2001's SEGAGAGA is one of the most unique games on the Dreamcast. In it, the player is tasked with restoring the fortunes of an ailing Sega against its evil rival, DOGMA, a company which owns most of the console market (and is clearly inspired by Sony).
Laced with humour and packed with Sega-related references, SEGAGAGA never saw release outside of Japan – by the time it launched in March 2001, the company had already announced it was to abandon the Dreamcast in favour of becoming a third-party publisher. Any chance of a Western release was totally off the cards.
The director of the game, Tetsu "Tez" Okano, has taken to social media to urge developers to create their own SEGAGAGA.
"If SEGAGAGA has a unique significance, it is that it was made on a budget that is a hundredth of Shenmue's, and from nothing but ideas," says Okano. "Please everyone, please make your own SEGAGAGA!"
He also reveals more about the game's development:
The reason why this happened is that SEGAGAGA was made in secret, as it was highly likely to be stopped if shown to many people during the process. I can only thank then-President Oguchi, Mr Takezaki and Mr Sasahara from the PR department for making the decision to launch it.
SEGAGAGA was checked considerably by the publicist at the time, one month before launch. There were a lot of elements that were completely removed, besides the excavated and immortalised data, which, well, I now think should have been checked.
Okano is then asked if there's any chance of the game receiving a Western localisation for modern systems, to which he replies:
For more than 20 years now, I have been happy to hear people say they want an English version of SEGAGAGA. It won't be an easy project because of the rights involved, but if it's something I can do, I'm always willing to help, so please feel free to ask for help!
Perhaps the project itself to port SEGAGAGA into English and sell it as a product is viable enough, so please try to make a formal approach to SEGA as a business from your side!
I am happy to help with the translation of SEGAGAGA, but the rights are with SEGA and the translation work alone will not make it into a product. We need someone who wants an English version to formally negotiate with SEGA as a business and get permission to make it!
A new fan-made translation project for SEGAGAGA was announced in 2022. However, as of June of this year, it seems to have hit a few bumps in the road.
Thanks to Lee Jackson for the tip!