The “revolutionary” SEGA news teased by Japanese tech journalist Zenji Nishikawa has arrived, and despite some speculation it is NOT the Game Gear Micro. As reported by Gematsu, Famitsu magazine’s reveal is that SEGA research and development is working on “Fog Gaming”, a possible new platform to be utilized by Japanese arcades. The concept could totally change how SEGA approaches and operates arcades, arcades being a strong focus for SEGA in their home country.
Fog Gaming promises ultra low latency arcade games operating on a cloud-like service. Fog Gaming would channel an arcade machines’ CPUs and GPUs which would result in lower costs. Players would also be able to play arcade games from home, presumably after hours so as to not cut into arcade business hours. Twitter user @Doorkez says “the difference between Cloud and fog: The main difference between fog computing and cloud computing is that cloud is a centralized system, while the fog is a distributed decentralized infrastructure. Fog computing is a mediator between hardware and remote servers”
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They are reasearching a mechanic which would combine cloud technology/fog computint and arcade machines, so an arcade machine gets less expensive and all the computint is done elsewhere. The arcade machine basically becomes just a monitor with controls.
This also means they could make a cheap console without alot of hardware in it, which could play arcade games from your home on your tv.
Why is that big? Because Sega is still in the arcade business with partners with games released regularly (games you don’t oftenly see on consoles), some speculate this could be their ticket back into the home console arena in some fashion in a niche market and a different offering then all the other competitors.
So that was the big revolutionary news…
wow sega, once again i’m expecting more than i thought…
to be honest, this is cool but i was expecting other stuff…
Bruh moment…So disappointing
Well this is better than the fake Xbox news at least.
You have to go on the 60th.Sega.com site and read the interview between CEO and Sega Shiro to understand this, I think it is more setting up a catalyst for what is to eventually come but they are testing the waters in other ways, here is a snippet…
We have
to become a more “naughty” company
Speaking of strengths, what is Sega’s greatest strength that Satomi thinks?
That is another one.
It is a culture that “takes seriously what seems to be silly at first glance.”
Sega Shiro:
It’s a sick answer…
Satomi:
Of course, I work hard every day, but I want to keep that spirit. We believe that this will create innovation that will surprise the world.
Sega Shiro:
It’s a very sick answer…
Satomi:
I think Sega has to become a more “naughty” company.
Sega Shiro:
Is it “naughty”…?
Sega Shiro:
As I said earlier, fans are expecting SEGA to be “seriously working on grand things that seem silly at first glance.” The reason why that part is weaker than before is that everyone, including the management team, is not behaving in a “naughty” manner. Maybe it’s a small collection. From now on, I will demonstrate more “disorder”.
By the way, I also like the “naughty” SEGA.
We want to keep saying the world over. I think it is the right time to bring together the strengths of the group. In today’s world of dramatic changes, we discover what is needed and create entertainment that exceeds expectations. And deliver a moving experience to the world. With the 60th anniversary as a turning point, I want to create a future as a new SEGA. So it really isn’t the case when they’re all small. I’m going to push forward with “Nancha ni”.
Oh… As a fan, I am happy to hear your powerful words! I will try my best not to be too small! ! !
Finally, there is an announcement to Sega Shiro-kun and everyone who is watching this interview, with the connection of “small gathering”.
? ? ?
This is a small one.
The game gear is small and organized! ! !
Game Gear Micro will be on sale.
e! ? with this timing?
Yes.
Is it gasse?
It is SEGA. (It’s true.)
The way to make a presentation is naughty…
Heh this is why I love Sega, this is Sega basically trolling us with the Game Gear micro and who knows what else eventually, it’s Sega being Sega basically, this is what they do.
Nobody ever saw this coming for miles, it would take somebody like Sega to be this unpredictable and brave enough to bring out a Game Gear micro on top of their other big moves not announced yet.
Sega can’t afford to be “naughty”. I get they are focused on Japan, but what about the US and rest of the world who still support them in this madness? Look at their 60th Anniversary website in Japanese, then compare it to the English version. Look at all the extra stuff. Segata’s son even has his own page for crying out loud! There’s cool merchandise too! Also their timeline skips over a lot of important stuff from Sega’s history, but maybe that’s just what they remember. You know what the best way to celebrate Sega’s anniversary is? Play their games and read books about their history. It’s so much better than this and those books had love and effort put into them researching Sega’s glorious past. If Sega doesn’t care about being successful in the current year when they promise us otherwise, why bother? I always hear almost every year if not every five years that Sega is making a huge comeback. But it always dies out and everyone forgets about it. It’s like the Sonic cycle. I’m not miffed about the rumors being wrong, I’m more upset with Sega not doing much, let alone for anyone outside Japan. Look at the sweet extra stuff the Mega Drive Mini got in Japan with the mini add ons, even though they weren’t functional. Look at the cool fake mini game carts. Sorry I’m ranting, but this was supposed to be a big deal, no matter how many people tell me it’s not meant for me. Fog gaming is fine I guess, but it’s only Japan. Sega of Japan only cares about Sega of Japan. Don’t get me wrong, they make good games. (Just not Sonic) Why not allow the rest of the world access to cloud arcades for a modest price? Or at least add them to Sega Ages on Switch, and while we are at it, BRING SEGA AGES TO OTHER PLATFORMS!
Well America has mostly nearly always been Sega’s weakest performing market, it’s not about caring less, it’s about business, they can’t afford to invest where there is less demand. Aside from Sonic and Yakuza, Sega is pretty invicible in America compared to the Eurasian territories.
Sega Europe was like the golden descendant and closer linked to Sega Japan but Sega America was like the black sheep of the family and did a lot of dumb things that ruined Sega as a whole there. But Sega’s core of core territory is in Asia, so why would it not make sense most of their focus is prioritised there first before outsourcing elsewhere?
This kind of thing makes good business sense. Less hardware costs, I guess.
Also what Senjav was saying earlier, this could be quite a genius move for Sega, especially in these times with the Chinese Covid-19 thing which has meant Sega has had to keep their amusement and game centres closed, but this new Fog technology could be Sega’s way to not only work around it and sustain endless profit incomes even outside normal opening business hours, but provide a ticket back to home hardware market in some way, which in the end remember, was never Sega’s core native market, the arcade sector was and the only reason they got in home consoles was because of the threat that Nintendo could eventually find a way into the arcade sector after they expanded in the home hardware sector, so it was more a defence marketing tactic there.
Microsoft later did the same thing with coming into home hardware as well to challenge Sony because they saw they were getting big there by 1998 and thought that they could eventually move into their territory with PCs eventually after they became big enough in the home console hardware market.
*Nintendo’s native market territory was not home consoles either, theirs was portable and the handheld market, hence their 80s Game & Watch series is what they did before the Famicom and N.E.S. and they have always relied on handhelds in the background like SEGA did with their arcade businesses in the background while doing home console hardware.
Nintendo got involved in home hardware market because Atari (the Yank company) was a big fan of taxing to the hilt as the Vanguard in America specifically, and originally they were going to handle Nintendo’s Famicom in America by rebounding it the Atari Famicom, but then the crash happened later that year in 1983 because Atari did not utilise a proper seal of quality standard when outsourcing their licenses to third parties and America as a whole crashed their segment of the industry, so Nintendo had to later come in by the mid 80s and rebrand their system as the N.E.S. – to advertise it as an entertainment device, because that was how bad the American Yankee perception of videogames were then, and they had to redesign the shell case to look more like a VCR player than a conventional videogame console like the Famicom and Sega Master System/ SG-1000 series.
imo this sounds pretty interesting
From what i’m reading its similar to stadia’s concept but less about a central computer infrastructure, but about separate computers across different servers
so maybe other developers could use their servers or services to power their games?
It could be interesting where this leads to, especially with e-sports and the like
what do you think friends?
uhm….how is this even remotely on the same level as the ps5 reveal? At least the ps5 reveal is applicable to the international community….this is maaaaybe on level with a new game reveal for the switch…oh, and the gamegear micro is way overpriced for a gadget with a smartwatch size screen and only 4 games on it…..big meh Sega
Ummm…This sucks!! Wheres the Saturn mini ???
Wake me up when Sega reveal something worth getting excited by.
I recommend following the interview between CEO Haruki Satomi and Sega Shiro ~ https://60th.sega.com/segashiro/interview01.html – if you want more understanding, it’s on the 60th.Sega.com site.
This is where Sega’s main focus is.
All these other western media outlets (American and Canadian mostly) were chasing 4th handed stories based on rumours which grew out of the words of the Famitsu scoop reporter and it gradually snowballed into social media and then western presenters such as RTG85 and ArcadeUSA etc, with the rumour mill spinning faster by the day.
Unfortunately it just goes to show once again how people are just too easily controlled by media. Sega had nothing to do with that, the Famitsu scoop reporter didn’t either, but I can see how the words could lead alternative media down that route and then people get excited about the possibilities and just run with it.
It really helps to understand how media works, especially in an international context like this, and particularly, a post social media age, to avoid future confusion. Saying that though, if you read the interview, it is made aware people would like to see other hard projects such as Saturn revived eventually and why focus is on this for now.
Wait, didn’t Sega say they were gonna announce something Sonic related by the 23rd?
Wait? No, not wait. Lame fashion of word use by da libtard SJW types that speak like that.
There will be an announcement for Jun 14th to do with Sega on Xbox One X according to the earlier report before the 60th anniversary was announced for the 3rd of June.
Sega said they have plans for Sonic that have been clandestine for some time and are looking forward to revealing them but it
Maybe it’ll be that console first for a bunch of Sega games, then ports to PS4 and Switch afterwards? Switch is more of a kids console and Sonic is generally geared towards kids. They know a lot of kids who like Sonic own Nintendo Switches. They will never pick XBOX over Nintendo, especially since not as many gamers in Japan own an XBOX. But they will release Sonic on all platforms no matter what. Now other Sega IPs like PSO 2, Yakuza, Bayonetta, Persona, ect. will always release on more powerful systems first, then on Nintendo Switch which always ends up being a slightly watered down port. Not being a console fanboy for any of them since I don’t own any of current gen systems, just giving my 2 cents based on what I’ve been seeing the last few years.