Sega's biggest mistake last gen, IMHO, was trying to divvy support up on all next gen consoles, especially when their games sold the best on the GC.
But the real issue was that, with the death of the Dreamcast, Sega suddenly had a detached fanbase with no "home" console, and their answer to that was to send Sonic to the GC, Toejam and Earl to the Xbox (to die), Crazy Taxi to the PS2, etc.
It was idiotic. If things had been the other way around and Nintendo had gone 3rd party, how would you feel about buying a PS3 to play LoZ, a 360 to play Metroid and a Dreamcast 2 to play Mario games?
It would royally suck to either shell out $1200 or be denied the ability to play all of your favorite franchises of that gen, and yet that's basically what Sega did to their fanbase (it was more to the tune of $800, but still, it sucked).
I think that was the beginning of the end for them, and I don't know what could save the company now, but I don't think Nintendo or anyone else will bite with what they have left.
Sega's franchises have been gone too long that they don't have the fanbase necessary to survive on fan appreciation, and we've seen what happens when they attempt to create new IPs (Billy Hatcher, anyone?). I don't know how Sega's story will end, but I doubt it'll end well.
"I mean, c'mon, Viva Pinata, a game with massive marketing, didn't sell worth a damn to the "sophisticated" 360 audience, despite near-universal praise--is that a sign that 360 owners are a bunch of casual ignoramuses that can't get their heads around a 'gardening' sim? Of course not. So let's please stop trying to micro-analyze one game out of hundreds and using it as the poster child for why good, non-1st party, games can't sell on Wii. (Everyone frequenting this site knows this is nonsense, and yet some of you just can't let it go because it's the only scab you have left to pick at after all your other "Wii will phail1!!1" straw men arguments have been put to the torch.)" - exindguy on Boom Blocks
