Sega the Soothsayers of the Game Industry?

[Genesaturn]

IGN posted a really good article for once...I think so anyways. They cover the history of Sega's gaming innovations and how they affected the future of gaming. Give it a read even if your not a Sega fan

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/20/sega-a-soothsayer-of-the-games-industry

[wiggyx]

As much as I love (some) Sega consoles, that article is almost entirely erroneous in its citing of "firsts" accomplished by Sega.

None of those innovations were pioneered solely by Sega. The Turbo Express was a portable home console long before the Nomad launched, not to mention the TV tuner. Motion control was not a Sega 1st, by any stretch. I recall Hey You Pikachu coming with a microphone before Seaman hit. The Famicom and Super Fami both had online functionality, the former having come long before the MegaDrive modem/service.

Also, citing the pithy battery backup on the Saturn as something that would have added significant cost to the unit is, um, just not true. It probably cost Sega pennies to add that to the console, and we all know how useful it was/is. You can save about 3-4 games, and you're always worried that the volatile battery backup is gonna fail (which it did, often).

I think the only actual "first" on that list is the VMU, which sucked, and only made it to market about a month before the Pocketstation did. Battery life of about 30 minutes, and Digipet-like resolution meant that it was pretty much obsolete upon arrival. I thought it was a sweet idea when it launched. Hell, I bought a Godzilla VMU about a month before the DC launch just because I was so amped about it. But, the Godzilla "game" on it didn't do much of anything to interact with the full DC release and I was buying CR2032 cells by the dozen just to play with it (which wasn't very much fun anyway).


Again, I love my Saturn and Dreamcast, but I am not so in love that my Sega horse blinders are impairing my ability to recognize that there are other hardware developers that were doing the exact same stuff at the exact same time.

[ccovell]

I concur. Although the Game Gear w/ TV tuner (October 6, 1990) came out before the PC-Engine GT (November 10, 1990), the GT was logically the next time after the GG before we'd be able to watch the boob tube on a gaming device.

The internal backup RAM on the Mega-CD, again, is not "pioneering." The PCE-CD had it in 1988.

The PCE GT brought the console experience to a portable before the Nomad or the PS Vita did. Qualifying it with the limitation of 6 face buttons is... lawyer-like.

Isn't IGN supposed to stand for "Intelligent Gamer Network?"

[RCM]

While it's nice to show some of Sega's "innovations," the piece is highly flawed in stating Sega was the ones behind some of the tech. Another flawed, under researched IGN piece. Other IGN writers can read that piece and say "been there, done that."

The only statement I really liked about the piece is the following:

"Its devil-may-care attitude towards game development in the Saturn and Dreamcast eras is something that we simply do not see outside of the indie scene today." It was still the "wild west" back then in terms of game development, and Sega brought titles out that Sony, M$, and Nintendo wouldn't consider. For that I'm thankful to the old Sega. The new Sega, however, is largely a fucking mess.

[YoshiM]

Isn't IGN supposed to stand for "Intelligent Gamer Network?"

Heh. I wish. No, it's "imagine games network"

[Superman]

I didn't think the article was too bad either. I thought it was a nice retrospective.

I didn't really see a mention of Sega being first or creators of any particular technology. What it did reference is that they were innovators of new technologies.

Sega was simply trying things that were new and most of their competitors (mainly the large competitors Nintendo, Sony, etc.) werent.

[wiggyx]

I didn't think the article was too bad either. I thought it was a nice retrospective.

I didn't really see a mention of Sega being first or creators of any particular technology. What it did reference is that they were innovators of new technologies.

Sega was simply trying things that were new and most of their competitors (mainly the large competitors Nintendo, Sony, etc.) werent.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Untitled-1.jpg

[tom]

Special controllers?
See Atari VCS

http://www.atariage.com/controller_list.html?SystemID=2600

Downloadable games?
see Atari VCS:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CVC-MASTER-MODULE-GAMELINE-FOR-ATARI-2600-NEW-be-the-first-to-open-it-rare-/230788086078?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item35bc0ab93e

and Intellivision actually:

The Intellivision was also the first system to feature downloadable games. Although, without a storage device the games vanished once the machine was turned off. In 1981, General Instrument teamed up with Mattel to roll out the PlayCable, a device that allowed the downloading of Intellivision games via cable TV.

Microphone?
See C64:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/thomasholzer/lipstikplus.jpg

For the game Echolon (1988)

[Rob2600]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Famicom came out in 1983 and the second controller had a microphone built-in.

As far as analog controllers go, the Atari 5200's standard controller predates the Saturn's 3D controller by 14 years. And the N64's standard controller predates it by a month.

[sloan]

Good read. I do think, though, that the Activator motion sensor controller is a poor comparison to Wii Mote, Kinect, and Move. The thing was barely useable for many games.

Also, is Sega receiving credit for technology invented by third parties?

[tom]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Famicom came out in 1983 and the second controller had a microphone built-in.

As far as analog controllers go, the Atari 5200's standard controller predates the Saturn's 3D controller by 14 years. And the N64's standard controller predates it by a month.

Yes of course you are right, Famicom had a built in mic.

Interton (1978) programmable console, also has analogue joysticks, 14 buttons
Vectrex, also analogue sticks, first console to have 'Fire' right hand, 'control' left hand, predating the Famicom by 1 year.

[Rob2600]

I do think, though, that the Activator motion sensor controller is a poor comparison to Wii Mote, Kinect, and Move. The thing was barely useable for many games.

If the Activator counts, then Broderbund should get credit for the U-Force. Neither one worked! lol

[Pezcore343]

Honestly I don't know how anyone expects any level of accuracy from IGN or the other major blogs these days. Spending any amount of time on these boards will teach infinitely more than you can ever hope to learn on those sites.

[buzz_n64]

Even college level textbooks get many of the dates and facts completely wrong. Never read "Electronic Media An Introduction" by Gross, filled with incorrect information.

Example
Page 50- "In 1986, Nintendo launched a new console, NES, that had better graphics and sound and brought video games to a new level."

I agree with the poster above, we are often more knowledgeable here than most other places.

[Gameguy]

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/Untitled-1.jpg

That could be read as Sega being the first to repeat history, though that's probably not right either. :p

[wiggyx]

LOL! Yup, just another poorly worded bit from IGN. Go figure.

[123►Genei-Jin]

Is there a website or database of any kind listing who did what first in videogame history?
While reading this thread I was thinking it would be really cool to compile a list like that to keep as reference and bring up whenever an article or thread like this comes up.

[Parodius Duh!]

another IGN article rife with flaws and misinformation!

[tom]

Is there a website or database of any kind listing who did what first in videogame history?
While reading this thread I was thinking it would be really cool to compile a list like that to keep as reference and bring up whenever an article or thread like this comes up.

It's not really that easy, because most firsts happened with arcade games, not with home consoles. Then came computers (just check out PLATO, using touchscreens in 1964 who'd have thought)...and lastly consoles.


PLATO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)

But then, Wiki is not always right....

[wiggyx]

Well there's no reason a database couldn't have firsts for the arcade, home consoles, portables, PC, etc.