Hideki Sato, the ‘Father of Sega Hardware,’ Passes Away Aged 75

Hideki Sato, nicknamed the “father of Sega hardware,” passed away on February 13. Joining Sega in 1971, he worked on the design of all Sega consoles, including the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. The news was broken by Japanese game magazine Beep21 over the weekend on its X account in both Japanese and English. According to Japanese news media such as 4Gamer, he was 75.

An electrical engineering graduate, Hideki Sato began his career developing machines for amusement arcades, which included Sega’s first video game arcade machine, a Pong clone called Pong Tron (1973). A decade later, Sato would be helming Sega’s R&D department, where and his team designed every home console made by the Japanese company from the SG-1000 (1983) through to the Dreamcast (1998). Sato served as Sega’s President from 2001 to 2003 (the company’s final head before the Sega-Sammy merger / takeover), and left the company in 2008 after serving as a board member.

In its tribute to Sato, Sega’s official X / Twitter account said: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Hideki Sato, who served as President of Sega from 2001 to 2003. Sega would like to offer its condolences to his family and friends. Starting his career with the development of arcade machines, Mr. Sato was instrumental in the development of iconic home consoles, including the SG-1000, SC-3000, Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast. His leadership helped lay the foundation of Sega, and his contributions had a significant and lasting impact on the entire gaming industry. We will always remember his contributions to our company, and all of us at Sega extend our deepest condolences as we honor his memory.”

Tributes poured in for Hideki Sato from Japanese game journalists, game developers, and Sega fans. Japanese tech journalist Ittousai recalled telling Sato before an interview about how as a child he would save up his pocket money to buy the latest Sega console, in the hopes that “this time we will win” the console war. “A truly refreshing smile lit up his whole face, and he said ‘we didn’t win!,’ and shook my hand like a comrade-in-arms — a happy memory for this Sega fan.”

Ittousai noted that sometimes the tone of Sato’s comments about some of Sega’s bumpy console launches could sound cold and detached when written in print. Soundbites about the company’s lack of preparation (incidents like the disastrous surprise launch of the Sega Saturn in the U.S.), for example, lost the warmth and self-deprecating humor in which they were delivered. “Yet, the way he spoke about his life’s work with such joy and passion — including that time when the Sega Genesis was briefly on top in North America (albeit with strict assertions that it was ‘only in that time and place’) left a dazzling impression on me as a professional.”

Japanese game designer, localizer and producer Roppyaku Tsurumi, who started out his career at Sega (where he designed and produced Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker for the Sega Mega Drive and Master System), recalled that “it was Hideki who got me a job at Sega.” He recounted that as a student, he went to Sega to report on System 24. “We were chatting excitedly about hardware, and Mr Sato (who was head of that division at the time) immediately called someone over from HR and I was offered a job. He was a hearty and straight-forward good guy.”

As well as Sonic, Sega consoles brought arcade hits and innovative first-party series like Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Shenmue, Space Channel 5 and Jet Set Radio into homes. What was your favorite Sega console?

Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.