Shuji Utsumi, president of Sega of America & Europe, talks to us about the future of Sega and the past of the video game market in a long interview with VGP Play.
VGP Playthe free Italian streaming platform dedicated to the world of video games, is expanding its offering with interviews with hundreds of leading figures in the video game market, including Shuji Utsumithe current COO of Sega Enterprises, president and CEO of Sega of America & Europeas well as a former leading figure of Sony Interactive Entertainment, remembered as the main person responsible for the launch of the PS1 on the world market.
Very interesting, for example, are Utsumi’s words on Sega’s future strategywhich in his opinion was previously too focused on Japan, while now it is also focusing much more on the West.
“When I rejoined SEGA, the company was paying too much attention to the Japanese market. I was convinced that beneath SEGA sat a sea of treasures,” said Utsumi.”
“In short, from a brand point of view, SEGA is a very strong company, and I have always been convinced that the Western public wanted a great return for SEGA. I wanted to see SEGA dedicate itself to global audiences, make great video games and publish them immediately all over the world, and I’m talking about series like Sonic, Persona and even Like a Dragon. We recently published the eighth chapter of Yakuza, we worked on the Persona series and on Persona 3R, so I would say that we are in the middle of the path that led us to present the return of many historical titles at the last The Game Awards.”
Ken Kutaragi’s foresight for the first PS1
While looking back, Utsushi spoke about how Ken Kutaragi’s vision for the first PS1 was far-sighted, given that he aimed to create not only a console, but also a device for the living room, a concept which as we know was further developed expanded by Sony and other companies in future generations.
“When we presented the PlayStation pitch to Mr. Ohga (the CEO of Sony at the time), we had nothing in hand, in fact, we only had the audio chip of the console and a small division of Sony Music that made software. This was All. ”
But when we gave the presentation for Ohga, Ken Kutaragi said: “Our computer will not be like those of Nintendo and SEGA, it will be like Microsoft: PlayStation will become the main device in the living room“. The funny thing is that Kutaragi wasn’t a big shot at Sony back then, he was Assistant Director or something; but he told it like it was a huge thing… he kind of understood that the industry would grow to to become… in short, he understood the potential of the video game business ever since.”
VGP Play the free platform for video game enthusiasts
The interview conducted by VGP Play also touches on many other interesting topics, from the origins of the first PlayStation and the heated rivalry with Nintendo, moving on to the end of the Dreamcast and Sega’s future strategy. You can watch it in full at this address.
For those who don’t know, VGP Play is a free platform which, upon registration, allows you to consult a rich encyclopedia of video interviews dedicated to the founding fathers of video games. In this case we have offered you the words of Shuji Utsumi of Sega, but interventions by many other important figures in the market are available, such as Charles Martinetthe famous voice actor of Super Mario and Ken Levine, the creator of Bioshock, already available for viewing. Many more are on the way during the month of June, including Don Daglow, Tom Hall, Bill Mensch, Peter Moore, Makoto Uchida and Michiru Yamane.
#Segas #future #strategy #successful #launch #PS1 #interview #Shuji #Utsumi #VGP #Play