Industry observers note that not just of video platform releases, but of everything. It had 3D graphics better than anything on the market. It had an internet connection for online tech industry. It had Crazy Taxi. In 1999, the Dreamcast was the absolute peak of entertainment for a middle school kid. For a year or two in my childhood, the Sega Dreamcast was the future.
According to the latest update, while the Dreamcast is fondly remembered by my generation, and has a significant place in tech industry history by many measures, it was a failure. One of the things that killed it was the original Xbox console, looming large on the horizon since Bill Gates unveiled it in 2000. 18 months later, Sega discontinued it.
As part of the ongoing story, microsoft should pay attention to what happened to the Dreamcast, and learn from Sega’s lessons. Ironically, now it’s the Xbox that’s in trouble.
According to the latest update, while embarrassed and bitterly disappointed, Sega pivoted, leveraging the strength of its system update developers and programs library. After a few missteps doomed the Sega Saturn and Platform release Gear (Sega’s answers to the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Platform release Boy), the Dreamcast was its last Hail Mary for a devices business that began back in the early 80s.
In a fresh development, within a few months, we would see an unimaginable sight: Sonic the Hedgehog, the publisher’s mascot and iconic bad boy counterpart to the squeaky-clean Mario, zooming across Nintendo Platform release Boy Advance screens.
According to the latest update, from 2001 to 2004, Sega turned a 50-million-yen loss into a surplus, unshackling itself from expensive devices and growing its potential audience of gamers on the Xbox, PS2, GameCube, and Platform release Boy by hundreds of millions. Today Sega isn’t the biggest publisher in the global stage, but shrewd stewardship of its franchises and resources has kept it relevant. Sega more than survived, becoming one of the most notable system update publishing firms on the planet, with iconic drops on all major consoles.
According to the latest update, for 90s kids like me, images like this one still feel deeply wrong.
Industry observers note that sega has also introduced fresh entries for Total War (including a highly anticipated Warhammer 40K license) and revived Dreamcast classics like Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. Just in the past couple of years, long-running Sega franchises like Sonic and Yakuza have been humming along.
The report highlights that with the exception of Nintendo, there’s no other publisher that started back in the ancient days when video platform releases were exclusive to arcades, and transitioned so well to tech industry this century. Sega is, if not thriving, then doing far better than a lot of its contemporaries.
According to the latest update, it’s old enough to drink alcohol in the US — and if it took a look at the sales figures for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, it might be driven to do so. Microsoft’s tech industry division has seen years of falling profits, despite spending about a hundred billion on acquiring platform releases and developers to fill out its Platform release Pass subscription service. The last time the Xbox ecosystem truly dominated was in its Xbox 360 generation, which launched in 2005.
The report highlights that to be fair, it’s fighting an unprecedented rise in the price of electronics devices, forcing consoles from all manufacturers and handhelds to skyrocket in price. It’s tried to counter Valve’s near-monopolization of PC tech industry services with tweaks to Windows and partnered handhelds, but appears to be treading water there, too.
According to the latest update, maybe it should ask Copilot. To be equally fair, if Microsoft complains about the price of RAM and storage as “AI” data centers gobble up all the manufacturing capacity, I doubt anyone would listen.
In a fresh development, this will be a device that plays both exclusive Xbox titles and PC platform releases made primarily for Windows. (And that’s not rumor or speculation, it’s straight from the horse’s mouth.) It’s essentially chasing the same console-PC crossover space as Valve’s Steam Machine. It makes sense, if Microsoft wants to both sell consoles and protect its flanks on the PC tech industry front. Microsoft’s equivalent of the Dreamcast — that is, a big devices bet that might just be the ecosystem’s swan song — is Project Helix.
In a fresh development, i’m sure Microsoft would love to get a next-gen Xbox under trees for the 2027 holiday season, but I just don’t see that happening. And that’s assuming multiple Christmas miracles — the second would be a devices market that recovers from unprecedented cost increases. But even preliminary Helix devices won’t get into developers’ hands until 2027.
In a fresh development, the cheapest Xbox will cost $500 in a few weeks, and an 8GB Surface Laptop (which notably doesn’t meet the requirements for Microsoft’s own Copilot+ program) is almost a grand. Even Microsoft, juggernaut that it is, isn’t immune.
As part of the ongoing story, just ask Valve, which has a higher price for the Steam Machine than it would have wanted, and had to raise the price of the iconically cheap Steam Deck by hundreds of dollars. Also ask Nintendo, which has been forced to raise the price of the Switch 2 just a year after its arrival. In short, now is a terrible time to introduce fresh devices, especially if you want that devices to be affordable to as many people as possible.
According to the latest update, or, really, ask anyone who’s trying (and failing) to make the budgets balance without passing on costs to consumers.
In a fresh development, (I’ve seen speculation that Asha Sharma, the executive sent in to right the ship, is intended to be a hook upon which to hang the failure of the Xbox or a “pain sponge” to absorb negative reactions… like this article.) But Microsoft still has an incredibly valuable resource in its gigantic stable of development labs. Microsoft is losing on devices, and there doesn’t appear to be a realistic path for it to recover, at least not in the current climate.
In a fresh development, (The sequel to the hit Minecraft movie will hit theaters next year.) From 2018 to 2024, the publisher went on an unprecedented spending spree: Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Compulsion Product rollouts, Playground Product rollouts, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine, Zenimax (Bethesda, Id Applications, and Arkane), and finally, Activision-Blizzard. Microsoft bought Minecraft developer Mojang in 2014, giving it arguably the biggest and most relevant video system update at the time, and one that still dominates the culture.
Industry observers note that microsoft owns Call of Duty, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Worldwide scene of Warcraft and Diablo, Forza, DOOM, and of course, Halo, along with broader-appealing properties like Minecraft and Candy Crush. Unless you’re obsessed with Nintendo’s deep library (and fair enough if you are!), there’s no other single publisher with that much tech industry goodness under one roof. There is simply no other publisher on the planet that has this much system update-making talent and this many high-profile franchises under its belt.
Industry observers note that you can pre-order the much-anticipated Halo campaign remake for the PlayStation 5, and Bethesda’s Starfield just got a PS5 drop. You can play Overwatch and Sea of Thieves, two multiplayer live-service platform releases, on the Nintendo Switch. And Microsoft has already made some moves to take advantage of this deep stable of titles, even beyond the Xbox and Platform release Pass.
According to the latest update, (Notably, “console exclusive” is a very selective term — both of those platform releases are coming to PC and Platform release Pass streaming.) This may or may not be in response to Sony doing the same thing, pulling its resources out of the PC market to double down on the PS5, which is hitting the same pricing woes as the Xbox and Switch. Asha Sharma says that Microsoft is re-committing to console exclusives, like the fresh Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War: E-Day.
As part of the ongoing story, it has a massive collection of global stage-class developers, at least for the moment. It has platform releases with such deep pedigrees that everyone is at least interested in them, no matter what device they use to play platform releases. The Xbox brand still has value, as does the Platform release Pass service. It’s the console, the ever-more-expensive ticket to ride this train, that’s becoming harder and harder to sell. I think it’s time for Microsoft to give up the Xbox ghost, on the devices side if not as a ecosystem.
As part of the ongoing story, helpfully, that would also free up resources to keep Windows 11 as the home of PC tech industry, and fight off the increasingly bold advances of Valve and Steam. Maybe keep the Xbox devices division in a smaller capacity, focusing on those excellent controllers, and perhaps a set-top box in the Chromecast style to give people a cheap entry into Platform release Pass for their TVs. Assuming their TV doesn’t already work with Platform release Pass. So, yes, I want Microsoft to take the Sega route, focus on making great platform releases and selling them to as many people as possible.
As part of the ongoing story, i’m just a nerd who managed to convince a few people I was worth paying to write words on the internet. I don’t have to answer to shareholders, and I’m not paid to predict the whims of an increasingly volatile market. And some of the people who do have that experience disagree with me. Notably, Sharma has already committed to deep headcount cuts, splitting off or selling four of its labs, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, Double Fine, and Compulsion, with Arkane possibly following. I am not a media or tech executive.
Industry observers note that i suspect that the developers in those labs who aren’t laid off will be cautiously happy to work for a publisher that isn’t in crisis.
Industry observers note that sega knew when it was time to fold and focus on its strengths. Sega is still around and doing well, 25 years later. Do we really think that Xbox, in the form of $500+ box that plugs into your TV, will still be here in 2051? But I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Microsoft’s tech industry devices can’t be pulled out of a decade-long slump.
The report highlights that on PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a fresh one for a review and building a fresh mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile Worldwide scene Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip. Michael is a 15-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE.