In the 32-bit age, long ago Microsoft became its main competitor sony In the electronic entertainment industry, the company that copper really fought for leadership in the video game industry was the Japanese. SEGA. A series of recently leaked documents from the 1990s show that Sonic’s corporate executives took this competition very seriously. This and an exaggerated confidence in its ability to liquidate competition and drive consumer choices.
“SEGA is killing PlayStation”
According to the company’s internal communications, there was great confidence in the Saturn video console, which was predicted to be a huge success in the United States. Tom Kalinske, who was then the executive director of SEGA of America, made a significant signing to the Japanese household to run the business in the United States after contributing. mat to the success of brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels and Lords of the Universe, He wrote an internal email boasting “killing Sony” with Saturns in Japan, where PlayStation units were quickly sold out as they hit the shelves.
In fact, Saturn outpaced the first by many months. play station on Japanese soil. “Retailers say they can’t compare the actual sales rate because Saturn is selling without measuring it accurately,” Kalisnke wrote. “I wish all of our employees, dealers, retailers, analysts, media, etc. If only I could make him see and understand. What’s going on in Japan; then they would finally understand why we would win in the United States.
Saturn marked the beginning of the end
In the end, his words didn’t come true, and the console had to settle for moderate sales in the United States. Years later, it’s easy to determine that the failure was based on a launch with a few units and fewer games. The documents also show that retail margins It was extremely low in 1996, about $15 per system sold, discouraging a market that favors products with a higher utility spectrum. Also, the company had gone the wrong way to commercialize consoles and accessories. SEGA 32x, SEGA CD and SEGA Nomadnever achieve the desired success and damage its credibility.
In fact, it is Kalinske who, after coming home, identified himself as one of the main people responsible for the success of the company. mega drive against super nintendo, submitted his resignation from the company on July 15, 1995, a few months after the March 28 “killer” email. In a recent interview, he did not hesitate to confirm a difficult relationship with the Japanese side of the executive; it was something that eventually forced him to resign as CEO of SEGA of America. Following his departure, the company did not receive further attention on North American soil until 1999 and 2000, when the Dreamcast was launched.
Many pages of the video game’s unreleased history in the ’90s
In any case, anyone interested in the history of this young industry should not miss the opportunity to review the documents, which also provide details on the company’s strategy changes, interesting reports and information on the Saturn versions of ‘Shenmue’. deliveries that were never released. In total, they leaked as follows: 272 pages Documents referring to the activities of the Japanese company in the mid-90s.