Sega

[Jrecee]

When it comes down to it they're all evil empires. They're business that make decisions based on money. You have to look at the creative side to draw your conclusions. I doubt I'd get along with any of the guys running the big 3 automakers but I still like the cars because they guys who put pen to paper and imagine something cool deserve it. Blame the middlemen who water it down and take out the cool stuff. Same with the gaming industry. Upper management of Sega seemed to be in constant battle between the U.S. and Japanese divisions, and I think it probably destroyed Sega. But someone somewhere was making decisions that allowed great games like Sonic, gunstar heroes, ristar, etc to get made. I'm sure there were egotistical assholes who were part of sega's demise, and there are definitely a lot of them trying to destroy sega nowadays, but there's people there who want to make good games. I don't think anyone here interested in the gaming industry wants to get involved in it to put down creativity and ruin a game by replacing good mechanics with marketing appeal, and I don't think the people in the creative side who are a part of the industry want to do that either. It's amazing anything good gets made these days (or back then).

So while I won't defend who made the best business decisions or who the more moral company was, I can say Sega is my favorite because of the memories I have of it, and the games that I played and still play that were created by them.

[jp1]

Hey, I'm not hating on anyone I love Nintendo also...but come on can you name a better launch title than Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast? It holds up even today. Also, among many others Grandia II has it's best version on Dreamcast. I am NO fanboy..but let's face it Sega made some serious contributions to everything anyone loves about gaming today. Some considerable innovations include...

VMU - Who else has even tried to follow this great concept?
3d Analog control - Yes, Sega was the first.
Seaman - Come on....
Fishing controller - I don't see it anywhere else..
Tell me a stronger lineup and with such a short run - Dreamcast - Rez, Power Stone, Soul Calibur, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia II, Jet Set Radio, Ikaruga, 2k sports, Chu Chu Rocket, Sonic Adventure, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Bangai-O, I could go on and on.....

Shenmue and Shenmue 2, seriously on 200mhz???

I'm not impressed with a machine that does the exact same thing with 2 or 3 times the power. Sorry.

[lost_within]

here is the thing...ive owned just about every console, but i grew up with sega...my first console that i really remember that was "all mine" was a sega with sonic 2. look at it like this directly infront of me as i type:

xbox 360
sega saturn
wii
gamecube
sega cd

used to be a ps3

i just grew up with sega.

[jp1]

One last thing and this is my last bit about it because I am sounding like I am Sega fanboy...Tell me a company honestly that has worked harder for you than Sega....Nintendo; while great, milks the living shit out of the underpowered consoles they drop...Sony isn't bad but without third party support forget it. Microsoft, well I don't even know what to say about them....I like the hardware for the most part, I just don't see the heart.

[the7k]

My opinion of Sega is that they were a hugely strong competitor of not only Nintendo, but all the companies Nintendo had on their side.
Mario? Answered with Sonic.
Contra? Answered with Gunstar Heroes.
Final Fantasy? Phantasy Star appears.
Fire Emblem? Shining Force.
Final Fight? Streets of Rage.

Even though their moves were largely reactionary, the fact that they continued to pump out great games in all sorts of different genres is a huge reason why I love their past selves. Honestly, the Genesis is probably the Sega system I love the least. I'd have a hard time picking between Saturn and Dreamcast. That's when they stopped being reactionary and started to innovate.

Now, I'm conflicted about Sega. They have proven they still have what it takes to make a great game with the Yakuza series and Valkyria Chronicles. The newest Phatasy Star games look to also be bringing back some of the magic. However, the continue to pay SonicTeam to shell out unmitigated crap. Yes, I know that they continue to get all sorts of misguided Sonic Kids to buy the crap by the assload, but that doesn't stop them from making a good Sonic game. The idiots who buy the bad Sonic games surely will still buy a good one, and maybe they could win back some of the lost cred with the real gamers. (And honestly, Sonic's Cred is horribly in the red at this point.)

As long as Sega continues to fund awful Sonic games, and as long as Sonic continues to be associated with Sega, Sega will continue to be associated with awful games. Either make a beyond perfect Sonic game on a console (no one really counts portable games, it seems, and I'd say for good reason; and it has to be beyond perfect to make up for the past 5 or 6 games of crap), or sell Sonic to another company so that that company gets associated with bad games.

[Ack]

Actually, the VMU reminds me a fair bit of the PlayStation Pocket Station, and I believe the PlayStation Beatmania controller to be the most interesting thing I've ever seen. Come on, a miniature turntable? Awesome. Also, the Agetec Bass Landing Fishing Controller appeared on the PlayStation. Seaman's only appeal to me has been how weird it is.

Now for a launch title, I do have to give Soul Calibur credit as it's a great game, but it didn't make or break the genre of fighting games. Look at something like Mario 64. Hell, I hate that game, but look how much it influenced the platformer genre. Now that's an influential game.

Also, this may sound shocking, but some of that lineup I have no interest in. 2k Sports, can't stand the genre. Power Stone is fun for a short while with friends, but it really doesn't keep calling me back. I consider Resident Evil: Code Veronica the weakest of the pre-4 Resident Evil games. I don't play many RPGs anymore, so those are out. Yes, it did have a great run, and I can name a bunch that you missed that I'm interested in, but I can name games on all consoles that I loved. And I can name games that I consider innovative on other consoles, or at least games that I found fascinating and a ton of fun to play. I just wish you guys would spend a little less time on how much you love Sega. It's ok, we get it.

I can't fault a man for sweet childhood memories though. Please, play a round of your favorite game on me, Lost_Within.

And why do we always forget Atari and how they practically created this whole thing for us?

[andythebadass]

I bought the dreamcast on launch day and I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. But also on that launch day, they had sent out thousands of bad copys of sonic adventure which wouldn't play at all. I have never heard of such low quality control in my life. That was my first gripe about sega quality control and there have been many more since it became a publisher.

Since the dreamcast, Segas role as a game developer has been a welcomed one but not the greatest by any stretch of the imagination. I am super tired of kiddy crap Sonic games and cheesy monkey ball games. I dont even show the slightest interest in any of their new games (besides their retro collection)

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. And thats coming from a kid who loved the genesis for years before I had a super nes.

Nintendo has made fun and innovative games (most of the time) for years.... Sony make some serious hardware and games (once in a while). Sega has done neither. The PS2 is the only system that could have stayed around this long and still be relevant. I am sure the same could have never been said for the dreamcast.

This was a tired rant but all in all, im just going to say that sega's 15 mins of fame are long gone and I would never wish for them to try to release another console or breathe anymore life into old franchises they themselves have ruined.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Well I love SEGA but they screwed themselves over now they are making shitty games for everybody to enjoy. Lets not forget who we can blame for ruining 90% of SEGA. Bernie Stolar

[gradualmeltdown]

Sega GAGA!!

Too me Sega was only a "great" company for a very small time. Between 1985 and 1994 Sega really had something special. Yu Suzuki's arcade titles started it during the 80's which carried through into the 90's. Yuji Naka was busy actually programming and making games like Phantasy Star 2. At this time Sega hardware R&D and the software dev's seemed to be one and the same. Arcade hardware would be altered to make specific titles work when dev's needed.

Genesis really worked at first because Sega arcade games were already popular and it represented them better than any other hardware could. Sega had a perfect storm of hit arcade games and the most technically advanced system. Then Sonic came out too! If they had sat on the Genesis and went head to head with the SNES without the upgrades I think it would have been different.

When DonkeyKongCountry came out they got spooked at Sega Japan. The Genesis was obviously incapable of matching this and it sold like crazy. Sega of America on the other hand wanted to sell Genesis. In my opinion the Genesis should have been supported until 1995 with no update. Nintendo may have had a marginal lead in sales for a year more but Sega would have time to make the next system right. Instead we got 32X

During this time Sega had several hit 3D arcade games that were absolutely mind blowing. Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA were the first games of their type to be so well realized into 3D. If Sega had waited just long enough Saturn could have been released a little after Playstation as a more powerful alternative. Do you think anyone would have bought a Sony Playstation with Tekken over a near arcade perfect version of VF2? No way! Daytona USA>Ridge Racer any day.

Dreamcast happened and it was amazing. Basically Sega purged a pile of money to make us a wikked video game system? I dunno to much about the business then.

Once they moved onto developing for other platforms it seems Sega developers were unable to keep up. For the first time they had to make games for someone else's hardware. Without direct access I'm sure developers lost the type of loyalty they had in the past. Other companies had the exact same tools as Sega now, through hardware they have no advantage as developers at Sega.

Thats why Sega sucks now if you ask me.

[jp1]

I just wish you guys would spend a little less time on how much you love Sega. It's ok, we get it.

And why do we always forget Atari and how they practically created this whole thing for us?

I could just as easily create a Nintendo thread...Except I will see another Nintendo console so there isn't a point.
I don't "love" Sega I just appreciate the contributions they made and the way they weren't afraid to go another direction from everyone else. While they were around they usually did things first...things that to this day are widely appreciated on every other console. I'm not talking about Sega of today because it isn't even the same thing.

I appreciate Atari's contributions...I just have no urge to play any of the games ever again.

As for Playstation...it's ok, I could take it or leave it. It has some great games as well as a load of garbage. None of it is particularly impressive to look at today. I was a fan of Final Fantasy until Playstation killed it (I realize it wasn't actually Playstation's fault) So, I am a little bitter about that especially since I have to see FFVII on nearly every greatest game list. I would much rather whatever Nintendo and Sony had planned to make together than what Sony made by itself.

Lastly, I don't think you can fairly compare the VMU and the Playstation Pocket...they are different creatures entirely.