The story of the rise and fall of Sega in the home video game market is an often-told tale, but how often do we hear the epilogue?  AMN's Lucas DeWoody has written one of the best Sega editorials in recent memory in which he recounts how the company has squandered its gamer goodwill over the last few years with shoddy retro ports, lackluster new games, baffling business decisions, and the tarnishing of what was one of gaming's most beloved characters.  Consider this your required reading for the day.

Sega continues to botch their classics up in compilation batch sets for last-gen consoles like the PS2 and GBA with sub-par presentation and overly high prices. The most notorious example might be last year’s Game Boy Advance port of Genesis classic Sonic the Hedgehog, the game that built Sega’s fortunes in the 90’s. The title was published under the Sonic Team name for the sake of brand recognition, and development was farmed out to a third party team who apparently didn't wish to be credited for the work. Ask anyone who has played it, and they will tell you it is completely broken with missing frames of animation, broken physics, botched music, and a frame rate that left the game running at half speed. The port was a mockery of the legend on which it was based.

Don't miss the other examples of Sega's poor decisions such as turning down a no-risk opportunity to publish a new Streets of Rage title, neglecting the Shenmue franchise at every possible turn, practically inviting a takeover by Sammy thanks to corporate arrogance, squandering the chance to revive Vectorman, and, of course, dragging the Sonic the Hedgehog down to where he is today.  How can a company that was once as creative and innovative as Sega make so many horrible mistakes in such a short span of time?