David Rosen, co-founder of SEGA, just died.
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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
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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
@atomicpoet Sega's contributions to gaming are pretty strong, RIP
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@atomicpoet Sega's contributions to gaming are pretty strong, RIPWish they hadn't given up on the consoles with Dreamcast. They could probably murder xbox and Nintendo today.
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Wish they hadn't given up on the consoles with Dreamcast. They could probably murder xbox and Nintendo today.@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.
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@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.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. -
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.djsumdog WhiteExodite SEGA is a fundamentally different company now than they were in the 80s and 90s.
What made them so unique was that they weren’t an American company like Atari, nor were they a Japanese company like Nintendo. They were a Japanese-American company.
Unfortunately, this often resulted in SEGA of Japan butting heads with SEGA of America. And when the 32X failed—which was SEGA of America’s doing—this was the beginning of the end.
Modern SEGA exists because a pachinko company, Sammy, bought the corpse of old SEGA and wrapped it in nostalgia. Cute Sonic branding does a good job laundering the damage caused by an industry built on addictive gambling. It is easier to sell plush toys than confront the social wreckage.
This is also why the company is called Sega Sammy Holdings, not Sammy Sega. Order matters.
