Bruce Lowry, the former vice president of sales at Nintendo of America, has reflected on his decision to leave the company to co-found Sega of America in the mid-1980s, calling it “probably the biggest mistake” of his career. In an interview with Time Extension, he shared, “To this day, I look at it as probably the biggest mistake I ever made.” The decision weighed heavily on him, especially as Sega’s Japanese president, Hayao Nakayama, had been pursuing him for over a year to help the company establish its presence in the U.S.
Initially, Lowry showed little interest in leaving the familiar world of Nintendo, famously embodied by its mustachioed plumber. However, a thought nagged at him: “Do you think you could do it again, or were you just lucky?” This question became an obsession for him, ultimately leading him to explore this new opportunity.
Founding Sega of America
Continuing his thoughts, Lowry remarked, “It was not an easy decision. Like I say, to this day, I wish I had never made that decision. That will always haunt me that I made it.” Upon relocating to San Francisco, he found himself essentially working solo at Sega. While the company already had an arcade division in San Jose, Lowry took on the role of founder and president of Sega of America. He was responsible for hiring staff, setting up operations, and preparing to challenge Nintendo using the marketing tactics that had previously proven successful for him.
Launching the Sega Master System
Right from the outset, Lowry focused on ensuring that the Sega Master System reached U.S. retailers efficiently. Thanks to his previous relationships with store buyers—who he had sold NES consoles to—he faced no hurdles in bringing the new system to store shelves. His experience with the NES certainly played a crucial role in this transition.
Sales exec who helped launch the NES says Donkey Kong Jr. Math is “the worst game we released” and Nintendo “thought it’d be great for kids’ education, but we couldn’t give it away.”