It’s similarly hard to believe that, following the success of the second gen console (their first, the Master System, released in 1986, sold comparatively poorly against the hugely popular Nintendo Entertainment System), Sega’s later systems failed to capture the public’s imagination. Sega muddied their reputation further with a series of ill-advised and ill-fated expansion units for the Megadrive; the Mega CD and 32X both failed to sell in significant numbers. Despite these setbacks, Sega fought on, and in 1995 released the Megadrive’s successor, the Sega Saturn. This too, failed to sell outside Japan, and hastened by the popularity of the Playstation, was axed three years later. Today’s ‘big three’ console manufacturers would do well to learn from the mistakes that led to Sega’s untimely demise; Sony’s attempt to outdo Nintendo’s DS with superior technology (the PSP) has several disconcerting similarities to Sega’s Game Gear – not least among them the short battery life, the slow sales and lack of games. Its apparently complacent attitude to the Xbox 360 has also hurt initial sales of the PS3 – thanks to Microsoft’s twelve month head start, the 360 has so far sold approximately 17 million units, versus Sony’s more modest 5 million. While it’s highly likely that the PS3 will bridge the sales gap in short order, recent news that Microsoft have finally cracked the normally Sony-loyal Japanese market could be bad news in the long term. And while Nintendo’s Wii sales have been quite staggering – particularly in the light of the less than astronomical success of the Gamecube – they too, have some lessons to learn. Before the Dreamcast’s eventual death, Sega released a veritable avalanche of peripherals and accessories: lightguns, fishing rods, microphones, maracas, digital cameras, as well as a plethora of other controllers. Sound familiar?
