SEGA Plans More Remakes for the Next Three Years, Starts with Shinobi

Video game publisher SEGA has announced that it plans to remake more classic titles for current generation platform, after the announcement that Virtua Fighter 5 was getting a definitive version called Final Showdown.

Mike Hayes, who is the president of SEGA West, has talked to VG247 and said that, “We constantly review the IP we’ve got in the locker because that’s one of Sega’s big advantages. And when we bring it out and do it properly, like re-imagine Sonic or doing Sega Rally Arcade Online and stuff like that, we have success. Some of it when we try and do it, like Golden Axe on PS3 and 360, it didn’t do so well.”

The executive says that one good example of how his company will follow this revival strategy is the upcoming Nintendo 3DS based remake of Shinobi, which will have modern mechanics and concepts behind it but will strive to offer the same vibe as the original.

Hayes added, “we carefully look at each IP and every month, we review the locker of IP and think, ‘how could we release those and if so, what are we going to? Will it be a big game, digital, free-to-play?’ We constantly look at it. What I can say is that you will continue to see a reinvention of classic Sega IP coming to various platforms over the next three-five years.”

The executive mentioned Golden Axe as being one franchise that might be further exploited in the coming years but has also said that there are no plans to create more games in the Shenmue series at the moment.

Nostalgia has become important to gaming in the last few years and it's now much easier than ever to deliver remade old experienced using XBLA and other similar services for a price that is lower than retail.