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Sega To Leave Console Business? (Updated)
Raistlin Majere writes "Thought a few of you might be interested in checking this out, but according to The Gaming Intelligence Agency, Sega creators of the Dreamcast say that they are quitting the console hardware business, for the full story, click here. Just so you all know, no, they are not quitting quite yet, they're still fully supporting the Dreamcast, just, the Dreamcast will be their last console. "Thanks to skynet for a competing account of the story. This story chalks it up to mistranslation, and says that Sega will be staying in the console business, but focusing more on the Internet.
However, nature abhors a vaccuum, and I suspect another company to fill the gap. And, knowing history, they, in turn will displace Nintendo, who will, in turn, be replaced by yet another company.
The reason for these kinds of shifts? Console companies stagnate, amazingly rapidly. Their life expectancy is not much longer than that of their products. In computing, if you stand still, you're going backwards.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
http://www.segadreamcast.net/dcnews/111199_segahar dware.html
yes, www.dotcomforwardslash.com is my real URL.
http://dreamcast.ign.com/news/12062.html -Stephen
Sega's Atomic Announcement
Posted: 11.11.99
By: Mike Bess
The entire gaming industry was set on fire with one simple
phrase ealier today: Sega will be leaving the hardware market
and focus on networking and game development. This was
first broken by Gamespot, but the juicey tid-bit was quickly
lapped up by eager reporters everywhere. Even we were
sucked in, but just to play it safe gave a quick call to the good
folks at Sega of America. Considering the ramifications of
Sega "retreating" from the market, is pretty big stuff. Atomic,
in its proportions.
We spoke with two seperate sources within Sega of America.
Both confirmed that the earth-shattering news piece was a
simple mis-clarification. In fact, it was a mis-understanding in
the translations of Mr. Okawa's speech at last night's Okawa
Foundation Ceremony. Below are some excerpts from our
conversation:
"The question was something to the effect of 'If the
Dreamcast does not succeed, how will Sega compete in the
future?' Mr. Okawa's response (although it may have been a
little mangled in the translation) was that the 'future of Sega is
the Internet, not hardware.' What he was trying to convey
(and has been preaching for several months now) is that Sega
is going to be focusing its efforts increasingly on the Internet.
That means using the Internet as a delivery system for
software, online gameplay, e-commerce, etc. However, you
still need some form of hardware to receive that information.
Sega will not be delivering content for PSX2, Dolphin or the
PC through the Internet. So, Sega will always need to develop
some form of console."
"Mr. Okawa knows that Sega's strength against Sony and
Nintendo is its ability to pursue new technologies and
advances designed to expand the gameplay experience, such
as the Internet. Sony's PSX2 doesn't even have a built in
Internet solution, nor have either of our competitors outlined
any form of Internet strategy for their new systems, as we
have already done publicly."
Thankfully, the Sega faithful all across this tiny globe breathe
a collective sigh of relief. To even consider Dreamcast as the
company's last piece of hardware is almost unimaginable.
Furthermore, to believe that Mr. Okawa would make such a
damaging statement that "Sega is leaving the hardware
market" during the DC's infancy in North America and
Europe, is equally so. Sega worked hard to spread the word,
clarifying the mis-constrused words of Mr. Okawa.
For those keeping score, the speech Mr. Okawa gave
regarded the future of Dreamcast, Sega, and the establishment
of a new foundation in his honor. He told the press last night
that Sega would be putting greater emphasis on
video-gaming's networking abilities and that the commuinty
of the 21st Century would be a "networked society." Unveiled
at the ceremoney was the Dreamcast zip drive, a beautiful
peripheral to the Dreamcast as well as an Ethernet port which
would fit into the existing modem's slot. Lastly, the Okawa
Foundation's intention is to fund programs for youth and
schools which promotes technology and helps bring that
awareness further into the public consciousness.
Oh and if you were wondering, Mr. Okawa oversees over
ninety companies, including Sega Enterprises with an annual
salary of 7.5 billion dollars. He's the President of CSK Corp
which makes him the big cheese of a series of hi-tech and
mass-media firms. Sega X will keep you updated on any future
announcements by Mr. Okawa as well as the unfolding saga
of the zip drive and ethernet expansions.
yes, www.dotcomforwardslash.com is my real URL.
Just for those people who never bother reading the links that slashdot links to, the article basically says this is a misunderstanding.
In his speech, the guy basically said that Sega's emphasis would be on software and internet services.
The implication here is that Sega won't stop making consoles -- but that the console is not their business, it is merely an enabler for the *real* business, which is content production and delivery.
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This makes more sense, sort-of. I guess they lose enough money on each console they sell. Since the money is in the software, they probably figure if they crank out another Sonic the Hedgehog or other such hit, they can be doing as well as (say) Id software. Or maybe it is due to the fact that the Sega Saturn was essentially a flop in the US (have you ever seen one?) Or maybe they just believe that PC games are the future and the console isn't necessary.
I think it's a bit of a silly move, though. I know far too many people who'd rather plug the darn thing into a big screen TV and drink a few beers to a Playstation game than sit around their $2000 PC and play games on a keyboard, mouse or single-joystick (I don't know of more than one or two obscure devices which allow you to connect more than one joystick). Also, if you own the console, you can get royalties for each software title that companies make for your platform. Nintendo has been doing it for years, and I'm sure Sega and Sony do it.
I guess Sega has been hit-and-miss in the business ever since they got into consoles. The first Sega console (what was it called again? The one with the cards or cartridges) wasn't that big a hit, then the Genesis was a hit, then the Saturn wasn't, now the Dreamcast _should_ be; Christmas season 1999 will decide.
Well, I won't be too sad to see them go since I haven't owned a console since the 8-bit Nintendo. I will be sad to see the competitive push diminish on the companies (Nintendo is no driver; they have been behind the times for years now). Ahh well..
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Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
I don't know about that... isn't the idea behind console systems that it is supposed to stand still for a few years at a time? Console systems provide a platform that's ahead of its time when it comes out but lasts for a few years The reason there are gaming systems like the Dreamcast is (1) they are cheaper than computers (at least for that kind of raw graphical power), (2) the end user never has to worry about configuration, hardware conflicts, etc. since there is only one possible configuration (or with N64, two depending on whether or not you have the memory card), and (3) they're designed specifically for gaming.
Granted, no company can rest on its laurels for long. All console companies are constantly in development of the next best system, but that system will be released a few years after the last.
But older systems are still great... witness Final Fantasy VIII for Playstation, a game released a few months ago for a three or four year old platform. Graphically, the game is groundbreaking, and in terms of gameplay and plot, the game is amazing. A three year old computer is a Pentium 150 or so, which can barely run today's groundbreaking games... at least not w/o expensive upgrades such as a fast 3d card.
Though I do not doubt that someday the venerable Nintendo will be replaced, that does not mean that their current system is no longer a viable platform... but this round may be the last for them since they have historically been too late to market with their system... but that's an entirely different topic...
If you're talking about the Sonic 1/2/3/knuckles pack for the PC, here's an interesting titbit:
Sega paid the author of the free (gratis not libre, sadly) Genesis emulator KGen to use his work.
The package is actually KGen (hacked a little, I guess), the Genesis ROMS, and a front-end.
Now isn't that a refreshing attitude to emulation, from Sega. Nice to see after all that nastiness from Nintendo.
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.. but keeping a load of consoles is *cool*.
:)
I have ten
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I didn't buy the Dreamcast, with the awesome graphics and all. I waited. I had too many bitter and pretty fresh memories with my purchases of prior Sega failures. Sure, the genesis was pretty cool, but buying the peripherals-Sega CD and 32X anyone? Dropped after not much software support. Once again quite fortunately, the Saturn came out and where did that go? Nowhere. I'm glad I didn't buy into that.
Sega should sink by the wayside, and stop wasting a childs or parents hard-earned money.
I will enjoy my next generation nintendo Dolphin and Sony Playstation2 games. I will not buy into another Sega failure.
Or maybe, I will wait another 6 months and pick up a Dreamcast in the clearance bin for 29.99 if there are enough games that I can get for 5 bucks each.
The above post is an editorial, the poster cannot and will not be held responsible for all or in part for it's contents
This little tidbit of info has been going around for years. Basically ever since the launch of the Saturn (if not before). Sega's greatest strength has always been it's video games (mostly its arcade adaptations to the home), and selling hardware is a money losing proposition (until royalties from software start rolling in).
There was talk back in the Saturn days that the Dreamcast (then code name Black Belt/Katana) would be dropped in favor or Sega just making games for any system available. The reasoning was that since their games are so popluar, selling them on multiple systems would bring Sega a lot of cash. Of course they took the gamble with Dreamcast and it seems (in the US anyway) to have paid off.
The talk recently has turned to how much has it actually paid off. Many people have speculated that this will be Sega's last hardware attempt in the console industry unless DC takes off phenominally. Sega is very much in the red right now, and has a lot of debt to pay off. Financially, down the road, ditching the money losing hardware section of the company in favor of software only may be the way for them to go to get back in the black.
I just want to reiterate, this story is strictly the result of a mis interpretation of a statement made in Japanese. Check out http://dreamcast.ign.com/news/12062.html
Sega takes a loss every time they sell a DreamCast, as does Sony and Nintendo for their hardware. The console hardware is sold below cost, but the hardware manufacturers makes t back every time you buy a game. Sega not only makes money off of sales of their own software (like Sonic Adventure or House of the Dead), but they also make money from the licensing fees paid by thrid party publishers. This makes it pretty damn profitable to be the producer of a hardware platform, so I would doubt that Sega would want to leave this market anytime soon.
Why, yes. That would make excellent sense, to follow up the most successful console launch ever.
(I acknowledge that PS2 may well eclipse it)
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I can't believe, you're here, taking part in an international, quasi-realtime discussion with thousands of people, yet you're extolling the virtues of Sneakernet.
If you can't envisage the kind of cool stuff possible with broadband to a console, you're just not thinking hard enough.
Think of the Ultima-Online-alike games/communities that could be set up, with the huge bandwidth provided by broadband.
Imagine if every time you played Sonic Adventure, the levels were changed - perhaps to suit the time of year, perhaps varying with today's climate in Tokyo, perhaps with references to current affairs. Imagine dropping your virtual pet at a virtual daycare centre, where you can interact with other virtual petowners.
Cheap broadband connectivity is the revolution you're talking about, and it's the home entertainment companies that are going to get it done. Just pray it's the gaming companies (who undertand interactivity) that spearhead it, rather than the TV/movie comapnies, or you'll find that it gets no more exciting than video-on-demand and flawed email implementations (Sky Digital email sucks pole).
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Who copied the "rumble pack" idea? Who copied the idea of a _standard_ controller with analog stick buit in? Sega's "game expandibility" has led to the 32X and Sega CD, and boy, were'nt those just quality products that were definitly worth the money. Yea, thought so. And considering Sega is the first console to come with internet access, that is innovation, but you can't really compare that to the N64 or PSX. And FYI, the 64DD is coming out in Japan. I however, believe it shouldn't come out, as it's never going to really succeed, but Nintendo needs whatever it can for the sorry state it is in for the N64 in Japan. And this wasn't really meant as flamebait, I own a DC and love it (can't wait for Sega Rally 2) but I disagree that Nintendo never innovates.
It seems to me that Sega, as a whole, has been in decline for a long time. I haven't actually played DC, but ever since the regular Sega Genesis, they have been plagued by a constant stream of misfortune. Think of it, after the Genesis came things like the 32X and Sega CD. Both failed miserably sad to say. Then what? The Saturn, and what became of it. Sure Sega has had some classics, but the fact of the matter is that their systems just aren't cutting it and they should probably abandon ship while they still can.
"Just one man, just one mind. I can only do so much." -Cyron