Quote Originally Posted by celerystalker View Post
Honestly, I have no idea on this one. Sega is like a child genius who just can't put it all together as an adult. They've always been talented and eccentric, but rarely have they been able to bring together their great games with popular trends and a solid long-term hardware strategy.

Console gaming in the '90s began shifting away from trying to replicate the arcade experience and started going toward new formats with long-form RPGs and PC-style gaming. Sega has been able to come up with some great RPGs and strategy games over the years, but they've always relied on the strength of their arcade development. When what they were doing was less popular, they didn't make the adjustment, they had a haphazard hardware plan, and they remained extremely Japanese in style. The Genesis in the US was lightning in a bottle. Beyond that, Sega has been busy being brilliant, but not catering to the shift in design. Sega probably could have made brilliant FPS games or WRPGS, but they kept being Sega, making Sega games. They're wonderful and eccentric, and unfortunately just not mainstream after about 1993.

I started to love Sega AFTER the Genesis. I always felt like the Genesis was very average. It was afterward when it was clear that Sega was going to do things their own way, pass or fail, that I started to appreciate them for marching to the beat of their own drum. What makes them great to me is a huge part of what made them fail. I have no suggestions, as I wouldn't trade the Saturn and Dreamcast libraries for an also-ran group of FPS' and western-style games.

I really wish they'd just scale back expectations and produce Sega games on Sega hardware, not attempting to compete with what's new, but just going off in their own glorious direction, but that is entirely unrealistic.

Nintendo is doing this and while not KILLING it, they seem to be doing fine.