Well heres Part 2 on Sega's Bad Marketing, so make sure you have read Part 1 Before reading this.

Well Now that we got the 32X out of the way lets move on to there next big failure. A device known as, The Sega Nomad.




Now I actually have alot to say about this little device. So grab a chair and listen up. Lets start with a statement at the end of djbriguy's Who Killed Sega article. One thing he said was,



Well lets find out, so basically the Sega Nomad was a hand held device that played Sega Genesis games. That actually sounds pretty kool, playing your favorite genesis games anywhere you'd like, in the car, on an airplane, at school, how could you go wrong? Because this thing was a piece of garbage. (Im not intending to sound like the Angry Video Game Nerd.)

But lets go over the facts. First theres the fact that this thing was even more bulkier then the game gear, ( Its funny because in one of djbriguy's posts he stated it as a portable sega genesis, WHICH ITS CLEARLY NOT!!!!!)
I mean this abominations anything but portable. It also like the game gear ran on a whopping 6 AA batterys, and had a battery life of only 2 hours. (thats 3 hours less then the game gear.) I mean you'd have to have a monstrous supply of spare batterys with you if you were to take this thing with you on a long plane trip. There was of course a rechargeable battery you could buy separate. But it cost 80 dollars and gave you even less battery life.

But thats only half of why this thing failed. The other reason being that it didnt have its own game format, I mean this thing came out in october of 1995, the Sega Saturn in may 1995, I mean the thing was relying on a format of games that would soon become obsolete. Then there was the fact the playstation and the N64 were on there way. So customers and game developers were already moving on to next gen consoles. I mean a console that relies on a format of games thats gonna be discontinued isnt gonna live very long. Unless game developers knew about this device and just decided to slap some genesis cartridges with the word nomad on em.

But as far as 1996 goes people were now lossing interest in 2D genesis games in favor of newer 3D games. but as I said it might have stood a chance if it had its own format. but I dont think it would have lasted long anyway considering the short battery life and Bulkiness. The PSP on the other hand djbriguy, had a fair battery life, was portable, and had its own game format. I mean it wasnt this giant piece of crap that played giant outdated PS1 games. ( So in short, the Sega
Nomad didnt have a snowflakes chance in hell.)

Now before I forget lets move on to Sega's next flaw the Sega Saturn.




Its 1995 and it was announced that the Sega Saturn would be released on September 2 of that year, it was also announced that the Playstation would be released on September 9. but for whatever reason Sega decided to release it on may 11. This was a surprise to everyone, I mean retailers were shocked, Sony was shocked, and game developers were furious. I mean alot of them were still developing games for the saturn that wouldnt be ready till the september 2 launch, and in those months between the launch of the playstation they were only able to sell 80,000 units. The Playstation upon its launch however sold over 100,000 units. So where did this surprise launch get them anyway, they should have just waited and released it on september 2.

but this was only the start of there problems. There was the fact that no one wanted publish games for this thing, and whys that? With 3 processors compared to the Playthings 1 processor how could you go wrong? Theres the fact that the more processors you have on a console, the harder it is to program games for. I mean hard core Sega fans may be bragging on how much more powerfull this made it compared to the Playstation. But where did this send Sega's well known third party support it had with the Sega Genesis. It sent them straight to Sony. Thats the major problem with the Saturn was that there just werent enough games for it.

I mean the playstations library is insane compared to the Saturn. why theres

Crash Bandicoot
Spyro the Dragon
Metal Gear Solid
Ape Escape
Twisted Metal
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy Tactics
Resident Evil
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

The list goes on and on. As for the Saturn theres.

Sonic 3D blast
Nights into Dreams
Panzer Dragoon
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Cop
Clockwork Knight
Shining Force 3: scenario 1
Nightwarriors: Darkstalkers Revenge
Sega Ages

There were actually quite a few games for the saturn. But its still puny compared to the Playstation library outside of japan, and most were just arcade ports. So the Saturn was designed mosty for the arcade consumer, rather then the wide variety of gamers. Another problem was that most of the Saturns good games never left Japanese shores.

Thats right, there was a ton of support for it over in japan, and a vast library of games as well. But hardly any of those games left japanese borders.

So I think in the end the Playstation was the better buy. I mean the problem with the saturn was, it came out to early, it was to hard to program games on, there werent enough games for it, and alot of them never left japan.

So with the Saturn bombing Sega focussed there efferts on one last console, the Sega dreamcast.




So the Sega Dreamcast hit North america on September 9, 1999, Hold on a sec? This actually seems like a pretty good console. 128 bit processor, a great deal of third party support, online play (Oh, that sounds like fun.), Sonic the hedgehog in 3D, Looks like Sega's finally redeeming themselfs and becoming the great company alot of us remember them as.



BUT WAIT! Isnt Sony coming out with a new console called the PS2 in almost a year?!?! Maybe I should just wait for that to come out and not even bother with Sega's new console.

Thats what killed the Dreamcast, the heighth of the PS2. I mean didnt Sega learn anything from releasing the Saturn to early? I mean the PS2 came out on october 26, 2000. Just a year away, of course people were just gonna wait for it to come out and not get a dreamcast. Thats Sega's other problem, was that they were releasing things way to early.

I mean the Dreamcast was a great console. It was finally the answer to all there past mistakes. The problem was it was the right idea, at the wrong time. I mean they shouldnt have released it so early. They should have waited till the PS2 hit the shelfs, Built a height on that and there new Sonic the Hedgehog game, and theyd probably still be in the console race today. But if decreasing sales on the Dreamcast and increasing sales on the PS2 werent bad enough. There was also the fact that the following year Nintendo would be releasing there next console, and Microsoft would be entering the console wars with there Xbox. So Sega didnt have the resources to stay in the race, So on march 2001 the Dreamcast was discontinued and Sega made the switch to a Third party development company.




I mean dont take this the wrong way Sega fans out there, Sega makes great games. I mean they put a new label on the word hard core. The problem was, they were releasing to many consoles. They were releasing things to early, and they were trying way to hard to try and be number 1. I mean just because they released things like the Sega CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast first doesnt mean a damn thing.

What matters is how these ideas are used, not who came up with them first. Think of the Sega CD as the Tom Thumb of the gaming world. I mean the Tom Thumb, (If some of you dont know.) was a steam powered engine on steel rails. It was literally the first train. But it bombed, It ended up losing a race against a horse pulling a wagon and looking like a disgrace. But people found this thing had potential and invested in it, eventually creating a Machine that revolutionized transportation around the world known as the locomotive. In a sense the same thing can be said about the Sega CD and a few other things they invented.

I think the problem was that the gaming industry just wasnt ready for some of these innovations. I think if they planned a little better and didnt rush there products out the door, or be so anchious on grinding there competition into the ground. They could have maintained a stable position in the console industry.

I mean Sega can still make some great games. I mean Super Monkey Ball, Panzer Dragoons Orta, Virtua Fighter 5, Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rush, Sonic and the secret rings, Gunstar Super Heroes, Phantasy Star Universe, Golden Axe Beast Rider, and Nights Journey through Dreams should be proof enough for you. Sure there not making there own consoles anymore, and sure there making games for companys they once competed against. But does that make them any less of a company then they were back then?

Well I hope some of you enjoyed my 2 part research on Sega's Bad Marketing Decisions, and I hope some of you know a little more about why Sega's no longer making consoles, and lets hope other great gaming Industries dont repeat the same mistakes Sega made.

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