Simon Jeffery

Last updated

Simon Jeffery is the chief publishing officer of ngmoco's Plus+ Publishing group. [1]

Similar to EA Publishing Partners group, Plus+ Publishing is a combined technology, App Store publishing and custom support play for iPhone and iPod touch developers. It will launch its first products with the rollout of the 3.0 operating system for those devices. Prior to this, Jeffery was the president of Sega of America from 2004 to 2009. He was president of LucasArts between 2000 and 2003, and a director at the company for three years beforehand. Prior to joining LucasArts, Jeffery worked in a number of marketing, business and development roles for Virgin Interactive and Electronic Arts.

At Sega, Jeffery plans to recruit Western development houses to work with Japanese Sega IP and strengthening Sega's game production in the West in general. [2] At E3 2008 Jeffery told Sega fans there is not going to be a new console from Sega, and no current plans to develop a Shenmue 3. This kills off hope of a Dreamcast 2 and downheartens many Sega fans who still believed it would happen. [3]

Jeffery's main accomplishment during his tenure at LucasArts was forging new relations with external developers to fully develop the Star Wars gaming IP, such as Pandemic Studios, Planet Moon Studios, The Collective, Raven Software and BioWare. Several of LucasArts' most revered and successful Star Wars games were launched during this period, including Rogue Squadron , Jedi Knight II , Star Wars: Battlefront , and Knights of the Old Republic .

However, his goal of turning around a creative original IP slump at the company was never fully realized. According to Jeffery, LucasArts had too heavily relied on its Star Wars license, but successful new IP failed to materialize. Games such as Gladius and RTX Red Rock did not achieve critical acclaim or great sales; follow-ups to classic LucasArts adventure games, Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels and Sam & Max: Freelance Police were cancelled, to much dismay of the fans. (An online petition to save Freelance Police got over 31000 signatures.)

Simon Jeffery later became the subject of several fan animations in the LucasArts fan community, often depicted as a Jesus-like figure. Jeffery is a big Star Wars fan and once claimed to have seen A New Hope 93 times.

Related Research Articles

Sonic Team is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for its namesake long-running Sonic the Hedgehog series and games such as Nights into Dreams and Phantasy Star Online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreamcast</span> Home video game console

The Dreamcast is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast's 2001 discontinuation ended Sega's 18 years in the console market.

<i>Shenmue</i> (video game) 1999 action-adventure game

Shenmue is a 1999 action-adventure game developed by AM2 of CRI and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It follows the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he sets out in revenge for the murder of his father in 1980s Yokosuka, Japan. The player explores an open world, fighting opponents in brawler battles and encountering quick time events. The environmental detail was considered unprecedented, with numerous interactive objects, a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules and various minigames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yu Suzuki</span> Japanese video game designer

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensional sprite-scaling games that used "taikan" motion simulator arcade cabinets, such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run and After Burner, and pioneering polygonal 3D games such as Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, which are some of the games besides others from rival companies during that era credited with popularizing 3D graphics in video games; as well as the critically acclaimed Shenmue series. As a hardware engineer, he led the development of various arcade system boards, including the Sega Space Harrier, Model 1, Model 2 and Model 3, and was involved in the technical development of the Dreamcast console and its corresponding NAOMI arcade hardware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Game Artists</span> Video game developer

United Game Artists (UGA) was a subsidiary of Sega headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, a video game developer who had experience with Sega's AM3 division. After separating with Kenji Sasaki to form AM Annex, Mizuguchi left Sasaki's team to form another division. This studio would later be known as Sega Consumer Development 4 (CS4) and Research and Development #9 while a department of Sega, before becoming UGA as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sega.

In the history of video games, the sixth generation era is the era of computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming devices available at the turn of the 21st century, starting on November 27, 1998. Platforms in the sixth generation include consoles from four companies: the Sega Dreamcast (DC), Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2), Nintendo GameCube (GC), and Microsoft Xbox. This era began on November 27, 1998, with the Japanese release of the Dreamcast, which was joined by the PlayStation 2 on March 4, 2000, the GameCube on September 14, 2001 and the Xbox on November 15, 2001, respectively. On March 31, 2001, the Dreamcast was among the first to be discontinued. Xbox in 2006, GameCube in 2007 and PlayStation 2 was the last, in January 2013. Meanwhile, the seventh generation of consoles started on November 22, 2005, with the launch of the Xbox 360.

<i>Jet Set Radio</i> 2000 video game

Jet Set Radio is a 2000 action game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. The player controls a member of a youth gang, the GGs, as they use inline skates to traverse Tokyo, spraying graffiti, challenging rival gangs, and evading authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega AM3</span> Defunct Japanese video game developer

Sega AM Research & Development No. 3, known as Hitmaker Co., Ltd. from 2000 to 2004, is a defunct division of Sega, a Japanese video game company. Established by 1993, AM3 was managed by Hisao Oguchi and developed a number of arcade games for Sega. Series introduced by AM3 include Virtual On, Sega Rally, Crazy Taxi, and Virtua Tennis. AM3's main focus was on arcade games until the release of the Dreamcast. Additionally, developers Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Kenji Sasaki developed Sega Rally Championship with AM3 before departing to form AM Annex, which later split into Sega AM9 and Sega AM5.

<i>Shenmue II</i> 2001 video game

Shenmue II is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It was directed, produced and written by Yu Suzuki. Like the original Shenmue (1999), Shenmue II consists of open-world environments, brawler battles and quick-time events. It features a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules, and various minigames. The player controls the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he arrives in Hong Kong in 1987 in pursuit of his father's killer. His journey takes him to Kowloon and the mountains of Guilin, where he meets a girl who is part of his destiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega AM2</span> Japanese video game developer

Sega AM Research & Development No. 2, previously known as SEGA-AM2 Co., Ltd., is a video game development team within the Japanese multinational video game developer Sega. Yu Suzuki, who had previously developed arcade games for Sega including Hang-On and Out Run, was the first manager of the department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Moore (businessman)</span> British-American business executive

Peter Moore is a British-American business executive. He is known for his former positions as senior VP of Global Sports Marketing at Reebok, president of Sega of America, and corporate vice-president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division, overseeing the Xbox and Xbox 360 game consoles. From 2007 to 2011, he was head of Electronic Arts' EA Sports game division. In 2012, he was appointed COO of Electronic Arts. He resigned from EA in February 2017 to become CEO of Liverpool Football Club. It was announced in July 2020 that Moore would be leaving Liverpool at the end of August that year, having completed his three-year tenure with the club.

<i>Sam & Max: Freelance Police</i> Unreleased 2004 video game

Sam & Max: Freelance Police was a graphic adventure video game developed by LucasArts from 2002 until its cancellation in 2004, and the final game in the company's adventure game era. Freelance Police was originally intended for release for Windows in early 2004 as a sequel to the 1993 title Sam & Max Hit the Road. The game was based on the characters Sam & Max: an anthropomorphic dog and "hyperkinetic rabbity thing" who debuted in a 1987 comic book series created by Steve Purcell. Freelance Police was announced in August 2002, and showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2003. Like its predecessor, Freelance Police was designed as a point-and-click adventure game, but used a 3D game engine in place of the SCUMM and GrimE engines used in older LucasArts adventure games. The project's development was led by Michael Stemmle, one of the original designers for Sam & Max Hit the Road, while Steve Purcell assisted in developing the game's plot and providing artistic direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega AM1</span> Japanese development team within Sega

Sega AM Research & Development No. 1 is a development department within Japanese toy and amusement game company Sega Fave that also previously existed as Wow Entertainment and Sega Wow Inc. AM1 spent most of its early existence under the leadership of Rikiya Nakagawa and developed a number of arcade games for Sega.

<i>Shenmue III</i> 2019 video game

Shenmue III is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Ys Net, published by Deep Silver for PlayStation 4 and Windows and produced by Shibuya Productions. Like the previous Shenmue games, it consists of open-world environments interspersed with brawler battles and quick time events, with a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules, and various minigames. The story continues the quest of the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki, who searches for his father's killer in the mountains of 1980s Guilin, China.

Ngmoco, LLC was an American-based publisher of video games for the iOS and Android platforms, and a subsidiary of DeNA Co., Ltd. The company was founded by former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young in July 2008. Since its founding, ngmoco has had more than seven million combined game installs. Venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Norwest Venture Partners, among others, have financed the company with a combined total of US$40.6 million. The company is most well known for their publishing of the Rolando game series and Eliminate Pro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega Studios San Francisco</span> American video game developer

Sega Studios San Francisco, formerly known as Secret Level, Inc., was an American video game developer based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in December 1999 by Jeremy Gordon, Otavio Good, and Josh Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega development studios</span> Internal video game studios of Sega

This is a list of development studios owned by Sega, a Japanese video game developer and publisher based in Tokyo, Japan. Accompanied with the list is their history of game development. Also included are the companies that Sega has acquired over the years. For a full list of games developed and published by Sega, see List of Sega video games, List of Sega mobile games and List of Sega arcade games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sega</span> Japanese video game company

Sega Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It produces several multi-million-selling game franchises for arcades and consoles, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Angry Birds, Puyo Puyo, Super Monkey Ball, Total War, Virtua Fighter, and Yakuza. From 1983 until 2001, Sega also developed its own consoles.

<i>Shenmue</i> Video game series

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Shenmue (1999) and Shenmue II (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. Shenmue III, developed by Suzuki's company Ys Net, was released for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in 2019.

References

  1. PocketGamer.biz Ex-Sega exec Simon Jeffery to head Plus+ group
  2. "Simon Jeffery - Edge Magazine". www.next-gen.biz. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. "Simon Jeffery Confirms Dreamcast 2, Shenmue 3, and Seaman 2 (On opposite day)".