i miss sega

[captain_nintendo]

Oh...... I get it Microsoft with a $ (dollar sign)   Now that's damn funny.

Micro$oft.


However, I agree with the whole punctuation and capitalization thing

[phoenix1967]

I hate it when a company announces that thier new system will perform 1001 tasks because it just means that I have to pay 3 times as much to have a bunch of things that I'm not going to use much, if at all.  Sure, I can download and save song's to my XBox's hard drive, but I've only done that with one song, just to find out how to do it.[/emo]

2 things. First, I agree that there are too many gadgets (gaming and non-gaming) with too many features that do not get used. I mean, wouldn't the PSP have been a much better idea if they put more R&D into gaming options rather than scamming the public on it also being able to play movies? Portable DVD players are less than a hundred bucks...and they play regular DVDs, not some specialized PSP-platform specific crap. Non-gaming: remember the palm pilot? The PDA? Next in line...the blackberry.

Second. I have to admit that I waited a long time before ever utilizing the soundtracks option on my xbox, but when I did, it at least makes racing games that much more fun to play when you can set up your own song set to use instead of the majority of over-marketed pseudo-grunge crap that's the game's default music. Check into the feature, it's a good one.

[Tynstar]

I have yet to rip a song to my Xbox. Or even but a music CD in it.

[phoenix1967]

Try it. It's hilarious to race with Ray Charles' "Mess Around" playing in the background.

[Ghost Soldier]

I like where sega is going with letting top titles go on to plug and play games.  I've been craven some menancer action and low and behold plug and play menacer.  Not quite the rifle look of the gun but nice none the less.  Nothing can beat killing roaches with a gun and flashlight.

[Cobra]

Awe, all this debating of hand-helds, and not one vote for the Nomad.... sure it really loved it's batteries... I even had to buy some longer lasting rechargeables for it. And it was heavy 'n' big. But I loved that thing, back lit when my mate's original GBA was not, huge library of games, plus the best 2 player support. Just plug in an extra control, no need to bug mates into buying them selves the same system just to to link up.

I also don't think the 32X or Mega-CD were bad ideas. In fact I loved the Mega-CD, and Snatcher on it is still my all time favourite.

At any rate, back to the point. Sega should not make a new system as it is not the same Sega you know and love any more. Embrace the found memories, and go retro. Collect all the games you always wanted to play on your favourite system and share your joy with the rest of RF Generation as those glory days will never be again as we now live in the age of pop games.... I'm assuming that's what RF Generation is all about... do today's systems even use RF?

[James]

do today's systems even use RF?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/X...050?ie=UTF8&s=gateway

http://www.amazon.co.uk/G...050?ie=UTF8&s=gateway

http://www.amazon.co.uk/G...050?ie=UTF8&s=gateway

[Cobra]

Wow, that's cool.  So many years on, I wonder if the next gen systems will still offer RF.

[chrisbid]

sega should stay dead and buried, i wouldnt be able to stand the heartbreak of another failure

the sega cd was not a failure, it wasnt a runaway success, but it was the most successful console add-on ever released.  the system had a shelf life of 3+ years, and well over 100 games were released for the system.  that is more than the master system

the saturn and 32x were released too close to one another.  had the 32x been given more time to take hold, it couldve performed the task it was meant to perform... a next gen stop gap.  virtua fighter on the 32x was outstanding, and i could only imagine what a daytona or virtua cop couldve been.

the extra time also wouldve given sega more time to work on and perfect the saturn and give it a proper release with virtua fighter 2, virtua cop 2, sega rally and others.  sony didnt really take off until final fantasy vii was released in 97.

the other HUGE mistake sega made that nobody mentions was how the genesis was all but abandoned in 1995.  16 bit was still the biggest chunk of the game market, despite the plethora of platforms that were on the market at the time.  nintendo knew this, and gobbled up what sega willingly gave up.

[Cobra]

I guess the problem is you just don't know how things will turn out.

Personally I think the biggest mistake Sega made was Bernie Stolar. Ex Sony Computer Entertainment president, gone Sega president (who the heck though that was a good idea). He was very unprofessional about the whole thing, and brought over his hatred of the Saturn. Here are his most famous and public quote about the Saturn. 1st his most memorable "Saturn is not our future", but also "Did not have very good games" and of course his "Were not that fun to play". So the less said about him the better.

Master System may not of done well in the US or Japan, but really no fault of it's own or Sega's, as Nintendo had an monopoly at this time that couldn't be shaken, as when their "make games four our system then you can't make games for any other" policy was ruled illegal, they brought in a "make a game for our system and that same game can't appear on another system for the next 4 years". With legal matters taking a long time to resolve as well, they well and truly had them selves covered, and no one could of broken through this. Not to mention a very clever entry into the US market in witch Nintendo originally promised to buy back any unsold stock! I still have more respect for Nintendo over this though (for one, it was only Nintendo of America with these) as at least they didn't boast fake stats for their system, and belittled their rival system with made up system specs for it too ey Sony :\ but that's all past now.

The Master System did incredibly well outside of North America and Japan however.

The MegaDrive (Genesis) was a remarkable system, and was able to overthrow the NES. With the SNES still a whole two years away it really built up a name for itself and Sega in America. I understand why they chose to abandon development for it though, they felt they were stretching their resources to far. At the time in all around the world every one of their systems were still alive all at once in one part or another. The Master System, Game Gear, Mega Drive were all alive somewhere in the world. Also, as this was probably more of a Sega of Japan decision, lets also remember the MegaDrive wasn't as huge a hit over there as it was in the rest of the world. The SNES steam rolled right over it there.

However I completely agree that keeping the MegaDrive / Genesis alive would of been a great idea, even if not in Japan, for the rest of the world. The Nomad was great, and 16-bit games would of been so easy to program by this point, it would not of even taken much effort. This also means more money for their newer systems until the day everyone is ready to upgrade.

32X and Saturn. Why so close together? Well the 32X was to be the affordable NextGen device. 32X for your average gamer, and Saturn as a luxury hardcore system. There wasn't really anything wrong with the Saturn in terms of power. To believe the Sony's story of the Saturn only being a 2D system is a little foolish. Because why would Sega make their cheaper add-on 3D and not their luxury model? I mean blimey, even the MegaDrive did 3D. Also to believe that you'd have to also pretend that Sega never relied on it's arcade to home ports as it's major selling point from all the way back to the Master System. After all, Sega was already making 3D games in the arcades, why make a system they couldn't even port them too?

The Saturn was by no means a failure though, and like chrisbid said, before FF7, the Saturn still had a fighting chance.
I think Edge magazine issue 51 sums the Saturn's life outside of Japan best.

"The Saturn, casualty of the second-generation 32bit console war, is neither 3DO or Jaguar. It boasts arcade conversions that Namco rivals but rarely beats, classy RPGs and support from offbeat developers such as Treasure. It is, in short, the hardcore gamer's machine of the 90's. In this sense, Sega's failure is also it's greatest triumph."

Not only that, the Saturn was the first time Sega was finally able to out sell the Super Nintendo in Japan. The Saturn did hugely well in Japan in fact, and was considered the hardcore gamer machine just like it was always planned to be, while the Playstation for anyone else. This is also reflected by sales, with PS consoles outselling Saturns, but more Saturn games selling than PS games in Japan.... phew all done.