As I said, Sega of Japan held resentment toward Kalinski for making the Genesis successful in the West, since they had not made it successful in Japan. The 32x was their way of getting even with him, and they succeeded, mainly because Kalinski’s ego was so huge at that point that he felt he could sell AIR and still become successful. The 32x was a trap designed specifically to ruin Kalinski - but in the end, not only did it ruin Kalinski, but it also ruined the credibility of Sega.
Oh C’Mon lets at least get real here , We all know like with SNK and SONY The Japanese SEGA HQ had issues with their American offices, but please don?t expect me to buy that as some grand evil plan , SEGA Japan set out to get one over SOA, by forcing them to back the 32X Overlooking that the success of the USA market was one of the reasons SEGA was at the time one of the fastest growing companies in the world , and the USA market was and still key to any major profits .
What sort of corp would come up with a plan to make sure the USA division would make losses over 200 million a year , and more or less bring down the whole origination
I guess SONIC was made to get one over the USA branch eh, You are boys… have this sh8t game called …SONIC … , we made it just for you to mess up , here?s the Activator to make your self?s look bad, here?s Model 3 so we can finish off the Arcades in the West , with expensive Hardware that western Arcade operators can ill afford , That will teach you to sell so many Mega Drive’s
Here you go SEGA Europe , here’s a few million to waste on SEGA World, Here Tom , there’s 10 million for you to waste on a new multi million HQ so you can waste on Mega CD FMV games , because we hate you so much .
I think its more that SOA were fearful of losing the huge market share they built up , and didn?t see the Saturn as mass market machine due to the high cost of the CD-Drive and Main Ram at the time . You seem to forget that the Mega Drive sold close to 4 million in Japan , and SEGA Japan made a profit form the unit and the games , It was hardly what anyone could call a failure (MS would kill for those sales in Japan) . I guess 360 is Microsoft USA gift to MS Japan thanks to MS Japan dire handling of the X-Box .
Do me a favour and plug me into a SEGA
Corporations that have many branches tend to compete internally - even at the expense of the company. Sega of Japan’s view of Sega of America, at the time, was the same view that NEC of Japan had on Turbo Technologies Inc – the only difference between Sega and NEC, was that NEC successfully destroyed its american game division, while its Japanase division flourished and kept on making games for the ‘little 16-bit machine that could’ all the way up to 1998. Sony’s American division, during its debut of the PS1, also shared a similiar experience in the beginning, but was able to surpass those difficulties by eliminating several useless officials within its 5 year lifetime.
Like it or not, this prejudice has ALWAYS existed and will forever remain so unless a one world government comes in and eliminates religion, tradition, and culture.
There is always infighting in all International corps . I love my F1 and we all know there’s plenty of In-Fighting going on with the Honda and Toyota European bosses, and their Japanese pay masters , with SNK it was all out open war fair between SNK America and SNK Japan CEO’s .
So yes we all know it happens, but please lets not make out the 32X was some sort of grand plan to make sure SOA failed , becasue thats just silly imo .
I have a lot of time for TOM , but he made a bad call with the 32X end of story
No, they didn’t. Working Designs was a very small company. Between Magic Knight Rayearth and Lunar SSS which both released after the Saturn was pretty much dead, they had releases such as Alundra, Albert Odyssey, and a few shooters. They did NOT have the manpower to tackle Grandia on top of all of that. You seem to be neglecting an important fact: Grandia was ported to PlayStation. If Vic had wanted to localize it, it was there for the taking. He had no intention of localizing it, so the very idea that Stolar ruined the chance for it to see the light of day is total bullshit. Working Designs was already spread thin. In the end, SCEA picked it up.
Regarding Bernie Stolar, he made the PlayStation launch in the United States a phenomenal success. He was shown the door later on. Sega hired him to make Dreamcast a success. He did what he was hired to do, and was shown the door. And as Kadamose mentioned earlier, Mattel hired him to fix up the company. He had yet another success and moved on to bigger and better things.
This scapegoating crap really needs to end with Stolar. I believed that crock of shit back when I was a dumb teenager, but we all grow up some time. The guy knew how to run a business and knew how to market. Sorry, but Grandia wasn’t going to save the Sega Saturn… it sold like complete shit on the PlayStation, a console with a far larger userbase.
How is it silly?
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Development for the 32x and the Sega Saturn started out the SAME year. (1994)
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Japan REFUSED to support the 32x. Period.
And you say there isn’t a conspiracy? It was a strategy to eliminate the ‘dead weight’ they considered to be the US market.
Who do you think made VF , VR Remix/Delux , Star Wars Arcade ,Chaotix |, Metal Head ??, and SEGA Japan did Release the 32X in Japan in the shape of the Super 32X . So thats hardly peroid .
And I can really see CSK and SEGA Japan saying lets cut off out one of biggest markets and streams of revenue, becasue the Mega Drive sold better than in Japan . Don’t tell me thats why SEGA pulled the plug onthe DC, becasue SEGA Japan could’t take the fact that the DC sold so poor in Japan, yet sold quite well inthe USA .
How about look at the fact that SOA and SOE put thier whole weight behind the 32X project , not becasue SEGA Japan told them too, but because they felt it was the best way forward
It was a strategic TRAP and SoA and SoE fell for it BIG TIME.
So, it was Sega’s strategy all along to lose tons of money in the western markets so they could get rid of an American executive who they could have simply sent packing with a million or so in cash…
The sheer genius of it all truly staggers the mind.
Still, I have no doubt that some culturally founded misunderstanding as well as the playground dynamics that may be found in any corporation had a significant part to play in the whole fiasco.
No, the goal was to make the american division look foolish and pull completely out of the western market, just like NEC did with the Turbo Duo. The Japanese overlords did this in many ways - one of which was severely dictacting which games came to the states and elsewhere.
Offtopic for a moment: I learned something interesting about Phantasy Star IV, recently. I heard via wiki that PSIV was originally a Sega CD title and that it was scrapped when it was nearly 70% complete – due to financial constraints. Aw fuck, that game woulda been awesome.
You still haven’t given anything to convince us Sega would want to pull out of what had been the first really lucrative console market they’d ever known up till then. It seems to be just your theory that certain Japanese execs personally resented the situation that much? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Why would the NEC board want to make its US divsion look in your words ‘foolish’, when no pice of NEC console Hardware sold better in USA than in Japan ? . People like Ken Wirt are quite open with the that they messed up with selling the machine inthe USA , nothing much to do with NEC Japan wanted them to mess up
I like you to show us all proof that SEGA Japan deliberately set out to out stage SEGA America by forcing them to back the 32X instead of the Saturn, when it was clear from 1993 that the Saturn was at the forefront of SEGA plans, as they was little point in trying to stick with the MD in Japan .
Sure you?ll get the interview Tom and how he wasn?t able to cut the price of the Saturn at the start , or maybe that games like Eternal Champions on the Saturn were canned by SEGA Japan as they wanted VF to get a bigger push in the USA, But I doubt you?ll find any interview saying the 32X was ‘forced’ on SOA or SOE . Next you?re be telling us the horrible redesign bios screens of the Mega CD for the USA market , the horrible bios screens and utter tripe redesign of the Joypad on the Saturn in the west, was also all part of SEGA Japan evil plan to make SOA/SOE look inept
AS for PS IV that?s old news , and I bet the small Mega CD users base had more to do with the decision
Really you need to get a grip if SEGA Japan doesn’t like the CEO of SEGA America they’ll fire them and give them a nice Pay Off, just like they did with Bernie End of Story
The fact that development on the hardware of both the 32x and the Saturn started at the SAME TIME proves that there was a conflict of interest somewhere. Kalinski probably thought that the 32x was a good idea because it was simply add-on hardware to an already existing mega-drive userbase – and to his credit, it would have been a good idea if the add-on were $20-$30 like the Sega Master System attachment…which could have acted as an appetizer for a year or two for those waiting for the Saturn.
You have your facts mixed up - the PC-Engine was a HUGE success in Japan - in fact, it WON the 16-bit war (in Japan). In fact, the SNES and Mega-Drive were underdogs compared to the PC-Engine, until many years later when the SNES finally caught up and dethroned it (1993), but that was at the end of the 16-bit cycle - while Nintendo and Sega moved on to new a better things, games were still being created for the PC-Engine, all the way up to the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999.
[quote=“Kadamose”]
You have your facts mixed up - the PC-Engine was a HUGE success in Japan - in fact, it WON the 16-bit war (in Japan). In fact, the SNES and Mega-Drive were underdogs compared to the PC-Engine, until many years later when the SNES finally caught up and dethroned it (1993), but that was at the end of the 16-bit cycle - while Nintendo and Sega moved on to new a better things, games were still being created for the PC-Engine, all the way up to the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999.[/quote]
Oh please , For a start I never denied that the PC -eng wasn?t a huge success in Japan , my point is why would NEC Japan want to see it parent division in the USA fail , when no piece of NEC console hardware sold better in the USA than in Japan ? . Also the Snes kicked the PC-Eng and Mega Drive ass in Japan, from the start the Snes was one of the best selling consoles in Japan . You act like the PC-Eng outsold everything , the Saturn sold better in Japan , never mind the NES or SNES.
And get your facts right too, Software was still being made for the Snes and Mega Dive long after thier shelf life. But like SEGA and NCL , NEC moved onthe to development of thier Next Gen machine the PC-Eng FX , shame it sold next to nothing .
Starting to change your tune already ? . The 32X was Tom and SOA call , and some sad offshot of the Jupiter Plan . It was have been better if SEGA went with that idea and sold a Saturn minus the main Ram and CD Drive (The costliest parts of the console ) and let users play games on Cart and give them the option to upgrade to the Saturn full spec with a CD Add On Drive, rather than what became the 32X . But that was SOA call for the main , not some sad revenge plan by SEGA Japan . But SEGA America thinking the Saturn was too coslty to be mass market , and the 32X was the better way to get the mass market and build on its Huge user base it built up with a simple Add On .
Like what been said , Show us proof that SEGA Japan forced the 32X on SEGA America , for revenge because the Mega Drive sold so much more inthe West , I bet you can’t because its sheer nonsense and make believe
Wrong again - NEC’s american division (TTI) was deliberately dismantled, mainly because certain Japanese execs didn’t want certain games coming here, thus we were all stuck with the likes of Keith Courage and It Came From the Desert - totally awful games which should have never been made. The quality stuff remained in Japan, while everywhere else got the games that no one wanted to play. This was a CULTURAL issue, and it’s still prevailant in today’s world…but not as much anymore, considering the tables have turned and now most game development is made in the West. How is that for irony?
As for Sega and the 32x and the Saturn, you STILL have not explained why a company would create two seperate systems AT THE SAME TIME, and still claim that there wasn’t some conflict of interest involved? Sega of Japan clearly knew that the 32x was a lost cause, which is why Saturn hardware specifications were released at the time. If it wasn’t a conspiracy against Kalinski and the West branch, then there clearly was a split within Sega, itself, that favored one console over the other - and since no one could decide which was the better system, they decided to do both. It’s the only way to explain why the 32x abomination came into being in the first place.
But I obviously can’t win this argument - so I’ll stop wasting my time.
Kadamose, thank you for arguing against yourself so well there. And I’m totally on board with your new argument, about not being able to win the old argument.
[quote=“Kadamose”]Wrong again - NEC’s american division (TTI) was deliberately dismantled, mainly because certain Japanese execs didn’t want certain games coming here, thus we were all stuck with the likes of Keith Courage and It Came From the Desert - totally awful games which should have never been made. The quality stuff remained in Japan, while everywhere else got the games that no one wanted to play. This was a CULTURAL issue, and it’s still prevailant in today’s world…but not as much anymore, considering the tables have turned and now most game development is made in the West. How is that for irony?
As for Sega and the 32x and the Saturn, you STILL have not explained why a company would create two seperate systems AT THE SAME TIME, and still claim that there wasn’t some conflict of interest involved? Sega of Japan clearly knew that the 32x was a lost cause, which is why Saturn hardware specifications were released at the time. If it wasn’t a conspiracy against Kalinski and the West branch, then there clearly was a split within Sega, itself, that favored one console over the other - and since no one could decide which was the better system, they decided to do both. It’s the only way to explain why the 32x abomination came into being in the first place.
But I obviously can’t win this argument - so I’ll stop wasting my time.[/quote]
Look there is always issues with Bringing games over from Japan to the western market for all sort of reasons (not least P.C) , it happens with every corp. , and not just in the console industry . Not all Car models go world wide , not all films go world wide , there always issues and in-fighting , Nintendo and Microsoft don?t bring all their Japanese based games over to the western markets , its not just SEGA or NEC its every console corp known to man
As for the 32X. SEGA Japan was not goin to back the 32X becasue of low sales of the Mega Drive , what was the point in trying to build on the Mega Drive users base when it was pretty low ?, That wasn’t the case in the USA or Europe and in those markets price is a very really issue too. The Saturn was one of the coslty consoles to Purchase , that is why SOA/SOE went for the 32X option . They had a huge user base to build on and though it would be better to sell a ?150/170 32Bit upgrade rather than the ?400 Saturn option Its not really complicated , and no doubt all comes from the SVP used in VR.Where adding a couple of chips could really boost the power of the Mega Drive .
Like I say you provide the proof that the 32X was forced on SOA/SOE to make them look silly and cripple them , and I?ll eat my words and take it all back .
Oh and the west have always produced more games for the main . Japan is but one Market . You think its fair to compare the whole of the N.America, Europe ect development houses to that of Japan output ? I really don’t
[quote=“Kadamose”]Wrong again - NEC’s american division (TTI) was deliberately dismantled, mainly because certain Japanese execs didn’t want certain games coming here, thus we were all stuck with the likes of Keith Courage and It Came From the Desert - totally awful games which should have never been made. The quality stuff remained in Japan, while everywhere else got the games that no one wanted to play. This was a CULTURAL issue, and it’s still prevailant in today’s world…but not as much anymore, considering the tables have turned and now most game development is made in the West. How is that for irony?
As for Sega and the 32x and the Saturn, you STILL have not explained why a company would create two seperate systems AT THE SAME TIME, and still claim that there wasn’t some conflict of interest involved? Sega of Japan clearly knew that the 32x was a lost cause, which is why Saturn hardware specifications were released at the time. If it wasn’t a conspiracy against Kalinski and the West branch, then there clearly was a split within Sega, itself, that favored one console over the other - and since no one could decide which was the better system, they decided to do both. It’s the only way to explain why the 32x abomination came into being in the first place.
But I obviously can’t win this argument - so I’ll stop wasting my time.[/quote]
Heyyyy I loved Keith Courage in Alpha Zones! 
ugh, will they just hurry up and make Phantasy Star V already 