Sega Commercial Saturday: SegaNet
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Video. Tagged with Dreamcast, Sega Commercial Saturday, SegaNet.
I’m finally back from my two-week hiatus and am pleased to bring you another addition to the Sega Commercial Saturday lineup. This week, we’re taking a look at Sega of America’s commercial for SegaNet, its online service for the Dreamcast that officially launched Sept. 10, 2001, about two years after the Dreamcast launched in North America.
I actually remember watching this commercial when it aired. I, and I’m sure many other Dreamcast owners, were so excited about finally taking their Dreamcasts online at the time that I nearly shat myself upon witnessing its greatness.
What makes this commercial so awesome today is that it retains the great feeling of the Genesis and Saturn era commercials, while also being a bit bittersweet. You know those horribly sad commercials where you see a home video of a cute little kid playing in the backyard only to realize that baby Janice was killed by a drunk driver? Yeah, it’s kinda like watching one of those but seeing all your favorite Dreamcast characters running around before they met their untimely end.
Sega Commercial Saturday: Chu-Chu Rocket
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris. Tagged with Dreamcast, Sega Commercial Saturday.
We here at Sega Nerds have always loved Chu-Chu Rocket and fondly remember the days of our online shenanigans to this day. What makes this commercial great, aside from the disturbingly catchy song, is how cute it is to see a cat chomping on small, unsuspecting mice, and then see a rocket explode through said cat’s body.
Ahh, I miss Chu-Chu Rocket.
Sega Commercial Saturday: The Saturn is launched into orbit
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Video. Tagged with Saturn, Sega Commercial Saturday.
[Editor's note: Every Saturday, we’ll be taking a trip down memory lane and looking back at some of Sega’s greatest commercials in Sega Commercial Saturday. If you want to see a particular commercial featured, e-mail us suggestions to seganerds [at] gmail.com.]
There’s so much stuff going on in this group of launch commercials for the Saturn that I honestly don’t know where to begin. Back then, Sega was promoting launch and first generation games like Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter, Clockwork Knight, and World Series Baseball, to name a few. But in between video footage of those games, these commercials featured hot bald chicks spouting nonsense, a doomsday Zordon clone, a biker in a tutu, Klu Klux Klan members and the Theater of the Eye … basically, the commercials encapsulate everything that made Sega so badass and quirky back then.
It’s kind of sad in a way to see how different Sega, and other game companies, have changed since these days. It seems they take themselves too seriously now and don’t have fun with their commercials like it appears they did a few generations ago.
Sure, these commercials are crazy insane, but they’re also funny, informing (in their own little way) and they get the point across that the Saturn was the most kick ass game console money could buy.
Sega Commercial Saturday: Sega vs. Nintendo
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris. Tagged with Feature, Sega Commercial Saturday.
[Every Saturday, we'll be taking a trip down memory lane and looking back at some of Sega's greatest commercials in Sega Commercial Saturday. If you want to see a particular commercial featured, e-mail us suggestions to seganerds [at] gmail.com.]
You may not be old enough to remember this, but once upon a time Sega actually released some pretty damn awesome commercials. Some of my favorite were the Sega vs. Nintendo commercials during the 16-bit era were Sega showed how superior its systems were compared to Nintendo’s.
The first commercial focuses on the Genesis’ blast processing and showcases a TV playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Ecco the Dolphin and Streets of Rage attached to a dragster, while an old van is putt putting around displaying a TV with Super Mario Kart. Sure, it’s all a bunch of PR spin, but it sure was entertaining and made you proud to own a Genesis, didn’t it?