Why does sega just puss out?

[Guest Just call me Dan]

Saturn - Same exact system as PS1.  Nice package, I enjoyed it, the games were a little less plentiful but good quality.  Then they decide Were not going to make games anymore, our lazy ass programmers should just totally give up. Bow down to Sony.  What the hell kind of business is that?  Why didn't they just make games?

 

Dreamcast - Excellent system, the PS2 comes out, Xbox is on the way Sega stops making games and bows out. Is someone paying them to tank, I mean what the hell?

[Guest razazteca]

It seems that the only Sega system that went a whole life cycle was the Genesis.  It went from being the greatest system ever on the planet to one that had to many acessories...32x, Sega CD, SMS add on, game genie.

 

I guess what killed the company was that they wanted the instant success that the genesis generated, by putting products out to fast, then expecting the children to worship Sonic the Hedgehog, as a icon the way Mario and Pokemon were.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Sony changed the face of video gaming.

 

The Playstation brought console gaming to a new level...and Sega did the smart thing and got out clean.

 

If history teaches us anything...its that there is only room for 2 consoles on the market.

 

Sony has its spot secure (and has since the PS1 hit).

 

Nintendo has the longest console track record of the current 3 vying for a spot.

 

Microsoft is the new kid.

 

Only 2 will survive.

 

Sony will.  My money goes on Nintendo to outlast X-Box based on their acquiring of game liscences (Resident Evil, Square...I hear they just got 3DO too...but I don't know if its exclusive), their lower price, overseas sales and their name value.  Not to mention the fact that they have an exclusive liscence with one of the most respected companies in the world...their own.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

If history teaches us anything...its that there is only room for 2 consoles on the market.

Actually, I think it's more like "people who screw-up, especially repeatedly, will not last."

 

Saturn bombed for a number of reasons. A lot of it had to do with software. PlayStation didn't sell like hotcakes until FF7 was released.

 

Dreamcast, well, a lot of people already had their eyes set on the PS2. Sony's relentless marketing campaign nullified the Dreamcast into being an appetizer system for the rich or the Sega faithful.

 

In short, the advertising as well as Sony's franchises made a hype so strong the DC was made irrelevant.

[Guest]

It's a case that could be made for Sega not being "cool" anymore with kids. Once they bowed out with Saturn, and the PS1/PSX took hold right away, Sega's fate was set in stone.

 

Meanwhile Nintendo was about to come up with Pokemon and the security of the Gameboy, so they were saved, by way of reaching those who were just getting into games.

 

But what did Saturn have to fall back on? Nothing. Sega and  the Dreamcast, despite it's efforts, was running on nostalgia with the older kids, but were seen as old guard by younger ones; as everyone was waiting for the PS2. I guess, the best way to put this is, they were the mustard and ketchup Hulk Hogan of video games.

 

Meanwhile, Nintendo has been able to repackage itself just when they needed with Pokemon; but have been around as long, if not longer than Sega; For lack of a better term, they are Hulk Hogan circa 1996, when people were beginning to take notice again.

 

Playstation was the newest kid on the block, ready to make waves; The Rock. Yeah, I know he doesn't fit in with the Hogan comparisons, but still.

 

Sorry for the wrasslin' tangent, but it's how I can best describe everything. Dreamcast simply didn't have "the image" anymore, despite being the precursor for what was to come. Sega as a whole, didn't have it anymore with the buyers who ultimately count, really. Pretty sad, but at least Sega didn't completely bow out of the business.

[Guest razazteca]

using the wrestling tangent then Sega = NWA:

 

Sega Master System = Jim Crokett Promotions

 

Genesis = WCW

 

Saturn = Eastern Championship Wrestling, innovation of CD media, 3D graphics, blah blah blah Dan Severn as World Champ, but nobody notice.

 

Dreamcast = ECW as Eastern Champion Wrestling became Extreme, with fighting and sports games as its niche, hit the market.

 

But due to several reasons, be it money mismangement, not wanting to develop "kiddie" games, falling back on Sonic as the mascot.  Sega imploded on itself

[Guest J*ingus]

I will just say this: I own a 32X.  I paid full price for it, brand new.  Sega can fucking burn in hell.

[Guest razazteca]

do you have the Sega CD to complete the system?

[Guest jimmy no nose]

They didn't "puss out".  They actually losto ver $1 billion on the Saturn/32X/SEGA CD and had really only one last chance to make it back.  They had a great system with DC, but PS2 was the "cool" system to buy and although DC did make a profit, it was rather small, about a few million over what they spent to make it.  I'd think that any company still over $1 billion in debt would try to continue making games that weren't making them any more money.  3rd party was where to go for them.

[Guest J*ingus]

No, even I wasn't THAT dumb.  But I think that the 32X was the first console system which carried Doom, and that was a major factor in buying it.  Little did I know...

[Guest Karnage]

A couple of days after the Dreamcast came out, Sony announced the PS2.

 

So i guess people said "Fuck Dreamcast, I'm going to get a PS2 when it comes out".

 

Well Sega is doing an excellent job as a company who makes games only, so I guess it wasn't such a bad decision to quit the console market.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

First off, the Saturn was only similar to the PS in the fact that they both used CD-based media for their games.  Otherwise, in terms of processing and graphics, the Saturn was vastly inferior with more focus on 2D graphics.  Compare something like Shining Force III to Final Fantasy IX - or don't, because there's almost no comparison.

 

Another big issue was that the development architecture for the Saturn was very difficult to deal with and, if I remember a quote from Game Players around that time, games ported to both the Saturn and PS usually arrived on Sega's system 3-4 months earlier, due to "development issues."

 

Lastly, all of the Sega systems had issues with third-party support, especially the Saturn and Dreamcast.  The development point above may have had something to do with the Saturn and, as far as the DC goes, many development houses and publishers may not have wanted to invest money in Sega, who did not exactly have a sterling track record when it came to consoles.  It is beyond coincidence that the Genesis, Sega's longest running console system, had the best third-party releases out of all of their consoles.

 

That's my two cents.  Personally, I like the decision to go third-party, because now Sega can concentrate on developing games, which has, arguably, always been their strength.

[Guest treble charged]

You know what's funny?  My local Zeller's is selling NHL '97 for Saturn for around $70 (CDN).  5 years ago when I bought my PSX, it cost me less than half that for the PS version.  They have about 20 copies of the game, and if I ever see anyone buying it, I will laugh in their face.  Keep in mind, this is the same store that up until recently was trying to sell Mortal Kombat 3 for the Genesis for more than $80 (CDN), but then I think they gave up.

[Guest]

If Sega is smart, they will never make another console again.

 

That way, they can stick to making great games for other systems, like Super Monkey Ball for GC.

 

Btw, I still like the Genesis. I use my emu all the time, playing cool games like Golden Axe 1-3, Forgotten Worlds, Moonwalker, Techno Cop and Splatterhouse 1 & 2.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I'm currently getting beatdown by Super Monkey Ball.

[Guest J*ingus]

?  I thought they only released Splatterhouse 2 & 3 on the Genesis.

[Guest]

Oops! My bad, you are right. It is part 2 & 3.

[Guest J*ingus]

I'm actually kinda ashamed that I spotted that.  I've spent waaaaaaaay too much time at gamefaqs...