Hideki Sato, the designer behind the majority of Sega’s video game consoles, including the Dreamcast and Master System, has died.
Sega might not be in the console business any more, but the company’s early hardware defined a generation for many.
An instrumental figure in the creation of almost every Sega console, including their last major home system, the Dreamcast, was Hideki Sato. Along with designing almost every Sega arcade and home console with his research and development team, he served as the company’s president from 2001 to 2003.
As first reported by Japanese games outlet Beep21, Sato, who was described as ‘the father of Sega hardware’, has died. He was aged either 77 or 75, according to various reports.
Sega’s Japanese account on X paid tribute to Sato, following his death on Friday, February 13. ‘Sega would like to offer its condolences to his family and friends,’ the post reads.
‘Starting his career with the development of arcade machines, Mr Sato was instrumental in the development of iconic home consoles, including the SG-1000, SC-3000, Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast. His leadership helped lay the foundation of Sega, and his contributions had a significant and lasting impact on the entire gaming industry.
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‘We will always remember his contributions to our company, and all of us at Sega extend our deepest condolences as we honour his memory.’
Sato joined Sega in 1971 as an engineer and, following the death of Isao Okawa, became the company’s president in 2001. He stepped down from the role in 2003, and left Sega entirely in 2008.
In an interview with Famitsu, Sato said Sega’s home consoles were ‘influenced’ by the company’s arcade development. ‘Our first 8-bit machine was the SC-3000,’ he said. ‘This was a PC for beginner-level users. At that time, Sega only did arcade games, so this was our first challenge. We had no idea how many units we’d sell.’
He added: ‘We learned that Nintendo planned to release their own console system at the same time, so we removed the keyboard from the SC-3000 and marketed it as a new home console, the SG-1000.’
While Nintendo dominated the US during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, Sega had a firm grip over Europe with the Master System and Mega Drive. Sega’s subsequent consoles, the Saturn and Dreamcast, failed to meet the same success, although the former was successful in Japan.
The failure of the Dreamcast lead to the company’s departure from the home console business in 2001.
Since then, Sega has forged a path as a third party publisher, on consoles and PC, but it does still have an arcade division, despite a recent sell-off . It also occasionally manufactures retro devices, such as the Mega Drive Mini.
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