Press release: 1995-09-18: Sega enters PC gaming market with hit titles, key partnerships

From Sega Retro

Logo-txt.svg
This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below.
Language: English
Original source: The Free Library


REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1995--Fulfilling a promise made last year, Sega of America is bringing its first PC CD-ROM games to market this fall.

Sega announced that it will port enhanced 16- and 32-bit Sega games to Pentium-based PCs running Windows 95. The company is also working with its PC-industry partners to create original content.

``Sega is first and foremost a creator and marketer of great interactive entertainment,'' said Tom Kalinske, president and chief executive officer, Sega of America. ``The increased power of Pentium-based PCs allows us to port our high-end arcade and dedicated gaming-platform games to PC and maintain the integrity of the Sega gaming experience.''

Kalinske predicted that the PC gaming market will grow to 25 percent of the dedicated-game-systems industry within the next four years.

Sega's CD-ROM holiday lineup includes three all-time-favorite Sega Genesis and Sega CD titles: ``Ecco the Dolphin,'' ``Tomcat Alley'' and Comix Zone.''

An upgrade of Sega's hit arcade and Sega Saturn title ``Virtua Fighter Remix,'' which requires a multimedia accelerator board by Diamond Multimedia, is scheduled to hit the market as a pack-in with the Diamond Edge 3D board starting in October. Later this year, the Sega Saturn launch hit ``Panzer Dragoon'' will also be available for the PC using the Edge 3D accelerator.

Diamond's accelerator, which includes the NV-1 multimedia accelerator chip from NVIDIA, will make the PC compatible with all Sega Saturn peripherals for enhanced gameplay like that found on the Sega Saturn or Sega Genesis.

SEGA PC titles will be sold through Sega's traditional distribution channels and in PC retail locations nationwide, including Comp USA, Computer City and Electronics Boutique, among others.

Sega PC titles available in November feature former Sega Genesis and Sega CD hits, including:

-- ``Ecco the Dolphin'' -- Sega PC takes you on a deep-sea quest with ``Ecco the Dolphin,'' an enhanced version of the original title that launched the career of Sega's underwater hero. A sudden storm tears Ecco's family from their home, leaving Ecco to save the dolphins and the world. PC gamers can explore more than 30 levels of lethal dangers, including frenzied sharks, stinging jellyfish and deadly rip tides, and three levels of difficulty add to the adventure. With higher-resolution graphics and more video footage than the original, Ecco discovers more hidden routes than in the original and gamers can travel back in time to battle prehistoric sea creatures. Cryptic messages are held in crystal glyphs, and a hidden library of treasures reveals the secrets of the deep. ``Ecco the Dolphin'' by Sega PC will be available on CD-ROM in November at a suggested retail price of $39.95.

-- ``Tomcat Alley'' -- Experience the height of aerial adventure with ``Tomcat Alley'' on Sega PC, an interactive movie game that features 60 minutes of challenging gameplay. Using actual flight footage and dramatic scenes, ``Tomcat Alley'' brings the heart-pounding action of a feature film and the sweaty-palm challenge of a hit video game to your PC. As a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) in an F-14X Tomcat, it is your duty to locate and destroy renegade Soviet pilot Col. Alexi Povich's stronghold in the Mexican desert, located dangerously close to the United States. With a higher frame rate and true color option, gamers fly seven missions against air and ground enemies adapting to ever-changing story lines based on your rapid-reflex responses and precision, split-second decisions. This 600-mph adventure requires your full attention and fighter skills as you plot missions, lock on targets, fire and escape. ``Tomcat Alley'' for Sega PC will be available in November at a suggested retail price of $39.95.

-- ``Comix Zone'' -- Sega PC combines the excitement of two pop-culture phenomena, comic books and video games, with ``Comix Zone,'' the first truly interactive action comic book. The pages of ``Comix Zone'' come alive with rapid-fire speed, vivid colors and 3-D graphics drawn by actual comic-book illustrators. Inside ``Comix Zone,'' gamers take on the role of Sketch Turner, a brilliant young comic-book artist who finds himself morphed into his own comic by the evil Mortus, the villain he has created. Sketch, aided by his martial-arts expertise and his loyal pet rat Roadkill, must make his way through the pages of the comic book, successfully completing all episodes, to get back into the real world. The interactive comic-book pages come to life, and villains actually tear into pieces of paper when defeated. Comic-style dialogue balloons narrate the ultrafast action, and Mortus' evil hand draws new enemies for Sketch to battle in each scene. ``Comix Zone'' from Sega PC will tear up PCs in November at an expected street price of $39.95.

In addition to Sega PC titles based on Genesis and Sega CD hits, PC gamers will be able to enjoy all of the action of Sega's high-end arcade titles available for Sega Saturn, including the martial-arts fighting game ``Virtua Fighter Remix,'' an updated version of the classic arcade title, which will be a pack-in with the Diamond Edge 3D accelerator board scheduled for release in October from Diamond Multimedia.

-- ``Virtua Fighter Remix'' -- An upgrade of the arcade and Sega Saturn legend that set the benchmark in the art of hand-to-hand fighting is coming to a PC near you. ``Virtua Fighter Remix'' brings together the best of the best in martial arts in an arcade-perfect rendition on CD-ROM that includes 700 moves and more texture-mapped graphics and polygons than the original ``Virtua Fighter.'' Choosing from a cast of eight of the world's most accomplished fighters, each with trademarked specialties, Sega PC gamers will be able to executive spine-jarring moves including spiral kicks, power slams, head-butts and neck-breaking pile drivers, sending their opponents to ``la-la land'' with an ultimate KO.

``Virtua Fighter Remix'' for Sega PC with the Edge 3D accelerator board from Diamond Multimedia is compatible with Sega Saturn peripherals including the Virtua Stick joystick and the standard Sega Saturn Control Pad. ``Virtua Fighter'' will be available in October, with the Diamond Edge 3D accelerator board retailing from $249 to $399 with multiple pack-ins.

CONTACT: Sega of America, Redwood City

Dan Stevens, 415/802-3996

or

Manning, Selvage & Lee, Los Angeles

Greg Chiemingo, 213/782-6600, ext. 228
COPYRIGHT 1995 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1995, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.