No, I didn’t steal anything to make this happen, but apparently, someone had to steal the high-quality technology that made the infamous failure, Sega Dreamcast, work.
If you saw the teaser on my blog’s Facebook page, then you’re aware that this week’s theme tackles video game systems that didn’t quite live up to their hype or promise. In the late 1990s, with so much to choose from, Sega probably felt they could try once more despite failed consoles. They probably also figured they had it made when they were going to be the first company to release a console into the sixth generation of home video game consoles.
And like the commercial that was to launch it in the United States, it was a dud.
I have the power of hindsight to know what this commercial was advertising, but in 1999, I wouldn’t have known what was going on here. I would have figured it was one of those Japanese action movies from the time, but not translated.
It had all the makings of what looked like a “film”:
We have a woman who is apparently hacking into something, or stealing something. Remember, it’s not in English (yet it aired in the states), but it looks like she is doing something illegal.
We have a dim-witted cop here to bust her…
So she kicks his ass…
A jumbled plot mess of a “film” happens, complete with more dumb cops, a plane crash, and lots of running and crashing through things.
And what action “film” would be complete without this awkward exchange?
I bet you are…love machine. ❤
And all of this effort is to introduce the world to the most coveted technology of the late 1990s…
A new video game console.
Yep, not making this up!
And a crappily-animated Sonic the Hedgehog cheers her efforts, as we’re informed of this…
This commercial, I should add, aired five days prior to this (it was on a tape of Saturday Night Live episodes).
Yep.
All this hype, all this excitement, and well…it was for naught. The system itself was a failure, and Sega packed up its console-making shop after this.
See if you can make sense of the commercial, because I can’t.
Any of us who have lived through the generations of video game consoles, and have witnessed the not-so-great ones, can look at this with a cynical eye. Sega really aimed for perfection…and misfired on their own battleship.
Fail.
And if you think this was an epic fail, wait until Flashback Friday. I’ll show you a fail.
I shouldn’t be as excited about this as I am.
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