Even today, PlayStation and Xbox gamers still fight over which hardware you should play your games on. But these battles are a peaceful breeze compared to when Nintendo and Sega were mud-wrestling in the early 90s.
Back then, the companies themselves were also involved in the console wars, and Sega in particular was a driving force with plenty of cheap shots and other mischief making. However, after a series of questionable decisions, they checked out as console manufacturers in the early 2000s, but in recent years they have released hit after hit again, while Sonic has regained its rightful place as a platform mascot.
And with this, confidence is starting to return again. The studio is currently working on the return of several classic series such as Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Jet Set Radio and Shinobi – and overnight it was also revealed that Virtua Fighter 6 is on the way along with the hugely ambitious Project Century.
In a lengthy and interesting interview with Eurogamer, Sega boss Shuji Utsumi says it’s time for Sega to return to its roots again, and regarding the comeback of all the old brands, he explains:
“We made that announcement at the Game Awards [2023]… With the first round [of announcements] I was basically focusing on trying to revive Sonic, Yakuza, and Persona. Three IPs that can be even stronger. And to make Sega more like Sega… Sega has so many great IPs and they’ve aged very well, and they could appeal to the market again.”
Of course, there’s room for some classic Sega trolling as well, and Utsumi explains that Nintendo is like pop music while Sega is rock & roll:
“Sega somehow invented – if you compare the game business to music business – Sega’s role was to invent rock & roll, compared to Nintendo. Nintendo’s like pop music, good music, jazz…”
He goes on to explain how Sega had more attitude compared to Nintendo, and celebrates its own heritage:
“Sega had that kind of style [back then]. Sega’s position was like, ‘If you have attitude, Sega’s the company for you, rather than Nintendo’, because of the games, because of the style, because of coolness or the kind of attitude. We have such beautiful content value in Sega, and some other IPs, so we’re trying to revive it with a little bit of the flavor of hip-hop now.”
Utsumi concludes by explaining that he has a goal with Sega’s many spectacular announcements during last year’s The Game Awards and now this year’s:
“I wanted to send a message saying ‘Sega is coming back’.”
In other words, we can expect exciting times ahead for Sega fans, and it sounds like in the coming years Sega will be more like the company we grew to love in the 80s and 90s. And that’s certainly as good as it gets.