1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? You may have ascertained 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: that I am not at due to the nature of 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: my voice, which is probably a bit more um lower 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: than usual. Been coughing a lot rough times in the 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: Strickland household. But I'll be okay. So because of my 9 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: condition that I'm a bit under the weather, We're going 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,639 Speaker 1: to present to you something special. You know. I did 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: this a few weeks back where I brought up an 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: old episode of Business on the Brink, the show that 13 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: I used to do with aerial casting where we would 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: take companies that were at a real inflection point, either 15 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: they were just about to take off or they were 16 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: just about to disappear and talk about what happened and 17 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: how we got there. And a lot of those companies, 18 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: of course, have something to do with tech. So today 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: I thought we would do the episode titled The Brink 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: plays Games with Sega. I hope you enjoy Sega. From 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: Slot Machines to Sonic the Hedgehog, this company played its 22 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: way into people's hearts. But in the nineties they made 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: a few key mistakes that would make them lose the 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: trust of their gamers, and by the time they came 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: out with elite new system worthy of consumers praise, it 26 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: was too late and the market was gone. Learn how 27 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: this company spun out of control and out of the 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: console game. This is Sega on the brink. Hi everybody, 29 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm Arial Casting, and I want 30 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: to apologize that intro had far too few puns in it. 31 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: Game over area over. So this was a request from 32 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:19,679 Speaker 1: a from a Tony. Yeah, isn't your husband's name Tony? Yes, 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: there may or may not be any relation to that, 34 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: but you know what, it's a really good suggestion. If 35 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: my wife had made a suggestion, I would have gone 36 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: with it too, So totally cool. I put it in 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: listener suggestions because he doesn't work on this podcast, so 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: it's a listener suggestion. Totally Yeah. So this is a 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: great story to cover in the sense that it's easy 40 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: to forget it now. But Sega for a while was 41 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: writing high in the video game console world, and for 42 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: a brief period it looked like they could become the 43 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: dominant name in video game consoles, and then everything went wrong. 44 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 1: So it's to the point now where people who think 45 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: back on the Sega consoles, they tend to fall into 46 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: two camps. They're either the people who wistfully remember how 47 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: awesome those game consoles were more there people who think 48 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: of it as a big joke. It's a little both, 49 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: a little both because largely because of the very moves 50 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about in this podcast. But just 51 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: in the interest of full disclosure, I was someone who 52 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: got hold of a Sega Dreamcast system, which we're going 53 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: to talk about in this episode. I got it after 54 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: the Dreamcast had already made a splash and was fading 55 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: from memory, So this was they weren't making new Dreamcast 56 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: games by the time I got hold of the system, 57 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: it was all the used game market. But I was 58 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: blown away by the Dreamcast. So when we talk about 59 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: people who truly loved that system, I'm one of those people. 60 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: I want to mention at the beginning of this that 61 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: as much as we say that Sega has kind of 62 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: fallen out of memory, people were saying they might make 63 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: a comeback, and the fact that there's a Sonic movie 64 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: coming out a Sonic movie that is rapidly undergoing massive 65 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: change is as we record this. The news recently broke 66 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: that because of the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the Sonic 67 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: the Hedgehog teaser trailer, they are going to redesign Sonics look, 68 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: which is a pretty massive undertaking for a for a 69 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: c g I movie. It is. I'm really rooting for 70 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: them to get it right, because I think a Sonic movie. 71 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 1: I enjoyed the stories when I played the games, and 72 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: I think kids would enjoy a Sonic movie. I didn't 73 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: realize there was a story. Here's a story dr about 74 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: Nick Steel's little animals and turns them into I just 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: figured you ran really fast and when you hit stuff, 76 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: rings popped out of you. I mean, which I mean 77 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: that happens to me. Yeah, it's I mean, I get it. 78 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: It's true to life. Well, let's talk a little bit 79 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: about just a little bit about Sega's origins to kind 80 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: of set the scene of how they were able to 81 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: climb in the home console space. Now, obviously, the story 82 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: of Sega starts before there was a home video game 83 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: console market. We're actually not going to start at the 84 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 1: very beginning of the company that becomes Sega because it's 85 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: a lot of little steps, it's not very important. There 86 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: was a slot machine company made in Hawaii, and eventually 87 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: the Army said, we don't want slot machines on US 88 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: army bases anymore, which is where they were selling their 89 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: machines too. So they went over to Japan where they 90 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: still could sell games, and they became Service Games Japan. Yeah, 91 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: as service thus the nod to making games for like 92 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: military installations. Yes, And when they went over to Japan, 93 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,160 Speaker 1: they're being run by Martin Bromley. Now, in nineteen sixty 94 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: that company liquidated and split into two divisions. I'm gonna 95 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: pronounce this probably very poorly, Nihan Goriku Basan which traded 96 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: under the name Automatic Inc. For distribution, and then Nihan 97 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: Kaeso would traded under the name Sega Inc. Sega is 98 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: short for Service Games, taking the first two letters of each. 99 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: So they made slot machines, but they also made juke boxes, 100 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: so that you know, obviously this is arcade game days. 101 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: And where do we go from there. Well, eventually those 102 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: two companies recombine. Now at the same time, you've got 103 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: Rosen Enterprises Inc. Also in Japan at the time run 104 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: by David Rosen, who is another army man. His company 105 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: started as an art exporting company, taking art from Japan, 106 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: exporting it to the US during the Korean War, and 107 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: then he became an arcade game importer in nine and 108 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,799 Speaker 1: then he became a producer of electro mechanical arcade games. 109 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: So the precursor to video games, right, this would be 110 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: games that would actually have moving components to those. So 111 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: a pinball machine is sort of a variant of these games, 112 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: but you had all sorts of different ones. There's a 113 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: great arcade game museum in San Francisco where you can 114 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: actually see some of these electro mechanical and you can 115 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: play them, these electro mechanical games. And it is funny 116 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,119 Speaker 1: to see how human ingenuity came up with ways to 117 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: convince people to part with their change. I believe even 118 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: and I would part with a lot of change there, 119 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: I'm certain. Now. Rosen was very successful at this, and 120 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: in part because he had other engineers helping him from 121 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: companies like Nihang Kupasan, and so he started looking for 122 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: mergers and the one that panned out was with Nihang 123 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: Kupasan or Sea, and they merged in n and I'm 124 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: gonna call it MGB. From this point, they acquired Rosen 125 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: Enterprises and Rosen became the CEO, and they renamed the 126 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: company Sega Enterprises, taking the Sega from m GB what 127 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: they were trading under, and taking Enterprises from Rosen Enterprises. 128 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: And at that point they were making the electro mechanical 129 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: arcade games and jukeboxes, and they started coming out with 130 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: their own games in sixty six. The first one that 131 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: really got some traction was a game called Periscope, and 132 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: they even started opening up essentially arcades. They were called 133 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: game centers, but I mean they're like arcades in the 134 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: sense of like the video U arcades made famous in 135 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties. Periscope, by the way, was so good 136 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: that they started importing it to the US. Yeah, so 137 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,679 Speaker 1: there actually ended up being an international market for the game. Yeah. 138 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: And then in nineteen sixty nine, Sega was acquired by 139 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: Gulf and Western, who had been largely trading in pinball machines. 140 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: From my understanding, so now Sega has pinball machines. Yeah, 141 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: so they start doing those as well. As a pinball enthusiast, 142 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: I appreciate that I love pinball games and Sega was 143 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: then trading on the US stock market, so they were 144 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: now not just on Japanese markets but also in the US. 145 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: In fact, primarily in the US by this point, and 146 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: they had Sega Enterprises Incorporated and they essentially shifted their 147 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: operations to the United States, although they maintained an operating 148 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: arm in Japan as well. Yeah, it was an ltd. 149 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: After that, they started moving into video games, both in 150 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 1: the arcade and at home and seeing the trend. There 151 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: have been a couple of games that people have attributed 152 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: to this. The one that is coming to my mind 153 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: is Pong. So they saw Pong and they said, well, 154 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: this is the way things are going. Let's jump on 155 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: the train. And they even acquired the US gaming company 156 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: called Gremlin in seventy to help them expand into that market. So, 157 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: you know, we kind of skipped over a lot of 158 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: the early seventies, but that was more of the same. 159 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: It's really when you get into the mid to late 160 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: seventies where the arcade games, the video games story coming out, 161 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: where this this story starts to change. Uh, they were 162 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: doing pretty well, that division was doing pretty well, but 163 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: the overall parent company it was a different story. Yeah, 164 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: So Golf and Western hit some trouble and they sold 165 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: the U S division of Sega to Midway Games in 166 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: at which point Sega became a primarily Japanese company again. 167 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: Sega North America was absorbed into Midway. Midway is another 168 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: company we'll have to do a brink episode on sometime 169 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: in the future. Midway famous in the United States for 170 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: the Mortal Kombat series. Midway is no more. So that's 171 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 1: another story that has its own brink moment, but we'll 172 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: save that for its own episode, you know. And Saga 173 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: does have operations in the US again, but at that 174 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: time they shifted. So Rosen wanted this video game market 175 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: that they had built, so he and some others bought 176 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: it back from Gulf and Western. They buy back the 177 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,959 Speaker 1: Japanese branch, right, so the North American branch that's part 178 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: of Midway. Rosen goes back to the Japanese side and 179 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: purchases that one back from the parent company. Yes, and 180 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: in three Sega had its first console, the s G 181 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: one thousand, which was I'm sorry if I offend anybody, 182 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: nothing to write home about. They also had a micro 183 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: computer come out at that time, which I think was 184 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: the s G two thousand or three thousand. I covered 185 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: this for a living, and I don't remember ever reading 186 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: about the s G one. Yes, well, they had a 187 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: really hard time competing with Nintendo because Nintendo already had 188 00:10:55,679 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: market share. And then in six Sega came out with 189 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: their first successful console, the Sega Master System. Yeah, but 190 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: then the Nintendo Entertainment System was still pretty much the 191 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: dominant player in that space. I mean, remember that the 192 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: Nintendo Entertainment System was the system that was able to 193 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: bring the video game home market back from the crash 194 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: of three. Well, Sega realized that they were not necessarily 195 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: going to get Nintendo's markets, so they focused on markets 196 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 1: that weren't saturated with Nintendo already, places like Brazil in Europe, 197 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: and they became the second most popular home system in 198 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: the world, kicking Atari out of that spot, which I'm 199 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: surprised Atari was even in that spot. I'm guessing it's 200 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: from lack of competition. Yeah, no, because no one else 201 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: wanted to get into the video game console market after 202 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: that crash, right, so Nintendo. Everyone thought Nintendo was crazy 203 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,319 Speaker 1: for getting into a market just as it had imploded, 204 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: and Nintendo was able to prove that there was still 205 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: a market there, but no one else had anything ready 206 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: to compete in that space because they had all either 207 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: gone out of business or had changed their minds about 208 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 1: developing a console. So it was kind of open ground. 209 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: And so even though the Sega system wasn't catching on 210 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: big here in the United States, so a lot of 211 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,959 Speaker 1: people in the US were completely unfamiliar with it, there 212 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: was enough demand in other countries for it to be 213 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: a big success. Well, all of that was about to change, well, 214 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: at least the not being in high demand in the 215 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: US part, because in eighty eight they came out with 216 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: the Sega Mega Drive, which in the United States is 217 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: better known as the Sega Genesis. Yeah, and it was 218 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,959 Speaker 1: not only a really popular console, but it was also 219 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: really the first sixteen bit console there was, which is 220 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: probably why it was so popular. Yeah. It was a 221 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,439 Speaker 1: dramatic improvement over the eight bit systems like the Nintendo 222 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: Entertainment System that came before it, and it got the 223 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: jump start on the Super Nintendo, which was another sixteen 224 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: bit system. Yeah. Along with that system, they implemented a 225 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: good marketing strategy. They had really good games, which we 226 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: know is very important for the six US of a console. Yeah, 227 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: you need to have a good launch library. Yeah. This 228 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: is around the time we get Altered Beast. Yeah. I 229 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: watched a long play of that just the other day 230 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: and I forgot how bonkers that game. It is crazy. Yeah, 231 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: it's pretty nuts. If you don't know what we're talking about, 232 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:20,079 Speaker 1: do a YouTube search for Altered Beasts Sega and uh. Yeah. 233 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: It's all about transforming into various types of monsters as 234 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: you make your way through multiple levels, and it's really hard. 235 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: It's a really hard game. But this gave Nintendo a 236 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: fight because up until that time they had the mark share. 237 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: By nine one, Sega was doing real well both in 238 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: the arcades and in the home console arena. And the arcades, 239 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: they were coming out with three D games like Virtual Racing, 240 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: Virtua Fighter, virtual games. There was virtual Tennis. I remember 241 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: that was all under the Sega label. There is Virtual 242 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: Virtue of Virtuous people now virtually Virtuous, and it's I 243 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: can identify with that. By that time, Sega was in 244 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: forty four countries and they came out with Sonic the Hedge. Yeah, 245 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: kind of their answer to uh to Nintendo's Mario. It 246 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: became like the mascot for Sega. Yeah, and it looks 247 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: like Sonic might outpace Mario. Well you can run really fast, mao. Well, 248 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: Sonic jumps higher. U. Now, Nintendo did gain groundback with 249 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: SNS when it came out. So Sega did a couple 250 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: of moves that would spell to bring for them. One 251 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: was the Sega thirty two X cartridge and the other 252 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: was the Sega c D. Yeah, these were both additions 253 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: to the Genesis. It was an attempt to boost the 254 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: genesis is power and to extend the lifespan of the 255 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: console by giving it additional capabilities beyond the basic system. 256 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: And essentially the company had a couple of choices, right, 257 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: they could have gone down that route to try and 258 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: augment an existing game console, or they could have designed 259 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: the next generation console to have those things built into 260 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: it natively and launched that. They decided to go with 261 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: the augmenting approach, so more more like a computer where 262 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: you would buy a new graphics card for it. Yeah. 263 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: Shortly after, they did also design a console which was 264 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: a whole another problem. Yeah, the Sega Saturn. The Sega 265 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: Saturn in ninety four. Now, Sega Saturn was a really 266 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: big hit in Japan, and at that time they also 267 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: launched things like in door theme parks and the Sega Channel, 268 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: which is a whole story of its own. But Sega 269 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: Saturn big hit in Japan, but not a big hit 270 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: in North America, and the peripherals for the Genesis weren't selling. 271 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: So these three moves are the things that brought Sega 272 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: to the brink. The stuff that would push Sega over 273 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: are yet to come, but this kind of sets the stage. 274 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: So with that in mind, let's take a quick break 275 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 1: and when we come back, we'll explain a bit more 276 00:15:46,880 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: about what pushed Sega over the edge. Alright, so we 277 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: mentioned the Sega Genesis and the Purples, or if you prefer, 278 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: the Sega Mega c D system. It was the Sega 279 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: c D in the US, it was the Mega c 280 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: D in Japan. So let's talk a little bit more 281 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: about this peripheral and why it failed to really get 282 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: a lot of traction. This was the peripheral, the additional 283 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: thing for the Genesis that would give it more capabilities. 284 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: The Genesis when it released was a cartridge based system, 285 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: very much like the Nintendo Entertainment System. Yes, s, even 286 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: the Nintendo sixty four that would come out later was 287 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: still cartridge based So what were the thoughts behind going 288 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: to a CD based system? All right, Well, first, the 289 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: Sega c D would allow for full motion video games, 290 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: which sounded good in theory back at the time. Yeah, 291 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: but they were really grainy. Yeah, and a lot of 292 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: them had very little to know gameplay. Let me let 293 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: me tell you about one of them. Sure, I'm the 294 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: famous One night Trap. Have you heard about this one? This? Yeah, 295 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: it started a person who had formerly start on the 296 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 1: show Different Strokes. Uh. It's about a group of young 297 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: women who are having a sleepover party and you're playing 298 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: a super creepy neighbor I'm guessing who is looking in 299 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: on the home while the women are having their party, 300 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: and there's about a billion masked intruders trying to get 301 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: in there, and you activate a series of traps in 302 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: various rooms to stop the invaders from getting at the 303 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: young women. And I'm talking about like crazy traps like 304 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 1: people are are. You're watching these guys sneak past a 305 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,199 Speaker 1: wall and you hit a button at just the right 306 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: moment and then a video would play where the wall 307 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: would like rotate around, possibly sending those intruders to their demise. 308 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: You don't really know it was weird. And yeah, full 309 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: motion videos sounded great because you're like, look at the 310 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: amazing technical capability. We can actually show full motion video, 311 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: but it meant that we had to pre record everything, 312 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: so there was very little control, Like you couldn't control 313 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: a full motion video person imperfect motion because that capability 314 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: wasn't there. You would essentially do a choose your own 315 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: adventure kind of approach to games, which meant that there 316 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 1: was very little gameplay to actually have. Yeah, the CDs 317 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: were supposed to be able to store a lot more 318 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: information than cartridges could. Now on the flip side, you 319 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: had companies like Nintendo saying we don't want to go 320 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: down that path because we feel that the CD format 321 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: is easier to pirate, And in fact, Sega would have 322 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: problems with that as somebody who may or may not 323 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 1: have come into possession of an enormous folder of pirated discs. 324 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: I know nothing. Yeah, but there are other problems with 325 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: the Sega City beyond being piratable. Yeah, and you're right, 326 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,120 Speaker 1: they could hold more storage. They also had better audio 327 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: because they used an audio D drive not a CD 328 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: ROM for it. But these units were not universal. So 329 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: depending on what version Genesis you got you'd have to 330 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: either get a Sega c D that was compatible with 331 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: that specifically, so some sat like completely underneath and some 332 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: we're on the side of. So that's that's confusing to 333 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: the consumer. Yes, and then all of these peripherals had 334 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: their own power sources, right, so so it's not like 335 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: they even could just take power from the main console. 336 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: You had to plug them in separately. And also it 337 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: meant and I love that you have this note here 338 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: because it's it's a clear problem. It meant that you 339 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 1: were already limiting your market right because the only people 340 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: you can sell that peripheral to our people who either 341 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: own a Sega Genesis or buying a Sega Genesis at 342 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: the same time, and they just want to have the 343 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: full thing kitted out, which takes a lot of money. Yeah, 344 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: So so you're essentially saying these existing customers I already have, 345 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: I'm trying to up sell those customers, but you're not 346 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: winning new customers with that approach, So you've already limited 347 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: the amount of success you can have that product, as 348 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: opposed to coming out with a brand new console that 349 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,679 Speaker 1: might win not just your existing customers but new customers. 350 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: And that ended up being one of those strategies that 351 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: ultimately would come back to slap them in the face. 352 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: And and we'll get to that because they did design 353 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: a CD console it was a Saturn. But first I 354 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,640 Speaker 1: also want to talk about the thirty two X. It 355 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: was actually made to compete with the Attari Jaguar, and 356 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,520 Speaker 1: I have very little software support. Yeah, which is kind 357 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: of interesting because the Attari Jaguar, it turns out you 358 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: didn't really need to compete against it now and that's 359 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: the only reason I wanted to mention. It was supposed 360 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: to bring arcade quality games to your home. It was 361 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 1: called three two X because you had the sixteen system 362 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: system and that's cool, but again expensive. You can't really 363 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: enter in if you've got to buy three separate machines 364 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: unless you've got a lot of extra money. And the 365 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: thirty two X only sold six and sixty five thousand 366 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: units globally. It sounds like a lot, but it's not. Also, uh, 367 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: it couldn't quite match the quality of the arcade experience, 368 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: and that was the big selling point, right They were saying, 369 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,199 Speaker 1: this is going to bring the experience you have at 370 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: the arcade into your home, and the reality was it 371 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: wasn't quite good enough for that, and so some of 372 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: the people who bought it felt like they didn't get 373 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: the promise that they were, you know, it wasn't delivered upon. Yeah. 374 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: So then we get the Saturn CD, which we previously 375 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: said did really well in Japan and not so great 376 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: in the US. Yeah. In Japan, it's sold almost five 377 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: hundred thousand units in the first month. But then they 378 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 1: announced to be three in the US, and they were 379 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: trying to compete with the very new PlayStation and the 380 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: Nintendo sixty four, which we're both already out or just 381 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: about to come out, and so they panicked and they 382 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: announced that the Saturn was coming out six months ahead 383 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: of schedule, and it was going to cost four hundred 384 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: dollars instead of the around eight hundred that it would 385 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: cost you to get basic model from Japan. Yeah, so 386 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: this was an attempt for them to try and steal 387 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,360 Speaker 1: some of that market share away from their competitors, right, 388 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: Like there vastly under pricing the console is one of 389 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: the strategies that a lot of console makers have where 390 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: you sell the console at a loss and you hope 391 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: to make it up in selling titles games. Except for 392 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: they didn't have enough games because they didn't think a 393 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: lot of the Japanese games would translate well to America, 394 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: so those didn't get released in the US. And then 395 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: you've got all of these game developers who are trying 396 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: to program these games for the release of the Sega Saturn, 397 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: which is already a little bit more complicated to program 398 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: for because it used dual CPUs, which is a redesign 399 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: after they found out what the PlayStation specs were. Yeah, 400 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: and so they're rushing to get their games out. And 401 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 1: Jonathan and I are huge geeks. We've had all these 402 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: conversations about how rushing a game just leads to poor gameplay. Yeah, 403 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: and that was true in this case. And so there 404 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: was poor gameplay, there was a very limited library. And 405 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,360 Speaker 1: then they also didn't adjust their marketing for the gamers 406 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: that were growing up. They were still focusing largely on teenagers. Yeah, 407 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: and as it turned out, the people who grew up 408 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: with games were sticking with games, and if you marketed 409 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: toward them, you tended to do well. And if you 410 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:24,719 Speaker 1: just kept on aiming for a constantly refreshing young market, 411 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: it didn't do as well. And that really hurts Sega. Yeah, 412 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: I I think the process of making it difficult to program, 413 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: like we've heard that before two. PlayStation three had a 414 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: similar issue because they changed the architecture for the system, 415 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: And if you were working for the company, So if 416 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: you were working for Sega, if you were a developer 417 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 1: and you worked for Sega, or you were a developer 418 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: and you worked for Sony, you had a better chance 419 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,479 Speaker 1: of developing a decent title for that console. But if 420 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 1: you're a third party developer, and third parties are the 421 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 1: ones that are making some of the most popular titles 422 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: out there, certainly, and you in counter this problem, then 423 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: internally you start asking yourself the question, doesn't make sense 424 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: for us to even make a game for the system, 425 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: considering how much time and effort it's going to take, 426 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: Or should we just focus on making titles for a 427 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 1: competing system where we know we can turn them out faster. 428 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: So it was a whole combination of things, largely on 429 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,639 Speaker 1: Sega's rushed decisions to try and compete more vigorously against 430 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: the PlayStation in sixty four that really set them back well, 431 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: and they couldn't even because this rush deadline also meant 432 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,199 Speaker 1: that their systems were in core supply shortly after they 433 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: announced that their system was coming out early. PlayStation well, 434 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: I guess Sony said, hey, our PlayStation is only two 435 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: hundred dollars and so three nine. So now they're coming 436 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: out early, but they can't compete with PlayStation in price. 437 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,680 Speaker 1: Yea and Nintendo had better games and gameplay, it's more powerful, 438 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,120 Speaker 1: so it was it was like a double whammy. So 439 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: you found a quote from the guy who had was 440 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: CEO of Sega during this time, Tom Kolinski. He had 441 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,360 Speaker 1: an interview and his quote is I'm going to read 442 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: it out verbatim. Had we waited until we had more 443 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: and better games launching with all retailers instead of with 444 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: a few with marketing that could reach every player, we 445 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: would have been much more successful, even if that meant 446 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: waiting for a late October or November launch. So we 447 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 1: usually put our lessons at the end of Brink episodes, 448 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: but here's a lesson right in the middle of this one, 449 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: which is sometimes being first is not as important as 450 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: being best. Yeah, and I'm sorry. We probably could have 451 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: just said that quote instead of talking for the last 452 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: seven minutes, But then you wouldn't have the Brink. You 453 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't have the braink But also around this time, our 454 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: kid Attendant started falling. It didn't help. I mean, we 455 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 1: still have arcades, but and they do better overseas than 456 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: in the US. But in the US, in the US, 457 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: it used to be a staple, like every mall had 458 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: at least one arcade, and now like there's only a 459 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: few game centers or bowling alleys that that even carry 460 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,679 Speaker 1: video games. So yeah, it's they're few and far between 461 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: in the States. And I believe that at the time, 462 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: Sega was looking at a merger with Bandi, and in 463 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: ninet that was called off, and all of these things 464 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: led to downsizing in layoffs, not surprisingly. Yeah, so they 465 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,360 Speaker 1: really were setting their hopes on the Dreamcast. They really 466 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: thought maybe the Dreamcast system could succeed where the Saturn 467 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,399 Speaker 1: had failed. They really put a lot of work and 468 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: design and the Dreamcast and it showed. But the damage 469 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: had been done already right there. The missteps they made 470 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: with the Genesis peripherals, the missteps with their c D 471 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,400 Speaker 1: system had kind of turned a lot of gamers off. 472 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: They had a bad perception of Sega the company as 473 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: far as hardware as concerned. Yeah, but we're going to 474 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: talk more about that right after this quick break. All right, 475 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: so now we're going to talk about the Dreamcast system 476 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 1: I still own. I think we own one too. It's 477 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 1: actually really easy to hook it up because you can 478 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: just hook it up through a coaxial cable to your machine. 479 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,479 Speaker 1: In fact, you could even feed cable through a cable 480 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: system to your game system and then from the game 481 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: system to the television, because I used to do that. 482 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,359 Speaker 1: My my Saga Dreamcast, which I do still own, is 483 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: not currently connected to my television, but it could be. 484 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,159 Speaker 1: It should be, Jonathan, it should be. Well. The Dreamcast 485 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: came out in Japan and ninety nine in the US 486 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: about a year apart from each other, not like a 487 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: few months apart, but about a year. And it was 488 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: a sixth generation console for home by Sega and the 489 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: last one and uh, gamers who got it saw that 490 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: the system was pretty boss. Yeah, people still say that 491 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: it's not everybody. A lot of people say that it's 492 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: one of the best consoles that's been created. It the 493 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: least a toe to toe with the competing consoles on them. 494 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: It was. It was advanced compared to the competing consoles 495 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: on the market. It even I would argue it didn't 496 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: equal the following generation of consoles, but it was pretty 497 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: darn clothes. Well. It was the first one to have 498 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: a built in modem for online gaming, it was the 499 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: first one to do voice recognition for online gaming, and 500 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: it had really great graphics and really great sound. It 501 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:31,959 Speaker 1: also had that that fish Man game, you know what 502 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 1: it was man, which is interesting. If you're not familiar 503 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: with it, you should or should not, go look up. 504 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: I can't. I can't even recommend for you to go 505 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: look at a YouTube rio because it's weird. Yeah, if 506 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: if you feel the need to not sleep ever again, 507 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: go look it up. But then they came out with 508 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: really great games, absolutely Crazy Taxi and Jet Grind, radio 509 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: imports of their Arcade games that also we're really great 510 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: on this console, shem You, and Soul Caliber too, just 511 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 1: to name a few. Yeah, Soul Caliber was probably my 512 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 1: favorite series. Yeah, and they even won an award for 513 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: the most successful hardware launch in history, and it sold 514 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: over five hundred thousand units in the first week, as 515 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 1: opposed to the Saturn, which had only sold that many 516 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: in a month. Yeah, so incredibly well out of the gate. 517 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: But unfortunately that was not sustainable. Yeah, because then we 518 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: got the PlayStation two. Yeah, and the PS two ended 519 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: up winning over a lot of people right away. PS 520 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 1: two is a great machine. I still think the Dreamcast 521 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: is better than the PS but a lot of people 522 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: had already switched over to PlayStation Yeah. There are a 523 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: lot of people who are already in the Sony ecosystem, 524 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: and they thought, oh, well that I already loved this 525 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: game system, I bet this one's going to be it's 526 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: too I bets twice as good. I'm gonna go with that. 527 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: So they stopped making the Dreamcast in two thousand one, 528 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: and support for it ended in two thousand three, and 529 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 1: games were produced into two thousand seven, over thirty of them. 530 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 1: But unless you get a really ambitious kickstarter, you're not 531 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: going to get more games. Interesting. I didn't realize they 532 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: were being made even that late. I know that I 533 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: got my Dreamcast after two thousand one, which is when 534 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: they had stopped making the Dreamcast. But you know, I've 535 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: only been around for two years. In the US, you 536 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: had a lot of fans that were making games. You 537 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: had a lot of crowdsourced gotcha games. Apparently it was 538 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: pretty easy to make them for the Dreamcast. It's definitely 539 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,959 Speaker 1: easy to pirate them, not that I would know from 540 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,680 Speaker 1: personal experience. I didn't fired them. I just I just 541 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: got hold of something, and I mean someone I know 542 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: got hold of a whole. Yeah, I just keep digging 543 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,480 Speaker 1: that whole Jonathan um. In March of two thousand one, 544 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: they announced, you know, we're out of console game We're 545 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: just going to focus on software and third party game publishing. 546 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: They did some restructures. The first game they released for 547 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 1: another competitor was for Nintendo. I feel like this was 548 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: probably what broke the spirit of the company right because 549 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: the Dreamcast, like we said, was truly a revolutionary product. 550 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: It was a good game console, people liked it, and 551 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: yet the company, like the actual hardware, ultimately failed in 552 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: the market. Like it had a great reception and had 553 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: early buzz, but it wasn't able to keep on with that. 554 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: And I think that must have been a very hard 555 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: decision to come to at Sega, to say, listen, we 556 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: gave it our best shot and it wasn't enough. Yeah, 557 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: it even gets a little bit sadder before it gets better. 558 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: They looked at a bunch of mergers. The president of 559 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: Sega at that time of Sega Japan passed away shortly 560 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: after that. He did give seven hundred million dollars to 561 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: the company UM to try to help bolster it's it's success, 562 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: it didn't really help. In two thousand three, they announced 563 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: a merger of Semi Corps, which made Pachinko machines and 564 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: things like that. Yeah, and then Namco said no, we 565 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: want to buy Sega, and then both of those fell through. 566 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: And then a few months later Sammy Corp. Came back 567 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 1: and bought Sega. But in two thousand twelve they had 568 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: to restructure again, so they cut more jobs, they closed 569 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: multiple branches, and they announced that they would only be 570 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: focusing on developing digital contents so free to play in 571 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: phone apps and things like that. Yeah, far cry from 572 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: the old arcade and console days. Yeah, and then driving 573 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: their existing IPCA Sonic. Sonic still comes out with games 574 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: and people still like them for the most part, so 575 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: they can make some money licensing that intellectual property. And 576 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:24,960 Speaker 1: since then they've even they've even made a few acquisitions, 577 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: and like I said, there have been some talks of 578 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: a comeback recently. Yeah. So so they continue to make 579 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: games for other platforms, but they haven't shown any sign 580 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: of getting back into the the home console market. Apart 581 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: from there were rumors every few years. Yeah, but I 582 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: heard about something in twenty but I couldn't substantiate it. Yeah, 583 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,719 Speaker 1: so we hear this pretty much every few years, like, 584 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: let's wait till e three and maybe we'll hear another 585 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: announcement of this beloved game company coming up with a 586 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: console again. And honestly, there might be a possibility of 587 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,320 Speaker 1: that happening. You know, we've got the next generation of 588 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: consoles right around the corner. Sony's getting ready with their 589 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: big announcement for the PS five. They've talked a little 590 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: bit about it already. There's always rumors about what the 591 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,240 Speaker 1: next Microsoft console is going to be, So maybe we 592 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: will see another attempt in the future. It is very 593 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: challenging to get into a market that has been dominated 594 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: by three powerhouse players. I think their biggest hope would 595 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: be really banking on those gamers who are now grown 596 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: up in middle aged. All that hurt to say, and 597 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: now have you know, expendable income to relive their fond memories. 598 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I can't hear you my elderly ears. I 599 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,760 Speaker 1: was putting myself into that category as well. Jonathan, there 600 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: there are a couple of fun facts. I do want 601 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: to at least say one of them, which is the 602 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: Sega Genesis motto, which is Genesis does wet nintend don't. Yeah, 603 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: now I remember that ad campaign. Yeah, And there's some 604 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,440 Speaker 1: other things we could talk about. We didn't mention the 605 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: infamous game gear. That was a handheld game system that 606 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 1: Sega came out with, but it was plagued with problems, 607 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: not the least of which was if you wanted to 608 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: play it, you better have a steady supply of batteries 609 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:12,959 Speaker 1: on hand because it drained those suckers and it took 610 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: like six from That was not the most efficient game 611 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,879 Speaker 1: system out there. And um, yeah, there's there's a lot 612 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: more we could say obviously about Sega, but that was 613 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: the real nut of the problem that they faced was 614 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: that they probably, rather than go with the Sega Genesis peripherals, 615 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: should have thrown more attention and support behind and that 616 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 1: might have given the Saturn a real chance of success. Instead, 617 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: they kind of confused the market and cannibalize their own sales, 618 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,439 Speaker 1: and then by the time the Dreamcast came around, which 619 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: was again truly an awesome console, they just didn't have 620 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: enough goodwill out there and enough enthusiasm too push them 621 00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: hard enough so that when Sony came out with a 622 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: p S two, they could really compete, which is a shame. 623 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,440 Speaker 1: But you know, we don't know what the future holds. 624 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,240 Speaker 1: Maybe we will see Sega return truly from the brink. 625 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: I would say right now, they're still beyond it because 626 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: they're a shadow of what they used to be. But 627 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: who knows. Maybe once they do the Sonic the Hedgehog 628 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: redesign for the movie. Yikes, I've seen some good fan 629 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: art of what the redesign could look like. Yeah, but 630 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,280 Speaker 1: that's fan art, I mean maybe. Honestly, I was surprised 631 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: to see that a company would take that initial reaction 632 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 1: so seriously as to go that incredible step, because I 633 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 1: mean that is that that's not a small endeavor to redesign, reanimate, 634 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 1: re render all of that work, because you figure they 635 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,719 Speaker 1: must be almost done with the movie by the time 636 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 1: they're releasing trailers, at least a good portion of the movie, 637 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,400 Speaker 1: and then you're essentially deleting the character and reinserting the 638 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: character with possibly with the same animations, but it's still 639 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: a totally different design. Is gonna cause all that rendering 640 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,560 Speaker 1: to back again well, especially after researching this episode and 641 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,480 Speaker 1: talking about Sega. I hope that the redesign is successful 642 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 1: and that a new generation falls in love with little 643 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: Blue Speedy Hedgehog. Yeah I do too. I hope you 644 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: enjoyed that episode of Business on the Brink. That was 645 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: an interesting show to work on. Big shout out to 646 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:28,000 Speaker 1: my co host Ariel who I mean, you just don't know. 647 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: She did so much work on that show. She was 648 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: an incredible researcher and organizer and was a joy to 649 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: work with. Uh. We also did large Nerdron Collider together, 650 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,920 Speaker 1: which is currently on hiatus but is planning to come 651 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:48,399 Speaker 1: back very soon. She's actually on vacation right now with 652 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 1: her family, so wishing her all the best. Wishing you 653 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,880 Speaker 1: all the best. Hope you are happy and healthy and safe. 654 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: I'll be getting there soon enough. It's just a little 655 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: momping the road and uh yeah, that's it for this episode. 656 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 1: If you would like to leave me a message, there 657 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 1: are a couple of ways you can do that. You 658 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: can send me a voice message by going to the 659 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,480 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, navigate to the text stuff page. 660 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 1: There's a little microphone icon that you can click on 661 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: and then leave up to a thirty second long voice message. Uh. 662 00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:23,359 Speaker 1: And you can even let me know if you would 663 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,000 Speaker 1: like us to use the audio in an episode and 664 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: we will lea use that to help launch an episode, 665 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: or you know, you can just tell me what your 666 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 1: ideas or your quest or anything like that. Or if 667 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 1: you don't want to leave a voice message, you can 668 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: also always leave a message to me on Twitter. The 669 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,400 Speaker 1: handle for the show is tech Stuff H s W 670 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:50,240 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff 671 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 672 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,279 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 673 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Nine