Friday 6 July 2007

Consoles – Who needs em?


Just back from a couple of weeks in Japan, land of the advertising overload.

One Japanese brand that seems to be doing a lot better than I realised is Sega.

I remember when Arsenal players started sporting the mysterious Dreamcast logo on their shirts a few years back.

There was much talk about who or what the brand was.

And there was just as much talk when Sega decided that they’d had enough of the console wars and killed off the Dreamcast.

Apart from Sega stalwart Sonic the hedgehog, you very rarely see a Sega logo on the streets of Melbourne these days.

Not so in Japan, where Sega is everywhere.

There’s a Sega arcade on almost every block and they’re packed with punters most of the day and night.

They even have Sega Premium – Gambling machines for the over 18s.

Given how much time we spent in Sega arcades over the last two weeks, it looks like the decision to get out of consoles was the smartest thing Sega ever did.