View Full Version : Interview: Tom Kalinske
There's been so much controversy about exactly what went down during the last two years of the Genesis' reign. Many speculate that Sega of Japan deliberately torpedoed its American branch's efforts out of resentment of its massive success. Not that they'd have reason to do so. The Genesis only captured half of the American 16-bit market, lured Yuji Naka away from Japan, and essentially outdid the Mega Drive in every aspect. Hmm, on second thought, they may have been onto something there...
So who do you ask to get all the details and quell the rumors? Why, you go right to the top! Sega-16 recently sat for a spell with former Sega of America president Tom Kalinske, and the wealth of information he had to share was astounding. From the company's internal rivalry to the missed chance Sega had with Sony to develop a joint console and everything in between, Mr. Kalinske shed new light on everything Sega! Want more info? Then check out our exclusive, in-depth interview (http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=214&title=Interview:%20Tom%20Kalinske) and see how it all happened!
ThunderForce
07-11-2006, 01:23 AM
Sega-16: That sounds a lot like what happened with the Sony/Nintendo CD-ROM. Sony was willing to enter into a joint hardware platform but was ultimately rejected by Nintendo in favor of Panasonic.
Panasonic!! It should be Philips (Panasonic was too busy supporting the 3DO).
EA and 3DO was founded by the same guy, so that's why EA supported the 3DO with a lot of software. But you should have said that the 3DO co. supported the 3DO hardware because it was the 3DO co. who made the hardware. But companys like Goldstar/LG, Panasonic, and Sanyo (in Japan only) are really the ones who sell the hardware under their own band.
Think about these pinpoints.
Yep, it was Phillips. I don't know why I wrote Panasonic...
Actually, 3DO's business model was to not even support its own platform. It would produce the the hardware, and other companies would make variations, as well as software. That's why it had so many problems, I think.
Maybe Trip Hawkins will discuss that when he returns my interview questions. ;)
ThunderForce
07-11-2006, 02:18 AM
Yep, it was Phillips. I don't know why I wrote Panasonic...
Actually, 3DO's business model was to not even support its own platform. It would produce the the hardware, and other companies would make variations, as well as software. That's why it had so many problems, I think.
Maybe Trip Hawkins will discuss that when he returns my interview questions. ;)
Problem is that EA only made software, so why you said that EA suppored the 3DO as a hardware maker?
You should just put down Trip Hawkins as the main guy who supported the 3DO.
EA wasn't the main software maker for the 3DO; there wasn't one. Hawkins' business model was to create a hardware standard and license it out to electronics manufacturers. EA obviously made games for the platform because it was the principle backer of the whole project. They weren't planning to be to the 3DO what Nintendo and Sega were to their consoles in terms of 1st party software though.
Nazza
07-11-2006, 03:15 AM
I enjoyed the interview, just a small note that in the second question's answer the quotation mark on "wow, we've got this all wrong" isn't closed.
Joe Redifer
07-11-2006, 03:23 AM
Excellent interview. Phone interviews are always the best because you can react to an answer and do a follow-up question which is impossible in e-mail interviews.
The article should be linked to this thread for those wandering in who want to discuss it.
I enjoyed the interview, just a small note that in the second question's answer the quotation mark on "wow, we've got this all wrong" isn't closed.
Fixed!
The article should be linked to this thread for those wandering in who want to discuss it.
...and fixed!
j_factor
07-11-2006, 04:04 AM
I never thought I'd see a new Kalinske interview about his days at Sega. Color me impressed.
Good read, although I kind of wish you'd asked more questions. In particular, I'm burning with curiosity about that Donkey Kong Country statement.
And you should have asked him about Bernie Stolar. :P
It's clear that your next interview should be with Joe Miller.
Yeah, I actually had a few more questions, but he was on his way to a meeting so we got cut short. He didn't seem to really want to discuss DKC though, as it was likely one of the few things he wasn't spot-on about when he was at Sega.
Joe Redifer
07-11-2006, 04:33 AM
I would have asked him:
"So what's the deal with those crappy paper boxes? You had really nice, plastic clamshell boxes and then you went to cheap-o cardboard which gives everyone in the world the illusion that you are losing money uncontrollably and are not financially stable. Japan kept using the nice plastic clamshells even though the Mega Drive only sold 1 unit per week (or so). So therefore it couldn't have been that expensive. And introducing the 32X system with games in paper boxes? No, no, NO! I would have given the gamer more for their money, shown them that Sega products ARE of higher quality. Explain. NOW!"
It's as if the more money they made, the less they wanted to spend.
It's as if the more money they made, the less they wanted to spend.
Welcome to Corporate America???
Ghaleon
07-11-2006, 04:53 AM
Very cool interview! I was pleased to see that Mr. Kalinske had volunteered to talk to Sega-16.
I knew (through reading EGM, GamePro, Sega Visions etc) back in the day that Tom Kalinske was the president of SoA and that he was one of the people most responsible for the success of the Genesis here, but I didn't realize just how much he personally had contributed to Sega's success in the U.S. nor that he had encountered so much resistance from SoJ later in his career with Sega. Also very interesting to know that Sony and Sega had almost collaborated on a console.
I'd love to see more interviews like these: people I've actually heard of and admire, like the interviews with Boris Vallejo, Dave Perry, and Victor Ireland. Keep up the good work, Melf! Love the site!
Joe Redifer
07-11-2006, 05:22 AM
Welcome to Corporate America???
I'm not sure how to answer your question. But it'll all be OK.
landstalkerx
07-11-2006, 05:59 AM
Excellent interview, Ken. It would have been nice if he had time for a few more questions, but the answers that he did give were intersting.
His answer to the last question reads "...in the consume products area..." I may be wrong, but I think it should read "...in the consumer products area..."
TidalTempest
07-11-2006, 07:06 AM
Great interview. Thanks for taking the time to do the interview Melf. You've made at least one Sega fan happy. :)
I especially enjoyed hearing about the then possible collaboration between Sega and Sony for making Sega's hardware for the 32-bit generation. This would have been a big boost, which Sega needed during that period, as we all know now.
I also found that there seemed to be an air of enthusiasm at Sega while Kalinske was running SOA. Damn SOJ and their corporate arrogance and egos. Had they left alone to do his thing, like he did with the Genesis, Sega might not be in the terrible position it is today.
I think SOA had a better idea of what hardware they needed for their market, than SOJ did. SOJ should have stuck to what it knew best - software.
Obviously
07-11-2006, 08:05 AM
Congratulations on this interview Melf. There's no questioning now that Sega-16 is an authoritative source on all things Sega.
Genesis Knight
07-11-2006, 11:30 AM
I'm really impressed that you were able to land an interview with Kalinske - after all, it's not like he's retired or self-employed like so many of these guys are. And the amount of content he gave was just stupendous. Probably the best interview you've done yet! It'll be hard to top. (Maybe you can get an interview with Nakayama! :p )
MegaDrive20XX
07-11-2006, 11:36 AM
That was the most amazing Interview I've read in quite some time. So much, that I had to come back from the dead just to post it here. It's a crying shame how Naka never got any true respect in his homeland it seems. Don't worry Naka, we love ya man, North America, South America, and Europe loves you to death, that's for damn sure.
108 Stars
07-11-2006, 12:12 PM
I never knew Sony was willing to work with Sega on a new hardware...
The world of videogames might have become a different one if Sega had agreed. We all know how Sony wiped the floor with both Sega and Nintendo...they not only had good hardware, but they had immense marketing power!
Sega had the chance to become no.1 in the console-business together with Sony and they totally screwed up! There have always been too many blockheads at Sega...
And, yeah, the Saturn release was rushed.
And at least we Europeans noticed how Sega didnīt care the least about the millions of users who had bought the Genny, Sega CD and even 32X from the very moment the Saturn was out .
Sega Europe had promised that the Mega Drive was still their top-priority-product and that they would continue to develop high-quality-software for it. By that time, the last great 16-Bit games by Sega had already been released and they never even released their long awaited "revolutionary" X-Perts here.
I and many others lost all their trust in Sega back then, and personally, I never bought Sega hardware again. At least we had plastic cases till the very end...
Thanks for the kudos guys!
I'm most surprised about the revelations about Nakayama. All these years, articles and sources have painted him as the evil corporate leader who cared nothing for his American employees. Kalinske has now shattered that myth by showing that Nakayama actually defended Sega of America from the SoJ board of directors, until he had no choice but to make unilateral decisions. This explains why he resigned as CEO right after Kalinske did. For that reason, I've updated the Tom Kalinske: American Samurai article to reflect the new information.
It's clear that your next interview should be with Joe Miller.
I've already spoken to him, and he's made it clear that he doesn't want to discuss the 32X. He did however, agree to talk about the Sega Channel, SegaSoft, and just about anything else.
His answer to the last question reads "...in the consume products area..." I may be wrong, but I think it should read "...in the consumer products area..."
Yep, I left off an the last letter. Fixed!
Genesis Knight
07-11-2006, 02:12 PM
For that reason, I've updated the Tom Kalinske: American Samurai article to reflect the new information.
Must have been a hefty rewrite, considering how anti-Nakayama the original article was.
Yeah, it's weird that everything paints him as the villain. Kalinske dispelled that myth once and for all, and if he didn't consider things to be Nakayama's fault, I can't see how anyone else could.
But, that's ok. I'd already updated the article after talking to Michael Katz, and any new information that makes it more accurate is a good thing.
segagamer
07-11-2006, 02:35 PM
Kudos for bringing this interview to light!!! I enjoyed reading it tremendously, as it made me realize that Tom is a really forward-thinking businessman who can make all the right decisions to turn companies around and make them successful.
Zebbe
07-11-2006, 03:36 PM
Wow, this must be the best I've ever read on Sega-16. So much more "meat on the bones" for me, if you know what I mean. Now I just wonder why "the father of the 32X" doesn't wanna talk about his baby...
Genesis Knight
07-11-2006, 03:37 PM
Maybe because daddy's sick of getting trampled on by all his kid's mortal enemies? I'd probably be tired of rehashing an old disaster, too, if I were him.
Benjamin
07-11-2006, 03:50 PM
Great interview! I'm really stunned by the amount of interviews you're able to land, but that takes the cake. :) Lots of great insights into Sega of the time, too, and it's great to see his answers appear to be honest and forthright as far as what was going on at the time. It really does help to confirm a lot of what is suspected of Sega during those later years heading into the Saturn.
I do question his role, though, in the success of the Genesis. I think he just came in at a great time -- consoles are hardly expected to be runaway successes at launch compared to an existing system where the developers had a chance to really create games for the system. My opinion was always that he more or less rode the tidal wave of success that Sonic the Hedgehog brought with it. Given his handling of the Saturn and belief in the 32X, I can't help but believe that Sega would have done about the same with anyone in charge. The US development he championed really has no triumphs as far as I can see -- Sonic 2, despite development in the US, is still a Japanese spearheaded project of that design.
Just a minor thingie: How can his article be a source for your 2005 American Samurai piece? :)
I do question his role, though, in the success of the Genesis. I think he just came in at a great time -- consoles are hardly expected to be runaway successes at launch compared to an existing system where the developers had a chance to really create games for the system. My opinion was always that he more or less rode the tidal wave of success that Sonic the Hedgehog brought with it. Given his handling of the Saturn and belief in the 32X, I can't help but believe that Sega would have done about the same with anyone in charge. The US development he championed really has no triumphs as far as I can see -- Sonic 2, despite development in the US, is still a Japanese spearheaded project of that design.
You have to remember that he was the one who pushed for SoA to be beefed up and start major software development. He also took Sonic and packaged it with lower-priced hardware. He also took Katz's anti-Nintendo advertising "to the next level," so to speak. I think Sega's overtaking Nintendo in the U.S. is a pretty big success, and it was something the Japanese branch could never do (which is what led to all the resentment).
Just a minor thingie: How can his article be a source for your 2005 American Samurai piece? :)
Oops! I forgot to add the "revised" note at the bottom. Thanks!
Hellz yeah!
The article is one 1up (http://1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152075)!
Joe Redifer
07-11-2006, 09:05 PM
Alright!
Also, Japan forced SoA to launch the Saturn when and how it did... at least from all accounts I've read. I don't think Tom came in and said "Hey let's have a secret launch and price it high, yeah that's the ticket!"
Yeah, Japan freaked and rushed the launch, which more or less screwed everything up completely.
Ghaleon
07-11-2006, 11:37 PM
You got mentioned and linked on Gamasutra, too.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10041
Ghaleon
07-11-2006, 11:44 PM
...and GameSetWatch...
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/07/kalinske_talks_joint_segasony_1.php
Sweet! Hopefully all those new readers will stick around!
Joe Redifer
07-12-2006, 12:21 AM
I agree. You were also linked to from the Magic Box forums (not by me). Links on forums can be helpful!
David J.
07-12-2006, 12:23 AM
Wow, it only gets better! Great work Melf!
And who'd a think this site could (and did!) get so popular?
ThunderForce
07-12-2006, 12:33 AM
dreamcast.ign.com has it as well. :)
j_factor
07-12-2006, 02:26 AM
I do question his role, though, in the success of the Genesis. I think he just came in at a great time -- consoles are hardly expected to be runaway successes at launch compared to an existing system where the developers had a chance to really create games for the system. My opinion was always that he more or less rode the tidal wave of success that Sonic the Hedgehog brought with it. Given his handling of the Saturn and belief in the 32X, I can't help but believe that Sega would have done about the same with anyone in charge. The US development he championed really has no triumphs as far as I can see -- Sonic 2, despite development in the US, is still a Japanese spearheaded project of that design.
I think you're underestimating things here. First of all, that price drop made a huge difference. It caught Nintendo off-guard, and had them selling their system for $50 more. While a price drop may seem like a simple, logical step to you and I, the Japanese folks were against the price drop, and I don't think just anybody would've pushed for it like Kalinske did. Also, changing the pack-in game was a smart move. Altered Beast may have been "cool" to many people, but it wasn't a totally kid-friendly image (even though it wasn't terribly violent or anything). I can definitely see this making a big difference in the Bible Belt. But even disconsidering the Bible Belt itself, Sonic still has a much more universal appeal. Also, Altered Beast, which wasn't really the best-playing game to begin with IMO, was getting old and showing its age; Sonic was much flashier and newer.
The other thing that was very important was US development. Under Kalinske, US development at Sega expanded from one little studio that just provided assistance (mainly QA and translations), to three separate studios that made their own games. Further, two US-based outside developers became Sega devs -- Novotrade and Blue Sky Software.
The US development had several triumphs. Toejam & Earl, Kid Chameleon, Ecco the Dolphin, Vectorman, Sonic Spinball, Jurassic Park, the entire Sega Sports lineup -- these were all developed in the US.
Benjamin
07-12-2006, 10:12 AM
The US development had several triumphs. Toejam & Earl, Kid Chameleon, Ecco the Dolphin, Vectorman, Sonic Spinball, Jurassic Park, the entire Sega Sports lineup -- these were all developed in the US.
You're definitely right about some of those games, especially the Sega Sports franchise which I stupidly didn't consider. However, Novotrade and Blue Sky though were not started by Sega as was TJ&Esoft. Did Sega really buy them out and make them official second or first parties? Sega acted just as a publisher of those games as far as I know. When he refered to internal development in the US, I was thinking he meant SegaSoft, which never really found much success (though I love Rocket Jockey :) ).
Genesis Knight
07-12-2006, 12:52 PM
I can just feel the hits skyrocketing.
Zebbe
07-12-2006, 02:22 PM
I think we know why the Genesis was such a big success in the US, but we cannot forget how well the Mega Drive did in Europe. We didn't have any "Mega Drive does what Nintendon't" here, so features covering this subject would be very interesting as well. An interview with a head of Sega of Europe can maybe give us some answers.
Flash1087
07-12-2006, 03:48 PM
Really impressive interview, Melf. It's nice to get his input on things and it's kind of refreshing to not see Nakayama so demonized for a change.
It's really a shame he wasn't around longer; Stolar and Moore did alright, but I would've liked to see the Dreamcast handled under Kalinske.
Ghaleon
07-12-2006, 06:38 PM
Kotaku picked it up, too:
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/sega/the-sony-sega-console-that-never-was-186658.php
Me = happy. Our daily traffic more than tripled yesterday.
It's on GameSpot now too!
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6153914.html
Flash1087
07-12-2006, 11:12 PM
YAY FOR US!
...and by 'us' I guess I mean 'you guys' since I've been here less than a year and the only thing I've 'contributed' is a half-finished review for James Bond: The Duel. :D
Slashdot's posted it as well.
http://games.slashdot.org/games/06/07/12/1917215.shtml
j_factor
07-13-2006, 12:38 AM
You're definitely right about some of those games, especially the Sega Sports franchise which I stupidly didn't consider. However, Novotrade and Blue Sky though were not started by Sega as was TJ&Esoft. Did Sega really buy them out and make them official second or first parties? Sega acted just as a publisher of those games as far as I know. When he refered to internal development in the US, I was thinking he meant SegaSoft, which never really found much success (though I love Rocket Jockey :) ).
Well, Novotrade and Blue Sky were always external developers. But even though they weren't owned by Sega, they were US developers and were made to be Sega-exclusive, and that's certainly a valid part of the expanding-US-development strategy. And Sega owned (still owns) Ecco, Vectorman, et al.
SegaSoft never came to mind for me, because SegaSoft was formed in 1995, and never put out anything for Genesis. Kalinske did have something to do with it, but I think internal US Sega development would be STI, and the nameless "Sega of America" developer that made several games. SegaSoft did find some success, particularly in heat.net which was quite popular for a while.
Joe Redifer
07-13-2006, 12:42 AM
Wow, this is really turning out well for Sega-16. I wonder if the likes of EGM will pass mention of it. If you put a picture of a snowboard in the article, the Editor-in-Chief of EGM will be sure to look at it since I'm pretty sure he lives for nothing else.
j_factor
07-13-2006, 12:54 AM
I think we know why the Genesis was such a big success in the US, but we cannot forget how well the Mega Drive did in Europe. We didn't have any "Mega Drive does what Nintendon't" here, so features covering this subject would be very interesting as well. An interview with a head of Sega of Europe can maybe give us some answers.
Well, a "Mega Drive does what Nintendon't" in Europe would've been silly, as Sega was already #1 in Europe. "Genesis does what Nintendon't" was an ad campaign from before SNES came out, comparing Sega's new 16-bit wonder to Nintendo's clunky old 8-bit monstrosity. NES was never the most popular console in Europe; what Sega was trying to do in Europe was maintain their spot at #1 with a new console, even though their old console had just come out three years prior. The Power Base Converter was part of this equation, the other part being continued support of the Master System.
Although, I still don't really know much detail about the business Sega did in Europe, and what happened to make them go down. I know Europe never bought into Saturn, but IIRC, SNES started surpassing Mega Drive in 1994 like it did here. Or did it? It would interest me greatly to hear more about what happened in Europe, when it happened, and who was doing stuff. I don't even know the names of any of the SoE presidents or when they got replaced.
Flash1087
07-13-2006, 05:19 AM
Wow, this is really turning out well for Sega-16. I wonder if the likes of EGM will pass mention of it. If you put a picture of a snowboard in the article, the Editor-in-Chief of EGM will be sure to look at it since I'm pretty sure he lives for nothing else.
We're talking about Shoe, right? A snowboard's kind of our only chance, since I don't think we can work a reference to Splinter Cell deathmatch in a Genesis-era article. :p
fruitsofherwomb
07-13-2006, 06:16 AM
Man Congrats, I would vist the page and read your stuff. I Was meaning to Join. After i read that interview i said "Damn i better Join" :D
Zebbe
07-13-2006, 10:59 AM
j_factor: I didn't know that SMS sold more than NES in Europe. But now I have read it on Wikipedia, which says SMS was sold in some countries in Europe where Nintendo didn't have their NES at all. Thanks to that, the Mega Drive probably got a good start since people knew Sega from the old SMS. But there must be a lot more than that which gave the success of Mega Drive in Europe.
Since NES was the absolutely most popular 8/16-bit console in Sweden, I thought it sold most in the rest of Europe as well. :P
108 Stars
07-13-2006, 06:43 PM
Well, a "Mega Drive does what Nintendon't" in Europe would've been silly, as Sega was already #1 in Europe. "Genesis does what Nintendon't" was an ad campaign from before SNES came out, comparing Sega's new 16-bit wonder to Nintendo's clunky old 8-bit monstrosity. NES was never the most popular console in Europe
No, I´m sure Sega never was no.1 in Europe. It´s just that the Master System was not a total desatster as it was in the USA. It did sell pretty good, but the NES was still more successfull here.
The SNES quickly surpassed the Mega Drive as well, but in 1993/1994 some companies who had always been Nintendo-exclusive like Capcom and Konami jumped on bord and got the Mega Drive a good boost again.
At least in Germany "Sega does what Nintendon´t" would not have been possible because comparing advertisements were not allowed.
Maybe Kalinske did kind of control Sega Europe too, but in that case I don´t understand why there were so many different titles in each region. One difference could be that in Europe (and especially in Germany) all games based on war and violence (Desert Strike, Mortal Kombat 2) were highly critisized while in the USA violence didn´t matter to much while sex was a tabu. Granted though, I don´t know of sex in any European release either...
But why the heck was Zero Wing only released in Europe but not in the USA while on the other hand MUSHA Aleste was only released in the USA but not in Europe? They´re both pretty much the same!!!
Regarding the reason why Nintendo surpassed Sega again after a time, I think it was the graphical superior titles such as Donkey Kong Country. Before that, all the graphic-standards have been set by Sega, such as Sonic, World of Illusion or Aladdin, but they never had anything to match DKC. The long awaited X-perts´ developement took so long that by the time it was finished Sega didn´t support their 16-Bit Unit in Europe anymore. Toy Story was the same as on SNES, and it wasn´t even released everywhere in Europe. And graphically perfect ports of SNES-titles such as Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures were finished (!) but never produced.
The Mega CD never got a library leke it got in the USA, it was a real crap-add on here, as was the 32X.
And by the minute the Saturn appeared Sega dropped almost all Mega Drive support at once.
Sega just did a very bad job in Europe, and customers did never forget that.
No, Iīm sure Sega never was no.1 in Europe. Itīs just that the Master System was not a total desatster as it was in the USA. It did sell pretty good, but the NES was still more successfull here.
From what I can gather, Sega was on top in the British Isles and Portugal (well, at least the British Isles), while Nintendo succeeded in Benelux, Germany, and Scandinavia. Someone who actually lives in Europe (unlike myself) can correct me if I'm wrong.
j_factor
07-13-2006, 11:46 PM
No, Iīm sure Sega never was no.1 in Europe. Itīs just that the Master System was not a total desatster as it was in the USA. It did sell pretty good, but the NES was still more successfull here.
No, every source I've ever seen has stated that SMS outsold NES in Europe. All the European developers went to SMS, and SMS games came out in Europe until 1996. Nintendo didn't even bother setting up a proper European HQ until the SNES days, and they certainly weren't coming out with PAL NES titles very late. You didn't see Core Design or Psygnosis putting out NES games, and there's a reason for that. The same reason that US and Japanese developers were all on NES (with very few exceptions).
Perhaps individual countries were different; perhaps NES was a big seller in Germany and Sweden. But overall for Europe, and particularly in the UK, it was not. I only say "particularly" in the UK because I happen to have talked to a lot of UK gamers, and they've all said that NES was never anywhere near as popular as SMS there. I've talked to a couple gamers from Ireland and France who've said the same thing.
108 Stars
07-14-2006, 12:41 PM
Youīre right, all sources say that the MS outsold the NES. There might really have been a difference from one country to another.
I know that SMS games were still released for so long, but I do remember that pretty much every kid I knew loved Super Mario Bros and there was no talking about SMS games on the schoolyard.
I would love to see some definite sales of all the countries and of both consoles.
Well, at least one thing is for sure: the later SMS games surpassed any NES game graphically by far, so Iīm glad that it had success in some markets and managed to survive so long. Itīs a shame when a console never getīs to show itīs full potential.
winona
07-14-2006, 02:14 PM
its up at spelforum.se aswell.
A tiny swedish forum
http://spelforum.nu/nyheter.asp?visanyhet=6411
^^
Ghaleon
07-15-2006, 06:31 PM
Also quoted and linked to from one of my favorite sites: Ars Technica, in the Opposable Thumbs (gaming) section:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/7/14/4648
Ghaleon
07-20-2006, 04:47 PM
It just hit Joystiq yesterday (but the writer did mention that they're a bit behind on this one):
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/19/interview-with-former-sega-of-america-president/
He also boo-booed in stating that Kalinske did the Genesis does campaign. That was Michael Katz.
RedAngel
07-22-2006, 03:19 PM
According to what I read Sega was the number 1 in Europe with SMS and with Mega Drive. Also there was more Genesis in USA than SNES (but few more). The main difference came from Japan, SNES sold 14 millions units more than Mega Drive that was in the third place in that market.
Awesome interview. I am a bit bothered by his short DKC answer, however. I have to agree that the graphical superiority of DKC as well as the Super-FX suddenly gave the Genesis the "appearance" it was falling behind. Nintendo shifted the focus on to graphics instead of gameplay almost overnight.
Sorry to bring up an old topic, but it is the best interview on this site ;)
About SMS in Europe, I live in The Netherlands, Sega was never really ahead of Nintendo here. NES was more popular than SMS, but at least SMS was widely available. Megadrive probably did better, but I do believe de SNES outsold it.
When the Saturn got released though, it was almost nowhere to be seen and Sega Saturn was condemned only to be sold in very big stores or specialized gamestores. (Same goes for the DC after that)
Many consumers like me eventually bought a Playstation instead of a Saturn, although I had a Mastersystem and Megadrive previously.
I hope you will be able to interview some old staff from Sega Europe, it has been a continent left in the dark for too long. Strange thing though, because it is probably one of the most versatile markets in the world. There really is no Europe as one entity, countries vary tremendously. Sega was always strong in the UK, but that is not shared by most of the rest of Europe.
I'm trying to get in contact with the former SoE president. That would make for an incredible interview.
108 Stars
02-14-2007, 11:44 AM
I'm trying to get in contact with the former SoE president. That would make for an incredible interview.
Do you actually know who that was?
I haven't the foggiest idea, actually. All my searches turned up only sales managers and presidents after 1998. I do know that SoE was formed in 1993, when the Virgin Masteritronic Group which distributed Sega's products in Europe was sold to them and renamed as such. Mark Opzoomer is the only member of the management team from that time that I've even seen mentioned.
108 Stars
02-15-2007, 03:27 AM
I only know the name of Sega´s German PR-guy at the time of the 32X-launch: that was Thorsten Oppermann. I´ll see if I can find anything about him (and him himself), maybe he knows who his boss was...
Couldn't you just contact Sega Europe, they should know? What is their email address nowadays anyway?
A few years ago I asked them for a complete list of all DC PAL releases, they send me one in xls format.
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