Bernie Stolar
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| Bernard Stolar |
|---|
| Date of birth: 194x |
| Date of death: 2022-06[1][2] (age 72-82) |
| Employment history: |
| Role(s): Executive, Spokesperson |
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Bernard "Bernie" Stolar was an American businessman and former Sega of America President, Chief Operating Officer, and corporate spokesperson.
History
His career in the game industry started in 1980, when he and his friend Brian Semler[3] (Brian Douglas Semler), son of Bert Siegel[4][5] (Bertram Leroy Siegel[6] Co-Founder of Segasa) and brother[7][8] of Lawrence David Siegel[9] (former President of Atari and Black Pearl Software and COO of THQ) established[10] Pacific Novelty Manufacturing, Inc.[11][12][2], in Marina del Rey, Los Angeles, a coin-op game company. He later went to Atari where he worked initially in the coin-op arcade division and eventually moved over to the home division being in charge of platforms like Atari Lynx. Before the US release of the PlayStation game console, Sony made Stolar the first president of SCEA and in charge of the PlayStation platform. Stolar ruled with an iron fist and forced some unpopular policies with regard to titles licensed including a "no-RPG" policy seeing as RPGs at the time were almost all 2D, didn't sell well in North America and in his opinion failed to show the power of the PlayStation in a positive light.
![[5]](#cite_note-http:.2F.2F1.bp.blogspot.com.2F-GbD-cdxiRG0.2FVVA1hoiruNI.2FAAAAAAAAEG8.2FvounLj2tIpA.2Fs1600.2Fpower.252B1978.PNG-5){kind=link}
After the first holiday season in the US the PlayStation was a success selling well. Bernie was then offered the opportunity to leave Sony and take the helm at Sega of America managing the Sega Saturn. Stolar subsequently became Sega of America COO in March 1997[13] and president in March 1998[14].
Stolar is famously remembered for his "Saturn is not our future" remark at E3 1997, not to mention his "There is no more Tekken." line during a TV interview (which followed after Namco confirmed supporting Sega's console starting with Soul Calibur). The Tekken line was also Stolar's stab against Sony and its next generation plans, although Namco confirmed later that the PlayStation 2 will be getting Tekken games exclusively.
Aside from that, there were insider reports that he actually went against his Japanese superiors by pricing the Dreamcast with a launch price of $199 (which he unveiled in a speech in early 1999, to standing ovation). Reportedly, Sega Japan wanted to price the DC at $249 in order to be very profitable right from the start. Prior to the Dreamcast's American launch in 1999, Stolar was fired and received a $5,000,000.00 severance package from Sega.
Production history
- Virtua Fighter 2 (Windows PC; 1997) — Special Thanks
- Sky Target (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[15]
- Manx TT Super Bike (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[16]
- Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (Saturn; 1996) — Thanks to (as Bernard Stolar)
- Last Bronx (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[17]
- Last Bronx (Windows PC; 1998) — Special Thanks[18]
- Die Hard Arcade (Saturn; 1997)[19]
- Saturn Bomberman (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[20]
- Dark Savior (Saturn; 1996) — Speical Thanks[21]
- Sega Touring Car Championship (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks
- Sonic's Schoolhouse (Windows PC; 1996) — Special Thanks[22]
- NFL '97 (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[23]
- Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[24]
- Enemy Zero (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks to[25]
- Fighters Megamix (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks To[26]
- AMOK (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[27]
- World Series Baseball 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[28]
- Scorcher (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[29]
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Mega Drive; 1997) — Sega Special Thanks to
- NFL 98 (Mega Drive; 1997) — Special Thanks
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[30]
- NBA Action 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[31] (as Bernard Stolar)
- NHL All-Star Hockey 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Other[32]
- Quake (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[33] (as Bernard Stolar)
- Sonic R (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks
- Steep Slope Sliders (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[34]
- Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn; 1998) — Special Thanks
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[35]
- Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast; 1998) — Executive management (as Bernard Stolar)
- Sega Puzzle Pack (Windows PC; 1999) — Special Thanks
- Sega Smash Pack (Windows PC; 1999) — Special Thanks[36]
- NFL 2K (Dreamcast; 1999) — Special Thanks - Sega of America[37]
- NBA 2K (Dreamcast; 1999) — Special Thanks - Sega of America
Photographs
- Main article: Photos of Bernie Stolar
External references
- Pacific Novelty Manufacturing, Inc. softography at www.arcade-museum.com
- Credits for 1981 arcade video game "Thief", Pacific Novelty Manufacturing, Inc. greatest success, at www.mobygames.com
References
- ↑ https://venturebeat.com/2022/06/25/gaming-legend-bernie-stolar-passes-away/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/bernie-stolar-former-sega-of-america-president-and-scea-founder-has-died-aged-75/
- ↑ Cash Box, "November 15, 1980" (US; 1980-11-15), page 38
- ↑ Cash Box, "August 16, 1975" (US; 1975-08-16), page 45
- ↑ http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GbD-cdxiRG0/VVA1hoiruNI/AAAAAAAAEG8/vounLj2tIpA/s1600/power%2B1978.PNG
- ↑ File:Bert Siegel Letter to Charles Paul of Atari 1982-03-11.pdf, page 1
- ↑ Cash Box, "October 19, 1974" (US; 1974-10-19), page 91
- ↑ Cash Box, "January 24, 1981" (US; 1981-01-24), page 48
- ↑ Cash Box, "August 30, 1980" (US; 1980-08-30), page 50
- ↑ https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/bernie-stolar-jordan-freeman/
- ↑ https://venturebeat.com/2015/03/20/at-68-bernie-stolar-is-still-running-ambitious-game-startups/
- ↑ Cash Box, "July 3, 1982" (US; 1982-07-03), page 108
- ↑ Press release: 1997-03-17: Sega Promotes Bernie Stolar To COO
- ↑ Press release: 1998-03-24: Sega Promotes Stolar To President
- ↑ File:Skytarget sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:Manxtt sat us manual.pdf, page 22
- ↑ File:Lastbronx sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:LastBronx PC US Manual.pdf, page 34
- ↑ Die Hard Arcade (Saturn) US manual, page 18
- ↑ File:Saturnbomberman sat us manual.pdf, page 42
- ↑ File:Darksavior sat us manual.pdf, page 18
- ↑ File:SonicsSchoolhouse PC US manual.pdf, page 16
- ↑ File:Nfl97 sat us manual.pdf, page 19
- ↑ File:Daytonausacce sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:Enemyzero sat us manual.pdf, page 19
- ↑ File:Fightersmegamix sat us manual.pdf, page 42
- ↑ File:Amok sat us manual.pdf, page 23
- ↑ File:Wsb98 sat us manual.pdf, page 31
- ↑ File:Scorcher sat us manual.pdf, page 27
- ↑ File:Lostworld sat us manual.pdf, page 22
- ↑ File:Nbaaction98 sat us manual.pdf, page 28
- ↑ File:Nhlallstar98 sat us manual.pdf, page 19
- ↑ File:Quake sat us manual.pdf, page 18
- ↑ File:Steepslopesliders sat us manual.pdf, page 21
- ↑ File:Sws98 sat us manual.pdf, page 37
- ↑ File:SegaSmashPack PC US DigitalManual.pdf, page 3
- ↑ File:NFL2K DC US Manual.pdf, page 22
| Presidents of Sega of America |
|---|
| Gene Lipkin (1981-1986) | Bruce Lowry (1986-1989) | David Rosen (1986-1996) | Michael Katz (1989-1990) | Tom Kalinske (1990-1996) | Bernie Stolar (1998-1999) | Peter Moore (1999-2003) | Hideaki Irie (2003-2005) | Simon Jeffery (2005-2009) | Mike Hayes (2009-2012) | John Cheng (2012-2018) | Ian Curran (2018) |