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Former SCEA Executive Vice President and Sega of America CEO Bernie Stolar passes away at 75

Deleted member 16908

Oct 27, 2017
9,377
User Banned (1 Week): Inappropriate """""""joke"""""""
RIP. At least he didn't have to live to see how bad Sonic Frontiers will be.

edit: I apologize for making this tasteless comment. It was shitty of me and I take full responsibility for that.
 
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Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,419
Stolar was the first executive vice president and founding member of Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he was integral in both the launch and building of the original PlayStation's game catalog. At Sony, Stolar signed many game franchises including Crash Bandicoot, Ridge Racer, Oddworld Inhabitants, Spyro The Dragon and Battle Arena Toshinden. After leaving Sony, he accepted an offer to become president and chief operating officer at Sega of America, where he led the development and launch of the Dreamcast. One of Stolar's top moves was to acquire Visual Concepts for Sega of America and create 2K Sports.
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... Not bad.
 

Deleted member 11252

Banned
Apr 5, 2022
458
I've been reading the Dreamcast book from Read-Only Memory, and Stolar comes across as both a deeply passionate figure and a ruthless one. Shame some of his bigger ideas for the Dreamcast weren't implemented, but it's also easy to see why they weren't.

He was hugely influential in a lot of ways, though; no doubt about that.
 
Helix

Helix

Mayor of Clown Town
Member
Jun 8, 2019
23,791
dude tried his best to save the Dreamcast in the West but his efforts could only do so much when Sega Japan were pretty much writing it off.

I'll remember him for that, RIP Bernie.

Robinson said:
RIP. At least he didn't have to live to see how bad Sonic Frontiers will be.
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how do you all come up with this shit?
 

CanUKlehead

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,404
Oh, Bernie. You came to Sega and called the Saturn a stillbirth. The old fanboy in me raged. But you weren't wrong.

Thanks for doing what you can through the Dream cast anyway.
 
AmirMoosavi

AmirMoosavi

Member
Dec 10, 2018
2,023
RIP, he pushed for Internet connectivity for the Dreamcast, and he really believed in the console. He seemed in good health a year or two ago when he did an interview with The Dreamcast Junkyard, sad to hear this.
 
Mugy

Mugy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,424
RIP

His name was very prominent whenever you read anything SEGA related from the mid 90s (Dreamcast)

My condolences to his family
 
Issen

Issen

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,819
God damn. 75 ain't that old. Rest in peace and my condolences to his loved ones.
 
Firmus_Anguis

Firmus_Anguis

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,117
Seems the man had a lot of positive influence on the industry and seems to have literally helped shape it.

RIP Bernie.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,837
Vice City
really not a fan of some of his more controversial decisions (saturn handling was positively baffling for one) but RIP all the same
 
DrFunk

DrFunk

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,884
Bernie Stolar dropped the ball with the RAM cartridge

X-men Vs. Streetfighter could've expanded the market
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RIP to the only executive to be name dropped by Del the Funky Homosapien. He made some rough decisions but also some smart ones too.
 
Sambodianninja

Sambodianninja

Member
Oct 28, 2017
292
I remember reading and hearing a lot about Bernie during my love for Sega days. He made the Dreamcast have one of the lunch line up in video game history and I thank him for that. Rest In Peace.
 
Digital Dinosaur

Digital Dinosaur

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,047
Rita Repulsa's Moon Palace
If you were old enough in the 90s to be aware of the people guiding the industry, Bernie Stolar is an iconic name.

With the benefit of hindsight and how the whole medium has shaken out, he had great instincts for what needed to be done, on the whole. You can legitimately say he helped lay the foundation for the next quarter century.

One thing is for certain, his afterlife will be fully 3D and Gouraud shaded.
 
Cabal

Cabal

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,344
United States
This is sad news, he was an instrumental figure at Sega and I certainly remember seeing a lot of interviews with him over the years.
 
Griffith

Griffith

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,585
I don't remember the man but I'm thankful for any of the good memories I had with the Saturn which he may have facilitated.

May he rest in peace.
 
Lagoonside

Lagoonside

Member
Dec 20, 2019
28
RIP. I remember liking him a bit when the Dreamcast was coming out. Still remember the cover Next Generation with him.
 
No Depth

No Depth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,285
I hated the stringent anti-2D policy in the early US PS1 days. So many cool import games failed to materialize in the US in favor of a lot of janky 3D trash. But he did pioneer a lot of what this industry has become for sure.

I still recall reading a lot of Next Gen print interviews with Bernie and he was an icon in the mid/late 90's console market.
 
gnexus

gnexus

Member
Mar 30, 2018
2,286
Rest in peace. He is leaving an amazing legacy, and I am thankful for him contributing greatly to my childhood.
 
tiesto

tiesto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,865
Long Island, NY
While I wasn't a fan of many of his decisions (specifically with the Saturn and alienating Vic Ireland/Working Designs, and his distaste for 2D), he was still a very important part of the gaming community. RIP.
 
Dr. Rank

Dr. Rank

Member
Oct 25, 2017
164
Sad to hear :( He really sold me on the Dreamcast shame he wasn't able to see the launch of it through
 
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