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How Sega Lost Their Consoles
Kubinator
July 4, 2010
S
ega is one of the longest running gaming companies. As the years have gone by, they now simply publish games instead
of making consoles. Let's take a look at the mistakes Sega made that cost them in the long run.
Sega, bless their soul, no longer makes consoles. Gamers everywhere are still upset over the Dreamcast's early retirement, but when Sega mentions such systems as the 32x and Saturn, gamers boo, hiss, and laugh. Sega in the mid 1990's had the brilliant idea of expanding the Genesis lineup with console add-ons featuring newer technology. This never really caught on for several reasons. For starters, there was the Sega 32x. Millions were ordered but the technical problems plaguing this peripheral were through the roof. The added processing power didn't make up for the bulky, top heavy attachment that tended to smash gamers' toes. Did I mention most of the 32x games were bad ports? The same could be said about the Sega CD; although the added FMV abilities and the additional storage space were supposed to make the Sega CD ports better than their Genesis counterparts, this backfired as most Sega CD ports of games like GoldeAxe, Ecco, and Streets of Rage had very little additional content. The Sega CD was also guilty of cranking out shovel ware games.
Don't get me started on the Saturn, even though most gamers don't consider this console a mistake. But keep this is mind, when the Saturn came out in 1994 the failures of the 32x and Sega CD would go on to contribute to Saturn's slow and painful demise in 1997. By the way, while the Saturn was out, Sega was still dumping money into the Genesis, the Sega CD, and the 32x. Experts say Sega lost over $300 million due to these 3 consoles. In the 1990's, Sega's business practices were terrible.
The Dreamcast did well for Sega, but they couldn't compete against the Playstation 2. Everyone loved the Dreamcast. The system pioneered online multiplayer, there were great RPGs, epic fighters, and my personal favorite was Sonic in a well-constructed 3D game. In the late 1990's and early 2000, the Dreamcast was the main choice for many gamers. Unfortunately, Sega pulled the plug early on the system and left the console business.
No company is perfect, but unfortunately Sega did not learn from their mistakes and ultimately too many were made and too much money was lost, forcing them to abandon their console creating dreams. Who knows, maybe gamers will see another Sega console in the future?
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