SEGA says Shenmue III’s buzz “Shows that people love our legacy”

With the tremendous success of Shenmue III‘s Kickstarter, many fans hope that SEGA would respond in kind and announce HD ports of the first two Shenmue games. SEGA Europe’s Marketing Director Jon Rooke has acknowledged Shenmue III‘s success, saying that many fans of SEGA love their legacy and he wants to bring back the brand that many people fell in love with all those years ago.

“Yes, we want to innovate and back smartphones and virtual reality but our key purpose is to go back to what the brand used to stand for and I think the buzz around Shenmue 3 shows that people love our legacy…. Sega was an innovator, the Dreamcast was offering online gaming as early as 1998. But perhaps back then we were pushing boundaries a little too soon. Nowadays we know what we’re good at and the strategy is to be more gradual. Over the next few years, we want to use engaging content and marketing to remind the public why they fell in love with Sega in the first place.” — Jon Rooke

In addition to the Shenmue mention, Rooke has acknowledged the subpar quality of the recent string of Sonic the Hedgehog titles and believes that the Sonic games should go back to its roots.

“Sega has publically apologised to the fans as the quality of console games in the Sonic franchise hasn’t been acceptable over recent years. It’s been tough translating that iconic side scrolling 2D experience from the 90s into 3D but Sonic is still huge for us so the new games will be more inspired by how it played in its heyday.” — Jon Rooke 

You can read the full interview by clicking here. What did you think of Rooke’s comments? Sound off below!

Via Marketing Week