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NeoGAF SEGA Community Thread |OT| To be this good takes AGES

Kazza

Member
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Welcome to the official NeoGAF Sega community thread. Whether your first Sega experience was sitting astride a Hang On motorbike in a 1980's arcade, or playing the latest Yakuza game on your PS4 Pro, this is the thread to discuss all things Sega. An electic mix of Japanese and American influences, the company has had a massive influence on both gaming and popular culture in general, as well as providing many of us with some unforgettable experiences. A company that has so often pushed the boundaries of what was thought possible in the industry, it's failures are almost as fascinating as it's numerous successes. Whatever the topic, if it involves Sega, then this is the place to talk about it.

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Depending on how back you want to go, the Sega (short for Service Games) story could arguably be traced back to a slot machine company founded in the 1930s in New York State by a son of Russian immigrants by the name of Irving Bromberg. The name "Sega" was first used commercially in 1954, and they made a lot of their early money by selling mechanical slot machines to overseas US personnel, eventually moving on to servicing the civilian Japanese market. It's twisting history spans nations, wars and tax evasion scandals, and I have no higher recommendation for understanding Sega's early history than this great video by Jenovi.

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The arcade isn't what it was, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore it's influence on the industry in general, and on Sega in particular. The company was first and foremost an arcade game company, and even it's consoles were often advertised as a way to play those games at home. Of course, the home conversions wouldn't be a match for the arcade until the Dreamcast era, and the arcade was the place to see (and play) cutting edge games technology. Sega's beginning in the video game industry was very humble, their first game being a pong knockoff designed for sale in Japan.

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Sega would really start to get into their stride in the 1980s, with groundbreaking after groundbreaking title. As impressive as the graphics, sound and gameplay were, it was the special sit-down cabinets which really stole the show. Even playing perfectly emulated M2 versions on modern systems cannot compare to the experience of walking into an arcade and seeing a beast like the rotating Galaxy Force cabinet on display! Whether it be cabinet design, super-scaling graphics or polygons, Sega was always competing with the other arcade titans of the day to bring novel and breathtaking experiences to the arcade going public.

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The desire to emulate the success of the likes of Atari led Japanese companies such as Sega and Nintendo to release home systems of their own. In fact, both Sega's first console, the SG-1000, and Nintendo's Famicom, would both release in Japan on the same day in 1983, beginning an almost two decades long rivalry in the console space. Sega's days as a console manufacturer would end with the Dreamcast in the early 2000s (unless you count the Advanced Pico Beena, released in 2005)

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Although it was a shock to many to see Sonic on a Nintendo system after the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, Sega had actually been allowing it's IPs to be licensed to rival systems since the very beginning. Whether it was micro-computer versions of arcade hits such as Outrun, the Sega PC range in the 90s, or even Nintendo Famicom versions of the likes of Shinobi and Space Harrier, there have always been ways to play (some) Sega games on non-Sega system. With the decline of arcades and the end of Sega's console business, third party publishing and development has become Sega's bread and butter.

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Kazza

Member
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Where does one even begin with this? How do you sum up decades worth of great games? The Sega logo in the Sonic movie gives a pretty good snapshot, and I've created my own little collage of Sega's most well known and beloved IPs.

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From CEOs to games developers, Sega would be Sega without the hard work and creativity of the people who work there. One of my personal favourites is, Isao Okawa, President of Sega during the Dreamcast era, who donated hundreds of millions of stock to the company in order to keep them float (pictured with the Dreamcast below)

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Thanks for all the entertainment over the years, Sega, and here's to many more years of great experiences yet to come.

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Thanks to Komatsu Komatsu for the "Segaf" logo and the idea of creating a Sega community page in the first place. Sega Retro, Sega-16 and Arcade Museum were great resources for all things Sega. I find Segabits to be a good source of the latest Sega news, as is Megavisions.​
 
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Kazza

Member
WIP - I will add a section about current Sega studios and what kind of games they work on. Let me know if there is anything I have missed (especially in the "people" section of the last post), or if anyone has any other ideas.

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Also, let me know if there are any problems with how the pictures and/or gifs are displaying. It looks fine from my laptop, but I don't know how it looks from a phone.
 
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Awesome! Love these kind of threads and reminiscing about SEGA, what makes them great, their wonderful collection of IPs old and new.

Some of my favorite SEGA games include:

Skies of Arcadia Legends
Virtua Fighter 4
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Valkyrie Chronicles
Persona series (Atlus)

I'm also curious to try Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?
 

Kazza

Member
I'll let the thread hang out in the main games forum for a while, and then the mods can move it to the communities thread whenever they think it's appropriate.

To get things kicked off, maybe everyone could share their first memories of playing a Sega game, or playing on a Sega console, as well as what modern Sega game. For me, my first experiences were most likely at the arcade. The memories are kind of fuzzy, so there is no moment in particular, but I remember the excitement of heading inside as a kid, the noise, the screens, the crowds of people. Information was scarce, so you never knew what you were going to find. While I loved arcade games from many different companies, those big, sit down Sega cabinets were really something else! To be able to sit on an actual motorbike, or in the cockpit of a fighter jet, was a mind blowing experience, especially for a kid under the age of 10.

I owned all consoles, except a SG-1000, Nomad, 32X and Dreamcast (I was out of console gaming at the time, and really regeret not owning one now). I had a period of a few years where I didn't do any gaming at all, but when I returned to the hobby, I found that good old Sega were still providing some of the best experiences available. Yakuza is probably my favourite series, but I love other more "modern" (i.e post 2000) Sega series too, such as Monkey Ball, Valkyria Chronicals, and All Star Racing.

I feel lucky to have missed Sega's "dark era" a few years back and to have got back into gaming precisely at the time where they have got their act together again. I think the future is looking bright, and I can't wait to play Like a Dragon, Panzer Remake, SoR4, Humankind etc.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
My first SEGA console was the Dreamcast, but I grew up playing friends' Genesis and Game Gear systems, plus I played SEGA games at the arcade.

A few years ago I got my first SEGA Saturn and my love for the company grew even deeper. It is now my favorite system by them. Great company with some truly bone-headed business decisions. I wish they would make an Arcade Collection instead of yet another Genesis compilation.
 

The Shift

Banned
Great thread - I just so happened to be cleaning this today and thought I would share:


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Still have some work to do but should come up really nice.

The SF7000 is a 3" Floppy Disk Drive/Memory/Port add on for the SC3000 line of Sega personal computers. This unit has been modified to run a custom Disk OS and is setup for development.

It's probably one of the most rare pieces of consumer Sega hardware available today. I am planning on selling it very soon.

Still, it's a very interesting piece of obscure/rare Sega hardware - Enjoy!

SF7000 Info
 
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I'd peek into mall arcades through the 80s, but it wasn't until some older kids showed me Phantasy Star that I was totally bitten by the gaming bug. My parents picked up a Master System not long after (no small feat for them at the time) and I became a hardcore Sega kid for life.

I do have to pat younger me on the back for not passing up the original Gameboy and SNES despite my devotion to Sega. Never had much love for the NES, which was clearly inferior, but I'll admit to being a little jealous of SMB3.
 
My first SEGA console was the Mega Drive, which I got fairly late in my opinion - in June, 1995. Only owned Nintendo systems up until that point (NES, Game Boy, Super NES), but I did play a fair amount of SEGA games before owning a Mega Drive. There were plenty of games I envied; Thunder Force IV, Aladdin, Jurassic Park, Ecco the Dolphin, and being a big Terminator fan - The Terminator and T2: The Arcade Game (which I eventually got on the Super NES). Played these games at department stores, toy shops, etc. This is not even mentioning the many games I played in the arcade; Rail Chase, Alien 3: The Gun, SEGA Rally, Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, etc.

My granddad owned a Master System and Mega Drive. Games I remember playing at his were (Master System) Thunder Blade, Casino Games, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and probably some more. On the Mega Drive; Alien 3, Olympic Gold, Ecco the Dolphin, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Games I (Super Hang-On, World Cup Italia '90, Columns), and maybe more (?).

Skipped over the SEGA Saturn, and retrospectively to my regret. Though I almost got one; bought one second-hand with Daytona USA included, but didn't work right so returned it. Instead I chose to save money for the Nintendo 64, a console I'm not particularly fond of, in retrospect.

I did get a SEGA Dreamcast, a console I really looked forward to at the time. It remains my favorite console of all-time. Had a fairly sizable library for it as well, covering many genres. I don't think I have ever had so much fun out of a console outside of the (first) PlayStation. It really felt as if you experienced something special.
 
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Kazza

Member
Man SEGA has enough awesome first party games and history they can have their own system now.

I wish their consoles make a come back.

I think they would have the best first party line-up if they did, but seeing as any new console would just be another Ryzen/PC box, I don't think it's worth it. The console hardware space just isn't as interesting as it was in the 80s and 90s.

What I would like is some sort of FPGA Sega console that could play games from all of Sega's consoles, from SG-1000 all the way to the Dreamcast. The current high price of retro games means that they would also have to start republishing physical copies of older games (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Japanese Saturn games that were never brought west etc) for 15-20 bucks each. If that was the case, then I would gladly buy the console and buy a large collection of games.

I wish they would make an Arcade Collection instead of yet another Genesis compilation

Definitely! They could go by generation (eg the System 16 Collection, Model 1 Collection) or by genre (racing collection, 3d fighter collection etc).

Never had much love for the NES, which was clearly inferior

Fighting words there, even on a Sega thread. I haven't played enough NES to have a valid opinion, but that gen was really interesting. Am I correct in thinking that 95% of the games on each system were exclusives? Nintendo's grip on third parties meant that they wouldn't dare support a Sega system until the Megadrive/Genesis. Ironically, the only games with ports on both systems that I can think of are Sega IPs (Space Harrier, Shinobi etc). The PC Engine seemed to have a huge exclusive library as well.

My granddad owned a Master System and Mega Drive.

I'm always envious of people who had a mum, dad, grandad, uncle etc who was really into games growing up. It was pretty rare back then.

i still want all those sega ages games on the switch in one giant bundle on a P H Y S I C A L cartridge

I think they have released enough games now for that to be possible. I hope any compilation gets released in the West. IIRC, volumes 2 and 3 of the 3D Classics collections were Japan only.
 
Fighting words there, even on a Sega thread. I haven't played enough NES to have a valid opinion, but that gen was really interesting. Am I correct in thinking that 95% of the games on each system were exclusives?

Haha I am trolling a little, but coming from the Master System, the NES really was unappealing to me in the same way the Atari 2600 was aside from a handful of games each. I probably cared a bit too much about graphics back then, but the tech was advancing so rapidly it made little sense to go backwards. I did pay for that in terms of being able to exchange games with friends though!

You're right that there was very little overlap between libraries back then, even for most of the 90s I would say. So choosing a console was a huge deal and you really were putting your trust in either Sega or Nintendo, rarely both.
 

Komatsu

Member
I bought my SMS in February 1993 and, what can I say? When it comes to gaming, SEGA was my first love. I have owned every single major hardware platform they have ever put out, with the exception of the SEGA Genesis (had an SNES in the mid-90s), which I would often rent from a mom & pop video store down the street.

2020 is going to be a great year for us SEGA Nerds: PSO2 coming out in the West, Panzer Dragoon Remake and Shin Sakura Wars.
 
My dad owned a Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Golden Axe, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron and some other games. They were fun games but at the time I was really more interested in the SNES with games like Super Mario World, F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country etc.

However, I was a big fan of the Sega Dreamcast when it launched. I really enjoyed playing Sonic Adventure, Grandia II, Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star Online, Crazy Taxi, and Jet Set Radio just to name a few. It was also the first console where I played my first GTA, GTA 2, which I remember because the Dreamcast version of the game was set at night.

And it was great to see these games re-release on other platforms since I no longer own a Dreamcast. I hope to see Skies of Arcadia re-release one more time (with the additional content from the GameCube port Legends) on newer platforms. I don't want these great games to be forgotten. They were what defined SEGA to me, not just because they were cooler compared to Nintendo's offerings, but a lot of Dreamcast exclusives were incredibly creative and unique.
 
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alf717

Member
Now these are my kind of threads. I miss the appreciation threads of yesteryear. Now we just need a Nintendo one as well as others.
 

Kazza

Member
Haha I am trolling a little, but coming from the Master System, the NES really was unappealing to me in the same way the Atari 2600 was aside from a handful of games each. I probably cared a bit too much about graphics back then, but the tech was advancing so rapidly it made little sense to go backwards. I did pay for that in terms of being able to exchange games with friends though!

You're right that there was very little overlap between libraries back then, even for most of the 90s I would say. So choosing a console was a huge deal and you really were putting your trust in either Sega or Nintendo, rarely both.

Haha, since we're among friends here, let me make a controversial statement of my own - having played them both again fairly recently, I truly think that the original Alex Kidd game is better than the original Super Mario Bros (although I think the other two Mario games are better than any of the Alex Kidd games, even the amazing Shinobi World game).

If I had to guess, I would say that the ratio of exclusives/multi-plats in each gen were like this:

MS/NES/PC Engine - 95/5
MD/SNES - 70/30
PS1/N64/Saturn 50/50
GC/PS2/DC/Xbox 35/65
PS3/Wii/360 20/80
PS4/Switch/X1 5/95

Also, even the multi-plats which did exist before the GC/PS2/DC/Xbox gen tended to vary greatly from platform to platform, which is what makes the likes of DF Retro and ConsoleWars so interesting. Now it's mostly just a difference in framerate and resolution.
 

Kazza

Member
Now these are my kind of threads. I miss the appreciation threads of yesteryear. Now we just need a Nintendo one as well as others.

Feel free to put a Nintendo one together, if you have the time. You can make it a collaborative effort, if you can get some like-minded people together.
 

Kazza

Member
BTW, anyone curious about what Sega is up to in 2020, can check out this thread:


It looks like Yakuza 7, Streets of Rage 4 and the Panzer Dragoon Remake are Gaf's most hyped games for this year.
 
To me, SEGA was and is the Arcades and that's why I fell for the corp and grew to love it, to this very day. I could never play Hang-on at the time as I couldn't sit on the unit, but I'' never forget the 1st time I saw and played Space Harrier in 85 down in sunny Porthcawl LOL. That game just looked and sounded like no other Arcade game and the hydraulic coin-up, then the year latter OutRun came into the Arcades and it was just on another level, then AB II and I started to notice all had the yellow start button and the holographic sticker of SEGA and that was it.

I feel in love and had the Master System for Christmas 87 and never looked back. The best gaming corp ever so said the dream and the late great Isao Okawa had to die :messenger_loudly_crying:
 

Kazza

Member
OutRun came into the Arcades and it was just on another level

I think that for Outrun it's the small details that make a big difference. Just being able to select your music from the car dashboard was a nice touch, as was the pretty girl sitting next to you. Sure, they didn't affect the gameplay (which was great anyway), but sometimes presentation really helps to make the game. You can be in Porthcawl one minute, then sit down in that car and, bam, suddenly you're in California driving a red Ferrari.
 

Mista

Banned
Now these are my kind of threads. I miss the appreciation threads of yesteryear. Now we just need a Nintendo one as well as others.
We already have one. Jump in :D

 

cireza

Member
Great thread. I have been contributing to a French Sega dedicated website (as a reviewer) for around 15 years (not sure the exact date).

First Sega console was the Master System, and then MegaDrive, 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast and later Game Gear and Mega-CD. All great consoles.

You will see me posting here often :)
 
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I think that for Outrun it's the small details that make a big difference. Just being able to select your music from the car dashboard was a nice touch, as was the pretty girl sitting next to you. Sure, they didn't affect the gameplay (which was great anyway), but sometimes presentation really helps to make the game. You can be in Porthcawl one minute, then sit down in that car and, bam, suddenly you're in California driving a red Ferrari.

So true and the visual style was just leagues above anything else and it's still so playable even now and I'll don't think I'll ever get that coin jingle out of my head. SEGA just followed on then with Super Hang-On and the totally and utterly incredible Power Drift, it was just nuts.
Yu Suzuki and SEGA were something else in the 80's and early 90's and with Team Andromeda/Smilebit/UGA SEGA had the best console development studios ever (IMO)

Bit of a shame the dream had to end, but what a ride it was
 
The point about the small details is so true. Their arcade games always had mind-blowing graphics, but they also always had lots of human touches like the Outrun radio and girlfriend, the Sonic ornament hanging from the rear view mirror in Daytona, synthesized voices, catchy music, fourth wall humor, winks and nudges, and so on.
 

Komatsu

Member
Never had much love for the NES, which was clearly inferior, but I'll admit to being a little jealous of SMB3.
Fighting words there, even on a Sega thread. I haven't played enough NES to have a valid opinion, but that gen was really interesting. Am I correct in thinking that 95% of the games on each system were exclusives? Nintendo's grip on third parties meant that they wouldn't dare support a Sega system until the Megadrive/Genesis. Ironically, the only games with ports on both systems that I can think of are Sega IPs (Space Harrier, Shinobi etc). The PC Engine seemed to have a huge exclusive library as well.

I mean.... Could the Famicom run something like this?

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It is particularly striking when it comes to the multiplat titles. Given how weird the late 80s were when it comes to the VG industry, some of SEGA's software library did end up on the NES and the ports always SUCKED. I mean, look at this - and the NES Shinobi came two whole years later.

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Kazza

Member
I mean.... Could the Famicom run something like this?

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It is particularly striking when it comes to the multiplat titles. Given how weird the late 80s were when it comes to the VG industry, some of SEGA's software library did end up on the NES and the ports always SUCKED. I mean, look at this - and the NES Shinobi came two whole years later.

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Laconian Sword Laconian Sword

This video from SLX came at just the right time:




It's interesting how the colour advantage flipped between Sega and Nintendo when going from 8 to 16 bit (although the colour palettes of both the Megadrive and NES did give their games a unique look sometimes.
 

cireza

Member
What's everyone's favorite SEGA game? I have a lot of respect for Rieko Kodama and the Overworks staff for their work on Skies of Arcadia. It's one of the few RPGs I've completed to 100℅.
Too many games to pick only one. Here are the ones that come to mind :

Phantasy Star series
Shining Force series
Nights
Burning Rangers
PSO series
Jet Set Radio
Dragon Force
Skies of Arcadia
Sonic series
Streets of Rage series
Golden Axe series
Panzer Dragoon series
Valkyria Chronicles I, IV
Outrun series
Space Harrier
and all arcade games

Probably missing a lot...
 
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Kazza

Member
I really like these GameHut videos (from the developer at Traveller's Tales, who performed graphical miracles on the Megadrive and Saturn). He's got one on Sonic 1. I'm hoping he'll analyse that Batman and Robin game next:

 

Carna

Banned
Anyone ever tried the Chao Garden glitch/trick that raises the stats of your Chao without grinding for animals, you have to use Tails and get in a close distance without directly touching the Chao, then you have to put the animal down next to them. and with that. you can have one Chao at level 99 without excess grinding.

Also, where's our Chao Garden mobile game?
 

Kazza

Member
A nice summary of the past 5 years at Sega (their "Road to 2020" plan):


I wonder what they have planned for the next 5? Hopefully more multi-platform releases, more IP revivals (still waiting on a new Jet Set Radio), new IPs (give the RGG studio a little break from Yakuza and let them try something completely different), and also some VR titles (VR versions of classic games such as Space Harrier, HotD would be great, as would new IPs).
 
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Kazza

Member
If I really had to choose 5, then I would choose:
- Revenge of Shinobi
- Yakuza 1 (PS2)
- Sonic 2
- Sega Rally
- SoR2

Those are the games I remember enjoying playing the most at the time, although ask me on a different day and I'd likely give a slightly different answer. I've managed to replay 4 of the 5 recently (RoS, SoR2 and Sonic 2 on the Megadrive Mini, Sega Rally at an arcade in Indonesia of all places) and they all hold up very well. Newcomers would probably be better off playing Kiwami 1 instead of Yakuza 1, but it was my first ever Yakuza and was a revelatory experience.
 
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