One of my favorite games, NiGHTS, is headed to Nintendo Wii. And I, as a loyal Sega drone, am obligated to buy it (oh, and I guess I need a Wii for that too). Now you know why I’ve been talking up EDTVs so much.
But, Sega today announced that NiGHTS is also coming to PlayStation 2. The PS2 version will be a remake of the original on Sega Saturn (the Wii version is a new generation of NiGHTS designed for the Wiimote).
Source: The Magicbox
One thing that boggles however me, is why Yuji Naka had to leave Sonic Team before all these gems came out… bringing NiGHTS to PS2 was as trivial as the rest of the Sega Ages lineup, and could have been outsourced… just like Sega Ages. NiGHTs on the Wii will probably outsell Sonic & The Secret Rings (which, like Sonic Heroes before it, wasn’t a strong seller).
Yuji Naka left because of internal meddling with AM2 and Sonic Team.
Sammy wanted to fold AM2 into the divison responsible for Atomiswave and Sonic Team was on track to be disbanded because of (well deserved) poor reviews and sales of the token 3D Sonic games on the new platforms, though it stretches back to the Gamecube games and the horrid Shadow the Hedgehog.
As far as Nights being a part of Sega Ages, Nights was never considered for inclusion.
The politics of Sega internally isn’t ever clear, I don’t try to follow it simply because we’re often only hearing half the story. Sega leadership has been clashing with Sega developers ever since the Genesis got traction… Sammy didn’t change things in that regard.
I never said that NiGHTS was slated for Sega Ages, I only pointed out that it was something they could have taken on without using Sonic Team’s resources. It doesn’t make a bunch of sense if Sonic Team is having trouble making hits, to have them making niche, Ages-style ports.
It’s not that Sonic Team isn’t trying, it’s just that Sammy isn’t as generous with resources as Sega used to be and their staff keeps quitting to start other companies, severely hindering ability.
The fact that Sonic Team is working on NiGHTS is proof that they’re getting desperate, but I was actually hoping for a good port of Burning Rangers, Fighting Vipers 1-2, Fighters Megamix, or even the Panzer Dragoon series.