Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

/ tr. by Phil Newell)

Typesetting (Lu Jiu)

Let's start with an outline. You've probably seen it.

It is the classic touting template of the game circle, "bragging" the diamond on the crown.

In fact, the golden phrase in the picture, which is now the norm among fans, was just a complaint that james wanted to express his opinion after seeing the protagonist of Ghostbusters 2 manipulating the Statue of Liberty with a red and white machine handle. After all, the game console can manipulate the landmarks of the United States, and rounding is tantamount to dominating the world.

The reason is complaining, not flattering, because at the time of Ghostbusters 2 (1989) and Red and White Machine (1983), the altar has not yet completely fallen to Nintendo. At that time, Lao Ren had no shortage of opponents, one of which posed such a great threat that even the mascots of the two could coalesce with the old rivals of red and blue cp, referring to Sega.

Some time ago, Nintendo announced the news of a 10% pay rise, which attracted competitive reports from the domestic game media. Before long, the restless Sega quickly announced a high-profile follow-up, with a 30% pay rise. Although the purpose of the salary increase is to cope with inflation, there is a tendency for children to keep up with each other: what you have, not only I have to have, but also better. To personify Sega is like a villain defeated by the brave on the way to adventure, waiting bitterly for a comeback.

Just recently, Sega set up this person with a new work. They hired Yoko Taro, who can do anything with money, and made a work called "wrong Game Re:set". The background worldview is about a game company called SEGA, which dominates the future cyber world and dominates everything in human life. Isn't it fantastic? Deliberately of the same name, coupled with the subtitle of reset restart, I do not believe that the horizontal tail of Shijia fans does not contain "contraband goods".

(interviewed by the producer) and Sega's specific way to dominate the game world is to instil self-awareness into its game works, make them look like beautiful girls, and then use this group of feminine games to conquer the earth and illuminate the blue brilliance of logo. Such an outrageous Japanese-style launch to grandma's house can be called the zenith technology of the game setting world.

Now that Sega's heart is known to everyone, it seems that they are still thinking about the hegemony of the world.

It is said that game art is based on reality. I do not know whether the big bosses of Sega now regard themselves as the top of the family. Anyway, only Sega can really turn the project into reality after thinking about it. In the hearts of a considerable number of players around the world, especially those in China and Japan, Sega had the opportunity to become the "master of the world".

The opening of the popular animation "Uncle in another World" was a famous scene last year. It is said that my uncle, who has just returned from another world, is more eager to ask his nephew for confirmation than any other matter of life. Hearing that Sega left the scene sadly, my uncle put a big amnesia on himself on the spot, and spiritually denied the existence of the established facts.

What this popular animation has in common in the eyes of Chinese and Japanese audiences is that, as the uncle of Sega fanatic fans, he has contributed a wealth of games and fun to the audience. But it is precisely because in the era before his passage, Sega, which had no difference in scenery, is indeed the belief of many people, which can create such a broad sense of identity.

"at first, no one cared about the war, it was just the landing of a development technology, the birth of a game, the exit of a mainframe, the decline of a company, until the war was relevant to every player."

The mainframe war across generations of hardware and gaming technology has established the pattern of today's industry. After the collapse of the famous Atari in the 1980s, the eyes of the times turned to Japan on the other side of the ocean. at that time, the hungry demand of players drove manufacturers to take turns to update their software and hardware development technology. much more than at a time when it is close to marginal decline.

Sega, who became rich with entertainment equipment such as Carla ok and pinball machines, became a leader in the arcade era and showed her ambition early. As soon as they launched, they threw out several important 3D concept works in the arcade industry, where 2D is still mainstream, the first 3D combat game "VR Warrior", the first imitation 3D racing game "Out run" and so on, all of which are far-reaching milestones. Sega at this time can be said to be synonymous with creation.

As we all know later, the chosen son Nintendo stirred the home mainframe circle into a pot of porridge with a red and white machine. When Sega really entered the war, it should have brought people MegaDrive (referred to as MD) in the late 1980s, this machine as a 16-bit machine, the picture is more expressive, there are a large number of arcade famous transplant foundation, as well as Sonic such a crisp and high-quality top-level original ip, quickly replacing FC to become the new favorite of players. Looking at the side of Sega's three vulgar advertisements at this time, we can also feel the exuberant vitality of Sega participating in the competition.

("harder and harder") coupled with the fact that arcade machines are still popular at this time, Sega, which accompanies you all the way home from the street, has become one of the hottest game companies. Hardware and software grasp both hands, perfect coverage of all your use scenarios. The fight between MD and Nintendo's SFC fairies is one of the most talked about highs in decades of mainframe wars.

Because of the hardcore nature of the game theme and the expressiveness of the hardware training to the type of music, Sega at its peak was warmly welcomed by many adult players with financial resources and more mature aesthetics than Nintendo. At the same time, turn this group of people into Shijiaqing like my uncle.

Sega fans describe themselves like this: non-Sega games do not play, non-Sega hosts do not buy, actively promote the "Sega doctrine" in reality, persuade others to throw away their electronic music and convert to the perfect ecology of "Sega".

In fact, it is not difficult to understand the surging Amway of Sega fans. After all, Sega was a real dio at that time. Hardware siege, MD installed more than super red and white machines in North America, software classics came out frequently, and "Shamu", later known as the "ancestor of the open world", was also born as an escort for Sega DC-you see, escorts have created the history of game development.

But that's it. Sega's two mainframes after MD seem to have a skewed talent, and advertising is more popular than the product itself. When promoting Sega Saturn, Sega Sanshiro, created as a spokesman, became a screen classic. Countless people are still impressed by the vicious look of the karate uncle hammering the children and then saying, "go and play Sega Saturn for Laozi."

The DC mainframe is listed, and the series advertisement "Yukawa Special" appears on TV. This is also conceited their last decency. To a variety of routines to the bridge section with fancy reversal-based, and occupy most of the groundwork of the content tone, that is, "Sega is not good".

And the DC machine ended up as hastily as advertised. It seems to indicate that Sega is really failing.

Tempered by reality, and then repeatedly defeated, Sega in the mainframe war finally drifted away from its opponents. From a result-oriented point of view, MD lost against Nintendo red and white machines; Saturn and Sony PS did not win the price war; DC, which cooperated with Microsoft, lost because of cost control and other problems; a series of competition failed, so that Sega's purse was hollowed out into the millennium, losing underpants, incidentally.

Later, Sega withdrew from the war and concentrated on the development of game software. its goddess strange stories, such as dragons and all-war series, all had a considerable audience, and the continued launch of new works proved that it was not just a good reputation. However, as a hegemony who has created splendor in the history of mainframe wars, Sega still gives many veteran players the impression that it is as hard-core as the works launched at that time. Like a few "uncles", when it comes to Sega now, they still feel that it is difficult to make peace.

If good will prevail over evil, then in the context of success and defeat, Sega is almost the villain who hides in the shadow and licks his wounds.

In fact, there was an unpretentious "camp confrontation" between Sega and Nintendo.

A few decades ago, domestic and Japanese players, it is not difficult to feel that strong antagonistic atmosphere. In the "Electronic Game Software" magazine in 1990, there were articles about the struggle between the supporters of Nintendo Sega and the fans of Nintendo Sega. People put hardware and game data to reason, "trampled" hard with words, and fought for their beliefs. At that time, no one knew who would win, and only regarded the opponent as the "enemy" to be defeated. The enthusiasm of Sega fans can be said to be true to the opponent, until 2017 when Shamu 3 was released, there was still a funny argument that "Suzuki Yu (the producer of the Shamu series) is better than my own father".

There is no need to find arguments in Japan. Like Nintendo, Sega has influenced a whole generation of game houses, kneading people into the shape of an uncle with Sega as the spiritual pillar. You should know that the original author of this cartoon is a typical Shijiaqing, and his fans of this company are deep enough to get this "autobiography", which is almost a game house bravely exploring a different world.

In fact, the original "opposition" and "belief", from the perspective of realistic conditions, are also the epitome of the players' insufficient budget in the early years, as well as the aesthetic reflection that is still in the stage of passive acceptance. Most people can only choose one of a variety of mainframes. You know, the original MD, which sold for more than 40, 000 yen, reached the living level of "other people's homes." Not to mention that if you want to have an original red and white machine in China, at least 1.5 game fans are needed among your parents.

As soon as you enter the world, it is as deep as the sea, and the long-term enlightenment of nearly ten years is enough to run through a player's whole game career from now on. We all know that our East Asian players are deeply influenced by arcades, and all the way from arcade to mainframe, Sega hosts play Sega games, and neon people surrounded by a combination of software and hardware are even more difficult not to jump into the pit. No wonder some domestic netizens use high metaphors to evaluate Sega, which has the charm of "comparable to the Soviet Union in the gaming industry."

The place of Sega will give people the impression of a villain, and there is Jiaqing who has reflected on it. Why Sega does not make a good impression on the outside world, specifically, it is the derivative effect brought by fans. Once a game company is so popular that there are "fundamentalist" followers, it will inevitably lead to resentment.

I'm sure you rarely hear from younger players these days that xx is the master of the world. After the normalization of hegemony and fraternity, people have more true love in their hearts. But Sega, who was a fanatic at that time, "punched Sony and kicked Microsoft" and "Nintendo? I'm not familiar with it. Now the industry is just surviving."

They boycott games and hardware from other manufacturers and aim to purify themselves. their tough attitude does have a bad taste, and you can even find this continuous source of ideas in the management creed of Hayao Nakayama, president of Sega at that time.

However, the reality is always full of failures and coincidences, and Sega doesn't want to be like this. The end of eating is also the most facial ending written by them as villains.

Fortunately, YY does not break the law, turn on the phone microwave oven, let us from the key node of the mainframe war, imagine another possibility, Sega won the war, what will happen?

As the official "standard answer", "wrong Game Re:set" provides a dramatic and sci-fi explanation, where the world, the traffic light is the outline of Sonic. Because of the influence of the "Out run" car, there is no speed limit here, you can run as fast as you want, but the metaphor is not completely out of touch with reality.

Like today's Nintendo, it is often ridiculed by many people for buying a mainframe and playing only the first party. But what you probably don't know is that Sega was even more dependent on the first party's work. It even gives people the impression of "only believing in themselves and not trusting outsiders". In the end, the host failed to withstand the offensive of Ren and Suo, and the lack of a rich lineup of new works is a major reason. They can only play Sega games back and forth. You know, when MD became popular, there was a lot of credit for the inharmonious version of "Live Quick fight."Sega doesn't care whether the children are scared or not." if this wild style can be continued in the game lineup, it may be another way.

This Sega wins the war, and in a few decades, the "uncle" who wakes up may be able to witness with his own eyes the scene set by Cyberpunk: Sega has blossomed into a giant like a big company, no longer just covering game hardware and software, picking up the old business of entertainment equipment, and then starting to make electrical appliances, and then the style is in full bloom, food and clothing, all Made in SEGA. Such as the three stars in South Korea, finally achieved the technology explosion, conquered the entire blue star, and completed the virtual and real world line bunching.

Ok, let's go too far. Let's get back to reality a little bit.

As a staunch first-party favorite, Sega will actively buy and turn it into a subsidiary if it sees which game does not belong to the first-party lineup. In the long run, Sega's ownership in the first IP should be able to surpass most of the existing companies, and Namenggong, Bandai, EA, and even Microsoft, which missed the merger with Sega, may even huddle together. It is no longer a fantasy to see four big blue words in English before the future Blizzard game logo.

After all, they won, and they are so rich that they can buy half of the gaming world with money. Instead of such a well-ranked studio, it can be counted with one hand, including the CA of the whole War and the Atlus behind "the first P5 in the World," as well as the Mine Society, which is the company of heroes and the 40K Warhammer.

I remember that the year before last, before the closure of the Sega GIGO Game Center at the intersection of Tokyo Ikebukuro, a large number of fans came to commemorate the pilgrimage. Some people were pessimistic that the closure of the former largest arcade center in Tokyo declared that "the Japanese game is coming to an end." Last year, the arcade business was finally sold by Sega, the more broken arm to survive, the more people who pay attention to Sega feel that time flies. Today's Sega is more like a comedian. Have a sweet dream in your own game and play some games with your ip from time to time. It's a lot of fun.

Possibility is the soil for creation, and imagination is the source of water. When the status quo stabilizes, human beings can't stop thinking about another possibility, no matter how historically nihilistic that possibility is. It is for this reason that we can see the world won by the Nazis in the German headquarters and the treacherous future of the Soviet Union in the Atomic Heart. So people will not stop imagining what will happen if Sega wins the war. Will we be happier off the line of the world?

No matter how difficult it is to answer the question, the expectation is pure. This is the case with Sega, who wrote in a brief introduction on Weibo in Chinese, "Please believe that we are looking forward to revival and return as much as you do."

Sega can be a villain, but it is also a necessary "evil" in history. And when people miss Sega's past, they are nostalgic for the last return of the bubble economy, the excitement and emotion of entering the video game world for the first time, and the old days that can't go back.

Some references:

Touch music: "talk to true love fans about Sega | touch music"

Internet Rogue: the History of the Game console War: a 40-year Giant showdown worth hundreds of billions of dollars

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:paperji, author: Jiayan

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