Sega announces E3 2005 line-up

SEGA
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Copied and pasted from TeamXbox.com:

[quote]SEGA of America announced today its fall and winter lineup of entertainment titles to be featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2005.

Extending its reach as an independent content publisher, SEGA will feature titles developed for a broad base of home and handheld platforms including the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, the PSP portable entertainment system, PC, and the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.

SEGA’s booth will be located in South Hall, #924, Los Angeles Convention Center.

SEGA of America is introducing two original Xbox 360 games; both playable at E3.

Condemned: Criminal Origins is a first-person psychological thriller featuring photorealistic graphics, advanced enemy AI, and a strong dose of atmospheric tension. The hunt for a notorious serial killer offers gamers melee/firearm combat and game environments that are unpredictable and terrifyingly real. Full Auto redefines combat racing with physics technology that enables bigger crashes and the most destructive play experience ever captured in the racing genre. Amazingly detailed vehicles race through packed city streets with guns blazing, laying spectacular waste to opposing vehicles and buildings that get in their way.

SEGA is also fully supporting PC, handheld, and current-generation users with AAA titles like Spartan: Total Warrior (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube), Shadow The Hedgehog, Virtua Tennis: World Tour (PSP portable gaming system), and Phantasy Star Universe (PlayStation 2, PC). And on the first day of E3, SEGA will announce two new additions to the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise.

“Backed by strong development teams and an exciting lineup of playable content, SEGA is poised to assume a leadership position at the beginning of a new hardware lifecycle,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America. “And throughout 2005, current-generation systems will play host to a solid lineup of SEGA titles, representing new intellectual properties and some of our most popular established franchises.”

Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360): Developed by award-winning Monolith Productions, Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience an unnatural level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, melee combat, and firearms to track a serial killer and bring him to justice. Presented in a first-person view for maximum visceral effect, this atmospheric thriller is best played with the surround-sound up and the lights off.

Full Auto (Xbox 360): Combine fully-automatic, weapon-equipped vehicles with highly detailed and interactive urban environments and you have Full Auto, the most destructive racing action ever experienced in a video game. Players can choose from a wide selection of unique vehicle designs, arm them with any combination of deadly weapons, and maneuver out of tight spots with the unique ?unwreck’ play mechanic.

Gunstar Super Heroes (Game Boy Advance): Gunstar Heroes, one of the most critically acclaimed 2D games of all time, is finally receiving a sequel, and it’s being developed by Treasure, the legendary team responsible for the original. In this intense side-scrolling shooter, Blue and Red (the lead characters) must once again keep a crystal of great power from falling into the hands of an evil empire intent on resurrecting the God of Ruin.

NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005 (PC): The second in the series, NHL: Eastside Hockey Manager 2005 is a comprehensive ice hockey management simulation featuring more than 15 playable leagues, a comprehensive database of 3,200 teams and over 32,000 players and staff ? all listed in minute detail with more than 50 attributes each.

Phantasy Star Universe (PlayStation 2, PC): This enormous game offers two complete RPG experiences - a single-player action-adventure spanning multiple planets, and a robust online multi-player component. In offline mode, this action-RPG offers more than 40 hours of gameplay, an emotionally engaging story, traditional cut scenes, and strong character development. In online mode, players are given the opportunity to travel with a squad of other adventurers, enter urban sprawls teeming with hundreds of players, and build their unique avatars into powerful warriors

Shadow The Hedgehog (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube): From his first appearance in Sonic Adventure 2 to his most recent role in Sonic Heroes, Shadow has emerged as one of the most popular characters in the Sonic The Hedgehog universe. And now, he is headlining his own game. Shadow The Hedgehog boldly combines the excitement of high-speed action-platformers with the intensity of third-person shooters. Hero or Villain? You decide.

Shining Force Neo (PlayStation 2): Moving away from the methodical gameplay of prior Shining Force strategy-RPGs, Shining Force Neo is a fast-paced action-adventure. Real-time combat creates a deeper sense of personal involvement in battles, and the presence of more than 90 enemies on screen at once ratchets up the grand scale that the Shining Force games are known for.

Spartan: Total Warrior (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube): This action epic lets players fight within massive cinematic battles as a fighter known only as The Spartan. Spartan: Total Warrior runs on proprietary software technology that makes it possible to present more than 170 detailed warriors simultaneously engaged in pitched combat.

Virtua Tennis: World Tour (PSP portable): Virtua Tennis: World Tour features an array of internationally ranked tennis pros, as well as a new make-your-own player option, exclusive mini-games, and original courts. Wi-Fi gameplay is also supported, encouraging up to 4 friends to play together.

Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 (PC): Developed for the PC and Mac by UK developer Sports Interactive, creators of the highly popular Championship Manager series, Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 represents the next evolution in fantasy sports by enabling gamers to control all team-related activities for their favorite pro or semi-pro franchise in the U.S. as well as 50 other countries across the world.[/quote]

I must admit, after reading the summary for Shining Force Neo, I almost felt like strangling someone. It’s as if the guy who wrote that was intentionally trying to get under the skin of longtime fans. Pay closer attention to the commentary:

“Real-time combat creates a deeper sense of personal involvement in battles, and the presence of more than 90 enemies on screen at once ratchets up the grand scale that the Shining Force games are known for.”

Deeper my ass. The only thing the new hack ‘n’ slash gameplay supposedly “ratchets up” is this game’s supposed selling power.

But I digress. I expect Sega to announce the development of a new Sonic game for the Xbox 360 in addition to its second Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube (which includes Sonic CD and a port of the Model 2 arcade game Sonic The Fighters). At least Sega is showcasing a few AAA titles (by any definition) at this year’s E3.

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Geez Geoff just wait fro the game.Then you’ll know for sure.Maybe it’s good in a different way.

Spartan has gotten my attention.I’m kinda hyped.

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ZZZzzz… Maybe next year, Sega.

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Would you be interested in a new Sonic game for the Xbox 360, Shadow?

And Gehn, I don’t need to play the latest first person shooter to know that I’m not a fan of the genre. Shining Force Neo doesn’t appeal to me at all. It’s actually supposed to be quite good, but that doesn’t change the fact it should never have been called Shining Force.

I just thought I’d mention that Fire Emblem for the GameCube has outsold SF Neo in Japan. I wonder why?

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Well that piece of info doesn’t go with your explanation for the reason why SFNeo is an action RPG it seems :anjou_happy:

(so you don’t like action rpgs in general?)

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I’m not a big fan of modern-day Action/RPGs, no. Old-school Action/RPGs balanced combat with puzzles and the type of platform hopping you’d only find in Tomb Raider now. Today’s Action/RPGs have taken a turn for the worse with a heavier emphasis on action.

Notice how Capcom took most of the old-school Resident Evil puzzles out of Resident Evil 4. I guess no one has the patience to solve them anymore.

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While I agree with you in spirit, I do think the removal of the puzzles in RE was a good move. Frankly, they were born of necessity of the time, rather than actual innovation. Simple fetch puzzles or lock-and-key puzzles don’t serve any purpose other than forcing the player to run back and forth between rooms and artificially lengthen the gameplay experience. Sure, they break up the action, but there are other, more effective ways of doing so. It’s not a matter of patience… it’s a matter of people waking up and thinking, “Wait… why am I doing this again? Why is this fun?”

As for action RPGs, I do believe that things are getting a little over-simplified. I enjoyed Baldur’s Gate: DA for what it was, but there have simply been too many carbon copies without taking into consideration what made it fun. In fact, they’re all just copying Diablo without really thinking about what made Diablo fun.

But, don’t confuse that with lack of quality. Shining Force Neo is a decent game. However, if you simply don’t like the genre, it’s not really going to change your mind =\

Oh, and that’s not the entire lineup, btw. :anjou_love:

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I don’t even think about Diablo when I think about Action RPG’s.

I like the concept of Action RPG’s but I haven’t really played many great Action RPG’s.I just think they could do so many great things with the concept.RPGing is fun and action is fun.Fusing the too means a good balance between fast paced and slow paced parts, something some more classic RPG’s fail to deliver.Sometimes the combat is slower than some player/npc conversations.

When you are trying to emulate real combat situations (kill or be killed) with a real time engine fights never get that paused feeling.A feeling I personally don’t like in battles.

Abadd: what was that last line for?What is the effect you wanna convey???

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Well, to me, Diablo 2 is the epitome of the current type of action RPG. It’s the power gamer’s RPG… it’s all about the stat/skill building, and the loot. But, it’s certainly not about the story. I think it’s about time to have a different kind of action RPG. Something that blends the type of gameplay you see in, say, Ico or Prince of Persia with more traditional RPG elements.

As for the last line, well, I doubt that’s all Sega will be showing. I’m not implying that there will be a Panzer, game, though, so don’t get your hopes up.

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Well I’m interested in two of the currently announced titles, Gunstar Super Heroes (weeee!) and Phantasy Star Universe. Condemned also seems nice (maybe) but Sega is just the publisher, it’s not developed in house so I guess it’s not something to discuss when talking about Sega titles (though I think it’s a good move and hopefully they’ll keep the trend of publishing promising quality titles and not things like The Matrix Online).

I wonder if they’ll show any more of Shenmue Online, hopefully it will turn out a lot better than TMO.

Abadd, does that mean there are other AAA (in whatever meaning of the word you want to say) titles that will be shown or just more random filler games?

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[quote=“Abadd”]Well, to me, Diablo 2 is the epitome of the current type of action RPG. It’s the power gamer’s RPG… it’s all about the stat/skill building, and the loot. But, it’s certainly not about the story. I think it’s about time to have a different kind of action RPG. Something that blends the type of gameplay you see in, say, Ico or Prince of Persia with more traditional RPG elements.

As for the last line, well, I doubt that’s all Sega will be showing. I’m not implying that there will be a Panzer, game, though, so don’t get your hopes up.[/quote]

Unfortunately I’m beginning to assimilate the idea of not seeing a PD game for a long long time.I wasn’t thinking about a PD game.I was just curious about what you actually meant.If you actually knew about a certain game or if were just teasing us in your usual self or both :stuck_out_tongue:

For me an Action RPG can’t fully take advantage of action oriented mechanics if it’s made for isometric view.3rd person action RPG’s.Or at least 1st person ones.

As for Diablo I never actually liked the game.And loot you refer to has got to be the aspect I hate most in RPGs in general.I hate it because I always go for every box and every crate and every chest.I can’t help myself.Half of the time I’m just building an inventario that I eventually learn is unnecessary in order to complete the game in medium difficulty.

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Judging by recent Sonic games: Hell no, sir.

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Well, you shouldn’t discount non-internally developed games from being Sega games. It’s going to be something you’re going to have to get used to moving forward. Condemned, Full Auto, the announced partnership with Silicon Knights, etc. They will be just as much Sega games as anything else.

For me, the two things that Diablo 2 did right were loot and skill sets. Sure, it’s just the dangling carrot in front of the player, but any game that isn’t about the story is simply about the system, right? Let me explain (insert pre-emptive apology for hijacking the thread…)

Games can be divided into two categories (or a hybrid thereof): system-based games and story-based games (I think I mentioned this before). A game can either be completely system based (i.e. puzzle games) or completely story based (i.e. text adventures), or somewhere in between. The Diablo series simply minimizes the reliance on story and emphasizes the system. Is this a bad thing? Certainly not… if you enjoy it in the way you would enjoy a shooting game, a puzzle game, etc. It’s all about the perceived reward. Diablo 2 simply has an extremely well-crafted reward structure that keeps players going.

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Not really, they are just games published by Sega. Sega fans look forward to seeing games from Sonic Team and Hitmaker and Smilebit and whatever other teams and that’s the stuff they get most excited about when they hear of Sega games. Why should I consider it just the same and as exciting when some random developer convinces Sega (or rather Sega of America or Europe) to publish their game? They could have convinced EA and not Sega instead, the game would have remained the same and not a Sega title at all. While EA won’t be making the next Panzer Dragoon chapter for sure.

And I know it will happen more, I also said I think that specific game (and maybe Spartan: Total Warrior) was a good move by Sega. That’s still far from thinking of those games just the same as internally developed titles.

Again, it’s not like some other company would create a Panzer Dragoon game and then Sega would simply publish it (though I guess that kind of deals can also happen as seen by Nintendo and their F-Zero and Metroid titles).

But even so that would still be different since it would be a Sega trademark series and Sega would likely atleast put some guidance to the project and not simply publish some random thing they thought would bring money in like The Matrix Online.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that these are kind of Mercenary titles and not a real part of the full Sega Army. And those Mercenaries may as well have been ‘hired’ by someone other than Sega for their project since they are doing their thing on their own and not wait for the green light from Sega or get guidance from Yuji Naka or work with the Panzer Dragoon or Skies of Arcadia team members or whatever.

You didn’t answer to my AAA titles question btw :stuck_out_tongue:

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If that’s true…

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

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Well, the list is very much as I expected it to be, but maybe Sega has a nice surprise waiting for us… maybe.

As with Alex, the only games of those that I’m really interested in are Super Gunstar Heroes and Phantasy Star Universe. Still, two titles are better than nothing. Maybe the new Sonic game on the Xbox 360 will have a whole new engine built from the ground up as well…

Abadd: What exactly makes Shining Force Neo a decent title? It looked pretty bad in the videos. I honestly have next to no interest in it.

:anjou_love:

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[quote=“Abadd”]

Games can be divided into two categories (or a hybrid thereof): system-based games and story-based games (I think I mentioned this before). A game can either be completely system based (i.e. puzzle games) or completely story based (i.e. text adventures), or somewhere in between. The Diablo series simply minimizes the reliance on story and emphasizes the system. Is this a bad thing? Certainly not… if you enjoy it in the way you would enjoy a shooting game, a puzzle game, etc. It’s all about the perceived reward. Diablo 2 simply has an extremely well-crafted reward structure that keeps players going.[/quote]

Yes but not even the gameplay is fun.Of course that’s only my opinion.

I agree with Al3x too.

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You assume that every title picked up by a publisher is completely finished and that the publisher simply foots the bill, puts it in a box, then ships it. Publishers have internal producers that greatly influence the final product. Often times, the developers simply come forth with a concept and prototype, which is then put in the hands of the publisher to mold as they see fit. Or, as is the case with most developers who aren’t Bioware, etc., the publisher simply tells them the game that they want, and the developer makes it.

Of course, there are times when Sega picks up titles that are already finished (Tenchu, Otogi, Samurai Jack, etc) and does just put it in a box and ship it with minimal changes, this is not the case with games like Condemned and Full Auto. They are just as much a part of the “new” Sega as any other game in the lineup.

You also have to ask yourself: I’ve seen almost everyone on these boards complain about all the games coming out of SOJ in the last couple of years, yet you still only consider games from those teams to be true Sega games? What if other developers have a chance of bringing life back into Sega that Sega’s own internal developers haven’t been able to do?

Do you not consider Metropolis Street Racer a Sega game on DC? That was developed externally. So was Sonic R on Saturn. So are all the Sonic Advance games. There are a ton of Sega games developed externally.

As for Diablo, that’s fair enough. Some people don’t enjoy Diablo, some peopel don’t enjoy RPGs. It’s a matter of taste… doesn’t make it a bad game. As for Shining Force… it’s not a bad game. It plays very similarly to Baldur’s Gate: DA. Let’s just leave it at that :slight_smile: (let’s see if you get the subtlety in my wording…)

As for the question about AAA’s… Don’t worry, I saw that question. :slight_smile:

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Yeah, I think I got it. It’s not a bad game… for Diablo/hack and slash fans? It would be great to see more games that are both system and story based games you mentioned earlier (like Shining Force III, KOTOR etc) which add consistency to the game world through both their gameplay and their story, and the two work together to create a compelling experience.

Btw, if the Sonic Advance games were developed externally, why are the developers called Sonic Team… just how many Sonic Teams are there exactly?

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It was managed by Sonic Team. The producer, etc was internal, but the actual development was done by Tose.