Re-introducing the old forgotten SEGA CHAN!
▲CLICK for full size!
As some of you may now the SEGA Enterprises were developing arcade hits even before the video game era came around. However this friendly and muti-functional servo robot from 1982 shows how vanguardist the company was at providing high-tech entertainment.
I was only 2 years old when SEGA CHAN was released, and probably many of you weren't even born yet. However I guess it must have been surreal to see one of this old-school Japanese robots in action at that time.
SEGA CHAN was mainly designed to serve as very cool and high-tech way to promote establishments and gather curious customers. However seeing as how it was forgotten in time, and no future models were designed, it probably was one of those ideas that was just too ahead of its time to be successful.
I guess stuff like SEGA CHAN was the way how the people of the '80s envisioned the future. Problably back then they though that by now every stablishment around was going to be handled by robots, or at least have some kind of robot helper.
As an abstract thinker, I believe this robot while high-tech serves no useful purpose; whereby, it's a ultimate failure and lead SEGA to the Master System, which BTW was more useful than this useless robot. Now, on the other hand if you happen to own a ASIMO (Honda) than you'd be something of the rockstar! Unfortunately, you'd have to wait 10 years OR steal ASIMO yourself.
Only that SEGA CHAN was released in 1982 and R.O.B. in 1985. Not to mention SEGA CHAN was 170cm tall.
Sega really have a bright view on the future with those things. It would have been really awesome to have seen one in real life.
I think we all know where the idea for ROB came from then without a doubt. Pretty interesting little tidbit there actually, I never had heard of it 'til I saw this. :)
