Chairman Isao Okawa saved Sega with his own money, and forgave the debt on his death

[Louis_Cypher]

Just something I learned the other day. An interesting and poignant piece of gaming history. Isao Okawa was Chairman of Sega during their most difficult time. He wasn't convinced on the idea of the Dreamcast, but supported it anyway to the bitter end. He gave his own money to keep Sega afloat. Upon his death, he forgave debts his debts, letting Sega continue to live. He donated all of his stock, estimated at $700 million back to Sega, so that they could avoid bankrupcy. He died just six weeks after Sega retreated from the idea of onling gaming through the Dreamcast.

 

[Falksi]

Yeah, I remember reading about his some years back. Top bloke

A real shame that SEGA started down such a path of bizarre decisions in the first place. They don't seem to have learned their lesson either; every time I see them do something great they then do something stupid to compensate.

In that company is a whole wealth of amazing IPs and incredible foundation games with a ton of potential, but aa lot of it is probably better off left in the past with how shit most modern devs are.

That said, the new Shinobi game looks fantastic visually. I hope they pull that off.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Yeah, I remember reading about his some years back. Top bloke

A real shame that SEGA started down such a path of bizarre decisions in the first place. They don't seem to have learned their lesson either; every time I see them do something great they then do something stupid to compensate.

In that company is a whole wealth of amazing IPs and incredible foundation games with a ton of potential, but aa lot of it is probably better off left in the past with how shit most modern devs are.

That said, the new Shinobi game looks fantastic visually. I hope they pull that off.

The bizarre decisions you mention are due to the fame Sega has as an edgy, top of the line, always pushing for groundbreaking ideas type of company. I think we've talked about this in other threads, but some japanese gamers feel like the "death" of Sega (them retiring from the console market) was also the "death" of gaming. They wanted to, and effectively did, try everything, but that came with a cost.

 

[ind33d]

Just something I learned the other day. An interesting and poignant piece of gaming history. Isao Okawa was Chairman of Sega during their most difficult time. He wasn't convinced on the idea of the Dreamcast, but supported it anyway to the bitter end. He gave his own money to keep Sega afloat. Upon his death, he forgave debts his debts, letting Sega continue to live. He donated all of his stock, estimated at $700 million back to Sega, so that they could avoid bankrupcy. He died just six weeks after Sega retreated from the idea of onling gaming through the Dreamcast.

I'm surprised Sega didn't pivot to manufacturing computer parts. A decent GPU with a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog on the box seems like a no-brainer

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Just something I learned the other day. An interesting and poignant piece of gaming history. Isao Okawa was Chairman of Sega during their most difficult time. He wasn't convinced on the idea of the Dreamcast, but supported it anyway to the bitter end. He gave his own money to keep Sega afloat. Upon his death, he forgave debts his debts, letting Sega continue to live. He donated all of his stock, estimated at $700 million back to Sega, so that they could avoid bankrupcy. He died just six weeks after Sega retreated from the idea of onling gaming through the Dreamcast.

I'm surprised Sega didn't pivot to manufacturing computer parts. A decent GPU with a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog on the box seems like a no-brainer

They do collaborations with companies that do make computer parts.

 

[Be Kind Rewind]

That said, the new Shinobi game looks fantastic visually. I hope they pull that off.

I wasn't impressed. It seems like a step back, like some retro callback title that's being put out there because the company just remembered they had the IP. It doesn't look like ass, but it's a shame that the much more prestigious Shinobi for the PS2 and the sequel Nightshade were never followed up on because the series started to truly develop a much more unique identity with those and there has not been anything quite like it since as far as I know, while there have been plenty of 2D action platformers.

 

[JB_0x0003]

Just something I learned the other day. An interesting and poignant piece of gaming history. Isao Okawa was Chairman of Sega during their most difficult time. He wasn't convinced on the idea of the Dreamcast, but supported it anyway to the bitter end. He gave his own money to keep Sega afloat. Upon his death, he forgave debts his debts, letting Sega continue to live. He donated all of his stock, estimated at $700 million back to Sega, so that they could avoid bankrupcy. He died just six weeks after Sega retreated from the idea of onling gaming through the Dreamcast.

He must suffer for this. Look at what they do to MY beloved crazy taxi.

A friend of mine at the local dive mentioned being a darkweb assassin. Can I buy a darkweb grave-pisser as well? Something to look into I suppose.

 

[Falksi]

That said, the new Shinobi game looks fantastic visually. I hope they pull that off.

I wasn't impressed. It seems like a step back, like some retro callback title that's being put out there because the company just remembered they had the IP. It doesn't look like ass, but it's a shame that the much more prestigious Shinobi for the PS2 and the sequel Nightshade were never followed up on because the series started to truly develop a much more unique identity with those and there has not been anything quite like it since as far as I know, while there have been plenty of 2D action platformers.

As a big fan of the 2D games (Shinobi is actually my fave gaming series) I'm chuffed to bits to see more 2D action myself, no other 2D platformer has ever quite got the balance down to the gameplay which Shinobi 3 has. Others, such as Vengeful Guardian Moonrider, copy it best they can, but they either over-egg it or don't design the stages well enough to capitalize on the gameplay.