Info from an old live online confrerence with Tom Kalinske

[7th lutz]

I got a small part of that conference from Game Informer's Jan. 1995 issue. According that issue in the What's Hot section in Gameinformer in that issue mentioned Sega launched a forum on Compuserve and a home pageon the Interent's World wide web. That was started off with a Live conference with Sega's Ceo and President at the time, Tom Kalinske. Gameinformer printed 4 interesting fact from that conference.

"Sega is currently working on a fighting game and some sports games that will utilize "Lock-On" Technology like that was used in Sonic & Knockles."

"More then $25 Million has been spent in the development of over 30 32x titles."

"There should be 100 or more 32x titles by next Christmas."

"there will be a stand alone 32x/genesis Available {this} year for about $199.99."

That is all the facts I got from that info and it shows what sega was planning and doing at the time. I think the conference took place in Nov. 1994, dec. 1994 or early Jan. 1995.

[Anthony1]

That's funny, because I recently read an issue of Game Players that had all of that crap. Some kids out there really believed that shit. They really thought that there would be 100 32X games. I always knew it was a stop-gap, but it had no idea it was going to be as horrible a stop-gap as it actually turned out to be.



I would really like to see an Interview with Tom Kalinske now. Maybe now, he could actually tell us what really happened on how they completely dropped the ball on the Sega CD, then the 32X, and then the Saturn.

[7th lutz]

That's funny, because I recently read an issue of Game Players that had all of that crap. Some kids out there really believed that shit. They really thought that there would be 100 32X games. I always knew it was a stop-gap, but it had no idea it was going to be as horrible a stop-gap as it actually turned out to be.



I would really like to see an Interview with Tom Kalinske now. Maybe now, he could actually tell us what really happened on how they completely dropped the ball on the Sega CD, then the 32X, and then the Saturn.

When first read that I thought at the time the 32x games didn't make sense with the saturn. That was one of the worst console moves ever since Atari Released and supported the 2600 Jr, 7800, Atari xe. I was one of the unlucky ones that got the 32x because my dad gave me it to a Christmas gift because I turned down a snes game console weeks before then with me being a stupid Fanboy boy about. I knew the 32x was a short term game system and didn't put it on my list in 1994.

[Melf]

I'm on it. Just waiting for him to return my questions, actually.

And the 32X was never intended to be a stop-gap or band aid. It was actually supposed to be a low-end 32-bit option for those who were going to stick with their Genesis. This was completely underminded, however, when everything but the Genesis was discontinued in 1995. The 32X's short life span gives people the impression that it was only meant to be around until the Saturn launched.

[ManciGames]

I'm on it. Just waiting for him to return my questions, actually.

And the 32X was never intended to be a stop-gap or band aid. It was actually supposed to be a low-end 32-bit option for those who were going to stick with their Genesis. This was completely underminded, however, when everything but the Genesis was discontinued in 1995. The 32X's short life span gives people the impression that it was only meant to be around until the Saturn launched.

Hey Melf...

I think you could be right that the internal plan was for it to be a viable system, but anyone in their right mind knew what would become of the system well before it launched. I remember reading about it in EGM way before it was released and thinking "what a nifty piece of memoribillia that will end up being". It was obvious the company wasn't going to support two separate 32bit machines, especially when you could take the money for a 32X and apply it toward a Saturn.

Yes, the 32X was supposed to be the "poor man's 32 bit system", but $189.99 ain't exactly cheap, ya know? Now maybe if it launched at $99 or thereabouts, they would have had something.

And to be honest, I've got to think that Sega knew this going in.

In retrospect, what exactly was the 32X a "stop-gap" to? Nothing else was released during it's lifespan that it would have competed with. A "stop-gap" usually implies that it was a product released to hold market share until the next big thing (the Saturn, in this case) is released. Was it the SNES they were hoping to keep people from running to? I dunno. The whole thing stinks in hindsight. But I'm glad they did it because it is a cool little device.

[Melf]

Everything I've read suggests that it was considered a stop-gap by SoJ, which made sense since Nakayama put all his eggs in one basket with the Saturn. America was a different story, and SoA was essentially forced to take the 32X. I've an interview with Joe Miller pending as well and have asked him about the whole thing. I just hope he sends back my questions.

[7th lutz]

Was it the SNES they were hoping to keep people from running to? I dunno. The whole thing stinks in hindsight. But I'm glad they did it because it is a cool little device.

It appears sega was hoping the 32x could keep them from going to the snes. This can be pointed to the snes having Star Fox with the chip nintendo used on it. in 1993. Snes games were showing what the system was capable of at time the genesis already showed it was capable of for the most part because the sega genesis came out in 1989. While sega could could do similar things with the genesis as Virtua Racing shown, Sega didn't want to use the chip too much do to price to compete with games like star foxStar Fox. What sega should've done is continue with genesis till the saturn was ready.

Sega also tried to used the sega cd for the same thing with trying to stop people from going to the snes back in 92 along with the fact in Japan they were to get gamers to buy the sega cd and the Genesis at the same time.

[bangtango]

I think they'd have been better off if they'd never released Sega CD, 32X, Nomad, CDX, Game Gear or any of that other stuff that predated Saturn. They'd have been in a better position financially if they'd pumped all that time, money and effort into padding the Genesis library.

They already had the built-in user base and the hardware in homes. With Sega CD or 32X, they were only able to sell as many copies of those games as they did consoles and the only people who were able to buy them were those who already had the Genesis. Those add-ons did not help sway users who only had the Super NES in their game room (and not a Genesis). All they were doing was selling to customers they already had, instead of picking up new customers.

If they'd wanted to get SNES users on board, they simply needed to continue offering titles that Nintendo didn't have, similar to Golden Axe, the Sonic games or the first Mortal Kombat with the fatalities. The add-on's were never necessary.

If Sega had been concentrating on the Genesis 100%, up until the Saturn came out, it wouldn't have mattered all that much if the Super Nintendo had the advantage in the graphics department. It may have also helped them do better with the Saturn, since the money would have still been there and the designers wouldn't have been tied up with projects for other systems.

Look how well Nintendo continued to do with the NES long after the Genesis was already out. EGM would have liked you to believe different with their horrible reviews of the top loader and the later day NES games but someone was still buying them for awhile.