Sega: A brief but informative history.

[fivefeet8]

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager....=0&cId=3142283

I totally agree with this article. It sums up all the good and bad that ultimately led to Sega's demise from the console hardware arena. Sega had great games, great hardware, a lot of fans, but poor management.

The article also lists some games for the ill fated Saturn that never finished devepment or were never released in the US. Luckily, I imported a lot of Japanese Saturn games. My favorite imported games to this day which I still play are:

Street Fighter Zero 3 + 4meg ram cart
Street Fighter Zero 2 gold
Radiant Silvergun
Grandia
Xmen Vs Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter

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[General Plot]

/me remembers spending $400 on the Sega CD, only to find out that it was mostly used for very pixelated FMV games. Then spending $150 on the 32X so that the video wasn't so pixelated anymore (only in Sega CD games that supported 32X). Still, having Night Trap before it got banned was very cool.

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[Vanit]

Sonic CD had an awesome intro...

"Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boooooooom!"

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[General Plot]

Originally Posted by Vanit

Sonic CD had an awesome intro...

"Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boooooooom!"

Yeah, and the choppy cartoon that went with it. The song from Lunar Silver Star Story's intro was better than the song used in the re-release on the PS1 IMO. Afterburner 3 and Terminator had killer soundtracks, and Road Avenger had that weird anime cartoony look to it. Yeah, those Sega CD days were fun. Remember that commercial? Sega has CD, Nintendon't. And Sony Imagesoft's game Sewer Shark. The only Sony game I remember seeing on a Sega machine.

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[Player-X]

From the article I would say that Sega made great games but failed in selling them

[n_w95482]

It's definitely true that Sega has had crappy management and communication. Just look at the 32X/Saturn development (I believe SOA never knew about the Saturn's development while they developed and released the 32X) and the whole Black Belt/Katana mess.

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[Zer0Soul]

mmm "Sega!" ...i hear the classic jingle...

There was alot of untouched and still untouched Sega only classics that I'd like to see reivied. (Revived, not remade into pieces of obscure resemblances of what they once where *cough Shining force series*). Legend of Oasis, Vay...and who dosn't want a updated version of Ristar..come on...come on...

I had high hopes for Sega. I did pick up a PSX when it was originally released and passed on the Saturn, but I always rooted for the little guy. Then, there was the dreamcast. Bought it right then and there. I'm still waiting for a new powerstone game.

I think one reason, i'm in love with the gamecube so much. It reminds me of the dreamcast. The little guy with great ambition. Go little train go...

Ok...i need sleep..

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[Vanit]

Anyone remember the intro music to Sonic 3D on genesis? Now that was awesome.

Zero: I have to know what that image is in your sig, I love it.

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[Zer0Soul]

Vanit: http://www.tatoomcity.net/ - A great artist, who I've respected for the past six years. I even asked his permission before using the picture.

There was alot of good intro music to Sega games. Good music overall, that was overlooked.


http://www.sega-16.com/Home.htm

One of my favorite Sega retro-review sites. Definately give it a look.

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[Alias]

one thing i never figured out was sega of america advertised the saturn having 3 32-bit processors, while the japanese one said it had two. What's up with the discrepency?

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[n_w95482]

I have no idea. There's definitely two main CPUs (the dual SH2's), perhaps it was referring to something like the VDP1/2.

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[Raziel]

Bah, always considered Sega's games as average, never been a fan of the brand.

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[_E_]

Average?
/me slowly starts slaughtering Raziel

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-Elly

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[Cid Highwind]

Originally Posted by Zer0Soul

mmm "Sega!" ...i hear the classic jingle...

There was alot of untouched and still untouched Sega only classics that I'd like to see reivied. (Revived, not remade into pieces of obscure resemblances of what they once where *cough Shining force series*). Legend of Oasis, Vay...and who dosn't want a updated version of Ristar..come on...come on...

I had high hopes for Sega. I did pick up a PSX when it was originally released and passed on the Saturn, but I always rooted for the little guy. Then, there was the dreamcast. Bought it right then and there. I'm still waiting for a new powerstone game.

I think one reason, i'm in love with the gamecube so much. It reminds me of the dreamcast. The little guy with great ambition. Go little train go...

Ok...i need sleep..

Did you know I felt exactly the same when playing some Gamecube games?

I think it's because it's one console that dares to stand out in the crowd of standard games released on other consoles. And it also has got very nice graphics. And I think that when the next consoles will be released the Revolution might appeal to me the most.

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[Quatro]

thanks for the link... now I know why Sega went out of the console competition... poor Sega Saturn...

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[Kaiser Sigma]

Originally Posted by Raziel

Bah, always considered Sega's games as average, never been a fan of the brand.

/me feels drawn to this thread

/me reads Raziel's post

Hhhmmm...what?

Reviews, awards for diverse topics, innovation-wise, etc consider the following titles:
Genesis:
Streets of Rage 1 and 2.
Sonic 1, 2, 3 and CD.
Wonderboy in Monster World.
Shining Force Gaiden, 1 and 2.
Out Run.
Phantasy Star Adventure, 1, 2, and 4.
Gunstar Heroes.
Golden Axe 1 and 2.
Shinobi 2 and 3.
Landstalker.
ToeJan & Earl.
Phelios.
Space Harrier.
Saturn / Arcade:
Daytona USA.
Virtua Fighters 1 and 2.
Sega Rally.
Radiant Silvergun.
Guardian Heroes.
Shining Force III scenarios 1, 2 and 3.
Virtua Cop 1 and 2.
Sakura Taisen 1 and 2.
Panzer Dragoon 1, 2 and Saga.
Virtual-On.
Fighting Vipers.
Nights.
Mystaria.
Golden Axe: Duel.
Dreamcast / Arcade:
Sonic Adventures 1 and 2.
Sega Rally 2.
Shenmue I and II.
Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram.
Sakura Taisen 3 and 4.
Skies of Arcadia.
Ecco the dolphin.
Crazy Taxi 1 and 2.
Jet Grind Radio.
All the Sega sports series of games.
Phantasy Star Online ver 1 and ver 2.
Daytona USA 2000.
Virtua Tennis.
Ikaruga.
Xbox:
Panzer Dragoon Orta

significantly above from a mere "average".

Note: you have witnessed an unofficial Kaiser Sigma apparition (not a Kaiser Sigma).
Edit: Raziels quit summoning me you bastard. :0

[Alias]

I agree with Kaiser. Sega as a software company saved the company overall, thanks to all the hardware blunders.

They were the arcade scene back in the day.

Another way to think about it is, the Saturn was ridiculously hard to program for, yet look at the amazing games sega made for them.

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[_E_]

The Playstation 2 is extremely hard to code for , since it shares dual processors like the Sega Saturn. But that didn't stop Sony from remaining at the number 1 stop till this moment.

Yours,
-Elly

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-= Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always =-
the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
Margaret C. Smith

[Zer0Soul]

There was three main factor to sony's success.

1.Brand Name to the non-gamer market. - The non-gamers at the time saw the Sony name and new it more common than "Sega".

2. Adverstising - There was so much Sony advertising on MTV,Blender,Maxim..

3. FFVII - This just nailed the coffin..

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[_E_]

FFVII is soo overrated...sorry. Brand name doesn't mean anything. Look at the phillips CDI - wasn't as succesful.

Advertising I can agree with, however it's the console launch date ( which delibretly came 1 week after the saturn's ) and it's crusade to gain 3rd party devs before the console even came out ( Sony bought what..? around 27 software companies before the PSX was launched ) were the main reasons why the PSX was successful. And ofcourse, don't forget the Sony-Nintendo dispute over the early PSX prototype which scrambled all Nintendo's future plans.

Yours,
-Elly

__________________

-= Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always =-
the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
Margaret C. Smith