SEGA Sees Video Games Take a Hit

It's been a tough first quarter

Posted by Staff
SEGA Sees Video Games Take a Hit
SEGA's first financial quarter for 2009/10 are in and, in short, times are tough. The company declares that, "Decreased sales and expanded operating loss compared with previous fiscal year that had sales of major titles."

Its consumer business - as opposed to its Amusement Arcade and Patchinko sides - showed that, compared to the first quarter last year, sales were down by 61.5% for the division. Of that, software sales were down by 60.5%.

It also provides a breakdown of platform performance, which makes for interesting reading. It kicks off with zero PS2 sales as Sony's older platform disappears from SEGA's releases. In terms of the other platforms - last year's figures are in brackets:

Wii: 550k (510k)
PS3: 310k (760k)
Xbox 360: 200k (890k)
PC: 20k (90k)

DS: 180k (850k)
PSP: 110k (290k)

Basically, the PS3 out-performed the Xbox 360, but the Wii outperformed the pair of them put together. Everything, however, was down. See the report yourself here.
Companies:

Comments

Joji 3 Aug 2009 12:42
1/1
Oh, Sega Sammy, what are we going to do with you?

Sega are in need of a reboot, because they seem to be tripping over themselves.

The two things they need to sort out are
1:Advertising and marketing, its currently crap and needs to be better. When Valkyria and Yakuza 2 and 3, sweet games sell badly, there's something very wrong in action. Back in the old days Sega would go out of their way to sell their products to us, but it sometimes seems that they've forgotten how to do so, with the added zest or bang needed. Do any of you recall seeing tv ads for Valkyria or Yakuza games on tv? I so how often? Answer on a postcard, please.

2:Online presence and community building. Without a doubt, the best way to get in touch with your audience, and possibly better and cheaper than any advertising. Don't believe me? It works wonders for Capcom, Atlus. Getting in touch with fans is what got Phoenix Wright, Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Marvel vs Capcom 2 etc, released for us to buy. The two former would have never seen a western release. And lo, that is the power of true game fans.

Sega were recently asking gamers, what games they wanted to see released on iPhone. This is a positive step, and judging by the buzz on game sites, had suggestions flying around like bullets. So, for a company still hurting from their lost glory days, something like this can create and whip up energy with fans. Organise events etc for the fans and they will come. Talk, and they will listen.

What were my game suggestions? Rez, Space Channel 5 and Daytone 2001 on iPhone.
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