Sega

BRIEF HISTORY Sega is a video game company and now a software manufacturer for PC,arcade,and console systems.Sega was founded in 1940,they were called Standard Games and later renamed Service Games.They started making video game arcades and continue to grow in popularity.Sega was gaining popularity because of games like Outrun.In the early 1980's the video game market crashed.In the mid-80's the video game market started to pick up again.Soon they released the Sega Master System and was powerful as the NES,but not as popular due to Nintendo's marketing. SUCCESS WITH THE GENESIS In 1989,Sega introduced the Sega Genesis(Mega Drive) and used anti-Nintendo ads,with the slogan "Sega does what Nintendon't."At the time the Genesis had more powerful technology(16 bit) that was better compared to NES hardware(8 bit).Yu Suzuki has a lot to do with the high success with his great ideas of games like Super Hang On,Virtua Fighter,Virtua Cop,and OutRun.It started a "console war" within the video game industry,Nintendo released the Super Nintendo as a comeback.Sega had Sonic The Hedgehog and Nintendo had Mario,Sonic had attitude and was more hip and was cooler than Mario.Sega had success with the Genesis and later released the Sega CD,which had some success,but most of the games were ports of Genesis games.In 1994,Sega released the Sega 32x it "upgrades" the graphics of the Genesis,it sold well but it had a lack of creative games and people were excited about the Sega Saturn at the time.In a year it was in the bargain bar in a a lot of stores. SEGA SATURN The Sega Saturn was released in 1995 and was a success due to the popularity of Virtua Fighter at the arcades.However the American market didn't like the Saturn,so it got pulled early in 1998.Most people wanted Playstation which had Tomb Raider & Crash Banditkoot and Nintendo 64 which had the typical Mario games.The Sega Saturn sold well in Japan and had lots of shmups and fighters that were only released in Japan.Modded Saturns can play burned games by putting in a mod chip.The Saturn had a cart slot for a memory expansion or a RAM expansion cartridge which played games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter,The King of Fighters '96,and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.Most of the 2D fighters on the Saturn could play as well as the arcades unlike the Playstation due to the inferior hardware that makes the games suffer to slowdown and choppy animations.The Saturn was best at 2D games and not very good with 3D games.After a long run the last Saturn game was released in Japan in 1999. In 1997,Sega released Gameworks,a family fun entertainment center.Gameworks has arcades,food,and bar upstairs in most places. DREAMCAST In 1999,Sega releases the Sega Dreamcast and blows away the current game systems which had 32 bit graphics and the DC had 132 bit which was way ahead for its time.The DC had a 56k modem for internet play and had some creative games like Chu Chu Rocket,Samba De Amigo,and Jet Grind Radio.The DC improves games that look inferior on other systems like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,Street Fighter Alpha 3,and Soul Caliber which looked better than the arcade! As soon as the Playstation 2 came out the DC didn't sale as good due to the dvd player that was in the PS2.They discontinued the DC in march of 2001 due to the lack of sales.However in Japan the system was still very popular and sold until 2006.Their are many homebrew game companies that made games for the DC and as of 2009 they are still supported.The DC can play burned games without a modchip which is great if you can't afford the rare titles. SOFTWARE MANUFACTURER In 2002,Sega started to make games for other consoles like XBox,PS2 and Gamecube.Select DC games were on other consoles like Jet Grind Radio,Crazy Taxi,and Sonic Adventure.Sega also made Virtua Fighter 4,The House of the Dead 3,and Sonic Heroes.That even still make arcade games like The House of the Dead 4,Initial D,and Rambo.They also make games for the consoles Xbox 360,PS2,PS3,PSP and Wii like Condemned:Criminal Origins,Samba De Amigo and Ghost Squad.