Genoa
Mar 22, 2004, 04:41 PM
I was bored, and I was searching a whole bunch of topics in my Microsoft Encarta 2002. I had found some video game history with Sega and Nintendo. (the following is directly from M. Encarta)
Sega Enterprises Ltd., leading manufacturer of home video games, portable video games, and video-arcade games. The company also operates amusement facilities. Sega is based in Tokyo, Japan.
Sega has its roots in two Japanese companies founded by Americans. The first, Rosen Enterprises, Ltd., was started by David Rosen in 1951. In 1954 Rosen began importing instant photograph booths from the United States to Japan. In 1957 he began importing coin-operated arcade machines. The other company, Service Games Company, was founded in 1951 by Raymond Lemaire and Richard Stewart. Their company began importing jukeboxes and slot machines to U.S. military bases in Japan and later began manufacturing coin-operated amusement games in Japan.
The companies merged in 1965, forming Sega Enterprises, whose name derived from the words service and games. Sega soon scored a success in Japan with an arcade game called Periscope. Sega also exported the game to the United States and Europe. In 1969 Gulf & Western Industries bought Sega. Sega’s growth accelerated with the video-arcade industry boom that began in the late 1970s, increasing sales from $37 million in 1978 to $215 million in 1982. But the boom quickly ended, and in 1983 Sega’s revenues dropped sharply.
In 1983 Gulf & Western sold Sega’s U.S. assets to Bally Manufacturing Company. The following year Rosen and Japanese investors bought back Sega for $38 million. In 1986 Sega established Sega of America, Inc., in Redwood City, California, to sell games in the United States. In the mid-1980s Japan-based Nintendo Co. revived the home video-game market in Japan and the United States with its 8-bit entertainment system. Nintendo dominated the market until 1989, when Sega introduced its 16-bit Genesis system with superior graphics. Sega also had success with its Sonic the Hedgehog character, a rolling blue hedgehog featured in a series of the company’s video games.
In 1991 Sega introduced Game Gear, a portable gaming system with a small full-color display. In 1994 in Japan the company opened the first of its interactive theme parks, Joypolis, featuring virtual-reality technologies. In 1995 the company released its 32-bit Sega Saturn game system, featuring a CD-ROM drive and improved graphics. The system faced competition from PlayStation, made by Sony Corporation, and from Nintendo’s popular 64-bit system, introduced in 1996. Also in 1995 Sega teamed up with media giants Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) and Time Warner (now AOL Time Warner) to launch the Sega Channel, an interactive cable-television channel that allowed subscribers to download game titles through the use of a special adapter.
The company introduced its first games for personal computers in 1995, reflecting the growing importance of computers in the home gaming market. The following year Sega introduced a modem that allowed Sega Saturn owners to connect to the World Wide Web through a television and to play games with other players over a network.
In 1999 Sega debuted Dreamcast, a 128-bit video-game console, in the United States. Dreamcast featured realistic three-dimensional graphics and speed—at the time of its release, it was the most powerful home video-game console. Like its predecessor, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast offered players the ability to play against other players via the World Wide Web. In 2000 Sega formed Sega.com, Inc., an online gaming company, and made Dreamcast game consoles available free of charge to subscribers. In 2001 Sega stopped making Dreamcast because of lagging sales and focused its attention on creating game software.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Nintendo Co., Ltd., leading manufacturer of home video games and portable video games. Nintendo helped revive the home video-game market in the United States in the mid-1980s. The company is based in Kyoto, Japan.
Nintendo evolved from the Marufuku Company, founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. The company made playing cards for hanafuda, a Japanese game (see Cards and Card Games). In 1949 Hiroshi Yamauchi, the great-grandson of the founder, changed the company’s name to Nintendo Playing Card Company, Ltd., and improved its manufacturing capabilities with modern equipment.
In 1953 Nintendo became the first Japanese company to manufacture plastic playing cards. In 1959 the company began selling playing cards illustrated with Walt Disney Company characters, a move that led Nintendo into the children’s market. Four years later the company changed its name to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
In the mid-1970s Nintendo teamed up with Mitsubishi Electric (see Mitsubishi Group) to develop a home video-game system. Introduced in Japan in 1977, the new system, Color TV Game 6, played six versions of electronic tennis similar to Pong, a popular game pioneered by Atari Corporation in the United States. Nintendo opened a U.S. subsidiary, Nintendo of America, in 1980. The following year Nintendo introduced Donkey Kong, a coin-operated video-arcade game that became widely popular. The game’s mustachioed main character, Mario, starred in many of Nintendo’s subsequent games and became the company symbol.
In 1983 Nintendo introduced a home video-game system in Japan called Famicom. The system enjoyed enormous popularity, and by the mid-1980s 35 percent of Japanese homes owned Famicom. In 1985 Nintendo launched an American version of Famicom called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The product featured an 8-bit computer, stereo sounds, and advanced graphics, and it was technically superior to anything else in the home video-game market at that time.
In the mid- to late 1980s Nintendo captured almost 80 percent of the U.S. market for home video games. Surveys found that Nintendo’s Mario character was more popular in the United States than Mickey Mouse. Nintendo’s Game Boy, a handheld video game system introduced in 1989, became extremely popular in the United States due to the success of Tetris, a game involving interlocking blocks.
Nintendo dominated the home video-game market until 1989, when Sega Enterprises Ltd. of Japan introduced Genesis, a 16-bit home video game that featured better graphics than Nintendo’s 8-bit system. Nintendo came out with its own 16-bit game system, Super NES, in 1991.
In 1996 Nintendo leapfrogged its competitors by introducing a 64-bit video game system, Nintendo 64. The system, developed in cooperation with Silicon Graphics, Inc., featured smooth three-dimensional graphics never before seen in home video-game systems. Initial consumer demand for Nintendo 64 outstripped supplies in Japan and the United States. Also in 1996, the company introduced its Pokémon trading cards in Japan. Pokémon cards and accessories proved wildly popular. Two years later Nintendo debuted Pokémon in North America, where they were equally successful. In 2001 Nintendo planned to release the GameCube, an advanced game console, to compete with the PlayStation2 from the Sony Corporation and the Xbox from Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The thing that surprised me the most, is that Sega Dreamcast is a 128-bit system, just like Gamecube. But on a website I heard that the GC was better in graphic quality due to its poligomial configuration. But DC is still one of the top sytems 2 me.
Sega Enterprises Ltd., leading manufacturer of home video games, portable video games, and video-arcade games. The company also operates amusement facilities. Sega is based in Tokyo, Japan.
Sega has its roots in two Japanese companies founded by Americans. The first, Rosen Enterprises, Ltd., was started by David Rosen in 1951. In 1954 Rosen began importing instant photograph booths from the United States to Japan. In 1957 he began importing coin-operated arcade machines. The other company, Service Games Company, was founded in 1951 by Raymond Lemaire and Richard Stewart. Their company began importing jukeboxes and slot machines to U.S. military bases in Japan and later began manufacturing coin-operated amusement games in Japan.
The companies merged in 1965, forming Sega Enterprises, whose name derived from the words service and games. Sega soon scored a success in Japan with an arcade game called Periscope. Sega also exported the game to the United States and Europe. In 1969 Gulf & Western Industries bought Sega. Sega’s growth accelerated with the video-arcade industry boom that began in the late 1970s, increasing sales from $37 million in 1978 to $215 million in 1982. But the boom quickly ended, and in 1983 Sega’s revenues dropped sharply.
In 1983 Gulf & Western sold Sega’s U.S. assets to Bally Manufacturing Company. The following year Rosen and Japanese investors bought back Sega for $38 million. In 1986 Sega established Sega of America, Inc., in Redwood City, California, to sell games in the United States. In the mid-1980s Japan-based Nintendo Co. revived the home video-game market in Japan and the United States with its 8-bit entertainment system. Nintendo dominated the market until 1989, when Sega introduced its 16-bit Genesis system with superior graphics. Sega also had success with its Sonic the Hedgehog character, a rolling blue hedgehog featured in a series of the company’s video games.
In 1991 Sega introduced Game Gear, a portable gaming system with a small full-color display. In 1994 in Japan the company opened the first of its interactive theme parks, Joypolis, featuring virtual-reality technologies. In 1995 the company released its 32-bit Sega Saturn game system, featuring a CD-ROM drive and improved graphics. The system faced competition from PlayStation, made by Sony Corporation, and from Nintendo’s popular 64-bit system, introduced in 1996. Also in 1995 Sega teamed up with media giants Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) and Time Warner (now AOL Time Warner) to launch the Sega Channel, an interactive cable-television channel that allowed subscribers to download game titles through the use of a special adapter.
The company introduced its first games for personal computers in 1995, reflecting the growing importance of computers in the home gaming market. The following year Sega introduced a modem that allowed Sega Saturn owners to connect to the World Wide Web through a television and to play games with other players over a network.
In 1999 Sega debuted Dreamcast, a 128-bit video-game console, in the United States. Dreamcast featured realistic three-dimensional graphics and speed—at the time of its release, it was the most powerful home video-game console. Like its predecessor, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast offered players the ability to play against other players via the World Wide Web. In 2000 Sega formed Sega.com, Inc., an online gaming company, and made Dreamcast game consoles available free of charge to subscribers. In 2001 Sega stopped making Dreamcast because of lagging sales and focused its attention on creating game software.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Nintendo Co., Ltd., leading manufacturer of home video games and portable video games. Nintendo helped revive the home video-game market in the United States in the mid-1980s. The company is based in Kyoto, Japan.
Nintendo evolved from the Marufuku Company, founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. The company made playing cards for hanafuda, a Japanese game (see Cards and Card Games). In 1949 Hiroshi Yamauchi, the great-grandson of the founder, changed the company’s name to Nintendo Playing Card Company, Ltd., and improved its manufacturing capabilities with modern equipment.
In 1953 Nintendo became the first Japanese company to manufacture plastic playing cards. In 1959 the company began selling playing cards illustrated with Walt Disney Company characters, a move that led Nintendo into the children’s market. Four years later the company changed its name to Nintendo Co., Ltd.
In the mid-1970s Nintendo teamed up with Mitsubishi Electric (see Mitsubishi Group) to develop a home video-game system. Introduced in Japan in 1977, the new system, Color TV Game 6, played six versions of electronic tennis similar to Pong, a popular game pioneered by Atari Corporation in the United States. Nintendo opened a U.S. subsidiary, Nintendo of America, in 1980. The following year Nintendo introduced Donkey Kong, a coin-operated video-arcade game that became widely popular. The game’s mustachioed main character, Mario, starred in many of Nintendo’s subsequent games and became the company symbol.
In 1983 Nintendo introduced a home video-game system in Japan called Famicom. The system enjoyed enormous popularity, and by the mid-1980s 35 percent of Japanese homes owned Famicom. In 1985 Nintendo launched an American version of Famicom called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The product featured an 8-bit computer, stereo sounds, and advanced graphics, and it was technically superior to anything else in the home video-game market at that time.
In the mid- to late 1980s Nintendo captured almost 80 percent of the U.S. market for home video games. Surveys found that Nintendo’s Mario character was more popular in the United States than Mickey Mouse. Nintendo’s Game Boy, a handheld video game system introduced in 1989, became extremely popular in the United States due to the success of Tetris, a game involving interlocking blocks.
Nintendo dominated the home video-game market until 1989, when Sega Enterprises Ltd. of Japan introduced Genesis, a 16-bit home video game that featured better graphics than Nintendo’s 8-bit system. Nintendo came out with its own 16-bit game system, Super NES, in 1991.
In 1996 Nintendo leapfrogged its competitors by introducing a 64-bit video game system, Nintendo 64. The system, developed in cooperation with Silicon Graphics, Inc., featured smooth three-dimensional graphics never before seen in home video-game systems. Initial consumer demand for Nintendo 64 outstripped supplies in Japan and the United States. Also in 1996, the company introduced its Pokémon trading cards in Japan. Pokémon cards and accessories proved wildly popular. Two years later Nintendo debuted Pokémon in North America, where they were equally successful. In 2001 Nintendo planned to release the GameCube, an advanced game console, to compete with the PlayStation2 from the Sony Corporation and the Xbox from Microsoft Corporation.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The thing that surprised me the most, is that Sega Dreamcast is a 128-bit system, just like Gamecube. But on a website I heard that the GC was better in graphic quality due to its poligomial configuration. But DC is still one of the top sytems 2 me.