Twilight Gap
Member
Gameboy may be simple but every other handheld fell under its umbrella.
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Sega was amazing at naming consoles
- Thread starter Sblargh
- Start date
bobawesome
Member
They sure don't name 'em like they used to.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Damn straight.
Damn I miss OG Sega.
Damn I miss OG Sega.
yanipheonu
Member
They're okay I guess?
VendettaRed07
Member
They basically did, and are going to continue to do things similar to what Sega did back in the day. They just have infinite money to bail out their terrible decisions
If only Kinect, Move and WiiMotion+ were in the same realm as this shit:
Hahah, I remember that stuff. The thing on the left looks like a shitty knockoff transformer that can only transform into a vacuum cleaner.
Project Katana and Dural were both prototype names for Dreamcast.
Blackbelt was another prototype name for Dreamcast. (used 3dfx chipset)
Saturn was actually the project name and they eventually just used the codename for the final console.
Yes.
BiGBoSSMk23
A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
If only Kinect, Move and WiiMotion+ were in the same realm as this shit:
That's a hideous vacuum
When you hear the words "Dreamcast", what's the first thing that comes to mind?
I mean, I think of the death of Sega. But yes I think of the console. Just like if I think of Vita, or DS, or Neptune... Not sure what this proves.
The name itself is cool, Dreamcast = broadcasting dreams. The imagery behind it was pretty good.
Someone needs to buy that name from Sega and reuse it.
Good marketing would lessen the confusion, but yea, a numeric scheme would have been more ideal.
Though they did release a ton of consoles relatively quickly, so I can see why they didn't bother with numbers; it would have been too high.
~8 consoles in 18 years is insane.
Burgess_101
Member
Megadrive is better than genesis.
Sword Of Doom
Member
Dreamcast is an amazing name
Genesis just sounds badass though
Genesis just sounds badass though
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
Shortly after? SNES never took the lead in NA until Christmas 1994, and likely a similar date (if not longer) in Europe where MD was noticeably more popular than SNES.
It showed creativity in the naming process, which is more than you can ever argue for PlayStation, Xbox, or most of Nintendo's consoles aside from Gamecube.
And it's not that confusing, honestly. Most people looking into retro systems like Sega's stuff are gonna do a little research and use logical deduction to figure which was first, 2nd, etc.
That's not the only reason. The markets today (not just the different tech markets but country economies) are much more interconnected today vs. back in the '90s. A big reason a lot of Sega's ideas didn't take off was either b/c the tech wasn't ready or the sub-industries and global markets were more disparate. I mean just look at the gulf in tech between the home and arcade markets back in the early half of that decade.
I think when it's all said and done, if nothing else and home consoles as we know them cease after a generation or two, Sega'll be remembered as the most bold and innovative of the bunch. Easily.
Mega Drive is still the best named console in history.
I think PlayStation is a pretty good name though tbh. I mean, beyond PlayStation 2 the effect kinda wore off... but it's a great name on its own.
This on the other hand is a fucking disgusting idea, and you should feel ashamed of yourself.
I think PlayStation is a pretty good name though tbh. I mean, beyond PlayStation 2 the effect kinda wore off... but it's a great name on its own.
This on the other hand is a fucking disgusting idea, and you should feel ashamed of yourself.
joecanada
Member
Sega Genesis is way cooler than super Nintendo but super was still better than just Playstation 2 - though of course this is smartest branding so no beef there.
Worst ever has to be xbox one. I mean even worse than wiiu. You are basically spending marketing money to explain why this comes after xbox 360... And in the end most kids will just say " new Xbox " anyway which means you failed. I cant think of one good reason to call it this unless you are thinking people are wanting to view it as a new beginning?
Edit - wiiu has shown to be confusing and therefore a bad name but at least you could argue that they were banking on Wii popularity and saying here's the new Wii! Everyone will want one!
Worst ever has to be xbox one. I mean even worse than wiiu. You are basically spending marketing money to explain why this comes after xbox 360... And in the end most kids will just say " new Xbox " anyway which means you failed. I cant think of one good reason to call it this unless you are thinking people are wanting to view it as a new beginning?
Edit - wiiu has shown to be confusing and therefore a bad name but at least you could argue that they were banking on Wii popularity and saying here's the new Wii! Everyone will want one!
petran79
Banned
Sega had cool names on their arcades as well. Dreamcast was the child of Sega Naomi. Microsoft Xbox was the rich spoiled brat that was jealous of them and wanted to buy their happiness.
My dream would be to be married to Naomi, while having a parallel relation with Commodore Amiga.
My dream would be to be married to Naomi, while having a parallel relation with Commodore Amiga.
Xbox One (hell, just Xbox in general) is an awful name... but it's not even close to being as bad as Wii U. I've never seen any confusion whatsoever that it's the latest Xbox console... it's name is merely somewhat annoying when you wish to talk about the first Xbox console today (which most people are simply not doing at this point). As you say the Wii U was an attempt to rely on the (long faded) popularity of the Wii, but to most casual consumers... it wasn't even clear that it was the name of a new console, rather than a simply tablet accessory. There's honestly been nothing like it in the console space.
The closest there is to the Wii U stupidity would be DS to 3DS to 2DS to N3DS.
So? It doesn't need to be creative, it needs to be functional. Which this simply isn't. Sony came up with one functional name, which communicates what their console is and what it does. Their worst selling platform is the only one that didn't have a clear name. And it is not something unique to gaming. Apple came up with one creative name and then sticked numbers to it for instance.
The naming schemes simply weren't meant for people to understand twenty years after the release. And even then, functional naming schemes would still work better.
The difference is, the others save on that budget. Sony doesn't have to explain to you what a PlayStation 5 is. There will be no signs in stores saying 'PlayStation 5 games won't work on the PlayStation 4'.
cantona222
Member
All Sega console names are great. In my opinion, The only other good console name after 1999 is the Wii.
This is news to me too. I bought a Dreamcast at midnight, day one despite the incredibly stupid sounding name. This sentiment was quite common at the time if I recall, and I'd assumed it still was.
When I hear the name Dreamcast I think of airbrushed unicorns and fairies. It tries a little bit too hard to evoke an emotional response. Though I am a big fan of the system, the stupid sounding name was only topped when Nintendo got the idea that Wii would be a good moniker. Maybe in another 10 years people on Neogaf will be praising the genius of the name Wii.
Sega named consoles as if they were pure game systems. I know they didn't start numbering because they never felt satisfied, but I found it endearing not to just get the next numbered version of a system.
And it made sense at times. Those of you alive or gaming saw the Dreamcast being demoed and it really looked dreamlike. I'd still say to this day it's the oldest 3d centric console whose games in their original form hold up well enough not to distract most gamers from the content within.
And it made sense at times. Those of you alive or gaming saw the Dreamcast being demoed and it really looked dreamlike. I'd still say to this day it's the oldest 3d centric console whose games in their original form hold up well enough not to distract most gamers from the content within.
Earthpainting
Member
Aside from Dreamcast, I'm not sure if I like any of those very much. The rest sounds like they could be Nerf or Super Soaker models, but I guess it was the target audience of their marketing strategy.
That was kind of the appeal to me. It's a little poetic and inspired sounding.
joecanada
Member
I agree but I think the WiiU confusion could also be more based around who buys it, parents and others people who just don't know. The average xbox consumer I think would be a bit more serious, just know, or call it the new Xbox which is still a failure in naming.
Calling the third iteration of anything " one" is marketing 100, F on your final paper levels of bad
Many people all the used to call the name gay and feminine. That seemed at the time as silly an analysis as it does now. The DC was one of the biggest sudden jumps in fidelity we've seen.
Even kids today know that scene with Sonic running from the whale, and it wasn't even a bullshot.
I just wish we'd go back to the era of naming consoles differently so when I google search something related to gaming I don't have to be so damn specific. I actually recently just got into playing Metal Wolf Chaos on the original Xbox so I always had to type in "original Xbox" to find info.
The perception of the name Dreamcast has definitely changed over the years. It's was considered terrible when first revealed. I think it's legacy as the little console that could (or at least tried very hard to) has made everything else about it be looked back at fondly (other than the d-pad... I think we all still agree that was nasty).
The same is already happening with Wii tbh... and to be fair, Nintendo were vindicated on this one quite a while ago.
Yea, Xbox One is a bad name as well, no question. I think the Wii U situation though is less due to who buys it (in both cases this will often be a parent buying for the child, whilst a child or gamer will simply know the differences), and more to do with the fact that the new console provided something that could easily be mistaken as an add-on, and also still used Wii Remotes, and overall still looks]/i] like a Wii. The Xbox One doesn't really have anything that suggests it's anything other than a new console. So in a way, it's less the name itself, and more the context that the names were given that makes the Wii and DS lines worse. They're made to be too easily confused with the other devices that share their name.
PSX is the worst example.
That designated reference has changed like 3 times over the years.
All in One Entertainment System by Microsoft (tm)
JK I'd imagine they wanted it to sound eXtreme. These were the eXtreme sports days, especially in the west. Lots of XGames and X sports and X this and X that.
I like the name Genesis, but also thought having ours be the "Sega Drive" would have been cool. Then you'd have the reflection of Sega Drive / Mega Drive and Sega CD / Mega CD.
Zomba13
Member
That's their line but I don't buy it. But it is the official answer.
MrCunningham
Member
The Xbox was originally called the DirectX box internally at Microsoft while they were still developing the console. DirectX is a collection of Microsoft API's that work within Windows.
blame space
Banned
Playstation is a play on workstation