Sega apologises and Promises something amazing while dusting off the Saturn!
Sega boss talks of dead and dying consoles with slant on resurrection
Saturn games see light
In a recent interview with Famitsu, Tetsuo Kayama, Sega’s new Corporate Chief Coordinating Officer, has expressed the company’s regret at losing the Dreamcast and outlines some exciting plans for the future.
Initially, Kayama apologised to Dreamcast fans across the globe for the company’s decision to abandon hardware production. “We totally understand that many Dreamcast users and Sega fans feel like they have been betrayed by us with this announcement. However, this is what we have to go through in order to pull Sega back on top. Sega must change for the sake of all who support us. Sega has never won with any console hardware. Some people might say that Sega has succeeded with the console wars in US, but, even then, it's just been for a brief moment. Since Sega has been the underdog for 20 years, I think everybody related to Sega, internally and on the outside, didn't truly believe "Sega can win" deep down inside. It's only because of the loyal, hardcore Sega fans that we've been able to hang in there and last up until now. If we didn't make the decision to discontinue Dreamcast's production, the Sega brand might have disappeared.”
It’s enough to make you feel guilty about the PlayStation 2 you just bought isn’t it? In a surprising move Kayama spoke about the possibility of re-releasing Sega’s back catalogue of Saturn titles. “First of all, we need to reconfirm Saturn's software. Even though Saturn was a system that was really down on its luck, the positive flipside to that is it didn't sell very well overseas. Now that gives us the chance to let many of the quality titles that are sleeping in our stock room have an opportunity to see the light of day again. I assume we'll focus on North America and Europe, as we are thinking of porting those titles onto PSone. We were also thinking of the possibility of Game Boy Advance at first, but its RAM capacity is so comparatively limited that we ended up with PSone, especially as it continues to rack up strong sales in North America and Europe that only seem like they will increase.”
He went on to reveal some blistering news relating to Sega’s plans for the future of the arcade market. “Although I can't disclose the details now, we are just about to reach an agreement with certain companies about the prospect of Sega developing arcade boards based on their consoles' architectures. In addition to the fact that we can improve on our NAOMI boards, which hold 70% of the market share, Sega also has the possibility and the means, to develop all arcade boards. In a sense, our boards are kind of Sega's hardware. I think only Sega and Nintendo are truly worldwide in the entertainment field, so Sega's products can easily be accepted without difficulty anywhere in the world. For this reason, we have been in discussion with other game companies, like SCE (Sony), to expand our sphere of influence by making all of our arcade boards network compatible. I can't say anything specific, but Sega will announce something incredible with a certain big company at AOU2001 Amusement Expo, which starts February 24.”
It seems that Sega is planning to drag the arcades of the world kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. Full online arcade gaming across all company platforms could see Ridge Racer take on Daytona, in real time, all across the globe.
Initially, Kayama apologised to Dreamcast fans across the globe for the company’s decision to abandon hardware production. “We totally understand that many Dreamcast users and Sega fans feel like they have been betrayed by us with this announcement. However, this is what we have to go through in order to pull Sega back on top. Sega must change for the sake of all who support us. Sega has never won with any console hardware. Some people might say that Sega has succeeded with the console wars in US, but, even then, it's just been for a brief moment. Since Sega has been the underdog for 20 years, I think everybody related to Sega, internally and on the outside, didn't truly believe "Sega can win" deep down inside. It's only because of the loyal, hardcore Sega fans that we've been able to hang in there and last up until now. If we didn't make the decision to discontinue Dreamcast's production, the Sega brand might have disappeared.”
It’s enough to make you feel guilty about the PlayStation 2 you just bought isn’t it? In a surprising move Kayama spoke about the possibility of re-releasing Sega’s back catalogue of Saturn titles. “First of all, we need to reconfirm Saturn's software. Even though Saturn was a system that was really down on its luck, the positive flipside to that is it didn't sell very well overseas. Now that gives us the chance to let many of the quality titles that are sleeping in our stock room have an opportunity to see the light of day again. I assume we'll focus on North America and Europe, as we are thinking of porting those titles onto PSone. We were also thinking of the possibility of Game Boy Advance at first, but its RAM capacity is so comparatively limited that we ended up with PSone, especially as it continues to rack up strong sales in North America and Europe that only seem like they will increase.”
He went on to reveal some blistering news relating to Sega’s plans for the future of the arcade market. “Although I can't disclose the details now, we are just about to reach an agreement with certain companies about the prospect of Sega developing arcade boards based on their consoles' architectures. In addition to the fact that we can improve on our NAOMI boards, which hold 70% of the market share, Sega also has the possibility and the means, to develop all arcade boards. In a sense, our boards are kind of Sega's hardware. I think only Sega and Nintendo are truly worldwide in the entertainment field, so Sega's products can easily be accepted without difficulty anywhere in the world. For this reason, we have been in discussion with other game companies, like SCE (Sony), to expand our sphere of influence by making all of our arcade boards network compatible. I can't say anything specific, but Sega will announce something incredible with a certain big company at AOU2001 Amusement Expo, which starts February 24.”
It seems that Sega is planning to drag the arcades of the world kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. Full online arcade gaming across all company platforms could see Ridge Racer take on Daytona, in real time, all across the globe.
Companies:
SEGA
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