I want to make a list of the remaining good Sega sites here, especially if they are still being updated regularly.
The sites worth checking out include:
“Segalization is a fansite dedicated to promoting the localization of Sega games. The site aims to be a hub for Sega fans to make their voice heard and try to convince Sega to localize more of their games released in Japan.”
This site is updated regularly.
http://segabits.com/
“Founded in February 2010, SEGAbits covers the latest SEGA news as well as reviews, original content, and features devoted to the past, present and future of the company. Thanks to our readers, we’ve fast become the internet’s #1 source for SEGA news.”
http://www.shinforce.com/index.htm
This is one of my personal favourites. The webmaster is the webmaster of Sega Force which was a huge Sega fansite that was created during the late 90s. Shin Force was a sister site that includes some unique content, including a few reviews written by myself. I wish he would update it more often. I plan to contribute more reviews in the future (especially for more underappreciated Saturn games).
Youtube and other social media are the future, for better or for worse, but I prefer quality over quantity.
Would anyone like to add other sites worth visiting to the list?
Sega Nerds is another big general purpose Sega site. Updated regularly.
http://www.seganerds.com/
Are you just looking for general purpose Sega sites or sites that focus on specific games/series as well?
I’m looking for sites that focus on Sega in general, since there seem to be so few of them these days.
Sega mostly focus on Japan at the moment, so lack of interest outside of Japan is understandable. Sega might not make consoles anymore, but they still make and publish a lot of games.
I used to go to http://soaworld.silvite.com/ (Skies of Arcadia World) a lot. Although it is almost completely dead…
Sega has become less interesting over the years. I personally wouldn’t start a Sega site these days (unless it was to cover older games). I’m glad that there’s a few general purpose Sega sites left though.
Fan sites now would be born of passion, and/or contain factual information because there wouldn’t be much demand for news and review sites for older games. People can easily find general gameplay footage of games on Youtube etc.
That doesn’t mean they still don’t have a place. I wish there was something definitive though. There are a lot of Saturn RPGs that players missed for example (such as Langrisser and Riglord Saga 2).
Anyway, if anyone wants to add any more sites here, feel free.
IMO fan sites should be born of passion, otherwise what is the point? Focus on what interests you and move on when you tire of it. It’s up to Sega to earn fans. Sega’s recent output leaves much to be desired (according to my personal tastes) so if I were to make another site it would likely fall outside the Sega community. Classic series are covered well enough on Shining Force Central, Nightsintodreams.com, Skies of Arcadia World and various other franchise specific sites, even if those sites aren’t updated often (as you say, there isn’t much to talk about). But perhaps those sites could be improved by making it easier for fans to update them (wiki style, but with a trust system) since the original creators often lack the time to deal with new contributions.
I don’t disagree. Sega have always been too ethnocentric for their own good. If it wasn’t for Sonic, I doubt they’d even make any games for the western world. It’s a strength as much as it is a weakness.
It was great when there was tons of new Sega news to share with fans. That was an incentive to make more sites.
What I am hoping is we will see more cult classic games in the future that people can rally behind. Whether they come from Sega or someone else.
Damn, it looks like Silent Hills was cancelled, or in the very least it will be remade into something else. I was looking forward to that. It was the first Japanese-made Silent Hill game since Silent Hill 4.