Will Sega become the next 3DO?

[Rob2600]

I think Sega already passed that point back when Isao Okawa gave it $732 million of his own money to bail it out. If that wasn't reason enough to tap the back catalog well, then I don't know what is. The fact that it's sitting on so many great franchises just means that management there is stupid, that's all.

I imagine Sega should see at least a slight financial boost from partnering with Nintendo and releasing the Genesis catalog on the Wii's Virtual Console.

I hope this is only the beginning and that eventually the Master System, Game Gear, Saturn, and Dreamcast catalogs will be available too, either on the Wii or on Nintendo's next console.

[j_factor]

Why does the Streets of Rage series have as big of a following as it does? None of the games were great. They were mediocre Double Dragon and Final Fight clones.

I never understood why the Sonic the Hedgehog series became popular, either. The original Sonic the Hedgehog game was decent, but nowhere near as deep, polished, or innovative as Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Mega Man II, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, etc.

What a silly post. "Why is X popular? It's actually mediocre compared to Y." There's virtually no content to that statement. Care to back anything up with, uh, actual points?

I find it somewhat odd to refer to Streets of Rage as a series of "Double Dragon and Final Fight clones" (much less mediocre ones at that). The original Streets of Rage far closer resembles Golden Axe in gameplay than any other beat 'em up.

Also, I have never once heard anyone refer to Donkey Kong Country 2 as innovative. Although I did enjoy DKC2, I fail to see how it has particular depth or any shred of innovation. Sonic 1 may not have been particularly innovative per se (seeing as the concept of speed/acceleration had been used in Psycho Fox), but to American audiences, it was something quite different at the time; a breath of fresh air. Everyone was used to platformers on NES, which consisted of slow and steady gameplay over levels comprised of obvious square tiles; Sonic had speed, curves, and a new "attitude".

I don't even know why I'm elaborating. Why is anything popular?

I've never understood why Donkey Kong Country 2 was popular. It was decent, but nowhere near as deep, polished, or innovative as Sonic the Hedgehog or Streets of Rage.

[Rob2600]

I have never once heard anyone refer to Donkey Kong Country 2 as innovative. Although I did enjoy DKC2, I fail to see how it has particular depth or any shred of innovation.

Many of the level designs in Donkey Kong Country 2 were innovative. Rare really outdid themselves with that game and it's one of their best. The levels where the water would rise and sink periodically were well designed. The fact that players could ride so many different animals and turn into different creatures was a nice touch, too. So was the ability for Diddy and Dixie to grab and throw each other. Overall, like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the levels weren't the standard, side-scrolling fare. It was a deep, artistic, and rewarding platformer.

[ShenmueFan]

Unfortunately, I don'tthink Sega will ever re-enter the game market as a hardware/system company --- I think after Sega went belly-up w/ the DC the board of directors/investors decided to permanently switch over to strictly software because even if the profits were smaller, they'd be consistent and there wouldn't be that threat of having to contstantly develop hardware or market a ton or anything like that.

You're seeing a significant drop in Sega quality now, over 5 years after they pulled the plug on teh DC because Sega can no longer make quick ports of DC titles and make a quick buck. They have to continue trying to make unique series (Otogi, Criminal Origins, etc.) or else all they WILL have is there Sonic license.

You and I know they are wasting the potential of not using NiGHTS, Streets of Rage, Shining Force, Panzer Dragoon, etc. but I couldn't say WHY Sega is just sitting there going "duh...."...................I mean, we can hope that Sega is secretly working on a new system but I think it's be pretty hard to hide nowadays with corporate/techie leaks and super high R&D costs. Plus, I don't think Sega could go up against Sony and win. I mean, the Sony fanboy legion
is just too great and Wii/360 is only standing a chance right now because Sony just so majorly screwed up in this round. If Sega came back, I'm thinking it'd be in a portable form, if ANYTHING...if EVER.

Finally, I think Sega just wants to make a tidy profit for its owners every year and any game besides Sonic is just too much of a gamble for them to worry about. That's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

I wouldn't say Sega is going the way of 3DO so much as it is going the way of SNK.

[Kid Ice]

3 pages in and I still don't get the analogy. Just because 3DO made a series of crappy Army Men games and Sega is making a series of crappy Sonic games is not a reason to make a comparison between to completely different entities. 3DO never had the success of a Sonic, has never had a successful franchise, and never produced a console. Sega has produced multiple systems throughout a storied history of successful game franchises, and owns a franchise character that still can be identified by almost every child in the world.

At best its like asking if McDonald's will become the next Geno's, at worst it's like asking if Jet Li will become the next Eddie Murphy.

[Push Upstairs]

Why does the Streets of Rage series have as big of a following as it does? None of the games were great. They were mediocre Double Dragon and Final Fight clones.

The later SOR games brought tighter, smoother, and all around better control to the genre than both the "Double Dragon" or "Final Fight" series ever did.

I played "Double Dragon" and I tried out all three FF games and none of them has the smooth control that SOR2 has.

[anagrama]

Goes to show how much I know. The last Brazil title I was able to track down for my SMS came out in 1997. Still, Sega was only two years away from launching Dreamcast in the U.S. (even less time than that in Japan) at that point. And the U.S. SMS will play most of these foreign releases to boot (sorry for the pun).

Well, there's been no new games since 1998, but TecToy still release a new version of the hardware every 1-2 years - the latest one has 120 built-in games but sadly no working cart slot this time (all the previous models had a cart slot).

[chrisbid]

the difference is

3DO put out crappy games that nobody bought at the end of their run

sega is putting out crappy games that people still buy