Due to the absolute killer launch of the Sega Genesis it was difficult to keep up with the demand, and as a result the number one killer of launch momentum has struck:
Chip shortages.
Sega blew through their initial stock of Zilog Z80 processors, and must order more to keep up with the demand. As a result, Sega sold about half as many Genesis SKUs as they would normally have. Sega gets a well deserved breather, especially with how successful their lineup for September 1989 turned out.
The best selling game of this month: Konami's Salamander, reaching 900,000 units sold in its first month, a worthy feat. It helped that the sales of Konami's NES version, Life Force, helped it along; proving once and for all that two versions of the same game on competing consoles can co-exist in harmony.
The worst selling game of this month, by contrast, is Konami's other release, Gradius II: Revenge of Gofer; selling a paltry 310,000 in its first month. While Salamander did show a lot of promise, Konami's in-development Gradius III port will be released exclusively on the Super Nintendo. However, they would be continuing to release games for the Genesis. (Gradius III locked to Super NES)
Interestingly, R-Type did not perform all that well either, being the second worst selling game of the month. Plans are still go for Super R-Type, however. If it wasn't for Salamander and Thunder Force II, could the Sega Genesis really be a haven for shooters?
The biggest surprise: Fist of the North Star's relative success turned a tidy profit for Tetsuo Hara's kung fu apocalypse anime; enough for Sega to fund a dub of the series currently airing in late night syndication. The violence and gore of the anime shocked many viewers, but the intricate story, well-choreographed fights, and of course, Kenshiro being the coolest mother fucker around has earned it a following. (Fist of the North Star sales will double next month) However, the violent subject matter of the game prompted Sega to be proactive, and mark it and all future games with a content rating from the VRC, or Video Ratings Council. Essentially acting as Sega's answer to the MPAA Ratings Board, the VRC has four different ratings for each game: C-3, for Children and preschoolers, GA-6, for General Audience, MA-13, for games meant for teenagers, and MA-17, for games marketed towards adults and mature teenagers (with an unspoken fifth rating for games that outright cannot be sold to the general public and thus are not counted in the sales every month, but they do exist.) The VRC may have been founded by Sega, but it is not staffed or related to Sega otherwise, and it will serve as the content warning from this point until it is rendered irrelevant by the ESRB.... assuming that they aren't placated by the VRC's work. Fist of the North Star is rated MA-13 due to its feature of blood and violence; but avoided an MA-17 for the absence of any serious gore.
Third party discussions are going smoothly. Viacom's assistance with marketing has opened a lot of doors, including one of the most famous doors in the entertainment world; one with a very recognizable pair of ears. Sega's success has reached Disney; and they came to an agreement, with some financial backing from Viacom, Sega has agreed to develop a number of games, exclusive to their system, with the Disney branding. Another door opened to them: Michael Jackson, the King of Pop himself. His new movie, Moonwalker, needs some outreach. With Viacom covering the cost, Sega went for it. We'll see how that turns out for them, but it should be noted that Jackson was always a fan of Sega arcade games. Neverland Ranch had (has) a bunch of them.
Namco, having been scorned by Nintendo's third party license contract, signed on with Sega instead. Relationships between the two companies have been frosty ever since the NES launch, and this might only end up making things worse. However, not everything is so rosy in the house of Sega. Accolade has been trying to reverse-engineer the Genesis cartridges, and Sega caught wind of it. Before it could go to court, however, they gave them a choice. The carrot is that they were quite impressed with how quickly they were able to clean-room the cartridges, so they would be offered a license. The stick is that if they don't license, they will be locked out until the next console or be forced to take their business elsewhere. Accolade chose to license.
Talks with Square are proceeding as usual, and while Nintendo is still aiming to retain exclusive rights to publish Final Fantasy on their own, the discussions are proceeding well. It may be that Final Fantasy I & II will become a multiplatform game... then again, Square is already in the process of developing Final Fantasy IV...
The development of the Tetra Adaptor and the Power Base have inspired Sega to integrate both add-ons into the Sega Genesis Megabase, and to prevent further incidents involving Accolade, they implemented a strict set of code for Genesis cartridges; though fortunately they are flexible. Hence, the Trademark Security System, TMSS, was implemented. A game must contain the word "SEGA" somewhere in its code in order for it to boot up successfully. If a game has the SEGA code properly implemented, the game will run as normal. If not, it will fail to boot. The code was made flexible on purpose, and the code may be broken up and split in throughout the game's code, but there is a catch: the code is given by Sega, and the letters "S" "E" G"" and "A" must be in order for it to work.
The Tetra Adaptor and Power Base have proven successful, and Sega president Hayao Nakamura figured "why are we wasting time making peripheral SKUs when this could have been the standard?" Development has thus begun on the Sega Genesis Megabase SKU; which includes the Tetra Adaptor and Power Base Converter slot. It would cost more at retail, but it could be the standard model for all Sega Genesis units going forward. We will have to see about the sales for next month,
With one million units sold, Sega has their eyes on furthering the development of their machine; keeping it relevant for as long as the market allows, and one of the core weaknesses of the system is its difficulty in running Super Scaler arcade ports. There is also the recent invention known as the CD-ROM that NEC, as well as modern computers, have adopted. Live audio streamed from the CD itself, video footage, higher storage capacity meaning they could put more game into a game; but the drawback is the game must be loaded from the CD-ROM...
The last thing to note for this month is the release of the Mega Tech Mk II. Sega's primary breadwinner is the arcade scene, after all, and the Mega Drive was created with the purpose of running their latest and greatest arcade games... but as with all things, Nintendo had a solid idea. The Play-Choice 10 system was an upright arcade board with 10 different NES cartridge slots for 10 different NES games that could be plugged in and displayed as arcade games for a short period of time. Through this, Nintendo created synergy, by demoing new and upcoming games in the Playchoice 10 cabinets in the arcade for 25 cents a pop. Sega's initial answer was the Mega Tech, which focused on Sega Master System games; though the arcade solution was Japan only. This time, Sega's not playing around. the Mega Tech Mk. II would be given a worldwide release and run Sega Genesis and Megadrive games, along with slots for Master System. The gambit worked, and Sega will continue this line from now on.
Other notable gaming releases of September 1989 include
Twinbee 3: Poko Poko Daimao
PTO: Pacific Theatre of Operations
Boxxle
Motocross Maniacs
Double Dungeons
Tecmo World Wrestling
Hydlide III: Special Edition
S.T.U.N. Runner
Ducktales
Next: October 1989.
Monthly Revenue: $650,000,000
Upkeep: -$35,500,000
Net Profit: $615,500,000
Current Funds: $852,900,000
Edit: We are going to need to balance this game. Please add more costly game releases, Aria.
The game list will be ready tomorrow.
