Sega: How Far Should I Venture...

[Rayek]

I'm doing a research paper on SEGA at the moment, and...

I can say I've become quite the fanboy. And no doubt DrMDx is helping

By most accounts, Sega made some very crucial marketing mistakes that eventually led to their demise as a hardware producer. But really, I couldn't care less. That's all in the past, and all that matters now is wether or not their consoles were GOOD. Which, surprisingly, I have little to no information on.

My dilemma: I recently purchased a Sega Genesis, and I love it. I want more.

Which of the addons are worth buying? The Sega CD has a lot of potential, simply because it has a larger catalogue of games than the 32X, but is more pricey. Are these even worth buying?

If they aren't, what console should be the next step in my journey to discovering Sega?

 

[Alpha2]

Skip the 32X and buy a saturn. The 32X was a "band-aid" designed to try and keep people interested in Sega properties at the end of the Genesis/SegaCD life cycle untill their next system came out. it had the opposite effect as it was expensive and with the Saturn only 6 months behind it, quickly abandonded.

The SegaCD is a great add on, though the number of quality games is low, there were a few cool gems (If you can find some of the better ones for sale I'd recommend it then but not before). Supposedly buying the 32x would allow you to not only play the 32x cartridges but also play 32X-CD games which have better looking versions of sega CD games but this seems less cost effective to me as I seem to be able to find more used regular SegaCD games than the 32X versions.

The master system converter is great if you can find a working one as it adds backwards compatability with the previous systems games which there are a few really good ones.

 

[Jarska333]

Lessee, Service Games of Japan...

"Sega was originally founded in 1940 as Standard Games (later Service Games) in Honolulu, Hawaii, by Martin Bromely, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert to provide coin-operated amusements for American servicemen on military bases. Bromely suggested that the company move to Tokyo, Japan in 1951 and in May 1952 "SErvice GAmes of Japan" was registered."

Who would have thunk, an american company.

You can go quite far... Game Gear could be nice, if you can find one with good sound...

 

[Rayek]

Well, with DrMDx, I pretty much have my Nomad taken care of. If I decide to get an MS emulator for the GP2X, I might as well have just bought a Game Gear...

Beleive me, I was definitely thinking about a Game Gear, but I'd rather tackle their consoles first....

Saturn is a good proposal. I checked eBay for some titles and found surprisingly little. I think there was a Sonic on the Saturn that was worth it?? I don't remember. Regardless, some of the Saturn games there are racking up quite a price...

 

[triksR4rabits]

A saturn would be anice addition to a collection; it's a system that will probably never be emulated (or emulated well) withought using a high end pc- damn complicated ass chipset. However, the good saturn games (Guardian Heroes, the Panzer Dragoon series, Die Hard Arcade, Knights, Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Marvel Vs Street Fighter, Shining Force 3, etc) will run you hundreds of dollars; mind you that most of these games are what make the saturn a classic system.

Never played sonic though, so can't tell you about that one. My advice- unless your willing to part with a large chunk of cash (and it will be large), stay away

EDIT: how stupid of me- Rico hit the nail on the head. My dreamcast is one of my favorite consoles, and you can get them, along with some of the best damn games, homebrew, and emu's, for cheap. DREAMCAST!

 

[Rico]

A Dreamcast. You can pick them up very cheap from ebay and there are tons of good games for it. Shemue, Virtua Tennis, Power Stone 1/2, Marvel Vs Capcom, Sonic Adventure, Chu-Chu Rocket, etc.

 

[Alpha2]

There you have it, Saturn and DC. After that there isnt much else, the systems were worth having for some of their various hot titles but as you said they made mistakes over the years that held them down.

While they were pretty cool they were never perceived as the better system which I personally feel is because they were always in a rush to be the first to the market with a new system.it worked for them with the genesis but never again after that.

 

[Angel]

i don't understand how you could write a research paper and totally omit the Master System and the Game Gear. Start with the mistakes they made on their first systems, that will give you an idea on how they viewed the newer systems.

Then you can talk about how Sega then got the "Atari" Syndrome. When you start producing mass amounts of systems. Had the Genesis, then Sega Cd, then 32x, then Saturn, then Dreamcasat. If Sega was smart they would've never released the CD and 32x and went straight to the Saturn. but oh well.

This doesn't sound much like a thread about a term paper since your focusing on mostly the newer stuff, this sounds like a post like, what should I buy next. So on that note, i will say that you should definetely get a Saturn.

 

[Alpha2]

Actually I dont concider the Mastersystem to have had as many of the same mistakes made about it as the others. I think the only thing that caused it to loose the the NES was that it had the lesser known franchises. Contra, Mario, most of capcom vs things like Shinobi and wonderboy (good games but unltimatly unknown in th eface of that kind of opponent).

The SegaCD wasnt such a bad idea either, the only real oppoent was the TG16/TurboDuo which was awsome but by then Sega had gained in popularity and recognition. Actually concidering the SNES was such a powerful contender they were pretty smart to release it, unfortunatly support was lacking in the long run but that still garnered then some decent titles. The 32X was the BIG mistake, it had a 6 month life span, Sega KNEW the saturn was coming and still released a device that was obsolete before it hit the shelf at a ludicrous price tag which would have hurt the pockets of their future consumers at the launch of the Saturn had they not pissed off a bunch of retailers with their stealth launch (came like a month earlier than they announced and only shipped only to certain stores which limited their sales when the stores that didn't get any canceled their orders in protest.) This made it even easier for the PSone to take the lead even though it was already seen by many industry insiders as the system to beat before it launched.

 

[Nova]

A Dreamcast. You can pick them up very cheap from ebay and there are tons of good games for it. Shemue, Virtua Tennis, Power Stone 1/2, Marvel Vs Capcom, Sonic Adventure, Chu-Chu Rocket, etc.

​

Is it worth my buying Ecco for it?

Also, when i bought my dc, the tv lead was broken, does anyone know whether i can get a new one?


EDIT: I was looking around on ebay and found this.

Cool, no?

 

[Goity]

Saturn had no sonic game of its own.

 

[Angel]

What about Sonic Jam and Sonic R? Those were both released only for the Saturn, Sonic 3d was released for Saturn and Mega Drive.

 

[Goity]

What about Sonic Jam and Sonic R? Those were both released only for the Saturn, Sonic 3d was released for Saturn and Mega Drive.

​

Alright, No true Sonic game of its own.

 

[Angel]

umm. Sonic jam was the first 3-d sonic that paved the way for Sonic Adventures.

 

[Rayek]

About my paper, I'm talking about everything Sega, from the SC-1000 to the Dreamcast, and probably their games made for Gamecube (which must hurt... a lot). This thread's about what of their lineup I should buy.

I'm thinking of how I could expand the system I already have, because, while it failed, it was still a great idea to expand the hardware virtually everyone had, and I want to see it before I move on and get another box.

But Dreamcast is a good idea.

 

[Alpha2]

Sega's pride went out the window they day they gave up console production and allowed themselves to be bought out by the Pachinko Game (and Guilty Gear) maker Sammy. Now they're simply trying to exist, making games for nintendo is simply a means to that end just as making games for the Playstation and Xbox. Sega once even claimed they were making it their mission to make the Xbox he number one console...which obviously seems like an impossible goal then they couldnt keep their OWN hardware in first place. Sonic team held their pride as long as they could saying they'd neverwork on the playstation but there seems to be a port of every sonic game to date and Sonic Riders currently seems to be a PS2 exclusive atleast for now it's the first system to get it...

 

[rokdcasbah]

(which must hurt... a lot)

​

not if they're making money on them. perhaps the developers miss working for certain people within the organization...but hey, you never know. as long as naka's still around i'm sure things will always be grueling in that camp.

 

[grahf]

Sega and Nintendo actually have quite a strong relationship these days. Once bitter rivals, but its seems the two companies have almost joines forces in a sense of the words. I get a strong impression of this, judging by various recent interviews from both parties. But of course Sega needs to support everyone to stay alive these days.

About Saturn, i actually have one i modded one w/ region select switch. I dont have any games besides two shitty ones i got with it, and House of the Dead which i picked up later. I do however have the Sega Movie Card (VCD card). Before DVDRs became affordable i used to burn pretty much everything on VCDs, and used the Saturn as a VCD player. I was thinking about selling it, actually. May hang on to it though, who knows.

 

[Alpha2]

Nintendo teamed up with Sega and Namco recently to form a type of coalition that lead to Sega making F-Zero GX/AX and Namco making Starfox Assault.

 

[White Demon]

Lessee at Service Games of Japan...

"Sega was originally founded in 1940 as Standard Games (later Service Games) in Honolulu, Hawaii, by Martin Bromely, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert to provide coin-operated amusements for American servicemen on military bases. Bromely suggested that the company move to Tokyo, Japan in 1951 and in May 1952 "SErvice GAmes of Japan" was registered."

Who would have thunk, an american company.

​

I find the wiki on Sega's bieginnings rather strange, as it cpletely flys in the face of the information contained on This page of the Complete history of Sega at SegaBase, a site which I originally found a few years ago.

According to SegaBase, Martin Bromley secured a deal with Nihon Goraku Bussan in 1952 to 'provide American bases and staging areas with all different kinds of coin-op vending machines'.

'Eventualy the Bromley/Bussan partnership became so large that the operation was officially organized in 1960 as its own subsidiary of Bussan - the Japan Entertainment Trading Company. As for Nihon Gorkau Bussan, it would in time become the second biggest player in the Japanese amusement industry. Bromley's involvement in the enterprise was purely profit-driven - the U.S. Senate had imposed severe restrictions on the vending machine industry back in the early 1950s and had just thrown his coin-op business out of out of Hawaii's many military installations in 1952.'

David Rosen, set up Rosen Enterprises in Japan in 1954 to 'import coin-op photo booths to American military bases for shooting passport photos under the brand name Nifun Shashin, i.e. Photorama, charging approximately ¥200 per picture.'

'Rosen is often credited with founding Japan's arcade game industry.'

SegaBase goes on to say that in 1964, Rosen and Bromley joined forces and merged their export businesses into a single organization under the Rosen Enterprises banner. A year later, the name was officially changed to Sega Enterprises, SEGA being a name conceived by Nihon Goraku Bussan that stood for "SErvice GAmes".

Oh, and by the way, have a look at all the Sega history pages over at SegaBase, as it has a really good, complete historical rundown of every computer and console the Sega ever produced.

Oh, and Alpha2: Sega didn't 'allow' themselves to be bought out by Sammy. Originally, Sega and Sammy were in talks to 'merge' the two companies into one. Then Sega got into talks with Namco and EA, and when Sammy found out about this, they pulled out of the deal altogether. A few months later however, after talks with Namco, EA, MS et al all fell through Sammy simply stepped in and bought all the controlling shares, rather forcefully.

In my opinion, that was the day Sega 'died', as now they simply are not the compnay they used to be. All the innovation and risk taking games and so on are gone, Sega is now a company totally controlled by Sammy just to make a profit, just like any other company, without the innovation.

Anyway, back to topic: buy a SegaCD (MegaCD) system, as that had some really good games, and try to get these games:

Sonic CD - CD version of Sonic with some nice features
Mortal Kombat CD - arcade perfect, just be prepared for a bit of loading)
Final Fight CD - again, arcade perfect, and even has a spoken intro
Snatcher - really cool Cyberpunk inspired adventure game from Konami
Silpheed - amazing shoot em'up game.

Also, make sure to get a Dreamcast. You can't really go wrong there as most game (especially the ones make by Sega themselves) are simply stunning. Look out for these:

Shenmue & Shenmue 2
Virtua Figher 3tb
Space Channel 5 & SC5 Part 2
Bangai-O
Ikaruga
Cary Taxi
Samba De Amigo (make sure to get some Maracas too)
Phantasy Star Online (can't go online anymore, but the offline story mode is great)
Rez
Sonic Adventure & SA2
Dead Or Alive 2
Sega Rally 2
Powerstone
Chu Chu Rocket
Daytona USA 2001
Ecco The Dolphin
Ferrari 355 Challenge
Jet Grind Radio (aka Jet Set Radio)
Grandia 2
Le Mans
Metropolis Street Racer
Silent Scope
Soul Calibur
Virtua Tennis
Resident Evil: Code Veronica

That lot should keep you occupied for a while. Oh, and if you can, try to find *cough*bootlegs*cough* of Half-Life and Propellor Arena. These two games were fully completed but never released, and are both awesome games.