SegaMark: The Interview!

We've been buzzing here at the Saturn Junkyard, since we discovered the delights of radioSEGA, that 24 Hour source of online Sega gaming music... From the orchestral magic of Shenmue, to the retro-futuristic space funk of Space Channel 5, to the J-Pop/Hip Hop of Jet Set Radio and the 16 bit inspired midi goodness of Sonic The Hedgehog, it can all be pumped out of your PC's speakers, courtesy of radioSEGA! But who bestowed this wonder upon us? Who took the time and effort to regail us Sega fanboys (and girls -Hi Hex!) Why, it was that most beatific of beings, the enigmatic, SegaMark. In the second of a series of interviews, intended to flag up those heroes who keep the Saturn alive in our hearts, we bring you SegaMark... The Interview!

Hi SegaMark, first of all I'd like to say a huge thank you to you for agreeing to do this interview, and an even bigger thank you for creating the wonder that is radioSEGA. We'll get onto that in a moment, but for now let's find out a little bit about you...


I'm Mark and I'm 22 from Warrington, UK. I'm currently studying Web & Multimedia design at the University of Central Lancashire. Interests are gaming (duh!), music, graphic and web design.

May I say that radioSEGA is an awesome site and a very unique creation. When did you first get the idea, and how long did it take you to bring it to it's current splendour?


RadioSEGA began as a bit of dicking around with Shoutcast on my PC when I was bored one afternoon. My website MySEGA (http://www.mysega.co.uk) already once featured a rubbish embedded flash MP3 player but I soon decided to offer 2-3 slots on Shoutcast (after experimenting with it in the past proved successful) playing some Sega music I had sat on my PC. I soon invested some cash for some proper Shoutcast hosting and made a dedicated website at http://radio.mysega.co.uk - the station was very basic and was only on for 8-10 hours per day. This was back in Februrary/March 2006. By April or even June RadioSEGA got a new site and went 24 hours, with the domain radioSEGA.net. The site died for a few months in August due to a lack of time but came back in November 2006 and has been growing since through hard work such as setting up a requests system and other great little features!

You're obviously a huge Sega fan, what is it about that particular companies games and systems, that has harnessed your devotion?

I think it's because were a company who were extremely innovative, a company that took risks to create amazing gameplay experiences that go against the mainstream. I guess that's why they're out of the console business now... But when playing Sega arcade games it's the amazing gameplay, Music and visual style.

What Sega systems have you historically had, or currently own?

Historically I've owned a Mega Drive and a Dreamcast, sadly I never got a Saturn when I was younger.
But right now I currently own a Master System, Japanese Mega Drive, Japanese Mega CD, Japanese Sega Saturn (the see-through Derby Stallion one).

- (Father Krishna coughs, splutters, then turns a bright shade of envious green...) *FK recovers his composure, fights back the tears and returns to the questions...*

Of all these systems, which one has given you the most pleasure and why?

A hard one to answer... I could say the Mega Drive as I grew up with one, or a Dreamcast as it was simply amazing back in the day... But if I was going to go by what I'm enjoying most right now I'd then say the Saturn because of it's amazing games such as Sega Rally Championship, Daytona USA and NiGHTS... But I think I'll say the Mega Drive - simply because it was part of my childhood!

Now, how about naming your top ten for any of the following systems? Megadrive, Saturn and Dreamcast!

These are in no specific order, It's hard enough picking 10!

Dreamcast:
- Samba De Amigo
- Jet Set Radio
- Shenmue
- Shenmue 2
- Daytona USA 2001
- Crazy Taxi
- Chu Chu Rocket
- Sonic Adventure
- House of the Dead 2
- Virtua Tennis

Saturn:
- Sega Rally Championship
- NiGHTS Into Dreams...
- Daytona USA
- Burning Rangers
- Panzer Dragoon
- Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
- Metal Slug
- Fighting Vipers
- Virtua Cop 2
- Panzer Dragoon Zwei



Mega Drive:
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2
- Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Hey, it should of been one game anyway!)
- Streets of Rage 2
- Rocket Knight Adventures
- Shadow Dancer
- Shinobi 3
- Aladdin
- Sonic The Hedgehog
- Gunstar Heroes
- Dynamite Heady

OK, I'm going to put you on the spot... What's your favourite game of all time?

This is the hardest question of all... Games that instantly come to mind are Daytona USA, OutRun 2, Sega Rally Championship, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Samba De Amigo or Streets of Rage 2... But I think I'll have to pick Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I played it do death as a kid, and I still do now as it's still amazing even today. Sonic Team should take a long hard look at this game and produce a proper Sonic game again, rather than pish like Sonic The Hedgehog '06!

Despite a certain return to form on current gen consoles, Sega is a shadow of it's former self... Does it distress you that Sega are out of the console business?

Very much so. They're no way near as good as they once were. They've got some great games like VF5, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic Rush, OutRun 2/SP, Virtua Tennis 3 and Sega Rally (although I did feel a bit let down by it...) they're producing so much rubbish too. Musical standards have dropped too recently! Sega Rally's music sounds rubbish! The original is still king.

Do you own any other game consoles, if so, what are they?

I've got a Super Famicom, Neo-Geo Pocket Colour, PlayStation 3 and an XBOX 360 Elite. I'm wanting to get myself a PC Engine and Neo-Geo AES as well as a Wii, DS Lite and PSP, pretty much for Sega releases. :P

What are your thoughts on the current sales war between the 360, PS3 and Wii?

Well, you can't deny the Wii will dominate because it's a lot cheaper and targets people of all ages with simple games. The PlayStation 3 for me is a bit shit, I'm only using mine to play Japanese PS2 games currently. I like the 360, there's some good games on it and Live is fantastic. But I don't care for FPS games. I'm not all too bothered with the current generation, it's the age of the FPS, nothing seems as fun as it used to be. There's no decent arcade titles anymore!

radioSEGA is a feat of huge proportions, do you have time to check out any other websites or blogs? If so what are they?

I'm a member of a few forums, mostly I hang around NTSC-uk.com and Assemblergames.com - when it comes to blogs, I check out this one and it's Dreamcast counterpart and UK:Resistance when I have some time to myself.

Do you read any gaming publications?

I'm currently collecting a few classic magazines actually. I'm five issues away from a complete set of Sega Saturn Magazine and two issues away from a complete set of Official Dreamcast Magazine. I got hold of my first copy of Mean Machines Sega today - so I'll be hunting some more issues now. In terms of magazines that are in circulation now I subscribe to Retro Gamer. At work on my lunch I'll sometimes read anything that's lying around such as GamesTM or Edge, but I don't buy those two mags really.

Finally, whilst we're all aware of your love for game music, what bands or music float your boat outside of gaming?

I'm into my Ska/Punk type stuff. Bands like Madness, The Specials, Capdown, Five Knuckle, Rancid and The Clash. *Father K gushes, and feels like adopting SegaMark...*

And there you have it! SegaMark! Great taste in games, great taste in music and finally a great taste in Games Music! Once again, a massive thank you from the Junkyard Team! And don't forget folks, tune into radioSEGA whenever you get the opportunity! There's a shortcut to it at the top of this very page!