411: Inside SEGA's Golden Era: A Chat with Mike Fischer - The Retro Hour EP411

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2024

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this week's episode, we're joined by Mike Fischer, former Product Manager and Vice President at Sega of America, who gives us an insider's view of SEGA's vibrant culture and the strategic relationship between its American and Japanese branches. He touches on the impact of iconic titles like Sonic the Hedgehog and reminisces about marketing strategies and celebrity encounters, including Michael Jackson. Dive into a nostalgic exploration of SEGA's groundbreaking era, packed with fascinating insights and lesser-known stories.

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
39:35 - Mike Fischer Interview

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Show notes:

Handheld Mega Drive: http://tinyurl.com/29fmtdv4
Vector Man 3 PS2 Prototypes Unearthed: http://tinyurl.com/4cjjfpyw
Tomb Raider Ported to 32x: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYsGbMjM7tQ
Robocop vs Predator Gameboy Game: http://tinyurl.com/yb2n27rw
I Made a Nintendo Playstation: https://youtu.be/9lpTfVxwwSU?si=ZTrVnC7JWl0Tx6FF

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Coming up on this week's show, a new handheld Mega Drive is on the way.
0:04.4	How to Make Your Own Nintendo PlayStation.
0:06.9	And we get amazing stories from 90s Sega with Mike Fisher.
0:20.5	And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you each and every Friday with our incredible friends of Bitmap Books.
0:26.8	Now, maybe you got your hands on a Spectrum next like me recently, or maybe you've been a long-time fan of the Specky.
0:33.7	Have you seen Sinclair ZX Spectrum a visual compendium? Whether it's new to you or you're enjoying a nostalgic return to your 8-bit gaming days, this visual compendium celebrates the best look of classic spectrum games. You can check that out and the rest of their retro gaming collection at bitmapbooks.com.
0:52.8	Hello and welcome to the retro hour podcast episode number 411, your weekly dose of retro gaming
0:59.1	and technology news with me, Dan Wood.
1:01.6	Me Rabby Abbott and me Joe Fox.
1:04.0	And a very warm welcome to the podcast.
1:07.5	I do say that because I'm hoping you can't hear the sound of my teeth chattering. I hadn't been in this room for a few hours earlier. I finally got my heater on here. I think it was around 10 degrees Celsius in this room when I walked in about 20 minutes ago. It is freezing at the moment here. You need one of those electric blankets, Dan. Yeah. Well, I've already got, luckily we don't do video on this podcast yet. I'm actually wearing, some of our patrons may have seen me wearing this on the Christmas hangout last month, my big Christmas snooty blanket. So I see you imagine looking very timely.
1:37.0	Well, you know me. So, of course, this is a podcast while no matter what's going on outside, while huddled up nice and warm indoors, playing
1:44.4	video games and celebrating all things about classic and retro gaming and technology, bringing
1:50.4	it up to speed on all the big happenings in the world of retro and tech from over the last
1:53.5	week and bringing you a veteran of the industry. On to the show in the second half to give us
1:59.4	their story. Now, I do love it when we cover just
2:02.8	legendary companies. I mean, we love doing the indie devs as well and, you know, we cover so many
2:07.3	different topics on this podcast. But then when we delve inside a company as big as Sega,
2:12.3	there is something quite special about that, I think. Yeah, and today's guest is just absolutely amazing.
2:18.9	Like, I think this is the first call I've done from China.
2:22.9	And that's why I did the interview solo.
2:26.7	I think Joe was busy packing up books when you were doing this interview.
	...

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