RE: <Like unclewest said, Sega has a very small percentage of the game market, but the new Dreamquest may allow them to make some headway.>
Sega's previous generation, the Saturn, became completely obsolete and was actually withdrawn from production. The new one is selling pretty well in Japan. Hard to say how well it will do in US when it is intro'd next month. Sony attempted to preempt it by preannouncing the PlayStation II and has been making every headline possible. I've heard some news very recently that Sony is now admitting that PSII is at least a year away but I haven't seen enough info to confirm this yet. If this turns out to be true then Sega will have the next year to themselves with a product far superior to Sony or Nintendo.
If anyone is interested in researching this you can start at:
3dlinks.com
Here is an extraction from the latest Wave Report. I've put bold on important parts. Please, please realize that "PlayStation" means the old generation which does not use Rambus. "PlayStation II" means the new generation which does use Rambus. This report says PSII will not be intro'd until Holiday season of 2000.
9083.2 Story of the Issue
***Sony Plans $150 Million Campaign for Playstation
(August 25)
According to Reuters Sony Computer Entertainment America said
that it plans a $150 million marketing campaign for its mature
Playstation, amid a marketing onslaught from Sega and its new
video game system.
Sega of America, is spending $100 million in a campaign for the
launch of its video game console, the Dreamcast, which will be
launched in the U.S. on September 9. Sony Computer Entertainment
has the Playstation 2 in development, but it will not be launched
until the holiday shopping season of 2000.
The Sony Playstation is the dominant video game console, with
Nintendo Co running at number two. Sega's Dreamcast represents a
comeback attempt to regain lost market share for the number three
video console maker.
Sony officials have said Sony is embarking on a $150 million
campaign for fiscal 2000, which ends in March, which is up
slightly from last fiscal year's spending of $140 million. The
campaign will include television, print, third party co-
marketing, national promotional programs and product placements
in television and movies.
Recently Sony cut the price on the Playstation to $99 from $129,
which was followed by Nintendo with a similar price cut on the
Nintendo 64. Analysts have said they do not expect the
Playstation to lose its dominance, even with a new system also
coming from Nintendo, the Dolphin, in 2000 and Sega's Dreamcast
this year.
According to a study released by Ziff Davis, which polled about
1,500 video gamers, the largest percentage of gamers are looking
forward to the Playstation, compared to the other new gaming
systems. Plus, some in the industry have been predicting that the
graphics and the high performance in the Sony Playstation 2 will
move both game developers and consequently, gamers, away from the
personal computer to the Playstation. |
