We recently discovered that the first "frequently asked question" in the Xbox section of the website Team Xbox is "What is the Xbox?" Sometimes the most obvious questions are the best ones, so, inspired by Team Xbox, I turned to Twitter and asked: "What is Sega?"
The First Answer I Got
"The publisher of Platinum's games....and that's about it." - Nintendubus
The Happy Answers
"Sega is working on Phantasy Star Online 2, aka doing exactly as they should be." - Tonezorz
"Home of Platinum Games." -Arttemis
"Sega is good 3rd party IPs, shunned by the need to push more Sonic outings and a good PlatinumGames title every now and then." - Astromono
"I think it's the people who make those delicious hedgehog shaped ice cream bars" - Shorester
"experienced game publisher that takes some chances while embracing Japanese game tradition. They also make Sonic. And Yakuza" - Cam_is_16bit
"a place where games are continuously reborn" - xbobxloblawx
The Unhappy Answers
"The people that made the Genesis 20 years ago and then died shortly after." - nron10
"A company that was ambitious (overly?) with gaming hardware, fell flat and now is a mediocre publisher of games." - Wolvie75
"No longer the power it used to be." - MaxReboh
"A fallen giant, slowly dying like Ueda's doomed Colossi" - SternOne
"A company about 2 stops short of the grave." - jayc4life
"A miserable little pile of Sonic spinoffs." - GohanEgret
"a legendary game software and ex-hardware developer that stopped making hardware when they should've stopped making software." - roxaloxa
"A former giant that now exists as platinum games with a few dead fetal twins growing inside of it." - DylanNelkin
"Sega is confused: - ReddenBlack
"Those Dreamcast folks who should have plowed through Sony's PS2. Fortune didn't call, though. :(" -RyanClay
The Fond Remembrances
"the nostalgic sound made at the start of Sonic the Hedgehog. 'SEGAAAA'" -toolishuk
"what is Sega? My old wife that no matter what she has done I always have a place in my heart!" - GavinArmstrong0
"a beloved studio of my childhood which has sadly produced nothing of interest to me in my adulthood." - AshtonHermann
"Sega is nostalgia." - jhanan
"the stuff that dreams were made of..." - MichaelAwesome
"A company that I hold dear to this very day." - NintenDaan
"Blue magical sound shower out of time. Game over. Yeah." - EGVroom
The Literalists
"a publisher and software company?" - AustinFWheeler
"Sonic" - LikChan
"A japanese game company." - JordanRodkey
"A huge company that is primarily known for its videogames and known by its iconic mascot 'Sonic'?" - Reetesh
"I suppose a developer now?" - rtkowalczyk
"Developer and publisher of entertainment software? I mean, that's the obvious answer, right?" - Jeremy_Lamont
"A game developer and publisher." - Loser_Geek
"a company" - urssssssssss
"Sega is a former hardware/software manufacturer which now exclusively produces multiplatform software. Do I win?" - hellofahatPS3 [Note from Stephen: nope]
"A software and hardware developer in the videogames field." - jglievano
"currently Sega is a company that makes videogame software. They used to make hardware. But that was many moons ago." - sensiblemadman
"a company that started in hawaii but eventually moved to japan. they now mainly make video games." - flapjack21
"a video game company!" - number108
The Linguists
"In spanish it resembles the word 'Blindness'" - Xian_G
"SErvice and GAmes" - naMofNi
The Rude Responses
"I believe Sega is... Your mum." - HedinnWeis
"Sonic the Hedgehog's pimp." - JohnMcLeodDavis
The Bad Jokes
"a Canadian progressive rock band — oh wait no that's Saga" - SimonBob
"The home planet of Segata Sanshiro?" - Jason Schreier
"A ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world, just like it says at the start of every G.I. Joe episode." - JasonVenter
"What is Sega? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more" - GB330033
"paparazzi nickname for the power couple consisting of sagat and vega" - robdubbin
Thanks to everyone who Tweeted answers to this question! Folks, feel free to keep answering in the comments section below.
You can contact Stephen Totilo, the author of this post, at stephentotilo@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.