“We knew methods to make arcade video games, we didn’t actually know something about console growth,” Hideki Sato told Famitsu in an oral historical past of Sega. “They bought so effectively, we began to get stars in our eyes.” Sato was a steward to Sega’s largest consoles, from the unique SG-1000 proper by means of to the Dreamcast. The storied engineer handed away this Friday, February 13, 2026, at age 77.
Becoming a member of Sega again in 1971, Sato noticed the corporate undergo each transformation firsthand, from a U.S.-based electronics enterprise to a Japanese gaming power-house, and from a titan of the arcade corridor to one of many fiercest opponents of the house console wars. Whereas concerned within the authentic SG sequence and the Grasp System, Sato’s star ascended in 1989 when he was promoted to director of Sega’s Analysis and Growth division. There he and his group have been tasked with a herculean feat: take down Nintendo.
The Nintendo Leisure System crushed Sega’s Grasp System. The NES rose from the ashes of the early ‘80s crash and dominated markets world wide. Sega needed to get revenge within the second spherical. For the 16-bit period, they’d introduce one thing that synthesized their arcade strengths with what was potential at dwelling with new, budget-friendly microchips. Sato needed a house console with the visible attraction of an up-scale sound system, making it modern, rounded and black with contrasted gold lettering. “That gold printing, by the way in which, was very costly,” Sato advised Famitsu.
The outcome was the Mega Drive, often called the Genesis in North America. With a two-year head begin on the Tremendous Nintendo, the console was an enormous hit even earlier than the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sato oversaw all of Sega’s basic programs. The Mega Drive made Sega a family title, displaying off what they did that ‘Nintendon’t.’ The uncanny Sega Saturn was the world’s peek on the true potential of a devoted 3D, CD-based console. And naturally Sega’s swan track, the Dreamcast, ended up being a beloved underdog whose exhausting shake didn’t cease it from internet hosting the loudest, most uncompromising video games of the period.
Even past the warmth of the console wars, Sato’s affect on the gaming world was felt in immeasurable methods. Journal Beep21 had already been compiling a brand new e-book about Sato and Sega’s hardware legacy. Simply final December, Sega co-founder David Rosen additionally passed away at 95.
