Rumour: Sega To Rebrand The Xbox Series X In Japan? Don't Count On It

I have to confess I thought it was the Sega branding of Xbox in Japan. The whole thing just makes so much sense since Xbox do so poorly in that territory they have nothing to lose by letting Sega be the face of it.
I can't imagine what it is if it isn't that... Something probably really minor like a Sega Saturn Mini...

Sonic Adventure 3 baby let's go!

I didn't even know this was the rumour. I heard something about Sega that was meant to be happening but never got round to checking out what it was.

This would've made some sense

Seems highly unlikely but I'd be down for a new Sega console tbh

More Sonic games on the cellphone.

Honestly although I’m curious again all this stuff is getting way too over hyped by the press and marketing. They need to dial back a bit.

Developer acquisition?
Edit: Persona?

The only thing Sega could do to get me excited is to sell themselves to Microsoft or Nintendo. They have iconic IP, but outside of Yakuza, Sega proper has become a terrible developer. Their best output has been from Atlus, and those games are still very niche. A niche that Microsoft might be looking to fill...

Never thought it would be series X...lockhart could be a different story.

@pip_muzz
The japanese Scarlet Nexus trailer already features the Xbox Series X branding prominently. This was never a credible rumor. I still want to know where is it stated that this has nothing to do with MS.

@Grot

I completely agree. Sega has actually been a very sub-par developer over the recent years. The Sonic games, in particular, have been (mostly) trash for many years now.

They do have Yakuza & a lot of IP, and it’s clear Microsoft wants to make a statement in Japan....but, I’m not sure I see it.

Microsoft & Sega did team up for the Dreamcast many years ago. But I think it would make more sense if Nintendo bought them.

@KelticDevil Their best Sonic game in over a decade was made by a tiny team of Sonic fans. It really says a lot about the state of Sega’s internal studios.

Again, many people are missing the importance of Japanese pride in their culture and game design philosophy here. It is exponentially more probable for Sega or any other Japanese publisher to collaborate or join forces with other Japanese companies than with a Western one.

Why nobody seems to be mentioning the possibility of a Sega/Nintendo collaboration (as in full-on first-party support) is beyond me. As I've said before over at Nintendo Life and elsewhere, not only have these two companies enjoyed very friendly relations and collaborated on numerous projects over the years since Sega left console-making, but the timing is right. The Switch isn't hurting by any means sales-wise, but its first-party game releases have drastically slowed over the past year-plus (Animal Crossing: New Horizons was months behind schedule, and while no doubt more announcements are imminent, the new Paper Mario title is the only first-party game definitely slated for the rest of 2020).

Part of that is obviously due to the effects COVID-19 has had on the entire industry, slowing or cancelling countless projects and trade shows. But with both Microsoft and Sony releasing brand new, more powerful hardware this holiday season, Nintendo knows full well they're going to have to answer with something dynamite in order to prevent the Switch and its eventual releases from being pushed "below the fold".

Could Sega unveil a new console of their own? While they absolutely have the first-party AAA IPs to support one (arguably more than Nintendo, even), it's highly unlikely because their higher-ups made so many devastating mistakes from the 32X to the Dreamcast, ranging from disastrous marketing decisions (Saturn's early launch) to meddling in the work of their internal development teams (Team Camelot) to alienating crucial third party publishers (Working Designs) to having absolutely no copy protection (Dreamcast). In short, they bungled their way from the top of the console food chain to almost going the way of Atari. Given how averse they've been to even making anything other than Sonic-related games since then, it's almost impossible to see them taking on the sort of financial risk that a new console entails.

But a first-party partnership with the likes of Nintendo, where they wouldn't bear the risks involved in developing and marketing new hardware, is much more plausible, and the potential benefits for everyone involved...including gamers...are tantalizing. In any case, we'll all find out what's going on very soon.

@AtlanteanMan I don’t see a Nintendo Partnership, because it would be Nintendo wanting to make the announcement as well. Especially in Japan. Nintendo extremely hush hush in comparison. I just don’t see a Nintendo/SEGA one without Nintendo being part of the interview. It could be a different Japanese company for sure though. I just feel like this is Sega only announcement period.

@Grot

Great point.

@mousieone It's possible that Nintendo is simply waiting to make a joint announcement. Nothing has been said or done that would prevent this from being the case, and as you said Nintendo has a reputation for being tight-lipped right up until official announcements. But again, my post along with anyone else's is just speculation, and we'll all learn what it is in a few days.

Yeah... that's absolutely NEVER going to happen. I'll believe that, when I see it, which is going to be never...

@AtlanteanMan And what you are missing is that Microsoft and Sega have worked on hardware together before, namely on the Dreamcast. The entire OS and game development environment was based on a derivative of Windows 98, called Windows CE. And after them leaving the hardware business, many of the games who were supposed to either release on the Dreamcast or on its potential successor, became some of the first OG Xbox titles.

So, even though this rumor itself is highly unlikely, it isn't all that strange that Sega would work together with Microsoft.

@gingataisen didn't know that info about the trailer. That does sort of rule that out as a possibility then.

Could be anything, but I'm hoping for a Sega Streaming service, a la EA Access, with games going back to the Master System up to things like Persona and Yakuza. Not likely i know, but they'd have MY 10 bucks a month, lol

I also read the rumour and I thought it would be Microsoft buying Sega although I'd prefer that they bought Koei Tecmo.

If a new SEGA console is annouced, even it it a Japan only Xbox I will sell my car to afford to import it

@pip_muzz Sega were never successful in Japan with their home consoles either. The Saturn was the only thing that came close, and it’s the system that caused their downfall. I doubt sticking Sega’s name on an Xbox console will do anything to change opinions.

@Royalblues In theory, it's just Xbox now. Series X is the new model. If you look at a Series X game box art it just says Xbox above and below in small print "Xbox One X/Series X/...", the supported models. I like that because it makes this odd Xbox branding easier.

Phil Spencer travelled to Japan and he is interested in Japanese games. That's something. Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games are now available on Xbox and I'm sure that more is to come.

If Japanese don't like mouthfuls then why "Super Nintendo Entertainment System"? Oh well, it was Super Famicom there.

@Royalblues Series X is now Xbox Emerald. Valuable, powerful, simple.
And boom - brand fixed. I'll even let ya have it for free, Redmond... just be sure to send me the royalty checks in the mail.

@FragRed

I completely agree. Sega was always bigger in America than it was in Japan. This is why I don’t get it if Microsoft would partner with Sega.

Plus, Sega has been a horrible developer over the years.

@Royalblues

Who said we’re in a ?!$&ikg pickle?! We’re doing just fine. Thanks.

And they will name it whatever the hell they want to name it because they can & they have more money than god.

It’s called Series X. It’s very simple, actually.

@Royalblues No worries. I was wondering what the name of Scarlett would be since it was announced. Xbox 4 wasn't an option because of what you said. Xbox 2 was a weird choice. Because they want to build that compatibility ecosystem and there are already four numbered PS consoles they needed something more inclusive.

Just Xbox is fine, 'Series X" is not that bad and I guess we'll see Series S next if Lockhart exists and the following generation Series X2... Sticking to just "Xbox" playable on "Series..." is a great idea.

It's a new SEGA handheld that features Xbox console streaming and xcloud.

@KelticDevil Yeah that’s also true. A lot of their developers from the days of being in the hardware business have long since left and their own in house operations were scaled right back as a result of leaving the hardware business.

It's obviously about the Skies of Arcadia remaster where we all have been waiting for!

Microsoft is a laughingstock in Japan right now. They need to do something different this gen.

It's a micro Game Gear the size of a joy-con...