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What Will Happen to Sega?
A reader writes "Sega is getting out of hardware altogether. Salon has an interesting bit about the impending doom of Sega and speculation that among the other major players, namely Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft has the most to gain from purchasing the beleaguered Sega."
two days ago.
While they do intend to broaden their scope in the software market they ALSO hope to broaden their scope in the hardware market.
Future generations of SEGA hardware are already in development.
His point was proven to me when we released our next game to great critical press, great reviews, and strong buyer feedback. Unfortunately, our publisher didn't advertise the game well, and our shelf space was limited. AS a result, we hardly sold any copies of the game.
My point is, you have to market the hell out of the games, not the console. This is where Sega is faltering. They aren't showing enough of their games where it matters.
This is EXACTLY what Sega is going to rectify with their new shift to software. Less focus on the console, and more on the games. The console sale will come afterwards ... you have to have SOMETHING to play the game on.
They aren't abandoning the hardware market, just aggressively pushing the software.
That having been said, enough of these damn Sega rumor and Playstation 2 hype articles on /.
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- Nintendo: Virtual Boy & N64
- Sega: Saturn & 32x
- Atari: Jaguar
Sony has been successful thus far, since only have had (until recently) one console offering. Who's not to say the PS3 will bomb? The real factor is always the software support and trends(ie. mascots, social trends, etc.)...what has saved Nintendo's sorry ass N64? One word Pokemon!(and to a smaller extent the Zelda hype)....geez even the new version of the console might as well be called the Poke64!Jaguar...no real software library..and if I remember right, the price was a little steep at the time.
Sega Saturn was a bear to develop for and saw limited sucess overseas, but not in U.S. 32x was hyped way too much and didn't deliver.
Sony had an exceptional freshman outing....and doesn't seem to be about to fall into a "sophmore slump"....but time will tell. Sony is still the new kid on the block, until Xbox comes along. All of the above mentioned companies have had excellent first systems(and even some seconds). You could have the most poly-per-second, trilinear flip-mip-whip mapping,pre rastering engine on the planet, but if you dont have the right mascot or licenses, and have developer friendly (or at least workable)tools....you're gonna have a bomb. And never forget luck!
Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!
SOA is doing fine, it's Sega of Japan that's struggling. Even PS2 isn't doing that well there, especially software-wise. The only thing that sells PS2's is the DVD capability. SOA sales are quite brisk and some monster titles are hitting this month, Sega net seems to be a hit, and the future actually looks pretty good in North America and Europe. The PS2 shortage may be helping things out as well, especially given dismal launch titles (which seems to be a console tradition...can't wait to see PS2 games coming out next fall!!). It seems that these steady Sega is dying articles are some kind of circular internet thing- all the news sites are reading each other's Sega articles, without fully investigating, and the faulty information is propagating, mutating as it goes. Just go out one weekend and rent a PS2 and a bunch of games, then go out another weekend and rent a Dreamcast and a bunch of games. Buy whichever system has the games you want to play out now, and don't worry about all this doom and gloom. Dreamcast's current installed base is large enough to let the system coast for a year and a half or so if no other unit sold. PS2 is obviously a juggernaut and once developers figure things out, it's going to rock your world. X-Box is still vaporware, but sounds promising. And Gamecube is really vaporware, but Nintendo always manages to sell things. Then there's Indrema, the gameless wonder (moo ha ha)
2 things have really kept SEGA down over the years. Really bad marketing, and of course, sony.
Sony has excellent marketing/hype. No doubts about that. Ive never seen so many slobbering idots wait in line to spend 300+ bucks on something with no AAA games and only a few worth even playing for more then a little while. But, you all know this.
Segas launch got neutered by sony prematurly announcing/releasing the PS2. Thats all there is too it. The PS2 could have stood a 1/2 year more engeneering, better middleware and dev kits, and publishers another year to make real games and not shovelware.
Sega also failed in the long run with what i think also smashed the saturn: not using their huge licenses.
Sonic, Phantasy Star, Panzer Dragoon... the list goes on and on. Sony and its third parties recognize on thing - the name sells. For example, Final Fantasy. wow, thay are on 9 in a few days and NONE of them have anything to do with one another, except maybe chocobos. Now ask yourself this, if each title was released under a different name, would they sell as well? No. In truth you could call final fantasy 9 "Po goes the the market to get a fish" and it would be the same game, but, square, as does sony, knows the value in a name.
This also illustrates the phenomena that the PSX brought to the gaming world: mass market gaming. No longer do you have 90% of the game buying public knowledgeable of the industry, you now have 30% at best. Thats a lot of people who dont even know that sega exists most likely. Tis a shame, as so few PSX titles have had any quality over the last few years.
For all the sony fanboys, for as much as you want sega to die, no competetion in the gaming market would mean the worst drought of AAA original titles for a long time. The average joe comsumer wont notice, as they couldnt find a good game if it was suck to their ass, but for the hardcore, it will mean final fantasy 39, crash bandicoot 234, spyro 34, and so forth.
Sega chooses to come up with original content, rather then play off old names. Jet Grind Radio. Samba de Amigo. ChuChu rocket(yes chuchu). Sega has balls, and some of the best game designers this side of nintendo. Anyone truly in to games shold be praying for segas development houses to stay in good health.
If you havent, go play samba, and tell me its not the most fun youve had with a game in a VERY long time. You may find yourself springing 120 bucks for maracas and the game before you kow what hit you. its that good.
"Stuff... In my home!? NEVER!" - Zim on Invader Zim
"I want the toilet seat!" - Little Dog on Two Stupid Dogs
Really, all this Salon article says is that making consoles is a money-losing business in the short term (which we all knew already) and a whole bunch of speculation about Sega and Microsoft and whatnot. I'm waiting for facts, not what ifs.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.