Sega’s Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi were scheduled to be released for Nintendo 64

Sega’s Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi were scheduled to be released for Nintendo 64

Yeah we are not even joking about that heading …

Video game journalist and current Limited Run Games producer James Mielke revealed via Nintendo Life that former Sega of America president Bernie Stolar had plans to bring the Sega games Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi to the Nintendo 64 — via a contract with (now-defunct) publisher Acclaim, no less!

What … but why and how?

This happened in the year 2000, when the Dreamcast was failing and Sega was secretly exiting the hardware market. (On January 31, 2001, Sega will publicly announce its departure.) Former president Stolar is said to have approached Acclaim CEO Greg Fischbach about structuring a deal to get Sega titles on other systems, eventually agreeing to have Acclaim convert Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi to the Nintendo 64. Stolar evidently did not seek Sega of Japan’s consent for the purchase, and it is thought that when Sega of Japan learned about it, it aggressively opposed the whole proposal.

There’s also the fact that Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi were high-tech arcade and Dreamcast titles that could not have been transferred to the Nintendo 64 without significant technological sacrifices.

Sega was obligated to violate the commitment to some degree, according to Mielke, since the contract between Sega and Acclaim had already been inked. The Sega titles 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker and F355 Challenge, which seemed to be a gesture of conciliation, were eventually ported by Activision. It’s no Virtua Fighter 3 or Crazy Taxi for the Nintendo 64, but it was a start.

Gamespot blocked releasing the info

All of this material comes from Mielke’s sources within Acclaim and Sega of America at the time. The only reason it was never completely covered back in 2000 is because his supervisor at the time, GameSpot, strangely refused to print the story unless he explicitly revealed his sources in the piece. Mielke declined since it might jeopardize their careers. But it’s better late than never when it comes to strange, interesting news like this.

Imagine how games like Virtua Fighter 3 and Crazy Taxi might have appeared on the Nintendo 64. Yeah it’s a bit hard to imagine but at least we saw Crazy Taxi make it’s way to the Nintendo Gamecube.