[superflux]

If you look back to 1999 Sega released its final game console, the Dreamcast. Sega fell into financial difficulties and refused to sell platforms anymore after the failure of the Dreamcast. Now they no longer make consoles and cater their software and games to various other platforms like XBOX and Playstation. If BlackBerry gets another financial hit do you think they'll stop making devices and only sell their software to competitors like Apple and Samsung to be used by consumers?

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[Fistmaster]

Interesting thought! That went also last year through my head.

But I guess 1999 is not 2014. Sega completely missed putting a DVD drive in. Though they had the possibility of putting the internet in their console, they hadn't a chance against the PS2.

2014 with all the business modles, partners, start-ups, emerging markets etc. it is a different game. Though I see some similarities, I think just services won't cut it. The hardware/software model is just interesting, providing a true alternate experience.

[diegonei]

Sega had a few serious blunders while BlackBerry has very solid products.

You tell me the rest...

[superflux]

Notice I said "If they take another hit financially." Sega also had some solid products that made them popular in the gaming industry. One product, the Dreamcast, put them under water. They could also still make consoles. They're financially sound now. And I also think you missed the point.

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[whiteberryy]

Thats a good point just thinking if it ever happend and no this will never happen but inmagin blackberry 10 and a android or iphone haha

C002C4374 HD wallpapers

[Baber Sultan]

"If they take a hit financially" implies what specifically though? We all know they are somewhat hemmoraghing money operationally - very expensive costs in producing phones (hence the FOXCONN deal). As for the 900 something million for Z10 inventory not being sold, I don't see that happening anytime soon. The whole focus of FOXCONN is simliar to the just-in-time delivery mechanism where you dont' produce an oversupply of units that don't sell. It's following the demand and production market very closely, so I doubt they'll have another gigantic hit financially. We are all waiting to see if they can manage their books and stop the losses.

I personally don't see their new high end devices (coming out), including the low end Jakarta flopping. Right now the Z30 is doing much better than the Z10 in terms of popularity.

But to answer your question related to Sega, sure why not... BlackBerry could potentially fail in selling the hardware/phone market and just stick to software (services). All just remains to be seen how well their hardware actually continues to sell.

I for one keep a positive spin for BlackBerry always regardless of the new CEO making headlines with positive news for once.

[thurask]

Maybe BB should hire Segata Sanshiro.

[Mr.mister]

Well I don't think so.
There was more positive news about BlackBerry (bes10, new acquisition ) then Sega during the dreamcast era. The futur is more promising to BlackBerry then Sega during the dreamcast.

On a more realistic note you can't really compare the 2.

Better android than android. The future is black....

[badiyee]

You can't equate Sega to today's BlackBerry.

Sega wasn't a top dog number 1 giant (I'm kinda a big Sega fan back then) that fell from its throne or something. Nintendo was. Sega had fought a losing war for a long long time, and they bet on the Saturn's 3D capabilities, but it was much more difficult to develop for it despite its superiority. Any hopes later were smashed right after PlayStation rolled out.

As a company that ceased to produce hardware, and focused only on software? Yeah, you can draw a somewhat distorted parallel, but the two are not the same.

[SDTRMG]

Interesting take in it, I'd hope not especially being a business user. I do think BlackBerry should do more if they don't wanna end up like Sega did.

They can't afford it now but if in the future if possible be nice to see more BlackBerry made products like a Foxconn built tablet running bb10, miracast/dlna dongle for tvs, a some type of phone stand with USB and hdmi connects to easily use my phone as my computer.

Those are just a few ideas, IMHO they need more then just smartphones and software in today's day and age, but they can't afford to go big like a computer, or mass produce a product like they did the z10.

Z30 - The Final Destination - Winnipeg Mb Clothing|Footwear|Headwear|Headshop|Tobacconist|Ta ttoos

[FuNKBerryZ]

I love playing the old sonic games and have my speakers blast "SEGA". The nostalgia gives me goose bumps.

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[Troy Tiscareno]

Actually, I think you're going to see Nintendo go the way of Sega. Nintendo's been fighting the same losing battle with their hardware, and though they had a positive bump in their slide downwards with the Wii and the controller gimmick, it wasn't well exploited beyond Wii Sports, and their latest console has been a flop - an expensive one. I've said for a decade that Nintendo would be better off dropping hardware and making games for other platforms, because almost everyone buys Nintendo for their 5 main franchise games and not much else.

As far as BB, they too could go the way of Sega. While Chen is making mostly sensible decisions (with the exception of relying on Android apps, which IMO is a mistake and a huge strategic weakness), that's not nearly enough to guarantee success. It remains to be seen if the market will come back to BB, or if they've moved on for good. And time works against BB more than for BB.

[teamryan15]

Well....nintendo bought sega

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[BeautyEh]

Ah, a Sega post. Awesome. I happen to be one of their staunchest fans to this day. I recall fondly a childhood spent with Sonic games and posters on my wall.
There are some interesting versions of Sega's history - but almost all of them involve a common feature: Sega flooded the marketplace with too many similar products, and they quickly found themselves overcrowding their own space. Saturn was really the system that failed. By the time DC hit they needed a small miracle. Unfortunately they weren't willing to stay the course...sales did tank quickly, and PS2's delay "froze" the market that Christmas (I wanna say 2000).
I remember being puzzled at the lack of a strong advertising push post-launch. There's a potential similarity. Sega ended up not having a good relationship with retailers - there's a similarity too.
Hopefully BB will not quite go the same route. Sega had a lot of personality before they went multi-platform. People knew Sega was cool. That was the system (Genesis) that let Mortal Kombat have blood.

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[SK122387]

I think BlackBerry is more like Nintendo, where they relied on what they've been good at for too long, as competitors emerged out of nowhere and passed them by (in many aspects).

So many people are saying the same thing about Nintendo that they were/are about BlackBerry: they need to license their software to other hardware manufacturers (i.e. Make Mario and his friends available in the App Store and Google Play).

Nintendo seems to be just as defiant as BlackBerry, where their attitude is, "no, we want to do end-to-end solutions, we want our software on our hardware, there are certain things someone can only get with us, and we have a user base."

While the Wii U isn't doing as well as the Xbox One or PS4, the 3DS line sold has sold 16+ million units so far, in an industry that many claim now belongs to tablets and phones.

I got a 3DS 2 years ago, and picked up the Zelda editions 3DS XL in November. One thing BlackBerry and Nintendo for sure have in common: their software goes nicely with buttons. I'd much rather play a handheld game on my 3DS XL than my iPod touch.

Nintendo is faced with the same thing as BlackBerry is now too: if they let Apple and Google have their content, what incentive does a customer have to purchase their hardware?

I don't care if BBM and Super Mario Bros. are available on an iPhone or Android... I'll keep buying BlackBerrys and Nintendo handheld. The experience both offer on their hardware is unmatched to me.

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[Mr.mister]

Actually, I think you're going to see Nintendo go the way of Sega. Nintendo's been fighting the same losing battle with their hardware, and though they had a positive bump in their slide downwards with the Wii and the controller gimmick, it wasn't well exploited beyond Wii Sports, and their latest console has been a flop - an expensive one. I've said for a decade that Nintendo would be better off dropping hardware and making games for other platforms, because almost everyone buys Nintendo for their 5 main franchise games and not much else.

As far as BB, they too could go the way of Sega. While Chen is making mostly sensible decisions (with the exception of relying on Android apps, which IMO is a mistake and a huge strategic weakness), that's not nearly enough to guarantee success. It remains to be seen if the market will come back to BB, or if they've moved on for good. And time works against BB more than for BB.

Wow...
I guess you take your facts straight from the toilet .
Nintendo going the way of Sega?! Really ?
You mean the company that is evaluated more than Sony going the way of Sega? Loll wut?


Better android than android. The future is black....

[Troy Tiscareno]

Wow...
I guess you take your facts straight from the toilet .
Nintendo going the way of Sega?! Really ?
You mean the company that is evaluated more than Sony going the way of Sega? Loll wut?

The company is not the product line, and vice versa. I'm not saying that Nintendo is going to go bankrupt, I'm saying that their console business has been failing (with a respite from the original Wii for a while), and their handheld business (and other revenues) has been propping it up. At some point, if Nintendo doesn't turn that around (which I don't see happening), Nintendo is going to have to pull out of the console market.

But, they'd have made more money over the last decade had they simply made their (typically great) iconic titles available on other platforms instead of trying to make and market their own consoles as well.

I agree that they are still strong with handhelds, and for the time being, they should keep that line of business going, but Nintendo home consoles have not been successful in a while.

[freedomx20a]

Well as each day passes it looks like BlackBerry going down is Less and less likely.

Q10 ~ 10.2.1.1925

[freedomx20a]

I also got Zelda 3DS XL! Haha! I stopped playing cuz I'm almost done and don't want it to end! Sigh

Q10 ~ 10.2.1.1925

[Mr.mister]

The company is not the product line, and vice versa. I'm not saying that Nintendo is going to go bankrupt, I'm saying that their console business has been failing (with a respite from the original Wii for a while), and their handheld business (and other revenues) has been propping it up. At some point, if Nintendo doesn't turn that around (which I don't see happening), Nintendo is going to have to pull out of the console market.

But, they'd have made more money over the last decade had they simply made their (typically great) iconic titles available on other platforms instead of trying to make and market their own consoles as well.

I agree that they are still strong with handhelds, and for the time being, they should keep that line of business going, but Nintendo home consoles have not been successful in a while.

So you are saying that their console are failing? So did you also think that Sony was going bankrupt after a year when ps3 went out? Did you thought the same thing when Sony sold some of their building? Are you saying that just to say that or did you find your fact down in the sewer?

Better android than android. The future is black....

[jc]

If it does than I hope my devices last forever like my Sega Genesis has.

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[SK122387]

I also got Zelda 3DS XL! Haha! I stopped playing cuz I'm almost done and don't want it to end! Sigh

Q10 ~ 10.2.1.1925

It's a sad day when it's over. The ending had me feeling like my favorite movie was ending.

I still have some items to collect, so I'm not quite done yet..!

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[MartyMcfly]

If you look back to 1999 Sega released its final game console, the Dreamcast. Sega fell into financial difficulties and refused to sell platforms anymore after the failure of the Dreamcast. Now they no longer make consoles and cater their software and games to various other platforms like XBOX and Playstation. If BlackBerry gets another financial hit do you think they'll stop making devices and only sell their software to competitors like Apple and Samsung to be used by consumers?

Posted via CB10

Hmm, makes me wonder. Blackberry's product line is looking pretty thin right now compared to other smartphone manufactures. Since the company is no longer focused on the consumer market, i don't think they have a choice other than the software route (companies don't upgrade hardware at a pace fast enough to keep the them in the hardware business).

[Fnen90]

Of.course... BlackBerry still believe that they will make it without the apps that other platforms have. Is just like that and that's sad. You say BlackBerry is for business...but, hey!!, you can promote your businesses through social apps! stingy is not the good way to go at this time, that's why we don't see to many BB10 out there.

[Troy Tiscareno]

So you are saying that their console are failing? So did you also think that Sony was going bankrupt after a year when ps3 went out? Did you thought the same thing when Sony sold some of their building? Are you saying that just to say that or did you find your fact down in the sewer?

Look what is in the news today:

Nintendo slashes 2014 sales forecast for Wii U from 9 million to 2.8 million

It's not even financials season yet, but Nintendo is trying to lower expectations in advance. In a statement today, it's announced that it's reassessed unit sales for its flagship Wii U console, shaving hacking it down from 9 million for April 2013 - March 2014 to just 2.8 million -- less than a third of the original estimate. It's also less than the number of Wii Us that Nintendo sold in its launch year. That was 3.45 million, if you're counting.

Clearly, Nintendo is doing just fine with the Wii U; the platform is nothing but an unqualified success, right?