Sega’s President Discusses Revitalizing “Rock & Roll” to Compete with Nintendo’s “Pop Music”

Following an evening filled with exciting SEGA announcements at The Game Awards, the newly appointed president and COO, Shuji Utsumi, sat down with Eurogamer to discuss his vision for the future.

The discussion covered everything from Utsumi’s previous experience with SEGA to the upcoming revival projects, as well as the announcements made during The Game Awards. And, of course, there was a slight jab aimed at Nintendo for good measure — albeit a somewhat lighthearted one.

When he reflected on the numerous SEGA franchises that have remained inactive over the years, Utsumi began to contemplate how they ended up in that predicament. “SEGA’s identity was to create rock & roll,” the president of the company stated, “in contrast to Nintendo. Nintendo’s akin to pop music, pleasant tunes, jazz…”.

This comparison might not be entirely baseless — the sentiment behind the “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” campaign is certainly more rock and roll compared to Nintendo’s comparatively tame “Play it Loud!” campaign — yet it’s amusing to hear the freshly appointed executive make such a comparison all these years later. Come on, who would really want to be labeled as “Pop music” over rock and roll?

It’s this old-school SEGA spirit — or, as Utsumi puts it, “‘If you have attitude, SEGA’s the company for you, rather than Nintendo'” — that the company president hopes to revive with its current and future releases. “We have an incredible amount of value in our content at SEGA, as well as other IPs, so we’re attempting to breathe new life into it with a touch of hip-hop flair now.”

Classic rock sprinkled with a hint of hip-hop, huh? Sounds like a rather catchy combination.

How is the company going about this? Through a series of revivals, a new Sonic Racing game, another Virtua Fighter, and even more Yakuza. Hmm, let’s wait and see what emerges from the “pop” scene before we decide which playlist to queue up.

What do you think of this comparison? A playful jab or an accurate description? Share your thoughts in the comments.