No Sega/Sammy Merger, DOA Online, and no PS2 Price Cut?

[kenshiro]

Looks like no Sega/Sammy merger. I didn't like it anyways. Maybe Namco or MS? Also Sony says maybe no price cut....but they said that last year too.....at the same time..

This week's issue of Japanese games magazine Famitsu contains the first information on two sequels Tecmo's got on the oven for later this year: a new Fatal Frame title, and an Xbox Live-compatible compilation of the first two games in the Dead or Alive series.

Dead or Alive Online will contain full ports of the first two DOA titles, which have so far seen release on the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and PS2. Dead or Alive 1 will be a straight port of the Saturn version, which was in turn a straight port of the original arcade game, but DOA2 is a bit of a different story. The second game be a complete remake, featuring Xbox-caliber audiovisuals and (we presume) the "attention to detail" on the female fighters you've come to expect from Tomonobu Itagaki and his staff at Team Ninja. Both titles will be fully Xbox Live compatible, so you'll be able to duke it out with friends from all over the country (world, even). No release date or price was announced, and Tecmo was quick to mention that this project is not the DOA Code: Cronus game they announced at last fall's Tokyo Game Show.

The new Fatal Frame, on the other hand, is a fairly orthodox sequel to last year's PS2/Xbox sleeper hit. Called Zero: The Crimson Butterfly in Japanese, the new game will star Mayu and Mio Amakura, two young twin sisters who are busy exploring the village of Minakami for reasons we're sure Tecmo will make clear once the fall release date draws nearer. It's a PS2-only title for now, and the game's only 30 percent complete, but Tecmo's confirmed that Fatal Frame's loopy attack system—featuring an eerie camera that sucks the life force out of monsters caught in its shutter—will make an encore appearance in the sequel.

Both games are expected to make their U.S. debut at the Electronic Entertainment Expo next week, so stay tuned for more information.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper reported today that Sega and slot-machine manufacturer Sammy have decided to give up on their merger negotiations after failing to come to an agreement on the details.

According to the report, the two companies ran into irreconcilable disagreements over the value of each other's assets, making a merger agreement impossible within a reasonable timeframe. A Sammy representative said as recently as May 1 that the asset-appraisal process was going smoothly on both sides and that an agreement was imminent.

Although they are through with Sammy, Sega will reportedly continue to entertain the merger offer rival game publisher Namco sent to them last month. The creators of Pac-Man and the Soul Calibur series had previously given Sega a May 9 deadline to respond to their merger proposal.

Nikkei says that Sega and Sammy will hold separate board meetings Thursday morning to finalize the decision and make an official announcement soon after. We'll have to see what happens next.

07-MAY-03
In an interview with the Reuters news service, Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai indicated that his company may not discount the PlayStation 2's retail price anytime soon, putting the chill on speculation that the system will be cut to $149 or $179 next week at their E3 press conference.

During the interview, Hirai commented that Nintendo and Microsoft's game-bundle packages were not really helping their overall sales. "We are very comfortable at the $199 price point," Hirai said. "The numbers are very healthy for the PS2 at the $199 price point."

The statements come just before the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the event where hardware price discounts are usually announced. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all unveiled such discounts at last year's show.

Many industry executives were expecting Round 2 to take place next week, with the PS2 going to $149, the Xbox matching Sony, and Nintendo's GameCube hitting the $99 price point. One such executive, THQ president Brian Farrell, told Reuters that the PS2's price doesn't matter as much as the system meeting Sony's shipment targets for 2003. "Whether Sony gets it at $199, $179 or $149, we're indifferent," he commented. "All we need is that 10.5 million units."

[Bysby]

Moving this to the Console Wars Forum.