SALON

Friday, May 14, 1999 7:00 PM UTC

Game wars at E3 expo

Underdog Sega takes on Nintendo, Sony in battle of the next-generation platforms.

By

Topics: Gaming, Video Games,

The details on Nintendo’s new machine are out: The Dolphin, as it’s known, is slated for a holiday release in 2000. It will be powered by an IBM PowerPC processor and will not be cartridge-based, but rather DVD-based — just as Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 2 is, interestingly enough. Sega had also once talked of DVD — which potentially transforms a game console into an entertainment system, since you can play both games and movies on it — but eventually let go of the idea. And that may hurt the company in the long run.

Not that Sega seems to think so. Wandering around the company’s E3 booth Thursday with David Karraker, vice president of Sega’s PR agency, Access Communications, I heard nothing but confidence. Sega’s Dreamcast machine is built and coming out, unlike the other two “next generation” machines from Sony and Nintendo, which are still in development. Third-party support for Dreamcast is “terrific,” says Karraker — although “decent” might be a better word. And take a gander at the 46 games on the show floor and the dozens more lined up for release, he suggested.

After spending some time playing the various games and seeing what Sega had to offer in terms of good games actually on their way to the Dreamcast, I have a higher opinion of its chances of success, though I’m still not convinced that it’s going to be the industry-sweeping sensation Sega is touting.

When Nintendo announced that it was going to build its new machine around DVD, instead of the cartridges it has used in the past, it entered into direct competition with Sony, whose PlayStation 2 will also be DVD. Sega’s machine is based on the older CD format, so it’s not entering this head-to-head DVD machine contest.

Everyone agrees that the console industry benefits from having three companies making hardware — better competition means more and better games and cheaper hardware. For that reason, most observers, me included, would like to see Sega survive and prosper in this market.

Gamers buy systems based on the games available: They want to put their dollars into the system that has good hardware, but, more importantly, into one that’s going to provide them with great game-play and fun. This much the Dreamcast can do. However, as the gaming industry gets larger and works harder to draw in the mass market, more than just serious gamers will be buying console systems. And to them, the question of whether the system they’re buying is just for games or might be used for watching movies may well matter, giving Sony and Nintendo a huge advantage. If that happens, Sega could be in a world of hurt.

Moira Muldoon is a senior editor at Computec Media. More Moira Muldoon.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
249 points250 points | 10 comments
vote
Loaded terminology like "entitlements" and "welfare" skews the debate and alters America. How right-wingers use semantic tricks to kill government.
254 points255 points | 50 comments
vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the persecuted late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
187 points188 points | 1 comment
vote
Obstruction will ruin the GOP: Playing politics and abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster
58 points59 points | 8 comments
vote
Today in How Did I Miss This: Iowa GOP is pushing to cut the pay of the remaining Supreme Court Justices that voted for legalization of gay marriage.
58 points59 points | 6 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations