I wanted to do this blog for a while. Now I have some time I now going to do it. Sega was once a powerhouse in the video game industry. Now the things they are known for now is making Sonic and Yakuza games. I really wish that Sega would be making consoles today. The industry will be better for it. How would I save Sega? Well with the knowledge for all the mistakes that cause their downfall and if I had a time machine, I would travel back to the year 1991 to Sega headquarters. Then I tell what will become of them in the future. Finally, I tell them my solutions to save them from their fate. The reason that I choose to go back to 1991 is because the Saturn came out in Japan in 1994 and 1995 elsewhere. This time period will give Sega plenty of time to fix the issues that they will take on in the future. I will be focusing mainly on the Saturn era which that the era which their downfall was in.
Stop the infighting!
The first thing that must be done is to stop the fighting between Sega of America and Sega of Japan. For a business to be successful, it must run like a well oil machine. All the parts must run in unison. This didn’t happen for Sega. Everyone must work for the greater good was the company itself.
32x
As i said earlier the Saturn era was Sega’s downfall. Yet their downfall really started when the 32x was release. The 32x was Sega’s answer to the ill-fated Atari Jaguar. Also this was Sega of America’s cheaper was to enter the 32-bit market. Most people didn’t want to buy this thing because they knew that the Saturn was about a year away. It didn’t make sense to have two 32 bit machines in the market at the same time. It also didn’t help that you had to own a genesis to use the add on. Because of it people was starting tno use faith in the Sega brand.
I would tell Sega to never release this piece of crap. They would save money by not making this thing. With all the time wasted on the time and resource making the games for the 32x, they would be making games for the upcoming Saturn. Well speaking of useless systems, Sega had plenty of them. They had the Pico, mega jet, cdx and nomad. Like the 32x I will tell them to never release these systems as well.
Keep the original launch dates
The surprise early launch of the Saturn that was announced at the very first E3 was simply put a of the dumbest move in the history of the industry. Because of this move many retailers didn’t get any Saturn’s. Even the few lucky retailers that got Saturns only got a limited supply. Of course this means that many Sega fans couldn’t find and buy one. The developers didn’t know about this move as well. A lot of the games of the Saturn got delayed, cancelled, or move to the PlayStation. I will tell Sega to keep the original launch dates. With the changes to the hardware, price, and software, I believe that the Saturn would have gone toe to toe with the new kid on the block, Sony.
$299
What else happened at the very first E3 at hurt the Saturn? Sony’s Steve Race walked up and spoke. $299. The ps1 was going to be a $100 cheaper than the Saturn. After that Sega should have immediately announced that the Saturn would now be $299 as well. Even if lose money with each Saturn sold, I make sure that Sega will sell the system at $299.
Hardware
At this part I must admit that I am not a tech wiz but I will do my best. One of the many reason that the Saturn fail because of the lack of games. Why the lack? The Saturn so damn hard to program for. The main reason for that there was many so many chips in the system. Mainly the two CPUs. Most programmers couldn’t get the two CPUs to work together. Especially those out of Sega. I tell Sega to get rid of one of them. Also they need to get rid of the VRAM2 chip as well. The VRAM one chip get do the work of the second one as well. Plus they need to get a couple of more chips out. This move would cut the manufacturing cost. This will make the Saturn sell at $299 instead of $399. This move could make the console more powerful as well.
Another reason that the Saturn was hard to program was that it uses the assembly language. Most programmers move to the C language. I will tell Sega to use the C language. I would tell Sega to the system backwards compatible. No one else was going it at the time. This will give the Saturn a big edge. Genesis owners can easily move on to the Saturn. I would one change the cartridge slot that you put the 4MB memory cartridge in so it would accept genesis games or second make an adapter that players can put in the cartridge slot and then put their genesis games into.
These next wo parts are I am not sure about, but I will mention them. Instead of the 4MB memory cartridge I would tell them to put the 4MB memory into the console. With those extra chips remove, this can be done. Yet if this raises the Manufactuing cost then we won’t do it. I want the system to be $299. I don’t know if it could be done at the time but I would want the Saturn to play Sega CD games. I don’t want the Sega CD owners to feel screwed that they bought an expensive $399 add on. Again if this will raise the Manufactuing cost, then don’t do it. For the controller itself we will keep it. Later on we will have a pro like controller with two joysticks and grips like with the ps1.
Games
Now for the most important part the games themselves. Let’s start with the most important game that needs to come out is a Sonic game. Even to this day I still can’t believe that there was never a Sonic game for the Saturn. It’s like if Nintendo never make a Mario and a Zelda game for their systems. The new Sonic game will be pack in with the Saturn. This plan worked with the genesis so I believe it with work with the Saturn as well. Since the ps1 didn’t have a pack in game, this will give the Saturn a leg up on Sony.
For another games that will come in the first month for launch, Sega will have eternal champions 2 ready to go. The game will be for adults. This fighting will be appearing more towards American gamers than virtua fighter. An NFL game and Daytona USA will also be in the first month. Panzer Dragoon and virtua cop will come for the second month. For month three, they will be an NBA game, Capcom will have X men vs street fighter ready, and an all-new streets of rage.
Speaking of streets of rage, with the 32x never coming to the market, all of Sega’s teams can focus on bringing back and making all new versions of their IPs to the Saturn. I tell them to make sequels and/or new versions of Toe jam and Earl, Golden axe, Vectorman, Comix zone, Ristar, Shinobi, Beyond oasis, Ecco the dolphin, and Phantasy star. Other classic Saturn games like Bug, Clockwork knight, and Knights into dreams will come down to road.
As for third parties, first instead of the 32x, Doom will come to the Saturn. I get Sega to talk with Konami in order to bring Metal gear solid. With my improve Saturn, Capcom should have no issues getting Resident evil 2 to run on the system. Back then the president of Sega of America thought that Japanese RPGs wasn’t going to be popular in American. He was wrong I get Sega to bring as many RPGs to the system. The most important RPG of all most be on the console. That is Final Fantasy 7. Sega must make a deal with Square Enix (Square Soft back then) in order to bring the mega hit game to the Saturn.
With all of this moves, would they beat Sony. Maybe not. The main goal is thrived and setting up a strong financial future so that Sega will be around of many years to come.