Part 3: The Dream the Challenger Dreamed
Part 7: "Virtua," The Light and Shadow of the Future
In the midst of the escalating 16-BIT war, Sega's soul was already looking to another future. They were once again revolutionizing game history with massive arcade hits like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, the world's first 3D polygon games. For us back then, the sight of blocky polygons fighting like real people was the future itself.
This pure, almost impatient passion to bring this cutting-edge 3D technology home as quickly as possible gave birth to another expansion unit, the "Super 32X." However, the Mega Drive, already expanded with the "Mega-CD," became a complex, three-headed dragon, confusing many users and game developers.
Sega's stance of always chasing the future, always the cutting edge. It was so fast, and so beautiful, that it became a trigger that brought the era they had built to a close with their own hands.
Part 8: Winners, Losers, and My Father's Legacy
Eventually, the next generation of consoles, the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation, arrived, and the 16-BIT era slowly came to an end.
History might record the Super Famicom as the "winner" based on final sales figures.
However, upon re-examination, it's clear how well the Mega Drive sold globally and what an incredibly good fight it put up against the titan that was Nintendo. It was by no means a one-sided defeat. In the North American market, the Genesis (the overseas name for the Mega Drive) at one point outsold Nintendo, and many children were crazy not for Mario, but for Sonic.
My own father was a die-hard Nintendo fan. That's why a Mega Drive was never allowed in our house. But he never disparaged Sega. In fact, I still remember the sparkle in his eyes when he stood in front of an Out Run cabinet at the arcade.
My father acknowledged the greatness of the rival. Perhaps it was because of Sega that Nintendo created such a challenging game as Donkey Kong Country. The history of a battle should not be told only from the winner's point of view. It was because there was a proud "challenger" that the era shone so brightly, and the history of games became so much richer.
Part 9: The Memory of a Challenge Without Regret
So, what was the true "victory" that the Mega Drive left behind? It was the fact that Sega continued to create games of a high purity, in line with their own principles. The cool, challenging games born from their insistence on in-house development are still deeply loved by fans all over the world today. Could there be a more beautiful result?
We live in an economy-first society, so from a certain perspective, victory and defeat are inevitably assigned. But perhaps victory or defeat by an economic yardstick is just one single aspect when seen from the perspective of a long life. The games that remain in our hearts, left behind by the Sega engineers who stuck to their beliefs in what was "fun" amidst fierce competition—that is the greatest proof of their spirit.
The story of the Mega Drive teaches us. What is truly important in life is to live each day without regret.