Dear Sega: We want a console, not handhelds
Reports have surfaced claiming Sega is getting back into the hardware business with a new device called the Vision PMP, slated for a U.K. release in 2009.
The Vision PMP will reportedly be able to play MP4, Java-based games, and double as a camera and eBook reader. There's no word yet if Sega wants to throw the kitchen sink into this thing too, but based on all that, it probably will.
Is it just me or does this device have failure written all over it? You mean to tell me that Sega actually believes this product will be a success? Sure, it might be a success if we compare it to the 32X or something, but when compared to all the other devices in the market, I simply don't see why Sega would even consider playing this game with that device.
Worse, Sega went out of its way to tell the world that its latest device isn't a handheld gaming platform. Instead, its latest hardware can do it all.
What a joke.
Listen, Sega: I realize that this latest ploy to get into the PMP business is a reaction to the fact that you can't sell video games nearly as well as you did in the past, but getting into a different market is the wrong idea. It's time you put all your money down on a console and do it right this time.
It's your only hope.
Has anyone else noticed that Sega is practically nonexistent in today's video game industry? Once the toast of the town, Sega and its mascot have been downgraded to the realm that has historically been filled by such hotshots as Leisure Suit Larry and Alex from Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete.
All the while, Sega's games are being met by a group of people who, to put it simply, just don't care about the games it releases. What happened to the good ol' days when the Sonic series was at the top and other offerings like Shenmue and the 2K Sports series were some of the best games money could buy?
Sadly, they all died when Sega decided it was best to make its way out of the hardware business and get into the software market to try its luck.
Well, that plan failed--miserably.
Because of that, Sega needs to get back into the console business and try one last time to see if it can survive in this age of developer consolidation. It needs to continue making games, but it needs to make those games the backbone of its foray into the console market.
The days of battling it out with Nintendo may be gone, but there's no reason why Sega can't do it again.
There's no debating the fact that it will be hard for Sega to make in-roads in the hardware space, and there's no telling if it will be successful. But is there any other choice at this point? Its software business is crumbling, no one wants any Sonic the Hedgehog titles, and it's being dwarfed by major players like Take-Two and EA.
So instead of wasting its time on PMPs and other crappy hardware devices that will fail sooner than it thinks, Sega needs to take all its money and resources, start forming relationships with third parties, and get ready to make a splash in the next generation's console war.
Sega died out in the hardware market because it turned off both developers and retailers. It needs to actively repair those relationships now as it comes up with its next console and start developing an online component than can match Microsoft's. During that time, it needs to stop wasting money on projects that don't make sense and use its cash to develop the hardware and software it needs to be successful in the next generation.
I never said it would be easy to make it big in the hardware business, but there's really no other option for Sega at this point. It needs to wake up and realize that it's fighting a losing battle and muster all it can to fight in the realm it knows: hardware. And if it fails, at least it went down with a fight this time.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
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Sega, it's time for another console, you can 86 Xbox and undercut PS3 if you hit the balance between technology and cost properly. And by the time you get in, Blue Ray components will be even cheaper and processor dies even smaller. What are you waiting for? I want Panzer Dragoon on a Sega again.
The 360 is covering the hardcore gamers. The ps3 is garnering the High End and media center crowd, and the Wii ha got the casual gamers covered. Save the SUPER hardcore holdouts like me that didnt but PS2 until december 2007 and are just playing XBLive for the first time, A new Sega console i will appeal to no one.
What kind of features will this new console have that will make it the IT thing for, lets say 2010 or 2011 and beyond? Its alot harder to sell "blast processing" to informed and jaded consumers that have been burned by sega hardware in the past. I am not saying Sega Can't produce fine hardware or software, the Dreamcast is a perfect example of Sega potential. But what about support? Not having Madden killed sega, not matter how awesome NFL2K was. Is there any guarantee that will not happen again? Loyalty killed Sega there and it might kill it again.
It comes down to the fact that Nintendo isn't going anywhere, ever. Microsoft will continue to fill Sega's hole for the hardcore gamers, and Sony will hemorrhage money until they move enough consoles to say they are number one. Sega will find a niche, but in this market, there is no room for niches. And some people REALLY need to accept that.
Sega most likely doesn?t have the resource to pull off a new console that would sell will against the competition.
The handheld market has been on fire and I could see why they might try that approach to get back into the hardware side of things.
Also, considering the present hardware oligopoly in the industry, it would be a mistake to try to enter the console market anytime soon. That battle for market share would only end in tears. One thing they could do, though, is try to help revive arcade gaming in western markets - one thing sega has ALWAYS done well with. There are far more options than just trying to get back into the console market. Come on, man; get creative.
To be blunt: there is only room for 2 true gaming consoles now, and those are the PS3 and XBox360. The Wii is more a 'casual gamer' system.
For many years consoles produced games of the type that you didn't get on the PC and they were good. These days there has been too much convergence and I really think that consoles need to go back to being different.
1. Talk down Company X and whatever initiatives they have working at the moment. Disregard facts. Research is for chumps.
2. Suggest crazy move that would essentially amount to betting the company on black.
3. "Back it up" with a re-telling of the past that ignores the ACTUAL past. Buffer that with a wondrous vision of the future that takes little to no heed of reality.
Then he sits back and hopes no one realises how little information or insight his columns actually contain.
In an age where more and more developpers are asking for one console only and where almost nothing is exclusive, SEGA would have a hard time entering the console war game again. IMO there are enough consoles and variations of them outthere...