Looking for a good Sega historical book

[Metal Ghost]

Has anyone read the book Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA by Sam Pettus, David Chen, David Munoz and Kevin Williams? If so, is this a good book to read to get a historical perspective on the SEGA business? Or are there any other alternatives that I should be looking for?

 

I just finished the book Super Mario (the author escapes me now) and I'm looking for another book similar in style, that really analyzes the business and the company's place in the industry.

 

Thanks for any input you might have!

[Bill Loguidice]

This book should be definitive once it comes out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works

 

Also, if I may plug one of my own upcoming books, there are several Sega chapters in Vintage Game Consoles that cover quite a bit of the company's history: http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Game-Consoles-Commodore-Platforms/dp/0415856000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389130692&sr=8-1&keywords=vintage+game+consoles

[akator]

The Service Games book is full of too many factual errors. I counted at least 8 in the first 12 pages, including that the Atari 2600 and other pre-crash systems Sega SG-1000 was 4-bit. Not recommended.

 

I can't think of any oher Sega- specific books, although there is quite a bit of vetted info about Sega in Steven Kent's Ultimate History book.

 

[Edit to correct my mistake... you know, like someone should have done before publishing a book]

Edited January 8, 2014 by akator

[Bill Loguidice]

The Service Games book is full of too many factual errors. I counted at least 8 in the first 12 pages, including that the Atari 2600 and other pre-crash systems were 4-bit. Not recommended.

 

I can't think of any oher Sega- specific books, although there is quite a bit of vetted info about Sega in Steven Kent's Ultimate History book.

 

The only problem with Kent's book is that it's from 2001 (meaning it lacks a bit of perspective and some of the additional facts that came out) and has several errors of its own. It would have been nice for the publisher to release a revised edition at this point considering how popular it remains.

[Greg2600]

I like the Rusel deMaria High Score books, which are currently out of print.

 

Bill, is your book going to be in color?

[Bill Loguidice]

I like the Rusel deMaria High Score books, which are currently out of print.

 

Bill, is your book going to be in color?

 

Yes, just like Vintage Games before it, it will be full color. 400 images.

[+wood_jl]

The Service Games book is full of too many factual errors. I counted at least 8 in the first 12 pages, including that the Atari 2600 and other pre-crash systems Sega SG-1000 was 4-bit. Not recommended.

 

I can't think of any oher Sega- specific books, although there is quite a bit of vetted info about Sega in Steven Kent's Ultimate History book.

 

[Edit to correct my mistake... you know, like someone should have done before publishing a book]

 

I bought that piece-of-shit but never read it. Good deal. Looks like I should have used it as fire kindling this [COLD!] week but didn't. There's always next year! I'd be glad for an accurate Sega book, for sure.

[Metal Ghost]

I should go ahead and re-read the ultimate history book. I own that one. I also need to get to the new Atari Inc. book as well, but I'm trying not to spend money for at least a month after the holidays (out of principal). That Service Games book happened to have been at the library.

[108 Stars]

I am lookin forward to the Mega Drive Collected Works. I even wrote a message to the author to please research sales figures, since unlike Nintendo Sega never published much in that regard back in the day, and the numbers you can find are largely guess-work and copy-pasted from each other. The range goes between 30 million and 50 million. Former Sega employees including the Sega-of-America-president of those days say they passed the 40 million-mark. And it is unclear where we end up taking into account the licensed versions by other manufacturers, such as the Samsung models from Korea, the Tec Toy ones from South America and the Majesco modes 3, which alone reportedly sold a million. I think it is very possible the Mega Drive ended up with around 45 million units sold, almost as many as the SNES.

 

But such numbers need to be properly researched, as the internet is a terrible source of solid facts. Even big sites like IGN don't to proper research, but just look up Wikipedia or other sites. And Wikipedia and others in turn look at IGN.

 

such a book is a great chance to really get the facts together.

[Tenorman]

Good to know not to bother with the Service Games book, I had been thinking about picking that up. I have the Collected Works book pre-ordered, so I guess I will just wait for that.