakuza 3 will make it stateside before 2012!. Maybe a new Space Channel game for the fans!. A new Phantasy Star game (offline AND online if there is demand). And NEW FFFING HARDWARE!!!...
LOL I went to wall mart last week and I saw about 5 Sonic games i never had knowledge of their existance lol
Sega are old timers, maybe back in the days it was alright to go play sonic games but now.......nothing so exiting about sonic anymore.
Problem is, people keep buying these bad Sonic games. Sonic Unleashed was one of Sega's best sellers last year. If people would stop buying crap, they'd stop making it.
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