I started a new blog last week. This one highlighting My Creative Stuffs.
https://retroresistancecreative.blogspot.com/
The Retro Resistance Creative shows the World what My Creative Genius is all about and gives a big F-You to Modern America, while doing it. So stop on by, when you have the time.
Until My next Big Post, Here are a bunch of Power Ranger Facts. To prevent this list from getting too long,I've decided to just list the various facts that I personally know. So not Every bit of Trivia is gonna be featured.
And Yes, this is a redo of my original Power Ranger Facts that I had on my Old Blog. You're gonna see a ton of my older stuff on this blog.
Anyway,let's get started with some Miscellaneous Facts.
Power Rangers beat Super Sentai to the punch at a Kamen Rider crossover by over a decade, thanks to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' teaming up with the Masked Rider an introductory arc to The upcoming Masked Rider Show. These episodes aired in 1995, while the Super Sentai / Kamen Rider XOver, featuring Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and Kamen Rider Decade, aired 14 years later.
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Power Rangers also had a female Red Ranger before Super Sentai: S.P.D.'s A-Squad leader Charlie, to Shiba Kaoru, the female ShinkenRed. A 4-year difference.
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Ninja and Dino-based seasons have an interesting relationship. Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger - which had dinosaur and ninja motifs respectively - were both adapted into Mighty Morphin Seasons 1 and 3, respectively.
Ninja Storm was immediately succeeded by and had a crossover with Dino Thunder during the Disney Era.
Dino Charge was immediately followed by Ninja Steel, a reversal of the Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder situation. Ninja Steel's White Ranger also shares her first name with the Mission Control and tech support character from Dino Thunder.
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Saban Entertainment's first attempt at adapting the Super Sentai franchise was way back in 1986, and was based on Choudenshi Bioman, to be titled either Bio-Men or Galaxy Rangers. Haim Saban had made a pilot with the Bioman footage and original footage, but it was rejected by television networks. When he went to pitch the idea again in the 90's as Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, he made a pilot with Zyuranger footage but kept the actor footage from the Bio-Men pilot.
The names of the five main heroes and Alpha 5 (who was originally supposed to be Bioman's Peebo rather than an American-original character) were left mostly the same seven years later.
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The original promo that was used to pitch the series (featured in the big box set from Shout!) showed an odd transition. The Rangers (going by the collective name of "Galaxy Rangers") were known as "Biorhythm Users" (So, instead of "Red Ranger", it was "Biorhythm Red").
Jason was known as "Victor Lee", but was still a martial arts expert; Zack was "Zack Taylor", who was a detective, not a "hip-hop Kito expert"; Kimberly was "Kimberly Harte" (with an "E") and was an aerobics instructor; Billy was still "Billy Cranston"... In Name Only, because this version was an athletic heartthrob, a far cry from the nerd style he would later end up with; and Trini was "Trini Crystal", intellectual and struggling novelist.
Combine the "Biorhythm" designations, the note that Zack is "Biorhythm Green", and the aged looking American footage, it was clear that Saban cannibalized the failed Bioman pilot for this pitch reel.
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Saban (as well as Marvel before them) was trying to sell the Super Sentai series to America for years before it finally got picked up in 1993. The chosen show was, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger was used because it was the most recent series.
If it had been picked up earlier, another show would have ended up as the first Power Rangers series. Other Sentai seasons, Kousoku Sentai Turboranger and Choujin Sentai Jetman were rumored to have been considered to be those 1st series.
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In the development stage, the series was called Phantoms and Dino Rangers. Though Phantoms was a working title that was never meant to be anything but a working title. Dino Rangers was ditched during the shooting of the first pilot, because Haim Saban knew other seasons to follow wouldn't have dinosaurs.
The Mighty Morphin' Power Raanger name was cooked up in the dining area of the bowling alley in the said pilot.
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The MMPR Pilot Episode,was very different. Trini was played by Audri DuBois. The Youth Center was originally a Bowling Alley. Bulk was a Mook in a Gang lead by Skull. Speaking of Skull, he was played by a different actor.
The Command Center, Alpha, and Zordon looked different. Zordon was named Zoltar. Squat, Baboo, and Goldar were named Grock, Mongo,and Dreadwing. And King Sphinx was called Fly Guy. Plus, The Zords were called Zoids.
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The Green Ranger was originally gonna be a Biker named Rocky. But Fox Kids had Saban soften things up for the character by turning him into the iconic Tommy Oliver.
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Tommy was originally supposed to die in Jason's arms, like his Zyuranger Counterpart was, but Fox Kids execs vetoed it. So,instead of Tommy loosing his life,he lost his Powers instead.
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It was intended for Ernie to be a secret identity of Zordon,which he used to keep an eye on the Rangers. That would explain why he gives the Rangers free use of the Youth Center and why they get discounts on Snacks and Drinks there.
However,in the Final build of the Show,Ernie and Zordon are 2 separate characters,with Ernie never knowing the Ranger's true identity.
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The "Doomsday" 2-parter was intended to be the Grand Finale of Power Rangers,but the show got so extremely popular,that Fox Kids and Saban decided to keep things going.
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The original finale included 3 elements not seen in the Final Product. Rita had a Nephew named Bubba and he would've been a Power Ranger adaption of Bandora's son,Kai. The Rangers would've trapped Rita in a new Space Dumpster and she would've been sent back into space.
During the Ranger's High School Graduations,Rita would've returned and confronted the Rangers personally. Saban even thought about bringing Machiko Soga,(the actress who played bandora,rita's zyuranger counterpart),over to America to appear with the Ranger Teens.
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Since they were almost out of Zyuranger footage, Saban ordered 26 more monster suits and additional footage from Japan. The footage with these monsters would be known as Zyu2,despite not being part of Zyuranger itself.
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Speaking of Zyu2. Before Power Rangers was even put into full production,Saban ordered some extra Zyuranger villain footage from Japan. Like with the later Zyu2 footage,these scenes are exclusive to Power Rangers.
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Pythor, the rumored Lost Zyu2 Monster, was in reality just an extra Monster figure for the Toyline.
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Originally,Jason David Frank's character,Tommy Oliver, wasn't planed to return to the Main Cast. That's because JDF was gonna star in his own show,called Cybertron,an adaption of Metalder (a metal hero show from japan).
However,Tommy Oliver turned out to be extremely popular, and 3.1 Million young fans across the English-Speaking World begged Saban and Fox Kids to bring him back - so they did.
JDF was brought back to Power Rangers and the Cybertron show was put on hold for a few months to be reworked into V.R. Troopers. I may talk more about That show another day.
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Initially, Goldar was gonna overthrow Rita and become the Big Bad of Season 2, but Saban decided to create Lord Zedd, Power Ranger's Very First Exclusive Villain,instead.
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There were plans on introducing redesigned Dinozords for Season 2 and a Redesigned Tigerzord to go along with them. These Zords would take on the Giant Dairanger monsters in new footage. However,these plans were scrapped due to costs, and the Dairanger Mecha (the mystical chi beasts) were used instead.
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There is unused Zord Footage with the Season 2 Zyu2 Monsters battling the Original Megazord and Dragonzord. The reason why this footage went unused is because Saban insisted on using the Thunderzords (the dairanger mecha) at the very beginning of the Season.
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The 3-part Season 2 premiere "The Mutiny" was the First time Power Rangers would air in Prime Time. Other times happened during the Disney Era.
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Brad Hawkins was intended to be the White Ranger, but due to Tommy Oliver's popularity, he was brought back and made the White Ranger instead. Meanwhile, Brad would receive JDF's abandoned roll in Cybertron, which would soon become V.R.Troopers.
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The Advanced Form of the Main Monster from the Dairanger Movie, The Duke of Trumps, was planned to be in Power Rangers,but was rejected. This was because Monster footage from the Movies would've cost extra. And Haim Saban is known to be cheap.
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Before Brad Hawkins,the Creative pitched the idea of the White Ranger being a mischievous 12-Year-Old Boy,like his Dairanger counterpart. This idea was shot down quickly.
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Due to a contract dispute with Saban, Walter Jones (black ranger,zack), Thuy Trang (yellow ranger,trini),and Austin St.John (red ranger,jason), left the show abruptly sometime after the filming of the "White Light" (the white ranger's debut episode).
The 3 actors were angry with Saban for not paying them what they were actually owed and not given them favorable hours.
So when the White Light episode was being prepped to air on TV,a new line was added in to give off the illusion that nothing was going on behind the scenes. It's also the main reason why Tommy,the White Ranger was made the new Leader,since ASJ's Jason was no longer gonna appear in the show (though the Red Ranger still does).
The Line in question was Zordon's "Are you pleased with the new Leader of the Power Team?".
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When Jones, Trang, and St. John left the show,Saban scrambled to find replacements. While that was going on,they hired Stunt Actors to play the Rangers in some scenes. These actors bared little resemblance to the originals,so they weren't used much and when they were used,they were always shot from behind or from afar.
Saban would also use pre-recorded voices of the 3 Actors And use unaired footage of them.
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Saban scrambled to find permanent replacement Actors for the Red,Yellow,and Black Rangers - And they did. Replacing Walter Jones (Zack Taylor) was Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam Park). Steve Cardenas (Rocky DeSantos) replaced Austin St. John (Jason Scott). And Karan Ashley (Aisha Campbell) replaced Thuy Trang (Trini Kwan).
To get around the fact that New Actors would soon be playing The Red,Black,and Yellow Rangers,Saban set up a story where Jason,Trini,and Zack were chosen to represent the United States in a Global Peace Conference and needed to leave the Team..
On an amusing note,Haim Saban would threaten anyone who didn't behave by "Sending Them to a Peace Conference!",like he did with Trang,St.John,and Jones. In other words - Fire Them (though in reality,they quit).
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Fox Kids and Saban Entertainment got hundreds of letters from Parents complaining about how scary Lord Zedd was. So Saban decided to soften him up by having him marry a returning Rita Repulsa.
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Speaking of Rita,when she returned,she was finally portrayed by an American Actress (carla perez,I think her name was). Ditto for Scorpina (portrayed by sabrina lu).
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Speaking of Scorpina,She was originally supposed get more appearances in Season 2,instead of just one (goldar's vice-versa). However,Saban couldn't keep in touch with the American Actress who played her, Sabrina Lu, so her return was cut short.
That's why she was absent from All of Mighty Morphin' Season 3 and was completely absent for the Power Rangers In Space Finale,"Countdown to Destruction".
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3 Scrapped episodes were planned for Season 2 - "The Party Crasher" and the 2-Part "Zordon,I Shrunk the Rangers". Scorpina was gonna appear in in all 3.
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Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - The Movie was something Saban wanted to do since the very beginning. So in 1994,Saban got together with Fox and they began planning the Movie.
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To decrease the budget, Saban and Fox filmed the Movie in Sidney, Austrailia.
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Initially,Austin St. John,Walter Jones,and Thuy Trang were going to be in the film as the Red,Black,and Yellow Rangers. But due to that little contract dispute,they were replaced by their replacements.
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MMPR: TM went though many different script revisions.
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Gabrielle Fitzpatrick was originally Dulcea,but when she got sick,she was replaced by her understudy,Mariska Hargentay (i think that's how her last name is spelled). But when,Fitzpatrick got better,she ended up returning to the role,replacing her replacement.
On a related note,Catherine Sutherland,who played Kat Hillard in the show, auditioned for the roll of Dulcea, but was rejected.
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The backstory for Zordon and Ducea was gonna be slightly more detailed. Both were part of an secret organization called "The Order of Maridian" and were responsible for the Power Rangers existence in that Universe.
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Because of all of the script revising,the Movie ran Behind Schedule,so the Actors had to stay in Australia for a little longer. As a result 6 Episodes of the show were filmed there - The 3 Part "The Wedding" and the 3-Part "Return of the Green Ranger"
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At one point,The Ranger's helmets were gonna lack the visors and mouth parts,this was so that the audience could see more emotion from the Rangers when morphed. But,since those helmets looked stupid, the normal helmets were used instead.
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Mordant was intended to be a small furry monkey-like creature,who was Goldar's 2nd cousin, but in the final film,he was turn into a Pig - A Pig who was an amalgamation of Squatt and Baboo,who were absent in this Movie.
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Ernie was originally gonna be part of the Movie,but was cut during the "Script Revision" Process. Along with Ernie,his Waterside Cafe was also cut.
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Originally,Ivan Ooze's first set of grunts were gonna be Giant Rats. But the Rat suits looked too low budget for the Movie,so the Oozemen were created instead. Not wanting the Rat suits to go to waste,Saban would use them in the show.
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Ivan Ooze's "Brady Bunch Reunion" line was ad-libbed by his Actor,Paul Freeman.
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Dulcea was originally gonna have an annoying sidekick named Snoggle,but was scrapped early on.
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After destroying his Tengu Warriors for failing,Ivan Ooze was originally supposed to create Super Tengu Warriors,as well as an even stronger,Queen Tengu.
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The way Adam says "I'm a Frog", was an idea by His Actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, that the director went with.
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Ivan was originally gonna brainwash the populace by polluting the Water System with his Ooze. This was deemed too dark.
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The scene where the Rangers battle a Giant Dino Skeleton on Phaetos was never part of the plan,but a last minute addition to the final script.
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A planned scene would've had a training montage of the Rangers using their new Ninja Powers. And the scene after that,would've had the Rangers form a spiritual bond with their Spirit Animals.
These scenes were replaced by that Dino Skeleton battle.
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Instead of fighting the Gargoyles,the Rangers would've fought the Queen Tengu and her Super Tengu Warriors instead.
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In one of the first drafts of the script, Zordon was supposed to die and Dulcea was gonna take his place as the Ranger's new Mentor. This was changed for obvious reasons.
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When the Rangers returned to Earth,they were supposed to visit the Command Center and revive Zordon first,then deal with Ivan Ooze. In the final,these scenes were reversed.
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Ivan was supposed to possess Scorpitron. But in the final,he possesses Hornitor instead.
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Season 3 kicked off with the 3-Part Masked Rider Crossover "A Friend in Need",which was a pilot for the Masked Rider show.
However,due to the acclaimed flop of That show, Saban,Disney,and Hasbro ignore this 3-parter, and instead consider the 4-part "Ninja Quest" to be the True Season 3 Premiere.
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The Tengu Warriors from the Movie were reused in the Show and renamed to the Tenga Warriors.
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Kathrine (played by Catherine Sutherland) was initially added Just to be a Romantic Rival to Kimberly for Tommy's affections. But, once Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly's Actress) wanted to leave the show for bigger things, it was decided to extend Kat's role and make her the 2nd Pink Ranger.
And unlike Austin St.John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang, Amy Jo Johnson got a proper send off.
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The Mecha introduction is reversed. In Kakuranger (the source of season 3's footage),the Shogun Zords were introduced first,while the Ninja Zords came later. This was changed for obvious reasons.
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The reason why the Rangers were turned into Children in late-Season 3 was so that the Adult Actors could work on Power Rangers Zeo,the next Season,which was being shot at the same time as S3's "Alien Rangers/Zeo Quest" saga.
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Karan Ashley (Aisha) left the show before Zeo,and was replaced with Nakia Burrise (Tanya). In later years,Ashley expressed annoyance that she didn't get a better send-off.
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Zeo marked the 1st time the Ranger Team got a Costume Change. This would happen from now on with each season.
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The Gold Ranger was originally supposed to be Ryan Steele from VR Troopers, hence Brad Hawkins doing the voice. This was scrapped for the triplet Triforians (Trey), and then the returning Jason.
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The Gold Ranger was voiced by Brad Hawkins, from VR Troopers, for his first few appearances before the DiFilippo triplets were cast as a result of a casting scheme that Shuki Levy wanted to go with. Hawkins still did the voiceover due to the triplets' strong accents making it difficult to understand them.
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Theories about Billy's unexplained absences during the times he was suspected to be the Gold Ranger were him working on the creation of the Turbo Powers.
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Billy was also supposed to be the Gold Ranger at one point, but it too was scrapped due to growing tension behind the scenes (later discovered to be David Yost being gay-bashed by the crewmen).
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For Billy's sendoff, since David Yost had already walked away from the series, they had an older actor, William Frederick Knight, play him. Even though, Knight looked a little like an older David Yost, the Actor couldn't get the Character's mannerisms right.
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During Billy's final episodes, stock footage of Yost was used while using a dubber that only bore a passing vocal resemblance to the original Actor, similar to the soundalikes dubbing Jason, Zack, and Trini in the middle of MMPR S2. Said dubber was the ADR Director, Scott Page-Pagter.
So when Billy was saying his good-byes to the team via video feed, it was stock footage of David Yost, but scrambled,using a sound-alike.
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Rocky was originally planned to be the Blue Turbo Ranger but due to failed salary renegotiation, Steve Cardenas decided to leave, hence Justin was created in his place.
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A revision of the Turbo Movie script gave Justin a lot more motivation, explained the Turbo powers,explained why the Zeo Powers were replaced, and afterwards explained why they didn't pass the powers off to someone else. There are still some plot holes,but it most of them got patched up.
Adam would've also rescued a mermaid,named Mandika. This scene might have made it as far as filming before they cut her entirely.
In an podcast interview with a fansite in 2014, Hilary Shepard Turner revealed that Divatox was originally written with Grace Jones in mind. And in earlier drafts, her name was "Darivia".
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Early ideas were for the movie to feature all of the original five Rangers returning. David Yost walking off the set near the end of Power Rangers Zeo trashed that concept early on and only Amy Jo Johnson and Austin St. John returned.
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Johnny Yong Bosch revealed that the film was originally about 3 hours long before being cut down in editing. The pre-edited Movie had a lot more developments on things that went unexplained in the final product.
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12-Year-Old Blake Foster (Justin) was chosen to be a Ranger to capitalize on the success of Big Bad Beetleborgs, another Show Saban Adapted.
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There was a dispute between Jonathan Tzachor and story editor Doug Sloan about the tone of the Turbo Season. Tzachor wanted to embrace the comedic elements of the source material, and Sloan wanted to make a serious story.
A compromise was made and that's why Turbo had serious story arcs, but every other episode was goofy.
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Jason David Frank wanted to leave the show after Zeo, but the producers asked him to stay on for the first half of Turbo with a reduced role until they found a replacement. At the same time, Catherine Sutherland also wanted to leave. So the producers decided to just completely reboot the entire cast (save for Blake Foster as Justin).
The problem is, they never told Johnny Yong Bosch or Nakia Burrise about this. Both of them found out from gossiping hair and make-up people on set.
The Replacement actors were Sewlyn Ward as T.J. the Red Ranger,Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie the Pink Ranger,Tracy Lynn Cruz as Ashley the Yellow Ranger,and Roger Valasco as Carlos the Green Ranger.
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During the passing of the torch ceremony in "Passing the Torch",Trini, Jason, Kimberly, Rocky, and Zack were initially planned to appear along side the retiring Rangers. But, due to budget conservation for the Next Series And the fact that Amy Jo had moved on, This was scrapped.
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Divatox and Dimitria were originally supposed to be Twin Sisters.
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Speaking of Divatox. She was portrayed by Hilary Shepard Turner in The Movie, but while she was on maternity leave, she was subsequently replaced by Carol Hoyt in the television series for the first half of the series.
During the second half of the season, Turner reprised her role, continuing well enough into Power Rangers in Space. The change in actresses between the film and the show also brought about a change in costume and personality.
Divatox's costume in the film was much more revealing and exposed a lot of cleavage, while her costume in the show was a little more covered up. Hoyt's Divatox was more calculating and evil while Turner portrayed Divatox as more of a hysterical diva.
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Blake Foster was a huge fan of the show and was absolutely thrilled when he was offered the part of the Blue Ranger. Even at Power Morphicon in 2010, he said that being a Power Ranger was every kid's dream and that he kept his helmet and costume.
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Bulk and Skull were gonna get their own TV Show,there was even a pilot script made. But,due to budget cuts and conservation, the show was scrapped.
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In Space's entire premise was due to Saban believing that Megaranger would be space-themed, but after realizing it was video game and device themed, they decided to stick with their original plans.
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The original intent was to keep Justin (no Andros) and the suit for Carranger's Emperor Exhaus would've been used for Dark Specter,instead recycling the Maligore costume from the Turbo movie.
The Megaranger mooks would've been kept instead of replacing them with the Quantrons, and the Phantom Ranger's identity would've been revealed in the finale.
Darkonda was gonna be named Spike, and Bulk and Skull were going to start a Civil Defense Force with the Rangers away.
Gaskett and Archerina were gonna have some role in the series,but their suits fell apart before shooting the first episode.
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In Space was the Very Series/Season to introduce the Battlizer.
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Rita, Zedd and Divatox were supposed to die in the finale because of the Z-Wave. However, the Fox Kids censors did not like this, so they were spared.
Also, originally all the villains were going to be turned human. This was eventually simplified to just Zedd, Rita, Divatox and Astronema with the rest turned into sand for two reasons (time constraints and wanting to end the Zordon arc).
Rito Revolto was going to appear and become human alongside his sister and Zedd. Unfortunately, his suit had almost completely deteriorated by the end of Zeo, and thus he didn’t return.
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"Countdown to Destruction" was supposed to be a three-parter. It was shortened to two parts, and as a result, many scenes got cut, including Andros and Ashley's kiss, as well as the reveal of Phantom Ranger's identity. Also, Goldar and the Tengas were planned to battle Ninjor for control of the Ninja Temple.
It's also been rumored that Silver Titanus, a space-themed retool of the MMPR Titanus toy would've made an appearance in said third part. Master Vile was also gonna appear.
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In Space was supposed to be the Grand Finale of Power Rangers,but the since the ratings were still good,another Season was made.
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Cassie Chan (Patricia Ja Lee) was supposed to take over Kendrix's spot as the Pink Galaxy Ranger at the end of "The Power of Pink", due to Valerie Vernon's fight with leukemia, with the handoff already filmed.
Due to a pay despite, Lee quit, necessitating a re-shoot of the ending using stuntmen for stand-ins and Melody Perkins, who agreed to the pay that Saban was offering, was brought back as Karone, who would become the Pink Ranger after conquering her dark past as Astronema.
Valerie Vernon Would eventually beat Leukemia and return in the Final Episode, where her character, who died earlier, was resurrected.
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There was supposed to be a set of Ancient Rangers who would have played a part in the series. Interestingly, they would have donned the Ranger costumes from Dairanger. However, Valerie Vernon's leukemia fight caused it to be scrapped.
The only thing that's left from these plans is the Magna Defender's morpher, which was the one used in Dairanger (his Sentai counterpart transformed using his sword, ala He-Man).
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Lightspeed Rescue was supposed to be a continuation of Lost Galaxy.
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The Titanium Ranger was the very first American created Ranger.
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Haim Saban believed that Timeranger had the Heroes chase the Villains though various periods of Time,but when he was informed that they didn't do that,Saban decided to stick with Americanizing Timeranger's plot.
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Eric,the Quantum Ranger,was gonna die,like his Sentai Counterpart,but that was vetoed by Fox Kids.
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Time Force was gonna get a Movie,but thanks to the fear of a rumored writer's strike,it never happened.
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Wild Force was gonna have more Power Animals than it's Sentai Counterpart,Gaorangers. Saban commissioned said Power Animals from Japan and Toei were gonna shoot new scenes with them. However, this was dropped as a cost cutting measure by Disney, who just acquired Power Rangers though the Saban Buyout.
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The epic Red Ranger XOver,"Forever Red" was gonna be a 2-Parter,but Disney cut it to one to save costs. There was also gonna be an Epic Serpentera vs' Megazords battle. But Disney didn't want to promote old toys or waste more money on the Episode.
Also ,Rocky was gonna join the Rangers in his Red Ninja Ranger form, but Saban lost touch with Steve Cardenas, Rocky's Actor.
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Wild Force was supposed to be the Grand Finale of Power Rangers, as Disney saw it as nothing but a Toy Commercial and not worth keeping around. However,they were convinced to move the show to New Zealand to help cut costs. So they did.
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Before the decision to move filming locations from Los Angeles to New Zealand, then-story editor Amit Bhaumik put together a pitch for what has been dubbed "Hexagon," effectively scrapping the Sentai's structure and turning the Wind and Thunder Ranger rivalry into two sets of Ranger teams, one led by Tommy in a Zordon-like mentorship role (alluded to during Wild Force in his echoing of some of Zordon's lines), the other as a rebellious, anti-authority group led by Jason.
The idea was to feature several veteran Rangers in guest roles as well, and even feature several villains whose fates had been left up in the air, such as Gasket, Archerina, Scorpina, Master Vile, and Lokar.
Whether or not the budget would have existed for this version of events is unknown, but the moment production changed continents and the production staff changed, the entire idea was scrapped.
There was Also gonna be a Female Gold Thunder Ranger created for the show, had this happened, then we would've had 3 Rangers on each team.
Also,the Green Ranger was gonna work both sides of the spectrum,with his normal mode working with Jason's Thunder Rangers and his Alt-Mode working for the Tommy's Wind Rangers.
I'll talk more about This interesting subject another day and time.
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Speaking of Bhaumik,he once created a short fan film taking place at the end of Zeo,explaining the loss of the Zeo powers. The film was called Scorpion Rain,though some sources call it Scorpion Raid.
Anyway,the film used toys and stock footage, and the plot revolved around Lord Zedd returning to reclaim Serpentera.
Amit Bhaumik considers Scorpion Rain/Scorpion Raid to be an unofficial prequel to Forever Red. I'll talk more about this at another time.
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A Wild Force team-up would've happened,but due to the cost of flying in the WF Actors from LA to NZ,this idea was scrapped.
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The Wind/Thunder Ranger rivalry would've lasted longer,but Disney vetoed it.
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The Original plan for the Black Dino Thunder Ranger was a paleontology professor named Edward Payne. But then they got Jason David Frank to return. The Dino Thunder writers got lazy and never changed the profession once JDF came onboard. This led to the canon issue of Tommy becoming a Scientist in a short time.
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Rumors have swirled for quite some time that Zeltrax was going to be revealed to be one of the Zordon-era Rangers,and Not Smithy.
Jason and Billy are the two names that commonly pop up, though some also claim Kat would have become Zeltrax had she been on the show and the character given a female voice.
One has to wonder how much of an impact that would have had with Tommy, now a mentor to a team, fighting a brainwashed friend that the audience knew instead of some guy we only meet in flashbacks.
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The Triassic Ranger,was gonna be a 6th Ranger,but as Abaranger continued, it became apparent that rather than a separate hero it was just another Super Mode for Red, meaning these plans had to be discarded entirely.
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There were plans for Kira and Trent to become an Official Couple, and the relationship was teased throughout the first half of the season. However, according to Trent's actor, the higher-ups at Disney worried that young boys wouldn't be interested in a Romance Arc, and so the relationship was quietly dropped.
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The 500th episode was "Legacy of Power". Also, "Fighting Spirit" aired on the 11th anniversary of the show's premiere.
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The Reason why Disney made the decision to make an evil Clone of Trent was so that they could keep using the Evil White Ranger footage. Since they had Trent turn good way earlier than his Sentai Counterpart,Abrekiller,they needed to do this.
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According to Catherine Sutherland,they were going to bring her Character, Katherine, back, but they couldn't because of cost. Presumably, she would have been Tommy's wife and likely filled Hayley's role.
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Producer Greg Aronowitz planned for SPD to have the first full-fledged female Red Ranger in the franchise's (including Sentai's) history, but since this is a series designed to sell toys to boys, he was quickly shot down by higher ups from both Disney And Toei.
He made the A-Squad Red Ranger a woman instead.
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Bruce Kalish had plans for an SPD movie in which Jack rejoined the team, but was vetoed by Disney. Ironically Toei would start a series of Super Sentai films for the 10th Anniversary of an series with Dekaranger being the second with basically the same plot concept.
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Jack and Z were originally going to be brother and sister, sharing the last name of Manners before being cast apart.
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According to Greg Aronowitz during RangerStop 2015, his original plans for "History" were for Broodwing to use the Dino Gems to create clones of the Dino Thunder Rangers. However, Disney told him to use the time travel dynamic since they were concerned about the audience being confused on whether or not those were the actual team members.
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SPD is the only Disney-made season of the franchise where all the main Ranger Actors were North American.
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Disney wanted to save money and didn't want to hire a seventh starring actor, so it was written in that Sam the Omega Ranger, as a side effect of time traveling, was either stuck in his suit or transformed into a ball of light.
This meant he was played on set by a stuntman in a suit and had his dialogue recorded later in ADR, making interaction between him and the other characters a bit awkward. The crew was frustrated by this.
Due to being too lazy to work around this issue,the writers decided to just give Sam as little screen time as possible.
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SPD also has the pleasure of having the 1st Female Red Ranger (Charlie). She's the Leader of the SPD A-Squad and she's evil.
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Like the other Disney series since the transition to New Zealand, Mystic Force was planned to have 38 episodes instead of 32. Disney, who at this point were beginning to grow tired of the franchise, which was nothing but a Toy Commercial to them, cut the budget for this show.
One of the planned episodes was confirmed to be a crossover with S.P.D. The closest we got with a crossover to the previous season was a cameo by Piggy.
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Ron Wasserman originally submitted two potential theme songs for the Mystic Force, a rock theme and a rap theme, both of which were rejected in favor of what we got.
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Operation Overdrive had a far more ambitious pitch that was retooled after getting a reduced budget, as the original premise of the show would have been similar to Boukenger.
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Around the time of Operation Overdrive, Disney tried to cancel the live-action Power Ranger series and replace it with an animated one, with one incarnation having Doggie Kruger as mentor to a new team. But Toei vetoed that.
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Producer Jackie Marchand was not fond of the finished version of "Once A Ranger", which cut out scenes that would've made the Overdrive team's decision to leave explained better and made more sense. Though there were deleted scenes which explained the Rangers' jealousy towards their predecessors.
Also,Thrax was supposed to be a bigger threat in the Crossover,but Disney didn't care much for him,so he was killed off quickly and easily by the Sentinel Knight. True story.
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Jungle Fury has the honor of having 3 Power Ranger exclusive Rangers, the Spirit Rangers.
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After Jungle Fury,Disney was Ready to pull the Plug on the Franchise,but were contracted to do 1 more Series/Season. And they did - Power Rangers RPM.
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RPM was gonna air on Disney XD,but Disney didn't feel like doing that for some dumb reason.
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The executive producer, Eddie Guzelian, was fired midway through the season due to Executive Meddling. When Judd Lynn took the helm the plot shifted from Guzelian's original plan. One example being that Tenaya was not supposed to be Dillon's sister. This twist was very similar to In Space's Andros and Andromeda reveal.
According to Guzelian, he Still has the notes and promised to reveal his ideas to the Actors over a drink.
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The ending revealed that Venjix didn't die and had transferred its consciousness into the Red Ranger's Morpher. This plot line was setting up for a future RPM crossover that would have seen the next season of Rangers team up with the RPM team to defeat Venjix for good.
Sadly Disney sold the rights to Power Rangers back to Saban and Judd Lynn wasn't brought back on for Samurai. Instead the RPM/Samurai crossover involved fighting a newly introduced villain, Professor Cog, without resolving the Venjix storyline.
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With the reveals that Dr. K and Colonel Truman were returning in Power Rangers: Beast Morphers, speculation began with the loose threads finally being tied up, including theories that Evox was an evolved version of Venjix, and that Scrozzle was in fact a Venjix-built robot.
It was ultimately confirmed that series Big Bad Evox was indeed Venjix, who'd escaped from RPM Red Ranger Scott's Morpher and into Grid Battleforce's computers as a result of Nate experimenting with the Morpher in an attempt to create a new way of morphing.
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The series originally had a MUCH darker ending -
After Venjix was destroyed in Danger & Destiny, the series' true finale Ranger Black would begin; Dillon would be revealed as a cyborg sleeper agent created to infiltrate the Rangers, gain their trust, and access to the morphing grid. He would ultimately serve as Venjix's final host.
Everything about his human existence, including Tenaya being his sister, was fiction created by Venjix in order to lure the Rangers into trusting him. The series would've then ended with the rest of the team being forced to kill Dillon in order to save humanity and destroy Venjix once and for all.
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Johnny Yong Bosch apparently turned down the chance to reprise his role as Adam. What kind of role he would have played is unknown though common speculation is that he'd have filled a role similar to Tommy in Dino Thunder.
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Tenaya was going to get a Morpher at the end of the season had Eddie Guzelian stayed on, presumably becoming a Ranger.
There are rumors that she would have become the Orange Ranger, and helped control the unpiloted Croc Carrier, and in turn the ValveMax Megazord with Dillon and Ziggy (there was no Orange Ranger in Go-Onger, or even in the RPM toyline, which did give the PaleoMax Zords counterpart Rangers; same thing goes for the Whale Jumbo Jet.)
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After RPM,Disney decided to cancel the series and instead revise the Original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. The less said about this one the better.
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In 2011,Disney sold the Power Rangers franchise back to Saban,who immediately started the nest Season/Series, Power Rangers Samurai.
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Because of executive meddling by Nickelodeon (the network that saban chose to air power rangers),All Neo-Saban Era Series were forced to split up into 2 20-Episode Seasons.
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"Clash of the Red Rangers" was once intended to be a Full RPM/Samurai Crossover
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Samurai is the Only Power Ranger Season where the Battlizer can be shared between Rangers,instead of being a Red Ranger exclusive.
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Saban wanted to skip Goseiger and go right into Gokaiger, but Toei vetoed it.
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Megaforce (and Super Megaforce) was the series that commemorated the Franchises 20th Anniversary.
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In Super Mega Force, Many Past Rangers were originally planed to return, but plans changed due to various reasons (such as budget constraints and actors refusing to return for either low pay or personal reasons).
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Dino Charge was a result of Saban fully skipping over Go-Busters to adapt Kyoryuger. Go-Busters Would eventually be adapted as the 1st Hasbro Season,Power Rangers Beast Morphers.
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For Ninja Steel, Saban adapted Ninninjer and bypassed the Sentai's previous Series/Season, ToQger. Though some elements from ToQer would still be featured in Ninja Steel.
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The reason why ToQer went unadapted was because Trains were not that exciting for American Kids (that and the megazord gaining a penis when it the rangers mistransformed it.)
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"Dimensions in Danger" almost became a longer episode. Notable scenes were cut before production started, as revealed in the script under Wes' actor, Jason Faunt's, possession such as Gemma originally had more lines, with some of them ultimately given to Wes in the final version.
While it had the third-largest number of Rangers teaming up with 16 ("Legendary Battle" and Shattered Grid had more), This XOver was originally going to have 21, with the inclusion of Ninjor, Phantom Ranger, Ryan, Eric and Doggie.
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Soon after the completion of Super Ninja Steel, Saban sold the rights to the Franchise to Hasbro.
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Beast Morphers was the 1st Power Rangers Series/Season in the Hasbro Era.
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For the 2nd Season of Beast Morphers, Hasbro moved the Series to Netflix.
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Beast Morphers was gonna have a Much Stronger connection with RPM.
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Dino Fury was initially called Dino Knights, but Hasbro thought the name was too obvious.
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No crossover for Dino Fury ended up being filmed, due to the pandemic (Covid-CCP).
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Zyuohger was skipped because the Ranger Costumes looked a bit too basic and the Mecha didn't look cool enough (despite the mecha's boxy look resembling something from the popular Minecraft).
Not only that, but the Sentai Series after it, Ryusoulger had Dinosaurs and just looked better, so it was adapted instead (into Power Rangers Dino Fury).
Kyuranger was skipped for having too many Rangers. Let's face it,it would be way to difficult to thoroughly develop and tell stories for that many rangers within a season of Power Rangers.
Also,LupinRanger VS PatRanger was skipped because Rangers can't be active Criminals (the LupinRangers) and that Rangers as Cops could be problematic for some Leftist Kooks in today's climate (the PatoRangers).
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Power Rangers Cosmic Fury is the shortest Power Ranger Series (with only 10 Episodes) and The Franchise Finale. And it was the Only Power Ranger franchise that used Original Non-Sentai suits for the Main Rangers.
======================================================================
And that's all she wrote for this. Hope you were all enlightened by these factoids.
Power Rangers may be gone,but it will be fondly remembered as a Franchise that entertained 3 Generations.
I promise, the Next Post Will be another important one.
Until Next Time, Punch Nazi's, Kick Commies, Resist Modern Attitudes and Stay Gold.
Continued from Part 2
Chapter 11 - The Dream Becomes A Nightmare.
Sega's momentum with the Dreamcast started to slowly decline in Japan by Late 1999, with 1,000,000 sold, and in The U.S. by Early 2000, with 2,000,000 in sold.
Poor
Japanese sales contributed to Sega's 42.88 billion Yen ($404 million)
consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 2000, which
followed a similar loss of 42.881 billion yen the previous year and marked
Sega's third consecutive annual loss. Although Sega's overall
sales for the term increased 27%, and Dreamcast sales in North America
and Europe greatly exceeded the company's expectations, this increase
in sales coincided with a decrease in profitability due to the
investments required to launch the Dreamcast in Western markets and poor
software sales in Japan.
By 2000, Dreamcast sails came to a screeching halt, as most Japanese Youth were saving their Money for the Upcoming Sony Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Gamecube. In The U.S., things were a Bit brighter for Sega. Due to a chip shortage, Sony was unable to launch enough PS2's to satisfy demand, so the Dreamcast continued it's momentum....at least, for a short while.
Peter Moore became the president and chief
operating officer of Sega of America on May 8th 2000. He said that
the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in the U.S. by the end
of 2000 to remain a viable platform, but Sega ultimately fell short of
this goal with some 3 million units sold. The Hype for Sony's Playstation 2 was too strong.
Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 40 percent of the US video game market by the end of 2000, respectively, while Sega held only 10 percent.
According to former Sega of America vice president of communications
Charles Bellfield, Dreamcast software sold at an 8-to-1 ratio with the
hardware, but this ratio "on a small install base didn't give us the
revenue ... to keep this platform viable in the medium to long
term.
In
2000, Sega and CSK Corporation chairman Isao Okawa replaced Shoichiro Irimajiri
as president of Sega. Irimajiri had been replaced as a result of
Sega's financial losses. Okawa had long advocated that Sega
abandon the console business. His sentiments were not unique; Sega
co-founder David Rosen had "always felt it was a bit of a folly for them
to be limiting their potential to Sega hardware", and Stolar had
previously suggested that Sega should have sold their company to
Microsoft.
In September 2000, in a meeting with Sega's Japanese executives and the heads of the company's major Japanese game development studios, Moore and Bellfield recommended that Sega abandon its console business and focus on software, prompting the studio heads to walk out.
On November 1st, 2000, Sega changed its company name from Sega Enterprises to Sega Corporation. In December 2000, The New York Times (know known as the rotten apple shit-rag) reported that Nintendo and Sega were holding discussions regarding a potential $2 billion buyout, though the two companies denied this; a Sega spokesman called the report "absolutely outrageous".
Okawa talked to Microsoft about a sale or merger with their new Xbox division, but those talks failed. Forbes has speculated that the Nintendo buyout discussions could have been to put pressure on Microsoft to acquire Sega.
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Chapter 12 - Destruction and Reconstruction
On January 23rd, 2001, a story ran
in Nihon Keizai Shimbun claiming that Sega would cease production of the
Dreamcast and develop software for other platforms. After initial
denial, Sega of Japan put out a press release confirming they were
considering producing software for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy
Advance as part of their "new management policy".
On January 31st, 2001, Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast after March 31st and the restructuring of the company as an official third-party developer (ala capcom and konami). Sega also announced a Dreamcast price reduction to $99 to eliminate its unsold inventory.
After a further reduction to $79, the Dreamcast was cleared out of stores at $49.95. The final Dreamcast unit manufactured was autographed by the heads of all nine of Sega's internal game development studios and given away with 55 first-party Dreamcast games through a competition organized by GamePro magazine.
Isao Okawa, who had previously loaned Sega $500 million in the summer of 1999, died on March 16th, 2001; shortly before his death, he forgave Sega's debts to him and returned his $695 million worth of Sega and CSK stock, helping the company survive the third-party transition.
As part of this restructuring, nearly one-third of Sega's Tokyo workforce was laid off in 2001.
Sega was officially destroyed, but would eventually rebuild sometime after becoming a 3rd party developer.
Sega would soon make amends with Nintendo and begin creating games for it's Game Cube and Game Boy Advance systems. By March 31st, 2002, Sega had five consecutive fiscal years of net losses and didn't recover until 2003.
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Epilogue - The Answer To The Question
Now for the answer to the Question posed by this series - What Destroyed Sega? The Answer - Sega of Japan!
If it wasn't for them and Hayao Nakayama's Hard-assness and unwillingness to Listen to Tom Kalinske and Sega of America, Sega might not have been destroyed And might have been Stronger today And, likely, in the Console business for a bit longer.
Let's look at what I mean.
- If it wasn't for Nakayama and Sega of Japan, the Sony Playstation, which decimated them in the 32-Bit Wars, Wouldn't have Existed. Why? How? Because, they Rejected a Partnership with Sony to create a CD Add-On or System. Had they embraced Sony and canned the Sega CD, Sega would have little competition in the Late 90s and Be Financially Healthy. Thus, preventing their downfall. Instead, they created The Flop known as Sega CD, while Sony created their Hit Playstation.
- Sega America was comfortable with Just the Sega Genesis and wanted to wait another year for the Sega Saturn, but Sega of Japan and Hayao Nakayama insisted and forced them to create that Horrible 32X Add-On, which not only was a mess of wires in the back, but also required it's own plug. Plus some games required the Sega CD to play. Had Nakayama showed patience, the 32X wouldn't have existed and Sega's rep wouldn't have been damaged because of it.
- Because of the early American launch of The Sega Saturn, The system died prematurely in the States. All because of Hayao Nakayama's paranoia towards the popularity of Sony's Playstation (which exists because of Him,btw.). Had Nakayama remained level headed, the Saturn would've launched on it's originally intended Launch Date and survived through out the rest of the 90's. And on toppa that, Localizers and Western Developers, who were supposed to have their games launch with the System, would actually Get that chance. But No. NO. Nakayama Had to be a Paranoid Loser and force Sega of America to launch the System too early with very few Launch titles. And at $399, 100 bucks more expensive than the Playstation, The Sega Saturn never stood a chance in North America.
- Speaking of the Saturn, Sega of Japan did very little to help Sega of America with the struggling System in the U.S. Ignoring the Biggest and Best Market was a Huge Mistake. Seriously, Sega of America could've used a Segata Sanshiro of their own. I guess SoA could've gotten Adam West or Mr. T to be their equivalent? Had Sega Japan lent more of a hand, The Sega Saturn and Sega's reputation would've been salvaged.
- The Sonic X-treme Incident. Sega of Japan left Sega of America to work on the game alone instead of Helping them. As a result, the game was Canceled and the Saturn went without an Original Sonic Title. I'll talk more about Sonic X-treme at a later day and time. Had the 2 Sega's worked together, Sonic X-treme Would've been released and, maybe, been a hit.
- Sega was forced out of the console business early, thanks to Sega of Japan. Had the Sega Saturn been a Success in America, The Dreamcast would've launched much later And Maybe, been improved. There's also the chance that Sega would've stayed in the console race a bit longer. Making it a Fatal 4-Way between Itself, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Or a Triple Threat, if Microsoft decided Not to enter the console race itself.
So there's your definitive answer on What Destroyed Sega?. I'll admit, even though it would've been interesting to see what Sega could've been, had their Japanese Bosses Not screwed things up, I kinda like Sega as a 3rd Party company. As I'm a Huge Supporter of a Super Mario/Sonic The Hedgehog crossover. And I liked playing as Sonic in Super Smash Bros.
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And that concludes my "What Destroyed Sega" Special. Hope you all enjoyed.
Until Next Time, Punch a Nazi, Kick a Commie, Resist Modern Attitudes, and Stay Gold.
Continued from Part 1
Chapter 5 - Genesis Does What Nintendon't!!!
October 29, 1988, Sega released it's 16-Bit Machine, The Megadrive, The launch of the Megadrive was overshadowed by Nintendo's release of Super Mario Bros. 3 a week earlier. Though the system Did get some positve coverage from prominent Japanese Gaming Magazines, such as Famitsu and Beep!. This helped the Megadrive gain a small following.
Sega only managed to ship 400,000 units in the first year. The Megadrive was unable to overtake the venerable Famicom and remained a distant third in Japan behind Nintendo's Super Famicom and NEC's PC Engine throughout the 16-bit era.
Sega announced a North American release date for the system on January 9, 1989. At the time, Sega didn't have a North American sales and marketing organization for its consoles, but ultimately decided to launch the console through its own Sega of America subsidiary, which launched later that year.
For the North American market, where the console was renamed The Sega Genesis , former Atari executive and new Sega of America CEO Michael Katz instituted a two-part approach to build sales in the region. The first part involved a marketing campaign to challenge Nintendo head-on and emphasize the more arcade-like experience available on the Genesis, summarized by the "Genesis does what Nintendon't" ad campaigns.
Since Nintendo owned the console rights to some of the greatest arcade games of the time, the second part of the involved creating a library of licensed titles, which used the names and likenesses of celebrities and athletes, who would endorsement the games And Sega itself.
Despite this success, Sega failed to beat Nintendo in the Console Market. Tasked by Sega President, Hayao Nakayama to sell one million units within the first year, Katz and Sega of America managed to sell only 500,000+ units.
Due to the Total Failure of their Mascot, Alex Kidd, Sega knew it was time for a Brand New one. A Mascot that was gonna represent Sega in the future. Naoto Ohshima designed a teal hedgehog with red shoes, known only as Mr. Needlemouse. This character won the contest and was renamed Sonic the Hedgehog, spawning one of the most legendary video game franchises in history.
The gameplay of Sonic the Hedgehog originated with a tech demo created by Yuji Naka, who had developed an algorithm that allowed a sprite to move smoothly on a curve by determining its position with a dot matrix. Naka's original prototype was a platform game that involved a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a long winding tube, and this concept was subsequently fleshed out with Ohshima's character design and levels conceived by designer Hirokazu Yasuhara.
Sonic became blue to match Sega's blue logo, and his shoes were a concept evolved from a design inspired by Michael Jackson's boots with the addition of the color red, which was inspired by both Santa Claus and the contrast of those colors on Jackson's 1987 album Bad. His personality was based on Bill Clinton's "can do" attitude in politics
Sonic was a Japanese creation, inspired by Americans.
In mid-1990, Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske to replace Katz as CEO of Sega of America. Although Kalinske initially knew little about the video game market, he surrounded himself with industry-savvy advisors. A believer in the razor and blades business model, he developed a four-point plan: cut the price of the console, create a U.S.-based team to develop games targeted at the American market, continue and expand the aggressive advertising campaigns, and replace the bundled game Altered Beast with a new game, Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Japanese board of directors hated the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised Sonic as one of the greatest games made, and Sega's console finally became successful.
In large part due to the popularity of Sonic the Hedgehog, the Sega Genesis Finally defeated the Nintenso Entertainment System and gained a strong foothold in the American Market, even briefly outselling Nintendo's Newest platform, The 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Due to the lack of 16-bit hits on Nintendo's, The 1991 holiday season favored Sega and it's bigger library of games. This success led to Sega having control of 65% of the 16-bit console market in January 1992, making it the first time Nintendo was not the console leader...except in Japan, where Nintendo still reigned Supreme.
The Console Wars had Begun!!
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Chapter 6 - The Console War Begins.
To compete with Nintendo, Sega was more open to new types of games than its rival, but still tightly controlled the approval process for third-party games and charged high prices for cartridge manufacturing. Technicians from Electronic Arts (EA) reverse engineered the Genesis in 1989, following nearly one year of negotiations with Sega in which EA requested a more liberal licensing agreement.
As a result, EA signed what founder Trip Hawkins described as "a very unusual and much more enlightened license agreement" with Sega in June 1990: "Among other things, we had the right to make as many titles as we wanted. We could approve our own titles ... the royalty rates were a lot more reasonable. We also had more direct control over manufacturing."
The first Genesis version of EA's John Madden Football arrived before the end of 1990, and became what EA creative officer Bing Gordon called a "killer app" for the system.
Great Sports titles were something that Sega had over the Super Nintendo at the time, and it drew in older players.
Another issue Sega of America had to deal with was Nintendo's dominance with retailers. Major retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Kmart had all refused to carry the Genesis in their stores. To get Wal-Mart to carry the system, Kalinske advertised the system heavily in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Wal-Mart's home office is located. Tactics used in the area included renting billboards, radio advertisements, sports stadiums, and renting a store in the local mall. This resulted in Wal-Mart relenting and choosing to carry the Genesis.
In the Good 'Ol U.S. of A, Sega was able to outsell Nintendo 3 Christmas seasons in a row ('91, '92, and '93) due to the Genesis' head start, a lower price point, and a larger library of games when compared to the Super Nintendo at its release.
Sega's advertising positioned the Genesis as the cooler console, and as its advertising evolved, the company coined the term "blast processing" to suggest that its processing capabilities were far greater than those of the SNES. Yup, while The SNES was much Smarter and slightly Stronger, The Genesis excelled at Speed. This made for some exciting 16-bit gameplay sessions.
After the release of the Sega Genesis in 1989, video game publisher Accolade began exploring options to release some of their PC games on the console. At the time, Sega had a licensing deal in place for third-party developers that increased the costs to the developer. According to Accolade co-founder Alan Miller, "One pays them between $10 and $15 per cartridge on top of the real hardware manufacturing costs, so it about doubles the cost of goods to the independent publisher."
To get around licensing, Accolade chose to seek an alternative way to bring their games to the Genesis. As a result of piracy in some countries and unlicensed development issues, Sega incorporated a technical protection mechanism into a new edition of the Genesis released in 1990, This new variation of the Genesis included a code known as the Trademark Security System (TMSS).
Accolade successfully identified the TMSS file. It later added this file to the games HardBall!, Star Control, Mike Ditka Power Football, and Turrican.[100] In response to the creation of these unlicensed games, Sega filed suit against Accolade in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on charges of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and copyright infringement. In response, Accolade filed a counterclaim for falsifying the source of its games by displaying the Sega trademark when the game was powered up.
Despite winning an injunction in the initial district court case, as a result of Accolade's appeal, the Ninth Circuit overturned the district court's verdict and ruled that Accolade's de-compilation of the Sega software constituted fair use Ultimately, Sega and Accolade settled the case on April 30, 1993. As a part of this settlement, Accolade became an official licensee of Sega, and later developed and released Barkley Shut Up and Jam! while under license.
The terms of the licensing were not released to the public. The financial terms of the settlement were also not disclosed, although both companies agreed to pay their own legal costs.
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Chapter 7 - The Mortal Kombat Incident and The Birth of the ESRB.
In 1993, when the American media began to focus on mature content, the American video game industry followed suit, including Sega. Games such as Night Trap for the Sega CD received unprecedented scrutiny. Issues about Night Trap were brought up in the United Kingdom, with former Sega of Europe development director Mike Brogan noting that "Night Trap got Sega an awful lot of publicity ... it was also cited in UK Parliament for being classified as "15" due to its use of real actors."
This came at a time when Sega was capitalizing on its image as an edgy company with attitude, and this only reinforced that image. By far the year's most controversial game was Midway's Mortal Kombat, ported to the Genesis and SNES by Acclaim. In response to public outcry over the game's graphic violence, Nintendo decided to replace the blood in the game with "sweat" and the arcade's gruesome "fatalities" with less violent finishing moves.
Sega, however, took a different approach, instituting America's first video game ratings system, the Videogame Rating Council (VRC), for all its current systems. Ratings ranged from the family friendly GA rating to the more mature rating of MA-13, and the adults-only rating of MA-17.
With the rating system in place, Sega released its version of Mortal Kombat, appearing to have removed all the blood and sweat effects and toning down the finishing moves even more than in the SNES version. However, all the arcade's blood and uncensored finishing moves could be enabled by entering a "Blood Code". This technicality allowed Sega to release the game with a relatively low MA-13 rating. Meanwhile, the tamer SNES version shipped without a rating or a Blood Code.
The Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was well received by gaming press, as well as fans, outselling the SNES version three- or four-to-one, while Nintendo was criticized for censoring the SNES version of the game.
In 1993, Nintendo was running neck and neck with Sega Stateside, due to it's great 3rd Party Titles, Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past (released a year prior) and Super Mario All-Stars. However, thanks to the Mortal Kombat Incident, that changed. Because unlike with Nintendo, Sega decided to cater to Both Concerned Parents And Gamers. This led to big sales of the Genesis and gave the Console a slight lead for the rest of the year.
Due to this incident, The U.S. Government decided to hold a hearing on Mature Themes in Video Games.
At the hearing, Executive vice president of Nintendo of America Howard Lincoln was quick to point out in United States congressional hearings in 1993 that Night Trap had no such rating. In response, Sega of America vice president Bill White showed a videotape of violent video games on the SNES and stressed the importance of rating video games.
At the end of the hearing, Senator Joe Lieberman called for another hearing in February 1994 to check on progress toward a rating system for video game violence. Although Night Trap recieved a slight sales increase, Sega decided to recall the game and re-release it with revisions in 1994 due to the Congressional hearings.
After the close of these hearings, video game manufacturers came together to establish the rating system that Lieberman had called for. Initially, Sega proposed the universal adoption of its system, but after objections by Nintendo and some Senators, Sega took a role in forming the new one. This became the Entertainment Software Rating Board, an independent organization that received praise from Lieberman.
Personally, I'm glad the ESRB exists, as it gives consumers basic information about the game's content before they decide to buy it. Good Going Joe Lieberman and The VG Devs.
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Chapter 8 - Welcome To The Next Level!
In 1990, Sega launched it's Own Handheld, the Game Gear to compete against Nintendo's Game Boy. The Handheld itself had been designed as a portable version of the Master System, and was slightly more powerful It also included a backlit screen And was in Color.
However, due to issues with battery life, lack of 3rd Party games, and weak support from Sega Japan, the Game Gear was unable to surpass the Game Boy, selling approximately 11 million units to The Game Boy's 100+ Million (and that's just talkin' about the OG Game Boy).
The Game Gear would be supported until Late-1995, though only in America. In Japan the Handheld died a year earlier in Late-1994.
By 1991, compact discs (CDs) had gained in popularity as a data storage device for music and software. PCs and video game companies had started to make use of this technology. NEC had been the first to include CD technology in a game console with the release of the TurboGrafx-CD add-on, and Nintendo was making plans to develop its own CD peripheral with Sony.
Now, before I talk about Sega's CD peripheral, a bit of history.
After being rejected by Nintendo, Sony turned to Sega for a partnership for a CD Console, Sega America loved the idea of a jointly developed CD console. However,Sega Of Japan outright rejected the partnership. Because, little did anyone outside of Sega Japan knew, Sega was creating it's Own CD-based system, an Add-On for the Megadrive, The Sega CD.
For this Add-On, Sega partnered with JVC and Launched the The Sega CD (called the Mega-CD in Japan) on December 1, 1991, initially retailing at 49,800 Yen. The CD add-on was launched in North America on October 15, 1992, as the Sega CD, with a retail price of $299
Europe sold get this Add-On too in 1993.
In addition to greatly expanding the potential size of its games, this Add-On upgraded the graphics and sound capabilities by adding a second, more powerful processor, more system memory, and hardware similar to that found in Sega's arcade games.
The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed the Add-On's high launch price and lack of strong software library at launch. This was due to the long delay before Sega made its software development kit available to third-party developers.
Sales were more successful in North America and Europe, however, although the novelty of Full Motion Video (FMV) and CD-Enhanced games quickly wore off as many of the Sega CD's later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews. To add to these issues, the load times for most of these games was slow.
The Sega CD died in Japan in Late-1993 and in North America in Late-1994.
As for Sony, After being rejected by both Nintendo And Sega, they've decided to create their Own CD-based Console, The Sony Playstation. And it was Way more Popular and Way More Profitable than The Sega CD. Selling 90,000 units on the First Day! Ouch!!
If that wasn't enough Headaches for Sega, let's chat about the 32X, their 2nd Add-On for the Genesis.
In January 1994, Sega began to develop an add-on for the Genesis, the 32X, which would serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit Era and bridge the gap between The Genesis and the Next Sega Console.
The decision to create the add-on was made by Hayao Nakayama and widely criticized by Sega of America employees, as they believed that the Genesis was doing fine on it's own and that the consumers can wait for the Next Gen. But Nakayama was adamant, and as Their Boss ordered them to create the Add-On. Sega America relented and did what Nakayama asked.
According to former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Nakayama was worried that the Saturn would not be available until after 1994 and that the recently released Atari Jaguar would reduce Sega's hardware sales (it didn't, though another, more popular and famous console did). As a result, Nakayama ordered his engineers to have the system ready for launch by the end of the year.
Though The 32X was incompatible with the Saturn, they shared the same system architecture. Plus, the 32X could play Genesis titles ant a greater speed. The main reason for the Add-On's existence was to cater to players who couldn't afford a Saturn.
Because both machines shared many of the same parts and were preparing to launch around the same time, tensions emerged between Sega of America and Sega of Japan when the Saturn was given priority. Sega released the 32X on November 21, 1994, in North America, December 3, 1994, in Japan, and January 1995 in Europe, and was sold at less than half of the Saturn's launch price.
But, things were about to go Waaaaay South For Sega. Y'see, while They were busy with their 32-Bit Add-On, Nintendo was working on a game, with Rare, that would push the limits of the Super Nintendo. Zero Add-On's Needed!!!!!
And that game was, none other than, Donkey Kong Country. Soon, the 32X was losing big and many were questioning Why Sega would create this in the first place? As the Saturn's American release was just around the corner.
After the '94 holiday season interest in the 32X rapidly declined. The Add-On died in North America in Mid-1995, while in Japan it died about a Month after it's release. Damn.
For the first time in a while, Nintendo managed to get the lead in the Console Wars and that lead never diminished.
Frankly, The 32X made Sega look greedy and Dumb to consumers, they were supposed to be the Cool Kids.
Sega's credibility and reputation took a major hit after the release of the 32X...and it would get even more damaged later with the premature release of the Sega Saturn.
The 32X library managed to grow to 40 Games, some of which players needed to the Sega CD for. These were called the 32X CD games.
And since the Sega CD was dead at this point....there was just no Hope for this Add-On.
Well, still not wanting the tech to go to total waste, Sega of America decided to salvage it into a Stand Alone Console, The Sega Neptune...which never got released.
Now, before we talk about The Sega Saturn, let's talk briefly about the The Sega Channel and The Sega Nomad.
The Sega Channel was unleashed in December of 1994 in North America in a partnership between Sega, TCI, and Time Warner Cable The Service had Fully Playable Games (including exclusive ones), News, and even Tips and Tricks. The Service was discontinued in July of 1998.
In 1995, The Sega Nomad was created, as Sega's Final Handheld, but unlike the Game Gear, The Nomad was designed to play Genesis games on the go. But, if you thought that the Game Gear had poor battery life, it was Nothing compared to the Nomad.
If you wanted extended play, ya had to use an AC Adapter. On the bright side, You can use the Nomad as a Genesis, as you can hook it up to your TV And it even has a port for a 2nd Controller.
The Nomad sold well, but only for a brief period. And was Only Available in North America.
In Late-1995, The 16-Bit Console Wars ended...with Nintendo the Victor. While the MegaDrive died in Japan 1995, The Genesis died in North America in 1996.
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Chapter 9 - Saturn From Saturn and The Downfall.
Development on The Sega Saturn, started over two years before the system was showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994. The name "Saturn" was the system's codename during development in Japan, but was chosen as the official product name.
According to Tom Kalinske, Sega of America "fought against the architecture of Saturn for quite some time". Seeking an alternative graphics chip for the Saturn, Kalinske attempted to broker a deal with Silicon Graphics, but Sega of Japan rejected the proposal. Silicon Graphics instead collaborated with Nintendo on the Nintendo 64.
Publicly, Kalinske defended the Saturn's design: "Our people feel that they need the multiprocessing to be able to bring to the home what we're doing next year in the arcades."
In Late-1993, Sega restructured its internal studios in preparation for the Saturn's launch. To ensure high-quality 3D games would be available early in the Saturn's life, and to create a more energetic working environment, developers from Sega's arcade division were asked to create console games. New teams, such as Panzer Dragoon developer Team Andromeda, were formed during this time.
Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994, at a price of 44,800 Yen [roughly $150] Virtua Fighter, a faithful port of the popular arcade game, became the System's best Seller in the early going and Most Japanese Youth bought a Saturn, Just to play Virtua Fighter at home. Fueled by the popularity of Virtua Fighter, Sega's initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day, and was more popular than the PlayStation in Japan....at least for the moment.
And now...we get to the beginning of Sega's Downfall.
In March 1995, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would be released in the U.S. on "Saturnday", Saturday September 2, 1995. However, Sega of Japan mandated an early launch to give the Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation, which was gaining momentum in Japan.
Kalinske argued that an early launch would damage the Saturn's reputation, especially with few of the promised launch titles. But, Nakayama was adamant. So, the Saturn's North American Launch was moved ahead from September of '95 to May of '95.
At the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on May 11, 1995, Kalinske gave a keynote presentation in which he revealed the release price of the Saturn at $399 (including a copy of Virtua Fighter), and described the features of the console. He then told everyone that the Sega Saturn was available Now, which shocked everyone. Not to mention Pissed off Developers and Localizers, who were promised to have their Games available at launch, but couldn't due to the games not being ready by that time. The announcement also upset retailers who were not informed of the surprise release, including Best Buy and Walmart, KB Toys responded by dropping Sega from its lineup.
Kalinske also revealed that, due to "high consumer demand", Sega had already shipped 30,000 Saturns to Toys "R" Us, Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, and Software Etc. for immediate release.
But that's not All, at the the Same Event, Sony of America announced that the Sony Playstation would be available in September And would be 100 Dollars Cheaper than the Saturn. During his final words on the Playstation, Sony America's President Steve Race, instead of giving a speech, he uttered these words "299".
It was the Price heard around the World and another Major Blow to Sega.
The Saturn's U.S. launch was accompanied by a reported $50 million advertising campaign that included coverage in publications such as Wired and Playboy. Early advertising for the system was targeted at a more mature, adult audience than the Sega Genesis ads.
Because of the early launch, the Saturn had only six games (all published by Sega) available to start as most third-party games were slated to be released later. Virtua Fighter's relative lack of popularity in the West, combined with a release schedule of only two games between the surprise early launch, prevented Sega from capitalizing on the Saturn's early timing.
Within two days of its September 9, 1995, launch in North America, the PlayStation sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch. On October 2, 1995, Sega announced a Saturn price reduction to $299. Notwithstanding a subsequent increase in Saturn sales during the 1995 holiday season, new games were not enough to reverse the PlayStation's decisive lead. By 1996, the PlayStation had a considerably larger library than the Saturn, although Sega hoped to generate interest with upcoming exclusives such as Nights into Dreams.
And to make matters worse, The Planned Sonic The Hedgehog game for the System, Sonic X-treme was canceled after delays and other unforeseen issues. I may talk more about that game another day. So, instead of Sonic X-treme, Sega Made an enhanced port of Sonic 3D Blast in 1997.
Anyway, Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire U.S. video game market. On the first day of the May 1996 E3 show, Sony announced a PlayStation price reduction to $199, a reaction to the release of the Model 2 Saturn in Japan at a price roughly equivalent to $199. On the second day, Sega announced it would match this price, though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture.
Despite the launch of the PlayStation and the Saturn, sales of 16-bit hardware/software continued to account for 64% of the video game market in 1995. Sega underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis in the U.S., and did not have the inventory to meet demand for the product.
Sega was able to capture 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. video game market and sell more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, but Kalinske estimated that "we could have sold another 300,000 Genesis systems in the November/December timeframe."
Despite this, though, the Super Nintendo still continued to dominate the Genesis in both North America And in Japan.
Nakayama's decision to focus on the Saturn over the Genesis, due to the Saturn's popularity in Japan, has been cited as the major contributing factor in this miscalculation. According to Sega Technical Institute head Roger Hector, after Sony's release of the PlayStation, the atmosphere at Sega became political, with "lots of finger-pointing".
Due to long-standing disagreements with Sega of Japan, Tom Kalinske lost most of his interest in his work as CEO of Sega of America and on July 16, 1996, Shoichiro Irimajiri was appointed chairman and CEO of Sega of America, while Kalinske would leaving the company after September 30 of that year.
As a former Honda executive, Irimajiri had been actively involved with Sega of America since joining Sega in 1993. Sega also announced that David Rosen and Hayao Nakayama had resigned from their positions as chairman and co-chairman of Sega of America and Sega of Japan respectively, though both men remained with the company.
Bernie Stolar, a former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, was hired as Sega of America's executive vice president. Stolar, who had arranged a six-month PlayStation exclusivity deal for Mortal Kombat 3 and helped build close relations with Electronic Arts while at Sony, was perceived as a major asset by Sega officials. Finally, Sega of America made plans to expand its PC software business.
Stolar had little to no faith in the Saturn or it's chances of recovery. He believed that the Saturn's hardware was poorly designed and it's American Launch was botched beyond fixing. So at E3 '97 He publicly announced that "The Saturn is not our future."
Despite this, Stolar continued to push for quality games for the system, and reflected that "we tried to wind it down as cleanly as we could for the consumer." At Sony, Stolar opposed the localization of certain Japanese PlayStation games that he felt would not sell well in North America, and advocated a similar policy for the Saturn during his time at Sega, although he later sought to distance himself from this perception.
These changes were accompanied by a softer image that Sega was beginning to portray in its advertising, including removing the "Sega!" scream and holding press events for the education industry.
By 1997, Sega was being Murdered by Nintendo in the 16-Bit front, and Decimated by Sony in the 32-Bit front. Plus, Sega's credibility and reputation was damaged even more thanks to the Saturn's botched launch. Things needed to change. While Sega of America was planning to salvage the reputation and legacy of the Sega Saturn, and in turn salvage their own, Sega of Japan had their Own idea.
To boost the popularity of the Saturn in Japan, Sega introduced a new fictional spokesman, Segata Sanshiro, played by Kamen Rider Actor, Hiroshi Fugioka. Sanshiro was wild and unpredictable Karate Guy who would advertise Sega's Saturn products in His own crazy way.
This guy became popular with Sega Fans. Plus he had his Own Theme Song and his own Video Game, released only in Japan for the Saturn.
While Sega struggled greatly with its consumer division during the Saturn years, its arcade divisions remained profitable, with annual arcade revenues increasing year-on-year throughout the late 1990s. This was despite a market slump in the late 1990s, caused by the increased popularity of home video game consoles.
In January 1997, Sega announced its intentions to merge with Bandai, a Japanese toy maker that was Japan's largest and the world's third largest at the time. The merger, planned as a $1 billion stock swap whereby Sega would wholly acquire Bandai, was set to form a planned company known as Sega Bandai, Ltd. Plans for the merger were necessitated by the struggling financial state of both Sega and Bandai, with Bandai announcing their anticipated loss for the fiscal year and Sega announcing a lower than expected profit.
Initially planned to be finalized in October of that year, the merger was called off in May 1997. Opposition to the merger had grown in the ranks of Bandai's midlevel executives, with reasons cited including cultural differences with Sega's corporate culture colliding with Bandai's family-run business. This opposition had become so great that Bandai's board of directors called a meeting to discuss the situation and decided to cancel the merger, although they did agree to a business alliance with Sega.
The following day, Bandai president Makoto Yamashina resigned his position, taking responsibility for the failed merger and apologizing publicly for his inability to get the merger completed. In a separate press conference, Hayao Nakayama elaborated on his reason for agreeing to cancel the acquisition of Bandai, stating, "We will not be successful working together if Bandai's management cannot take hold of people's hearts."
As a result of the company's deteriorating financial situation, Nakayama resigned as president of Sega in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri. It has been speculated that Nakayama's resignation was in part due to the failure of the Sega Bandai merger, as well as Sega's 1997 performance. Bernie Stolar would subsequently accede to become CEO and president of Sega of America.
Aside from the Saturn and Arcade, Sega made forays in the consumer PC market with the 1995 establishment of SegaSoft, which was tasked with creating original Saturn and PC games. The most notable games being ports of Sonic 3 and Knuckles in 1995 and Sonic CD in 1996.
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Chapter 10 - Sega Casts a Dream
The Saturn failed to take the lead in the market as its predecessor had. After the launch of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, sales of the Saturn and its games were sharply reduced, while the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by three-to-one in the U.S. in 1997, all thanks to Final Fantasy 7.
As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47% of the console market, Nintendo 40%, and Sega only 12%. Price cuts and high-profile game releases didn't help against the Power of the Playstation and Final Fantasy 7.
After several years of declining profits, Sega had a slight increase in the fiscal year ended March 1997, partly driven by increasing arcade revenue. However, in March of 1998, Sega suffered its first financial loss since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Shortly before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced that it was discontinuing the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor. The Saturn would last a bit longer in Japan and Europe, before being discontinued in late-1998.
The decision to abandon the Saturn effectively left the All-Important Western market without Sega games for over one year. Sega suffered an additional billion consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 1999, and announced plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce.
With lifetime sales of 8 million units, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure, although it did remain popular in Japan for a while. In the Biggest and Best Market, however, things were the opposite. Thanks to the botched launch and lack of distribution, the Saturn failed in The U.S. and was not very popular, with many American Gamers opting to skip buying the Saturn to save their money for The Sony Playstation or Nintendo 64 instead.
Despite taking massive losses on the Saturn, Sega felt confident about its new system and got to work on in in late-1997. Codenamed "Katana" in development, the System was built to be better and more powerful than the Saturn with high-end graphics and amazing sound, plus a better library of games. Sega eventually gave the console a name "Dreamcast".
The Dreamcast attracted significant interest and drew a lot of pre-orders. Sega soon announced that Sonic Adventure, the next game starring company mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, would arrive in time for the Dreamcast's launch and promoted the game with a large-scale public demonstration at the Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall.
However, Sega could not achieve its shipping goals for the Dreamcast's Japanese launch due to a shortage of PowerVR chips caused by a high failure rate in the manufacturing process. As more than half of its limited stock had been pre-ordered, Sega stopped pre-orders in Japan.
But, On November 27th 1998, the Dreamcast launched in Japan at a price of 29,000 Yen, and the entire stock sold out by the end of the day. However, of the four games available at launch, only one was a success, the port of Virtua Fighter 3, which was the most popular arcade game Sega ever released at that point.
Sega estimated that an additional 200,000–300,000 Dreamcast units could have been sold with sufficient supply. Shoichiro Irimajiri hoped to sell over 1 million Dreamcast units in Japan by February of 1999, but less than 900,000 were sold, undermining Sega's attempts to build up a sufficient installed base to ensure the Dreamcast's success. Prior to the Western launch, Sega reduced the price of the Dreamcast to 19,900 Yen, effectively making the hardware unprofitable but increasing sales.
In America, Sega of America's new senior vice president, Peter Moore, a fan of the attitude previously associated with Sega's brand, worked with Foote, Cone & Belding and Access Communications to develop the "It's Thinking" campaign of 15-second television commercials, which emphasized the Dreamcast's hardware power and coolness.
According to Moore, "We needed to create something that would really intrigue consumers, somewhat apologize for the past, but invoke all the things we loved about Sega, primarily from the Genesis days."
On August 11, Sega of America confirmed that Bernie Stolar had been fired, leaving Moore to direct the launch. Prior to the Dreamcast's release, Sega was dealt a blow when EA, the largest third-party video game publisher, announced it would not be developing games for the system.
EA executive Bing Gordon claimed "[Sega] couldn't afford to give us the same kind of license that EA has had over the last five years", but Stolar recounted that EA president Larry Probst wanted "exclusive rights to be the only sports brand on Dreamcast", which Stolar would not accept due to Sega's recent $10 million purchase of sports game developer, Visual Concepts.
While the Dreamcast would have none of EA's popular sports games, Sega formed their Own sports brand, "Sega Sports.
The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999, at a price of $199, which Sega's marketing dubbed "9/9/99 for $199". Eighteen launch games were available for the Dreamcast in the U.S, compared to the 4 titles of the Japanese Launch. Sega set a new sales record by selling more than 225,000 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning the company $98.4 million in what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history".
Within two weeks, U.S. Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000. By Christmas, Sega held 31% of the North American video game market share. On November 4th, Sega announced it had sold over one million Dreamcast units in the U.S.. However, things didn't go as smoothly, due to a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced defective GD-ROMs.
Sega soon released the released the Dreamcast in Europe on October 14th, 1999 and sold 500,000 units in the region by Christmas 1999. Unfortunately, things were not as great over in Europe, as Sega sold less than 1 million Dreamcasts by the end of 2000.
Though the Dreamcast launch had been successful, Sony still held 60 percent of the overall video game market share in North America And Japan with the PlayStation at the end of 1999.
The Dreamcast was doing Great in The Biggest and Best Market in the World, but Sony was about to spoil things.
On March 2, 1999, in what one report called a "highly publicized, vaporware-like announcement" Sony revealed the first details of its next console The Playstation 2, which Ken Kutaragi claimed would allow video games to convey unprecedented emotions.
And on top of that, it was later revealed that The System would be 100% Backwards comparable with the PSX/PS1 Library and Peripherals. Plus, have DVD support. In Japan, the DVD market was lukewarm, but after the PS2's launch, The DVD market there Boomed.
In the same year, Nintendo announced that its next generation console would meet or exceed anything on the market, and Microsoft began development of its own console.
In 2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into nine semi-autonomous studios headed by the company's top designers. Studios included United Game Artists, Hitmaker, Smilebit, Overworks, Sega AM2, Sonic Team, WOW Entertainment, Amusement Vision, and Sega Rosso.
Sega's design houses were encouraged to experiment and benefited from a relatively lax approval process. This resulted in games such as Rez, Seaman, and Segagaga. Sega also revived franchises from the Genesis era, such as Ecco the Dolphin. AM2 developed what Sega hoped would be the Dreamcast's killer app, Shenmue, a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema."
However, Shenmue went over budget and was rumored to have cost Sega over $50 million. As the first fully 3D platforming game starring Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Team's Sonic Adventure was considered "the centerpiece of the [Dreamcast] launch". Adventure garnered criticism for technical problems including erratic camera angles and glitches, but was praised for its "luscious" visuals, "vast, twisting environments" and iconic set pieces. It has been described as the Sonic series' creative apex.
However, it failed "to catch on with players in nearly the way that [Nintendo's] Mario 64 had done", perhaps due to a perceived lack of gameplay depth. In sports, Visual Concepts' NFL 2K football series and its NBA 2K basketball series were critically acclaimed. Additionally, with the release of Sega's NAOMI arcade system board, the focus of the arcade divisions shifted to produce games that could easily be ported to the Dreamcast.
To Be Concluded in Part 3.
