- Sega Americas and Europe CEO Shuji Utsumi discussed the company’s philosophy in a recent interview
- He says Sega “needs innovation” to stay relevant
- He also confirmed that there won’t be any more mini retro consoles
There’s some bad news for retro gaming fans, with Sega U.S. and Europe CEO Shuji Utsumi saying the company will no longer be producing any mini retro consoles.
This quote comes from a recent interview The Guardian In it, Utsumi discusses the company’s current philosophy. “Gamers love Sega because we show gamers new styles, attitudes and lifestyles,” he said. “I want to get that feeling back. But we’re not just a nostalgic company, we need to innovate.
This approach seems evident in Sega’s recent output, which includes a number of successful new games such as Metaphor: Fantasia In addition to new entries in long-standing fan-favorite series, e.g. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. The company has also had success in multimedia, with new Sonic the Hedgehog 3 The film has already done well at the box office.
When asked if the company would launch any new mini consoles (presumably to follow up the popular console) Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega Drive to those outside the United States) Mini, he responded simply: “I’m not going in a mini direction. That’s not who I am. I want to embrace the modern gamer.”
The Guardian also noted that Sega later clarified that this meant there were currently no plans to release more mini consoles, which would be a bit disappointing for those looking forward to a potential console. Hybrid Dreamcast Mini or Sega Saturn Mini.
Even so, Utsumi ended the interview by reiterating his forward-looking views. “We’re not a retro company,” he said. “We really appreciate our heritage and we cherish it, but at the same time we want to offer something new – otherwise we’ll be history.”