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   Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jan-2026 10:42:50 JST Chris Trottier

   David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, just died. He was 95 years old.

   Wait. He wasn’t Japanese?

   That’s right. SEGA started as an American company. The reason SEGA is capitalized is because the original name was Service Games. And the “Service” in that name refers to the American military—its first customer base.

   SEGA remained largely American until the 1980s, when David Rosen—along with Japanese business partners—bought the company from its parent, Gulf+Western, which also owned Paramount Pictures.

   This initiated one of the most innovative and creative periods in video game history. SEGA produced classics like Space Harrier, OutRun, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, and Virtua Fighter.

   For nearly two decades, SEGA was the primary rival to Nintendo, separating itself through speed and attitude.

   Along with Atari, it was one of the companies that defined my childhood.

   R.I.P., David Rosen. May you enjoy that great arcade in the sky.

   https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jan/05/sega-co-founder-david-rosen-dies

   • Embed this notice
     djsumdog (djsumdog@djsumdog.com)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jan-2026 10:42:48 JST djsumdog

     in reply to

     • WhiteExodite
     Wish they hadn't given up on the consoles with Dreamcast. They could probably murder xbox and Nintendo today.
   • Embed this notice
     WhiteExodite (bleedingphoenix@wolfgirl.bar)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jan-2026 10:42:49 JST WhiteExodite

     in reply to
     @atomicpoet Sega's contributions to gaming are pretty strong, RIP
   • Embed this notice
     djsumdog (djsumdog@djsumdog.com)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jan-2026 11:03:10 JST djsumdog

     in reply to

     • WhiteExodite
     The Dreamcast didn't have a second thumb stick. Even Nintendo added that eventually. I wonder if it would still have the little mini-game in the controller. Memory cartridges went away in the PS3 era, so if they kept it around, it would only be functional as a minigame (and would probably be forgotten about/unused in the cellphone era).
     
     Almost all controllers are the same now, so it would either be aligned sticks like the PS4 or offset like xbox/switch. I suspect the console itself would probably be more similar to the PS5 .. more style and cooling and less square box.
   • Embed this notice
     WhiteExodite (bleedingphoenix@wolfgirl.bar)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Jan-2026 11:03:11 JST WhiteExodite

     in reply to

     • djsumdog
     @djsumdog @atomicpoet what would a 2025 Sega console even look like? I mean aesthetically, interesting to think how the designs would evolve if they were still in the market.