All the Sega talk from the other day got me thinking, how much of the Genesis's success was SoA/Kalinske's "western" push, and how much of it was just Sonic the Hedgehog being like a really big deal. Like, if Sonic 1 didn't exist, does the Genesis sell as well with that marketing blitz?
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the snes was the system for nerds. everyone in my neighborhood had a genesis for the library of EA games with their distinctive yellow tab
I was thinking more on the Sega first-party side of things. Though now I wonder if EA sports titles would've been enough to elevate the Genesis to the same level.
Altered Beast was my pack in, laser targetted to tween boys
IMO, Sega was lucky.
I feel like the answer to this hypothetical question could probably be found if some more SoA financial documents leaked...
In the great mascot war of old, Mario and Sonic came out on top and their rivalry only pushed them further
But who's to say, for all we know Sega is heavy invested in pachinko machines and makes money while asleep lol
Because the Sammy side of the business is handling all that, they're at least smart enough to not step on each others toes. Though Sammy does borrow Sega IPs for their pachinko machines sometimes (Virtua Fighter for example)
Like... I know they're spread out and diversified
But yeah, I dunno if just Sega could had that staying power without a banger mascot in those days
But Sonic makes them international.
There's plenty of Japan companies that will never die because they're Soo engrained in the community? Like, they do everything there
But yeah, I thought we were talking about the benefits of the western expansion. I think it gave them major staying power bigger than Japan alone