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While Nintendo is releasing a small number of well presented, high quality epic games, Sega continues to release a huge amount of zany, original titles.
So what is it that drives the companies to produce so different a game? Actually, the answer is simple.
The game designers and producers at Nintendo (eg. Shigsy) are all artists. They like to make games that are.. well... arty! There's no other way to put it. They don't care what hardware they are making the game for... they design the story and character of the game, and then give it to the programmers who make it into reality.
Things are different at the Sega camp. Here all the game producers (almost without exception) are porogrammers. They design a game around the hardware. Let me give some examples. Naka-san, creator of Sonic, was given a Meg Drive dev kit, and wanted to make something to compete with Mario. They spent 6 months just getting the graphics to go fast... and then he designed the game! Yu Suzuki (or was it the head of Amusment Vision?)was given the model 2 arcade board, and wanted to do something never seen before... make a 3D racer! So his team spent weeks working with code in order to make a polygon appear on screen.
And that is the difference between the companies. Nintendo do the best they can onn the hardware, but put all their effort into the soul of the game. Sega wow crowds by pushing hardware beyond anyone else (could any other company have bothered to make Shenmue?), with the gameplay based firmly into the new technology.
To finish off... let's make this relevant to the FOG... hmmmm...
Do you think this rift between the companies will continue in the future, or will they converge as some departments in Sega work closer and closer to those at Nintendo?
So what is it that drives the companies to produce so different a game? Actually, the answer is simple.
The game designers and producers at Nintendo (eg. Shigsy) are all artists. They like to make games that are.. well... arty! There's no other way to put it. They don't care what hardware they are making the game for... they design the story and character of the game, and then give it to the programmers who make it into reality.
Things are different at the Sega camp. Here all the game producers (almost without exception) are porogrammers. They design a game around the hardware. Let me give some examples. Naka-san, creator of Sonic, was given a Meg Drive dev kit, and wanted to make something to compete with Mario. They spent 6 months just getting the graphics to go fast... and then he designed the game! Yu Suzuki (or was it the head of Amusment Vision?)was given the model 2 arcade board, and wanted to do something never seen before... make a 3D racer! So his team spent weeks working with code in order to make a polygon appear on screen.
And that is the difference between the companies. Nintendo do the best they can onn the hardware, but put all their effort into the soul of the game. Sega wow crowds by pushing hardware beyond anyone else (could any other company have bothered to make Shenmue?), with the gameplay based firmly into the new technology.
To finish off... let's make this relevant to the FOG... hmmmm...
Do you think this rift between the companies will continue in the future, or will they converge as some departments in Sega work closer and closer to those at Nintendo?
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I think Sega make outstanding arcade games up there with namco where as Nintendo have always kept their games fun and very entertaining.
Sorry for the double post, btw.
Nintendo's original idea was to make a few games and keep the quality high, then they would monitor any choosen third party developers and only give the go-ahead for those that impressed them most. Oh how that went so wrong!
While a lot of Nintendo games do show a shining quality to them, there are many that are equally forgotton in the blink of an eye. In order to keep their original idea of releasing games slower, they are giving the consumer less options than other companies, even though some (not all) of their games will be of a better quality because of this.
Sega, on the other hand, have worked with more third parties, allowing them more freedom to release whatever they want on Sega's hardware. This has allowed for a wider diversity of games from different companies. Sega themselves are a diversified company, the hardware side is separate from the software side and even that is split into divisions, with Sonic Team and the AMD departments all being very different in their outlook and how they create games.
If you put these two companies side by side, there are some interesting results. Sega's AMD department love arcade games, and polish them with pride, while Sonic Team create interesting characters and original games. Nintendo are similar to Sonic team in this respect and look after their games characters. Both companies have a love of games and are interested in getting the best from their machines, while (of course) trying to make money.
While Sega have taken the risks, Nintendo have kept their expenses low, meaning that, although their machine is now dying out, they can afford to support it still, while Sega needed to recoup some losses. Also, Pokemon kept Nintendo quite happy for N64 sales for a while and they can rely on their handheld for support, while Sega only had the Dreamcast. Both make good quality games which are fun to play, and both take care in this process. They are two of the oldest games firms still alive in almost their original form today, while other companies have been taken over years ago or gone bust. If either one of these left the gaming scene it would be a great loss.
While a lot of Nintendo games do show a shining quality to them, there are many that are equally forgotton in the blink of an eye. In order to keep their original idea of releasing games slower, they are giving the consumer less options than other companies, even though some (not all) of their games will be of a better quality because of this.
Sega, on the other hand, have worked with more third parties, allowing them more freedom to release whatever they want on Sega's hardware. This has allowed for a wider diversity of games from different companies. Sega themselves are a diversified company, the hardware side is separate from the software side and even that is split into divisions, with Sonic Team and the AMD departments all being very different in their outlook and how they create games.
If you put these two companies side by side, there are some interesting results. Sega's AMD department love arcade games, and polish them with pride, while Sonic Team create interesting characters and original games. Nintendo are similar to Sonic team in this respect and look after their games characters. Both companies have a love of games and are interested in getting the best from their machines, while (of course) trying to make money.
While Sega have taken the risks, Nintendo have kept their expenses low, meaning that, although their machine is now dying out, they can afford to support it still, while Sega needed to recoup some losses. Also, Pokemon kept Nintendo quite happy for N64 sales for a while and they can rely on their handheld for support, while Sega only had the Dreamcast. Both make good quality games which are fun to play, and both take care in this process. They are two of the oldest games firms still alive in almost their original form today, while other companies have been taken over years ago or gone bust. If either one of these left the gaming scene it would be a great loss.
Nintendo's original idea was to make a few games and keep the quality high, then they would monitor any choosen third party developers and only give the go-ahead for those that impressed them most. Oh how that went so wrong!
While a lot of Nintendo games do show a shining quality to them, there are many that are equally forgotton in the blink of an eye. In order to keep their original idea of releasing games slower, they are giving the consumer less options than other companies, even though some (not all) of their games will be of a better quality because of this.
Sega, on the other hand, have worked with more third parties, allowing them more freedom to release whatever they want on Sega's hardware. This has allowed for a wider diversity of games from different companies. Sega themselves are a diversified company, the hardware side is separate from the software side and even that is split into divisions, with Sonic Team and the AMD departments all being very different in their outlook and how they create games.
If you put these two companies side by side, there are some interesting results. Sega's AMD department love arcade games, and polish them with pride, while Sonic Team create interesting characters and original games. Nintendo are similar to Sonic team in this respect and look after their games characters. Both companies have a love of games and are interested in getting the best from their machines, while (of course) trying to make money.
While Sega have taken the risks, Nintendo have kept their expenses low, meaning that, although their machine is now dying out, they can afford to support it still, while Sega needed to recoup some losses. Also, Pokemon kept Nintendo quite happy for N64 sales for a while and they can rely on their handheld for support, while Sega only had the Dreamcast. Both make good quality games which are fun to play, and both take care in this process. They are two of the oldest games firms still alive in almost their original form today, while other companies have been taken over years ago or gone bust. If either one of these left the gaming scene it would be a great loss.
While a lot of Nintendo games do show a shining quality to them, there are many that are equally forgotton in the blink of an eye. In order to keep their original idea of releasing games slower, they are giving the consumer less options than other companies, even though some (not all) of their games will be of a better quality because of this.
Sega, on the other hand, have worked with more third parties, allowing them more freedom to release whatever they want on Sega's hardware. This has allowed for a wider diversity of games from different companies. Sega themselves are a diversified company, the hardware side is separate from the software side and even that is split into divisions, with Sonic Team and the AMD departments all being very different in their outlook and how they create games.
If you put these two companies side by side, there are some interesting results. Sega's AMD department love arcade games, and polish them with pride, while Sonic Team create interesting characters and original games. Nintendo are similar to Sonic team in this respect and look after their games characters. Both companies have a love of games and are interested in getting the best from their machines, while (of course) trying to make money.
While Sega have taken the risks, Nintendo have kept their expenses low, meaning that, although their machine is now dying out, they can afford to support it still, while Sega needed to recoup some losses. Also, Pokemon kept Nintendo quite happy for N64 sales for a while and they can rely on their handheld for support, while Sega only had the Dreamcast. Both make good quality games which are fun to play, and both take care in this process. They are two of the oldest games firms still alive in almost their original form today, while other companies have been taken over years ago or gone bust. If either one of these left the gaming scene it would be a great loss.
Ninentendo make better everything, Sega fail at everything. Espcially at making consoles. Sega just make loads of games, half of them ain't any good. But Nintendo made Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. Two of the best FPS ever.
I think that Shigsy is a decent programmer.
No one can be a major figure in the industry for over 25 years and NOT learn a fair bit of coding.
He probably doesn't specialise in it but he clearly knows more than enough to implement his ideas.
Being an Artist too, he's also an expert at creating characters and can ensure they turn out exactly how he wants them too.
No one can be a major figure in the industry for over 25 years and NOT learn a fair bit of coding.
He probably doesn't specialise in it but he clearly knows more than enough to implement his ideas.
Being an Artist too, he's also an expert at creating characters and can ensure they turn out exactly how he wants them too.
Strafex wrote:
> The Sonic games came after Mario Land on the Snes so naturally they
> had better graphics and were a bit faster.
A BIT faster! A bit! Ha... Mario would be happy!
But seriously, the graphics were far faster than anyone thought a game could be on the MD processor- the way they did it was to use lots of little tricks to squeeze the last drop of power out of the machine. A bit like the SNES playing Starfox... it was never designed to do so, yet thanks to those people at Ninty R&D they pulled it off.
I still think that
> Donkey Kong Country on the Snes is the best 2D platformer ever.
You know, in one of the DK games (DK3 I think), there is a level where DK's sister (or whatever relation the girl is), is actually playing an N64... another ninty trick;)
> The Sonic games came after Mario Land on the Snes so naturally they
> had better graphics and were a bit faster.
A BIT faster! A bit! Ha... Mario would be happy!
But seriously, the graphics were far faster than anyone thought a game could be on the MD processor- the way they did it was to use lots of little tricks to squeeze the last drop of power out of the machine. A bit like the SNES playing Starfox... it was never designed to do so, yet thanks to those people at Ninty R&D they pulled it off.
I still think that
> Donkey Kong Country on the Snes is the best 2D platformer ever.
You know, in one of the DK games (DK3 I think), there is a level where DK's sister (or whatever relation the girl is), is actually playing an N64... another ninty trick;)
nintendo have some of the most origional games. Sega are good though. I likes sonic and can't wait for it to come out on the GBA.
Strafex wrote:
> By the way, do you know which devellopment team is behind Monkey
> Ball?
I'm guessing it's the Sonic Team seeing as they've backed
> up the Gamecube so far.
Do you know?
AMUSMENT VISION!
The head of it (whose name I forget) has a column in EDGE where he writes about the game making process. He made Space Channel 5 too...
Oh, and SHIGSY IS NOT A PROGRAMMER(!). EDGE once said this, and in their "did EDGE really say THAT!" column just took the mick out of the guy who said it! Shigsy was an artist with ninty at the time they were making playing cards. He was asked to redesign an arcade game that wasn't selling, and made Donkey Kong. NOT A PROGRAMMER!!!
(saying that, someone will prove me wrong, and show he has a PHd in programming!)
> By the way, do you know which devellopment team is behind Monkey
> Ball?
I'm guessing it's the Sonic Team seeing as they've backed
> up the Gamecube so far.
Do you know?
AMUSMENT VISION!
The head of it (whose name I forget) has a column in EDGE where he writes about the game making process. He made Space Channel 5 too...
Oh, and SHIGSY IS NOT A PROGRAMMER(!). EDGE once said this, and in their "did EDGE really say THAT!" column just took the mick out of the guy who said it! Shigsy was an artist with ninty at the time they were making playing cards. He was asked to redesign an arcade game that wasn't selling, and made Donkey Kong. NOT A PROGRAMMER!!!
(saying that, someone will prove me wrong, and show he has a PHd in programming!)
The Sonic games came after Mario Land on the Snes so naturally they had better graphics and were a bit faster.
I still think that Donkey Kong Country on the Snes is the best 2D platformer ever.
I still think that Donkey Kong Country on the Snes is the best 2D platformer ever.
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