[HN Gopher] Even Sega knows it'd only win the console war in a d...
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       Even Sega knows it'd only win the console war in a dystopia
        
       Author : cglong
       Score  : 39 points
       Date   : 2023-04-28 03:12 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.gamesradar.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.gamesradar.com)
        
       | BirAdam wrote:
       | You know, the thing with SEGA (only imho as I do not actually
       | follow the industry too closely) was burning both retailers and
       | developers with SEGA CD/32X and Saturn. Effectively, the CD and
       | 32X launched and had some initial success (not overwhelming or
       | anything, but not complete failures for add-ons), and then the
       | Saturn was released. The Saturn was also difficult to develop
       | for, was expensive, had zero backwards compatibility, and had
       | volume delivery issues. All of this meant that when the DC (best
       | console ever made) launched neither developers nor retailers
       | really had any trust or loyalty in SEGA.
       | 
       | It's sad. I was always a bit of a SEGA fan, and with SEGA's
       | demise I haven't considered consoles as devices for myself...
       | until the SteamDeck.
        
         | pipes wrote:
         | Dreamcast is probably my most played console, it is between
         | that and the n64. After that games just went downhill. I don't
         | know what's wrong with me but the industry just seems to have
         | lost its magic. Maybe it's the media I see it through: twitter
         | etc. Or maybe because it's mainstream now, it used to be a bit
         | underground. Or maybe games just don't seem to have any
         | personality anymore. Or maybe I'm just old and my soul no
         | longer burns.
        
           | cglong wrote:
           | YouTube has introduced me to a lot more indie titles which
           | has reinvigorated my excitement for the medium. Games like
           | Celeste, Undertale, and the Ori series are all excellent and
           | clearly made out of a love for gaming.
           | 
           | I've actually started seeing people refer to Sega as an indie
           | publisher. IMO they've straddled this line well, with recent
           | titles like Sonic Mania, the Yakuza series, and even their
           | free April Fool's "prank" game (The Murder of Sonic the
           | Hedgehog) getting universal praise.
        
           | kingkongjaffa wrote:
           | There have been many very good games made since N64 to be
           | fair.
           | 
           | Command and Conquer series, Civilization series, Halo series,
           | Zelda games, Pokemon games, Gran Turismo series, Metal gear
           | solid series.
           | 
           | A huge number of creative game mechanics, graphical
           | improvements, and deep rich lore and worlds to explore have
           | been created in games. Some fantastic story driven games have
           | been compared in artistic merit to Films and TV, and we're
           | now seeing that acceptance with things like "The Last of Us"
           | being turned into a hit show that was even almost scene-for-
           | scene in the first episode.
           | 
           | Sure there a microtransactions and junk food style games for
           | the lowest common denominator as cash grabs, but there are
           | also deep, rich games made with love still.
        
         | silisili wrote:
         | DC was certainly the best of its era, but certainly not the
         | best console ever made by any metric I could think of.
        
           | mingus88 wrote:
           | Most "best (or worst) ever" lists are heavily biased by
           | recency and personal experience. There are rarely objective
           | metrics for this kind of thing
           | 
           | To wit, my list of best consoles are all of that era when you
           | could have 4 controllers plugged in and spend all night long
           | partying with your friends. Now that I'm an old, I won't play
           | online matches, and I don't have all night parties so every
           | system sucks now.
        
         | toast0 wrote:
         | > Effectively, the CD and 32X launched and had some initial
         | success (not overwhelming or anything, but not complete
         | failures for add-ons), and then the Saturn was released.
         | 
         | The Sega CD was out for quite a while before the 32x and Saturn
         | came out. I don't think it was that much of the problem for
         | relations with stores.
         | 
         | The 32x _was_ a mess; it released in the US one day before the
         | Saturn release in Japan and offered a complex landscape that
         | wasn 't really justified.
        
       | throwawaaarrgh wrote:
       | that website's ads feel like a dystopia
        
       | danbolt wrote:
       | Reminds me a bit of _Segagaga_ [1], a Dreamcast RPG where you try
       | to reverse Sega's fortunes in a futuristic environment.
       | 
       | [1] https://sega.fandom.com/wiki/Segagaga
        
         | debugnik wrote:
         | > In the year 2025, Sega is in crisis, with only a 3% share of
         | the market
         | 
         | I guess that sounded pessimistic back then.
        
       | thriftwy wrote:
       | As a decades long player of Civ, Master of Magic, HoMM 3 and SMAC
       | I can't begin to understand what's the fuzz about consoles
       | anyway.
       | 
       | Throw in Starcraft, Majesty and occassional Might and Magic
       | series.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-29 23:03 UTC)