I love Sega especially the Sega Mega Drive (or Sega Genesis if you’re American). Sega introduced me to 16 bit gaming in my home back in 1991 and what at the time felt like arcade quality gaming. With the Mega Drive/Genesis beating the Super Nintendo into homes Sega made an impact that will never be forgotten. Over time they lost their momentum by releasing peripherals like the 32x rather than fully focusing on the Sega Saturn, and sadly the fantastic Sega Dreamcast was the last console that Sega would release. But does Sega still exist like it did in the 90’s?
Believe it or not people type the title of ‘Does Sega Still Exist?’ and is ‘Sega Still Around?’ into search engines. There are obviously people across the world that in the past know what Sega was all about but don’t so much now.
So, what do Sega do now and what do I wish they would do as a long time Sega Fan?
Is Sega Still Around?
Does Sega Still Exist? I know ask a silly question and you get a silly answer. Sega still exists as a 3rd party publisher and since the turn of the century there has been takeovers, shutting down of studio’s and a lack of focus which over the last few years has started to turn to a more positive direction. Over recent year the Sega Mega Drive Mini console has been released which got the company a lot of attention again.
Streets of Rage 4 has also been produced by Sega alongside DotEmu and it is a lot of fun. We have also had Sonic Mania released across current gen consoles with Shenmue making an appearance too. It seems Sega has realised the strengths in it back catalogue but hopefully without taking it too far or using their IP’s too cheaply.
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Could Sega Release a New Console?
As much as I would love to see Sega release a new Console, I just can’t see it happening and I think that they have been out of the market for too long now as well as being a completely different business set up at present with the focus more on games. There are generations of gamers out there now that have never owned a Sega Console and that could potentially be quite a hard sell.
I hear the term DreamCast 2 getting touted around social media every now and again, but I just don’t think it will happen. There is a lot of romance in the idea and can you imagine getting your hands on a brand-new boxed Sega Console and how great would that would be to experience? Unfortunately to get to that point would take a massive investment from a company that has spent years restructuring and cost cutting, and a system launch from a financial point of view is a massive risk.
Perhaps if Sega had stuck with it like Nintendo has, they could have maintained some market share, but we could have also lost them forever if things had gone really wrong. I wouldn’t have wanted that. Sega made some difficult decisions that had to be made.
What Should Sega Focus on?
As much as I would love to see a new Sega console, I think they should focus on looking back at their legacy and perhaps offer mini consoles that have more games built in than their competitors like Nintendo in the plug n play console market. A mini Master System, Saturn and Dreamcast would be interesting prospects and would clearly get old school Sega fans excited.
There is still a market for nostalgia, but it must be done right which Nintendo achieved without giving too much away with the NES Classic and SNES Classic. What I don’t want to see is another PlayStation Classic where the price point is too high. Although I consider myself a retro game collector the key to success in these mini consoles is attracting the casual gamer looking to revisit the old games they played as a kid at an affordable price and the PlayStation didn’t achieve that which resulted in a big price cut shortly after release which is an insult to fans and collectors who would have pre ordered it as soon as it was announced.
Bringing Back Old Sega Games
I’ve mentioned Streets of Rage 4, Sonic Mania and Shenmue already but what about Golden Axe, Shinobi and Space Harrier just to name a few classic titles? Surely a remake or remaster in an arcade style close to the original would prove popular. We have seen a lot of these classic Sega titles released on compilations and plug n plays over the years but surely something more imaginative could be achieved with these famous game series. Perhaps if Streets of Rage 4 proves successful we could see another Golden Axe game or a new Out Run title. Time will tell, I guess.
There is Still Lots of Sega Merch!
Sega still clearly does have some idea of the value of the past as you can buy official Golden Axe, Streets of Rage and Alex Kidd merchandise on its Sega Shop website as well as a wide range of other Sega items and accessories. Definitely worth having a look at if you haven’t already. Plus there are some cool t shirts on Amazon too like the Sonic one above.
Does Sega Still Exist? – The Future of Sega
Who knows what Sega might surprise retro gaming fans with? There is a lot of gamers of a certain age out there that were playing Sega arcade games in the 1980’s and 1990’s, who also had the home consoles and would certainly spend quite a bit of their disposable income on high quality Sega mini consoles and Sega games based on the titles they were playing back in the day. What we actually get in the coming years we will have to wait and see.
All I know is that I’m glad Sega is still around as this is a company that has played a massive part in my life as a gamer. The Mega Drive was such a memorable system for me and I hope this year we get a really high standard mini console with a lot of really high quality games that sets a new standard for providing an easy plug n play retro gaming experience at a reasonable price.
Thanks for checking out this post you can find more retro content below…
10 Things Only 1980’s Gamers Did
Daz
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