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Sega Channel
Sega Channel was an online game service developed by Sega for the Sega Genesis video game console, serving as a content delivery system. Launching in December 1994, Sega Channel was provided to the public by TCI and Time Warner Cable through cable television services by way of coaxial cable. It was a pay to play service, through which customers could access Genesis games online, play game demos, and get cheat codes. Lasting until July 31, 1998, Sega Channel operated three years after the release of Sega's next generation console, the Sega Saturn. Though criticized for its poorly timed launch and high subscription fee, Sega Channel has been praised for its innovations in downloadable content, impacts on online services for video games, and effects on the cable television industry.
==History==
Released in Japan as the Mega Drive in 1988, North America in 1989, and Europe and other regions as the Mega Drive in 1990, the Sega Genesis was Sega's entry into the 16-bit era of video game consoles. In 1990, Sega started their first Internet-based service for the console, Sega Meganet, in Japan. Operating through a cartridge and a peripheral called the "Mega Modem", this system allowed Mega Drive owners to play seventeen games online. A North American version of this system, dubbed "Tele-Genesis", was announced but never released. Another phone-based system, the Mega Anser, turned the Japanese Mega Drive into an online banking terminal.〔 Due to Meganet's low number of titles, prohibitively high price, and the Mega Drive's lack of success in Japan, the system proved to be a commercial failure. By 1992, the Mega Modem peripheral could be found in bargain bins at a reduced price, and a remodeled version of the console released in 1993 removed the EXT 9-pin port altogether, preventing the newer model from being connected to the Meganet service.
In April 1993, Sega announced the Sega Channel service, which would utilize cable television services to deliver content. National testing in the United States for the service began in June, and deployment across the United States began in December,〔 with a complete release in North America in 1994.〔 By June 1994, Sega Channel had gained a total of 21 cable companies signed up to carry the service.〔 Fees in the United States for the service varied depending on location, but were approximately US$15 monthly, plus a $25 activation fee, which included the adapter.〔 During the planning stages of the service, Sega looked to capitalize on the rental market, which had seen some success with the Sega CD being rented through Blockbuster, Inc., and was looking to base the service's offering of games and demos to help sell more cartridges.〔
In early 1995, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to end development on the Sega Genesis and its add-ons, the Sega CD and Sega 32X. This decision was made to support the Sega Saturn, which had been released in Japan already.〔 This placed the release of the Sega Channel right at the height of the Genesis' decline from the market.〔 At its peak, Sega Channel had over 250,000 subscribers, but by 1997, the number of subscribers had dropped to 230,000, two years after Nakayama made the decision to shift focus from the Genesis to the Saturn.〔 Though Sega looked at options to bring the service to PCs,〔 the service was eventually discontinued by July 31, 1998.〔
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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