Author Topic: Steven Kent on why Sega is "the greatest game maker of all time" (Read 8360 times)

Kairon · « **on:** October 16, 2006, 12:27:35 PM »

Read Here

An excerpt:

Quote
Nintendo may have created the very best games, but I believe SEGA has the most great games on its resume. Forced to take risks to support its consoles, SEGA pushed innovation to new levels that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo would never have dreamed of taking.

Very convincing actually.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

BiLdItUp1 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 16, 2006, 12:36:40 PM »

A good read. I still have a DC actually (got it for $50 new near the very end of its life) You guys have been bashing Kent in the Wii forum, but he still makes some good points...like most, he's a bit more jaded now (after 6yrs in the tech/vg universe, woudln't you be?)

couchmonkey · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2006, 01:07:46 PM »

Without even reading the whole article, I'll somewhat agree.

I do believe that Sega pushed the limits a lot harder than Nintendo. Nintendo has always cruised on franchises and although it does introduce new products regularly, it's nothing like Sega.

All that said, Sega has really been in the dumps lately. Kent purposely excludes Sonic from discussion early on: a wise choice considering the horrible recent games. And it seems like that suckiness is extending to other products. There are good Sega games out there still, but it seems like Sega has passed its prime. To top it off, in recent years I believe Nintendo has begun taken relatively more risks than Sega. It has to in order to make DS and Wii a success.

Still, looking back, I agree that Sega at least innovated more than Nintendo. I don't know if it actually created the better games overall, though.

Edit: Fixed by PlanetGrammarChecker.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #3 on:** October 16, 2006, 01:27:55 PM »

Both companies seem to be coasting on established franchises these days. In Sega's case it was once they were bought by Sammy and effectively no longer were Sega anymore. Nintendo doesn't really have an excuse. It seems that at some point they just started coasting. So I'll give Sega the advantage here since the REAL Sega never really turned cookie cutter.

Though I consider Nintendo to still be superior in terms of the quality of what was actually made. No matter what happens with Nintendo there was a period of time where they could claim to have made one of the greatest games of all time EVERY YEAR. No one will ever compete with that. Nintendo can turn to total crap but their very best work is without equal.

Except for arcade games. Sega smokes Nintendo in that front.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #4 on:** October 16, 2006, 01:38:48 PM »

arcades are dead, just like Seg..........

Ian Sane · « **Reply #5 on:** October 16, 2006, 01:59:47 PM »

"arcades are dead, just like Seg.........."

And this affects the quality of Sega's arcade games how?

Kairon · « **Reply #6 on:** October 16, 2006, 02:13:03 PM »

Arcades are NOT dead.

... They've just been renamed to DDR Bars for now. Konami owns the Arcades.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #7 on:** October 16, 2006, 02:44:15 PM »

I stopped reading when I read the "Sega is the greatest game maker of all time" bit...I mean seriously...Maybe if I skip down to the bottom I'll see a "LOL JUST KIDDING!," but no...

Artimus · « **Reply #8 on:** October 16, 2006, 03:26:07 PM »

Ehhhhh. SEGA excites me less than having a gun shot in the head.

IceCold · « **Reply #9 on:** October 16, 2006, 07:57:20 PM »

In terms of quality, it's not even close.. SEGA had some interesting concepts and definitely tried to innovate. In the end, though, the games just didn't stack up to Nintendo's. Now, obviously, SEGA is in shambles, but I would have thought the Wii controller might have allowed them to treat us to a glimpse of their past. The controller is made for their arcadey style games, as well as many of their others. Take Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS, Shenmue, and their light gun & racing games. They could inject new life into all of those games.. It's too bad they haven't realised the potential.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #10 on:** October 17, 2006, 12:12:54 AM »

Must be a Sega of the past. Sega may produce more games than Nintendo but this gen they made mostly crap, I think even with their lower rate of releases Nintendo comes out ahead on the number of good games released.

Arbok · « **Reply #11 on:** October 17, 2006, 07:37:54 AM »

Well Sega definitely was innovative for a lot of their life, with games like Echo the Dolphin and NiGHTS. Although a lot of those games fell back more on graphics when all was said and done to impress the consumer. They don't hold up nearly as well today as some of Nintendo's titles like Super Mario World, or even some of their NES offerings like Kirby's Adventure. Speaking from a Genesis owner who never picked up a SNES until Donkey Kong Country, I had a lot of fun with the system... but once I got my SNES my first reaction was "man I picked the wrong console..."

I recall the fact that I could actually save my progress on games other than Sonic 3 being a big deal too... Still I love a number of Sega games like Golden Axe and the Sonic series up to "Sonic and Knuckles", but I don't think any of that compares all that well to a lot of Nintendo's canon of amazing games. Either then, and especially now when the disparity in past generation graphics not mattering much. Also, let's not even talk about the Game Gear (I never bought into a Virtual Boy, due to being able to tell this thing would hurt my eyes, so Sega's handheld was easily my most regretted system/handheld purchase).

Ian Sane · « **Reply #12 on:** October 17, 2006, 07:57:19 AM »

"Now, obviously, SEGA is in shambles, but I would have thought the Wii controller might have allowed them to treat us to a glimpse of their past."

Sega doesn't exist anymore. They're just a name so expecting them to be inspired by the Wii controller or anything for that matter doesn't make sense. It's like hoping that "Atari" will return to the glory days of Asteroids and Yar's Revenge.

IceCold · « **Reply #13 on:** October 17, 2006, 08:26:43 AM »

It's not like Atari at all - they still at least have some talented developers and studios, and I'm sure they can still make some great games with the controller. Maybe not classics, but there is potential.

Galford · « **Reply #14 on:** October 17, 2006, 11:10:09 AM »

The article makes a lot of good points.
While I agree that Sega's best will never top Nintendo's best, Sega brought a lot of innovation to gaming.

Point and case, Virtua Fighter. It created the modern day 3d fighter ever brought to market.
Yes, I know wasn't techincally the first 3d fighter, but it served as the template
for all modern 3d fighters.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #15 on:** October 17, 2006, 11:36:23 PM »

Sega was bought up, not dissolved. The people who made their games before the merger still make games after the merger, Sammy just gets to decide which games get made.

Kairon · « **Reply #16 on:** October 18, 2006, 12:10:15 AM »

Bought up or dissolved, the result is the same: SEGA's soul has been smashed into a thousand little pieces and scattered to the wind.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

KDR_11k · « **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2006, 09:07:45 AM »

Sega's soul is their employees.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2006, 09:38:05 AM »

whom brought forth Shadow

AUGH DISASTER FLACCID

Ian Sane · « **Reply #19 on:** October 18, 2006, 09:55:34 AM »

"Sega was bought up, not dissolved. The people who made their games before the merger still make games after the merger, Sammy just gets to decide which games get made."

Deciding what games get made is everything. How can Sega be as creative as they were before if their management doesn't let them? Shigeru Miyamoto is very talented but if he was instructed to make nothing but Mahjong games his output would suck regardless of his talent. Meanwhile there are probably people at EA who are talented but never get to show it because they just get assigned Madden every year.

Nick DiMola · « **Reply #20 on:** October 19, 2006, 04:17:05 AM »

I don't know if I can really agree with Steven Kent's opinion here. I think Sega did create a lot of new franchises and games but a ton of them flat out sucked, and if they didn't suck they were boring as hell. Calling someone the greatest game maker of all time means more than just innovating alot and creating new titles to rival those on other consoles, it means innovating and creating something people love. Nintendo may have made a long chain of Super Mario games but with each iteration the series did totally new things that changed the face of platforming. I personally think Nintendo has really outshined all of its competitors in terms of innovation and quality.

18 Days · « **Reply #21 on:** October 25, 2006, 09:38:41 AM »

I dunno AiAi, Nintendo has always been consistant, consistantly A-Grade but when you're publishing between two and ten 2D platformers a year, it's not hard. The point Kent was raising was that Sega came up with the goods with so many franchises across so many genres. Sure they misfired a few times but when they pulled it off, WIN!

The Omen · « **Reply #22 on:** November 20, 2006, 11:30:18 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
I stopped reading when I read the "Sega is the greatest game maker of all time" bit...I mean seriously...Maybe if I skip down to the bottom I'll see a "LOL JUST KIDDING!," but no...

Ditto.

ThePerm · « **Reply #23 on:** November 20, 2006, 07:34:01 PM »

sega was never the same company ever, every three years there was a change of gaurd from 1989 till now, the only thing that stayed the same was the am/sonic teams. What will eventually happen is things will come together. Its just going to take a while before sammy loses its power or realises if they use Sega right it can do more.

segagamer12 · « **Reply #24 on:** November 21, 2006, 02:58:56 PM »

>>>Now, obviously, SEGA is in shambles, but I would have thought the Wii controller might have allowed them to treat us to a glimpse of their past."

Sega doesn't exist anymore. They're just a name so expecting them to be inspired by the Wii controller or anything for that matter doesn't make sense. It's like hoping that "Atari" will return to the glory days of Asteroids and Yar's Revenge.<<<

First I will trackle this errenous statement. Sega DID NOT GET BOUGHT UP! Tehy MERGED and Are still SEGA, they STILL have all thier Studios they still have ALL thier talent minus a few of the greats, they still have ALL thier backcatelog and they STILL retain thioer name and all thier properties (not just IP but real property also) Sega-Sammy SEGA-SAMMY!!!! Not Sammy, Not Sammy Holdings Sega-Sammy, as in THEY STILL KEPT SEGA.

All this Sega is dead is all horse #&*%

Now addressing the topic.

Sega of old DID make some really cool games and were far more innovative than Even Nintendo could dream of bieng and not just Genesis.

THAT doesnt make them a better game maker in no way, and I as well as MOST Sega fans agree that they and Sega are or less equals non is greater than the other.

Chrome Hounds, Condemened, Sonic Rush, The Monkey Balls, all PROVE Sega can still make GREAT games.

Sega is not the same as they used to be but neither is Nintendo. Both have changed with the times.

Also Sega still innovates a lot in the Arcade market and the Slot Machine market also (and not ALL cuz of Sammy cuz Sega has always made slot machines as does most video game companies, I live in NV and goto casino everyday and see them in action)

Mystaria, Mr.Bones, Phantasy Star, Streets of Rage, Collumns, Sonic 1-3 and Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Shenmue, Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure, Condemned, Panzer Dragoon, VIrtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, House of the dead, Chrome Hounds, Sonic Rush, Ecco the Dolphin, Vector Man, Altered Beast, ect ect the list goes on and on. Sega makes great games, some as good as Nintendo some better some not as good. Nintendo Makes great games, some not as good as Sega, Some Better, Some some as good as Sega.

Sega LIVES on and will continue to Live on. Get over it.

News:

Author Topic: Steven Kent on why Sega is "the greatest game maker of all time" (Read 8360 times)