I had the Sega Channel briefly as a kid. It was a promotional offer from our local cable channel for very cheap. I knew I wouldn’t have it very long and so tried to spend a decent amount of time using the channel.
I was immediately both enchanted and also disappointed with the service.
Any disappointment was because I was not used to “load” or “download” times. Keep in mind this was during a time when you popped a cartridge into a console and had instant gameplay (besides my hated and loved Sega CD.) We didn’t have to deal with waiting to play games after pressing the power button. It felt like a step back to wait to play. Downloading the Sega Channel games took much longer than I had patience for as a kid.
Also, I’m not sure saving game progress was an option on the Sega channel. Or if it was I couldn’t figure it out. That factored majorly in my interest in the experience.
HOWEVER, the magic of selecting a game to play that I did not own and did not have to run out to the video rental store for was really cool. It truly felt like this was a good step forward, but not a preliminary step, not as functional as any future developments.
Ultimately, it was cost (or rather my parents resistance to the cost) that ended my time with the channel. Even though it was truly inexpensive, I was unable to convince them to keep it around. Because… “you already have a Sega kid.” We all know this story.
The Sega Channel came and went so fast for me it feels almost like a surreal made-up memory. Reading this article was a real pleasure in bringing back this experience.
Comments 1
Re: Feature: The Full Story Behind Sega Channel, Sega's Precursor To Game Pass
I had the Sega Channel briefly as a kid. It was a promotional offer from our local cable channel for very cheap. I knew I wouldn’t have it very long and so tried to spend a decent amount of time using the channel.
I was immediately both enchanted and also disappointed with the service.
Any disappointment was because I was not used to “load” or “download” times. Keep in mind this was during a time when you popped a cartridge into a console and had instant gameplay (besides my hated and loved Sega CD.) We didn’t have to deal with waiting to play games after pressing the power button.
It felt like a step back to wait to play.
Downloading the Sega Channel games took much longer than I had patience for as a kid.
Also, I’m not sure saving game progress was an option on the Sega channel. Or if it was I couldn’t figure it out. That factored majorly in my interest in the experience.
HOWEVER, the magic of selecting a game to play that I did not own and did not have to run out to the video rental store for was really cool. It truly felt like this was a good step forward, but not a preliminary step, not as functional as any future developments.
Ultimately, it was cost (or rather my parents resistance to the cost) that ended my time with the channel. Even though it was truly inexpensive, I was unable to convince them to keep it around. Because… “you already have a Sega kid.” We all know this story.
The Sega Channel came and went so fast for me it feels almost like a surreal made-up memory. Reading this article was a real pleasure in bringing back this experience.
Well done.
Isaac