Sega’s Major Mistakes - The Strategic Failures That Killed Sega’s Console Business

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At one point in our lives, Sega was THE system. It was cool, edgy, mature, and fun. For a brief time in the 1990s, it was winning the Console Wars.
However, thanks to a series of missteps, their lead fell away. This video takes a look at those mistakes, with a large emphasis on the failures of the 32x, Sega-CD, and Game Gear, as well as the failed launch of the Saturn.
Want more information? Much of the content of this video comes from Console Wars by Blake Harris, and if you liked this video, I HIGHLY recommend you get this book: www.amazon.com...
#videogame #vidgeogamehistory #sega #segagenesis #segasaturn #sega32x #segacd #gamegear

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17 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 66

@duhdeedee 2 месяца назад

Somebody must've known Sega couldn't handle 32-X and Saturn at once (not to mention consumers) and was either too scared to speak up or put in their place.

@mattkidroske 2 месяца назад

Gaming history can be so interesting. Sega became so successful but ultimately caused their own demise. Meanwhile, Nintendo created their own worst enemy.

@Swordslinger-hb1ns 2 месяца назад

I guessing you’re referring to Sony with their almighty PlayStation aren’t you?

@mattkidroske 2 месяца назад

@@Swordslinger-hb1ns yup! He actually touches on this at about 14:18

@yiffytimes 2 месяца назад

It was beyond crazy to release the 32X and the Saturn so close to one another. There wasn't a retail outlet who thought this made any sense.

@blakethomas5637 Месяц назад

I was ALL-IN on Sega. I had a Genesis, Sega CD, and Game Gear. But when the 32X came out, I was like 12 years old and I already knew which way the wind was blowing. Then when the Saturn was launched, all my friends got PlayStations. I ultimately waited it out for the N64, and never looked back at Sega again. To bungle the brand to a kid who doesn't know anything and was totally loyal says a lot about the incompetence involved.

@LexusGX460-OFF-ROAD 2 месяца назад

What killed Sega was Sony. We knew back then that Sega-CD and the 32X where gimmicks. Saturn was lined up to be the real deal. Then one day we walked into Circuit City and saw a Sony Playstation on display.. They had that silly Jumpin jackrabbit game... a complete nonsense game that blew away Saturn's flagship Virtua Fighter without even trying. Sony was effortless... saturn you could tell they were pushing the limits of the system with VF1. It was over right then and there. Then came the ridge racer demo to remove any doubt. Sony just beat them fair and square and no Sega fanboi (me) could deny it.

@Epic_C 2 месяца назад

Sega of Japan killed Sega. I think if they had just let Tom Kalinske run Sega of America without SOJ's meddling, I doubt it wouldn't have crashed as it did. They forced Kalinske to release the add ons and release the Saturn early and he didn't want to, but was forced. That's why he ended up leaving the company in 1996. If Sega would have just stayed on Kalinske's original plans, developers wouldn't have dropped out and there would have been a lot more success.

@LexusGX460-OFF-ROAD 2 месяца назад

@Epic_C Ya but Sony was just superior... we slaved hard at our teenage minimum wage jobs to save for that Saturn.... then Playstation blew it away... we wanted 3D arcade graphics... Sony did it better.. Saturn was all maxed out tryna make 3D look good... Sony was effortless...

@Carsonj13 2 месяца назад

Sega killed itself. They got greedy and did dumb things. Stop blaming sony for segas own dumb decisions. Please.

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

@@Epic_C it was not just Sega of Japan fault when in reality it was the fact that American retailers forced Sega to prouduce handreds of tousands of units from software and hardware, with Sega paying money to all the stock that would go unsold, and with a very little amount sold, this costed the company billions of dollars from 1994 to 1995, and to 1996 , and it's specifically due to Sega of America clinging to the Sega Genesis and even Sega's of Japan willingness to help them rather than simply moving to the new system, hence why the 32x exist, if you don't believe me , than watch a video called "Sega FY 1997 - The Slow Death of a Titan" it's a video that explain some of the hidden truth behind Sega of Japan and Sega of America's failure that explains why the japanese branch needed to interfere, specifically from 54: 02 of that video up to 1: 00 :14 of the video to realize the truth, even though you'll still have to watch up until 1: 05: 02 of it for a better understanding

@WWammyy 2 месяца назад

Virtua Fighter 1 pushing the system not even close 🥴. But yeah Sony beat them fair and square. They made a lot of mistakes and failed to honour their commitments with retailers, that hit them hard. A console doesn't need to be in he most powerful it just needs to be in the same ballpark. But Sega failed on their main strength of the 16bit era @ marketing. Pandemonium reviews talked about Sega's leaked documents that discussed everything on how they were perceived against Sony. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gQPFKMx21Sk.htmlsi=CcNeXKuMJl8wLNTG

@Carsonj13 2 месяца назад

I dont blame sony for segas own ineptitude, personally. I think if the playstation had not existed, Saturn would have been destroyed by n64 the way they were running things.

@damin9913 2 месяца назад

SEGA was doing just fine with the Sega Genesis when they moved away from it it ruined them and now they don't know what they doing with stuff they need to go back to the original hardware

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

IF it is to be believed, Tom Kalinske said that repeatedly.

@damin9913 2 месяца назад

@AlmostSomething he's was putting Sega in the right direction with the Sega Genesis but now everything SEGA is doing is 100% wrong SEGA of japan did that screw up

@damin9913 2 месяца назад

Kalinske is a Genesis Fan he didn't care about any of those other new consoles they kept throwing out because he knew they all was a flop the genesis still had potential and he knew that they just ignored his request like greedy companies they are

@kurtg5405 2 месяца назад

If the Saturn cart slot supported the 32x and Genesis library, and the 32x wasn't launched in competition to the Saturn, i think sega could have stuck around for a bit longer, and Genesis/Sega CD/32x support would have probably helped justify the higher price over the playstation and keep people in the ecosystem.

@inceptional 2 месяца назад

Yeah, Sega built up a decent lead with that two year head start selling the Genesis when the SNES wasn't yet on the market (online figures say somewhere around 5 million units), and it even managed to swing back and forth with the SNES in US sales during certain periods after the SNES actually launched there, but the SNES apparently did ultimately finish on top in North America by the end of the generation. The latest NPD figures say SNES came out a little above Genesis in North America (some people dispute this), it obviously completely dominated in Japan, and I think it sold a little below Genesis in "other" (as Nintendo calls everywhere else in the world apparently). The Genesis vs SNES was the closest battle Sega ever had with Nintendo in any generation. But Nintendo was still the clear victor over Sega every single time when all is said and done (all six times), including the recent Mini era, where the SNES Classic Mini officially sold 5.28 million units and the Genesis was apparently somewhere below one million in sales according to Wiki's list of best-selling game consoles (the Genesis Mini didn't make it on the list, which only goes as low a 1 million sales). That's a pretty big and interesting over 5-to-1 difference there when you think about how popular the SNES and Genesis still are relative to each other literally decades after they were truly relevant. It's a shame Sega isn't relevant as a console manufacturer anymore, as it certainly had some great little systems that went head to head with Nintendo over the years. But, yeah, it really only has itself to blame there. What might have been. Great video. :)

@MaxAbramson3 2 месяца назад

The changing, confusing roadmap, lazy CD ports, dropping IP for Saturn, late dev tools, canceled games, and abandoned hardware killed SEGA--right when the PS1 was promising to do what we'd all hoped for in games for years.

@自重トレ兄弟 2 месяца назад

Amazing presentation skills man. Super concise, detailed and informative.

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

thanks so much!

@SmashTheOni 2 месяца назад

I would advise against using Console Wars as a source. The book is generally framed more as an epic than a history book, and has a lot of false information too on account of Kalinske, who has developed a reputation in recent years for stretching the truth.

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

So, this is news to me, but you aren't the first to tell me that! Where can I find out more about that?

@SmashTheOni 2 месяца назад

@@AlmostSomething Several interviews with other SEGA devs from both Japan and the US have made the rounds. Kalinske's account on the 32X notably doesn't line up with any of them (or even his own public statements from 1994 for that matter). I would recommend looking up Joe Miller's interview about the 32X, as well as the website mdshock, which has translations of multiple interviews from Japan. And also SEGA of America's leaked financial report from 1997. It really paints a different picture of how SoA was run back then

@mattmcconnell4814 Месяц назад

I enjoy your content. I like your presentation style and the topics you choose. Keep up the good work.

@AlmostSomething Месяц назад

Totally made my day. Thanks so much!!

@vembrace 2 месяца назад

This story has been told to death on RU-vid.

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Sir, I have excellent news for you! You are merely a click away from finding another video that you will, in fact, enjoy! Happy YouTubing!

@samuraibeastwarrior2886 2 месяца назад

@@AlmostSomething keep up the good work

@redinthesky1 2 месяца назад

Genesis and Dreamcast were pretty decent, but Snes and PS1 have unbeatable libraries

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Yessir. That always did it for them.

@VEGANVANIA Месяц назад

I think that within the next 5 years, your perspective on many of these things will change: I have made my own videos theorizing about what (decisively) Sega did wrong and my own view of the matter really has evolved with time -and continued revelations as retired employees give interviews and write autobiographies.

@G.L.999 3 дня назад

It wasn't Just the console add-ons that doomed Sega; it was mostly retailers that doomed and failed Sega in the long run. Sega was given some of the worst terms they had to adhere to since re-launching the Genesis/Mega-Drive in NA! And these worse terms weren't even applied to Nintendo either. It only applied to Sega, Atari, 3DO, and other minorities that retailers saw as an after thought! I'll be happy to list some of the examples if anyone replies.

@PhilipMurphyExtra 2 месяца назад

Great video, Playstation had so much better games at the time then Dreamcast

@mrknight5360 2 месяца назад

Great video!

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Thanks so much!!

@natebetts9426 2 месяца назад

Great video! Hope to see more from you!

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

More to come! And thanks so much!!

@theemraldwolf5874 2 месяца назад

Very interesting!! I love video game history

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Glad you enjoyed!

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

@@AlmostSomething that was a GREAT video except, there is something you probably never heard of and i hope you tackle it in a video and that is the fact that American retailers forced Sega to prouduce handreds of tousands of units from software and hardware, with Sega paying money to all the stock that would go unsold, and with a very little amount sold, this costed the company billions of dollars from 1994 to 1995, and to 1996 , and it's specifically due to Sega of America clinging to the Sega Genesis and even Sega's of Japan willingness to help them rather than simply moving to the new system, hence why the 32x exist, if you don't believe me , than here is my answer for you watch a video called "Sega FY 1997 - The Slow Death of a Titan" it's a video that explain some of the hidden truth behind Sega of Japan and Sega of America's failure that explains why the japanese branch needed to interfere, specifically from 54: 02 of that video up to 1: 00 14 of the video to realize the truth, even though you'll still have to watch up until 1: 05: 02 of it for a better understanding

@HebrewGamer100 Месяц назад

Can't say SEGA was wrong about Sony not knowing what they were doing. What Sony did know, however, is how to partner up with people who did. Money talks.

@cireza_ 23 дня назад

Going to respectfully disagree with the SEGA-CD being presented as a failure. As usual, there is nothing meaningful to back this up. Sales numbers are incomplete, as with most SEGA consoles, but still considered as worldwide total sales (hopefully one day people will stop believing blindly what is written in wikipedia). The add-on had a revision and was supported for 6 years. Unlike some "random" sales numbers, these are verified facts, and clearly demonstrate that it was successful enough to justify such support.

@VEGANVANIA Месяц назад

I disagree with your analysis of the Game Gear: it was a success, but it succeeded _as a luxury alternative_ to the Game Boy that (therefore) inevitably had a smaller market share. It was the Neo Geo of portable systems, not the equivalent to the Sega Master System. Some people were willing to pay double the price of a Game Boy for something starkly superior: rich people. It's as simple as that.

@mekman4 2 месяца назад

Great Stuff!

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Thanks so much!!

@mekman4 2 месяца назад

Thank you for the like!

@mekman4 2 месяца назад

@@AlmostSomething no problem, I love your take on these subjects. Keep up the great work!

@thecatwrangler9448 2 месяца назад

2.4 Million Units sold of the Sega CD…? I can’t consider that a true failure comparedand the fact we over 125 games in America and 200+ total. Go look at how many Sega MegaDrives sold in Japan, that is a failure in comparison. They sold from 1988-1995, the most they sold was 900,000 units in 1991 overall it sold roughly 3,500,000 total units in Japan meanwhile somehow the MegaDrive CD sold 850,000 units during its short time being promoted in Japan INCLUDING A YEAR THEY SOLD OVER 400,000 IN A SINGLE YEAR… Had they not made the Saturn so known realistically the CD and 32x could’ve sold 1.5-2x as many units each and they ended up selling.

@Epic_C 2 месяца назад

Sega of Japan is what ruined Sega in the US. If they had just let Tom Kalinske run the US side of the company without the Japan interference that they did, I'm sure they wouldn't have crashed as they did.

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

dude you're really mistaken if you think that it's just Sega of Japan fault when in reality it was the fact that American retailers forced Sega to prouduce handreds of tousands of units from software and hardware, with Sega paying money to all the stock that would go unsold, and with a very little amount sold, this costed the company billions of dollars from 1994 to 1995, and to 1996 , and it's specifically due to Sega of America clinging to the Sega Genesis and even Sega's of Japan willingness to help them rather than simply moving to the new system, hence why the 32x exist, if you don't believe me , than here is my answer for you watch a video called "Sega FY 1997 - The Slow Death of a Titan" it's a video that explain some of the hidden truth behind Sega of Japan and Sega of America's failure that explains why the japanese branch needed to interfere, specifically from 54: 02 of that video up to 1: 00 14 of the video to realize the truth, even though you'll still have to watch up until 1: 05: 02 of it for a better understanding

@AlmostSomething 2 месяца назад

Thank you for this insight! I'll have to track that down.

@Monhamd1000 2 месяца назад

Blame Sony for that.

@Molybed1 2 месяца назад

What I find fascinating about all these videos about the demise of Sega in the console business is that NOBODY talks about the real reason it happened. The real reason Sega FAILED is... (1) They never ran a PROFITABLE business. (2) They were never a stand-alone company. They were ALWAYS a subsidiary. Sega is to THIS DAY a subsidiary of SEGA-SAMMY HOLDINGS. Just like Playstation and Xbox, Sega NEVER was a independent entity. They always had a parent company, aka "DADDY" who they could run to for a bailout. When a structure is set up like this they tend to BURN cash to "win" instead of running a proper business. This is why Xbox is the piece of 💩 that it is and is constantly burning cash and making mistake after mistake, and the reason why Playstation keeps making failure (PSVR2) after failure (PSVita) and has NEVER hit its peak (PS2 sales) in decades. The only difference with Playstation is that it actually made a profit, so that is why it still hasn't gone belly-up yet, but it eventually will. The only company that still lasts after 100 years is Nintendo because they are NOT a subsidiary. Nintendo is the PARENT. This is why they are forced to run a tight ship because they have no one to run to for a bail out. Playstation and Xbox is going to FAIL just like Sega. The only way to stop that from happening is for Sony and Microsoft to both SPIN THEM OFF into their own independent companies.

@danielg.w5733 2 месяца назад

personally i blame Sega's Japan branch. such incompetence

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

@Retro_Troll 2 месяца назад

In the book console wars it clearly says it was sega of japans fault, and they would not listen to sega of america.

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

@@Retro_Troll dude, seriously I don't know if you watched the video I talked about or not, but if I were to tell you even more information, than I would tell you that EVEN Sega of Japan CEO Hayao Nakayama was PROUD of Sega of America's success, YES they did not listen to the American branch, but that's only due to money losses of billion of dollars, and that Sega of Japan spent TWO YEARS of blood and sweat working on the technology of the Sega Saturn technology, only for the American branch to tell them to throw all that away just because they had a deal with Silicon Graphics, as well as the fact that it was SONY OF JAPAN and Ken Kutaragi who refused to work with Sega of Japan due to Sega's technology lacking in terms of power compared to theirs, as well as demanding a measure of control that was too much for Sega to give. and besides just because you heard the story from the book of console wars, does not mean that this is the entire picture of what happened or that all they said is correct, I for one and many others HAVE no idea how all that new information had never been known to the American side of Sega, but I understand that we only heard one side of the story the entire time, as well as that it is a complete myth that both branches of the company were completely at odds with each other, when they were BOTH responsible for different factors, EVEN TOM KALINSKE with his focus on on the brand and image, rather than the quality of the product PLEASE, watch the video before you comeback with a reply, as well as other sources of information such as the video "EDITOR’S CORNER PODCAST - EP 20: Chat with Sega Lord X & James The SegaHolic" and a web site "Mega Drive Shock" (i advise to watch the video first) and remember, it's been far too long since Sega of Japan had been specifically blamed for Sega Saturn, it's a very complicated matter that need a lot of time to be understood, if you're not conveinced yet, i don't know what to tell you

@Retro_Troll 2 месяца назад

@@gregtom3272 The 32X was the main reason for segas failure, everyone knows that. You don't know what you're talking about.

@gregtom3272 2 месяца назад

@@Retro_Troll except according to a former Sega of America employee "David Rosen" the 32x was a team effort idea, as he said in an inter view the following : "After the Genesis, Sega of America was interested in developing peripherals while Sega of japan wanted to move on, it wasn’t necessarily a friction but there was a lot of going back and forth, helping to resolve issues with the ultimate aim of achieving what both arms of the company wanted". weither you believe it or not, both branches of Sega wanted each other to succeed no matter how contradicting that might sound to what you heard, all that information i mentioned is not some thing i just said without finding out about it, and if you're telling me that i don't know what am i talking about, then you're basically telling me that people who did so much effort to bring that information in the first place don't know what they are talking about, even that American employee i already mentioned, apparently, you still had not checked out what i told you of sources of information, and if that isn't enough, than again, i don't know what to tell you.