[quote name='Wolfpup']I've read Next Gen and some other articles about this and they're pretty clear (not to mention you can see most of it for yourself)-Sega of Japan ditched the Genesis years before they should have.[/quote]
ONLY in Japan. The Mega Drive was doing poorly in Japan, whereas the Genesis was constantly on life support here. SEGA of America did whatever it took to make sure the Genesis stuck around. It wasn't until Japan's top head ordered that everything aside from Saturn be put to a stop so they could put all of their resources on the new console.
Think about it. At the time, they were still selling the Genesis, GameGear, CD, 32X and Nomad.
[quote name='Wolfpup']Nintendo probably couldn't have taken the lead in the U.S. if not for that.[/quote]
Actually, while it appeared Nintendo had the upperhand, it turns out both companies were rather neck and neck on the Eastern side of the world. On our side, it was just Nintendo vs SEGA. Everyone else who made an attempt to fight ended up being ignored by the market. Meanwhile, Japan had Nintendo, SEGA and NEC (which is what prompted SEGA to make the Mega CD in Japan).
[quote name='Wolfpup']That doesn't mean there were NO games, but they basically dropped it almost the way Microsoft dropped the Xbox. And then did it again with the Saturn, and then again with the Dreamcast.[/quote]
Genesis, yeah. But not the Saturn or Dreamcast. Remember, Bernie Stolar was the one who made the decision to kill the Saturn in the US, which royally pissed off developers. The Saturn went on to continue having games made until the Dreamcast's eventual release in Japan. Meanwhile, it just stopped in the US.
As for Dreamcast, it wasn't just dropped. They made the announcement around January 2001 that they would stop supporting the console by March of that year in the US. Japan, however, still wavered around as third parties kept releasing games and SEGA was even selling refurbished consoles with the purchase of certain newer games from their Japanese online store.
[quote name='Wolfpup']The dreamcast was actually selling quite well even after the PS2 launched, at the point they ditched it.[/quote]
It didn't. The PS2 absolutely destroyed the Dreamcast's chances of surviving. SEGA needed about 5 million units to be able to claim a profit, but they only managed 2 million near the end. Add on the fact that the Xbox and GameCube (then known as Dolphin) made their debuts, which killed all consumer interest in what was basically an obsolete console. Not to mention, developers were swarming towards the PS2 and consumers were buying into some of the gross exaggerations Sony told (the PS2 can't and never has been able to produce Toy Story visuals).
[quote name='Wolfpup']Had they more money, they wouldn't have dropped it, and could have continued against the Playstation 2. It's probably the same sort of thing that would have happened to Nintendo if not for their portables and freak success with gimicky peripherals.[/quote]
Agreed on SEGA, but not Nintendo. Unlike SEGA, Nintendo has a LONG history of satisfying their customers. Parents especially identify Nintendo as a trustworthy company worth plopping dollars into. SEGA, however, has been known to force people to burn their money on hardware that wasn't lasting very long.
[quote name='Wolfpup']I'm curious how the Dreamcast would have fared long term in terms of performance. A lot of early games, the Dreamcast actually fared better, but then it was a lot easier to code for, so...[/quote]
This always intrigued me as well. It seemed like the console's full potential was never actually realized. What if SEGA actually went on to release that DVD player add-on? What if they released that ZIP Drive? What if the third party companies didn't abandon ship? Unfortunately, we'll never know. :\
Here's a great video to check out regarding the Dreamcast's history:
[youtube]I8N8f6uYe2Q[/youtube]
[quote name='Wolfpup']Well if these have been available, I don't think most of us knew about it. I still would have no idea where to go for one.
But no Saturns or new games?[/quote]
SEGA had an incredibly huge amount of inventory left over due to them being unable to sell the consoles. The Saturn pretty much had everything sold from retailers doing clearance sales. That and some of the games went into limited printings.