Slashdot Mirror
The Evolution of Sega
Gamasutra is running an interview with Simon Jeffrey, Sega of America's CEO, discussing the gradual change of the company from a hardware manufacturer to a game publisher. Among other things, he talks about how the transition was intended to help keep up with rival manufacturers at a time when Sega was clearly falling behind.
"We were on the cusp of the next generation, and on the cusp of Nintendo changing into a different company and opening up a new part of the market. So it felt like the time was right for Sega to reinvent itself. Really what I tried to do was ride that train and make the most of that point in time, bringing new people into the company and start building the kind of products that would get a leadership position in the next generation on the Wii and the DS, rather than just playing catch-up with everybody else, which is what we've traditionally done."
All your blue hedgehogs are belong to us!
There are mountains to cross for those that are willing.
...is how all the animosity has gone out of the relationship between Sega and Nintendo. Not just in the corporate world (where most of it was blustering, anyway) but in the minds of consumers as well. When was the last time you heard someone say, "Sega is way better than Nintendo!" or "Nu-uh, Sega beats the pants off Nintendo!" Even when the Dreamcast came out, it was well received on both sides of the fence.
Of course, the wussifying of Sonic the Hedgehog might have something to do with this. Considering that he's now portrayed as a "cute" character rather than "cool and edgy", this might have gone a long way toward changing the public's perception of Sega.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Most companies would keep plodding along, doing exactly what they've been doing because that's what they do. Sega would have fallen farther and farther behind and eventually evaporated to the sound of nobody caring.
This is why executives get the big bucks (not that all of them are worth it). You need somebody able to step back and evaluate where the company really stands.
The Dreamcast was imo the best console ever made. Years ahead of its competitors, and could even frequently go head to head against consoles that came out years later.
Have they programmed a game that a girl would rather play with you, rather than go out for breakfast or meet your mother?
It went downhill(in the US at least) with their release of the Sega CD and other crappy genesis add-ons as well as the ill-fated Saturn which were expensive with not much noticeable difference between the original Genesis games. The Dreamcast was good but Sega never quite recovered from the other crap they made, and they were eaten for lunch by Sony and Nintendo.
Seriously. With the exception of the various 2D Gameboy Advance and DS versions of "Sonic the Hedgehog" (which are fun, but nothing very new), their games are horrible. The 3D versions of Sonic for the big consoles have been mostly terrible, and never better than mediocre. They even managed to screw up the Nights sequel.
I guess there is the Virtua Fighter series, which is still well-done. But who plays that anymore?
Basically, Sega churns out junk based on their (formerly) popular franchises.
Specifically, the Sega that brought you Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Shenmue. Looking at the consoles I've had over the years, the Dreamcast was by far the one with the weirdest, and ultimately most enjoyable libraries out there. Yeah, Soul Calibur 4 looks sweet on the PS3, in high-def and all, but the magic of playing the original, arcade version, on the Dreamcast with no performance or graphics penalty was just amazing.
Sega was that crazy friend of yours who was funny as hell and had so many good times with, and is now happily filling out TPS reports and saying he can't go out because he's got to work Sunday too.