It is Pre-1994 SEGA; What Do You Do to Make the Company into the World's Biggest Gaming Juggernaut by 2014?

[Nz17]

I'd say that 1994 was when SEGA was at its financial height. These days it is a mere shadow of its former self, and while it does still output some good new games, it is nowhere near the output it used to have year-by-year. That got me to thinking about how things could have been different. How instead of today's big three being Nintendo, SONY, and MicroSoft, it could have been Nintendo, SONY, and SEGA... and that's where you step in.

Hindsight is 20/20, so tell me how you, as the benevolent guiding spirit of SEGA, would have steered the company from 1994 onward to make it into the king of gaming by twenty years later in 2014.

[Tanooki]

Sega CD had come out in 1992. Up against the threat of the SNES and the rumblings of a drive for that, I would have gone all full throttle into developing a crap ton of quality CD titles. Many CD games barely used the dumb thing, the few that did for the extra depth it allowed really shined, and I would have even by license denial forced people not to cut corners on those games. 32X would have NEVER happened, they had to at some level argued somewhere in the building it could splinter things. I would have found a cheaper better process to follow that SVP band wagon to go pound for pound up against the FX(1%2) chips and ripped Nintendo off as well making more custom chips to really push the limits like their SA1 chip which was like a mini-cpu in part there. Then for the dedicated system, I would not have rushed that damn thing out or playing the pricing pissing match with Sony, they showed their hand early enough along. I would have made that system using better parts of their arcade hardware or something new, but to use a non-3D system to do 3D in math was really retarded and hurt them horribly against the PS1. No 32X, and a properly created Saturn would have put them neck in neck with Sony and had both those companies stnading on each one of Nintendo's nuts with their 64bit cartidge box. Dreamcast, because the Saturn wouldn't have flopped, would have been back another 1-2 years in development/release and more closer if not exceeding the capabilities of the PS2, kind of like the xbox, considering the WinCE environment the DC used, the knowledge was there. I'd think had those few huge steps been done, they'd be rocking it well into the 2010s and beyond just fine and not a double bought out joke they are now being a total quality crap shoot.

[Tupin]

First off, I would have made it so American Sega and Japanese Sega would see each other less as competition and more as actual partners. I would have thrown the full force of content behind the Sega CD, releasing it as a stand-alone system rather than an expansion. The Saturn would be designed from the ground up as a 3D system, and would be given a lot of lead-up time for American retailers and developers to make games for it. I would likely kill the Game Gear, it being a drain on R&D.

As for the Dreamcast, the absolute most important thing: I would make sure it had DVD playback. As Tanooki said, since the Saturn wouldn't have failed, the Dreamcast could be made stronger and be competition with the PS2. I would have released the Broadband Modem in the USA, and would push online functionality hard. I would have done whatever I could to make sure I had EA on board, and if not I would produce Sega's own series of sports games. I would redesign the controller to be more ergonomic and more importantly, to have a second analog stick. Since backwards compatibility was one of the PS2's major points and the Saturn would have been much more successful in this case, an attempt would be made at backwards compatibility, perhaps with an add-on.

[Natty Bumppo]

I can tell it things not to do:

Change platforms as often as possible in order to confuse/alienate customers and everyone involved in making the games.

Make absolutely no provision for backward compatibility - either in any new hardware itself or adapters of some sort

Make sure that every time you change the platform that the peripherals all have to be replaced.

Ignore the potential in your solid niche markets - if they can't buy RPGs (or whatever) then surely they will buy crappy sports games or whatever you think they should buy.

Whenever you change platforms be sure to ensure that the last few titles made (which not surprisingly are often the best) are released in such limited numbers that most of your customers have no chance to get them new (unless they pay exorbitant prices to the profiteers who siphon most of the limited supply off before it even hits the shelves)

Jack up the prices on the games made for your work horse platform to their highest levels while at the same time cheapening the product - oh lets say by replacing sturdy plastic cases with flimsy cardboard ones and when called out on it say it is for the environment - and producing cheap black and white manuals (after all they contain the same information as the nice color glossy ones so why should your customers care).

Don't tap into many of the best games you have available in Japan and translate them for your customers - even though you have at least one company doing that very well on your platforms.

Don't worry one iota that by doing all of this you will alienate long term customers who will eventually wise up and go with companies that don't pull this garbage.

Above all don't wonder why you can longer compete until it is too late.

[spman]

I would have released the Broadband Modem in the USA, and would push online functionality hard.

I read this a lot, but in reality while online was fun on Dreamcast, they were a bit too far ahead of their time with it. Consumer Broadband internet was really in its infancy in that era, and online gaming on consoles didn't really take off for several more years with X-Box.

[Jorpho]

Sega CD had come out in 1992. Up against the threat of the SNES and the rumblings of a drive for that, I would have gone all full throttle into developing a crap ton of quality CD titles. Many CD games barely used the dumb thing, the few that did for the extra depth it allowed really shined, and I would have even by license denial forced people not to cut corners on those games.How exactly would you have made a "crap ton of CD quality titles", though? I think developers just plain weren't ready to take advantage of the medium at the time – goodness knows the PC and TG-CD weren't getting quality CD titles in 1992. I might venture that they would have been better off never going near CD technology at that stage.

[Greg2600]

Fire everyone in a "suit" position at Sega of Japan, and let Sega of America call the shots.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

How exactly would you have made a "crap ton of CD quality titles", though? I think developers just plain weren't ready to take advantage of the medium at the time – goodness knows the PC and TG-CD weren't getting quality CD titles in 1992. I might venture that they would have been better off never going near CD technology at that stage.

You mean western developers. Japanese devs such as Falcom were on board from day one and produced some of the finest games of the entire decade in the early 90s for the CD systems in Japan.

[celerystalker]

Sega needed to recognize the shift in game design that was moving away from arcade-style games and see how console games were becoming increasingly more like PC games. As much as I love Virtua Cop and Sega Rally, the games didn't have the depth players were gravitating toward... RPGs became million sellers after Final Fantasy VII, games like Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer began to move away from timed arcade races into customizable vehicles and career modes. Super Mario expanded into a broader experience in level design and length, showing wide open adventuren exploration, anf collecting were the future, while Sega put out Nights, which was more of a technique scoring arcade expierience, beautiful as it was. Nintendo saw the importance of expanding its most popular franchises into 3D exploration, and Sony saw the shift from the arcades.

I love my Saturn and its arcade ports dearly, and all their quirky risks. However, if I was going to make them successful, it's all about the Saturn's library being something less appealing to me and more to where things were headed. Sonic needed a 3D adventure. Pay for an exclusive Tomb Raider. Remember how huge vehicle combat games were? Twisted Metal, Vigilante 8... Sega could have done it in style. Keep EA happy, no matter how much you want to make your own sports line. Madden is god to many, regardless of how much I refuse to buy it. Konami never loved Sega like they did Nintendo and Sony, so I'd try to repair that. The one thing Sega had right at the time was 3D fighters. With a strong enough library in other genres, maybe more people would have played Last Bronx instead of Soul Edge. Would it have killed you to go after a 3D WCW or WWF game? Wrestling was entering a new age, yet all Sega got was 2 2D Acclaim stinkers.


More than their hardware decisions, Sega lost their grasp on trends and stopped being cool to the generation buying games.

[Jorpho]

You mean western developers. Japanese devs such as Falcom were on board from day one and produced some of the finest games of the entire decade in the early 90s for the CD systems in Japan.I suppose. Maybe they could have developed a more restrictive licensing policy that would have kept the likes of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective and Marky Mark Make My Video off the system, even though I'm sure a lot of people were convinced such games were the way of the future. That would have made for a smaller library, unless the success of the remaining titles gave sufficient incentive for other developers to get on board.

[Greg2600]

Let me expound.....

The library of consoles, or genre of arcades did not sink SEGA. SEGA (mainly Japan) sunk themselves. A litany of poor business decisions, spearheaded by stubborn, xenophobic dinosaurs.

No 32X as SoA didn't want it. Support the Genesis longer. Dumping mainline support in 1995 chased many a secondary market buyer to the SNES.

Make the deal to replace the Genesis with the Sony Playstation. Sony of Japan, nearly as backwards as Sega of Japan, had no interest in challenging Nintendo. They would have been quite content with supplying hardware and games to Sega, and forgoing all the risk.

Quite possible Sony never enters the market on their own. Even if they did, SEGA would have been in a tremendous market position, and would have had ample time to prepare the Dreamcast for eventual launch. Meaning, things like ethernet, hard drive, built in rumble controllers, and DVD playback would have been standard as they were the competition.

[Gunstar Hero]

I absolutely agree with Tanooki in the Sega CD aspect. I think that with better titles it really could have taken off especially after seeing the quality of titles such as Sonic CD. They had to either put everything into the Sega CD, or never release it in the first place and put all effort into the Genesis. Trying to support the Genesis, the Sega CD, and worse the 32X was a bad business decision. A better way would most likely be to just never release the Sega CD or the 32X and to put all effort into the Genesis. I'm going to be the one to say that the Saturn was a flop. I think that it could have done ok if it was backwards compatible with the Genesis and got as much 3rd party support as the Genesis and put out more quality titles. Still, it wasn't entirely necessary as SNES went straight to N64, so could have Genesis went straight to Dreamcast, however that in itself would result in either a premature Dreamcast, or Genesis not being able to survive long enough for the Dreamcast to come out. Sega made it to the Dreamcast still alive, however, and DID put out many quality titles. When comparing the Dreamcast to the PSX or N64, it is the clear victor, but it simply couldn't compete with PS2. As someone mentioned earlier, this could had been avoided if Sony and Sega joined forces and co-developed the PSX/Saturn as one console, then Co-developed the PS2/Dreamcast as one console. The result could have easily challenged Nintendo, and then Sega would have been on top. However, that is not what happened and so here we are with one of our favorite little companies holding on for dear life.

I'll respond with another question then: does anyone think sega has a chance for expanding and building once again? Clearly there are quite a few licenses that they own that could bring in some money and with effective advertising and use of their franchises, I believe its possible for them to pull out of the slump they are in, especially because there is quite a following for many of their games. I'm not saying that they would be restored to their former glory, but anything could happen in regards to them getting out of their slump. Dreamcast 2 still is just a dream with little chance of ever coming out, however they can still make themselves a presence in today's market by appealing to the considerable fanbase they have with more effective advertising and overall more games. Here's hoping for a turnaround.

EDIT: Awesome thread by the way, love the discussion on this :)

[Einzelherz]

To answer your question, Gunstar, Sega at this point can't be anything more than a software company. They don't have the capital, they've been out of the game too long, and they haven't had a hardware hit (beyond release month) since the Genesis.

The dream I've had more and more recently is that Nintendo should buy Sega. Sega has always been very, very creative, but they tend to be sloppy on execution. Nintendo on the other hand just constantly push what, 5 franchises, but all of their first party games are some of the most polished in the industry. To me, the buyout would be mutually beneficial and since the Xbone and PS4 are more or less identical, particularly in that they're made by companies that aren't games-first, it could help the future Nintendo survive and even flourish.

[Gunstar Hero]

To answer your question, Gunstar, Sega at this point can't be anything more than a software company. They don't have the capital, they've been out of the game too long, and they haven't had a hardware hit (beyond release month) since the Genesis.

The dream I've had more and more recently is that Nintendo should buy Sega. Sega has always been very, very creative, but they tend to be sloppy on execution. Nintendo on the other hand just constantly push what, 5 franchises, but all of their first party games are some of the most polished in the industry. To me, the buyout would be mutually beneficial and since the Xbone and PS4 are more or less identical, particularly in that they're made by companies that aren't games-first, it could help the future Nintendo survive and even flourish.

Ah, I hate to believe it but it is true.

Also, I agree Nintendo buying Sega definitely would be a smart move, especially with the Wii U doing as poorly as it is currently (although of course 3DS is doing very well and Super Smash 4 should boost Wii U sales, but I digress). Since Nintendo is all about milking franchises, I don't see why they wouldn't want Sega's mass amount of underutilized franchises.

[Jorpho]

Sega made it to the Dreamcast still alive, however, and DID put out many quality titles. When comparing the Dreamcast to the PSX or N64, it is the clear victor, but it simply couldn't compete with PS2. As someone mentioned earlier, this could had been avoided if Sony and Sega joined forces and co-developed the PSX/Saturn as one console, then Co-developed the PS2/Dreamcast as one console. The result could have easily challenged Nintendo, and then Sega would have been on top.This doesn't make sense. Both the PSX and PS2 "easily challenged Nintendo" without any help from Sega, so why would Sega's involvement have made any difference? And how can you compare the Dreamcast to the PSX or N64 when the Dreamcast came out several years later?


To answer your question, Gunstar, Sega at this point can't be anything more than a software company. They don't have the capital, they've been out of the game too long, and they haven't had a hardware hit (beyond release month) since the Genesis. Don't they still have an arcade business (or pachinko, at least), considering they've merged with Sammy? See for instance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joypolis .

[spman]

The dream I've had more and more recently is that Nintendo should buy Sega. Sega has always been very, very creative, but they tend to be sloppy on execution. Nintendo on the other hand just constantly push what, 5 franchises, but all of their first party games are some of the most polished in the industry. To me, the buyout would be mutually beneficial and since the Xbone and PS4 are more or less identical, particularly in that they're made by companies that aren't games-first, it could help the future Nintendo survive and even flourish.

I may be wrong, but Sega doesn't develop anything on their own anymore. Sega as it is today, exists as a copyright holder, they license out their name to third parties that want to give some cred to their crappy game, and the license out their characters to any company who wants to develop something using them, but otherwise Sega does very little in house anymore, except maybe the infrequent Sonic game from Sonic Team.

[xelement5x]

Extended support for the Genesis lifecycle.

No 32x, more SVP and SegaCD work instead.

Better Saturn SDK, using something more object oriented out of the box instead of assembly.


Even with re-factoring the follow up consoles, the best thing they could have done is continuing to produce quality software for the Genesis longer. It already had a huge install base and they basically threw that away with the rush of new systems, plus they burned people out on new hardware relatively fast.

[Zap!]

Put Sonic to rest. After 1994, he did more to hurt Sega than help them.

[WCP]

Man, Sega had so many problems, it's hard to really consider all of the angles.



I think the Saturn was actually the biggest issue that Sega had going against it. The problem is, the Saturn was somewhat outdated technology, before it even released. Sega realized this at the last minute, and tried to add a couple of extra processors to help it out, but that just made things even more confusing. The Saturn was too expensive, and it just wasn't very good hardware. Especially in comparison to the Playstation.


To fix that, Sega would have needed to start the Saturn project much later, so the tech would have been more up to date. They would have needed to have had much better engineers working for them, than they did. Even if I had a time machine, and could go back and show Sega exactly where they went wrong, I'm not sure they could do anything about it. They just didn't have the financial muscle to be able to compete head to head with Sony either via technology or marketing.


The 32X of course was a total disaster for Sega. I'm sure every person that bought into the promise of the 32X left with a very bad taste in their mouths. I bought that crappy thing the day it launched for $169.99 . What a total waste of money. There really is only 2 or 3 decent 32X games, and the rest suck big time. The thing promissed 32,000 colors or something, yet the games don't seem any more colorful than the Gunstar Heroes cart. Where are those 32,000 colors ? The 32X was just a piece of junk, any which way you slice it. You'd think that by spending $170 on something like that, that it could take the Genesis beyond the Super FX Chip, but honestly, I think Starfox is more impressive than any 32X game. It's amazing that they were able to squeeze so little technology into something that cost that much money.


The Sega CD was a major disappointment from the standpoint that they didn't address the single biggest weakness of the Genesis. The lack of simultaneous colors on screen for the Genesis is it's single biggest weakness. Super Nintendo ports looked better with all that color. Heck, TG-16 games looked more colorful in many instances (of course you need a RGB modded TG-16 to appreciate it) . You'd think that Sega's engineers would figure out a way to have the same number of on screen colors as the Super Nintendo, when using a Sega CD, but apparently that was too difficult. Instead we got scaling and rotation that frankly wasn't even as smooth as Nintendo's Mode 7 effect. So, Sega definitely missed a golden opportunity to have the Sega CD address any of the Genesis' technological shortcomings, which I'm sure also partly contributed to the lack of support from developers. Many companies just half-assed ported over their cart games and added better music and a few cartoon cinemas. If the Sega CD really provided something more than just extra storage, maybe developers would have been more hyped about trying to really push the thing. Instead, they kinda just said, "meh", in regards to Sega CD, so it never really got the needed software support.

[Jorpho]

You'd think that Sega's engineers would figure out a way to have the same number of on screen colors as the Super Nintendo, when using a Sega CD, but apparently that was too difficult.Didn't the 32x use some kind of separate video overlay to work its wizardry? It would seem that increasing the number of colors used for the entirety of each frame would be so difficult as to be impossible.

[wizardofwor1975]

Fire everyone in a "suit" position at Sega of Japan, and let Sega of America call the shots.

Your absolutely right. Management was always a serious problem for SEGA. Take the case of SEGA of America CEO Tom Kalinske. With Kalinske at the helm SEGA grew from a $813 million dollar company in 1989 to a $3.6 billion dollar conglomerate in 1993. Additionally, with all of Kalinske’s suggestions implemented SEGA had 55% of the market locked up by 1992 up from a pathetic 8% prior to Tom. A major reason if not the number one reason for SEGA's downfall was when Tom Kalinske was forced out by a series of horrible business decisions by Sega of Japan. Kalinske's departure/resignation kicked off a domino effect from which SEGA was never able to recover from. SEGA of Japan should have accommodated Tom and made him happy in turn he would have continued to do what he did best: making SEGA allot of money.

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/console-wars-book-sega/

http://www.sega-16.com/2005/02/tom-kalinske-american-samurai/

[A Black Falcon]

Okay... starting from 1992.

-Force Sega of Japan to competently support the Sega CD throughout its life. SoJ game support for the SCD in 1991, 1992, and 1995 was minimal; they only tried in '93 and '94, and even then some major titles ended up on cart -- Outrun 2019, Phantasy Star IV. Things were so bad early on that SoA was forced to include third-party multiplatform games (Sol-Feace is a X68000 port, and Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is also on PC, Turbo CD, and more) and some Genesis ports as the launch pack-in library! Pretty sad. And the next major packin was Sewer Shark, another game which later on got a port (to 3DO). SoJ needed actual games for the system.

-Make up some information for first and third party teams about how to do good sprite scaling on the Sega CD. Few teams managed to figure it out -- Malibu, a couple of SoJ teams (for Beyond the Limit and Sonic CD bonus stages), Core, and not much else.

-Sega Multimedia Studios was a good idea, and their two games are good, but were they worth the significant expense? Also, even IF it was the mid '90s... Wild Woody, conceptually, should have been changed at some point.

-Never release the 32X. It was a huge mistake.

-Somehow get SoJ to understand that by undercutting SoA, they destroyed most of their sales basem, and they could NEVER replace that all with Japanese sales. As much as they hated it, they needed the American market, and needed to focus on trying to stay relevant in it, instead of going for Japan (with the Saturn) and losing when FF7 and DQ7 were announced as PS1 exclusives.

-Don't release the Saturn as it is. Release a more powerful system (the SGI system, the Lockheed system, something else, they had options), either in late '95 or in '96. This would hurt in Japan, but do a lot more good in the West than bad in Japan, overall. Sega went from over 20 million Genesises in the US to not even 2 million Saturns! Absolutely catastrophic, and with better hardware and no 32X the hurt would be reduced.

-Never, EVER hire Bernie Stolar, he helped finish off Sega in the US.

-With a later and better Saturn, the DC wouldn't need to release in 1998, so it could have been more powerful and not quite as dated specs-wise compared to the other systems of the generation. DC maximum polygon counts particularly are limited compared to the GC, Xbox, or PS2.

-Built in DVD drive in the Dreamcast, with DVD playback either included, or via an addon like the original Xbox remote. A LOT of people bought PS2s in 2000-2001 for DVD playback alone! Match this.


If you REALLY want a successful Sega, though, Sega quite simply needed more money. Sega had limited financial resources compared to the other systems, and that is what pushed them out in the end. Even with all these things, Sega probably eventually ends up out simply because of how each generation is even more expensive to stay in than the last one. Eventually Sega's limited finances were going to give out, unless they could manage a series of smash-hit systems and manage to not immediately waste all the money, as they had done with their Genesis money. I don't know if anything could change this. Like, how could Sega get that money? What would they need to do? I guess if they could moneyhat Square and Enix they could win Japan, but Sony could offer much larger moneyhats, and Nintendo too if they believed in such things (which they don't, of course).

As for the West, canning the 32X and releasing a better Saturn would have worked wonders. How about buying exlusivity (or the studio, even?) to Core Design titles? Core and Sega were close on the SCD/Genesis, and if somehow Sega could have gotten Tomb Raider exclusive, that'd have been huge... (though Sony's moneyhats would have been larger, probably, making this tough; Sega would have needed to get them before they got big, I guess. But at that point, how do you know beforehad it'd be worth it? GEt Tomb Raider console exclusive on Saturn, though, and you help Sega in '96. Also of course... a Sonic game. X-Treme, or something from SoJ, if you force Sonic Team to make a Sonic game instead of NiGHTS. Release one, you NEED it for the US, it's not optional.

However, all of that would only help for a while -- later on console development just got so expensive! Microsoft lost over $4 billion on the original Xbox and shrugged it off as the cost of getting into the industry, while Sega was driven out of the industry with only a tiny fraction of that amount of losses. It's easy to imagine Sega doing a lot better than they did in the 5th generation. But becoming "the world's biggest gaming juggernaut"? That would require INCREDIBLE sales of Sega hardware, and I have trouble imagining a scenario where they could have overcome their massive financial disadvantage, particularly when after the mid '90s Sega's style of arcade-focused game gradually faded in popularity.

[Jorpho]

-Built in DVD drive in the Dreamcast, with DVD playback either included, or via an addon like the original Xbox remote. A LOT of people bought PS2s in 2000-2001 for DVD playback alone! Match this.Gee, up until now I always thought the PS2 also required a similar addon and that it did not play DVDs out of the box. Anyway, didn't Sony at least have to pay a good chunk of money for the licensing rights?

On that note, did piracy do a lot to kill the DC in the end? Do you think they might have held out a little longer if it at least needed a modchip, or something?

[Gameguy]

Gee, up until now I always thought the PS2 also required a similar addon and that it did not play DVDs out of the box. Anyway, didn't Sony at least have to pay a good chunk of money for the licensing rights?
The PS2 plays DVDs with the regular controller, you don't need a remote to play DVDs. The optional remote just makes things easier.

The real problem with the Dreamcast was a lack of good games for the North American market, most games just weren't what people wanted to play. At least not enough people. When they were desperate for a winner, they released the pretentious Shenmue.

As much as I have a soft spot for Sega, really the Genesis was a fluke. Just about all of their other consoles were market failures, they really lasted longer than they should have if you really think about it. There just weren't any better competitors at the time, not until Sony came to the market and displaced Sega.

[A Black Falcon]

Gee, up until now I always thought the PS2 also required a similar addon and that it did not play DVDs out of the box. Anyway, didn't Sony at least have to pay a good chunk of money for the licensing rights?
Sony was one of the creators of the DVD standard, so they didn't really need to pay themselves a license fee. Microsoft did, though, which is why it requires the remote -- that Xbox remote pack was $30 because it included the DVD license fee. Sega would have needed to pay one too, but I think it'd have made a big difference, because the PS2 particularly definitely was helped a lot by its DVD playback.


On that note, did piracy do a lot to kill the DC in the end? Do you think they might have held out a little longer if it at least needed a modchip, or something?
I don't think it did, really; piracy may have reduced software sales a bit, but piracy was huge on the PS1 as well, and that system did pretty great! Sega's biggest problem was that they were out of money. Lacking hardware sales after the '99 holiday season hurt too, but Sega's biggest problem of course was their finances. They needed the DC to be a huge hit, but it just wasn't. It was doing okay... but PS2 hype was really killing it, and Sega kept cutting prices to encourage sales but that just accelerated their losses.

[ProjectCamaro]

Have more add on's. Sega Genesis DD anyone?

[nosweargamer]

1) Use all resources from the 32X (media, advertising, development) towards the Saturn instead. Make the Saturn more developer friendly.
2) Practice better PR with publishers and retailers. (They burned some bridges with their surprise Saturn (launch)
3) Bring established Genesis franchises to the Saturn right away without trying to force them into 3D (Sonic, Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, Vectorman, Toe Jam and Earl)
4) Take longer time developing the Dreamcast to better compete with the PS2. Include DVD function.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Hmmm... let's start at January 1, 1994.

-Let Sega of America call the shots for the most part. Sega of Japan needs to primarily worry about Japan. I think it goes without saying, no Bernie Stolar.

-Never develop the 32X. Go 100% behind the Saturn as their next-gen system, and make it easier to develop for and more 3D-friendly than it was in our timeline. For the "higher-end" experiences that the 32X was targeted, make these SVP chip games, like Nintendo did with the Super FX.

-Keep focus on the Genesis through 1994-1995. Don't switch to those cheap cardboard boxes for games and keep triple-A titles coming on the system. Start winding things down in '96.

-Launch the Saturn worldwide in September 1995, using the extra 10 months from our timeline to further improve the system and keep it competitive. Basically, keep the original "Saturnday" plan. Get the important Sega IPs on there early. Have a Sonic game out for the holiday season of 1995, or in 1996 at the absolute latest. Sonic 3D Blast would be a Genesis exclusive, with a real, main-line 3D game for Saturn. Also, try to launch it cheaper than $399. No regional lockout on the Saturn, but don't heavily advertise that part - the hardcore gamers will figure that out.

-The Saturn needs a unique selling proposition; it can't just ape the PlayStation, it has to do something better than both PS1 and N64. Localize more of the Japanese games worth localizing (stuff like shooters, fighters, and RPGs not dating sims). Make the Saturn the go-to system for RPGs, fighters and shooters, for instance. Work closely with Working Designs, make a new series of Phantasy Star games in 3D, stuff like that. Although FF7 will still move to the PlayStation and it'll start getting large numbers of RPGs after 1997, keep those RPGs coming to Saturn as well. Maybe Square would make a Saturn port of FF7! As for fighters, that cartridge slot is there for a reason: RAM carts to do fighters better than PS1 or N64! Give the Saturn more of a Japanese flair than PS1 or N64 without neglecting the games that sell to Western audiences.

-With a successful Saturn, probably more successful than the N64 but not quite PS1 level, get the jump on the PS2 by offering a system with DVD playback for the '99 holiday season. This would probably be quite expensive, a $399 launch price may be necessary, so it might be a good idea to make the DVD player an optional feature at first (much like the Xbox did) in a way that would allow for an easy upgrade.
Sort of like a Dreamcast for $399 and a Dreamcast Core System for $349, and a $50 upgrade that can be bought later for Core System owners. As far as games, what happened in real life would work for the Dreamcast (well, EA would still be on board as well)

-Do away with the Core System and make the DVD player-equipped Dreamcast standard at $299 in 2000, ideally before the PS2 launch.

-At this point, there's probably not room for Microsoft to entire the gaming market. IIRC, there was some Microsoft tech kicking around in the Dreamcast (Windows CE).