Back in the day when Sega announced it was getting out of the hardware business, there were a whole bunch of rumors flying about that said MS was looking to acquire Sega. I was just thinking what do you guys think things would be like right now if that acquisition had been made? I already posted my thoughts in the Sega Megaton thread (http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=5113), but I thought this topic deserved it's own thread. Here's my post:

I remember in the days that Sega announced they were going to discontinue the Dreamcast, there were a whole bunch of rumors that MS was going to buy Sega outright. The rumors only got bigger when Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, Sega GT, and Panzer Dragoon all went exclusively to the XBox. That's when I remember hearing that MS put up an offer for Sega, but Sega refused to budge and be bought out. They believed they could be a platform agnostic 3rd party developer at the level of EA or Activision (and Ubisoft, but they weren't nearly as big in those days). In theory that sounded like a good feasible idea, but Sega's biggest problem wasn't solved with this new business strategy. They still were totally strapped for cash! They didn't have the capital to properly fund their studios and so there games dive-bombed in quality hurting their bottom-line even more. Finally, Sega started looking for companies to partner with or to get bought out by, but nobody worth a damn was willing to step up to the plate for a company that had fallen so far. MS was out and Sammy was in. Fast forward a few years and we still have a languishing Sega.

MS wasn't able to buy Sega because of a lack of trying, but because of classic Sega mismanagement that has plagued the company since the Sega 32X and Sega CD. I totally agree with Legend. Sega and MS should've partnered up so that they could brand their console the Sega Xbox. They had partnered with the DC when MS provided Window CE for the system. Even the Xbox controller was basically a DC controller. That partnership would've given MS instant credibility in the Japanese market (or at least slightly better PR in the East) and would've provided Sega with exactly what it needed: CASH. Sega would've been able to hold on to the developers that made the Dreamcast such a fun system, and they're games would've been backed with a proper marketing budget, unlike the DC.

I can tell you right now as a huge PS3 fan and Sony fan in general, I would be all over the Xbox if it got proper sequels to games like Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia. As much as I adore Sony for stuff like MGS, GT, ICO/Shadow of the Colossus, and FF, none of those games make my top 3 list; Skies and Shenmue do (as does Chrono Trigger). Oh, if only....

You may as well ask what if Sony and Nintendo had stayed friends or what if MS had Bought Nintendo when they had the chance.

Apart from all Sega games being xbox exclusive I don't know what else would be affected. The only thing I can think of is that this would have increased the xbox's appeal in Japan.

Then it would be Dreamcast 360, EoS...

nah DreamBox 360 :)

i would go for x drive.

im sure MS were lining segas pockets for a long time but poor sales of almost every game made it become a waste of time for them, The xbox market isnt very friendly to segas bright, quick and shallow games, games such as Space Channel 5 and Rez wouldnt sell on an MS console, but did reasonably well on the PS2.

As it was in the early days of the xbox, JSR, Panzer and Crazy taxi were the only games i wanted for the xbox (and taxi turned out to be terrible), even now those titles stood out above all the other goudy FPS games, the lack of Sega games like that makes the 360 have almost no interest to me at all.

Sega belong on Nintendo consoles, which is a very strange thing t say really!

Sega Xbox would of definitely sold more than the Xbox. But I don't know that MS is interested in Sega anymore. A lot of what they were buying at the time was an image. Now MS has forged their own image and the only reason I can see for a Sega buyout would be to acquire new development studios and possibly to get their hands on whatever good developers Sega still has.

MS would have had some difficulties integrating Sega and handling all of its operations (like arcades). While Sega would have given MS more credibility in the video game market, I don't think the unit would be profitable if it was forced to make Xbox exclusive titles. I also think many of the remaining 'good' developers would have left more quickly leaving MS a division that was Sega in name only. (This was one of the problems with their purchase of Rare.)

Microsoft should have bought Sega and kept the Sega name and franchises. That would have greatly helped their chances in Japan, and they could have had Sega create all the games that would appeal to the Japanese while Microsoft could make their shooter for NA. The Sega name would have given them instant credibility in all territories. Sega's problem has always been they don't have enough money, and being bought my Microsoft would instantly solve that problem. I would have certainly been more interested in the Sega system than a Microsoft one.

To awnser the question: then I would be a Microsoft fanboy.

I like Sega where their at. Not the bad games, but in the scheme of things. I would only like Nintendo to buy them out becuase 1)They'd make better games and 2)Have Sonic AND Tails in Smash. Flying Batterie stage FTW.