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> My friends, D-day is upon us and I thought it would be nice to go over
some Sega history in order to set the stage for the newest generation of
gaming in America. In case you're not sure, D-day is Dreamcast-day
(9-9-99). We're less than a week from D-day and Uberconsole
fever is rising like the space shuttle during a launch.
> Anyway, Sega first hit the US console market with its 8-bit Sega Master
System. Even though it was technically superior to its competition
and featured some key exclusive titles, the SMS was not the king of 8-bit
sales. Phantasy Star, Zillion, Shinobi, Space Harrier and Golvellius
showed gamers what Sega was capable of.
> While Nintendo was on cruise control, Sega then released the world's
first true 16-bit console, the Sega Genesis. It featured more trademark
exclusive titles like Sonic the Hedgehog, Strider, Phantasy Star II, Streets
of Rage, Eternal Champions and Herzog Zwei. The Genesis quickly gripped
the American market and held off the SNES to ultimately become the most
popular 16-bit console with the largest library.
> Sega then sought to continue its technical lead by marketing a CD upgrade,
the Sega CD, for the Genesis. When it debuted, PC CD-ROM units were
just getting to the 2 speed mark and NEC had already been marketing its
TurboGrafx CD upgrade for a few years. As with the Master System,
key exclusive titles like Batman Returns, Silpheed, Lunar, Lunar Eternal
Blue, Shining Force CD and Soul Star weren't good enough to make the Sega
CD king of the market. However, in the strictest sense, the Sega
CD was not a stand alone console. Therefore, if you add its popularity
to that of the Genesis, then their combined success was unparalleled.
> Next came the Sega Genesis 32X module which was basically another upgrade
to the Genesis base console. It kept Sega on top of the technology
curve along with Panasonic's 32-bit 3DO. Unfortunately, with the
quick arrival of Sega's next generation console, the 32X never reached
its full potential. However, it did have some bright spots like Virtua
Racing Deluxe, Star Wars Arcade, BC Racers and Knuckles Chaotix.
> Sega led the next generation with an early release of its dual 32-bit
Saturn. Three hundred games and three and a half years later, the
Saturn fell to the market pressure of being the third place console in
America. Now for the first time, some people are looking back to
appreciate Saturn exclusive titles like NiGHTS, Guardian Heroes, Daytona
USA, Sega Rally, Fighter MEGAMiX, Virtua Fighter 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga
and Shining Force III.
> Now that you're up to speed, you can appreciate Sega's continued effort
to provide gameplayer's with cutting edge technology in the soon to be
released Dreamcast. Next, your main task is to find someone that
is still taking pre-orders as Sega has announced that over 300,000 Uberconsoles
have been reserved in America. On D-day, you'll have the choice of
over 15 great titles including Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, NFL 2000,
Power Stone and Ready 2 Rumble! All these factors should combine
to make D-day the single biggest entertainment retail day in history.
You can either be a part of it or you can wish you were a part of it...
Good
Gaming,
-Shinobi
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