4 ms·

Even Sega knows it'd only win the console war in a dystopia

49 points by cglong 3y ago

throwawaaarrgh 3y ago
that website's ads feel like a dystopia
- tech234a 3y ago
  And they hijack the back button on iOS
BirAdam 3y ago
You know, the thing with SEGA (only imho as I do not actually follow the industry too closely) was burning both retailers and developers with SEGA CD/32X and Saturn. Effectively, the CD and 32X launched and had some initial success (not overwhelming or anything, but not complete failures for add-ons), and then the Saturn was released. The Saturn was also difficult to develop for, was expensive, had zero backwards compatibility, and had volume delivery issues. All of this meant that when the DC (best console ever made) launched neither developers nor retailers really had any trust or loyalty in SEGA. It's sad. I was always a bit of a SEGA fan, and with SEGA's demise I haven't considered consoles as devices for myself... until the SteamDeck.
- toast0 3y ago
  > Effectively, the CD and 32X launched and had some initial success (not overwhelming or anything, but not complete failures for add-ons), and then the Saturn was released. The Sega CD was out for quite a while before the 32x and Saturn came out. I don't think it was that much of the problem for relations with stores. The 32x was a mess; it released in the US one day before the Saturn release in Japan and offered a complex landscape that wasn't really justified.
- silisili 3y ago
  DC was certainly the best of its era, but certainly not the best console ever made by any metric I could think of.
  - mingus88 3y ago
    Most "best (or worst) ever" lists are heavily biased by recency and personal experience. There are rarely objective metrics for this kind of thing To wit, my list of best consoles are all of that era when you could have 4 controllers plugged in and spend all night long partying with your friends. Now that I'm an old, I won't play online matches, and I don't have all night parties so every system sucks now.
- pipes 3y ago
  Dreamcast is probably my most played console, it is between that and the n64. After that games just went downhill. I don't know what's wrong with me but the industry just seems to have lost its magic. Maybe it's the media I see it through: twitter etc. Or maybe because it's mainstream now, it used to be a bit underground. Or maybe games just don't seem to have any personality anymore. Or maybe I'm just old and my soul no longer burns.
  - kingkongjaffa 3y ago
    There have been many very good games made since N64 to be fair. Command and Conquer series, Civilization series, Halo series, Zelda games, Pokemon games, Gran Turismo series, Metal gear solid series. A huge number of creative game mechanics, graphical improvements, and deep rich lore and worlds to explore have been created in games. Some fantastic story driven games have been compared in artistic merit to Films and TV, and we're now seeing that acceptance with things like "The Last of Us" being turned into a hit show that was even almost scene-for-scene in the first episode. Sure there a microtransactions and junk food style games for the lowest common denominator as cash grabs, but there are also deep, rich games made with love still.
  - cglong 3y ago
    YouTube has introduced me to a lot more indie titles which has reinvigorated my excitement for the medium. Games like Celeste, Undertale, and the Ori series are all excellent and clearly made out of a love for gaming. I've actually started seeing people refer to Sega as an indie publisher. IMO they've straddled this line well, with recent titles like Sonic Mania, the Yakuza series, and even their free April Fool's "prank" game (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog) getting universal praise.
- 5350-uiop-1130 3y ago
  People will overlook all issues if there are games they MUST have. Sega sadly never had anything to rival a GTA, MGS, Final Fantasy, Halo or Zelda/Mario - they had lots of good games, arcade games and so on. PS3 was also a semi disaster at launch but Sony (unlike 90s SEGA) was a much better coordinated company, able and willing to take in feedback from different regional offices.
  - hammyhavoc 3y ago
    Your hypothesis has a couple of flaws. The Wii U had great Nintendo first-party games. What they failed to do was court third-parties. IP isn't the whole story. The Vita is a similar story. Shenmue was groundbreaking at the time of the Dreamcast, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were lightyears ahead of the PlayStation. I could go on.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
thriftwy 3y ago
As a decades long player of Civ, Master of Magic, HoMM 3 and SMAC I can't begin to understand what's the fuzz about consoles anyway. Throw in Starcraft, Majesty and occassional Might and Magic series.
danbolt 3y ago
Reminds me a bit of Segagaga[1], a Dreamcast RPG where you try to reverse Sega’s fortunes in a futuristic environment. [1] https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Segagaga https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Segagaga
- debugnik 3y ago
  > In the year 2025, Sega is in crisis, with only a 3% share of the market I guess that sounded pessimistic back then.

49 points by cglong 3y ago

throwawaaarrgh 3y ago

that website's ads feel like a dystopia

tech234a 3y ago
And they hijack the back button on iOS

BirAdam 3y ago

You know, the thing with SEGA (only imho as I do not actually follow the industry too closely) was burning both retailers and developers with SEGA CD/32X and Saturn. Effectively, the CD and 32X launched and had some initial success (not overwhelming or anything, but not complete failures for add-ons), and then the Saturn was released. The Saturn was also difficult to develop for, was expensive, had zero backwards compatibility, and had volume delivery issues. All of this meant that when the DC (best console ever made) launched neither developers nor retailers really had any trust or loyalty in SEGA. It's sad. I was always a bit of a SEGA fan, and with SEGA's demise I haven't considered consoles as devices for myself... until the SteamDeck.

toast0 3y ago
> Effectively, the CD and 32X launched and had some initial success (not overwhelming or anything, but not complete failures for add-ons), and then the Saturn was released. The Sega CD was out for quite a while before the 32x and Saturn came out. I don't think it was that much of the problem for relations with stores. The 32x was a mess; it released in the US one day before the Saturn release in Japan and offered a complex landscape that wasn't really justified.
silisili 3y ago
DC was certainly the best of its era, but certainly not the best console ever made by any metric I could think of.
- mingus88 3y ago
  Most "best (or worst) ever" lists are heavily biased by recency and personal experience. There are rarely objective metrics for this kind of thing To wit, my list of best consoles are all of that era when you could have 4 controllers plugged in and spend all night long partying with your friends. Now that I'm an old, I won't play online matches, and I don't have all night parties so every system sucks now.
pipes 3y ago
Dreamcast is probably my most played console, it is between that and the n64. After that games just went downhill. I don't know what's wrong with me but the industry just seems to have lost its magic. Maybe it's the media I see it through: twitter etc. Or maybe because it's mainstream now, it used to be a bit underground. Or maybe games just don't seem to have any personality anymore. Or maybe I'm just old and my soul no longer burns.
- kingkongjaffa 3y ago
  There have been many very good games made since N64 to be fair. Command and Conquer series, Civilization series, Halo series, Zelda games, Pokemon games, Gran Turismo series, Metal gear solid series. A huge number of creative game mechanics, graphical improvements, and deep rich lore and worlds to explore have been created in games. Some fantastic story driven games have been compared in artistic merit to Films and TV, and we're now seeing that acceptance with things like "The Last of Us" being turned into a hit show that was even almost scene-for-scene in the first episode. Sure there a microtransactions and junk food style games for the lowest common denominator as cash grabs, but there are also deep, rich games made with love still.
- cglong 3y ago
  YouTube has introduced me to a lot more indie titles which has reinvigorated my excitement for the medium. Games like Celeste, Undertale, and the Ori series are all excellent and clearly made out of a love for gaming. I've actually started seeing people refer to Sega as an indie publisher. IMO they've straddled this line well, with recent titles like Sonic Mania, the Yakuza series, and even their free April Fool's "prank" game (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog) getting universal praise.
5350-uiop-1130 3y ago
People will overlook all issues if there are games they MUST have. Sega sadly never had anything to rival a GTA, MGS, Final Fantasy, Halo or Zelda/Mario - they had lots of good games, arcade games and so on. PS3 was also a semi disaster at launch but Sony (unlike 90s SEGA) was a much better coordinated company, able and willing to take in feedback from different regional offices.
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  Your hypothesis has a couple of flaws. The Wii U had great Nintendo first-party games. What they failed to do was court third-parties. IP isn't the whole story. The Vita is a similar story. Shenmue was groundbreaking at the time of the Dreamcast, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were lightyears ahead of the PlayStation. I could go on.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

thriftwy 3y ago

As a decades long player of Civ, Master of Magic, HoMM 3 and SMAC I can't begin to understand what's the fuzz about consoles anyway. Throw in Starcraft, Majesty and occassional Might and Magic series.

danbolt 3y ago

Reminds me a bit of Segagaga[1], a Dreamcast RPG where you try to reverse Sega’s fortunes in a futuristic environment. [1] https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Segagaga https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Segagaga

debugnik 3y ago
> In the year 2025, Sega is in crisis, with only a 3% share of the market I guess that sounded pessimistic back then.