I recently came across news that the co-founder of Sega, David Rosen, passed away last month. This news got me thinking about some of the good times Sega brought to my youth. The more I reviewed of Sega’s accomplishments over the many decades, the more I realized I’ve actually spent more time playing Sega games than I thought.

Now, Sega as a blanket topic is way too large to talk about all the accomplishments. But I think it could be fun to take a look at the home entertainment hardware they were involved in (and just in the U.S.). It certainly continued to pave the way into the modern gaming systems we have today. And just another example of great competition to drive the industry forward.

Sega was founded in 1960, as a mechanical coin-operated gaming business. Upon the invention of video games (and a rapidly growing industry), they transitioned into gaming consoles, software development, and game publishing.

They’ve made gaming consoles and arcade cabinets for decades. So, let’s take a look at the start, the boom, and where Sega is at today.

SG-1000

When I first saw a picture of the Sega SG-1000, I thought it was fake. But it sure made great competition for the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64. Look at this thing!

Master System

Again, this doesn’t look real. But also, this console had a light phaser gun controller too?! Where was I back then to have missed this greatness? Oh yeah, kicking butt and taking names on the Commodore 64.

Genesis

The Sega Genesis was the first of the company’s consoles to become mainstream. Partly due to the fact we had some serious competition going on at a time the industry was taking off. The competitor? Nintendo, with the NES.

Not only did the system break records, it also brought about one of the most famous video game characters in the history of video games. Still extremely popular today, Sonic the Hedgehog.

This is really the only Sega console I spent time playing as a kid. Memories for me include spending countless hours with my bestie playing Mortal Kombat in her family’s game room. This was high school. And many of our inside jokes came from these countless hours. Also, the Sega Channel.

I feel like not too many folks I’ve spoken to remember the Sega Channel. Or maybe it wasn’t available in their area? I do remember my friend in grade school having a Genesis and they subscribed to the online gaming store… in the 90s!

Game Gear

Again, we have crazy competition happening, and this time, the answer was in-color. The Sega Game Gear was the first of the company’s handheld gaming systems, in direct competition with Nintendo’s Gameboy. The Gameboy was built with a dot-matrix display (no color) while the Game Gear was built with a backlit color LCD screen. Absolute game changer in handheld gaming.

I remember going to a sleepover at a friend of a friend’s house one time in grade school. She had a Game Gear and somehow I ended up playing it for a majority of the sleepover. I also remember being one of the girls who had to sleep on the floor. I didn’t have a blanket, and was freezing to death most the night so I was awake just trying to stay warm. But I digress…

Sega CD

Basically, a CD-ROM attachment to the Genesis to compete with the rise in popularity of the PC CD-ROM.

Saturn

The Sega Saturn was developed with an additional video processor in order to compete with the new Sony PlayStation. Built to run CDs and more processing power to be able to render 3D graphics. Sale were ok, but not as hot an item as the PlayStation.

Dreamcast

By now, more companies have entered into the console market. Sony’s released the PlayStation 2, Microsoft has developed the Xbox, and Nintendo has launched the Game Cube. The main goal of development was to keep the costs down since they went way over budget on the Saturn as it turns out. With the heavy competition, some of which superior in hardware, the Dreamcast just couldn’t hold up in the market.

The Dreamcast was the last of the major consoles that Sega developed. Since then there have been a few “micro” devices but primary released outside the U.S. The main focus of the company has been game development and publishing for home console games.

When you stop and look at it, Sega really has done so much for video games and the video game industry. It’s been a blast looking back at some of the experiences they’ve generated for many generations of gamers (and even non-gamers). And some things I didn’t even know until doing a little research this week. This definitely has spawned ideas for potential Sega-related posts in the future! Lots of memories, lots to talk about. Happy gaming!