Comments 57

Re: Saturn Was "More Powerful Than PlayStation" Claims Argonaut Founder

electrolite77

I thought this was pretty common knowledge TBH. Saturn had a theoretical power advantage but it was extremely difficult to utilise that in practice. So on the end it didn’t really count for much in the face of Sonys simpler system, money, better business decisions, better marketing and much bigger software library. They’re both great systems, I’m not sure why anyone’s getting so upset about this.

Re: Nintendo Is Now Going After YouTube Accounts Which Show Its Games Being Emulated

electrolite77

It’s a tricky one. If they’re showing games that are available currently through NSO or on a collection they’re taking a big risk.

I’m all for preservation of old games but it’s been done safely for years in a more clandestine way than YouTube channels going ‘hey everyone! Look how well you can run this game!’

On top of that we all know that a lot of these devices (and I speak as an owner of a couple) are used for pirating commercially available games, with things like business practices or frame rates offered as laughably inadequate justifications. Nintendos revenue source is its IP and its software.

Re: Saturn Was Why Sega Abandoned Consoles, Not Dreamcast, Says Former President Peter Moore

electrolite77

@UK_Kev

I can see both sides to that. Sega HAD to get into retailers. It was the 90s, there was no other channel to consumers. In the 80s Nintendo used to reluctantly give mark down money and go along with December 10 billing when selling Game and Watch. They quickly used their position of market dominance with the NES to extricate themselves from that. Sega never had that dominance and had to work very hard to get into Walmart especially, but I see it as a failing of theirs that they never pushed back harder against retailers power.

That said, even if retailers required Sega to hold a certain amount of hardware, that still doesn’t explain their spectacular failings when it came to managing their software inventory.

In March 1996 they were holding 187904 units of Pico software, 117811 Sega CD software units, 957036 Gamegear software units, 623067 32X software units, 1410132 Genesis software units including e.g 215727 Sonic and Knuckles carts with 0 outstanding orders. They had 37368 Activators with 0 outstanding orders. They were holding 141932 3-button Genesis pads with the 6-button on the market. They held stock of 22 different Genesis bundles. That’s before any stock retailers were due to send back.

Not all of that utter mess can be blamed on retailers, nowhere near. That’s Sega releasing way too many games, being unable to judge what would sell and amassing hundreds of thousands of unsellable items.

Re: Saturn Was Why Sega Abandoned Consoles, Not Dreamcast, Says Former President Peter Moore

electrolite77

It was a series of bad decisions and consistent mismanagement.

Work your way back from the DC launch.

There was releasing hardly anything in the West in 98 and nothing at all in 99 until the DC. What they did release was in tiny numbers.

Saturn had failed. A good system but crippled from the start by being overly complex for third parties with poor dev support from Sega. No proper Sonic, lots of other big Megadrive franchises absent.

There was the early Saturn launch. So stupid.

There was the 32X. So stupid.

There was the Nomad, pointless.

There was the glut of terrible games SOA kept pumping out (they published 81 games in 92-94)

There was wasting money on terrible accessories like the Activator, awful FMV games and a Virtual Reality set that was never going to work.

Now we know from Irimajiris recent interview and the 1996 documents that have been published that SOA had no idea about inventory management. They had millions of dollars of hardware and software stuck in warehouses, never likely to sell. This led to the huge ‘special loss’ in their 1998 financial year that (with their Arcade business declining and the Yen moving against them vs the Dollar) they were never going to recover from.

Re: Former Sega Boss On The "Huge Strategic Blunder" Of 32X And Saturn

electrolite77

Interesting that the release of the SOA documents from 1996 has illustrated the point about SOA being deep in a financial hole and drowning under millions of dollars of excess inventory. It’s changed the narrative slightly that SOA were the heroes and SOJ the villains. Both sides were culpable in piledriving Sega into the ground.

The Saturn never stood a chance of taking on PlayStation given Sonys deep pockets, manufacturing capacity and retail power. Its design was a hindrance in some ways too. But it could have been a success and a
viable business if Sega had played their cards right. Unfortunately they released the 32X and launched the Saturn early which are two of the worst mistakes in Gaming history-and they did them within 6 months of each other.

It’s also amazing that they didn’t see the 3D wave coming when you consider they were driving it in the Arcades.

Re: Sega President Explains Why A Sega Saturn Mini May Not Be On The Cards Just Yet

electrolite77

At least they’re thinking of it, which is something. I understand the difficulty in achieving it at anything resembling a mass market price. However I don’t understand why they’re sitting on all these games when modern systems can already emulate the Saturn. I’ve got Elevator Action Returns and Galactic Attack on my Switch and they run and play perfectly well. I’d pay good money for the likes of PD Zwei, PD Saga, Nights and Fighters Megamix on my Switch.

If I could choose the next system from Sega (accepting Saturn won’t happen yet) it would be a proper Game Gear mini, not that weird novelty they put out.

Re: It's Official! Sega Poll Reveals Fans Want The Sega Saturn Mini Next

electrolite77

Please do the Saturn. Yes I know there would be difficulties getting the likes of Sega Rally, Daytona, Manx TT on there. Yes, I know it wouldn’t be a huge mass market success.

I do think there’s a hefty niche for a Saturn Mini among the hardcore though. Simply because of the unusual number of games on the system that have never been released anywhere else.

I’d also love to see Retro compilations of Saturn games or Ages rereleases. There is already a working Saturn emulator out there for the Switch.

Re: The Real Story Behind Rare's Cancelled GoldenEye 007 Remaster

electrolite77

Does seem like the kind of insular thing late Noughties Nintendo would do. There was a fair amount of ‘we can do this on our own’ arrogance about them.

Maybe with Nintendo and MS a bit closer than they used to be they could find a way to make this happen in the future with Cross Play between the two ecosystems.

Would be a perfect handheld game too, a HD remake of a late 90s Shooter. Doesn’t need 4K and all the rest of it.

Re: Arcade1Up Is Reviving A Sega Classic That Has Never Been Seen Outside Of Arcades

electrolite77

@sixrings

I have a dream that the new found friendliness between Nintendo and Microsoft will one day lead to them sorting out the rights and putting out a Remaster of Goldeneye with cross-platform multiplayer. Alas, just a dream.

“ Sega should just be sell their 16bit arcade games off to Hamster so we could get on with it and then focus on dreamcast Naomi for their Sega Ages line.” Good idea. Anything that helps them get on with it is welcome. They’re sitting on such a treasure trove.

Re: Arcade1Up Is Reviving A Sega Classic That Has Never Been Seen Outside Of Arcades

electrolite77

Sega Ages on Switch is a bit of a disappointment. They should be onto their 90s Arcade games (especially the ones that never got home conversions), and Saturn/Dreamcast stuff by now. Virtual Racing was great but they need to do more like that.

I’m not going to buy Sonic and Puyo Puyo again, but I’ve got plenty of money waiting for Death Adder, Scud Race, Daytona 2, Super GT, Planet Harriers and stuff like Manx TT, Sega Rally, House of Dead if they can improve on them like they did with VR

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@jimi

Nope, I elaborated on my original point which specifically related to one you raised. You keep thrashing around trying to find inconsistencies but because there aren't any you keep devolving into a temper tantrum, bringing in all sorts of others things (repeatedly) as if they will reveal a hole.

If I can buy games new I will, same as I pay streaming subscriptions, pay for Sky Sports instead of using Kodi, and still buy music and films. If it's a choice between buying a game that isn't available officially second hand or downloading a ROM, I'll do as I see fit.

Go on, say more things.

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@jimi

I never said anything different. I've bought tons of games that I could have pirated, what you choose to believe or disbelieve about my behaviour to suit your argument is irrelevant. You're just too busy throwing a temper tantrum to notice. Which I see you've chosen to do with decreasing coherence.

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@Chozo85

You're wasting your time. A few of us have tried but we've reached the 'resorting to accusations of entitlement' stage. Ah well.

Being philosophical for a moment, I miss being young enough to hold that kind of intransigence. One of the depressing things about growing up and going out into the real world was how much of life is nuance. How much work you have to put into balancing a compromise between what you'd like to do and the way the world is. Ho hum.

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@jimi

I'm brutally consistent. If it's somebody that's available to buy new, legally, I won't steal it. If it's a choice between downloading off the internet or buying a used copy (your comparison remember) I'll do what I see fit. You can squawk false equivalencies into the void as much as you want.

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@Kalmaro

All you're posting is variations on 'lalala I'm not listening to any other points of view'. Personally I'm not advocating stealing anything available to buy brand new, however anything else is fair game. That's grey area, as nobody is harmed and nobody would take me to court.

Any basic reading around the subject repeatedly throws up the phrase 'grey area' and similar phrases like 'this is untested in court'. Thinking on this and many other subjects is still evolving, and can only do so if established thinking is challenged. That may not be for you, but thankfully others are willing.

Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles

electrolite77

@jimi

" The publisher got money for the used copy originally."

They don't get any money now. What they got originally is irrelevant.

"btw. Pro-Tip: the developers typically get nothing at all, when you buy any game. The publisher does. The developers were already paid."

Irrelevant. They don't get any more whether a user buys a second hand copy or a ROM.

"Another pro-tip: when a 3rd party seller sells a new game, the publisher typically already got money as well."

Irrelevant. They don't get any more whether a user buys a second hand copy or a ROM

"Which means with your silly argument, you could defend stealing everything"

Not true. False equivalence. And it's your argument, not mine

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