A correction of A history of Video Games

[Matlock]

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I just read Toad85's shroom section
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: it has some inaccuracies
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The NEC dominated Japan when the Mega Drive was released
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega did care about PAL a lot which is why the Master System survived a lot longer there then in America
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The Mega Drive was a flop in Japan running a distant 3rd behind the NEC and NES (and latter the SNES)
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: SMW sold more copies then Sonic the Hedgehog
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: No mention of things like blast processing
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Additionally, as a result of increased Genesis sales, Sega was selling more software than ever before.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: of course it was they were selling more systems
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: which makes that statement redundant
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The NES wasn't discontinued until around 1995
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: so clearly people weren't that tired of it
<bulbasaur>: wow i didnt know you were such a history buff
<bulbasaur>: this is exciting
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic was harder than any released Mario game at that time (unless you’re one of the unlucky Japanese players who got Lost Levels), and Sega planned to play it up.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: what the fuck does that mean
<bulbasaur>: you know all this
<bulbasaur>: stuff
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yeah
<bulbasaur>: i didnt kow any of this
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I spend a lot of time looking up video games and shit
<bulbasaur>: so do you also know a lot about the history of shit :?
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>:
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega’s share in the market shot up to a record high of 55%, and Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yeah and it only took them what 3 years to beat out the tired old NES that nobody wanted
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also of course it was a record the Master System was getting it's ass kicked
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control, making their own console, or not giving a crap about the console market
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yes but by the time of Sonic the Hedgehog that was no longer the case
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also how many companies made there own consoles that are notable
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Atari doesn't count because they weren't a third party
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: So all I can think of is hudson
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Which third parties didn't care about the home console marke
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: t
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: How many companies developed games exclusively for the game boy...
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I believe the real reason they chose Genesis was because Mega Drive sounded stupid (either that or it was a trademark problem)
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Wait no I was wrong he did note blast processing
<Peko_Perchiyama>: "The reason for the two names is that Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in North America."
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Is that from his section or something else
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also the ad budget thing is totally misleading
<bulbasaur>: wait
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: the reason they didn't run that many ads is because the Master System was being dominated
<bulbasaur>: what does the name genesis have to do with christians?
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: book of genesis
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: nstead of using well-trusted third-party brand names like “Mega Man” or “Castlevania”, Sega relied on the purchasing power of celebrities from King of Pop Michael Jackson to Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: those two statements contradict each other
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because he's saying that most were under Nintendo's control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: but that Sega could use Mega Man and Castlevania
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: two popular games on the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: from companies that weren't going to leave Nintendo
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Second, Sega had an awry advertising budget. Aside from being pitifully small, what few ads did run only said “Brings the arcade experience home!” Which, of course, only spoke to those gamers that still played arcade games,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: >Implying that Arcades weren't still really popular in 1989-1990
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Kratz devised a strategy to not only get more orders for the Genesis, but also drive down Nintendo’s sales. The advertising budget skyrocketed, and Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) were proudly splashed across magazines and television screens. Ads proclaimed the glory of “blast processing”, and claimed that the Genesis "did what Nintendidn’t".
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: isn't first of all it's nintendon't
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: second of all you mean he marketed it
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: my god what are the odds
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega is looking for another shot to take down Nintendo.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: That implies that Sega was only concerned with beating Nintendo
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: when in fact they were concerned with selling a lot of systems
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic the Hedehog was out first
*** Packy is now known as Packymon_White_2
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also there were more Genesis's then SNES's primarily because they had a head start
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: it also implies that Mario stopped being that popular
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: when Nintendo used SMW as the pack in game for the SNES
<Peko_Perchiyama>: shoey you
<Peko_Perchiyama>: take this really seriously don't you
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I don't like people being mislead
<Packymon_White_2>: late but
<Packymon_White_2>: HI PERCH
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also if somebody wins section of the month for a section that teaches people they better have there facts straight
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic the Hedgehog was released officially on June 23, 1991, to mild success. However, Sega needed a bigger dent in the video game market to compete with the NES, and Sonic alone wasn’t cutting it.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: This goes against his own statements
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: first he said that people were tired of the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: but this statement says that the NES was still popular
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: even more popular then the Mega Drive
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: and he later says that Sonic was needed to sell mega drives in Japan
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: so which is it was it a big success that was the only reason the Mega Drive was succeeding or was it a mild success that wasn't getting the job done
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”, pack-in game Altered Beast, and new President of Sega of America Michael Kratz. However, when the Genesis hit American shores
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: back to this statment Kratz wouldn't become president of Sega of America until 1990
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: which is after the system was released in America
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And another thing
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Kratz devised a strategy to not only get more orders for the Genesis, but also drive down Nintendo’s sales. The advertising budget skyrocketed, and Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) were proudly splashed across magazines and television screens. Ads proclaimed the glory of “blast processing”, and claimed that the Genesis "did what Nintendidn’t".
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Blast Processing didn't come around until after the SNES was relased
<Packymon_White_2>: wow shoey
<Packymon_White_2>: you know your stuff
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also the fucking ad with blast processing features a sonic the hedgehog game
<Packymon_White_2>: srs, i had no idea
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) I remember when the Angry Video game nerd did that joke
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also the ads that talked about doing what Nintendo didn't were directed towards the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: and were based on console superiority
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: But not even crazy commercials could bring up sales, and Nakayama’s dream of “Hyaku Mankai!” was fading fast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: That's why Sega stopped doing weird commercials right guys
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because they didn't work
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: What Sega was missing quickly came to light: a true mascot. Okay, there was Alex Kidd, and sure, there was Altered Beast, but Sega didn’t really have a singular character to rally behind. Meanwhile, their main competition each had their own cartoon character that brought in the big bucks: Nintendo had Mario, and Hudson had Bonk.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Hudson had more then Bonk they also had Bomberman
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With fast gameplay, tight jumps, and rigorous platforming, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the fastest-paced games of its time.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he already said the game was fast so of course it was one of the fastest games of all time
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also tight jumps in a platformer no fucking way
<charmander>: who is bonk
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: He was a caveman
<charmander>: I know bomberman, but not bonk
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he starred in his own game series that was popular in the late 80's and early 90's
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: He was the mascot of the Turbo Graphx
<charmander>: ok
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also wouldn't tight jumps require a lot of timing and patience
<bulbasaur>: i think he means the controls are tight
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he should have said that
<bulbasaur>: ok
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: rigorous platforming what the fuck does that mean does it mean it's hard?
<charmander>: was the hudson bee ever in a game, apart from that bad one about the secret castle?
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yeah
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: it makes an appearance in a lot of earlier hudson games
<charmander>: hooray!
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Such as Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The hedgehog was designed with Michael Jackson’s rebellious style and Bill Clinton’s assertiveness
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: what
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bill Clinton has nothing to do with this
<Packymon_White_2>: bill clinton is my idol
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also Bill Clinton wasn't president when Sonic the Hedgehog came out
<bulbasaur>: what lol
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Mario was old news. 80’s stuff. Boredom in 8-bit form.
<bulbasaur>: sonic is michael jackson and bill clinton??
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Mario wasn't popular right guys
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: right>
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: ?
<charmander>: uh
<charmander>: sonic is based on michael jackson what
<charmander>: really
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also he once again implies that the NES wasn't popular
<charmander>: why doesnt he ever dance then
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: But when Sega tested the game in the States, they got a little feedback that wasn’t so positive. The most easily seen issue was the artwork
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Artwork totally matters in a game
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic was a monkey-fighting hedgehog. I doubt anyone in America at the time had ever even heard of one.
<bulbasaur>: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Studios guys randomyoshi makes computer games
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Hedgehog's don't exist in America right guys
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: opps I made a mistake
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Katz was fired in mid 1990
<Peko_Perchiyama>: edo did you never hear the Sonic 3 Miniboss theme
<charmander>: probably not
<charmander>: is it based on a jackson song?
<Peko_Perchiyama>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBTAGVnfXAw
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And here’s where Tom Kalinske came in. Formerly head of Mattel, Kalinske had recently saved the Barbie toy line almost single-handedly. He was hired as President of Sega of America in 1990, and he wanted a say in Sonic. Much like the North in the American Civil War, Kalinske utilized a three-part plan to push Sega, and particularly the new Sonic franchise, in
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also he had 4 points in his plan not 3
*** Anton{Foodtoed} is now known as Anton{Politoed}
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega was going to lower the price of the Genesis from US$199 to US$149. This way, Sega could reach some of their more stingy customers, as well as undercut Nintendo’s prices.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Peko_Perchiyama>: are you just going to write your own section
<Peko_Perchiyama>: A Corrected History Of Video Games
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I thought about making a thread
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: 2 – Move the development for future Sonic sequels to North America. Since Sega was primarily targeting the States, Kalinske thought it best to have the company’s flagship series developed by people who knew what American tastes were like.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: not really what he actually wanted was
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: ; create a US-based team to develop games targeted at the American market
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bundle the Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog instead of Altered Beast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he missed part 4 which was more aggressive ads
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And boy did it work. Sega’s share in the market shot up to a record high of 55%
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: actually it was 60%

 

[Toad85]

EDIT: Now that I'm on a laptop, time to get writing.

I'll be the first person to admit I'm wrong. I'll just kind of explain those mistakes.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The NEC dominated Japan when the Mega Drive was released

Did some more research, turns out you're totally right. Thanks.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega did care about PAL a lot which is why the Master System survived a lot longer there then in America

I guess "didn't care" was the wrong wording. Maybe "wasn't their main focus" would have been better.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The Mega Drive was a flop in Japan running a distant 3rd behind the NEC and NES (and latter the SNES)

Of the 39 million Genesi sold, 4.3 were from Japan. That may be a bit of a lag compared to the huge successes Turbografx16 and Nintendo, but that's still a lot of systems nonetheless.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: SMW sold more copies then Sonic the Hedgehog

When did I say anything to the contrary?

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: No mention of things like blast processing

Well, "blast processing" as an actual term doesn't exist. It was a superlative to describe how the Genesis worked; devs said that, when compared to the NES and SNES lock-in-lock-out chips and various connectors, Genesis games "blasted" right into the console at a much higher speed. I'm an amateur historian, not an engineer, and so I thought it was OK to pass up.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Additionally, as a result of increased Genesis sales, Sega was selling more software than ever before.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: of course it was they were selling more systems
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: which makes that statement redundant

Eh. :\

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The NES wasn't discontinued until around 1995
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: so clearly people weren't that tired of it

You have a point.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic was harder than any released Mario game at that time (unless you’re one of the unlucky Japanese players who got Lost Levels), and Sega planned to play it up.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: what the fuck does that mean

Exactly what it says on the tin. Sega tried to emphasize the fact that Sonic was much harder (or was supposed to be, at least, it's subjective) than the original SMB trilogy.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega’s share in the market shot up to a record high of 55%, and Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yeah and it only took them what 3 years to beat out the tired old NES that nobody wanted
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also of course it was a record the Master System was getting it's ass kicked

A record is a record, no matter how long it took to get there.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control, making their own console, or not giving a crap about the console market
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Yes but by the time of Sonic the Hedgehog that was no longer the case

I kind of wrote that sentence as taking place in 1990 or so. Sonic hadn't come out yet.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also how many companies made there own consoles that are notable
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Atari doesn't count because they weren't a third party
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: So all I can think of is hudson

I was referring to Atari and Hudson as being really the only

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Which third parties didn't care about the home console marke
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: t

Companies that focused on arcade and portable games?

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I believe the real reason they chose Genesis was because Mega Drive sounded stupid (either that or it was a trademark problem)

It was kind of both. "Mega Drive", was copyrighted in North America. And since most of America is Christian, Sega got the bright idea to rename it after something biblical. Don't ask me, I wasn't on Sega's marketing team in the 90's.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also the ad budget thing is totally misleading
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: the reason they didn't run that many ads is because the Master System was being dominated

Well, I said that they increased the advertising budget to stop being dominated.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: nstead of using well-trusted third-party brand names like “Mega Man” or “Castlevania”, Sega relied on the purchasing power of celebrities from King of Pop Michael Jackson to Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: those two statements contradict each other
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because he's saying that most were under Nintendo's control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: but that Sega could use Mega Man and Castlevania
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: two popular games on the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: from companies that weren't going to leave Nintendo

Bullshit. I mentioned in a previous article that Nintendo forbade any third-party developer making NES games to produce games for a rival's system. Castlevania and Mega Man couldn't be put on Genesis because they weren't allowed to be. This rule only fell by the wayside when the NES finally was laid to rest in the mid-Nineties.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Second, Sega had an awry advertising budget. Aside from being pitifully small, what few ads did run only said “Brings the arcade experience home!” Which, of course, only spoke to those gamers that still played arcade games,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: >Implying that Arcades weren't still really popular in 1989-1990

You've got me there, sorry.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Kratz devised a strategy to not only get more orders for the Genesis, but also drive down Nintendo’s sales. The advertising budget skyrocketed, and Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) were proudly splashed across magazines and television screens. Ads proclaimed the glory of “blast processing”, and claimed that the Genesis "did what Nintendidn’t".
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: isn't first of all it's nintendon't
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: second of all you mean he marketed it
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: my god what are the odds
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega is looking for another shot to take down Nintendo.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: That implies that Sega was only concerned with beating Nintendo
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: when in fact they were concerned with selling a lot of systems

Well, I was speaking in the past tense, so saying "and claimed that the Genesis 'does what Nintendon't'" isn't grammatically correct. Besides, I thought it was moderately funny. :\

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic the Hedehog was out first

Mario=1985
Sonic=1991

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also there were more Genesis's then SNES's primarily because they had a head start
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: it also implies that Mario stopped being that popular
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: when Nintendo used SMW as the pack in game for the SNES

Nintendo fell from an almost 90% share all the way down to the 40's. I call that "not being that popular".

Though those numbers are, of course, open to interpretation.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic the Hedgehog was released officially on June 23, 1991, to mild success. However, Sega needed a bigger dent in the video game market to compete with the NES, and Sonic alone wasn’t cutting it.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: This goes against his own statements
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: first he said that people were tired of the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: but this statement says that the NES was still popular
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: even more popular then the Mega Drive
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: and he later says that Sonic was needed to sell mega drives in Japan
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: so which is it was it a big success that was the only reason the Mega Drive was succeeding or was it a mild success that wasn't getting the job done

Both.

A product can succeed, but still not succeed "enough" to satisfy the parent company. It's called "greed".

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”, pack-in game Altered Beast, and new President of Sega of America Michael Kratz. However, when the Genesis hit American shores
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: back to this statment Kratz wouldn't become president of Sega of America until 1990
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: which is after the system was released in America
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And another thing

Whoops.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Kratz devised a strategy to not only get more orders for the Genesis, but also drive down Nintendo’s sales. The advertising budget skyrocketed, and Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) were proudly splashed across magazines and television screens. Ads proclaimed the glory of “blast processing”, and claimed that the Genesis "did what Nintendidn’t".
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Blast Processing didn't come around until after the SNES was relased

Whoops.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) I remember when the Angry Video game nerd did that joke

Must have missed that episode, sorry. Not a big AVGN fan. Apologies to James Rolfe and his coworkers.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also the ads that talked about doing what Nintendo didn't were directed towards the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: and were based on console superiority

...

duh?

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: But not even crazy commercials could bring up sales, and Nakayama’s dream of “Hyaku Mankai!” was fading fast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: That's why Sega stopped doing weird commercials right guys
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because they didn't work

I never said they stopped. I said they weren't working.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: What Sega was missing quickly came to light: a true mascot. Okay, there was Alex Kidd, and sure, there was Altered Beast, but Sega didn’t really have a singular character to rally behind. Meanwhile, their main competition each had their own cartoon character that brought in the big bucks: Nintendo had Mario, and Hudson had Bonk.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Hudson had more then Bonk they also had Bomberman

And Nintendo had Link and Samus, too, but they're not typically considered mascots of anything but their own series.

Though I'm not a huge Hudson buff, so Bomberman may have been the main hero back in the early 90's too.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With fast gameplay, tight jumps, and rigorous platforming, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the fastest-paced games of its time.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he already said the game was fast so of course it was one of the fastest games of all time
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also tight jumps in a platformer no fucking way

Okay, when you're saying your'e correcting factual errors, please stick to fixing factual errors.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: He was the mascot of the Turbo Graphx

AHA!

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The hedgehog was designed with Michael Jackson’s rebellious style and Bill Clinton’s assertiveness
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: what
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bill Clinton has nothing to do with this

I actually read an interview where some dev said that part of Sonic's "gotta move" personality as described in the game manuals and TV shows are inspired by Clinton's "get it done" approach to politics.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also Bill Clinton wasn't president when Sonic the Hedgehog came out[/quote]
He was running, I guess.

<charmander>: sonic is based on michael jackson what
<charmander>: really

His shoes are. :\

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: But when Sega tested the game in the States, they got a little feedback that wasn’t so positive. The most easily seen issue was the artwork
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Artwork totally matters in a game[/quote]
It does to the people wanting to buy it at the store and pick it up. If the game doesn't look appealing, people won't want it.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic was a monkey-fighting hedgehog. I doubt anyone in America at the time had ever even heard of one.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Hedgehog's don't exist in America right guys

Nope, they're not indigenous to either of the Americas.

And since little non-documentary media existed centering around hedgehogs, Sega was genuinely worried that Americans who weren't a zoologist or didn't own one as a pet would not have known what the hell a hedgehog was.

Stupid complaint, considering how often crazy stuff is used in video games, but as I've said before I'm not Sega.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And here’s where Tom Kalinske came in. Formerly head of Mattel, Kalinske had recently saved the Barbie toy line almost single-handedly. He was hired as President of Sega of America in 1990, and he wanted a say in Sonic. Much like the North in the American Civil War, Kalinske utilized a three-part plan to push Sega, and particularly the new Sonic franchise, in
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also he had 4 points in his plan not 3
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega was going to lower the price of the Genesis from US$199 to US$149. This way, Sega could reach some of their more stingy customers, as well as undercut Nintendo’s prices.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: 2 – Move the development for future Sonic sequels to North America. Since Sega was primarily targeting the States, Kalinske thought it best to have the company’s flagship series developed by people who knew what American tastes were like.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: not really what he actually wanted was
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: ; create a US-based team to develop games targeted at the American market
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bundle the Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog instead of Altered Beast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he missed part 4 which was more aggressive ads

I already talked about the aggressive ads, and I didn't want to be redundant.

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And boy did it work. Sega’s share in the market shot up to a record high of 55%
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: actually it was 60%

Whoops, turns out I was looking at the data for the end of the fourth generation, not 1992.



Eh, I'll stand by my article, but you do have some solid points. I didn't do much research about Hudson and NEC, so I had no idea that they were so big in Japan before the Mega Drive came out. I've tried to explain my line of thought as best as I could, but yeah, you've got quite a bit of knowledge.

Maybe I could hire you as a full-time editor? :p

 

[Matlock]

Sure i'll do it and i'll send you a pm with some things in a second also a few more thing for clarity (really wish I would have quoted exact lines from the section) also my responeses are the ones in ()
Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic the Hedehog was out first
Mario=1985
Sonic=1991
(Here I mean SMW not mario in general)

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also how many companies made there own consoles that are notable
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Atari doesn't count because they weren't a third party
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: So all I can think of is hudson
I was referring to Atari and Hudson as being really the only (from what I remember this was referring to you saying that most companies were either)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Which third parties didn't care about the home console marke
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: t
Companies that focused on arcade and portable games? (technically the portable game makers wouldn't be third parties then, and I can't think of many arcade games makers that weren't also making home console ports, and this kind of contradicts an earlier statement that implies that arcades aren't very popular)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: nstead of using well-trusted third-party brand names like “Mega Man” or “Castlevania”, Sega relied on the purchasing power of celebrities from King of Pop Michael Jackson to Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: those two statements contradict each other
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because he's saying that most were under Nintendo's control
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: but that Sega could use Mega Man and Castlevania
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: two popular games on the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: from companies that weren't going to leave Nintendo
Bullshit. I mentioned in a previous article that Nintendo forbade any third-party developer making NES games to produce games for a rival's system. Castlevania and Mega Man couldn't be put on Genesis because they weren't allowed to be. This rule only fell by the wayside when the NES finally was laid to rest in the mid-Nineties. (what I mean is that by saying instead you imply that they could use those characters and that they decided not to)

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also there were more Genesis's then SNES's primarily because they had a head start
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: it also implies that Mario stopped being that popular
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: when Nintendo used SMW as the pack in game for the SNES
Nintendo fell from an almost 90% share all the way down to the 40's. I call that "not being that popular".

Though those numbers are, of course, open to interpretation. (you forget that while the NES wasn't selling that well ((compared to the Mega Drive)) the games were still selling well especially Super Mario Bros. 3, oh and you forgot that they still dominated the handheld market :P)

<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”,
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: I believe the real reason they chose Genesis was because Mega Drive sounded stupid (either that or it was a trademark problem)
It was kind of both. "Mega Drive", was copyrighted in North America. And since most of America is Christian, Sega got the bright idea to rename it after something biblical. Don't ask me, I wasn't on Sega's marketing team in the 90's. (I demand a source that says they went with something Biblical other wise it's just a misleading lame joke)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: also the ads that talked about doing what Nintendo didn't were directed towards the NES
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: and were based on console superiority

...

duh? (I think this was because you had Blast Processing in the same section thus implying that the two were released around the same time)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: But not even crazy commercials could bring up sales, and Nakayama’s dream of “Hyaku Mankai!” was fading fast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: That's why Sega stopped doing weird commercials right guys
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: because they didn't work
I never said they stopped. I said they weren't working.
(I would argue that the reason they weren't working is because of the lack of games for the Mega Drive after all these commercials were released what right after the system came out, I would also argue that while they didn't work at first they did eventually work which is why the Mega Drive was so successful)


Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: The hedgehog was designed with Michael Jackson’s rebellious style and Bill Clinton’s assertiveness
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: what
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bill Clinton has nothing to do with this
I actually read an interview where some dev said that part of Sonic's "gotta move" personality as described in the game manuals and TV shows are inspired by Clinton's "get it done" approach to politics.
(Fair enough it's still a stupid comparison)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sonic was a monkey-fighting hedgehog. I doubt anyone in America at the time had ever even heard of one.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Because Hedgehog's don't exist in America right guys
Nope, they're not indigenous to either of the Americas.

And since little non-documentary media existed centering around hedgehogs, Sega was genuinely worried that Americans who weren't a zoologist or didn't own one as a pet would not have known what the hell a hedgehog was.
(two things
1. I did not know that
2. Can I see a source for that please)

Quote from: Cheyenne Bodie on October 21, 2012, 08:27:58 PM
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: And here’s where Tom Kalinske came in. Formerly head of Mattel, Kalinske had recently saved the Barbie toy line almost single-handedly. He was hired as President of Sega of America in 1990, and he wanted a say in Sonic. Much like the North in the American Civil War, Kalinske utilized a three-part plan to push Sega, and particularly the new Sonic franchise, in
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Also he had 4 points in his plan not 3
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Sega was going to lower the price of the Genesis from US$199 to US$149. This way, Sega could reach some of their more stingy customers, as well as undercut Nintendo’s prices.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: 2 – Move the development for future Sonic sequels to North America. Since Sega was primarily targeting the States, Kalinske thought it best to have the company’s flagship series developed by people who knew what American tastes were like.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: not really what he actually wanted was
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: ; create a US-based team to develop games targeted at the American market
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: Bundle the Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog instead of Altered Beast.
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: true
<Marshal_Dan_Troop>: he missed part 4 which was more aggressive ads

I already talked about the aggressive ads, and I didn't want to be redundant.
(The problem is that by not covering it you are misleading people into thinking he only had a 3 part plan not a 4 part one)

 

[Toad85]

To address your source requests

About the Genesis's name, I found two places:

http://classicgames.about.com/od/consoleandhandheldgames/p/History-Of-The-Sega-Genesis-Dawn-Of-The-16-Bit-Era.htm

The Mega Drive became known as the Sega Genesis in the U.S. and Canada, making it the first console named after a book of the bible, indicating that it was bringing forth a new age in video games...

http://segacd.org/segabase/SegaBase-Genesis.html

http://The name's Biblical connotations would not be lost on conservative-minded American parents, many of whose kids would want to buy the new system.

The quote about the hedgehog's obscurity came mostly anecdotally, from interactions with a couple of 40-something family members who didn't know what a hedgehog was until I introduced them to Sonic. My dad and my Uncle Sal said that most of their friends also had never heard of the creature either when they were younger. In retrospect, maybe it wasn't a good idea to apply what residents of Matawan knew and didn't know about hedgehogs and apply it to the rest of the country.

 

[Matlock]

To address your source requests

About the Genesis's name, I found two places:

http://classicgames.about.com/od/consoleandhandheldgames/p/History-Of-The-Sega-Genesis-Dawn-Of-The-16-Bit-Era.htm

The Mega Drive became known as the Sega Genesis in the U.S. and Canada, making it the first console named after a book of the bible, indicating that it was bringing forth a new age in video games...

http://segacd.org/segabase/SegaBase-Genesis.html

http://The name's Biblical connotations would not be lost on conservative-minded American parents, many of whose kids would want to buy the new system.

The quote about the hedgehog's obscurity came mostly anecdotally, from interactions with a couple of 40-something family members who didn't know what a hedgehog was until I introduced them to Sonic. My dad and my Uncle Sal said that most of their friends also had never heard of the creature either when they were younger. In retrospect, maybe it wasn't a good idea to apply what residents of Matawan knew and didn't know about hedgehogs and apply it to the rest of the country.

TBH I doubt the bible had anything to do with the name and I nobody bought it because of the fact that it was named after a book of the bible