"We are killing Sony": Sega's Documents from 1990s Leaked
Sega doesn't what Nintendo.
A huge pile of Sega's internal documents from the 1990s has been leaked online, offering a glimpse into the company's war with Sony.
The file with 272 pages of plans, costs, and emails has been found on the Sega Retro wiki. One letter, dated March 1996, is especially interesting: Tom Kalinske, the former CEO of Sega America, is very confident that Sega Saturn is "killing Sony".
"We are killing Sony. In every store, Saturn hardware is sold out and there are stacks of Playstation. The retailers commented they can't compare the true sales rate because Saturn sells out before they can measure accurately. Our interactive displays are better, our software displays and stocking far superior."
It's fascinating and tragic considering Saturn failed to capture the US gamers' attention after it surprise-launched earlier than expected, just a year before Nintendo 64 appeared.
Other documents in the file contain plans, strategies, sales numbers, and other once-useful information. For example, in one of his notes, Kalinske asks marketing head Neil Cohen for 50% of ad time on footage and says, "When did we decide on Hare Krishna cult members?"
Sega studied Sony's affairs a lot, according to the documents, aiming to win this console war, trying to figure out what Sony does to be successful.
We've seen a lot of such treasures revealed during the FTC vs. Microsoft legal battle, but the fact that this massive file just appeared out of nowhere is fantastic.
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