E3 is officially dead.....

[Princess Viola]

I think the interesting thing about E3 memories people have been posting on another gaming forum I'm active on is how nearly all of these memories are from 10+ years ago.

It's almost like E3 had pretty much long lost its relevancy among gamers and people were just clinging to the nostalgia of what once was or something.

 

[The Predaking]

I think the interesting thing about E3 memories people have been posting on another gaming forum I'm active on is how nearly all of these memories are from 10+ years ago.

It's almost like E3 had pretty much long lost its relevancy among gamers and people were just clinging to the nostalgia of what once was or something.

Pretty much the same for me, the last E3 that really mattered was when the PS4 and Xbox 1 were coming out.

 

[Shadewing]

Oh yeah, a surprise launch can be done well.

Maybe if it had happened in an alternate timeline where Sega wasn't basically fighting itself or something, they would've been able to do it better by not keeping the surprise launch a secret from third party devs and maybe including all major retail chains as well? Cause I mean I dunno about y'all but only having two games released between your surprise launch date and the original planned launch date AND having some of the retailers who weren't part surprise launch (like KB Toys) refusing to stock the Saturn or its games as a result of this seems like you completely screwed up your brilliant idea to give yourself a headstart in the marketplace over Sony.

And hey Stolar's comment about the Saturn not being Sega's future didn't immediately kill all support for the Saturn in the US, Magic Knight Rayearth still came out lol

Sega would probably still be a console maker if it wasn't for the rabid infighting between branches. Stolar's comment about the Saturn not being their future, was becuase his team as Sega of America was working on the Neptune, a completely different console tailored to American audiances, since he'd seen what was coming and new the Saturn was likely to not compete well. But Sega of Japan wouldn't allow SOA to do... basically anything...

 

[Princess Viola]

Sega would probably still be a console maker if it wasn't for the rabid infighting between branches. Stolar's comment about the Saturn not being their future, was becuase his team as Sega of America was working on the Neptune, a completely different console tailored to American audiances, since he'd seen what was coming and new the Saturn was likely to not compete well. But Sega of Japan wouldn't allow SOA to do... basically anything...

The Sega Neptune was just a two-in-one Genesis and 32X and not a 'completely different console' and it was canned not because Sega Japan wouldn't allow Sega America to do anything but because they were concerned it would dilute the marketing for the Saturn and its price difference wasn't enough for both products to coexist (and tbh considering Sega of America's own 1995 product catalog says the Neptune, which they called the 'Genesis 32X System' was meant to release in winter 1996, yeah I 100% totally agree with that decision lol. 32X was already a bad idea to begin with but imagine doubling down on it like that.)

 

[Shadewing]

The Sega Neptune was just a two-in-one Genesis and 32X and not a 'completely different console' and it was canned not because Sega Japan wouldn't allow Sega America to do anything but because they were concerned it would dilute the marketing for the Saturn and its price difference wasn't enough for both products to coexist (and tbh considering Sega of America's own 1995 product catalog says the Neptune, which they called the 'Genesis 32X System' was meant to release in winter 1996, yeah I 100% totally agree with that decision lol. 32X was already a bad idea to begin with but imagine doubling down on it like that.)

Might have the name wrong, but this is the project they were working on that isn't a genesis 32x. They were looking to use arcade quality 3d in the machine and most importantly, be easy to develop for, able to port PC games to; something that wasn't true of the Saturn.

 

[The Predaking]

The Sega Neptune was just a two-in-one Genesis and 32X and not a 'completely different console' and it was canned not because Sega Japan wouldn't allow Sega America to do anything but because they were concerned it would dilute the marketing for the Saturn and its price difference wasn't enough for both products to coexist (and tbh considering Sega of America's own 1995 product catalog says the Neptune, which they called the 'Genesis 32X System' was meant to release in winter 1996, yeah I 100% totally agree with that decision lol. 32X was already a bad idea to begin with but imagine doubling down on it like that.)

The 32X wasn't a bad idea at all. It basically took the expensive parts of these newer cartridge games and put it into one place, the 32X. So you can either spend $199 on a 32X and $200 on 4 games for it, or you can spend $400 on four Genesis games with the extra chips. Once you got past five games, it was more economical to have the add on, versus paying an extra $40 per game for a super FX chip.


That being said, out of all the genesis people I knew back in the day, no one had a 32X.

 

[Princess Viola]

The 32X wasn't a bad idea at all. It basically took the expensive parts of these newer cartridge games and put it into one place, the 32X. So you can either spend $199 on a 32X and $200 on 4 games for it, or you can spend $400 on four Genesis games with the extra chips. Once you got past five games, it was more economical to have the add on, versus paying an extra $40 per game for a super FX chip.


That being said, out of all the genesis people I knew back in the day, no one had a 32X.

OK so there's a couple of issues with what you're saying here.

You got the pricing wrong for the 32X and its games, the 32X was $160 and the MSRP for its games was $70, so it wouldn't be $400 for the add-on and four games, it'd be $440.

The second issue is talking about enhancement chips and the Genesis. There was a grand total of one enhancement chip used in Genesis cartridges, the Sega Virtua Processor, and this enhancement chip was used in a grand total of one game: Virtua Racing. I don't think people would've been buying four copies of Virtua Racing on the Genesis lol.

But really the 32X was a bad idea because it was designed to compete with the Atari Jaguar because of concerns that Sega's true next-gen console (the Saturn) wouldn't be ready for release until after 1994 and the Jaguar would eat into Sega's market share. The problem was that the Saturn very much did not take as much time to release as they were worried about and was released in Japan in November 1994. In fact, it was released on 22 November 1994. The 32X was released in North America on 21 November 1994, just one day prior.

And then Sega tried to convince themselves that both the 32X and Saturn could coexist, with casual gamers going for the cheaper 32X and hardcore gamers going for the Saturn. But that ain't what happened cause both casual and hardcore gamers were basically like 'OK but why would we buy this add-on for our current console when you guys already have your new console out in Japan and it's gonna come out here next year, we'll just wait?' (this is likely why you didn't know anyone with a 32X tbh) and third-party devs were like 'Yeah Sega, we can tell that this 32X thing ain't really gonna work out, we're just gonna cancel development for it and start working on games for the Saturn and Sony's PlayStation instead, OK'.

Then Sega discontinued it and the 32X ultimately got cleared out of stores by being discounted to a whopping $20.

At least it still beat the Jaguar?

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Poor Atari. I want to live in the timeline where they took over the world instead of Microsoft.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Poor Atari. I want to live in the timeline where they took over the world instead of Microsoft.

Well, since they were owned by Warner Bros., and WB ain't lookin' so hot lately...

 

[Pocket]

And then Sega tried to convince themselves that both the 32X and Saturn could coexist, with casual gamers going for the cheaper 32X and hardcore gamers going for the Saturn. But that ain't what happened cause both casual and hardcore gamers were basically like 'OK but why would we buy this add-on for our current console when you guys already have your new console out in Japan and it's gonna come out here next year, we'll just wait?

This, by the way, is the exact same mistake Nintendo narrowly avoided about a decade later. The DS was originally going to come out alongside some new handheld system that would be the actual intended replacement for the Game Boy Advance, with the DS being aimed more at the casual market. But then they announced the DS first, people assumed it was their next generation handheld, singular, and got excited enough about it that Nintendo either canceled the Game Boy Hypothetical entirely or beefed up the DS's internals to match its specs. As far as I know, there's never been enough information made public about the whole thing to know which.

 

[Princess Viola]

Tbh I always interpreted Nintendo's whole thing about the DS being a 'third pillar' that would exist alongside the GameCube and Game Boy Advance was just a way for Nintendo to have an easy out had the DS flopped in the market.

 

[Princess Viola]

Poor Atari. I want to live in the timeline where they took over the world instead of Microsoft.

Tbh I like the world we live in now where Atari (or well the modern descendant of them that uses the name) produces absolutely fantastic compilations of their classic games and jive.

Like goddamn Atari 50 is the gold standard of how to do an anniversary compilation.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Their computers were pretty cool too. They deserved more success than they got.

 

[Pocket]

Atari was old enough that they spent a lot of time flying blind in a brand new market, and got stuck being the one to make the mistakes everyone else would get to learn from. Like, maybe there's a more ergonomic way to add more buttons to your controller than bolting an entire telephone's number pad onto it! (Ironically Atari themselves would repeat this mistake over a decade later.) And, nobody wants a joystick that doesn't auto-center! And, when you're trying to launch a follow-up to your successful product in a now-crowded market, maybe it should be backward compatible! And, when you finally recover from a supply chain shortage, maybe it's not a good idea to surprise your retail partners by doubling the number of units you're supplying without asking if that's really the amount they want!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

They did make some fantastically boneheaded decisions at times. It's probably why they tended to be underestimated when they actually did things right. They did brilliant stuff but they were never a safe bet.

 

[Princess Viola]

Manufacturing more copies of Pac-Man for the 2600 than there were consoles that were sold sure was a choice.

 

[ChessPieceFace]

I used to work a block away from the LA convention center, and went to several E3s pre-Covid--once just bluffing my way in (be 35+, dressed for work, and walk with purpose, and they may not look for a badge) and a few times semi-legitimately thanks to a friend of a friend who worked at Nintendo.

The best part was always just walking around and seeing the spectacle of all the booths, the giant statues of game monsters, the video displays, and the awkward live events. But if you wanted to play a super hot game demo, you were going to stand in line forever. Forget about stuff like the Resident Evil demo where they built a whole house on the show floor, I'm not waiting 3 hours for that. Some let you register for a future slot -- that got me access to play Destiny 2 before release (the Inverted Spire strike), and its Forsaken expansion the next year (Gambit), and as a guardian since Taken King those were very exciting for me. But usually, I walked around for an hour or so and got my fill and left.

When the crowds kept increasing, and the big studios started pulling out at the same time, it already felt less fun to even try to go. I can't imagine what a slog it must have been for the studio employees. I think it would have died soon even if Covid hadn't hastened its demise.