Once upon it was the little games company that could - taking on the market-dominating Nintendo, and aggressively positioning its Mega Drive as one of the two market-leading formats. Unfortunately, we all know what happened next; Sega got too big for its own boots and developed terrible callouses on its toes and heel. Then its feet fell off completely, and it almost choked to death on its own frenum.
We all know the main reasons why Sega toppled from its lofty perch - the 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast - and the machines which put it there in the first place - the Master System, Game Gear, Mega Drive - but they're not the full story.
Here are 11 more Sega hardware releases which history has decided to forget about.
The pods themselves were sensors which could detect the position and height of a player's hands, through which seven lacklustre variations on MB Games' Simon could be played. Perfect for germaphobes, Sega billed it as "The game you don't have to touch to play".
Other things you don't have to touch to play include the theremin and my very own "mind bongos".
You know: like the one my father used to have, which he used to stick labels on everything he bought, telling him when their warranty expired. Yes... yes, he is the sort of man who keeps string in a tin.
It could also be customised, allowing users to write or draw messages onto a special lens - such as "Happy birthday" or "Congratulations" or "I've shaved for you" - and then have the messages lit up with exploding 'works.
Take it from somebody who owned one of these; they're not as good as they sound, but are perfect for anybody who wants slowly moving blurry dots to be shone around their bedroom while trying to pretend not to be disappointed as you are, because it was your main Christmas present that year.
One of Sega's biggest non-gaming successes, over 10 million Poo-Chis were sold worldwide to disappointed children. Poo-Chi? More like Poo-Poo!!!!!!!!!!!
Primarily, it was intended for editing photos taken with Sega's...
Some sort of Saturn compatibility was intended, but never implemented. Probably because of the reason that was this reason: the Saturn was a faiiiiiiilurrrrrrrrrre!
Selling it as a way to communicate secretly with your friends, Sega promoted the IR-7000 with the slogan "Whispering is for gutless weasels"...
Which seems unnecessarily cruel towards anybody who's had a laryngectomy.
Oddly, it was the second Sega product to be called the Sega Vision; in 1976 the company released a range of projection television sets called the Sega-Vision - its first product intended for the home.
They were designed by one Earl "Madman" Muntz - an American entrepreneur and engineer known for his wacky persona and publicity stunts. He has been credited with coining the abbreviation "TV" and the invention of the nipple clamp (car stereo).