Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-19, 03:00:

Hi everyone, […]
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Hi everyone,

Just found something interesting on the web I'd like to share.
It's a Youtube video about Sega USA and Sega Genesis game development.
Sometimes the YT algorithm works, it seems.

Young people, lots of AT keyboards, 5,25" floppy drives, shiny VGA CRT monitors and pre-Pentium PCs can be seen.
- And I bet they have (had) more than 1 MB of RAM installed. 😉

SEGA Documentary 1993 part one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCnaw07LaS0

SEGA Documentary 1993 part two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M8RIc6Ek0Q

Best regards,
Jo22

Hi Jo22, thanks for the links, what a nice watch. There's also a curious video of leftover film from a news report inside the Nintendo Power Hotline service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj2drENV9uk

Impressive how the operator knows every step of the game by memory to advise on his call even when he's playing another one on the TV!

andre_6 wrote on 2023-04-21, 21:43:

Hi Jo22, thanks for the links, what a nice watch. There's also a curious video of leftover film from a news report inside the Nintendo Power Hotline service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj2drENV9uk

Impressive how the operator knows every step of the game by memory to advise on his call even when he's playing another one on the TV!

You're welcome. ^^

- Hey, thanks a lot for the link - that's soo cool! 😃

I'm not from the US, but I was a member in Club Nintendo (Europe) in the 90s.
This brings back so much memories from calling their hotline! 😃

I still remember when I called it once because of ST : DS9 - Crossroads of Time.
They helped me a lot with the game. I think is was a female voice who talked to me.

It was in a time when DS9 on TV was still in production, so we weren't familiar with all the background stories etc. 😅

What was remarkable about SEGA was the Sonic franchise seeing it on Nick Arcade in the 1990s, SEGA and Paramount were once sister companies so I speculate they got permission to do that game in the show. The others were unknown to me. I did not own a Sega console since I was into Nintendo and PlayStation, but I wish I had since the music was excellent for Sonic R and Metropolis Street Racer. The regret I had was not getting into Dreamcast since it had a built-in phone modem and Sega had tested the idea of online multiplayer before with the cable dongles in japan for their online service for I think Phastasty Star Online.

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-22, 00:26:

You're welcome. ^^ […]
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andre_6 wrote on 2023-04-21, 21:43:

Hi Jo22, thanks for the links, what a nice watch. There's also a curious video of leftover film from a news report inside the Nintendo Power Hotline service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj2drENV9uk

Impressive how the operator knows every step of the game by memory to advise on his call even when he's playing another one on the TV!

You're welcome. ^^

- Hey, thanks a lot for the link - that's soo cool! 😃

I'm not from the US, but I was a member in Club Nintendo (Europe) in the 90s.
This brings back so much memories from calling their hotline! 😃

I still remember when I called it once because of ST : DS9 - Crossroads of Time.
They helped me a lot with the game. I think is was a female voice who talked to me.

It was in a time when DS9 on TV was still in production, so we weren't familiar with all the background stories etc. 😅

Would have loved to have experienced that back in the day, I only seemed to get help through friends or the occasional magazine. The only memory I have that's sort of close to that is having my father calling the help line for an unknown error with no message on PC, only the small window with the red sign with a white "X" showing while launching Football World Manager 2000, probably on Win 98. Turns out the Windows taskbar needed to be in "tumbling", "drop" (?) mode for some reason for the game to launch. It was a weird one for sure

twiz11 wrote on 2023-04-22, 15:16:

What was remarkable about SEGA was the Sonic franchise seeing it on Nick Arcade in the 1990s, SEGA and Paramount were once sister companies so I speculate they got permission to do that game in the show. The others were unknown to me. I did not own a Sega console since I was into Nintendo and PlayStation, but I wish I had since the music was excellent for Sonic R and Metropolis Street Racer. The regret I had was not getting into Dreamcast since it had a built-in phone modem and Sega had tested the idea of online multiplayer before with the cable dongles in japan for their online service for I think Phastasty Star Online.

I had the Genesis/Mega Drive for a long time before getting a PlayStation on my birthday in 1998, having always had a PC as well throughout. Loved the PlayStation and explored it immensely, it's still my favorite console. But having had a Mega Drive and loving Sonic and Sega games in general, I always lusted for a Saturn and a Dreamcast, just because I never experienced them regularly, most people just had PlayStations around here. Sega games just had something really captivating and very unique to them. Recently decided to get both a PAL Dreamcast and a Japanese Saturn and I absolutely love it, should have done it years ago instead of day dreaming all this time.

I don't know if you still wonder about that but if you do just go for it, there's so many solutions today that cracked the entire Saturn library wide open with so many gems, and the Dreamcast is as entertaining as it ever was. For a very casual gamer like me they're perfect for 30 min or an hour at a time when I feel like unwinding for a bit. I just can't get into modern consoles, maybe on PC at a stretch but the modern era games themselves lost their charm for me roughly after 2014.

At the time after getting the PlayStation I went full on PC, the PS2 was interesting but I had to choose between the two, and the PC was just superior and had all the games I was interested in. And I just wasn't going to play GTA on a controller, it always felt wrong to me...

That narrator has an identical voice to one of the YouTube content creators I follow

andre_6 wrote on 2023-04-22, 17:58:

Would have loved to have experienced that back in the day, I only seemed to get help through friends or the occasional magazine. […]
Show full quote

Jo22 wrote on 2023-04-22, 00:26:

You're welcome. ^^ […]
Show full quote

andre_6 wrote on 2023-04-21, 21:43:

Hi Jo22, thanks for the links, what a nice watch. There's also a curious video of leftover film from a news report inside the Nintendo Power Hotline service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj2drENV9uk

Impressive how the operator knows every step of the game by memory to advise on his call even when he's playing another one on the TV!

You're welcome. ^^

- Hey, thanks a lot for the link - that's soo cool! 😃

I'm not from the US, but I was a member in Club Nintendo (Europe) in the 90s.
This brings back so much memories from calling their hotline! 😃

I still remember when I called it once because of ST : DS9 - Crossroads of Time.
They helped me a lot with the game. I think is was a female voice who talked to me.

It was in a time when DS9 on TV was still in production, so we weren't familiar with all the background stories etc. 😅

Would have loved to have experienced that back in the day, I only seemed to get help through friends or the occasional magazine. The only memory I have that's sort of close to that is having my father calling the help line for an unknown error with no message on PC, only the small window with the red sign with a white "X" showing while launching Football World Manager 2000, probably on Win 98. Turns out the Windows taskbar needed to be in "tumbling", "drop" (?) mode for some reason for the game to launch. It was a weird one for sure

twiz11 wrote on 2023-04-22, 15:16:

What was remarkable about SEGA was the Sonic franchise seeing it on Nick Arcade in the 1990s, SEGA and Paramount were once sister companies so I speculate they got permission to do that game in the show. The others were unknown to me. I did not own a Sega console since I was into Nintendo and PlayStation, but I wish I had since the music was excellent for Sonic R and Metropolis Street Racer. The regret I had was not getting into Dreamcast since it had a built-in phone modem and Sega had tested the idea of online multiplayer before with the cable dongles in japan for their online service for I think Phastasty Star Online.

I had the Genesis/Mega Drive for a long time before getting a PlayStation on my birthday in 1998, having always had a PC as well throughout. Loved the PlayStation and explored it immensely, it's still my favorite console. But having had a Mega Drive and loving Sonic and Sega games in general, I always lusted for a Saturn and a Dreamcast, just because I never experienced them regularly, most people just had PlayStations around here. Sega games just had something really captivating and very unique to them. Recently decided to get both a PAL Dreamcast and a Japanese Saturn and I absolutely love it, should have done it years ago instead of day dreaming all this time.

I don't know if you still wonder about that but if you do just go for it, there's so many solutions today that cracked the entire Saturn library wide open with so many gems, and the Dreamcast is as entertaining as it ever was. For a very casual gamer like me they're perfect for 30 min or an hour at a time when I feel like unwinding for a bit. I just can't get into modern consoles, maybe on PC at a stretch but the modern era games themselves lost their charm for me roughly after 2014.

At the time after getting the PlayStation I went full on PC, the PS2 was interesting but I had to choose between the two, and the PC was just superior and had all the games I was interested in. And I just wasn't going to play GTA on a controller, it always felt wrong to me...

Dreamcast was different, like Gamecube. The controllers and the media GD ROM and Gamecube tiny CDs were unique in that era I used to play Super Monkey Ball because I loved the labyrinth style genre.

Hi there, found some more related videos on YT.
Ok, actually it was the YT algorithm that brought me there.

Footage Inside 1990 Nintendo Headquarters in Kyoto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlOAd81a1aI

Recovered Footage Inside Sega Headquarters (May 1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGAgZ25RzQ

Edit: If you like a multi language documentary about Big N:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V52Fto40syM

Some commenter described it as a French documentary about a Japanese company dubbed in German language with English subtitles. 😁

the early 90's feel so far away in some ways, yet its a mere 30 years ago.

nice finds though, all those people in their 20's at the leading edge, with the cool and current things and a bright unknown future, now in their 50's feeling strangely ill at ease with what is and wanting to jump back into the 'home' of the world they knew. anyway, that's what i was imagining 😀

Also, just a few years later and the games on PC and then a bit later on PS2, so much more 'advanced', only 5 years to half life from '93 and 8 years to GTA3.

Hi, there's another Sega documentary, in German.

[ENGLISH SUBS] German SEGA documentary (Sega's Plan for World Domination - The Fantasy Factory 1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCyim1uoSjY

gerry wrote on 2024-06-14, 12:54:

the early 90's feel so far away in some ways, yet its a mere 30 years ago.

I feel same. It's unreal.

Sometimes I think it's because it was a cross between the 80s and the 90s.
You had that dreamy, colourful atmosphere combined with more advanced 16-Bit technology.
But technology wasn't everything, either. Not sure how to put into words.

gerry wrote on 2024-06-14, 12:54:

nice finds though, all those people in their 20's at the leading edge, with the cool and current things and a bright unknown future, now in their 50's feeling strangely ill at ease with what is and wanting to jump back into the 'home' of the world they knew. anyway, that's what i was imagining 😀

Also, just a few years later and the games on PC and then a bit later on PS2, so much more 'advanced', only 5 years to half life from '93 and 8 years to GTA3.

+1

If you like to watch some more documentaries covering early 90s, please consider those modern ones:

The Making of Sonic the Hedgehog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69AOVtOUatY

The Making of Sonic the Hedgehog 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQuDnNO9JsM

The Making of Sonic CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVZR9ecdsAw

The Making of Sonic 3 & Knuckles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdvtssb10Q8

-

The Making of Star Fox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDhNT2Qv-Mo

The Making of Donkey Kong Country & Killer Instinct / Pre-rendered graphics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LPu7gNzWUE

-

The Making of Aladdin / Cel animation in video games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOnUITJqRQQ

The Making of Castle of Illusion, Quackshot and World of Illusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAAyP9KkQxQ

-

The Making of Ecco the Dolphin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2sVzixucQU

The Making of Wonder Boy / Monster World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDl8UXl-s7M

The Making of Super Castlevania IV & Bloodlines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB1-AKS3S0g

The making of Chrono Trigger & Secret of Mana
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O-rtoLu4Mnk

-

Snatcher by Konami review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a1UVytuNdg

Tiny Toon Adventures quick review - Mega-Drive / Genesis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJM47MxHIU

I'm not affiliated, but I find this series to be higly fascinating!
It gives an impression how software development used to be in early 90s.

You see use of SGI Workstations, DOS/Win3.1, the Amiga..

The links above are just a try to narrow things down.
The whole channel as such is a fine recommendation, I think. Such a quality work!

Jo22 wrote on 2025-03-22, 07:10:

If you like to watch some more documentaries covering early 90s, please consider those modern ones:

so many, an interesting list and a gaming lens onto the era, a time of optimism and perhaps some naivete