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A unique add-on for the Sega console was Sega Channel, a subscription-based service (a form of online gaming delivery) hosted by local television providers. It required hardware that plugged into a cable line and the Genesis. Nintendo also made two attempts with the Satellaview and the Super Game Boy.
The XBAND was launched in Japan on April 1, 1996 for the Sega Saturn. [24] Unlike the SNES/Super Famicom and Genesis versions of XBAND, it did not require an XBAND-specific modem, instead utilizing Sega's own Sega NetLink device (which included a 14,400 bit/s modem in Japan and a 28,800 bit/s modem in North America). [25]
The previous losses from the Saturn, 32X, and Sega/Mega-CD, stagnation of sales due to the PlayStation 2, and impending competition from Microsoft and Nintendo caused Sega's revenue to shrink and announce their intention on killing the system in early 2001, [24] dropping the system entirely and leaving the console market in early 2004 in Japan ...
The 32-bit/64-bit era is most noted for the rise of fully 3D polygon games. While there were games prior that had used three-dimensional polygon environments, such as Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter in the arcades and Star Fox on the Super NES, it was in this era that many game designers began to move traditionally 2D and pseudo-3D genres into 3D on video game consoles.
Sega announced a North American release date for the system on January 9, 1989. [75] At the time, Sega did not possess a North American sales and marketing organization for its consoles, but ultimately decided to launch the console through its own Sega of America subsidiary, which launched later that year. [76]
In the US, due to a late start and an aggressive marketing campaign by Sega (Headed by the Sega Company's new mascot, Sonic The Hedgehog, their answer to Nintendo's Super Mario), Nintendo's market share plunged from 90 to 95% with the NES to a low of approximately 35% against the Sega Genesis.
The Genesis still struggled in the United States against Nintendo, and only sold about 500,000 units by mid-1990. Nintendo had released Super Mario Bros. 3 in February 1990 which further drove sales away from Sega's system. Nintendo themselves did not seem to be affected by either Sega's or NEC's entry into the console market. [21]
By this point, there were only three major players in the market: Sega, Sony, and Nintendo. Sega got an early lead with the Dreamcast first released in Japan in 1998. [106] It was the first home console to include a modem to allow players to connect to the Sega network and play online games. [29]