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Well, it’s certainly not what I would have wished for for Sega’s 60th, but their arcade product is their core historical thread running that 60 years. So at least it’s thematically appropriate.

Sload Soap wrote:Could it though? Many of those arcade games will have ports already and from what I saw in Japan the appeal of the few arcade only experiences that remain seem to lie in games with set ups not practically replicated at home. It seems a bit redundant to me. I can see it as Sega expecting arcades to be closed longer or operate at limited capacity due to coronavirus so maybe this is a band-aid for that?

I think now, and in the future, with this set up they will be exclusive and the fact that they will sync with the machines in the arcade - that is huge.
It keeps arcade stats separate from XBOX live and PSN.

Reprise wrote:Yeah... it's a no from me.

Why couldn't they have just released a reasonable sized Game Gear with like 30ish games included?

Because that would involve Sega demonstrating good decision making.

From what I'm seeing, this appears to be a Sega's equivalent of Stadia, but for arcades? On top of the new game gear, this doesn't seem all too revolutionary for the gaming industry. Perhaps for Western audiences, I should say.

Sega gotta Sega. I really don't think there's a market for an ACTUAL Game Gear handheld, not at the price it would have to be released at. These tiny, functional units really are collectors items and chachkies for Sega loyalists.

Sega celebrating its 60th anniversary is a pretty big deal and so it's a shame none of these announcements offer anything to Western audiences. It's particularly frustrating since the Genesis was so big in America and both the Master System and Mega Drive were huge in Europe.

Their early-mid arcade history was also very important in the US. But really, their US success was a relative flash in the pan for a 60-year old company.

SpaceBooger wrote:I think now, and in the future, with this set up they will be exclusive and the fact that they will sync with the machines in the arcade - that is huge.
It keeps arcade stats separate from XBOX live and PSN.

It just seems to me to appeal to a niche of a niche and only in one territory, at least with the slim details we have. Doesn't even seem that great a business move.

Sload Soap wrote:Could it though? Many of those arcade games will have ports already and from what I saw in Japan the appeal of the few arcade only experiences that remain seem to lie in games with set ups not practically replicated at home. It seems a bit redundant to me. I can see it as Sega expecting arcades to be closed longer or operate at limited capacity due to coronavirus so maybe this is a band-aid for that?

I agree with Sload that this is actually still a pretty weird and niche move, even for Japan. The Arcade scene here is not all that healthy and is still pretty niche (especially with the hesitance of arcade owners to up prices combined with higher general consumption taxes as of last year).

I guess the bigger question in my mind is how people will actually use this. The main reason arcades actually exist here anymore is because they can offer arcade experiences you can't get at home (as arcades always have tried to do), and it's really all about elaborate control mechanisms that would be super expensive or very difficult to replicate at home. Anything that doesn't fall into that category generally has really good home ports. I just don't really see who this service is really for, at the end of the day.

Do people go to arcades anymore over there since this virus thing? I was thinking maybe that had something to do with it. Everybody else is making virus friendly products/services. They might as well cash in as well. Of course I could be way off.