Developer's Den: Sega Technical Institute

[Melf]

Every Genesis fan knows about the Sega Technical Institute. A creative think tank for some incredible American talent as well as the official home of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise from 1992 to 1995, it was something truly unique within the company. The freedom its staff enjoyed was both a blessing and a curse, and though it led to some great games, it also ultimately contributed to the Institute's demise. There's been a lot of speculation and rumor about the STI since it disappeared in 1996, but Sega-16 finally has the entire story. For the last month, we've been deeply researching, contacting former members, and slowly piecing the history of the STI together. In addition to the half dozen interviews we've already conducted over the years with Insitute alumni, we've spoken to several more members of the group and contacted a few old friends for every detail we could squeeze out of them.

From its creation in 1991 to its struggle to survive the transition to the 32-bit generation, the complete story of the Sega Technical Institute can now be told. Everything you want to know is here, including some heretofore unknown tidbits on cancelled titles like Spinny & Spike and the truth behind the relationship between the Japanese and American teams. You know you want to read this one, so grab a beverage and settle in for a great read with our full article (http://www.sega-16.com/2007/06/developers-den-sega-technical-institute/)!

[j_factor]

That was a really good article.

Btw, the name of the city is Palo Alto, not Pao Alto.

[Joe Redifer]

I'm pretty sure Castle of Illusion was programmed by Sega in Japan (does anyone honestly think that ANY western programming team at that time could make a game even close to being that good? No way). Cerny's name does not appear in the credits to my recollection.

[Zebbe]

It's getting better and better. Try to dig out some demos of the two unreleased Genesis games :p.


Naka himself wasn't done with the Insitute, and while he did leave for a well-deserved break after completing Sonic 2, he returned a few months later to begin working on a game that would strangely bear no signs of ever being done at the STI: NIGHTS: Into Dreams. - Don't you mean Sonic & Knuckles? :?

[VinnyT]

Awesome job again! It's too bad that most of these Developer Den articles have to end on such sad notes.

And I wish there was more on Jester, because it still has me wondering all these years after reading the original promo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/VinnyT/Jesterpic.png

[Melf]

Btw, the name of the city is Palo Alto, not Pao Alto.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Everyone I spoke to referred to it as "Pao Alto," and even Google has results with that. There isn't any city on a CA map with that name that I can tell though, so I changed it.


I'm pretty sure Castle of Illusion was programmed by Sega in Japan (does anyone honestly think that ANY western programming team at that time could make a game even close to being that good? No way). Cerny's name does not appear in the credits to my recollection.

It was done by Sega of Japan, but Disney Interactive had several representatives, including Roger Hector and Stephen Butler, overseeing its development. Jim Huether of SOA oversaw it as well.


- Don't you mean Sonic & Knuckles? :?

Yes I did. Fixed!


And I wish there was more on Jester, because it still has me wondering all these years after reading the original promo.

I've never seen that before. I've added that bit of info to the Jester reference.

[VinnyT]

Awesome, I contribute!

I wonder who whould really know anything else about the game that thasn't been interviewed.

[Melf]

I asked Tim Skelly about it, but he never got back to me. I'm not sure how much he knows, and I don't know who was on the team behind it.

[VinnyT]

The Steve Woita interview says it ate up a lot of resources. It seems they wanted work to go towards Sonic 3 and Jester, which is why Kid Chameleon never got a sequel.

[Kogen]

If Sonic Spinball couldn't use the Sonic 1 theme since Dreams Come True technically owns it or whatever, have Sega been paying them to use GHZ music in games like Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Advance 3?

[InternalPrimate]

I finally read this article, and it's one of the best on the site. The amount of insight is amazing, great read :)