Sega unveiled a new initiative this morning to celebrate the anniversaries of some of its properties, including several that started life on the Saturn.
Sega launched a website and a short trailer for its “Sega Universe” brand that highlights nine series:
- Fantasy Zone (40th anniversary)
- Out Run (40th anniversary)
- Streets of Rage (35th anniversary)
- Rent A Hero (35th anniversary)
- Guardian Heroes (30th anniversary)
- Nights into Dreams (30th anniversary)
- Dynamite Deka (30th anniversary)
- Sakura Wars (30th anniversary)
- SGGG (25th anniversary)
Guardian Heroes, Nights into Dreams and Sakura Wars debuted on the Saturn in 1996. And while Dynamite Deka’s anniversary is for its arcade launch, its first console port was on the Saturn where it was named Die Hard Arcade in the West.
Sega’s Japanese social media accounts called Sega Universe a brand for developing entertainment content to celebrate the IPs of yesteryear.
Yosuke Okunari clarified on X that it’ll shine a light on classic works with visuals, music, fashion and more. Okunari has been credited with “merchandise planning” on several Sega games in recent years. He’s worked in marketing at Sega since 1994.
The trailer shows brief shots of what appear to be a Nights into Dreams poster and a Sakura Wars T-shirt. At one point, a new remix of Nights’ most well-known song “Dreams Dreams” is heard.
The video description credits a DJ named MPC GIRL USAGI with creating the track, a graffiti artist named SORA who likely designed the poster, and a graphic designer named Kenya Ebina with designing the T-shirt. All three people are seen in the video.
The company’s Western social media accounts haven’t mentioned the brand yet, which may indicate that it’ll be a Japan-only initiative. But encouragingly, the Sega Universe website has an English version.
Okunari also has been involved in ports and remasters of old games for newer consoles, including the Sega Ages line over the years. Whether the Sega Universe initiative leads to something similar remains to the seen.
If ports or remasters are in the plans, Sega isn’t hinting at them. Its press release for Sega Universe says that the company has positioned its transmedia strategy as a key priority, and through Sega Universe, it “will continue to promote multifaceted initiatives that transcend the world of gaming, featuring IPs that shine brightly across generations and beyond the screen,” via machine translation.
The press release highlights Sakura Wars, Nights into Dreams, Streets of Rage and Out Run as “major IPs” celebrating anniversaries this year. It doesn’t mention the other five series featured on the Sega Universe website.
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