Game Development Giant

Age of Discovery, Strikes of Rage, Phantasy Star, Comic Zone, Violent Buster, Dragon Attack, Rocket Knight... Some of these names are lucky enough to continue to be passed down to future generations, while others are short-lived. But in any case, these excellent works finally surround an era that makes people feel happy, even if this era is extremely short-lived.

This is what Jester remembers, the most glorious era of Sega.

They almost, yes, almost, made the whole world forget Nintendo, forget FC, and forget Mario.

But only almost.

Although MD has always had an advantage in the European and American markets, in the Japanese market, Sega was defeated when faced with the strong offensive of SFC.

Mario's influence and appeal are incredibly powerful.

When SFC only sold one million units, the sales of Super Mario World, a Mario series specially developed for SFC, had already reached a terrifying 1.8 million copies. This means that, Nearly 800,000 people have already bought the game Super Mario World before they even bought the SFC game console.

This is unique in the entire game release history.

About a year after sfc came out, the direction of this war has been settled. Although md is more popular in the European and American markets, it still cannot resist the powerful software offensive of sfc. Nintendo has an unparalleled advantage in both first- and third-party games.

The end of the MD era is the beginning of Sega's tragedy.

When Jester was analyzing this period of the Warring States Period, the first time in the history of gaming, to be fair and honest, the Sega MD is an excellent 16-bit machine, but the Sega Saturn, also known as the SS, is a A host with insufficient vision.

It was bigger than its biggest competitor at the time. The PS that came out of Sony was very far behind.

Whether it is technology or vision, if the technical gap can be made up, then the vision gap is almost insurmountable. Sony owns Kutaragi Ken, and this is a person whose eyes can see ten years from now. people.

But, Sega. But there is no such person.

Although VR Warrior and other established 3D game works are blooming on this console, its weak 3D function has still become a development bottleneck. This was especially obvious when cap later transplanted Resident Evil. Problems such as longer reading disks, rougher polygons, and translucent special effects all exposed the conservative nature of the original design of SS. After all, no one thought at the time that Sega's natural enemy would no longer be the equally conservative Nintendo. Not even Nintendo itself thought of it.

Sony.

Jester recited the name silently to himself. Sony's previous concessions and hibernation were probably all for the sake of becoming a blockbuster on PS.

I just don’t know what Sony has prepared for this next-generation war this time.

Sony entered the gaming market on its own because its cooperation with Nintendo broke down. This is true both in Jester's era and in this era, both to recover previous losses and to further explore this market. Sony launched the Play Station console, but Sony's senior management did not have high expectations for the market. Except for Ken Kutaragi, Sony itself really had no confidence.

It just so happens that he is such a newcomer in the gaming industry. As soon as he came up, he kicked over Nintendo, who had stabbed him in the back before, and also knocked down the SS at the same time.

But this era is different.

This time, Jester has to face Sony who is going all out. It's not just Sony Computer Entertainment.

Jester shook his head slightly, temporarily driving this somewhat chaotic thought out of his mind. It was not the time to think about it now.

In the SS era, Sega was almost determined to do something big, whether it was the comprehensive transplantation of the arcade series headed by VR Warrior, or the works such as Sakura Wars and Iron Armored Flying Dragon specially developed for SS, and even some works for SS. Grandia against Final Fantasy 7...all this tells players that Sega is still trying to stick to its hardcore path, while also trying to find new changes.

SS still only lasted about five years of fighting, and then the next generation console DC was announced. Everything is like a reincarnation of fate, and the life of DC is even more short. In just two years, Sega issued a shocking statement to withdraw from the hardware market.

This is a painful transformation, and both Sega itself and its large number of fans are suffering equally. After persisting in the hardware market for eighteen years, all efforts eventually came to nothing. Sega's dream was shattered, and fans who had been with it all the way didn't know how to express their depression and helplessness.

This is the tragedy of business society, and it is also a consequence that everyone must bear.

Many people blame Sony for the collapse of Sega. If there had not been PS2, and if Sony had not been aggressive at the time, Sega might not have lost so quickly and so miserably that when Microsoft joined the market, it became the market leader. As a competitor, many former Sega fans joined Microsoft's camp without hesitation.

For no other reason than to give Sega a sigh of relief and make Sony feel disgusted.

At that time, many people in Sega's home console development department also joined Microsoft after Sega announced the launch of the hardware market. In the development of the iconic console of the Xbox generation, these hardware engineers from Sega contributed extremely important strength.

To be honest, Sega is biased in its business philosophy and thinking, but it still strives to create a large number of inimitable and legendary works, which is an unmissable name in the history of video game development. Sega's final situation can only make people lament and helpless.

After that, Sega became a pure software company. In 2005, a game that was very realistic in game type and somewhat close to Shenmue was launched - Yakuza.

Like a Dragon is an action-adventure game. It tells the story of Kazuma Kiryu, a former gangster who was imprisoned for ten years for his friends. After he was released from prison, he had to face a world that has changed a lot, including the changed people's hearts.

This game was quickly accepted by Sega fans and was immediately recognized.

Not just because of his quality.

What's more, it's because in this game, these fans have seen the shadow of Sega's past, and they were born as tough guys... (To be continued...)