Sonic HQ25 Years & Counting!

From Gamers.com:

Sega recently held a press conference at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the results of the first half of the fiscal year are a little less than stellar.

Tetsu Kayama, COO for Sega Japan, commented on several points, including the performance of the Sega Sports brand. Kayama explained that Sega Sports lost 6 billion yen this half as a result of Sega's overconfidence. For example, only about 400,000 copies of NFL2K3 have been sold from the original shipment of 1 million copies. NBA 2K3, however, showed stronger sales of about 500,000 to 600,000 units.

Counting all ten of Sega's development studios, the company made a net loss of 1.5 billion yen this half. Sega is currently considering a business plan for the next fiscal year that will include fewer titles and genres to hopefully break even at 11 million yen. Projected sales say that 3 of those million will come from the homeland, with 6 million coming from North America and an extra 2 million from Europe.

To cut costs, Sega is considering withdrawing from the NCAA franchise and concentrating on only four major sports. Additionally, sports titles for the GameCube may be cut entirely as a result of lower sales and increased production costs. To increase potential sales, Sega is also considering expanding "Entertainment Titles" (such as Sonic or VF4) to all consoles instead of just one.

Of course, these decisions are pending as Sega debates them internally. Kayama says to expect announcements next month.

Source: Gamers.com

There's a new Sonic cell phone game out in Japan. You can see pics of it at Sonic Team's site right here.

Source: Sonic Team

From XenGamers:

Sega has signed an agreement with RealNetworks to begin offering classic games for the PC through a broadband service entitled RealOne Arcade. For the first time gamers may now download the official versions of four classic titles to their PC with the debut of the Sega Channel on RealOne Arcade (www.realonearcade.com/sega/). Additional Genesis games are scheduled to be offered on a regular basis. Gamers may try free demo versions of each game and may purchase the full version, which will include complete game features and functionality, for $14.99 each to permanently add it to their RealOne Arcade library. The Sega Channel will debut with four titles including Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco the Dolphin. Sega Classics software lineup will also include: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Columns III, Phantasy Star II, Shinobi III Return of Ninja Master, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Toejam and Earl, Vectorman, and Virtua Fighter 2.

"RealOne Arcade provides new opportunities for the gaming industry to unlock their archives as well as a simple and compelling platform for Sega enthusiasts to play their all-time favorite games," said Ted Woolsey, Business Development Director, Games Division, RealNetworks, Inc. "We look forward to working with Sega.com to launch additional games for the PC and provide a seamless experience for an entire new generation of gamers."

Source: XenGamers