Sega CD
Released in 1988, the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles. In mid-1990, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske developed a four-point plan for sales of the Genesis: cut the console's price, develop games for the American market with a new American team, continue aggressive advertising campaigns, and ship "Sonic the Hedgehog" with the Genesis as a pack-in game. The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games yet made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) decided to purchase a Genesis instead.
History of Sega
In what has been called "a brief moment of remarkable creativity", in 2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into nine semi-autonomous studios headed by the company's top designers. Studios included United Game Artists, Hitmaker, Smilebit, Overworks, Sega AM2, Sonic Team, WOW Entertainment, Amusement Vision, and Sega Rosso. Sega's design houses were encouraged to experiment and benefited from a relatively lax approval process. This resulted in games such as "Rez","The Typing of the Dead", "Seaman", and "Segagaga". Sega also revived franchises from the Genesis era, such as "". AM2 developed what Sega hoped would be the Dreamcast's killer app, "Shenmue", a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema." Incorporating a simulated day/night cycle with variable weather, non-player characters with regular schedules, and the ability to pick up and examine detailed objects (also introducing the Quick-time event in its modern form), "Shenmue" went over budget and was rumored to have cost Sega over $50 million. As the first fully 3D platforming game starring Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Team's "Sonic Adventure" was considered "the centerpiece of the [Dreamcast] launch". "Adventure" garnered criticism for technical problems including erratic camera angles and glitches, but was praised for its "luscious" visuals, "vast, twisting environments" and iconic set pieces. It has been described as the "Sonic" series' creative apex. However, it failed "to catch on with players in nearly the way that [Nintendo's] "Mario 64" had done", perhaps due to a perceived lack of gameplay depth. In sports, Visual Concepts' "NFL 2K" football series and its "NBA 2K" basketball series were critically acclaimed. Additionally, with the release of Sega's NAOMI arcade system board, the focus of the arcade divisions shifted to produce titles that could easily be ported to the Dreamcast.