Kotaku: sega sammy

Sega Korea Is Gone, That's It, Bye Bye

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:00:00 MDT

Further proof that Sega Sammy is going through rough financial times? As of last Friday, SEGA subsidiary, Sega Korea Ltd. is no more. According to SEGA, "The said dissolution will have not significant impact on the Company's consolidated operating results." What about Sega Korea employees? They're shit outta luck. This comes hot on the heels of Sammy Europe Limited closing late last month and abandoning plans for a Sega Sammy amusement park in Yokohama. Last year, the company lost approximately $250 million, laid off 400 employees and shuttered over 100 arcades. Not a very good year.
Bye Bye Sega Korea [Sega Nerds]

Sega So Not Interested In (Another) Merger

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:30:00 MST

In the wake of big industry acquisitions and mergers like ActiBlizzard and the continuing EA/Take-Two dramas, Sega Sammy US chief executive Simon Jeffrey was asked by Reuters whether Sega were interested in getting in on any of that action:

That's not an area we want to play in right now. We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now.

So right. I'm sure there's a rule somewhere saying you can only be bought and merged once a decade.
Sega encouraged by strong "Mario & Sonic" sales [Reuters]

Sega To Lose Gobs Of Yen, 5% Of Staff; Wii Partly To Blame

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:40:01 MST

Game maker Sega's holding company, Sega Sammy Holdings, announced that the group's pachinko and arcade business were suffering, warning of a 26 billion yen (almost $244 million) loss for the year. That near quarter billion dollar loss, Reuters reports, is a result of tighter industry restrictions on the pachinko business in Japan and the Wii's impact on arcades overseas.

The company also said it's planning to lay off 400 employees at Sega's games division. The arcade division saw a profit of 132 million yen the year before, but plans to post a loss of 11.4 billion yen in the coming year. In times like these, when many people are about to find themselves without a job, we can always place blame on Shadow the Hedgehog. He must be responsible for at least some of this.

Sega Sammy sees loss in 2007/08, to cut 400 jobs [Reuters]

Pachinko Wii Game With Online Hitting Japan Soon

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:00:36 MST

Love those spinning silver balls! Sega Sammy's upcoming Wii title Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii will employ both Miis and Wii Wi-Fi for online rankings and in-game avatars. Titled Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii in English, the game will hit Japan this May. Interesting bit: Players can use the Wii-mote as a steering wheel to control the spinning balls. Earlier, SNK's US honcho stated that it didn't look like Nintendo was going to let third-party publishers include online in their games this year. Then again, he could've just been talking about America as a pachinko game probably isn't hitting the West anytime soon. Brian Ashcraft

Sega Sammy Pachinko Game [Wii Fanboy via 1Up]

Sega Sammy Does Hello Kitty

Mike Fahey — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:40:09 MST

Sanrio, who sit atop the throne of the mystic Hello Kitty cuteness empire, reached a content sharing agreement yesterday with Sega Sammy which will allow for the two companies to share characters. The news article states the agreement would be "paving the way for the mouthless feline to make her video game debut," though I doubt a character with almost 40 games listed at GameFaqs needs all that much paving. In fact Sega has already produced several HK games in Japan for the Dreamcast, including my favorite, Hello Kitty Lovely Fruit Park - the best damn fruit park game anywhere.

The two companies are also looking to strengthen their capital arrangement in the future, with Sega Sammy already owning a 13.98% stake in Sanrio.

While I can't see myself preordering a new Hello Kitty game despite owning a toaster that burns her sacred image into a variety of bread products, I wouldn't mind seeing her pop up in a Sonic game. Our spiky blue friend needs a new love interest, seeing as Cream the Rabbit is too young and Amy is a shameless pink hussy. Michael Fahey

Hello Kitty goes gaming [Gulf Daily News via Evil Avatar]