A PlayStation no-RPG policy? What was that all about? It certainly didn't work.

@animagnum: Agreed, the only consoles with any real RPGS were SNES, PS1 and PS2. So, saying sony has a no rpg policy makes no sense whatsoever.

@animagnum: He switched over to Sega right around the time FF7 came out. Even then he couldn't be brought to his senses and, despite FF7's phenomenal impact, he continued his "American gamers aren't interested in RPGs" stance with the Saturn. There's a lot of blame to go around for Sega's eventual downfall, but Stolar was a huge part of it.

Makes me wonder who blundered sega more, Peter Moore or Bernie Stolar?

@thebluick and animagnum: You guys need to read more carefully. Fahey's talking about the policies Stolar implemented while he was head of SCEA and SOA, not not their current policies. From Wikipedia:

"Before the U.S. release of the PlayStation home console, Sony made Stolar the first president of SCEA and placed him in charge of the PlayStation platform. Stolar implemented a "no-RPG" policy. Seeing as RPGs at the time were almost all 2D, they didn't sell well in North America and, in Stolar's opinion, failed to demonstrate the full capabilities of the PlayStation.

The PlayStation sold well during its first holiday season in the U.S., and Bernie accepted an opportunity to helm Sega of America and manage the Sega Saturn. Stolar, while more liberal with licensing than he was with Sony, decided against introducing many of the most popular Saturn titles, citing limited appeal in North America and inability to show off the Saturn."

I loved the Saturn. Its a shame this dickhead ruined that for a lot of people. The Saturn was a fine piece of hardware.

@Doomstalk: Interesting! Thanks for the info.

@animagnum: Hey! I was just asking about the reference. Thanks anyway.

I think Stolar is a big-time screw-up in many regards, but at the time of Dreamcast's release in September 1999 I thought he was doing a bang-up job of localizing the thing and advertising it, getting people to jump aboard despite the utter failure of the Saturn in North America. And it did have an impressive launch, with the biggest number of launch games for any system, ever, and a lot of them being of top-notch quality, like the arcade perfect Hydro Thunder and House of the Dead 2, the quirky but fun shooter Blue Stinger (which doesn't stand up well over time, but I enjoyed it then), the Loaded/Contra hybrid rip-off Extermination (which in my opinion is better today than it was then... can't put my finger on it), and I haven't even mentioned SOUL CALIBUR yet.

OK. So it had a good launch, and a commercial that was fun for a videogame console commercial 8 years ago (but really lame and cheesey compared to what they're doing for videogame commercials these days, spending so many millions on commercial advertising). And all the games that would normaly never have seen the light of day in America were coming over in troves, with tons of Neo-Geo arcade perfect ports of great 2D fighting games, and a crapload of shooters in a short period of time, with revolutionary console online gaming and internet support... the machine did almost everything right. I still rack my brain trying to figure out where it all went wrong, but one memory sticks out in my mind: it didn't start failing until after they fired Bernie Stolar. So why did they fire him? What happened to the dreamcast?

Yeah, I remember Bernie...he was the simp that didn't believe that Japanese Saturn titles would get any burn in the states....thus ushering in the death of the Saturn. Wow...if only Trilogy's memory wasn't so short...they would see beyond a resume filled with impressive companies and tenured years of experience. Bernie may have been around since the invention of dirt, but he has a pedigree of myopic vision and out of touch sensibilities. Bernie fully represents an American corporate management culture of rewarding failure with a shiny new job, total amnesia of previous lack-luster track records, and great stock options. If Trilogy were a bit more savvy....they'd run for the hills NOW.

"By driving away anyone who would call themselves a gamer, leaving only the casual players. A brilliant move!"

Why does that sound like Nintendo? XD

If there's one thing the Kotaku comment boards teach us, it's that you can alienate and irritate gamers though breathing in and then breathing out. IN SEQUENCE.

Seeing that name opens up a lot of old, fanboyish wounds. I knew he was still around...he had to be, I suppose...I just assumed he went into a non-gaming field as many of the old gaming demons have.

Speaking of whom, what's Victor Ireland up to these days?

I know a guy who worked for Bernie. His comment -- "Bernie is a great guy and you should always follow his investment advice, but he wouldn't know a good game if it bit him on the ass."

@HJungle: I've seen Vic Ireland selling off old Working Designs stuff on ebay, but other than that I'm not sure what he is doing now career wise.

@HJungle: "Speaking of whom, what's Victor Ireland up to these days?"

Probably off somewhere making porn.

@callahan09: The Dreamcast was a victim of the hype surrounding the impending PS2 launch (a system which, despite the great games it has, I feel never lived up to what they promised), and Sega's own history of failure. They'd just come off of the Sega CD, the 32x, and the Saturn, and gamers were feeling burned. Furthermore, it left Sega in a severely weakened state financially. As a result, the Dreamcast never had a chance to hit critical mass.

@thebluick: "Agreed, the only consoles with any real RPGS were SNES, PS1 and PS2."

I can only assume that these are the only consoles you've ever owned.

@thebluick:

I think you're mistaking RPGs for something else.

Ever heard of the sega genesis? How about Shining Force or Phantasy Star?

How about this little game called Dragon Force on the Saturn? Or Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast?

Did you know Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest originated on the Nintendo, not the SNES?

Those are only JRPGs...

I didn't even mention PC RPGs, because you have to be made of fail to not realize that if it weren't for PCs, we may not have RPGs...

@lotkrotan: don't forget albert odyssey on the saturn, that game is SOOOO ILLLLLLL

we wouldn't have RPGs if it weren't for math and agoraphobia

@beem: I actually dated a woman who bought a PC-FX and a copy of Battle Heat (I think) off of him. Looking back on the whole experience seems rather surreal.

To be young and expectedly stupid again. I don't even remember why I hated him. I'm sure it had something to do with collector's editions or liberal translations but, like Bernie up there, I seem to have forgotten the all important why.

At least he's someplace where he can't do any real harm.

I really really want that red Dreamcast controller/VMU combo.

The man helped bring Sega to it's knees. Is this the fate of all once powerful CEO's, to end up at some no name studio?

Reading about the Dreamcast has me thinking about all the stuff that Sega, considering their now chummy relationship with Nintendo, ought to try bringing to the Wii in an updated sequel.

Remember Seaman (careful how you pronounce that now)? That game was gimicky but still entertaining none the less and seems like it would fit in perfectly with the Wii and DS lineup.

For some reason the third floor of the Engineering Building at NC State University has a Dreamcast in a glass display case.

For some one like me who wholeheartedly believes the DC was the best system ever, it was an amazing experience to find out someone at my college feels the same way.

Take it from a disgruntled Saturn owner who had to import all his games from Japan. If you've got stock in Trilogy Studios, now is the time to sell!

F*ck Bernie Stolar! Sorry, another disgruntled Saturn owner here.

So he's the bastard that kept so many awesome games from coming over here on the Saturn. We should kill him with fire!

@lotkrotan: Dragon Force is the best crack ever burned to a disk.

@Zodiack:

I know, I picked it up with a bunch of other games and a saturn at a yard sale for $70, and thought I got junk games. Well I did, except for Dragon Force.

Now if only I could find a copy of SF3....