I try and stay informed in the game industry. I read my magazines each month, I check articles online here and there, I keep an eye out for anything suspicious when I step into my local Electronics Boutique. So, I like to think I have a grasp on what's going on in the gaming industry. So, you can imagine it came as a great shock to me to discover for the first time that pretty much everyone else who plays video games are out of their mind.

It seems that everywhere I look, people are touting the upcoming dismantlement of Sega's hardware divisions and their plunge into making software only as the best thing since sliced bread. These people, quite frankly, must be off their rocker. Sega is indeed more a software company than a hardware company, but it's a lot more complicated than that.

Each game giant develops their own style of game. Games that Sega released are not the same games that Nintendo or Sony would have released, or allowed to be released, on their systems. This is something that everyone seems to forget. Sega, being the hardcore gaming company that they are (both a good and bad thing in many cases) allowed a lot greater leniency with the kinds of games they would give their stamp of approval to. While these games often turned out to not be big moneymakers, they endeared Sega to the fans of gaming. Sega's taste in games was an eccentric one, to say the least.

Do people actually think the same style of games will be released from Sega or other companies now that the only available platforms are owned by Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft? You're not going to see the next Burning Rangers, Seaman, Chu-Chu Rocket or even Typing of the Dead on these systems. Some people might think that's a good thing, but I'm surely not one of them. Nintendo and Sony have proved that, good though their games and systems may be, they're pretty straightforward companies. The niche games that Sega has released to the joy of limited crowds won't be seen again with any regularity. Tell me why this is a good thing?

If abandoning the hardware market for a pure software front is what saves Sega from complete disintegration, then by all means, I agree it's a smart move. But don't go saying this is a move Sega should have done ages ago, because the gaming world without Sega hardware as a haven for numerous games that wouldn't stand a chance on other systems is a dreary place, for me at least.