Topic: Namco and Sega Merger?

[WindyMan]

In another sign of the unstable Japanese economy, the two Japanese giants might look to pool their talent, and more importantly, their money.

As everyone knows, Sega has been on the auction block for who knows how long.  Even after it announced a partnership with Sammy, developer of the Guilty Gear series (which wasn't thought to be a good move by investors), Sega is still not getting enough income to stay comfortably afloat in the ridiculously competitive Japanese game market.

Enter Namco, who has reportedly offered a merger with Sega.  Enter the spokesperson:

"Though we have been considered rival companies, we believe a merger would help both firms increase our competitiveness," said a Namco spokeswoman.  

"We have asked Sega to consider it last year," she said, declining to disclose other details about the request.

A merger of this magnitude, if it were to go through, would make the combined Sega-Namco company the largest in Japan, surpassing the likes of Nintendo, Konami, and the newly-formed Square-Enix.

For the rest of the thrilling details, go read the full article.

[Grey Ninja]

Hmmmm... don't know what to think about this.  I am liking it simply because it's not EA or Microsoft, and Namco is friendly with Nintendo.

I just hope that Sega's president is no longer in charge when it's all said and done.  That man has got to go.

[VideoGamerX]

In my opinion, this is the best possible solution. I wouldn't really worry about it competing with Nintendo. In fact, I would think this move would be most beneficial to Nintendo considering the support we might see from the fused developing giants. I mean, really, what better than to have 2 parts of the Triforce creators merged as one? They're both already working pretty well with Nintendo with some second party title deals to help cushion their pockets.

I really do think that this would put more on Nintendo's console in the long run. It's far better than an EA merger, and I think we'd all want to throw up if Microsoft merged with Sega.

I like this if it becomes final.

[RABicle]

Um, yeah it will result in some dream games Steven. like for example. Virtua Fighter vs Tekken, which would be fantastic. I've always hoped for that game ever since both companies jointly payed for a double page advert in a japanese newspaper featuring a character from each game.

I'm all for this merger.

[Ninja X]

When Sega and Sammy merged, the Sammy president took over the merger.  So the Sega president is no longer in complete charge.

[Illini4]

No matter how this situation folds out, it is bad for Sega.  I am not trying to bash Sega, not at all.  I love Sega (now that Nintendo won that battle).  I own every Sega console starting with the Master System.  Sega has done a lot for gaming, mostly they rivaled Nintendo which forced the Big N to make their games just that much better.  If any of you have played Shenmue you know that Sega is easily one of the top 5 game makers.  But, that has pretty much been where Sega has ended.  I do not understand their game plan.  They support Xbox, yet Xbox has a weaker user base in Japan than the Wonderswan!  Japan is where Sega will most likely do best in, being from Japan.  Also, Sega does make amazing sports titles, all of which are more realistic than EA's, but that is taking on a giant that will never be caught sleeping again.  Sony's 989 studios seemed to have EA in the corner with their first efforts on the PS1, but once EA got their act together, there was nothing anyone could do (Konami has the best soccer title ever, yet they won't release it in America  because Fifa seems to have that market sealed).  Sega has really only stayed afloat the past year/two years with ports to Gamecube and Gameboy Advance.  I think a merger with Sammy/Micro$oft/EA/Namco will be bad for Sega.  The most likely seems to be Namco, and I still beleive that this is going to be bad.  RaBicle said that it would create a dream game of "Tekken VS. Virtua Fighter"  Dream game?   I am sure this would be a nightmare for Namco/Sega.  The two best fighting games under one house.  Only one would prevail.  One would have to sacrifice itself.  Namco has taken forever to release Soul Calibur II.  I have heard about this game for years, but they waited to release it so it wouldn't compete with their own Tekken games.  They wanted Tekken to run its course, then release SCII.  With Virtua Fighter and Tekken being under one company, they would cut one, or release them so far apart, we would have to wait years before the next installment.  If they joined the games, they wouldn't be abel to keep the gameplay of both, one would have to sacrifice gameplay.  All you would have is a Tekken game with Virtua Fighter characters.  Namco would more than likely have the more power of the two companies, which means putting a lot of Sega games on the back burner.  Namco wouldn't want Sega's RPG's to compete with its own.  It really does create a lot of problems.  I see a Nintendo buyout of Sega to be a good thing.  I know Nintendo doesn't want to do that, but really the two are much alike.  They have the history of battling against one another, and their game lineup is a nice mix.  Sega has been very kind to us Cubers with releasing games to fill our voids.  We have no RPG's on our wonderful system, Sega (ports) a couple of better than descent RPG's.  GCN has recieved many great multi player games (Monkey ball 1/2, and Beach Spikers) and platformers (Sonic games).  If you take the Sega games out of the Nintendo library, you won't cry a river in pain, but you will notice gaps that could be filled.  Sega is an important asset to Nintendo (imagine saying that 10 years ago!)  So, if Sammy/Micro$oft/EA/Namco are the bidders, yeah i want Namco, but Nintendo really should try to dive in and at lease grab Sonic Team.

[Ian Sane]

"RaBicle said that it would create a dream game of "Tekken VS. Virtua Fighter" Dream game? I am sure this would be a nightmare for Namco/Sega. The two best fighting games under one house. Only one would prevail. One would have to sacrifice itself."

That's a very good point.  Namco and Sega are both old arcade game companies and as a result have a fair bit of games that are similar to each other.  Therefore, from a creative standpoint, the merger doesn't bring much new to the table.  Both companies already have a big 3D fighter, both have an arcade racer, both have a major RPG series, both have a major platformer franchise.  Does the same company have to release both Tekken and Virtua Fighter games?  Or both Ridge Racer and Sega Rally?  A company like Sega or Namco would do better merging with someone like Nintendo or Square where they can fill the genre gaps.  Nintendo for example doesn't really have a strong traditional fighting game or racing game so a merger with Namco would be beneficiary.

Still if Sega has to merge with someone I'd rather it be Namco than EA or Microsoft.  EA is the most overrated developer ever and adds NOTHING to Sega creatively.  The only thing EA is really good at is sports and from a creative standpoint Sega has them beat in that department already.  Microsoft is even worse since they would limit Sega to working on the Xbox, which despite what fails to realize, is where Sega games sell the worst of the three consoles.  Plus Sega-Namco is the only combo that would have an effect in both Japan and North America.

[Grey Ninja]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ninja X
When Sega and Sammy merged, the Sammy president took over the merger.  So the Sega president is no longer in complete charge.

AWESOME!

[Zelda]

Uh, no. Sega and Sammy did not merge yet.
It would be neat for Namco and Sega to become one big company! Square and Enix merged and they both make/publish mostly only RPGs, so I don't see any problems with "genre gaps." Besides, Namco has both Monolith Soft and Tales Studio for RPGs, and Sega makes a few RPGs, so combined they'd be a pretty big RPG powerhouse.

[Arbok]

Well if this does happen I pray that Namco can finally smack some business scene into Sega, looking at the "rumored" Sega E3 list it looks like they are still supporting the Xbox more than any of the other systems... when are they gonna learn?

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

i didn't think namco would come into the mix...

i love sega for their games (i love Shenmue I & II more than any other game), not for their business decisions.  namco does seem to be the best to merge with, however, i think nintendo would be the best b/c, like you guys stated, they can fill in the racing, RPG, and fighting genres.  although the chances of nintendo merging with sega is the same as me winning the lottery on my birthday!

if sega merges with EA or MS (god, i hope not), i'm going to hide in a corner for the rest of my life...