I posted my interview with former Sega of America president Tom Kalinske today, and it’s been something of a hit. Even 1up has taken notice! While many people have taken interest in the revelation that Sega and Sony almost developed a 32-bit console together, what really surprised me was Kalinske that finally dispelled the myth that Hayao Nakayama was the root of all Sega’s evil. All the press I’ve ever read, including Sam Pettus’ now-famous SegaBase articles, paint him as the sole villain, when it seems that this wasn’t actually the case. Even Steven Kent, author of The Ultimate History of Video Games maintained that all the problems were Nakayama’s fault, when he spoke to me earlier this year.

Nope, Nakayama apparently was caught between a rock and a hard place, eventually having little choice but to appease his own board of directors. This would explain why he stepped down shortly after Kalinske and Sega founder David Rosen resigned in 1996. Instead of hating the man, I actually feel sorry for him. It must’ve been very hard having to work against a friend, but what else could he have done?

Now that Kalinske, who was #1 on my “to interview” list, has been interviewed, I plan to tackle as much of the Sega of America corporate structure as possible. I’m already in talks with several former staff members, and I’ll hopefully have some more up soon!