Before video arcade games, there was SEGA.  This arcade amusement company already had stakes planted in both the US and Japanese markets before Atari revolutionized video entertainment, both at the arcades and at home.  After the collapse of the home game market, Sega tried to enter only to be locked out by Nintendo.  First to market for the 16-bit generation the Genesis (Mega Drive) took Sega to the #1 position in the game market, and marked the first significant console war with Nintendo.  Everything went downhill from there.  The Sega CD and 32X add-ons ate away at the profits generated by the Genesis and arcade divisions.  The Saturn released early at a high price point and few hit games, setting Sega up to get steamrolled by the new kid on the block, Sony.  Sega threw a hail-mary with the Dreamcast, and it was everything fans could want in a console, but it was too little, too late.  In a period of 5 years, Sega had gone from being #1 to being 7 billion dollars in debt.  It's a real miracle they haven't gone under like Atari, Midway, or SNK.

This book takes everything into account.  The hardware and technical specs, the competition, business (mis)management, marketing, and the hit games... nothing is missed.  The author is most certainly a gamer and a Sega fan, and I think that is the only point of view that is easiest to relate to in this historical account.  It contains many quotes from the industry published in magazines of the time, and gets right down to the complex relations between developers, sometimes on a personal level.

Here's just a sample of topics covered in the book.  If you don't know about them, it's time to get schooled.

• The SG-1000 home computer system


• The coolest ads ever.  Pirate TV (Europe), and the Sega scream (USA)


• Sega vs. Accolade


• the origins of EA sports games


• Why the 32X failed


• Why developers favored the PlayStation over the Saturn.


• EA, Visual Concepts, and 2K Games


• Saturn's 5-star game policy and the lack of imports


• the impact of piracy on the Dreamcast's software sales


• Sega's relations with Microsoft leading up to the Xbox launch

The book is structured by console, and generally completes the lifecycle of one system before backtracking to start with another overlapping system.  It sounds confusing, but is well organized considering this is ultimately a history tied together of anecdotes and the author's long history of research.  I do have a few complaints about the book.  The biggest is a lack of editorial review.  There are a number of typos towards the end, as well as an entire page-long passage copy/pasted in an awkward place.  I think the omissions of the Game Gear, and advertising icons Segata Sanshiro and Yukawa-Senmu will certainly be missed by hardcore fans.

Sam Pettus calls it like it is.  He does a great service to readers by refraining from fanboyism where it counts, and isn't afraid to acknowledge when the competition has some killer apps like Donkey Kong Country and all the Square RPGs.  He keeps the enthusiasm in regards to fan loyalty as many felt repeatedly betrayed by a number of events over the course of Sega's downfall.  My only big complaint is that a handful of points become redundant.  The repetition chokes the flow of the story, and give more emphasis on certain factors than is deserved.  The author also points a big finger at Hayao Nakayama of SoJ on a number of occasions for the East-West internal conflicts that really ruined the Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn in turn.

Service Games is a book I would recommend to anybody interested in the history of the games industry, or to anybody who's favorite console just happens to be made by Sega.  I can't understate the wealth of information recounted.  It's thick and informative, but at least the weight is softened by the trademark attitude adopted by both fans and Sega Corp. itself.  The book is a cheap buy, and is available in print and as a PDF on many online retailers.  For all the complaints, I've noticed the author is taking comments and is in the process of revision for an upcoming second edition.  I'm compiling my list of corrections to email him, but am certainly eager to buy it again.

SEGA!

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