It’s the 25th anniversary of the SEGA Saturn! To celebrate we’ve done some tidying up in our hardware section and made separate articles for the original HST-3200/HST-3210 SEGA Saturn and the “model 2” HST-3220 revision. The article for the HST-3220 revision is also entirely new.
In an article published by Yahoo! Japan, SEGA Games COO Kenji Matsubara has stated the company are looking into bringing back the Mega Drive for a modern audience. This has lead to speculation that SEGA could be planning a proper rival to Nintendo’s massively successful NES and SNES Mini consoles – but unfortunately, the truth is slightly less glamorous.
In the full version of the article, Matsubara states:
“We are considering importing and selling the ‘Sega Genesis Flashback’,… [it] is built-in game software primarily sold in North America & Europe”
The SEGA Genesis Flashback is the latest effort from AtGames. Priced at an eye-watering $80, you’d expect some bang for your buck – but while there are some improvements to AtGames’ much loathed older units, it’s still not on par with Nintendo’s in-house efforts, or even M2’s attempts at rejuvenating Mega Drive titles. Even worse, many of the 85 games on the collection aren’t even classic Mega Drive titles!
As such, Matsubara’s announcement unfortunately doesn’t mean much in the long run; back to hoping for an M2-led Mega Drive release, we go.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
Hear that? That’s the sound of me weeping into a pillow at the thought of Japanese 3DS owners being able to purchase this incredible new theme based on the Dreamcast (as well as many other retro SEGA consoles). Check out video of the theme in action and marvel at the attention to detail (VMU and disc drive sounds!):
The current range of SEGA console themes for 3DS are sadly exclusive to Japan at the moment. Fingers crossed they eventually make it West.
After the amazing discovery of the SEGA Pluto prototype console on Wednesday, the owner of the other console has come forward and created a video of it in action. He has also revealed that he found it at a flea market for a dollar and will likely put it on eBay in the next few days:
Well how’s this for SEGA news: a user of the ASSEMbler forums known as Super Magnetic has posted photos of an extremely rare SEGA Saturn prototype called the SEGA Pluto.
The SEGA Pluto would have been a SEGA Saturn with a built in Netlink for dial up internet connectivity. I say “would have been” because there is rumored to be only 2 prototypes in existence, this being the 2nd. The final console obviously didn’t go into production.
Some key members of SEGA’s staff have shared their thoughts regarding Sony’s Playstation 4 announcement and the opportunities the new technology can offer them. Check out the comments below:
SEGA Chief Communications Officer, Toshihiro Nagoshi
— “I genuinely felt that the specs, namely the high image quality, that enable the development of high quality products, are amazing. I’ve been in this field for 23 years, and back in the past, the current specs would have been considered a fantasy. But at the same time, there are a lot of hurdles that need to be overcome to expand that fantasy to its limit, so there is a certain tenseness that keeps me from simply being overjoyed. I’m also aware that users want to see that fantasy taken to the limit.”
— “I’m looking forward to the functions and services that stimulate the ‘user community’ and share game enjoyment. The ‘online’ component of games has been a standard for a while now, but I’m looking forward to services that utilize that component to dynamically cultivate user connectivity.”
— “To sum it up in a single phrase, it’d be ‘a great emotional experience shared by many people.’ It used to be the norm in all areas that the bigger the numbers, the worse it looks, and the better it looks, the smaller the numbers—the question now will be how to escape that dilemma? I’m going to give it my best.”
SEGA Section Manager, Masayoshi Yokoyama
— “Personally, I was expecting a Sony group home appliance substation sort of expansion, so it felt like an evolution of ‘gaming hardware’ in a good way. There are a lot of features that tickle my creative fancy as a game developer, so I’m quite excited.”
— “My primary interest is the controller. I believe the controller is a user’s biggest direct interface with [a console’s] ‘quality.’ With previous game consoles that were released, after a time, what you tend to think of is the tactile sensation of the controller in your hands and the feeling of gameplay. That feeling is stored in your brain along with the memories of fun games. The new controller has the most appealing form and specs I’ve seen since the original PlayStation, so I’m very excited about it.”
— “Looking at the new functions, I believe we’ve truly entered the new age of ‘bi-directional media.’ In Japan, TV and other ‘passive’ media are still the majority, but with the emergence of the PS4, I think the possibility of new genres like a change from ‘viewed’ to ‘movable’ TV would be interesting. I’m thinking of such possibilities.”
How’s this for left-field? The recently announced RetroN 4 console is a hybrid console that allows you to play NES, SNES, Mega Drive and Gameboy Advance cartridges on one system. The console is also equipped with a HDMI output and supports both NTSC and PAL cartridges.
The console’s developer Hyperkin is expected to make a full announcement on March 23rd at the Midwest Gaming Classic trade show in Wisconsin.
The developer’s previous console (the RetroN 3) is pictured above and already available. This console allows you to play NES, SNES and Mega Drive cartridges, but only offers S-video or composite video output.
SEGA of Japan have teamed up with ebten to launch a range of SEGA NOTE PCs. The laptops are themed around 3 SEGA consoles with an additional SEGA-themed laptop. The 3 consoles are Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast which you can see in the above image.
As the laptops are Japan exclusive they will probably be very expensive to import. Regardless, here’s the Japanese retail prices:
SEGA: 99,750 yen or £680.26 Mega Drive: 131,250 yen or £894.96 Saturn: 162,750 yen or £1,109.75 Dreamcast: 194,250 yen or £1,324.47
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Key SEGA Staff Comment on the PS4
Monday, March 25th, 2013Some key members of SEGA’s staff have shared their thoughts regarding Sony’s Playstation 4 announcement and the opportunities the new technology can offer them. Check out the comments below:
SEGA Chief Communications Officer, Toshihiro Nagoshi
— “I genuinely felt that the specs, namely the high image quality, that enable the development of high quality products, are amazing. I’ve been in this field for 23 years, and back in the past, the current specs would have been considered a fantasy. But at the same time, there are a lot of hurdles that need to be overcome to expand that fantasy to its limit, so there is a certain tenseness that keeps me from simply being overjoyed. I’m also aware that users want to see that fantasy taken to the limit.”
— “I’m looking forward to the functions and services that stimulate the ‘user community’ and share game enjoyment. The ‘online’ component of games has been a standard for a while now, but I’m looking forward to services that utilize that component to dynamically cultivate user connectivity.”
— “To sum it up in a single phrase, it’d be ‘a great emotional experience shared by many people.’ It used to be the norm in all areas that the bigger the numbers, the worse it looks, and the better it looks, the smaller the numbers—the question now will be how to escape that dilemma? I’m going to give it my best.”
SEGA Section Manager, Masayoshi Yokoyama
— “Personally, I was expecting a Sony group home appliance substation sort of expansion, so it felt like an evolution of ‘gaming hardware’ in a good way. There are a lot of features that tickle my creative fancy as a game developer, so I’m quite excited.”
— “My primary interest is the controller. I believe the controller is a user’s biggest direct interface with [a console’s] ‘quality.’ With previous game consoles that were released, after a time, what you tend to think of is the tactile sensation of the controller in your hands and the feeling of gameplay. That feeling is stored in your brain along with the memories of fun games. The new controller has the most appealing form and specs I’ve seen since the original PlayStation, so I’m very excited about it.”
— “Looking at the new functions, I believe we’ve truly entered the new age of ‘bi-directional media.’ In Japan, TV and other ‘passive’ media are still the majority, but with the emergence of the PS4, I think the possibility of new genres like a change from ‘viewed’ to ‘movable’ TV would be interesting. I’m thinking of such possibilities.”
[Source: SEGAShiro]
Webmaster and lead writer at SEGADriven. Likes old games, heavy music and too much pizza. Follow on Twitter @kronkblats
Tags: comments, console, developer, Masayoshi Yokoyama, next generation, opportunities, playstation 4, ps4, sega, staff, technology, thoughts, Toshihiro Nagoshi
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