7,000,000 Silent Screams = 1 Voice

Renn Shion
T027@ACADEMIC.TRUMAN.EDU

This editorial concerns Sega of America mostly, but also urges other gamers to write their system companies. After Saturnworld conducted an interview with Sega of America concerning the Working Designs incident, they asked the following questions:

To me these answers are dry, safe, and cold. These answers should look very familiar to everyone because these are the responses we often get from Sega of America concerning important questions on future plans. However, especially concerning the last question, Phantasy Star was a trademark game for the genesis system. This series made the genre RPG a platform to build upon, and inspired other companies such as Working Designs and Squaresoft to build upon this rarely noticed genre into the graphical, amazing stories we have come to expect from both companies. With many Sega fans pleading for some sequels to Sega's history of great old games, it is of no question that after Final Fantasy VII and Lunar Silver Star Story bring the RPG genre to even greater notice, PS compilation would be a gold mine. And yet, what is the answer from SOA: "has not yet determined." What OTHER plans do you have? Please tell us, because I can think of a few substandard releases you can get rid of in its place. However, it is apparent that Sega still intends to follow its own agenda and ignore the players. Yes, it is true, this is not Sega of Japan and we can't expect to get everything they get, but to dismiss chance ideas with debate and question sure fire sellers is an act of cowardice. Sega knows they can't afford any more heat before they can release the Dural, so they are going to play the market extra carefully. Why chance an RPG that might not sell as well as something else? Once again we see Sega of America and their incompetence. It has already been stated that Sakura Wars made a tremendous amount of money and popularity in Japan, and yet SOA never even gave the thought of bringing such a popular game here (and if they did we wouldn't know because only "unprofessional companies" like Working Designs seem to care enough about their gamers to give them updates on progress.)

Which brings up the debate of who's right? SOA or Working Designs? Clearly there are 2 different stories here and someone is not telling the whole truth. As Mr. Ireland has intelligently ended a war before it could the start, it is left up to the gamers who they believe. Well, it's not hard really. Look at the facts, Working Designs has had numerous problems getting their games out and many people tend to think Mr. Ireland is too proud. This is one of the advantages of Sega hiding from the gamers. They don't have to worry about public attacks. However,I admire Working Designs for always putting their reputation on the line. Working Designs shows courage every time Mr. Ireland personally addresses delays and questions. Working Designs cared enough about gamers to answer at least 400 E-mails concerning the incident. Sega of America should be ashamed of themselves that a smaller third company showed more dedication to the gamers than a large system corporation. While Working Designs is mainly an RPG company right now, they have always thought of the gamers when picking their games to translate. Flaws in selection are very rare and every Saturn game produced has been a hit in some way or another. Sega, however, gives us substandard sequels (Sonic 3D blast, Fighters Megamix)(which are really just rehash of the old games with maybe a few additions), instead of working harder to give gamers the real thing (Sonic Xtreme or Virtua Fighter 3). We get table scraps when we should get getting the choice steak. I can't convince everyone. There are those people who are still die-hard Sega which is notable, but unintelligent (I can say this as once being die-hard Sega myself). The point is that I trust Working Designs side of this story, because I KNOW I trust Working Designs more than I trust Sega of America. When SOA learns to keep a promise or show a little more consideration of the fans....naw, I still won't trust them. You can only give a little boy so many chances to be good. However, I'm sure many people have only noticed minor flaws in current Saturn management, and I urge these people to write Sega at Sega of America, P.O. Box 8097, Redwood City, CA. 94063. I realize that I may be a lone voice and everyone may be perfectly content with SOA, but if not, Sega of America needs to be knocked off their high horse and brought back down to gamer needs. The most amazing thing I ever saw was when PSX owners got an uncensored version on FFVII just by writing!If we don't write, we are basically saying that we accept the current situation. Let's face it. We're not made of money, we want quality gaming for our money. I think it is time to stop this stupid war between gamers and systems and get back to enjoying games for the games and not what system they're on. However, DON'T listen to the mainstream views. Construct your own theories. Many so called "fans" only argue for a game just because Gamepro says it's cool. Get informed! Cause if you don't, you are going to buy the Dural and nothing is going to change. Sega is going to find expensive ways to rip us off there too because they aren't aware of the gamers needs. So, even if I can't convince you not to buy a Dural, write Sega and let them know that you WON'T buy a Dural if it sees the kind of management that put Sega in third place. Because regardless of the power of the system, if Sega walks into Dural with the reputation it has now, no one's going to care.

It embarrassing to see your team lose, because a player scored a goal for the other team. WRITE!WRITE!WRITE! Let's put Sega back in first, because we are the only ones who can do it. And if they don't listen to your complaints, they deserved to go out of business. A businessman who is not aware of consumer needs, is no competent businessman.

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