Bernie Stolar
From Sega Retro
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| Bernie Stolar |
|---|
| Company(ies): Sega of America |
| Role(s): Executive |
Bernard "Bernie" Stolar worked in the video game industry for several important companies. His career started at 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.
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 while not as strict with licensing policies at Sega as he was at Sony decided against bringing over many of the most popular Saturn titles citing limited appeal in North America and failure to show off the Saturn in as positive of a light as possible as reasoning. As the Saturn continued to struggle in North America, Stolar pressed for Sega to develop a new platform which would eventually become the Dreamcast. While Stolar left the company a month prior to the US release of the system, Stolar is infamously credited by many Sega fans, for helping kill the Saturn prematurely in favor of developing the Dreamcast.
Stolar is fondly remembered for his "Saturn is not our future." remark in the 1997 E3 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 PlayStation2 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
- Saturn Bomberman (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[1]
- Dark Savior (Saturn; 1996) — Speical Thanks[2]
- Sonic's Schoolhouse (Windows PC; 1996) — Special Thanks[3]
- NFL '97 (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[4]
- Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks[5]
- Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (Saturn; 1996) — Thanks to (as Bernard Stolar)
- Fighters Megamix (Saturn; 1996) — Special Thanks To[6]
- Die Hard Arcade (Saturn; 1997)[7]
- Sega Rally Championship (Windows PC; 1997) — Special Thanks[8]
- Sonic & Knuckles Collection (Windows PC; 1997) — Special Thanks[9]
- Manx TT Super Bike (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[10]
- Sky Target (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[11]
- AMOK (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[12]
- World Series Baseball 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[13]
- Last Bronx (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[14]
- Scorcher (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[15]
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Game Gear; 1997) — Special Thanks to[16]
- Virtua Fighter 2 (Windows PC; 1997) — Special Thanks
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Mega Drive; 1997) — Sega Special Thanks to
- NFL 98 (Mega Drive; 1997) — Special Thanks[17]
- Steep Slope Sliders (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[18]
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks To[19]
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[20]
- NBA Action 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[21] (as Bernard Stolar)
- NHL All-Star Hockey 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Other[22]
- Sega Touring Car Championship (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[23]
- Quake (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[24] (as Bernard Stolar)
- Sonic R (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[25]
- Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn; 1998) — Special Thanks
- Last Bronx (Windows PC; 1998) — Special Thanks[26]
- Sega Touring Car Championship (Windows PC; 1998) — Special Thanks[27]
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (Saturn; 1997) — Special Thanks[28]
- The House of the Dead (Saturn; 1998) — Special Thanks To[29]
- 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[30]
- NFL 2K (Dreamcast; 1999) — Special Thanks - Sega of America[31]
- NBA 2K (Dreamcast; 1999) — Special Thanks - Sega of America
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 (1996) — Special Thanks
- Virtua Fighter 2 (1997) — Special Thanks
- Quake (1997) — Special Thanks
- NBA Action 98 (1997) — Special Thanks
- World Series Baseball '98 (Saturn Version) (1997) — Special Thanks
- Sega Smash Pack (PC Version) (1998) — Special Thanks
- Sonic Adventure (1998) — Executive Management
- NFL 2K (1999) — Special Thanks
References
- ↑ 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:Fightersmegamix sat us manual.pdf, page 42
- ↑ Die Hard Arcade (Saturn) US manual, page 18
- ↑ File:SegaRally PC US Manual.pdf, page 21
- ↑ File:S&KC US manual.pdf, page 14
- ↑ File:Manxtt sat us manual.pdf, page 22
- ↑ File:Skytarget sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:Amok sat us manual.pdf, page 23
- ↑ File:Wsb98 sat us manual.pdf, page 31
- ↑ File:Lastbronx sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:Scorcher sat us manual.pdf, page 27
- ↑ File:The Lost World Jurassic Park GG US Manual.pdf, page 13
- ↑ File:NFL 98 MD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Steepslopesliders sat us manual.pdf, page 21
- ↑ File:Lost World Saturn credits.pdf
- ↑ 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:Stcc sat us manual.pdf, page 39
- ↑ File:Quake sat us manual.pdf, page 18
- ↑ File:Sonic R Saturn credits.pdf
- ↑ File:LastBronx PC US Manual.pdf, page 34
- ↑ File:STCC PC US Manual.pdf, page 37
- ↑ File:Sws98 sat us manual.pdf, page 37
- ↑ File:Thotd sat us manual.pdf, page 26
- ↑ File:SegaSmashPack PC US DigitalManual.pdf, page 3
- ↑ File:NFL2K DC US Manual.pdf, page 22
| Presidents of Sega Enterprises USA |
|---|
| Gene Lipkin (1985-1986) | Ned DeWitt | Tom Petit (1988-1994) | Alan Stone (1994-1996) | Howell Ivy (1996-2004) |
Co-president: David Rosen (1985-1996) |
| Presidents of Sega of America |
| Bruce Lowry (1986-1989) | | 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)
Co-president: David Rosen (1986-1996) |