http://www.sega-16.com/Interview- Tom Kalinske.htm
Interesting read.
Sega/Sony working together? N64 SGI Chipset created with Sega?
Interesting read.
Sega/Sony working together? N64 SGI Chipset created with Sega?
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Tom Kalinske Interview
- Thread starter Spike
- Start date
MightyHedgehog
Member
Great little interview. Thanks for the linkage. Heh, I remember being at E3 '96 and being in the Sega booth when Kalinske was doing a video/press dealie in the center of it and you could tell he was unhappy (about the whole surprise May Saturn launch) just looking at his face after he left to go up to the offices on the floor. I asked him if I could have a free Saturn as he was walking with his group of assistants and such. He kinda smiled and walked off.
TheJesusFactor
Member
Wow, that was a great interview, definitely brought more insight to the SOA and SOJ Rivalry. Pretty shocked about Sony and SGI.
I remember we had a document that Olaf and Mickey took to Sony that said they'd like to develop jointly the next hardware the next game platform, with Sega, and here's what we think it ought to do. Sony apparently gave the green light to that. I took it to Sega of Japan and told them that this was what we thought an ideal platform would be at least from an U.S. perspective based on what we've learned from the Sega CD, and our involvement with Sony and our own people. Sega said not a chance.
How different the industry would have been.
How different the industry would have been.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
interesting.
ichigo kurosaki
Member
Thanks for posting. I love reading this stuff.
Not wanting to try and suggest that I know more than Tom Kalinske, because I most certainly don't, but I think his view of the Nintendo/Sony SNES CD situation looks like the usual "Nintendo dumped Sony and now they're sorry" myth.
The SNES CD stuff began even before the American launch of the SNES. Sony's work with Sega on the Sega CD was one shot in that war. It didn't predate Sony's offer to/dumping by Nintendo.
Had Sega joined up with Sony, Sony would've likely ripped them to shreds and ate them for breakfast.
Who would get the money in that partnership? "We'll each be responsible for the software sales we'll generate"? And he thinks Sega would've had the advantage there? He must've stopped watching the news after he left Sega (or maybe he thinks he might've made a difference). Sony stomped them as an enemy the same way they would've as an ally (except that as a partner, Sega would've been able to keep 50% of the hardware ... losses).
The SNES CD stuff began even before the American launch of the SNES. Sony's work with Sega on the Sega CD was one shot in that war. It didn't predate Sony's offer to/dumping by Nintendo.
Had Sega joined up with Sony, Sony would've likely ripped them to shreds and ate them for breakfast.
Who would get the money in that partnership? "We'll each be responsible for the software sales we'll generate"? And he thinks Sega would've had the advantage there? He must've stopped watching the news after he left Sega (or maybe he thinks he might've made a difference). Sony stomped them as an enemy the same way they would've as an ally (except that as a partner, Sega would've been able to keep 50% of the hardware ... losses).
soundwave05
Member
Yeah, I agree, the Sony-Nintendo deal was a bad deal for Nintendo, and Nintendo was right to back out of it.
However, they should have stuck with Philips and added a CD drive to the N64 as a compromise with their third party supporters, specifically Squaresoft. Hell, they should've just bought a larger share in Squaresoft in 1995-ish to ensure their allegiance. Hell, Enix as well.
Had they done that, really it wouldn't have mattered what Sega or Sony did.
However, they should have stuck with Philips and added a CD drive to the N64 as a compromise with their third party supporters, specifically Squaresoft. Hell, they should've just bought a larger share in Squaresoft in 1995-ish to ensure their allegiance. Hell, Enix as well.
Had they done that, really it wouldn't have mattered what Sega or Sony did.
As for the SGI chip, it would've really beefed up the Saturn, and it's cool to think about an N64/Saturn fusion, but it wouldn't really have been the Reality Engine without Shiggy and Mario 64. They were a perfect match for each other.
And Nintendo's cycle from seeing the chip to launching the N64 was a year behind Sega's cycle of seeing the chip and launching the Saturn. So the chip was more affordable for Nintendo.
I'm sure SOA would've liked to delay for a year, let the Genesis run longer, and launched with a Super Saturn, but SOJ apparently would've liked to have skipped the 32X and launched a year early with a Saturn Lite. Both seem like good ideas, but doing neither of them seems to be natural for Sega.
And Nintendo's cycle from seeing the chip to launching the N64 was a year behind Sega's cycle of seeing the chip and launching the Saturn. So the chip was more affordable for Nintendo.
I'm sure SOA would've liked to delay for a year, let the Genesis run longer, and launched with a Super Saturn, but SOJ apparently would've liked to have skipped the 32X and launched a year early with a Saturn Lite. Both seem like good ideas, but doing neither of them seems to be natural for Sega.
Pudding Tame
Member
-Eddman- said:So according to the info about how Sega needed some strong american people to succeed, is Reggie Nintendo's Kalinske?They're in a similar situation right now (huge marketshare issues in America) and well, he's the new president of NOA, with power and stuff :lol
The Reggie = Kalinske analogy doesn't fit as NOJ is run by people that have buisness sense.
Kalinske made the Genesis a profitable machine and captured 50% of the market in one generation, and for his troubles was constantly shit on by SOJ.
A more fitting analogy would be Kalinske as a Govenor of one the few non welfare states of Segaland, having to deal with an executive branch and congress that enjoyed wasting money on bridges to nowhere while playing Russian Roulette.
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
ruby_onix said:
You're wrong though, Sega would've ate them for breakfast not the other way around. He's right. Even for many years during the PS1's life Sony's first party software was not the leading force behind the platform, it was mostly third party, the royalties of which Sega and Sony would profit from equally. What Kalinske is saying is that Sega had the software advantage(with IP, software studios and otherwise) and therefore they would pull ahead in profits from their superior first party sales, as everything else would be financially equal between the companies, he's right on the money on that.
MightyHedgehog
Member
I'm surprised how Kalinske never mentioned Al Nilsen, as he was instrumental in Sega's early marketing kick-ass-ery.
Wulfer
Member
More people should read this thread and more importantly the information in it... A lot of readers follow Japanese software and swear by their games yet for some reason US and even European games are doing better numbers collectively and a lot of people ask why. Well, read these articles and learn the true evil of the videogame industry. Arrogance, Pride, egotism...
Barry Lightning
Banned
brilliant!
FitzOfRage
Member
ruby_onix said:
Well he even admits that their lead would have probably diminished once Sony got over the learning curve. And regardless of any partnership, Sony clearly did have a learning curve to get over. Their own offerings were pretty weak for years.
Remember you have to go back to the early 90s. There's no question Sega was far ahead of them.
Obviously it's nothing like today, where it would be completely ridiculous for Sega to think they could #1 take 50% of the lossses for Sony's console, and #2 actually keep up with Sony in terms of software.
But if you're comparing Sony Imagesoft at the time to Sega at the time, there's no doubt Sega had the software advantage. Sony's big guns were Hook and Jeopardy.
And when the alternative is 100% of the hardware losses, that could have been a good deal for Sega.