The year is 1988. Nintendo has claimed over 90% of the market share of the American gaming market, a number that has never been seen since... But, a new challenger is about to change the game, and set the stage for the biggest console rivalry in the world... all on the backs of Blast Processing, The Solar System, and a Dream.
Take control of the publishing, developing, arcade, consumer arms of the video game world's big blue shooting star: SEGA!
Can you beat Nintendo, Atari, and even Sony Computer Entertainment America? Can you outlast Sega's console war record of March 2001?
It's 1988. Tonka had flubbed the distribution of the Sega Mark III in America; though it was never going to truly defeat the Nintendo Entertainment System. If Sega wanted to take Nintendo on, they were going to have to do it themselves. The following year, the Sega Mark V; the Megadrive, launched in North America as the Sega Genesis.
Thus began the single greatest rivalry in the history of videogames: The Console War. From the late 80s to the early 2000s, Sega took the field as a console manufacturer, but a number of mistakes by their various Japanese and American branches cost them too much money. They had almost lost everything in 2001, and it took a donation from a truly generous man to keep them afloat long enough to survive and thrive in the modern day.
So, take a trip back with me to 1988. It's time we changed some things. You are the head of Sega. You are the one responsible for the decisions and the library Sega must make; from their evergreen arcade division, to their immensely popular Genesis, to the sleeping dragon of the Saturn and the last honor of the Dreamcast; to the Fastest of Hedgehogs to the deepest of Deep Waters; From Aa! Harimanda to Zaxxon Motherbase 2000; from Pluto to Saturn; from Blast Processing to Segata Sanshiro to the edge of a Katana to the spiral of a dream...
The Dreamcast was discontinued in March 2001. Can you beat that? Five rivals are constantly nipping at your toes.
W E L C O
M E T O T
H E N E X
T L E V E L
Welcome to SEGA Quest!
You are put in control of the coolest blue video game company around, during the wildest ride of all: the 1990s Console War.
Here's how this is going to work.
This Quest is structured in four phases, with the possibility for a fifth...
Megadrive
Game Gear
Saturn
Dreamcast
...Beyond
Your job is to keep Sega afloat during this time.
Bear in mind the shifting tastes of the audience, advances in technology, and signs of the times. Real world events may happen, or may not.
The flow of this Quest is as follows - August 1989 through March 2001. Every post will be a month in the year. Every month you'll have to determine what games will be released on your console in each region:
[American] Represents the North and South America, Canada, Mexico, American Territories, save Brazil.
[European] Represents the UK, The European Union, Russia, and Africa. Bear in mind, there are some games that must be censored over there.
[Asia] Represents Southeast Asia and, importantly, Japan.
(Assume Brazil gets all of them)
You will also have to determine what games in your current lineup of arcade games would be best suited for a given console. Also, if you have a console ready to launch, you may vote on it here and launch with a suite of games. You will be voting on the launch lineup for the Sega Genesis here.
Once the votes are tallied the results will come in, and then you will be observing the industry and making decisions on how to best proceed with:
[Awareness] - Get your name out there by spending capital on advertising, TV sponsorships, previews and interviews, teasers!
[Support] - No console can live off one company alone. Reach out to other companies and get them to make games for you, or alternatively go third party a little early and have your competitors make your games for them? Maybe you can have them release your games on PC, and see if that would help boost sales? (Note: Nintendo will have major third parties until 1990 at the latest)
[Research] - Research the hottest games out there right now, and see if your console would be a good fit for it. Research your competition to make sure that people come to you to play the best! Research the latest technology so you could always stay ahead of the curve!
[Development] - The best games take time, and sometimes you need to spend a little to make it big. Spend some time and capital to develop your killer apps, but don't take too long! You might find your biggest hit irrelevant sooner than you think. Don't spend too much, either! You could lose more money than you make.
[Plan] - You want to plan a global event for your latest launch? You want to promise something you want to keep? You have something cool, and you want to let the world know it? This will take time and money.
Then, the votes will be tallied and the results will come in.
You will start with a cool one hundred million dollars (US) in your Capital, and every decision you make could affect your company's fortunes positively or negatively. It's possible to go into debt, as well. If you end up owing money for three consecutive years, you will fail this quest, so be careful what you spend.
Major game releases and console releases, such as Sonic games and major consoles, will be a massive boon to you and will help you advance to the final phase. Riskier plays will be a risker dice roll, and the difficulty on a given risk will be ranked from E to AAA, E being the easiest to take, AAA being the hardest. For a play to be successful, you must pass a check, and your choices in the second round of voting will modify the difficulty; either guaranteeing it or making it all but impossible.
E ~ D+ : Quota is 5
D ~ C+: Quota is 10
B- ~ B+: Quota is 15
A- ~ A+: Quota is 20
AAA: Quota is 50
The higher the difficulty, the more rewards you could make.
If you keep your company afloat past March 2001? You win the Quest. After that, depending on interest, we will go into the postgame and see how far you can go.
If you end up in debt, you must pay it off by the end of the year. If you are in debt for three consecutive years, you will end up bankrupt, and you will lose the Quest.
If you end up in debt between the years of 1999 and 2001, the late Okawa Isao from CSK Holdings will bail you out on his deathbed. You will still win the Quest, but you will have lost the Console Wars and you will need to transition into a third party publisher. No postgame for you (unless I really feel like it)
If you ever manage to gain 88% of the Market Share of the Industry? You win the Quest and the Console War.
Time to press power. The Sega Megadrive will launch momentarily. But there's a snag. David Rosen doesn't like the name Mega Drive, and he suggests a name with the implication of a new beginning. a rebirth. A Genesis.
Unless you have a better book of the Old Testament or something, like Deuteronomy.
[X] Launch as the Sega Genesis.
[X] Launch as the Sega Model A.
[X] Launch as the Sega Terra.
[X] Launch as the Sega Megadrive
[X] Launch as the Sega... (Write-In your idea)
On top of that you have a fair amount of games ready to go for the US Launch. Every game will cost $1,000,000 to make and manufacture, plus licensing costs if any. If you manage to pass the checks, you'll be able to release the game; but if you fail your investment will be refunded. In this instance we are focusing on the US launch only, but in the future we will be tacking Japanese and European releases.
[X] Super Thunder Blade - Helicopter flight action
[X] Juuoki - The Japanese name for Altered Beast, a 2D Belt scroller. (This was a recognizable arcade title, so you might want to keep the name... unless you have a better idea?)
[X] Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou - a platformer starring a famous gag manga sextuplet family. (You need to license the property, because ain't no one's ever heard of a Osomatsu-kun. Cost: $2,000,000. Risk: D)
[X] Super League - a baseball game. (Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda has offered his endorsement for this game, but you'll need to pay the cash for him. Cost: $5 Million USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign)
[X] Thunder Force II - a 2D shooter with free-roaming and side-scrolling levels.
[X] Hokuto no Ken: Shin Seikimatsu Kyuseishu Densetstu - a 2D belt scroller based on a famous and famously violent anime.(You could license out the property over here, or release it as Last Battle, since no one knows what anime is... maybe? Cost: $5,000,00. Risk: C-. Failure releases Last Battle instead.)
[X] Tetris - the classic soviet puzzle game. (Nintendo owns the rights to this game. It requires capital spent to pay Nintendo licensing fees, if they're up for you releasing your arcade version. Costs $10,000,000 USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign. Risk: B+. Requires 17 to release in US)
[X] Super Daisenryaku - a war strategy game. (You'll need to risk translating this game for a wider audience, but a strategy game on a console might be a hard sell. Risk: C-)
[X] Write-In - Suggest a game to release. (Perhaps an Arcade game or two will be a good fit for your console, or do you have any publishers in mind? Every write-in past the first will cost you. Cost: $1,000,000 each Write-In.)
You will start with a cool one hundred million dollars (US) in your Capital, and every decision you make could affect your company's fortunes positively or negatively. It's possible to go into debt, as well. If you end up owing money for three consecutive years, you will fail this quest, so be careful what you spend.
Ah neat, and we probably dont want to spend all of it at once but we should spend a good chunk for a strong launch. OTL there was major friction between the Japan office and the NA and Europe offices so curious how much that is going to play into things here. Also how free we are to try and make any partnerships or 3rd party deals or acquisitions
The Sonic Mandates have to go the moment we have the option to get rid of them or the option to not do them
[X] Plan: Rebirth
[X] Launch as the Sega Reborn
[X] Juuoki - The Japanese name for Altered Beast, a 2D Belt scroller. (This was a recognizable arcade title, so you might want to keep the name... unless you have a better idea?)
[X] Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou - a platformer starring a famous gag manga sextuplet family. (You need to license the property, because ain't no one's ever heard of a Osomatsu-kun. Cost: $2,000,000. Risk: D)
[X] Super League - a baseball game. (Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda has offered his endorsement for this game, but you'll need to pay the cash for him. Cost: $5 Million USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign)
[X] Thunder Force II - a 2D shooter with free-roaming and side-scrolling levels.
[X] Plan: Slimer
[X] Launch as the Sega Genesis
[X] Super Thunder Blade - Helicopter flight action
[X] Juuoki - The Japanese name for Altered Beast, a 2D Belt scroller. (This was a recognizable arcade title, so you might want to keep the name... unless you have a better idea?)
[X] Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou - a platformer starring a famous gag manga sextuplet family. (You need to license the property, because ain't no one's ever heard of a Osomatsu-kun. Cost: $2,000,000. Risk: D)
[X] Super League - a baseball game. (Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda has offered his endorsement for this game, but you'll need to pay the cash for him. Cost: $5 Million USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign)
[X] Double Dare - The game show you love in a form that's leagues better than that cruddy NES incarnation. Cost: $2 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Finders Keepers - An elaborate video game version of the famous game show that blows the cruddy NES Double Dare out of the water all the way down to the graphics. Cost: $1 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Thunder Force II - a 2D shooter with free-roaming and side-scrolling levels.
[X] Plan: Slimer
[X] Launch as the Sega Genesis
[X] Juuoki - The Japanese name for Altered Beast, a 2D Belt scroller. (This was a recognizable arcade title, so you might want to keep the name... unless you have a better idea?)
[X] Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou - a platformer starring a famous gag manga sextuplet family. (You need to license the property, because ain't no one's ever heard of a Osomatsu-kun. Cost: $2,000,000. Risk: D)
[X] Super League - a baseball game. (Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda has offered his endorsement for this game, but you'll need to pay the cash for him. Cost: $5 Million USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign)
[X] Double Dare - The game show you love in a form that's leagues better than that cruddy NES incarnation. Cost: $2 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Finders Keepers - An elaborate video game version of the famous game show that blows the cruddy NES Double Dare out of the water all the way down to the graphics. Cost: $1 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Thunder Force II - a 2D shooter with free-roaming and side-scrolling levels.
There is a lot of stuff we are just going to have to roll with as I dont think we have full control of SEGA currently and there is just a lot working against SEGA
[X] Plan: Megadrive
[X] Launch as the Sega Megadrive
[X] Super Thunder Blade - Helicopter flight action
[X] Juuoki - The Japanese name for Altered Beast, a 2D Belt scroller. (This was a recognizable arcade title, so you might want to keep the name... unless you have a better idea?)
[X] Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijou - a platformer starring a famous gag manga sextuplet family. (You need to license the property, because ain't no one's ever heard of a Osomatsu-kun. Cost: $2,000,000. Risk: D)
[X] Super League - a baseball game. (Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda has offered his endorsement for this game, but you'll need to pay the cash for him. Cost: $5 Million USD. Unlocks "Arcade Experience" Ad Campaign)
[X] Double Dare - The game show you love in a form that's leagues better than that cruddy NES incarnation. Cost: $2 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Finders Keepers - An elaborate video game version of the famous game show that blows the cruddy NES Double Dare out of the water all the way down to the graphics. Cost: $1 Million USD, Viacom will become a major partner in exchange for a push to brand it as the Nickelodeon Genesis)
[X] Thunder Force II - a 2D shooter with free-roaming and side-scrolling levels.
[X] Gauntlet - A classic cooperative dungeon crawler. Known for its multiplayer action. The fast-paced gameplay and high replayability make it a perfect fit for the Sega Genesis, appealing to both nostalgic players and new audiences. In addition, Tengen hate Nintendo for their business practices (around this time they even illegally bypassed the Nintendo blocking chip), so maybe they will be good partners for us if we offer them good Terms, and this will give us a fairly large library of atari exclusives.
[X] Shinobi was a commercial success in arcades; it topped the monthly Japanese table arcade charts in December 1987, and became a blockbuster arcade hit in the United States, where it was the highest-grossing conversion kit of 1988 and one of the top five conversion kits of 1989. It was adapted by Sega for its Master System game console, but it is very important that the PC Engine version be released exclusively in Japan by Asmik on December 8, 1989. Therefore, it should be quite easy to make it for our console. Plus "System 16" Served as the basis for the design of the Mega Drive/Genesis.
The Nintendo Entertainment System version of Shinobi was released by Tengen exclusively in North America as an unlicensed release in 1989. This will give us a chance to put pressure on them and get some preferences.
Can we somehow affect the quality of the games? Because Altered Beast was considered not the best choice to launch the console, since it was too short and monotonous.
Then it's probably better to release the also very popular Shinobi as a launch title, and Altered Beast is better to finalize and release later.
Shinobi was a commercial success in arcades; it topped the monthly Japanese table arcade charts in December 1987, and became a blockbuster arcade hit in the United States, where it was the highest-grossing conversion kit of 1988 and one of the top five conversion kits of 1989. It was adapted by Sega for its Master System game console, but it is very important that the PC Engine version be released exclusively in Japan by Asmik on December 8, 1989. Therefore, it should be quite easy to make it for our console. Plus "System 16" Served as the basis for the design of the Mega Drive/Genesis.
The Nintendo Entertainment System version of Shinobi was released by Tengen exclusively in North America as an unlicensed release in 1989. This will give us a chance to put pressure on them and get some preferences.
Just came across this and will watch this. Makes me think about the series "The Toys that Built America" where some episodes involve videogames. More relevant is one involving SEGA.
Mostly thinking about how at one point there was a possibility of SEGA and Sony working together to make a consol, though SEGA Japan I think denied in favor to instead work on their own. Mind not quite focus and been a bit since saw that episode.
Mostly just wonder how it might go if SEGA did instead take up the opportunity to work with Sony.
Just came across this and will watch this. Makes me think about the series "The Toys that Built America" where some episodes involve videogames. More relevant is one involving SEGA.
Mostly thinking about how at one point there was a possibility of SEGA and Sony working together to make a consol, though SEGA Japan I think denied in favor to instead work on their own. Mind not quite focus and been a bit since saw that episode.
Mostly just wonder how it might go if SEGA did instead take up the opportunity to work with Sony.
If there was a chance it was probably after the Nintendo-Sony deal for a Sony CD addon to the SNES fell through. And of course it is SEGA Japan messing up again. If they did take the opportunity that could have been very interesting, Sony had a lot deeper pockets and some very good engineering and 3rd party support for the PS1 combine that with SEGAs IPs and well who knows where things end up but you probably have a more lopsided generation
