Service Games: Rise & Fall of Sega Enhanced Edition

[Aki-at]

Everything about the shirt is fine but I'm not sure I'd wear something that says "The Rise and Fall" it's like I'm associating myself with failure, heh. Otherwise a good shirt.

Semi-o.t.
Meanwhile, the fall of SEGA continues, at least from the point of view of R&D consumer, in fact today's news is that even Ryuta Ueda has left the dear old big S 

Coupled this with the news that Japanese video games has been the lowest since 1997, it's dark times for the industry over there. A shame really, it seems SEGA's Western output is the only thing that will keep them relevant at this rate.

[Deefy]

Coupled this with the news that Japanese video games has been the lowest since 1997, it's dark times for the industry over there. A shame really, it seems SEGA's Western output is the only thing that will keep them relevant at this rate.

Yes Sir, completely agree, the next Alien game is very promising and the various Western studios are up to the task but the Japan 

[George]

Frankly I'm surprised Cube got behind this project considering how you where very against me mentioning the discontinuing of the Dreamcast when we did our 'Dreamcast month' last September. I thought a title like 'The Rise and Fall of SEGA' would turn you off.

[Centrale]

Frankly I'm surprised Cube got behind this project considering how you where very against me mentioning the discounting of the Dreamcast when we did our 'Dreamcast month' last September. I thought a title like 'The Rise and Fall of SEGA' would turn you off.

Well... count me among those who don't like that subtitle either. Sega's had its ups and downs, no doubt, but they are survivors and have managed to make a lot of great games up to this day. It would seem to be more appropriate for a company that didn't make it. To kind of personify or view Sega in a dramatic way, I would have to say that they are ultimately triumphant, although of course have been changed tremendously over the course of time.

[cube_b3]

@ Saturn Memories: I do not understand your question.

@ Aki-At: Shit... I think I've known you for over 5 years and I have never seen you acknowledge things are  bad. You always came up with reasoning such as it takes longer to develop games now or something else.

Glad to see we are on the same page.

@ George: I think you are talking to me, you switched your tone from 3rd person to 1st person so I am a little confused. I will also assume you meant discontinued rather than discounted.

I don't remember the details of our conversations back in September but it does sound like something I would say.

Dreamcast has more support now than it has had in years.
> Their are new accessories being developed for it such as the SD-Card Reader.
> The devkits for the system are constantly being revised.
> Their has also been in a surge in development engines, with TDG releasing the 3DGE engine and an enhanced Quake 2 engine, soon to be available to the public. Pretty soon we will have indie games running on Quake 3 engine.
Most importantly we have more Dreamcast games now than we did in the last few years of SEGA support.

________________________

As far as Sega is concerned, it is a dynamic organization, dead or alive will never factor in, even Atari is still around. The book is concerned with the Rise and Fall of the home console manufacturer.

I personally wanted the book to stretch to the Sammy Merger/Exodus of talent.

I love the title of the book.

Though I have to agree with Aki-At that maybe Rise & Fall isn't necessary on the T-Shirt.
BTW if anyone is still interested in getting T-Shirts let me know.

[Saturn Memories]

If you ordered more softcovers, the cost per unit would've gone down, and if you had more to sell at around that $30 mark, you probably would've attracted more backers to your Kickstarter. What I fail to understand is why you offered five softcover copies at all. The cost of manufacturing a mere five copies would be significantly more than had you ordered a larger quantity.

[Aki-at]

Yes Sir, completely agree, the next Alien game is very promising and the various Western studios are up to the task but the Japan 

It's awful! Terrible, Japan's gaming industry is collapsing, the Playstation 4 is struggling and the 3DS nor Vita are pushing amazing numbers anymore. The developers have only themselves to blame, fragmenting it by supporting only one or two consoles and then being unable to get to grips with HD development and trying to make Westernized games which was never the answer. There's a lot of points to be made but perhaps it's best for another thread.

@ Aki-At: Shit... I think I've known you for over 5 years and I have never seen you acknowledge things are  bad. You always came up with reasoning such as it takes longer to develop games now or something else.

Glad to see we are on the same page.

SEGA were fine between 2008 - 2012, the amount of games released coupled with what they were releasing was great, I'd say 2012 was infact the best third party year they ever had in terms of game quality.

The problem is this is the trend in Japanese gaming;



Coupled this with two major new IPs for SEGA opening less than 20,000 and Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin struggling to meet its target I must face the reality in regards to the future of the Japanese video game market.

SEGA will survive in thanks to their smart acquisitions of popular Western IPs and Sonic the Hedgehog but I am wary in regards to heavy weights like Konami and Capcom. Dark times ahead for Japanese video game companies, I am hoping the indie revolutionary might help Japan out but I am still unsure if it can do anything at all...

[Centrale]

As far as Sega is concerned, it is a dynamic organization, dead or alive will never factor in, even Atari is still around. The book is concerned with the Rise and Fall of the home console manufacturer.

Atari isn't comparable to Sega at all. Atari exists only as a name that has been bought and sold numerous times now, currently owned by some dreadful French conglomerate. Sega has existed as its own company (group of companies, really) continuously, both before and after their forays into home consoles. Maybe if the subtitle mentioned the console aspect specifically it would sound better to me, but as it is it just seems a little insulting or at least misguided.

[Emmett The Crab]

Rise and Fall of SEGA Console would be better.

[Saturn Memories]

Personally, I'm fine with the name. The Sega of old is very much dead.

[Aki-at]

Atari isn't comparable to Sega at all. Atari exists only as a name that has been bought and sold numerous times now, currently owned by some dreadful French conglomerate. Sega has existed as its own company (group of companies, really) continuously, both before and after their forays into home consoles. Maybe if the subtitle mentioned the console aspect specifically it would sound better to me, but as it is it just seems a little insulting or at least misguided.

It gets too long winded if it was Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA Consoles but it paints a far too negative image with just The Rise and Fall.

I suppose it comes down to how much you enjoyed/disliked the direction SEGA took after exiting consoles and where they are now to where you stand in regards to the name of the book. I found 2012 to be a brilliant year and probably the best SEGA's been since moving third party (And they could even give some of their console years a run for their money) so fall is too harsh a word for me to like.

[cube_b3]

Needless to say I am not a fan of the current SEGA. So I love the title, back when I interviewed David for SEGAbits, forum members complained about the title and he wrote if you can suggest a better one I am willing to change the title.


Service Games is the biggest collaborative effort that SEGA fans have ever engaged in and it is unfortunate that many from SEGAbits missed their chance to participate in it.

The book is a mature look at SEGA and to date this is the most comprehensive look at the history of the company in print, if you can't get past then it really is your loss.

@ SM: I can't find what you are talking about.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1532433459/service-games-the-rise-and-fall-of-sega-hardcover

We only had a custom cover softback option and it only raised 150$ via 5 copies. This Kickstarter was basically funding the Audio Edition of the book and giving people like me who missed out another chance to buy the hardcover.

@ Aki-At: You are always good with statistics. I don't care too much for them. For 6 years now the only SEGA game that I've played are Sonic or Yakuza, with the exception of Binary Domain. I can't really think of anything and if I can't think of it while I make this post that is all that needs to be said about my Sega.

Funny enough I can think of so many unique Dreamcast games released over the past 6 years, anyone who has taken the time to pick up and play W&W loves it to death. R4 got some excellent press.

More recently GunLords started to blur the lines between indie and commercial games, while Sturmwind erased the line and now stands as one of the best games on Dreamcast/best sh'mups of all time.

Offcourse none of my statements can be statistically proven, but anyone who has picked up and played the games I've mentioned would agree with me.

I've missed our discussions .

[TimmiT]

Service Games is the biggest collaborative effort that SEGA fans have ever engaged in

No it's not. :V

[Saturn Memories]

Cube, that's because you guys only offered five copies. Once they were filled, that was it. No one else could order more. Believe me, I was about to order, but it said "ALL GONE." Next option was $80 for a hardcover. I decided that was too expensive and walked away.

[George]

You think this book is the greatest thing SEGA fans have ever engaged in and that we should feel bad for not covering? You know what I feel bad for? I feel bad that the author doesn't have the time enough to address issues being brought up in his book. I think its a insult to fans, he isn't some big time published author and you need to stop overhyping the project. I read the preview and there already a ton of mistakes, if this is the best 'SEGA fans' can come up with, you are insulting all of us.