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[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Here's a scenario. The year is 2001. You're a top investor who is prepared to enter a new venture. You've got an impressive amount of capital to invest in a business of your choice.

You are presented with an opportunity to become a major investor in SEGA. If you invest, Microsoft will not look to enter the console market. You get managerial control of SEGA and you call the shots. What would you do differently? Knowing what we know now.

Or.

You take a long think about it, but decide this isn't the investment that you want. As a result, SEGA stop manufacturing consoles and Microsoft release the XBOX as a result. What stopped you investing?

Go.

 

[poodaddy]

I loved the Dreamcast more than any console of its time, but the truth is they're putting out better work now than they ever did then. I'll go with Microsoft, let Sega leave the console race. Gotta let em spread their wings man.

 

[Sybrix]

Buy 10,000 Bitcoins

 

[Meicyn]

Microsoft, and it’s not even close. Sega would have squandered the investment money and merely delayed the inevitable. The Dreamcast existed by the graces of Isao Okawa, and their hardware doors shuttered when he passed away.

 

[Zathalus]

Investing in Sega back in the early 2000s seems like a good way to piss your money away.

 

[Tsaki]

Microsoft obviously.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Sega have themselves to blame from the damage the 32x and Saturn did, much less the Sega CD....as a result Dreamcast was on borrowed time from day one

 

[LazyParrot]

Easiest choice ever. Imagine Xbox bombing and Bungie working on something other than Halo for the next decade. We might have gotten an actual Marathon game. That alone would make it worth it.

 

[itsjustJEFF]

Microsoft, easy. SEGA & Sony are two Japanese companies that are VERY Japanese. They tend to get set in their "ways." Sony themselves pretty much had to get dragged kicking and screaming to emulate, and compete with Xbox's online services. Without Xbox showing gamers what online should look like, we would be in some weird SquareEnix FF14 style online accont world LOL

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Microsoft, and it’s not even close. Sega would have squandered the investment money and merely delayed the inevitable. The Dreamcast existed by the graces of Isao Okawa, and their hardware doors shuttered when he passed away.

Only if you let them. Remember, if you invest, you get managerial control. If you think you can make SEGA work, go for it. Just explain what you would do.

Microsoft, easy. SEGA & Sony are two Japanese companies that are VERY Japanese. They tend to get set in their "ways." Sony themselves pretty much had to get dragged kicking and screaming to emulate, and compete with Xbox's online services. Without Xbox showing gamers what online should look like, we would be in so weird SquareEnix FF14 style accont online world LOL

I kind of see what you're saying. But SEGA had been discussing online gaming ever since the Master System and had an online option with MegaNet in 1990. Albeit in Japan. How do you know if things weren't different that right now SEGA could be the leader of online games? Phantasy Star could be the leading MMO. It's so interesting to imagine what if lol

 

[March Climber]

Merge SEGA and Microsoft together, like they should have been when the original Xbox came out with a bunch of SEGA exclusives.

I still can’t believe MS let them go.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Merge SEGA and Microsoft together, like they should have been when the original Xbox came out with a bunch of SEGA exclusives.

I still can’t believe MS let them go.

Well MS letting them go is a big statement. Whilst they partnered together on some projects, they were never under control of Microsoft really. It was Bill Gates who thought SEGA didn't have what Microsoft would need to go straight at Sony.

 

[March Climber]

Well MS letting them go is a big statement. Whilst they partnered together on some projects, they were never under control of Microsoft really. It was Bill Gates who thought SEGA didn't have what Microsoft would need to go straight at Sony.

And he was wrong. Imagine an Xbox 360 firing on all cylinders with the backing of a Sega catalogue. It would have been able to make up for it’s dry later years with exclusives like Yakuza, Phantasy Star Universe, Sonic Unleashed and Generations, Alpha Protocol, Binary Domain, Resonance of Fate, etc.

Regardless, I’m glad Sega was able to bounce back on its own with good 3rd party offerings.

 

[Meicyn]

Only if you let them. Remember, if you invest, you get managerial control. If you think you can make SEGA work, go for it. Just explain what you would do.

I wouldn’t, that’s the point.

What you are proposing in this scenario was what already happened after the Saturn. Isao Okawa forgave $700 million in debt that Sega owed and funded development of the Dreamcast.

In the end, Sega still failed and ran out of money again. Why? Trust in the brand was gone, and not just from the consumer standpoint. Some studios flat out wouldn’t develop games for the platform.

With Dreamcast now seen as a failure, the anti-piracy mechanisms broken by hackers allowing for ease of downloading games onto CD-R, and everyone buying Playstation 2s which basically cost as much as a standalone DVD player at the time which made it an absolute steal, there was nothing Sega could do to compete.

I grew up on Sega, and I have my Eternal Arcadia limited edition box displayed on my nerd shelf in the living room. Loved the games, but there was no saving them. Another investor dumping money into Sega in 2001 would have kept the Dreamcast around awhile longer, but what then? Sega of America and Sega of Japan would have continued not working together. It would have been more of the same.

It’s easy to romanticize Sega and think about what gaming would be like if they were still selling hardware, but they were a poorly run business, and the rest is history.

 

[Unknown?]

Sega obviously. Microsoft has not contributed much in software, only bought up existing. What they did contribute in is online services being paid and HDD storage, both of which would have come quickly anyway without them.

Xbox would have died with its first console if it didn't have Microsoft backing it anyway.

 

[X-Wing]

Sega, they innovated a lot more and brought a lot more good stuff to the industry that Microsoft ever has.

 

[splattered]

I voted save Sega but only under the assumption that it would have actually changed the outcome... if it's just a "maybe" then i would probably pick Microsoft.

 

[Wastelander92]

Sega was already dead by 2001. Would invest in Apple or Google instead.

 

[Rentahamster]

You are presented with an opportunity to become a major investor in SEGA. If you invest, Microsoft will not look to enter the console market. You get managerial control of SEGA and you call the shots. What would you do differently? Knowing what we know now.

Unrealistic scenario choice. Why doesn't Microsoft look to enter the console market? It essentially makes the choice "Would I rather prefer SEGA being a main player instead of MS" based on magic.

 

[HTK]

Take all my money and leave the game industry.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Look, I love Sega to death - but their consoles and many accessories were generally misses.

I’d go Microsoft. Especially in 2001 with Sega facing yet another failed console attempt, and the arcade industry pretty much dead.

 

[Azelover]

Sega's reputation and branding as a console manufacturer was fucked at that point. If I were doing it out of desire, with no sight on returns, I would invest in Sega. Otherwise I would invest in the future.

 

[Neff]

Dreamcast 2...
but Lost Odyssey never exists...

Fuck

 

[Cornbread78]

MS is buying SEGA once the Acti deal is complete, so why not both...

 

[Kokoloko85]

MS is buying SEGA once the Acti deal is complete, so why not both...

Please no

 

[MarkMe2525]

There is no way I would invest any money in Sega in the mid '90s. I was a big Sega fan, but their troubles were mostly self inflicted with internal turmoil.

 

[Unknown?]

Look, I love Sega to death - but their consoles and many accessories were generally misses.

I’d go Microsoft. Especially in 2001 with Sega facing yet another failed console attempt, and the arcade industry pretty much dead.

Except for the 360, so was Microsoft's consoles, and that would have failed due to rrod if they didn't have the backing of Microsoft. Only difference is they could afford to lose billions.

 

[Jigsaah]

My decision depends on if it's a Wednesday.

 

[deriks]

I love Sega the most, but they're doomed since the early days of Saturn. Too much bad choices

 

[Drizzlehell]

Masturbate, obviously.

 

[rofif]

I pull out all the money and give to George brussard to fuck off.
Then let 3d realms finish Duke Nukem Forever to be released in 2002. No engine changes. Just finish the version that was leaked.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Unrealistic scenario choice. Why doesn't Microsoft look to enter the console market? It essentially makes the choice "Would I rather prefer SEGA being a main player instead of MS" based on magic.

If you look at it that way. The concept here is that Microsoft would have focused on PC gaming and not necessarily entered the console market at that time. It's not to say they wouldn't.

But hey, shit on the idea. Whatever makes you happy man. I have no vested interest either way. I just thought it would be interesting to see what people would have done differently in SEGA's position or why they wouldn't have tried knowing what they know now. Would make for a fun bit of discussion. Or at least, that was the theory.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Dreamcast 2...
but Lost Odyssey never exists...

Fuck

The OG Xbox practically was the Dreamcast 2.

 

[Skifi28]

I use all my money to buy apple stocks and wait for iphone to release.

 

[Rentahamster]

If you look at it that way. The concept here is that Microsoft would have focused on PC gaming and not necessarily entered the console market at that time. It's not to say they wouldn't.

But hey, shit on the idea. Whatever makes you happy man. I have no vested interest either way. I just thought it would be interesting to see what people would have done differently in SEGA's position or why they wouldn't have tried knowing what they know now. Would make for a fun bit of discussion. Or at least, that was the theory.

Dude, I'm not shitting on your idea; I'm critiquing it. Don't read it so negatively because it's not worded in a negative tone.

How is it realistic to expect Microsoft to change their focus even if I invest all my money with SEGA?

 

[nowhat]

I'd wait for next Wednesday.

 

[Meicyn]

If you look at it that way. The concept here is that Microsoft would have focused on PC gaming and not necessarily entered the console market at that time. It's not to say they wouldn't.

But hey, shit on the idea. Whatever makes you happy man. I have no vested interest either way. I just thought it would be interesting to see what people would have done differently in SEGA's position or why they wouldn't have tried knowing what they know now. Would make for a fun bit of discussion. Or at least, that was the theory.

That’s the thing, there wasn’t anything that could be done. Sega put themselves into financial ruin multiple times in a row.

I mean, you yourself don’t seem to have any answer to your own premise. How do you compete with the PS2 with a console that has been rejected? How do you convince the consumer base to try again after the Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, and now Dreamcast, to take another chance with Sega? How do you convince developers that yeah, fifth time’s the charm, we totally promise bro!

We’re participating in an actual discussion with you, just not in the manner that you wanted. I’ve answered your premise seriously.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

And people say this forum isn't biased against Xbox LMAO.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Time travel shenanigans.

.

 

[cireza]

I would go SEGA for people to not support them again, let them die, and then say how awesome they were 20 years later.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Except for the 360, so was Microsoft's consoles, and that would have failed due to rrod if they didn't have the backing of Microsoft. Only difference is they could afford to lose billions.

360 was for sure a double edged sword, but generally speaking people look back on the machine with much fondness. I don't know if it's fair to classify the console as a miss.

 

[Crayon]

I'd buy bungie and make Halo Mac exclusive.

 

[bender]

Microsoft doesn't need the money and Sega would just burn it.

 

[Kdad]

I buy SEGA and expand SEGA Game Centres to every corner of earth. And peace will rise within humanity. Amen.

 

[GustavoLT]

buy SEGA and make a deal for GTA3 exclusivity!

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Fuck Sega. I’d pay a small fortune just so that Sonic could be put out of his misery twenty years ago.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Nothing can save Sega at that point so...I will invest in Microsoft stocks lol

 

[Unknown?]

360 was for sure a double edged sword, but generally speaking people look back on the machine with much fondness. I don't know if it's fair to classify the console as a miss.

No I mean it's the only console they had that wasn't a miss but it would have bankrupted any other normal company with how poorly they were built.

Also fondness doesn't make it a hit, most people look fondly upon the Dreamcast and Wii U, but they're still misses despite being good consoles.

 

[Begleiter]

You have to go further back to save Sega, but I think you could have the Dreamcast go out in a greater blaze of glory, so I'd do that.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Also fondness doesn't make it a hit, most people look fondly upon the Dreamcast and Wii U, but they're still misses despite being good consoles.

I would never suggest such a thing. In this instance, it isn't a question of whether or not the 360 was a hit, it clearly was.

Edit: I just realized that I misread your earlier post that I responded to.