Sega of America in the early 1990s

[welcometothenextlevel]

These days it might be Xbox 360 vs PS3,
but back in the day it was Genesis vs SNES and contrary to belief. Sega Genesis was doing really well back in the 1990s, and so was the Game Gear and Sega CD.

I got this article from factiva, it's a electronic library journal. If you go to a university you should have access to these types of resources.

BANNER SALES YEAR FOR SEGA'S GENESIS, GAME GEAR AND SEGA CD
651 words
6 January 1994
Business Wire
English
(Copyright (c) 1994, Business Wire)
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The numbers are in. Year-end sales figures show Sega of
America, Inc., won the crucial Christmas selling season with the 16-bit Genesis home entertainment system
outselling The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) by a significant margin; the color portable
Game Gear posting increased sales of over 200 percent of last year's record setting pace; and the Sega CD,
the CD-ROM peripheral to Genesis, achieving an industry-leading total installed base of nearly one million
units.
"The holiday selling season, which is critical in our industry to gaining market share, was a complete
blowout for Sega," said Tom Kalinske, Sega president and CEO. "In fact, several key retailers have
reported that sales of the Genesis system surpassed our competition by as much as five-to-one and
software sales are running just as high. While we are extremely pleased with Sega's performance in 1993,
we are looking forward to 1994 as being our best sales year ever."
Sega's extensive library of software, including blockbuster titles each selling over one million units in 1993,
contributes to the continued success of Genesis. Last year's hit titles include games based on original Sega
characters such as "Sonic Spinball," great sports games such as "NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana,"
number-one selling comic book favorite "Marvel Comic's X-Men," and movie-based titles, "Disney's Aladdin"
and "Jurassic Park" expand on the success of the year's biggest blockbusters.
Another testimony of consumers' preference for Sega titles was a recent Toy Test conducted by "CBS This
Morning" which enabled hundreds of kids to play and rate new video games for the holidays. Six of the top
10 video games chosen by kids were Sega titles including, "Jurassic Park" and "Disney's Aladdin" for Sega
Genesis at Number 1 and 2, respectively, and "Final Fight" for Sega CD at Number 3. Rounding out the top
10 list were "Shinobi III - Return of the Ninja Masters" for Sega Genesis and "Ecco the Dolphin" and
"Batman Returns" for the Sega CD.
As all early indicators pointed to heavy demand for Genesis over the holiday selling season, Sega shipped
record numbers of systems. Since September, Sega shipped over a million Genesis systems to stores
nationwide every month. The color portable Game Gear also reported record sales and continued to gain
market share throughout 1993 even after Nintendo lowered its Game Boy price. In 1993, Sega increased its
Game Gear market share to over 57 percent for an installed base of nearly 4 million. With a stellar lineup of
games, some of Game Gear's best-sellers last year included "Sonic Chaos," named best title in the
hand-held category on the CBS Toy Test, followed by "Jurassic Park" for Game Gear, "Quest For The
Shaven Yak Starring Ren Hoek & Stimpy" and "Ecco the Dolphin."
Consumer demand for Sega CD has remained strong since its November 1992 launch, making it the most
popular CD-ROM video game platform ever. With a competitive price of $229 and an impressive software
library of over 55 hot titles, Sega CD is the ultimate video game platform that gives players tomorrow's
entertainment experience today. Contributing to the fast-paced sales of nearly 700,000 Sega CD systems in
1993 were several must-have titles including "Silpheed" and "Sonic CD," as well as Digital Pictures'
productions of "Prize Fighter" and "Double Switch," featuring real video footage shot live on-location with
real actors, directors and sets.
Sega of America, Inc., which markets and distributes to North America, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of $3.0
billion Sega Enterprises, Ltd., Japan. Sega is a worldwide leader in home video entertainment systems.
Document bwr0000020011028dq16002w0

[snoci]

it was nice while it lasted...

[TheCoolinator]

Nice article. I just bought Shinobi III yesterday lol :lol:

[MidnightRain]

This was Sega at it's peak in the United States. Sadly, it was basically all downhill from here at this point.

Sometimes I wonder if things might have been a bit different had they just not bothered to release the 32X and just transitioned right into the Saturn from the Sega Genesis and Sega CD and then maybe down the road release a more streamlined and battery friendly Game Gear.

Not to say it would have solved all their woes during the late 90's, but I'd like to think the Saturn might have done a bit better from the get go if it had some of those resources that were wasted on 32X development.

[TheCoolinator]

Just to give respect to Sega we have to realize that they over came the 32X debacle and gave us something really important after wards.

Saturn and Dreamcast were testaments that Sega understood its problems and fixed them as best they could. I know Saturn didn't have much life in the States but it fared better in other places. Dreamcast was the culmination of all the things Sega had improved on and IMO I think that the Dreamcast was the New Genesis of its time. The problem was that its competitors had more money then they did at the time and forced them out within 2 years.

Lets keep hoping for either good new titles or a good new console. Either way, I'm happy with their present performance.

[ox12]

The 'Sega Does What Nintendon't' and 'Blast Processor' commercials were a bit retarded (if funny) you have to confess :P

[snoci]

the 90's were the greatest decade ever. the world completely sucks any more from all standpoints, music, games, styles, economy, world health (diseases and contaminated food) and just about any thing else you can think of. srsly we need to scrap the whole last decade. burn it and start over again if that is in any possible.

[PiantaPink]

it was nice while it lasted...

Too bad, yes.

[The King]

the 90's were the greatest decade ever. the world completely sucks any more from all standpoints, music, games, styles, economy, world health (diseases and contaminated food) and just about any thing else you can think of. srsly we need to scrap the whole last decade. burn it and start over again if that is in any possible.

The 90's were the best. Period (Even though I was born in 93 and missed a lot)

I remember having a genesis. Oh the nostalgia. :(

[snoci]

94-95 was awesome. at any given moment I was most likely found at the arcade playing virtua fighter 2. or daytona usa. mountain dew slushy was my drink. ohhh yes.