Ask any hardcore gamer what they think of Service Games, better known as Sega. Inevitably, you will hear phrases like, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." "Jumped the Shark." "A burnt out husk of what it used to be." As hard as it may be to believe, Sega was once one of the most respected developers in the industry. Many of their games from the 1990s had cutting-edge graphics, awesome soundtracks, and innovative gameplay. Even after their departure from the console market in 2001, Sega was still going strong; the Gamecube port of Sonic Adventure 2 was once the best selling game for that console, and 2002 saw the release of Jet Set Radio Future and the Xbox port of Shenmue 2, two of some of my favorite games for the Xbox.
Then, 2003 roles along and . . . Sega just lost its mojo. Oh sure, the Sonic the Hedgehog games still sell in droves, but what was the last truly great game by Sega that you played? And don't say Sonic Advance 3, because that was actually made by Dimps, who seems to understand Sonic better than his progenitors now. Sega's biggest franchise has now become a laughingstock in the industry, and it seems the only notable releases they've made in the last seven years is re-releases of their older games, usually on compilation discs. It's not hard to see why; Sega has created many beloved games, both popular games, as well as cult classics over the years: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Phantasy Star, the Sonic trilogy for the Genesis, Streets of Rage, Shining Force, Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS into Dreams, among others. This isn't even mentioning the countless number of arcade games they've made. In fact, last time I went to a video game arcade, almost all of the games either made by Namco, Konami, or Sega. Obviously, Sega has, or had, clout in the past.
Nowadays, when gamers think of developers who churn out games with cutting-edge graphics, awesome graphics, and innovative gameplay, they don't think of Sega. They think of Nintendo, Square-Enix, Bungie Studios (as much as it pains me to print that last one, Bungie's clout in the industry is undeniable), Blizzard, and others. Well, when I name off respectable game makers, I'm gonna list the Sega of today from now on. You know why? Three words:
Sega. Is. BACK.
How do I know this?
I played Valkyria Chronicles for the first time.
Why it took Sega six years to churn out another AAA product, I don't know. But the truth of the matter is, Sega hasn't gone under; they were just hibernating. The Sega I knew from my past has re-emerged, with a vengeance. You can keep joking about 3D Sonic if you want; I'm gonna start showing my respect for this developer again.
Okay, yeah, I still don't like Sega as much as Nintendo, Namco, Blizzard, and old-school LucasArts, but still.
