Sega Offers Half-Hearted Non-Apology For Massive Youtube Takedown; Promises Not To Do It Again (With Caveats)
from the it-wasn't-us,-it-was-the-'issue' dept
Remember last December when Sega was priming itself for a PSP Shining Force game and thought the best way to advertise the upcoming release was to take down anything and everything Shining Force-related on Youtube? Good times those, what with the takedowns and strikes against accounts and the hundreds of videos (some of which didn't even contain footage of the game) replaced with the well-known slash-mouthed emoticon and a quick "Sorry about that."
Now that the Shining Force game has been released, it appears that Sega is going to let things return to normal, or at least as normal as things can be after a massive takedown effort. Sega of America's Brand Manager offered the following apology diversionary statement of contrition half-hearted thanks and not-quite-promises.
Hey everyone,"Issue solved?" There was really no issue until the massive takedown effort began. Before that, everything seemed to be running fine. "Solved?" Once again, the issue was Sega's own making. It hardly seems proper that it take credit for "solving" it.
Thank you to all of our fans for waiting while we worked hard to get this issue solved. While SEGA may need to remove videos in rare cases, we’re happy to confirm that there are no further plans to remove Shining Force videos uploaded to Youtube by users living in North American and European territories. Additionally, if you live in these territories and your video was removed, please get in touch with us at communityteam@sega.com so that we can look into it for you.
SEGA believes strongly in our fans and we apologize for any inconvenience. You all are what keep us going – thank you!
And bully for "no further plans to remove Shining Force videos." That's rather specific, innit? "We have no further plans FOR THIS PARTICULAR TITLE, but we reserve the right to remove other videos of other games, but in rare cases only, mostly because our release schedule isn't quite as packed as it was 15 years ago."
This announcement was conveniently buried on the 28th page of the Sega forum post discussing the video takedowns. Not exactly shouting it from the rooftops, but I suppose whoever's manning the Sega email inbox is probably not in any hurry to be bombarded with demands SoA un-strike their Youtube accounts.
All the damage done by Sega's short-sighted IP March to the Sea isn't going to be undone by a half-hearted non-apology that refers to Sega's own destructive actions as an "issue" to be "solved." Someone needs to inform those further up the chain of command that promoting a new game in an established series generally works better when you don't antagonize fans of the previous games. Not only that, but Sega needs to start seeing these uploaders as useful allies, rather than the only thing standing between it and a successful video game release.
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You missed another caveat...
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Re: You missed another caveat...
To the rest of he world, well fuck you.
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Re: Re: You missed another caveat...
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One problem though...
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Re: One problem though...
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Re: One problem though...
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Re: One problem though...
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How will this work in once PS4 launches?
Any takedown of game video once the PS4 launches is going to get nasty fast.
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Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
Chances are I'll not buy any console anymore. The bright side is I'll spend less time gaming and much less money =D
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Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
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Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
... Mm... Raspberries.
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Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
However, I love the Zelda games, so I'm stuck getting Nintendo consoles (managed to get by w/o buying my own Wii, & am waiting for the next Zelda or a price drop -- if I can help it -- before getting a Wii U). I still managed to get addicted to Skyward Sword, though. However, if Zelda is EVER crippled by Always Online DRM (which would be retarded for a purely single player franchise like Zelda), I'll skip that game & more than likely write Nintendo to complain. If that requirement isn't on the packaging, I'll write the EFF or Popehat to see if I can get some Pro-Bono help to fight for my Property, First Sale, & other rights.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
Further, I've failed to catch on to how lazy Nintendo storytelling truly is. The only real storyteller was Shigesato Itoi and he's "retired", allowing the public to work on Mother 4.
The best thing you could do is honestly not buy any of the gaming consoles for these reasons:
Sony is horrible against tinkerers (remember their lawsuit against Geohot?)
Microsoft wants to end digital gaming by not allowing any used games to be played on their console (dumb move btw)
Nintendo has a weird relationship with social gaming by just pretending it doesn't exist. Oh, and copyright laws.
I just honestly prefer the PC but that's my own reason for enjoying an open system that is much better than consoles can offer now without being a PC.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
The environments & characters that populate them were mostly new as well (or, to be more specific, were drastically different from previous Zelda Forests, Volcanos & Deserts). & some of those enemies required you coming up w/ different strategies for different enemies. Just blindly swinging your sword won't work on most of them.
You're also not just searching for Zelda, you're literally a few steps behind her for much of the game.
It was an appropriate entry for the 25th Anniversary, as it took a different path & laid the ground work for a new Legend to explore.
One of the down sides most people point to (which didn't really bother me, because I rarely sequence break) was that SS is more linear than previous Zeldas. Some also see it as a Beta for the next title in the franchise, which may be why it was more linear (though, you did still have a lot of freedom to explore once you have the right items, as is true of most, if not all, Zeldas).
Also, I'm not a Social Gamer (believe it or not, I'm not on ANY of the Social Networking sites, at all; I post here & on one forum for one of my hobbies, & that is it). I prefer the one player games; I won't refuse to play 2 player, but I prefer my opponents in the same room w/ me.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
I have other games I needed to get around to finishing before re-restarting Skyward Sword.
Guess it's time to try Hero Mode...
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Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
Because you know any game released for that platform will work on your device.
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Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
Yes, especially since Steam doesn't force you to use online DRM to play single-player games! Oh wait...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: How will this work in once PS4 launches?
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Any publicity is good publicity.
So who's playing who, here?
It is however clear that Minion Cushing is playing with himself in imagining he's the valiant paladin up against evil overlord Sega. Put it in graphics, and that's the basic premise of nearly every video game. -- At least notice that Mike and Minions just LOVE to present themselves as able to offer advice to mega-corporations. They do it nearly daily, and the record of it being taken and acted upon? ... Near as anyone can say, zero.
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Re: Any publicity is good publicity.
Would you kill a child and say it's okay if an adopted child was given to take its place?
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And what a lovely parallel to this video
I think it speaks for itself.
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And I thought being a Sonic fan was hard.
As a person who lauds Sonic 3 & Knuckles as one of the best games ever made, I just don't feel anything anymore. I burned through my last emotion years ago.
Maybe Sega fears being replaced? I mean, I can't count on Sonic games anymore for my high speed platforming fix, so I've moved on to other games like The Fancy Pants Adventure and Freedom Planet. There's a painful irony in how Sega's fans carry the torch more skillfully than Sega does now.
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Let's not confuse the shitty sega.com with sega.jp
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Wow, Sony and EA better look out, looks like they might have some up and coming competition in the 'most contempt held for their customers' challenge.
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Step 1: Take down videos of old game
Step 2: Apologize and allow videos of new game
Step 3: Profit
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Re:
It's:
I guess a FTFY goes here...
Though, in this case, I know what Step 3 is: Get fans to actually like the game enough to upload videos of it or at least do a Let's Play of it... erm... or in Corporate-ese: advertise it for free
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Thank you to all of your staff for waiting while we worked hard to get this issue solved. While we the people may need to pirate your gamnes on rare cases, we’re happy to confirm that there are no further plans to pirate Shining Force, for users living in North American and European territories. Additionally, all of the people who live in these territories, accept your apology for treating us poorly, even though it's our money that fuels your company.
We believes strongly in SEGA and we apologize for any inconvenience. You all are what keep us going – thank you!
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Re:
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Creeping hyphenitis
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Re: Creeping hyphenitis
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Hey Sega,
Thank you all for waiting while I figured out what's your real priority and how it relates to me. While I may have been a huge fan of your products, and in rare cases even shared my great personal experience with others via youtube, I'm happy to confirm that I have no further plans to ever touch anything even remotely Sega-related in any territory ever again. Additionally, as I live in one of the territories you like to terrorize with your business model, please stop trying to get in touch with me, so I don't ever have to look at any of your products anymore.
I believe strongly in owning what I bought as well as in my right to share my personal experiences with anyone and in any way I wish and I apologize for ever thinking you might actually be happy that someone really enjoyed your products.
You are what keeps me going away from you and other "IP-intensive" companies like you. Thank you!
Best regards,
no longer your fan
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Not an apology
There's no words for this.
Sega took down tons of accounts, got many accounts banned. Just to ''get the trailers up on the search rankings''..
And now they say ''Hey we're sorry, but now that we're planning to take the strikes off from your account we're cool, right?'' .. No things don't work that way. I think the community should say that ''THIS KIND OF MARKETING ISN'T ALRIGHT''. I've seen many people go ''oh they apologized. Now they're cool again''. Those guys are just way too naive, and gaming companies feast on their cash.
I for one will NEVER plan on buying another sega product. I'm sorry. The guys who suffered cause of selfish marketing ideas by sega should get more than a half-hearted ''apology''.
And many fans of the ''shining series'' were banned and called names cause they didn't take it sitting down.
This is the most anti-consumer thing I have EVER seen, and I think this thing was far worse than day one DLC or any of that shizz.
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honstly techdirt, i expected more from you...
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