| Kein Management & ein Fu** off zu Yuji Naka von P.Moore |  |
Ja, die schöne Dreamcast-Zeit. Von denen habe ich ein gutes Dutzend rumstehen... Leider war schon beim Start klar, dass die Kiste eine Totgeburt sein wird.
Virtua Fighter war nicht wie in der Spielhalle, Sony hatte Tekken (mit Texturen), Sony hatte Ridge Racer, Sega nur Daytona (ja, sah gegenüber RR scheiße aus, ganz zu schweigen von der Musik (rooooling start), Händler waren wegen dem Sega-Namen vorsichtig (32x- und Saturn-Desaster), Sony hatte mit der PS1 Videospiele neu definiert und cool gemacht (Sega war "von gestern"), uvm. GTA3 veränderte die Szene, doch Sega hing an seinen "alten" Marken, wollte sich nicht ändern.
Dann fehlte EA (KEIN FIFA, KEIN Madden), was ein Todesstoß war. Sega war aber selbst schuld, wegen der 3DFX / Power VR-Debatte, wodurch EA Millionen Dollar verlor und angepisst war und Sega die Unterstützung entzog (interessante Story, musst mal nach googlen).
Außerdem wurde Sega von Entwicklern geleitet, es gab kein vernünftiges Management... Dann verkauften sie zu wenig Geräte beim Start und hatten keine Kohle mehr für die Produktion. Dann Sonys Hype mit der PS2 (Emotion Engine, Final Fantasy Tanzszene (dagegen sahen Segas Babel-Demo und diese Kopf-Demo mit Shoichiro Irimajiri vor dem DC Launch albern aus), Bouncer, "es ist die Matrix" (K. Kutaragi).
Es gibt bei Glixel ein sehr interessantes Interview mit Peter Moore, damals Chef von Sega USA, dann Microsoft/Xbox, dann bei EA und jetzt beim FC Liverpool. Lohnt sich zu lesen für alle, die mehr Infos über die Sega-Zeit von damals erfahren wollen.
Ein paar Auszüge:
"Well, Sega has got a new console coming out. They're in a little bit of trouble." They've got no head of marketing, and it's back in San Francisco, South of Market, 650 Townsend Street, and they are nine months from launch, they don't have anything. They have no creative, they have no designs, no brand ID, were still even fighting over the name. And the Japanese were panicked. So I go meet with Bernie Stolar [Sega of America's President and COO]. In those days, if you were a shoe marketer you were perfect for video games, because you were talking to teenage boys."
"Japan had already launched, and then Europe had launched with a completely different-colored logo. Japan was already struggling, if you remember. It was an okay launch but nothing to write home about. Then all of a sudden, Bernie leaves Sega, and they said to me, after five months on the job, "You're in charge. You're the new president, chief operating officer, of Sega America," and I'm still, like, waiting for my clothes to arrive from Boston.
"We had gone to Tokyo twice in January in 2001, and, you know, they were just running out of money, and we just couldn't get the install base going fast enough. The decision in mid-January was, "We've got to pull the plug. We just can't afford to continue manufacturing if we're not selling enough. The PlayStation 2 is coming, and the Emotion Engine, and games that look like Toy Story, and all this stuff." I always remember they used The Bouncer and Kessen. Do you remember those games?
"They did a brilliant job of FUD-ing us, right? Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. So the decision was made, 'We're gonna end this, and we're gonna turn into a third party.'
So we make a huge presentation in Japan, and I said, 'We need to be incredibly aware of the challenges we face as a brand at Sega,' you know, and so I play the video.
Yuji Naka, Naka-san, maker of Sonic, is in the room. Now, he and I have a love/hate relationship on a good day. And we show him this, and it's subtitled in Japanese, and when it comes to that piece he just [slams his hand on the table, 'This is ridiculous. You have made them say this. Sega is the great brand, nobody would ever say this, you have falsified!' He just gets in my face. So I said to the translator, 'Tell him to fuck off.' And the poor guy looks at me and says, 'There's no expression in Japanese.' I said, 'I know there is.' And that was it. That was the last time I ever set foot in there. ]
Quelle [http://www.glixel.com/interviews/peter-moore-talks-leaving-electronic-arts-for-liverpool-fc-w475540]