Sega & Midway Similarities: The Death Of Gaming Giants

I read a good article on SEGAbits detailing five reasons for Sega's recent woes and they are as follows:

1. Poor marketing
2. Poor scheduling
3. Terrible games from '05 to '08
4. Terrible Marvel games
5. Too many new IP's, not enough old ones

Right now we are all bummed out about Sega.  But I cannot get too upset anymore.  This is to be expected for Sega.  I'm hoping this is a cathartic stage in that they'll turn around, albeit they'll have nothing to show for the next couple of years besides Football Manager and a few more Dreamcast ports.  But you never know cause just when I think they couldn't be any dumber, they either totally redeem themselves or reach unprecedented levels of dumb-ness.  It's a game of Chutes & Ladders and I can't guess where they'll be in 5-10 years.

And now for your feature presentation...

I did some research on Midway (and Atari and Williams) Games a few months ago.  I should've brought it up sooner but now is a good time.  You see, Sega and Midway had a lot of common.  See this:

*  Both were old-school distributors of arcade/amusement hardware, including slot machines, jukeboxes, and eventually bona-fide arcade cabinets.

* Both had their own "League of Legends."  Midway: Ed Boon, John Tobias, Eugene Jarvis, and Mark Turmell.  Sega: Yu Suzuki, Yuji Naka, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi.

* Both were prolific at arcade games.  Both had their own lines of fighting, shooting, and (lots of) racing games.  Mortal Kombat<->Virtua Fighter.  Maximum Force & Area 51<->Virtua Cop.  San Francisco Rush, Cruis'n Everything, Super Sprint, Spy Hunter, Hydro Thunder, STUN Runner<->Virtua Racing, Daytona, OutRun, look on the right side of the screen.

* Both were known for pushing the envelope in terms of edginess.  While Sega had Sonic, Streets of Rage, Toejam and Earl, and all that "Sega does what Nintendon't" bullcrap, Midway had Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Smash TV, NBA Jam, and NFL Blitz.

* In the turn of the millennium, both  got hit hard by the decline in arcades.  In '99, Midway stopped manufacturing pinball machines and in '01, stopped manufacturing arcade games altogether.  Sega also suffered the same fate but at a much slower pace (i.e. AM2 released OutRun 2 and Ghost Squad in '04, Sega still continues to make arcade hardware--Ringedge & Ringwide--though it's awfully underutilized).

* Both were "bailed out" by private investors following the arcade heyday.  In '03, American media magnate Sumner Redstone bought a majority of Midway's stocks.  In that same year, Sammy Corporation bought out Sega.

* Both their "League of Legends" bailed out to create new studios.  John Tobias left to create Studio Gigante.  Eugene Jarvis left to create Raw Thrills.  Yu Suzuki left to create YS Net.  Yuji Naka left to create Prope.  Tetsuya Mitzuguchi left to create Q Entertainment.

* Both lost a s***-ton of money & prestige during that period.  Sega obviously lost billions for years after the Dreamcast debacle.  Midway lost $115 million in '03 as they began shutting down studios, including Midway Games West and Midway Adelaide, that same year.

* Both published a ton of mediocre games since then.  In Midway's case, this included BlackSite: Area51, Vin Diesel's Wheelman and Psi-Ops.  In Sega's case, the Marvel games are a great example.

However, unlike Sega, Midway actually did go bankrupt.  In '07 and '08, there was a revolving door of higher-ups getting their asses kicked out the door.  In '09, Midway defaulted on its $240 million debt and crumbled into a million pieces only to be devoured by Warner Bros. for a measly $49 million.  At that point, Midway's stock were worth less than a dollar.  Rumor has it that whatever remaining Midway execs were devouring caviar and wine while "Rome" burned.

If there's any good news to be had post-Midway, it's that their franchises aren't completely dead.  High-quality Mortal Kombat games are still being produced by Warner Bros.  NBA Jam and NFL Blitz got remakes from Electronic Arts.  Hydro Thunder got a remake for Xbox Live.  And, love it or hate it, the Cruis'n games made a comeback in the form of multiple Fast & Furious games for arcades (including a terrible Wii port).

The good news is that Sega's "death" has been a much slower process, mostly because Sega still has Japan's support while Midway only had America to rely on.  I only hope that Sega learns from Midway in that they aren't eating the caviar while their company continues to die.  I think the changes  they've made says "Well, we know we suck but at least we're going to do something about it," which demonstrates more maturity than Midway ever did IMO.

Also, I was thinking about Sega and what we would do if they actually did perish from this earth.  Would it be THAT terrible?  All those IP's don't just disintegrate into thin air--they are still in existence.  Midway's prime IP's still get love today.  Who's not to say Sega's old IP's couldn't get the same recognition?  Maybe someone else will give Sonic their dues.  Maybe someone else will actually bring back Daytona.  Maybe Yu Suzuki will be able to make Shenmue 3 no longer bounded by the shackles of Sega-Sammy.

To be disappointed with Sega's death would mean to be disappointed that they missed the opportunity to return to "glory."  Yet clearly as of their condition today and the trends in game design it's very unlikely this'll occur even if they remain alive for a long time.  Everyone says that today's Sega is only a hollow shell of their former selves and will continue to be mediocre regardless of what happens.  I hope I'm proven wrong and that Sega and the fans stay resolute.  It's always great to remain optimistic but, as you've heard plenty of times, it's necessary to prepare for the worst.

"No society is guaranteed perpetual existence." - Mark Levin

Still we have faith that Sega will live and by God, even past the grave they will.

Spike VGA's And Stupid Stuff

First off, I took a shower a while back and I got some water in my ear which has me completely disoriented right now so that sucks.

I had no idea the Spike Video Game Awards were this Saturday, nor did I care.  It's so tempting to get on here and call the show a piece of crap, but I'm not even going to do that.  It is what it is.

The Winners.

Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption.  Now I don't really care any way.  At least it wasn't something overly violent and annoying like God of War.

Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Black Ops.  Now I love how when I'm on the 360 Dashboard, I see all this stuff for Halo: Reach.  Buy Halo Reach!  Mess around with the Forge Editor and all that crap.  Well guess what--everyone's playing Call of Duty: Black Ops.  I hate to sound like a jerk, but I prefer the contemporary style of Call of Duty over Halo, sorry that's just the way I think.  Way back to Counter-Strike and Goldeneye.

EDIT:
Basically, it's like that quote "Men love blondes but marry brunettes," or something.  So everyone buys Call of Duty but MS would prefer if you played Halo.  I think that's how it works.

Best Driving Game: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.  Now, I would've picked Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing but remember, no one cares about cool stuff like that anymore.  Thankfully, Hot Pursuit is not a game that I loathe.  We should all be thankful that Split/Second didn't win instead.  I don't even know if GT5 was nominated.

Best Music Game: Rock Band 3.  As it should be.

Best Downloadable Game: Costume Quest.  Wrong answer man.  Should be Perfect Dark.  EDIT: I'm also surprised it wasn't Super Meat Boy.

As for the rest of the awards, I don't care and I'm not going to bother mentioning them because I would be wasting your time.

------------

Then there's also game announcements and stuff.  You have Kratos from God of War who will appear in Mortal Kombat.  First of all, I can't believe these two are still going.  Sure, slash and hack each other to death.  I still think it's weird that Kratos was in that PSP Soul Calibur which doesn't make any sense cause there's no gore in it.

But then there's Forza 4.  Just after GT5.  You know these guys are going for the jugular here.  Polyphony Digital had six years to work on it and people have brought up tons of complaints.  I may seem partial to GT5, but I think they may have screwed up really bad here.  We'll see if Forza 4 gets the PI ratings right and throws in some new courses, then GT6 will be playing catchup big-time.  Kazunori Yamauchi, you had the sim racing genre down until then, you played prevent defense and now you're on your heels.

Forza 4 trailer.

Just for show.  I think it's really weird that you can "ramp" another car in GT5 since in previous ones, I thought your collision box extended the entire space above and below your car, but not here:

I'm done talking, goodbye.

Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead? (Midway/Cruis'n Games/etc.)

http://kotaku.com/5612465/so-long-midway-and-thanks-for-smash-tv

Feb '09, Midway declared bankrupcy (which explains why Midway games like Smash TV, Paperboy, and Root Beer Tapper were taken on XBLA).  Apparently, today, all the studios are gone forever or are sold to someone else, as you can tell by the Midway logo in the trash can.  I'm going to say a few words--I'm not going to kick the company while its down but I'm not going to give an eulogy either.

BUT FIRST, let me just say that I'm going into the Cruis'n series quite a bit here.  Before you all call me a fanboy, a whiner, a stupid idiot who doesn't know anything, let me just say that I have played A TON of Cruis'n World and Cruis'n USA in arcades and on the N64.  I sat there with my little N64 racing wheel and got 9,999 points on Cruis'n World, unlocked the Speed Demon as well as all the other cars (except for the Tommy which I think is impossible).  I also set a world record on Cruis'n USA which I think may have been beaten right about now, but since the site that held the record has disappeared, it's really nothing right about now.  What I'm trying to say is that I've spent a copious amount of time playing these games so you can't say I don't know anything about them.

Probably the hardest track in the history of racing games.

Midway has always been a punching bag of mine, mostly because of its IMO mediocre Cruis'n series which has turned Sega racing games into an endangered species as far as I'm concerned.  That latter reason is why I take this a little personally, otherwise it can exist all it wants and I don't care.  But you kind of have to give Midway some credit for they've really pushed arcades ahead in America such as Paperboy, Smash TV, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Joust, Gauntlet, etc.  They were kind of a "we make whatever games we want and you can't tell us otherwise" developer.  Plus they've released a ton of their arcade games in their Arcade Treasures series (although the emulation wasn't 100% perfect).

Cruis'n Series: There's Cruis'n USA, Cruis'n World, and Cruis'n Exotica, three arcade games that came home on ports for various consoles.  John Marine wrote a pretty good article on this here.  Well, what's my problem with these games?  Well, let me go with what I really don't like about it...

* It's a twitch racer.  Basically, the main difficulty with the game is not hitting the driving lines, instead its simply reacing to turns and oncoming traffic.  Most tracks anyway, some like Chicago and Redwood Forest in Cruis'n USA are insanely difficult.

* No need to use the brake at all.  Very little need for skill and not much room to improve yourself.  Flips, barrel rolls, etc take some skill to do but that's about it.

* Collision detection.  If you're driving along and you make a little love tap with another racer, just flip two coins, one for yourself, one for the other guy.  If the coin lands on heads, spin out.  If tails, lose about 2 mph and keep going.  Basically, it's just like a random integer that causes you to spin out for no reason whatsoever.  For some reason, the likelihood of a spinout is much less in Cruis'n USA which means it got worse then on IMO.

* Rubber band AI.  OH MAN DO I HATE THIS.  You can be in the lead, cruis'n, first place, not doing anything wrong, hitting whatever racing lines may exist, but the computer will still be riding your ass the whole way.  Sometimes when I'm playing this (this is mostly in the arcade version for obvious reasons) I lose and it just makes me want to punch the screen.  And another thing Midway has the kindness to do is offer a "free race" to those who come in first, but you might as well play a light stopper game if you want freebies.

* Time limit is too generous.  Races are too short, some lasting at least 1:30 or longer, depending on how well you drive.

* This one's for the arcade versions of Cruis'n World and Exotica, I'm looking right at you.  When you're on the Kenya track or whatever, little sprite animals like zebras and elephants can wander right out onto the track.  What happens when you hit them?  They explode into blood chunk giblets that fly all over the place.  PETA should've sued Midway for this.  Anyway, I might've found this entertaining...if I were a five year old who likes making farting noises with my armpits and making death threats against Barney the Dinosaur.

NEW FOOTAGE:

About as gruesome as a shotgun-wielding lunatic at a furry convention.

On the other hand, there's a few good things I can say about the Cruis'n games and that is it's got a decent "vibe."  Like it's a game that doesn't take itself seriously.  Good music, good menus, cool cars, a decent sense of speed.  It's not the worse game I've ever played...but at someone whose standards are way up high, I don't know, I just can't take it at all.

Cruis'n USA came out in '94, nearly the same time as Daytona USA and Ridge Racer.

The original Cruis'n USA had a Ferrari Testarossa, '63 Corvette Stingray, a Jaguar XJ220, and some weird '30's Chevy...thing.  The cars were cool and the music was good which IMO makes Cruis'n USA the best in the series.  That was before the series took a dive into Darth Vader territory with a bunch of ridiculous cars like little Beetles, Hummers, that 3-wheel truck thing, as well as flips and stuff which really make zero sense in any racing game as far as I'm concerned.  This game even has drifting which really doesn't make any sense other than to do heli spins moves.

Like I said about the Cruis'n games, they're games that you can't take seriously.  I mean, when I'm playing Daytona USA or OutRun, I always gotta do my best, but here, it's just stupid fun.  But that's the main problem--it's something that NO ONE takes seriously!  It's a game that the average Joe arcade gamer throws money at and then quits because they don't feel like playing a game like Daytona USA and busting their ass to get better at it.  And that's why I think the Cruis'n games are dominating the arcades.  And that's why I have a vendetta against them.

Everything Else: I could've gone into a long list of games but since this article's too long anyway, let's just sum it up quickly.

Mortal Kombat, their most prized possession.  Personally, despite the violence, I never saw it as that great of a fighting series because it mostly ran on the blood gimmick.  The later 3d series has really improved it's visage when compared to serious contenders like Street Fighter, Tekken, etc.  Not going to comment much since fighting games aren't my forte.

NFL Blitz and NBA Jam, not bad.  They got numerous home ports (including a new NBA Jam game coming soon) and they are pretty goofy.  Although I prefer NFL Street, Blitz is basically rugby with QBs and RBs throwing the ball 50 yards with a perfect spiral and late hits and all that crap.  Still, it's good fun and it's pretty easy to pick up.  NBA Jam, fun too.  Decent sports games.

San Francisco Rush, probably their best game IMO.  Decent racing game with low gravity, the tracks are cool, tons of secrets.  And get this, YOU HAVE TO USE THE BRAKES.  Rush 2049 is a good arcade game that actually warrants some replay value (finding coins, gaining miles), but it didn't last long.  Too bad the N64 versions were graphically underwhelming even by N64 standards.

Rampage, basically you play as three Godzilla-sized monsters and go punch buildings and eat people.  Game really makes zero sense whatsoever but I can see little kids getting a kick out of it.  The game basically becomes a "don't lose your HP" game as tanks and helicopters shoot you up and I never really could do anything to stop it.  So yeah, this one's stupid.  BAD.

Area 51 and Lethal Enforcers, compared to Time Crisis and Virtua Cop, this one's just laughable.  There's no way to avoid getting hit so it's really up to level memorization to beat the game.  At least there's a few cool secret items and rooms and crap.

Hydro Thunder, everyone knows about this one.  It's a boat racer which is pretty cool and it's basically in every arcade in the world.  It's one of Midway's best products, but I'm not bombastic all over it.  Check out the new H2O Overdrive for arcades or the Hydro Thunder game for XBLA if you're so inclined.

California Speed, the bastard child of Cruis'n World and San Franciso Rush.  It's basically like Rush but you can't blow up and are glued to the road.  It's got some crazy locales like Silicon Valley and Mojave Desert which leads to environments such as large supercomputers, UFOs, volcanoes, large shopping malls, roller coasters, etc.  It's still a pretty crappy game though.

Revolution X, remember this gem?  It's got Aerosmith in it, but still, not even they can save it.  Why AEROSMITH WHY??

Remember, music is the weapon.

Primal Rage, a bunch of dinosaurs punching each other in a blood bath to the death.  Evo and Major League Gaming is considering adding this one to their lineup.

I could really go on, but that's about it.  After '09, Ed Boon (Mortal Kombat creator) continues to work at the old Midway Chicago studio under Warner Bros.  Eugene Jarvis (Cruis'n creator) bailed out and created his own company called Raw Thrills where he can spam Cruis'n and Area 51 clones to screw us over in the 21st century!  Fast and the Furious = game of the century.  So I guess you can say Midway really isn't "dead."

Anyway, bankrupcy can be bad and there's probably some Midway fans hurting right about now.  But what if something like this happened to Sega?  Didn't they come close to biting the bullet after the Dreamcast?  I don't know, it's just something scary to think about.  If Sega is gone, not only would you lose Daytona USA, but any chance of sequels!  Plus Sonic the Hedgehog, which would make tons of kids and the UK cry.  I'm outta here, adios.