Damn Sega!

I seriously doubt it but it would be smart to bring the series out on a Sony console because of the mindshare and user base. PS3 could be a good home for Shenmue 3 and I'm sure I've heard that the PS2 can't handle the first two Shenmue games so that's probably the only Sony system it could possibly be on. I'm pretty sure Am2 has no qualms about releasing it on PS2 so they probably would've at least mentioned by now especially coming off the PS2 VF4 hype.

 

I think my point in the original post was more about "consumer fairness" than anything else.

It's not about whether the "best games" were produced for that console, or that that console had the best specs at the time.

The point is that, from a consumer's POV, Sega & DC did not do its customers justice.

Example scenario:

Person A buys a DC expecting a good number & variety of games to be released for it, as is always implied before & during the launch of a home console (duh).

Not long afterward, Person A realises that he has been taken in. Not only are more games not being produced for the system, he finds out that many software companies have boycotted making games for that system (e.g. Square).

So basically, it's not about whether the best games were made for that system or not. It's about the promise of something that will "take off" being broken, and the assurance that the customer will have a multitude of entertainment titles to choose from being denied.

 

No offence, but what assurance and promises exactly are you talking about? When I bought my Dreamcast it didn't come with a piece of paper signed by SEGA saying there will definitely always be new games coming out till 2010 and that software companies would make games for it despite the fact that they won't sell. In the 'free market' world there are no assurances, you can't gaurantee what will sell and what won't. Stop crying over spilt milk.

 

Re: Damn Sega! 2

] Now I'm stuck with a near-ancient artifact I don't know what
] to do with. I can't even sell it or anything cos it's worthless. I
] can't even buy new games for it cos there're none. But what
] am I saying?! - I can't even buy games for it - any games!

Well, NEIC (NEC Interchannel) is still making adventure games for the DC. To be exact, NEIC is, eh, converting Japanese Windows games into DC games. For instance, Kanon and Mizuiro.

 

Consumer Perception

<font color=yellow>Not presuming to speak for Pinkgirl (she does quite well on her own), consumers in most other markets have the perception that, once a product is purchased, it will be supported adequately for the life of the product. Sega obviously doesn't say that Dreamcast will last through 2010 but it, conversely, does not tell us that it will bolt in 2001 either. caveat emptor: "Let the buyer beware" is the famous manufacturer's defense. Boomers like myself should appreciate this: remember Sony Beta video tape players?

First time consumers in the video game market aren't always so savvy or wise. Video games, after all, are a form of entertainment and spending on entertainment is usually on the spur of the moment. Now that the video game market has reached into other markets, i.e. CD music players and DVD players and online gaming, there are more things to consider when buying the console. Again, no one was told of this development either until Sony and then MS let us in on it. The fact is that Sony and MS had this planned much earlier than the year 2000; we're already into 2002 and we only have two consoles that give us all those possibilities.

One thing that we gamers need to recognize more is that consoles are now on the verge, if they are not already, of being like computers. What we presently have is technically already obsolete and what we will want is already in beta test somewhere and what we don't even have a clue about is entering stage alpha. Yet, faithful consumers are not privy to future plans until a handful of months before its actual release. By then, the actual product is moving quickly toward obsolescence...

It seems now that consumers in the 21st century have a calling to be market prognosticators as well: while no one is given guarantees of the future, consumers should reasonably expect that a product like Sega Dreamcast will be supported for a longer time. In 1995, Sony Playstation was sold for the first time in the US. In 2002, games are still being produced for this machine. That, my fellow gamers, is support. In 1995, Sega Saturn was sold for the first time in the US. And gave way to Sega's next console project. In 1999, Sega Dreamcast was sold for the first time in the US and along the way introduced Seganet, an online service that offered "rich content, rapid-fire gameplay, a monster network powered by state-of-the-art technology, and a legion of competitors from around the globe". In 2001, Sega announced that the Dreamcast would no longer be produced and still offers Seganet. That does not look like very good support to me.

caveat emptor yo... I feel your pain and lament with you...</font color=yellow>

 

Nope, on XBOX exclusively

 

Re: Consumer Perception

Lots of words to say absolutely nothing there dude .
PSOne is still supported yah but WHY ?
Its a mass market succes and there is still money to be made there .
DC is NOT case closed .

 

Consumer fairness and the video game industry don't go hand in hand, I think most people have realized this by now. Heck very few games being put out are worth $50 IMO.

Too bad you feel screwed by DC. It's certainly one of my favorite systems despite its tragic death.

 

Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

<font color=yellow>Cool... but most people aren't as keen or sharp as you are, Almaci. The rest of us don't make perfect choices all the time. There are people who are on there way to the same destination that Pinkgirl ended up with her Dreamcast. That was for them, not for you. It may not change their minds but it will forewarn them one more time as well as forearm them again. I used to get upset with people who asked should I get Xbox or PS2 or GameCube. Now, I just want to help, not troll or flame...</font color=yellow>

 

Re: Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

So instead of doing that and simply explaining you give bulshit reasons and make Sega out to be some company who simply doesnt care ?
Heh no other company has such fanservice as Sega has .

 

I was curious... being in Singapore and all... Do you buy (or even burn) the self-bootable copy of the games? Some call these "backups" (though it's they should be called substitutes or knock-offs).

Pretty much the majority of Southeast Asia distributes copies/knockoffs of games, curious if Singapore does that as well or if they are an exception (and yes, I acknowledge in just about every major city in that region there exists at least 3 or 4 legit stores selling imports from Japan instead of "backups").

If so... Then I start to wonder about the meaning of consumer fairness in this context.

-Chanchai

 

damn i forgot i still have a brand new saturn in the box in my closet...with no games......shit. i love my dc, and will continue to do so. i think i am calloused towards sega, because when they announced no more games, i kind of expected it since they did it with the saturn...

 

Re: Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

Sega has had a HORRIBLE reputation in backing up their systems. The DC lost to other compettion, the Saturn was getting killed by the quality of games compared to the PS, and I will not get started on the DAMN 32X. How many games were made for that?!!!! 7?!!!

 

Re: Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

OK after THIS :the Saturn was getting killed by the quality of games compared to the PS
You totaly lost what little credibility you might have had .

Early on Sega did theyre best and gave us games like Mystaria, Panzer Dragoon, VF, Guardian Heroes, Daytona etcetera .
PS gave us Toshitden and Ridge Racer .
The only good title on the PS for the first two years was wipeout .
Yet from day one the PS outsold the Saturn and even worse so called GAMERS in the west snubbed games like Guardian Heroes for the likes of skeleton warriors or Bug .

Dont give me that quality bull becouse if there was one thing early on that the Saturn excelled at and the PS sorely lacked it was quality games .

 

Re: Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

First of all, I didn't insult you or any sort of way, but since you did or implied it, I might as well do it for the fun of it.

I'm really SAD that I lost "what little credibility I might have had". People use avatar to represent a little of their likes, personality, themselves, etc. I lost the crediblity from someone that has the brains of a stupid chimp.

Now for the nicer side of the arguement. Basically, it all comes down to preference. You can argue all you want, but ultimately it just comes down to that. There were some games that were released for both PS and Saturn, Tomb Raider and SF alpha 1 (I think) are the only one that comes to mind right now, the PS version was better. As for Guardian Heroes being great, like I said, it's preference. Some of my friends thought the game was boring. Bug, even though I didn't play it, it was original from what I gather. There were many people that liked Ridge Racer, so don't be knocking that off if you didn't like it. PS also had many memorable RPG's.

Now Almaci, don't start the flaming after this. I'll be a man about it and I'll apologize for what I addressed to you. My response was indeed ten times more insulting than what you wrote, but like I said, I did it for fun. If you do start flaming, I'll ignore it and go on with my life. It won't bother me. Plus, if you do, it will just add on to my arguement about monkey brains. =P

 

An aside on piracy

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Pretty much the majority of Southeast Asia distributes copies/knockoffs of games, curious if Singapore does that as well or if they are an exception (and yes, I acknowledge in just about every major city in that region there exists at least 3 or 4 legit stores selling imports from Japan instead of "backups").

If so... Then I start to wonder about the meaning of consumer fairness in this context.

<hr></blockquote> Sorry, I don't see what this has to do with the "consumer fairness" I mentioned. Pirating games does not mean consumers have a wider variety of games to choose from.

And if you're referring to the fact that there's no "consumer fairness" in the sense that consumers are "not being fair" to Sega because they're pirating Sega's games, then I think maybe you have a somewhat misguided concept of what I meant originally. See sayow's post on the economics of the issue for what I mean.

Anyway, on the piracy issue (well, you got me started! /versus/images/icons/crazy.gif), it's dawned on me before that game console companies might actually release the technology to pirate their games themselves! This might be to boost sales of their sets (since if consumers know they can get cheap games for the system instead of the expensive origs they might be more keen on purchasing a console - think of it from a consumer's POV: console A comes out with NO pirated games made available, and console B comes out simultaneously WITH pirated games made available. Ceteris paribus (i.e. granting that the system specs and everything else was the same), which system would you choose? Most rational consumers would pick console B.).

When the DC first came out they said that because it used a GD-ROM games were "un-pirateable". But look what happened later, after sales of sets weren't taking off like Sega expected? Miraculously out of nowhere came the technology to pirate DC games. I dunno about you, but this sounds awfully suspicious to me...

 

Re: Maybe, I Did... Maybe, I Did More Than You Think...

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

So instead of doing that and simply explaining you give bulshit reasons and make Sega out to be some company who simply doesnt care ?
Heh no other company has such fanservice as Sega has .

<hr></blockquote> I thought this one was funny. /versus/images/icons/laugh.gif "Care?" Where does that fit in in a capitalist, profit-driven world? Hell, even China is now operating on a capitalist system under the guise of a socialist regime!

 

True

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

i think i am calloused towards sega, because when they announced no more games, i kind of expected it since they did it with the saturn...

<hr></blockquote> Um... shouldn't it be "biased"? /versus/images/icons/laugh.gif Anyway, yes that's true. When shopping for whatever thing a consumer should tread with caution & do his/her market research 1st before taking action; I must admit Saturn's flop should've made me all the wiser, but I was thinking about Megadrive & how much fun I had on it. Ah well. The good ol' days. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

 

Re: True

Pinkgirl thats brilliant reasoning there : Yo dudes lets sell oure hardware at A LOSS and try to make up the loss by selling software .
Hmm just a sec guys oure market model aint working, not enough people buy oure software so we lose too much on the hardware, what iff we release oure tech to the piracy scene surely that must be the boost oure company so hardly needs .
Yeah lets continue selling oure hardware at an even greater loss and make sure people can get the games for free, brilliant why didnt we think of that before .

Plug ah good good you said the things I wanted to hear, the final refuge for someone who has no case to argue, you claim its PERSONAL PREFERANCE .

If its personal preferance why then did you say this : the Saturn was getting killed by the quality of games compared to the PS
Sounds like a cold hard statement to me, not some oppinion but something stated as FACT .

Dont talk the talk if you cant walk the walk .

Did you ever try out a Saturn early on, did you ever buy a Saturn, what games did ya play ?

Valid questions, please answer .

 

Re:Misconceptions...

Sorry Pinkgirl but you seem to have this misconception that the majority of people who purchase video games and consoles are like you (ie. know quite a lot about the games and the developers etc.). The majority don't know shit! All they know are the adverts they see on TV, I don't know about Singapore, but in Britain there are a quite few PS2 and X-BOX *spits* adverts but no Dreamcast adverts. Which results in the PS2 and X-BOX way out-selling Dreamcast. And lets be honest with ourselves, we all knew the Dreamcast would not rival Sony's market share!