A Close Look at SEGA & Parent Company CSK

2023-08-03SaturnDave2 Comments

CategoriesSpotlight

Alex Smith of They Create Worlds, a podcast focused on documenting the video game industry as a whole, has released a two-part series on SEGA and its parent conglomerate, CSK Corporation (Computer Service Kabushiki-Kaisha). The series offers a well-researched and nuanced look at Isao Okawa, the owner of CSK & subsidiary SEGA Enterprises and the ultimate downfall of SEGA during the Dreamcast era.

Part 1 covers the origin of CSK and major players involved, Okawa’s bold move to pivot CSK during uncertain times, the purchase of SEGA from Gulf and Western, the decade-long corporate transition from U.S. company to a traditional Japanese company, and SEGA becoming publicly traded in Japan.

PopCap Games – They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 228 – PopCap Games   PopCap Games was initially overlooked by the larger gaming industry due to its focus on fun, well-designed, and polished casual games. Their first major hit, Bejeweled, became a consistent source of income, allowing PopCap to invest time in developing new titles. This led to the creation of Peggle, which helped solidify PopCap’s reputation, particularly after developers at Valve became hooked on the game’s deeper skill-based mechanics and puzzles. The success of Bejeweled and Peggle continued with their ports to the iPod and, eventually, the iPad, further expanding PopCap’s popularity. This growth culminated in the release of Plants vs. Zombies, which debuted on PC before being adapted for iOS. The game’s seamless touchscreen integration made it a standout app for the newly launched iPad. As the gaming industry evolved, PopCap struck a deal with EA, which acquired the company, leading to the departure of its founders over the following years.   Attack Retrieve Capture: https://alchetron.com/Attack-Retrieve-Capture Shariki Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMwGy1fv41g Play Dimond Mine: https://www.crazygames.com/game/diamond-mine Bejeweled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLtaf1PFVM Palm OS – PDA Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nfg4YIoYas TCW 122 – A Casual World Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/a-casual-world-part-1/ TCW 123 – A Casual World Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/a-casual-world-part-2/ Zuma Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwpuOhuVnnQ Alchemy Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p902uQ_y3r4 Play Alchemy Deluxe: https://archive.org/details/alchemy-deluxe Bookworm Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA1NSyldUQ8 The Oral History of PopCap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzxWLonObo Burnout 3 Takedown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6vHTQv9JHY Peggle Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlnieE-h6k8 Peggle Extreme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKLiepJDrM Peggle Extreme (Steam – Free): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3483/Peggle_Extreme/ Bejeweled (iPod): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7iHTM0ryWm0 Peggle (iPod): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qhWSm0zNSrk Insaniquarium Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U04weIAra20 Plants VS Zombies (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENla8M3910 Plants VS Zombies (iPad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvopYLzwb90 PopCap Games on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22PopCap+Games%22   New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com  Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1     Intro Music: Josh Woodward – Airplane Mode –  Music – "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode  Outro Music: RoleMusic – Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love    Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  1. PopCap Games
  2. Donkey Kong
  3. Ray Kassar
  4. Games by Apollo
  5. D&D & Video Games 3E

Part 2 examines the circumstances leading to Okawa’s direct control as CEO of SEGA and the financial difficulties resulting from SEGA’s internal money lending, Okawa’s dream to make CSK and SEGA more network focused and his planned contingencies for potential failure.

PopCap Games – They Create Worlds

TCW Podcast Episode 228 – PopCap Games   PopCap Games was initially overlooked by the larger gaming industry due to its focus on fun, well-designed, and polished casual games. Their first major hit, Bejeweled, became a consistent source of income, allowing PopCap to invest time in developing new titles. This led to the creation of Peggle, which helped solidify PopCap’s reputation, particularly after developers at Valve became hooked on the game’s deeper skill-based mechanics and puzzles. The success of Bejeweled and Peggle continued with their ports to the iPod and, eventually, the iPad, further expanding PopCap’s popularity. This growth culminated in the release of Plants vs. Zombies, which debuted on PC before being adapted for iOS. The game’s seamless touchscreen integration made it a standout app for the newly launched iPad. As the gaming industry evolved, PopCap struck a deal with EA, which acquired the company, leading to the departure of its founders over the following years.   Attack Retrieve Capture: https://alchetron.com/Attack-Retrieve-Capture Shariki Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMwGy1fv41g Play Dimond Mine: https://www.crazygames.com/game/diamond-mine Bejeweled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLtaf1PFVM Palm OS – PDA Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nfg4YIoYas TCW 122 – A Casual World Part 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/a-casual-world-part-1/ TCW 123 – A Casual World Part 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/a-casual-world-part-2/ Zuma Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwpuOhuVnnQ Alchemy Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p902uQ_y3r4 Play Alchemy Deluxe: https://archive.org/details/alchemy-deluxe Bookworm Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA1NSyldUQ8 The Oral History of PopCap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzxWLonObo Burnout 3 Takedown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6vHTQv9JHY Peggle Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlnieE-h6k8 Peggle Extreme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKLiepJDrM Peggle Extreme (Steam – Free): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3483/Peggle_Extreme/ Bejeweled (iPod): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7iHTM0ryWm0 Peggle (iPod): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qhWSm0zNSrk Insaniquarium Deluxe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U04weIAra20 Plants VS Zombies (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENla8M3910 Plants VS Zombies (iPad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvopYLzwb90 PopCap Games on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22PopCap+Games%22   New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!   TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com  Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1     Intro Music: Josh Woodward – Airplane Mode –  Music – "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode  Outro Music: RoleMusic – Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love    Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  1. PopCap Games
  2. Donkey Kong
  3. Ray Kassar
  4. Games by Apollo
  5. D&D & Video Games 3E

With Okawa’s passing in 2001, CSK shifted in a financial services direction, and ended up selling their stake in SEGA to Sammy, who then used this leverage to completely buy out SEGA a year later.

Alexander Smith is a reference librarian with a background in history, research, and law who has been delving into the history of the video game industry for over ten years. He has played a crucial role in the preservation of certain documents and artifacts in early video game history and has conducted over 100 oral history interviews with key executives in the evolution of the industry. Currently, he co-hosts a bi-monthly podcast dedicated to the history of the industry (also called “They Create Worlds”) and serves as a researcher and consultant for the Video Game Pioneers Archive oral history project of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smith claims his information is derived from “rare primary sources” including little-studied trade publications, personal papers collections, and oral history interviews with designers and executives, many of whom have never told their stories before.

About the author

SaturnDave

A massive Saturn fan since Christmas '96, Dave is enthusiastic about growing the community and spreading Saturn love and knowledge to fans old and new. Co-founding the SEGA SATURN, SHIRO! podcast back in 2017 and creating the SHIRO! SHOW in 2020, he seeks to create interesting and engaging Saturn-related content for the community. Dave's interests circle around game preservation, and he is a huge fan of game magazines and developer interviews.
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