Massive Sega Leak Reveals Motion Control Plans

Kris Erickson • Sep 22, 2009 • Comments (0)

A whole bunch of juicy information has leaked today, thanks to a Sega employee who mistakenly put minutes from a meeting with Sony live on the corporate website. Normally, files placed in this folder are intended for journalists and members of the press, but somehow the document ended up being included with the other PR materials. The meeting was between SCEA executive Robert Dyer and Sega of America, presumably to work out details of upcoming strategy to help the publisher align its game releases with Sony marketing.

Among the most interesting details discussed was the upcoming motion controller, which will apparently have a spring 2010 launch, followed by a hardware bundle in September 2010. Sony also said during the meeting that the company expects to sell between 4-5 million of the motion control units worldwide, although they did not give a time frame. Sega representatives asked for a list of Sega franchises that might be well-suited to the device, and Virtua Tennis was given as an example.

Among other amazing details to come from the meeting minutes was a Sony evaluator's opinion on Alpha Protocol: Sony felt that an early build of Sega's upcoming action RPG Alpha Protocol was too difficult and 'didn't feel like an RPG'. The evaluator discussed Mass Effect as an example of a successful action RPG, presumably for Sega to emulate.
Other bombshells include the possibility of a PS2 emulator for the PS3, as well as the release of Sega's Yakuza titles as digital downloads from a special new 'import' section of the PSN.

Read the full minutes below for all of the leaked info from the Sega/Sony meeting.

According to SCEA, Sega's Virtua Tennis would make a good contender for motion control on the PS3.

Objectives of Meeting
Dyer agreed to regular quarterly meetings with SOA

Sony PS3
SCEA reiterated plans to sell 13 million PS3s this year
Big announcement back half of year they can't talk about (potentially price cut of PS3 to reach hardware goals)
SCEA commented on indexing between PS3 and 360 SKUs, should be around 2:1 to garner most favorable treatment.

Motion Controller
Spring 2010 launch (March in JP)
No bundle/pricing details yet, should come Sept 1
Plan on selling 4-5MM units WW
SCEA agreed to provide a list of Sega IP that would work well with the motion controller, Virtua Tennis was an example
Motion Controller support allows easy way to differentiate PS3 SKU
Other differentiation opportunities include PSP/PS3 interoperability - think of features that would make users want to buy both PS3 and PSP SKUs.

Alpha Protocol
Michael Foster, product evaluator, said AP felt barely RPG. Initial level too challenging for players. "Mass Effect felt more RPG."
Review notes sent to John Merlino a few weeks prior. After meeting Gerald mentioned AP is a high priority for his team.

Planet 51
Sell in of PS3 SKU - SCEA noted that other movie titles on PS3 had underperformed as well (inc. Transformers) this cycle.
Dyer suggests contacting Susan at Walmart and asking what she wants in the pack to sell this SKU (movie tix etc)
Other possibilities are Hybrid movie disc (BD 25 or 50 with Game and Movie on same disc).

Bayonetta
Collectors edition with Bayonetta Action Figure
Novo recommended launching PSN demo around Xmas based off a Jan 5th Ship date with 2-3 week run out to launch.
3-4 weeks is usually ideal demo timing with fresh content every week leading up to launch (trailers, insider video about PG heritage, video blogs).

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
HOME, Olympic destination would garner a lot of positive attention from SCEA
Should be doing same with Bayonetta, Marvel etc. Easy to launch in all territories.
HOME merchandizing opportunities (clothes etc).

Sonic Racing
Open to DLC to differentiate PS3 SKU - not ratchet and clank but other characters
maybe characters from Rare or Fable universes

Yakuza
Could put Japanese games directly on PSN for download in a special Japanese Import section (pricing $9.99 to $39.99 for full game).
Might need to localize menus at least with subtitles.
SCEA interested in helping on MKTG side if they can have period of exclusivity.

AVP
Another great HOME candidate
AVP avatars
Hybrid BD disc with movie

Iron Man 2
Great candidate for HOME space - explore Tony Stark's lab etc.
Should have one for Marvel in general.

PSU2
Could do bundle at GameStop with PSP 30-35K units on UMD, Go, or both.

Valkyria 1937
Could bundle with PSP as well.

Vanquish and Aliens: CM
Opportunity for PS3/PSP interoperability (see Eidos Batman, Army of Two, Assassin's Creed for good examples).
If we offer that SCEA would be really interested in having us at their booth next E3.

Thor
SCEA would like a look at the code soon.

Sonic Anniversary
Could put out collectors edition with all old sonic games on one BD disc.
"Best of Sonic" for around $99.
SCEA would love PSN exclusive power ups/different game modes (like Castlevania's flip it over/backwards)

PS2 emulator for PS3 (confidential)
SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc)
For co Marketing money show PS3 controller on TV ads - similar to EA Madden Spots, NCAA, etc...

London Olympics

Perfect opportunity for Motion Controller integration.

Dreamcast Digital Download Titles

If we provide a list of DC titles SCEA will let us know which ones they're interested in having exclusively.

If we give them a long period of exclusivity they'll give us more marketing support.

PSP Titles

For SKU differentiation it's best to offer features that are slightly different from PS3 version.

Titles that are coming up on PSP are Assassin's Creed II, GTA China Wars, Resident Evil, Little Big Planet - all massive franchises.

SCEA has a specific PSP deck which they can send up with their hardware director for a chat.

[Source: Neogaf]

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Massive Sega Leak Reveals Motion Control Plans

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