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Wikipedia

Sega Saturn

January 29, 2023

The Sega Saturn[a][b] is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the successful Sega Genesis. The Saturn has a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, and its game library contains several ports of arcade games as well as original games.

Sega Saturn


Western and Eastern logos
Top: Model 1 from North America
Bottom: Model 2 from Japan
ManufacturerSega
TypeHome video game console
GenerationFifth
Release date
  • JP: November 22, 1994
  • NA: May 11, 1995
  • EU: July 8, 1995
Lifespan1994–2000
Introductory price
  • JP: ¥44,800
  • U.S.: US$399
  • UK: £399.99
Discontinued
Units sold9.26 million
MediaCD-ROM, CD+G, CD+EG, Video CD, Mini CD, Photo CD, e-book[1]
CPU2× Hitachi SH-2 @ 28.6 MHz
Memory2 MB RAM, 1.5 MB VRAM, 512 KB sound RAM, expandable with Extended RAM Cartridge
StorageInternal RAM, cartridge
GraphicsVDP1 & VDP2 video display processors
SoundYamaha YMF292
Online servicesSega NetLink
PredecessorSega Genesis
SuccessorDreamcast

Development of the Saturn began in 1992, the same year Sega's groundbreaking 3D Model 1 arcade hardware debuted. The Saturn was designed around a new CPU from the Japanese electronics company Hitachi. Sega added another video display processor in early 1994 to better compete with Sony's forthcoming PlayStation.

The Saturn was initially successful in Japan but failed to sell in large numbers in the United States, where it was hindered by a surprise May 1995 launch, four months before its scheduled release date. After the debut of the Nintendo 64 in late 1996, the Saturn rapidly lost market share in the U.S., where it was discontinued in 1998. Having sold 9.26 million units worldwide, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure; the cancellation of Sonic X-treme, planned as the first 3D entry in Sega's popular Sonic the Hedgehog series, is considered a factor in its performance. The Saturn was succeeded in 1998 by the Dreamcast.

Although the Saturn is remembered for several well-regarded games, including Nights into Dreams, the Panzer Dragoon series and the Virtua Fighter series, its reputation is mixed due to its complex hardware design and limited third-party support. Sega's management has been criticized for its decisions during the system's development and discontinuation.

History

Background

In the early 1990s, Sega had success with the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in most countries outside of North America),[2] backed by aggressive advertising campaigns and the popularity of its Sonic the Hedgehog series.[3] Sega also had success with arcade games; in 1992 and 1993, the new Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased Sega AM2's Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter (the first 3D fighting game), which played a crucial role in popularizing 3D polygonal graphics.[4][5][6][7][8][9] The Model 1 was expensive, so several alternatives helped bring Sega's newest arcade games to Genesis, such as the Sega Virtua Processor chip used for Virtua Racing, and the 32X add-on.[10]

Development

Development of the Saturn was supervised by Hideki Sato, Sega's director and deputy general manager of research and development.[11] According to the project manager Hideki Okamura, the project started over two years before the Saturn was showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994. The name "Saturn" was initially only the codename during development.[12]

In 1993, Sega and the Japanese electronics company Hitachi formed a joint venture to develop a new CPU for the Saturn, which resulted in the creation of the "SuperH RISC Engine" (or SH-2) later that year.[13][14] The Saturn was designed around a dual-SH2 configuration. According to Kazuhiro Hamada, Sega's section chief for Saturn development during the system's conception, "the SH-2 was chosen for reasons of cost and efficiency. The chip has a calculation system similar to a DSP [digital signal processor], but we realized that a single CPU would not be enough to calculate a 3D world."[13][15] Although the Saturn's design was largely finished before the end of 1993, reports in early 1994 of the technical capabilities of Sony's upcoming PlayStation console prompted Sega to include another video display processor (VDP) to improve 2D performance and 3D texture mapping.[13][15][16] Sega considered making CD-ROM-based and cartridge-only versions of the Saturn, but discarded the idea due to concerns over the lower quality and higher price of cartridge games.[13]

According to Sega of America president Tom Kalinske, Sega of America "fought against the architecture of Saturn for quite some time".[17] Seeking an alternative graphics chip for the Saturn, Kalinske attempted to broker a deal with Silicon Graphics, but Sega of Japan rejected the proposal.[18][19][20] Silicon Graphics subsequently collaborated with Nintendo on the Nintendo 64.[18][21] Kalinske, Sony Electronic Publishing's Olaf Olafsson, and Sony America's Micky Schulhof had discussed development of a joint "Sega/Sony hardware system", which never came to fruition due to Sega's desire to create hardware that could accommodate both 2D and 3D visuals and Sony's competing notion of focusing on 3D technology.[19][22][23] Publicly, Kalinske defended the Saturn's design: "Our people feel that they need the multiprocessing to be able to bring to the home what we're doing next year in the arcades."[24]

In 1993, Sega restructured its internal studios in preparation for the Saturn's launch. To ensure high-quality 3D games would be available early in the Saturn's life, and to create a more energetic working environment, developers from Sega's arcade division were asked to create console games. New teams, such as the Panzer Dragoon developer Team Andromeda, were formed during this time.[25] In early 1994, the Sega Titan Video arcade system was announced as an arcade counterpart to the Saturn. In April 1994, Acclaim Entertainment announced it would be the first American publisher to produce software for the Titan.[26]

In January 1994, Sega began to develop an add-on for the Genesis, the 32X, to serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era. The decision to create the add-on was made by Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama and widely supported by Sega of America employees.[27] According to the former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Nakayama was worried that the Saturn would not be available until after 1994 and that the recently released Atari Jaguar would reduce Sega's hardware sales. As a result, Nakayama ordered his engineers to have the system ready for launch by the end of the year.[27] The 32X would not be compatible with the Saturn, but Sega executive Richard Brudvik-Lindner pointed out that the 32X would play Genesis games, and had the same system architecture as the Saturn.[28] This was justified by Sega's statement that both platforms would run at the same time, and that the 32X would be aimed at players who could not afford the more expensive Saturn.[27][29] According to Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the 32X served a role in assisting development teams to familiarize themselves with the dual SH-2 architecture also used in the Saturn.[30] Because the machines shared many parts and were being prepared to launch around the same time, tensions emerged between Sega of America and Sega of Japan when the Saturn was given priority.[27]

Launch

 
A first-model Japanese Sega Saturn unit

Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994, at a price of ¥44,800.[31] Virtua Fighter, a faithful port of the popular arcade game, sold at a nearly one-to-one ratio with the Saturn console at launch and was crucial to the system's early success in Japan.[8][9][32] Though Sega had wanted to launch with Clockwork Knight and Panzer Dragoon,[25] the only other first-party game available at launch was Wan Chai Connection.[33] Boosted by the popularity of Virtua Fighter, Sega's initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day.[32][34][35] Sega waited until the December 3 launch of the PlayStation to ship more units; when both were sold side by side, the Saturn proved more popular.[32][36]

Meanwhile, Sega released the 32X on November 21, 1994, in North America, December 3, 1994, in Japan, and January 1995 in PAL territories, and was sold at less than half of the Saturn's launch price.[37][38] After the holiday season, however, interest in the 32X rapidly declined.[27][29] Half a million Saturn units were sold in Japan by the end of 1994 (compared to 300,000 PlayStation units),[39] and sales exceeded 1 million within the following six months.[40] There were conflicting reports that the PlayStation enjoyed a higher sell-through rate, and the system gradually began to overtake the Saturn in sales during 1995.[41] Sony attracted many third-party developers to the PlayStation with a liberal $10 licensing fee, excellent development tools, and the introduction of a 7- to 10-day order system that allowed publishers to meet demand more efficiently than the 10- to 12-week lead times for cartridges that had previously been standard in the Japanese video game industry.[42][43]

In March 1995, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would be released in the U.S. on "Saturnday" (Saturday) September 2, 1995.[44][45] However, Sega of Japan mandated an early launch to give the Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation.[46] At the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on May 11, 1995, Kalinske gave a keynote presentation in which he revealed the release price of US$399 (including a copy of Virtua Fighter[47]), and described the features of the console. Kalinske also revealed that, due to "high consumer demand",[48] Sega had already shipped 30,000 Saturns to Toys "R" Us, Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, and Software Etc. for immediate release.[44] The announcement upset retailers who were not informed of the surprise release, including Best Buy and Walmart;[19][49][50] KB Toys responded by dropping Sega from its lineup.[44] Sony subsequently unveiled the retail price for the PlayStation: Olaf Olafsson, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), summoned Steve Race to the stage, who said "$299", and then walked away to applause.[19][51][52][53][54] The Saturn's release in Europe also came before the previously announced North American date, on July 8, 1995, at a price of £399.99.[10] European retailers and press did not have time to promote the system or its games, harming sales.[55] The PlayStation launched in Europe on September 29, 1995; by November, it had already outsold the Saturn by a factor of three in the United Kingdom, where Sony had allocated £20 million of marketing during the holiday season compared to Sega's £4 million.[56][57]

The Saturn's U.S. launch was accompanied by a reported $50 million advertising campaign that included coverage in publications such as Wired and Playboy.[40][58][59] Early advertising for the system was targeted at a more mature, adult audience than the Genesis ads.[60][61] Because of the early launch, the Saturn had only six games (all published by Sega) available to start as most third-party games were slated to be released around the original launch date.[47][62][63] Virtua Fighter's relative lack of popularity in the West, combined with a release schedule of only two games between the surprise launch and September 1995, prevented Sega from capitalizing on the Saturn's early timing.[17][34][64] Within two days of its September 9, 1995 launch in North America, the PlayStation (backed by a large marketing campaign[42][65]) sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch, with almost all of the initial shipment of 100,000 units being sold in advance, and the rest selling out across the U.S.[41][66]

A high-quality port of the Namco arcade game Ridge Racer contributed to the PlayStation's early success,[36][67] and garnered favorable media in comparison to the Saturn version of Sega's Daytona USA, which was considered inferior to its arcade counterpart.[68][69] Namco, a longtime arcade competitor with Sega,[5][70] also unveiled the Namco System 11 arcade board, based on raw PlayStation hardware.[71] Although the System 11 was technically inferior to Sega's Model 2 arcade board, its lower price made it attractive to smaller arcades.[71][72] Following a 1994 acquisition of Sega developers, Namco released Tekken for the System 11 and PlayStation. Directed by former Virtua Fighter designer Seiichi Ishii, Tekken was intended to be fundamentally similar, with the addition of detailed textures and twice the frame rate.[73][74][75] Tekken surpassed Virtua Fighter in popularity due to its superior graphics and nearly arcade-perfect console port, becoming the first million-selling PlayStation game.[72][76][77]

On October 2, Sega announced a Saturn price reduction to $299.[78] High-quality Saturn ports of the Sega Model 2 arcade hits Sega Rally Championship,[79] Virtua Cop,[80] and Virtua Fighter 2 (running at 60 frames per second at a high resolution)[81][82][83] were available by the end of the year, and were generally regarded as superior to competitors on the PlayStation.[10][84] Notwithstanding a subsequent increase in Saturn sales during the 1995 holiday season, the games were not enough to reverse the PlayStation's decisive lead.[84][85] By 1996, the PlayStation had a considerably larger library than the Saturn, although Sega hoped to generate interest with upcoming exclusives such as Nights into Dreams.[64] An informal survey of retailers showed that the Saturn and PlayStation sold in roughly equal numbers during the first quarter of 1996.[86] Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire U.S. video game market.[59] On the first day of the May 1996 E3 show, Sony announced a PlayStation price reduction to $199,[41] a reaction to the release of the Model 2 Saturn in Japan at a price roughly equivalent to $199.[87] On the second day, Sega announced it would match this price, though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture.[88][89]

Changes at Sega

"I thought the world of [Hayao] Nakayama because of his love of software. We spoke about building a new hardware platform that I would be very, very involved with, shape the direction of this platform, and hire a new team of people and restructure Sega. That, to me, was a great opportunity."

—Bernie Stolar on joining Sega of America[34]

Despite the launch of the PlayStation and Saturn, sales of 16-bit games and consoles continued to account for 64% of the video game market in 1995.[90][91] Sega underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis, and did not have the inventory to meet demand.[85][90] Sega was able to capture 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. video game market and sell more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, but Kalinske estimated that "we could have sold another 300,000 Genesis systems in the November/December timeframe."[85] Nakayama's decision to focus on the Saturn over the Genesis, based on the systems' relative performance in Japan, has been cited as the major contributing factor in this miscalculation.[92]

Due to long-standing disagreements with Sega of Japan,[19][34] Kalinske lost interest in his work as CEO of Sega of America.[93] By early 1996, rumors were circulating that Kalinske planned to leave Sega,[94] and a July 13 article in the press reported speculation that Sega of Japan was planning significant changes to Sega of America's management.[95] On July 16, 1996, Sega announced that Kalinske would leave Sega after September 30, and that Shoichiro Irimajiri had been appointed chairman and CEO of Sega of America.[96][97] A former Honda executive,[98][99] Irimajiri had been involved with Sega of America since joining Sega in 1993.[96][100] Sega also announced that David Rosen and Nakayama had resigned from their positions as chairman and co-chairman of Sega of America, though both remained with the company.[96][101] Bernie Stolar, a former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America,[95][102] was named Sega of America's executive vice president in charge of product development and third-party relations.[96][97] Stolar, who had arranged a six-month PlayStation exclusivity deal for Mortal Kombat 3[103] and helped build close relations with Electronic Arts[34] while at Sony, was perceived as a major asset by Sega officials.[97] Finally, Sega of America made plans to expand its PC software business.[96][99]

Stolar was not supportive of the Saturn, feeling it was poorly designed, and publicly announced at E3 1997 that "the Saturn is not our future".[34] While Stolar had "no interest in lying to people" about the Saturn's prospects, he continued to emphasize quality games for the system,[34] and later said that "we tried to wind it down as cleanly as we could for the consumer".[102] At Sony, Stolar had opposed the localization of Japanese games that he felt would not represent PlayStation well in North America, and advocated a similar policy for the Saturn, although he later sought to distance himself from this perception.[34][103][104] These changes were accompanied by a softer image that Sega was beginning to portray in its advertising, including removing the "Sega!" scream and holding press events for the education industry.[64] Marketing for the Saturn in Japan also changed with the introduction of Segata Sanshiro (played by Hiroshi Fujioka), a character in a series of TV advertisements starting in 1997; the character eventually starred in a Saturn game.[105][106]

Temporarily abandoning arcade development, Sega AM2 head Yu Suzuki began developing several Saturn-exclusive games, including a role-playing game in the Virtua Fighter series.[107] Initially conceived as an obscure prototype "The Old Man and the Peach Tree" and intended to address the flaws of contemporary Japanese RPGs (such as poor non-player character artificial intelligence routines), Virtua Fighter RPG evolved into a planned 11-part, 45-hour "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema", which Suzuki hoped would become the Saturn's killer app.[34][108][109] The game was eventually released as Shenmue for the Saturn's successor, the Dreamcast.[110][111]

Cancellation of Sonic X-treme

Main article: Sonic X-treme
 
A screenshot of Chris Senn and Ofer Alon's version of Sonic X-treme. The game's cancellation, and the lack of a fully 3D Sonic the Hedgehog platformer, is considered a significant factor in the Saturn's commercial failure.

As Sonic Team was working on Nights into Dreams,[112] Sega tasked the U.S.-based Sega Technical Institute (STI) with developing the first fully 3D entry in its popular Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game, Sonic X-treme, was moved to the Saturn after several prototypes for other hardware (including the 32X) were discarded.[112][113][114] It featured a fisheye lens camera system that rotated levels with Sonic's movement. After Nakayama ordered the game be reworked around the engine created for its boss battles, the developers were forced to work between 16 and 20 hours a day to meet their December 1996 deadline. Weeks of development were wasted after Stolar rescinded STI's access to Sonic Team's Nights into Dreams engine following an ultimatum by Nights programmer Yuji Naka.[113][114][115] After programmer Ofer Alon quit and designers Chris Senn and Chris Coffin became ill, Sonic X-Treme was cancelled in early 1997.[113][114][115] Sonic Team started work on an original 3D Sonic game for the Saturn, but development shifted to the Dreamcast and the game became Sonic Adventure.[116][117] STI was disbanded in 1996 as a result of changes in management at Sega of America.[112]

Journalists and fans have speculated about the impact a completed X-treme might have had on the market. David Houghton of GamesRadar described the prospect of "a good 3D Sonic game" on the Saturn as "a 'What if...' situation on a par with the dinosaurs not becoming extinct".[114] IGN's Travis Fahs called X-treme "the turning point not only for Sega's mascot and their 32-bit console, but for the entire company", but noted that the game served as "an empty vessel for Sega's ambitions and the hopes of their fans".[113] Dave Zdyrko, who operated a prominent Saturn fan website during the system's lifespan, said: "I don't know if [X-treme] could've saved the Saturn, but ... Sonic helped make the Genesis and it made absolutely no sense why there wasn't a great new Sonic title ready at or near the launch of the [Saturn]."[17] In a 2007 retrospective, producer Mike Wallis maintained that X-treme "definitely would have been competitive" with Nintendo's Super Mario 64.[115] Next Generation reported in late 1996 that X-treme would have harmed Sega's reputation if it did not compare well to contemporary competition.[118] Naka said he had been relieved by the cancellation, feeling that the game was not promising.[117]

Decline

From 1993 to early 1996, although Sega's revenue declined as part of an industry-wide slowdown,[59][119] the company retained control of 38% of the U.S. video game market (compared to Nintendo's 30% and Sony's 24%).[91] Eight hundred thousand PlayStation units were sold in the U.S. by the end of 1995, compared to 400,000 Saturn units.[120][121] In part due to an aggressive price war,[59] the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by two to one in 1996, while Sega's 16-bit sales declined markedly.[91] By the end of 1996, the PlayStation had sold 2.9 million units in the U.S., more than twice the 1.2 million Saturn units sold.[49] The Christmas 1996 "Three Free" pack, which bundled the Saturn with Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, and Virtua Cop, drove sales dramatically and ensured the Saturn remained a competitor into 1997.[122]

However, the Saturn failed to take the lead. After the launch of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, sales of the Saturn and its games were sharply reduced,[102] while the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by three-to-one in the U.S. in 1997.[59] The 1997 release of Final Fantasy VII significantly increased the PlayStation's popularity in Japan.[123][124] The game helped push PlayStation sales ahead of the Saturn in Japan, after the PlayStation and Saturn had been very close in Japan prior to the game's release.[125] As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47% of the console market, Nintendo 40%, and Sega only 12%. Neither price cuts nor high-profile game releases proved helpful.[102] Reflecting decreased demand for the system, worldwide Saturn shipments during March to September 1997 declined from 2.35 million to 600,000 versus the same period in 1996; shipments in North America declined from 800,000 to 50,000.[126] Due to the Saturn's poor performance in North America, 60 of Sega of America's 200 employees were laid off in late 1997.[98]

"I thought the Saturn was a mistake as far as hardware was concerned. The games were obviously terrific, but the hardware just wasn't there."

—Bernie Stolar, former president of Sega of America giving his assessment of the Saturn, in 2009.[34]

As a result of Sega's deteriorating financial situation, Nakayama resigned as president in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri.[98] Stolar subsequently acceded to president of Sega of America.[102][127] Following five years of generally declining profits,[128] in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998 Sega suffered its first parent and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.[129] Due to a 54.8% decline in consumer product sales (including a 75.4% decline overseas), the company reported a net loss of ¥43.3 billion ($327.8 million) and a consolidated net loss of ¥35.6 billion ($269.8 million).[128]

Shortly before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced that it was discontinuing the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor.[98][102] Only 7 Saturn games were released in North America in 1998 (Magic Knight Rayearth was the final official release), compared to 119 in 1996.[130][131] The Saturn would last longer in Japan.[99] Between June 1996 and August 1998, the Saturn sold a further 1,103,468 consoles and 29,685,781 games in Japan, giving the Saturn a Japanese attach rate of 16.71 games per console, the highest of that generation.[132]

Rumors about the upcoming Dreamcast—spread mainly by Sega itself—were leaked to the public before the last Saturn games were released.[99] The Dreamcast was released on November 27, 1998 in Japan and on September 9, 1999 in North America.[133] The decision to abandon the Saturn effectively left the Western market without Sega games for over one year.[134] Sega suffered an additional ¥42.881 billion consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 1999, and announced plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce.[135][136]

Worldwide Saturn sales include at least the following amounts in each territory: 5.75 million in Japan (surpassing the Genesis' sales of 3.58 million there[137]), 1.8 million in the United States, 1 million in Europe, and 530,000 elsewhere.[138] With lifetime sales of 9.26 million units,[139] the Saturn is considered a commercial failure,[140] although its install base in Japan surpassed the Nintendo 64's 5.54 million.[141] Lack of distribution has been cited as a significant factor contributing to the Saturn's failure, as the system's surprise launch damaged Sega's reputation with key retailers.[49] Conversely, Nintendo's long delay in releasing a 3D console and damage caused to Sega's reputation by poorly supported add-ons for the Genesis are considered major factors allowing Sony to gain a foothold in the market.[59][142]

Technical specifications

 
 
 
Hitachi SH-2 Saturn Custom Sound Processor (SCSP) Motorola 68EC000
 
 
 
Video Display Processor 1 (VDP1) Video Display Processor 2 (VDP2) Saturn motherboard

Featuring eight processors,[143] the Saturn's central processing units are two Hitachi SH-2 microprocessors clocked at 28.6 MHz and capable of 56 MIPS.[13][49][144] It uses a Motorola 68EC000 running at 11.3 MHz as a sound controller; a custom sound processor with an integrated Yamaha FH1[145] DSP running at 22.6 MHz[146]: 6  capable of up to 32 sound channels with both FM synthesis and 16-bit 44.1 kHz pulse-code modulation;[147] and two video display processors:[10] the VDP1 (which handles sprites and polygons) and the VDP2 (which handles backgrounds).[146]: 9  Its double-speed CD-ROM drive is controlled by a dedicated Hitachi SH-1 processor to reduce load times.[32] The System Control Unit (SCU), which controls all buses and functions as a co-processor of the main SH-2 CPU, has an internal DSP running at 14.3 MHz.[146]: 6, 8  It features a cartridge slot that allows for memory expansion,[143] 16 Mbit of work random-access memory (RAM), 12 Mbit of video RAM, 4 Mbit of RAM for sound functions, 4 Mbit of CD buffer RAM and 256 Kbit (32 KB) of battery backup RAM.[147] Its video output, provided by a stereo AV cable,[147] displays at resolutions from 320×224 to 704×224 pixels,[148] and can display up to 16.78 million colors simultaneously.[147] The Saturn measures 260 mm × 230 mm × 83 mm (10.2 in × 9.1 in × 3.3 in). It was packaged with an instruction manual, control pad, stereo AV cable, and 100 V AC power supply, with a power consumption of approximately 15 W.[147]

"One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't think all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs—most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I think that only 1 in 100 programmers are good enough to get this kind of speed [double] out of the Saturn."

—Yu Suzuki reflecting on Saturn Virtua Fighter development[13]

The Saturn had technically impressive hardware at the time of its release, but its complexity made harnessing this power difficult for developers accustomed to conventional programming.[149] The greatest disadvantage was that both CPUs shared the same bus and were unable to access system memory at the same time. Making full use of the 4 KB of cache memory in each CPU was critical to maintaining performance. For example, Virtua Fighter used one CPU for each character,[13] while Nights used one CPU for 3D environments and the other for 2D objects.[150] The Visual Display Processor 2 (VDP2), which can generate and manipulate backgrounds,[151] has also been cited as one of the system's most important features.[15][81]

The Saturn's design elicited mixed commentary among game developers and journalists. Developers quoted by Next Generation in December 1995 described the Saturn as "a real coder's machine" for "those who love to get their teeth into assembly and really hack the hardware", with "more flexibility" and "more calculating power than the PlayStation". The sound board was also widely praised.[15] By contrast, Lobotomy Software programmer Ezra Dreisbach described the Saturn as significantly slower than the PlayStation,[152] whereas Kenji Eno of WARP observed little difference.[153] In particular, Dreisbach criticized the Saturn's use of quadrilaterals as its basic geometric primitive, in contrast to the triangles rendered by the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64.[152] Ken Humphries of Time Warner Interactive remarked that compared to the PlayStation, the Saturn was worse at generating polygons but better at sprites.[154] Third-party development was initially hindered by the lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language. During early Saturn development, programming in assembly could offer a two-to-fivefold speed increase over higher-level languages such as C.[13]

The Saturn hardware is extremely difficult to emulate.[155] Sega responded to complaints about the difficulty of programming for the Saturn by writing new graphics libraries which were claimed to make development easier.[15] Sega of America also purchased a United Kingdom-based development firm, Cross Products, to produce the Saturn's development system.[30][156] Despite these challenges, Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa stated that the Nintendo 64 was more difficult to develop for than the Saturn.[157] Traveller's Tales founder Jon Burton felt that while the PlayStation was easier "to get started on ... you quickly reach [its] limits", whereas the Saturn's "complicated" hardware had the ability to "improve the speed and look of a game when all used together correctly".[158] A major criticism was the Saturn's use of 2D sprites to generate polygons and simulate 3D space. The PlayStation used a different design, based entirely on 3D triangle-based polygonal rendering, with no direct 2D support. As a result, several analysts described the Saturn as an "essentially" 2D system.[27][13][159] For example, Steven L. Kent stated: "Although Nintendo and Sony had true 3D game machines, Sega had a 2D console that did a good job with 3D objects but wasn't optimized for 3D environments."[64]

 
 
 
Model 1 North American/European controller 3D Pad Arcade Racer
 
 
 
Model 2 North American/European controller Saturn multitap RAM backup cartridge

Several Saturn models were produced in Japan. An updated model in a recolored light gray (officially white[87]) was released at ¥20,000 to reduce the system's cost[160] and raise its appeal among women and younger children.[87][161] Two models were released by third parties: Hitachi released the Hi-Saturn (a smaller model equipped with a car navigation function),[162] while JVC released the V-Saturn.[147] Saturn controllers came in various color schemes to match different models of the console.[163] The system also supports several accessories. A wireless controller powered by AA batteries uses infrared signal to connect.[164] Designed to work with Nights, the Saturn 3D Pad includes both a control pad and an analog stick for directional input.[165] Sega also released several versions of arcade sticks as peripherals, including the Virtua Stick,[166][167] the Virtua Stick Pro,[168] the Mission Analog Stick,[169][170] and the Twin Stick.[171] Sega also created a light gun peripheral, the Virtua Gun, for shooting games such as Virtua Cop and The Guardian,[172] and the Arcade Racer, a wheel for racing games.[173][174] The Play Cable connects two Saturn consoles to for multiplayer gaming across two screens,[175][176] and a multitap connects up to six players to the same console.[177][178] The Saturn was designed to support up to 12 players on a single console, by using two multitaps.[179] RAM cartridges expand the memory.[180] Other accessories include a keyboard,[181] mouse,[182][183] floppy disk drive,[184] and movie card.[1][185]

Like the Genesis, the Saturn had an internet-based gaming service. The Sega NetLink was a 28.8k modem that fit into the cartridge slot in the Saturn for direct dial multiplayer.[10] In Japan, a pay-to-play service was used.[186] It could also be used for web browsing, sending email, and online chat.[187] Because the NetLink was released before the Saturn keyboard, Sega produced a series of CDs containing hundreds of website addresses so that Saturn owners could browse with the joypad.[188] The NetLink functioned with Daytona USA, Duke Nukem 3D, Saturn Bomberman,[189] Sega Rally, and Virtual On: Cyber Troopers.[190] In 1995, Sega announced a variant of the Saturn featuring a built-in NetLink modem[191] under the code name "Sega Pluto", but it was never released.[192]

Sega developed an arcade board based on the Saturn's hardware, the Sega ST-V (or Titan), intended as an affordable alternative to Sega's Model 2 arcade board and as a testing ground for upcoming Saturn software.[13] The Titan was criticized for its comparatively weak performance compared to the Sega Model 2 arcade system by Yu Suzuki,[193] and it was overproduced by Sega's arcade division.[112] Because Sega already had the Die Hard license, members of Sega AM1 working at the Sega Technical Institute developed Die Hard Arcade for the Titan to clear excess inventory.[112] Die Hard became the most successful Sega arcade game produced in the United States at that point.[112] Other games released for the Titan include Golden Axe: The Duel and Virtua Fighter Kids.[13][72]

Game library

Main article: List of Sega Saturn games

Much of the Saturn's library comes from Sega's arcade ports,[34] including Daytona USA, The House of the Dead,[194] Last Bronx, Sega Rally Championship, the Virtua Cop series, the Virtua Fighter series, and Virtual-On.[195] Saturn ports of 2D Capcom fighting games including Darkstalkers 3, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 were noted for their faithfulness to their arcade counterparts.[195][196] Fighters Megamix, developed by Sega AM2 for the Saturn rather than arcades,[110] combined characters from Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter to positive reviews.[197] Highly rated Saturn exclusives include Panzer Dragoon Saga,[198] Dragon Force,[199] Guardian Heroes,[200][201] Nights,[202][203] Panzer Dragoon II Zwei,[204] and Shining Force III.[205][206][207] PlayStation games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Resident Evil, and Wipeout 2097 received Saturn ports with mixed results.[195] The first-person shooter PowerSlave featured some of the most impressive 3D graphics on the system, leading Sega to contract its developers, Lobotomy Software, to produce Saturn ports of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake.[17][195] While Electronic Arts' limited support for the Saturn and Sega's failure to develop a football game for late 1995 gave Sony the lead in the sports genre,[17][34][64] "Sega Sports" published Saturn sports games including the well-regarded World Series Baseball and Sega Worldwide Soccer series.[17][208]

Due to the cancellation of Sonic X-treme, the Saturn lacks an exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog platformer; instead it received a graphically enhanced port of the Genesis game Sonic 3D Blast, the compilation Sonic Jam, and a racing game, Sonic R.[10][209] The platformer Bug! received attention for its eponymous main character being a potential mascot for the Saturn, but it failed to catch on as the Sonic series had.[210][211][212] Considered one of the most important Saturn releases, Sonic Team developed Nights into Dreams, a score attack game that attempted to simulate both the joy of flying and the fleeting sensation of dreams. The gameplay of Nights involves steering the imp-like androgynous protagonist, Nights, as it flies on a mostly 2D plane across surreal stages broken into four segments each. The levels repeat for as long as an in-game time limit allows, while flying over or looping around various objects in rapid succession earns additional points. Although it lacked the fully 3D environments of Nintendo's Super Mario 64, Nights' emphasis on unfettered movement and graceful acrobatic techniques showcased the intuitive potential of analog control.[150][213][214] Sonic Team's Burning Rangers, a fully 3D[17] action-adventure game involving a team of outer-space firefighters, garnered praise for its transparency effects and distinctive art direction, but was released in limited quantities late in the Saturn's lifespan and criticized for its short length.[215][216][217]

One of the biggest killer apps for the Saturn in Japan were the Sakura Wars games. [218] Co-developed by Sega and Red Entertainment, Sakura Wars mixed elements of tactical RPGs, anime cutscenes and visual novels.[219] Despite games such as the Sakura Wars series and Grandia[17] helping make the Saturn popular in its homeland, they never saw a Western release due to Sega of America's policy of not localizing RPGs and other Japanese games that might have damaged the system's reputation in North America.[34][220] Despite appearing first on the Saturn, games such as Dead or Alive,[195][221] Grandia,[195] and Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete only saw a Western release on the PlayStation.[17] Working Designs localized several Japanese Saturn games before a public feud between Sega of America's Bernie Stolar and Working Designs president Victor Ireland resulted in the company switching their support to the PlayStation.[17] According to the review aggregator GameRankings, Panzer Dragoon Saga is the most acclaimed Saturn game;[222] it was praised for its cinematic presentation, evocative plot, and unique battle system. However, Sega released fewer than 20,000 retail copies in North America in what IGN's Levi Buchanan characterized as an example of the Saturn's "ignominious send-off" in the region.[216][223][224] Similarly, only the first of three installments of Shining Force III was released outside Japan.[207] The Saturn's library also garnered criticism for its lack of sequels to high-profile Genesis-era Sega franchises, with Sega of Japan's cancellation of a planned third installment in Sega of America's popular Eternal Champions series cited as a significant source of controversy.[17][131][225]

Later ports of Saturn games including Guardian Heroes,[226] Nights,[214] and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers[227] continued to garner positive reviews. Partly due to rarity, Saturn games such as Panzer Dragoon Saga[223][224][228] and Radiant Silvergun[229][230] are noted for their cult following. Due to the system's commercial failure and hardware limitations, Saturn projects such as Resident Evil 2,[231] Shenmue, Sonic Adventure, and Virtua Fighter 3[232][233] were cancelled and moved to the Dreamcast.

Reception and legacy

At the time of the Saturn's release, Famicom Tsūshin awarded it 24 out of 40, higher than the PlayStation's 19 out of 40.[234] In June 1995, Dennis Lynch of the Chicago Tribune and Albert Kim of Entertainment Weekly praised the Saturn as the most advanced console available; Lynch praised the double-speed CD-ROM drive and "intense surround-sound capabilities" and Kim cited Panzer Dragoon as a "lyrical and exhilarating epic" demonstrating the ability of new technology to "transform" the industry.[235][236] In December 1995, Next Generation gave the Saturn three and a half stars out of five, highlighting Sega's marketing and arcade background as strengths but the system's complexity as a weakness.[15] Four critics in Electronic Gaming Monthly's December 1996 Buyer's Guide rated the Saturn 8, 6, 7, and 8 out of 10 and the PlayStation 9, 10, 9, and 9.[237] By December 1998, EGM's reviews were more mixed, with reviewers citing the lack of games as a major problem. According to EGM reviewer Crispin Boyer, "the Saturn is the only system that can thrill me one month and totally disappoint me the next".[238]

Retrospective feedback of the Saturn is mixed, but generally praises its game library.[34][195] According to Greg Sewart of 1UP.com, "the Saturn will go down in history as one of the most troubled, and greatest, systems of all time".[17] In 2009, IGN named the Saturn the 18th-best console of all time, praising its unique game library. According to the reviewers, "While the Saturn ended up losing the popularity contest to both Sony and Nintendo ... Nights into Dreams, the Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragoon series are all examples of exclusive titles that made the console a fan favorite."[196] Edge noted that "hardened loyalists continue to reminisce about the console that brought forth games like Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga".[239] In 2015, The Guardian's Keith Stuart wrote that "the Saturn has perhaps the strongest line-up of 2D shooters and fighting games in console history".[240]

Retro Gamer's Damien McFerran wrote: "Even today, despite the widespread availability of sequels and re-releases on other formats, the Sega Saturn is still a worthwhile investment for those who appreciate the unique gameplay styles of the companies that supported it."[10] IGN's Adam Redsell wrote "[Sega's] devil-may-care attitude towards game development in the Saturn and Dreamcast eras is something that we simply do not see outside of the indie scene today."[190] Necrosoft Games director Brandon Sheffield felt that "the Saturn was a landing point for games that were too 'adult' in content for other systems, as it was the only one that allowed an 18+ rating for content in Japan ... some games, like Enemy Zero used it to take body horror to new levels, an important step toward the expansion of games and who they served."[131] Sewart praised the Saturn's first-party games as "Sega's shining moment as a game developer", with Sonic Team demonstrating its creative range and AM2 producing numerous technically impressive arcade ports. He also commented on the many Japan-exclusive Saturn releases, which he connected with a subsequent boom in the game import market.[17] IGN's Travis Fahs was critical of the Saturn library's lack of "fresh ideas" and "precious few high-profile franchises", in contrast to what he described as Sega's more creative Dreamcast output.[134]

Sega has been criticized for its management of the Saturn. McFerran felt its management staff had "fallen out of touch with both the demands of the market and the industry".[10] Stolar has also been criticized;[17] according to Fahs, "Stolar's decision to abandon the Saturn made him a villain to many Sega fans, but ... it was better to regroup than to enter the next fight battered and bruised. Dreamcast would be Stolar's redemption."[34] Stolar defended his decision, saying, "I felt Saturn was hurting the company more than helping it. That was a battle that we weren't going to win."[102] Sheffield said that the Saturn's quadrilaterals undermined third-party support, but because "nVidia invested in quads" at the same time, there had been "a remote possibility" they could have "become the standard instead of triangles ... if somehow, magically, the Saturn were the most popular console of that era."[131] Speaking more positively, former Working Designs president Victor Ireland described the Saturn as "the start of the future of console gaming" because it "got the better developers thinking and designing with parallel-processing architecture in mind for the first time".[17] In GamesRadar, Justin Towell wrote that the Saturn's 3D Pad "set the template for every successful controller that followed, with analog shoulder triggers and left thumbstick ... I don't see any three-pronged controllers around the office these days."[241]

Douglass C. Perry of Gamasutra noted that, from its surprise launch to its ultimate failure, the Saturn "soured many gamers on Sega products".[242] Sewart and IGN's Levi Buchanan cited the failure of the Saturn as the major reason for Sega's downfall as a hardware manufacturer, but USgamer's Jeremy Parish described it as "more a symptom ... than a cause" of the decline, which began with add-ons for the Genesis that fragmented the market and continued with Sega of America's and Sega of Japan's competing designs for the Dreamcast.[17][131][243] Sheffield portrayed Sega's mistakes with the Saturn as emblematic of the broader then-decline of the Japanese gaming industry: "They thought they were invincible, and that structure and hierarchy were necessary for their survival, but more flexibility, and a greater participation with the West could have saved them."[131] According to Stuart, Sega "didn't see ... the roots of a prevailing trend, away from arcade conversions and traditional role-playing adventures and toward a much wider console development community with fresh ideas about gameplay and structure."[244] Pulp365 reviews editor Matt Paprocki concluded that "the Saturn is a relic, but an important one, which represents the harshness of progress and what it can leave in its wake".[131]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: セガサターン, Hepburn: Sega Satān
  2. ^ In Japan, the console's name is commonly romanized as one word (SegaSaturn).

References

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  6. ^ Donovan, Tristan (2010). Replay: The History of Video Games. Yellow Ant. p. 267. ISBN 978-0956507204. One of the key objections to 3D graphics that developers had been raising with Sony was that while polygons worked fine for inanimate objects such as racing cars, 2D images were superior when it came to animating people or other characters. Virtua Fighter, Suzuki's follow-up to Virtua Racing, was a direct riposte to such thinking ... The characters may have resembled artists' mannequins but their lifelike movement turned Suzuki's game into a huge success that exploded claims that game characters couldn't be done successfully in 3D ... Teruhisa Tokunaka, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, even went so far as to thank Sega for creating Virtua Fighter and transforming developers' attitudes.
  7. ^ Mott 2013, pp. 226, 250. "Virtua Racing ... was perhaps the first to treat polygons not as a graphical gimmick but as an opportunity to expand the boundaries of traditional driving games ... It's like witnessing the discovery of fire ... [Virtua Fighter] establish[ed] the template that future 3-D fighters would follow".
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  9. ^ a b . Edge. December 22, 1994. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015. Virtua Fighter's 3D characters have a presence that 2D sprites just can't match. The characters really do seem 'alive', whether they're throwing a punch, unleashing a special move or reeling from a blow ... The Saturn version of Virtua Fighter is an exceptional game in many respects. It's arguably the first true 'next generation' console game, fusing the best aspects of combat gameplay with groundbreaking animation and gorgeous sound (CD music and clear samples). In the arcades, Virtua Fighter made people stop and look. On the Saturn, it will make many people stop, look at their bank balance and then fork out for Sega's new machine. Over to you, Sony.
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  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sega Saturn". Next Generation. Vol. 1, no. 2. February 1995. pp. 36–43. Sega's knee-jerk reaction was to delay its Saturn development program for a few months to incorporate a new video processor into the system. Not only would this boost its 2D abilities considerably (something that Sony's machine was less proficient at), but it would also provide better texture mapping for 3D graphics ... Of course, Hitachi's link with the Saturn project goes much deeper. In 1993, the Japanese electronics company set up a joint venture with Sega to develop a CPU for the Saturn based on proprietary Hitachi technology. Several Hitachi staff were seconded to Sega's Saturn division (it's now believed that the same team is now working on preliminary 64-bit technology for Sega), and the result was the SH-2 ... As with most Sega hardware, Model 1 was basically an expensive assortment of bought-in chips. Its main CPU, an NEC V60 running at just 16 MHz, was simply too slow for the Saturn. And the bulk of Virtua Racing's number crunching was handled by four serial DSPs that were way too costly to be included in any home system. Sega's consequent development of the SH-2 meant that it could also produce a Saturn-compatible arcade system.
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  15. ^ a b c d e f "NG Hardware: Saturn". Next Generation. Vol. 1, no. 12. December 1995. pp. 45–48. The early pictures and technical breakdowns have remained relatively close to the final system, perhaps because the system was completed far earlier than many people realize ... It was too late to make major alterations to the system, so, at the cost of pushing the launch schedule slightly, a video processor was added to the board to boost its 2D and 3D texture-mapping abilities. The real processing power of the Saturn comes from two Hitachi SH2 32-bit RISC processors running at 28 MHz. These processors were specially commissioned by Sega and are optimized for fast 3D graphics work.
  16. ^ "NG Hardware: Saturn". Next Generation. Vol. 1, no. 1. January 1995. pp. 44–45. Sega has spent the last nine months or so playing catch-up with Sony after a publisher-friend tipped Sega off about the power of PlayStation.
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  50. ^ cf. "Is War hell for Sega?". Next Generation. Vol. 2, no. 13. January 1996. p. 7. Tom Kalinske: We needed to do something shocking because we were $100 more than the other guy ... I still think [the surprise launch] was a good idea. If I had it to do over again would I do it a little differently? Yeah, definitely. I wouldn't take the risk of annoying retailers the way we did. I would clue them in and do an early launch in a region or three regions or something so we could include everybody.
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  81. ^ a b . Next Generation. Archived from the original on April 19, 1997. Retrieved April 12, 2014. [The VDP2] can generate and manipulate 3D backgrounds. This leaves the twin processors free to deal with manipulating the fighters themselves. The result is swift, elegant animation at 60 frames a second—the same speed as the VF2 coin-op ... Sony's machine does not have an equivalent of the VDP2, so the demands for better animation and more realistic movement are placing greater and greater pressure on its central processor.
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January 29, 2023
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The Sega Saturn a b is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22 1994 in Japan May 11 1995 in North America and July 8 1995 in Europe Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles it was the successor to the successful Sega Genesis The Saturn has a dual CPU architecture and eight processors Its games are in CD ROM format and its game library contains several ports of arcade games as well as original games Sega SaturnWestern and Eastern logosTop Model 1 from North AmericaBottom Model 2 from JapanManufacturerSegaTypeHome video game consoleGenerationFifthRelease dateJP November 22 1994NA May 11 1995EU July 8 1995Lifespan1994 2000Introductory priceJP 44 800U S US 399UK 399 99DiscontinuedEU 1998NA 1998JP 2000Units sold9 26 millionMediaCD ROM CD G CD EG Video CD Mini CD Photo CD e book 1 CPU2 Hitachi SH 2 28 6 MHzMemory2 MB RAM 1 5 MB VRAM 512 KB sound RAM expandable with Extended RAM CartridgeStorageInternal RAM cartridgeGraphicsVDP1 amp VDP2 video display processorsSoundYamaha YMF292Online servicesSega NetLinkPredecessorSega GenesisSuccessorDreamcastDevelopment of the Saturn began in 1992 the same year Sega s groundbreaking 3D Model 1 arcade hardware debuted The Saturn was designed around a new CPU from the Japanese electronics company Hitachi Sega added another video display processor in early 1994 to better compete with Sony s forthcoming PlayStation The Saturn was initially successful in Japan but failed to sell in large numbers in the United States where it was hindered by a surprise May 1995 launch four months before its scheduled release date After the debut of the Nintendo 64 in late 1996 the Saturn rapidly lost market share in the U S where it was discontinued in 1998 Having sold 9 26 million units worldwide the Saturn is considered a commercial failure the cancellation of Sonic X treme planned as the first 3D entry in Sega s popular Sonic the Hedgehog series is considered a factor in its performance The Saturn was succeeded in 1998 by the Dreamcast Although the Saturn is remembered for several well regarded games including Nights into Dreams the Panzer Dragoon series and the Virtua Fighter series its reputation is mixed due to its complex hardware design and limited third party support Sega s management has been criticized for its decisions during the system s development and discontinuation Contents 1 History 1 1 Background 1 2 Development 1 3 Launch 1 4 Changes at Sega 1 5 Cancellation of Sonic X treme 1 6 Decline 2 Technical specifications 3 Game library 4 Reception and legacy 5 Notes 6 References 7 BibliographyHistory EditBackground Edit In the early 1990s Sega had success with the Genesis known as the Mega Drive in most countries outside of North America 2 backed by aggressive advertising campaigns and the popularity of its Sonic the Hedgehog series 3 Sega also had success with arcade games in 1992 and 1993 the new Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased Sega AM2 s Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter the first 3D fighting game which played a crucial role in popularizing 3D polygonal graphics 4 5 6 7 8 9 The Model 1 was expensive so several alternatives helped bring Sega s newest arcade games to Genesis such as the Sega Virtua Processor chip used for Virtua Racing and the 32X add on 10 Development Edit Development of the Saturn was supervised by Hideki Sato Sega s director and deputy general manager of research and development 11 According to the project manager Hideki Okamura the project started over two years before the Saturn was showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994 The name Saturn was initially only the codename during development 12 In 1993 Sega and the Japanese electronics company Hitachi formed a joint venture to develop a new CPU for the Saturn which resulted in the creation of the SuperH RISC Engine or SH 2 later that year 13 14 The Saturn was designed around a dual SH2 configuration According to Kazuhiro Hamada Sega s section chief for Saturn development during the system s conception the SH 2 was chosen for reasons of cost and efficiency The chip has a calculation system similar to a DSP digital signal processor but we realized that a single CPU would not be enough to calculate a 3D world 13 15 Although the Saturn s design was largely finished before the end of 1993 reports in early 1994 of the technical capabilities of Sony s upcoming PlayStation console prompted Sega to include another video display processor VDP to improve 2D performance and 3D texture mapping 13 15 16 Sega considered making CD ROM based and cartridge only versions of the Saturn but discarded the idea due to concerns over the lower quality and higher price of cartridge games 13 According to Sega of America president Tom Kalinske Sega of America fought against the architecture of Saturn for quite some time 17 Seeking an alternative graphics chip for the Saturn Kalinske attempted to broker a deal with Silicon Graphics but Sega of Japan rejected the proposal 18 19 20 Silicon Graphics subsequently collaborated with Nintendo on the Nintendo 64 18 21 Kalinske Sony Electronic Publishing s Olaf Olafsson and Sony America s Micky Schulhof had discussed development of a joint Sega Sony hardware system which never came to fruition due to Sega s desire to create hardware that could accommodate both 2D and 3D visuals and Sony s competing notion of focusing on 3D technology 19 22 23 Publicly Kalinske defended the Saturn s design Our people feel that they need the multiprocessing to be able to bring to the home what we re doing next year in the arcades 24 In 1993 Sega restructured its internal studios in preparation for the Saturn s launch To ensure high quality 3D games would be available early in the Saturn s life and to create a more energetic working environment developers from Sega s arcade division were asked to create console games New teams such as the Panzer Dragoon developer Team Andromeda were formed during this time 25 In early 1994 the Sega Titan Video arcade system was announced as an arcade counterpart to the Saturn In April 1994 Acclaim Entertainment announced it would be the first American publisher to produce software for the Titan 26 In January 1994 Sega began to develop an add on for the Genesis the 32X to serve as a less expensive entry into the 32 bit era The decision to create the add on was made by Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama and widely supported by Sega of America employees 27 According to the former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless Nakayama was worried that the Saturn would not be available until after 1994 and that the recently released Atari Jaguar would reduce Sega s hardware sales As a result Nakayama ordered his engineers to have the system ready for launch by the end of the year 27 The 32X would not be compatible with the Saturn but Sega executive Richard Brudvik Lindner pointed out that the 32X would play Genesis games and had the same system architecture as the Saturn 28 This was justified by Sega s statement that both platforms would run at the same time and that the 32X would be aimed at players who could not afford the more expensive Saturn 27 29 According to Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller the 32X served a role in assisting development teams to familiarize themselves with the dual SH 2 architecture also used in the Saturn 30 Because the machines shared many parts and were being prepared to launch around the same time tensions emerged between Sega of America and Sega of Japan when the Saturn was given priority 27 Launch Edit A first model Japanese Sega Saturn unit Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22 1994 at a price of 44 800 31 Virtua Fighter a faithful port of the popular arcade game sold at a nearly one to one ratio with the Saturn console at launch and was crucial to the system s early success in Japan 8 9 32 Though Sega had wanted to launch with Clockwork Knight and Panzer Dragoon 25 the only other first party game available at launch was Wan Chai Connection 33 Boosted by the popularity of Virtua Fighter Sega s initial shipment of 200 000 Saturn units sold out on the first day 32 34 35 Sega waited until the December 3 launch of the PlayStation to ship more units when both were sold side by side the Saturn proved more popular 32 36 Meanwhile Sega released the 32X on November 21 1994 in North America December 3 1994 in Japan and January 1995 in PAL territories and was sold at less than half of the Saturn s launch price 37 38 After the holiday season however interest in the 32X rapidly declined 27 29 Half a million Saturn units were sold in Japan by the end of 1994 compared to 300 000 PlayStation units 39 and sales exceeded 1 million within the following six months 40 There were conflicting reports that the PlayStation enjoyed a higher sell through rate and the system gradually began to overtake the Saturn in sales during 1995 41 Sony attracted many third party developers to the PlayStation with a liberal 10 licensing fee excellent development tools and the introduction of a 7 to 10 day order system that allowed publishers to meet demand more efficiently than the 10 to 12 week lead times for cartridges that had previously been standard in the Japanese video game industry 42 43 In March 1995 Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would be released in the U S on Saturnday Saturday September 2 1995 44 45 However Sega of Japan mandated an early launch to give the Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation 46 At the first Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 in Los Angeles on May 11 1995 Kalinske gave a keynote presentation in which he revealed the release price of US 399 including a copy of Virtua Fighter 47 and described the features of the console Kalinske also revealed that due to high consumer demand 48 Sega had already shipped 30 000 Saturns to Toys R Us Babbage s Electronics Boutique and Software Etc for immediate release 44 The announcement upset retailers who were not informed of the surprise release including Best Buy and Walmart 19 49 50 KB Toys responded by dropping Sega from its lineup 44 Sony subsequently unveiled the retail price for the PlayStation Olaf Olafsson the head of Sony Computer Entertainment America SCEA summoned Steve Race to the stage who said 299 and then walked away to applause 19 51 52 53 54 The Saturn s release in Europe also came before the previously announced North American date on July 8 1995 at a price of 399 99 10 European retailers and press did not have time to promote the system or its games harming sales 55 The PlayStation launched in Europe on September 29 1995 by November it had already outsold the Saturn by a factor of three in the United Kingdom where Sony had allocated 20 million of marketing during the holiday season compared to Sega s 4 million 56 57 The Saturn s U S launch was accompanied by a reported 50 million advertising campaign that included coverage in publications such as Wired and Playboy 40 58 59 Early advertising for the system was targeted at a more mature adult audience than the Genesis ads 60 61 Because of the early launch the Saturn had only six games all published by Sega available to start as most third party games were slated to be released around the original launch date 47 62 63 Virtua Fighter s relative lack of popularity in the West combined with a release schedule of only two games between the surprise launch and September 1995 prevented Sega from capitalizing on the Saturn s early timing 17 34 64 Within two days of its September 9 1995 launch in North America the PlayStation backed by a large marketing campaign 42 65 sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch with almost all of the initial shipment of 100 000 units being sold in advance and the rest selling out across the U S 41 66 A high quality port of the Namco arcade game Ridge Racer contributed to the PlayStation s early success 36 67 and garnered favorable media in comparison to the Saturn version of Sega s Daytona USA which was considered inferior to its arcade counterpart 68 69 Namco a longtime arcade competitor with Sega 5 70 also unveiled the Namco System 11 arcade board based on raw PlayStation hardware 71 Although the System 11 was technically inferior to Sega s Model 2 arcade board its lower price made it attractive to smaller arcades 71 72 Following a 1994 acquisition of Sega developers Namco released Tekken for the System 11 and PlayStation Directed by former Virtua Fighter designer Seiichi Ishii Tekken was intended to be fundamentally similar with the addition of detailed textures and twice the frame rate 73 74 75 Tekken surpassed Virtua Fighter in popularity due to its superior graphics and nearly arcade perfect console port becoming the first million selling PlayStation game 72 76 77 On October 2 Sega announced a Saturn price reduction to 299 78 High quality Saturn ports of the Sega Model 2 arcade hits Sega Rally Championship 79 Virtua Cop 80 and Virtua Fighter 2 running at 60 frames per second at a high resolution 81 82 83 were available by the end of the year and were generally regarded as superior to competitors on the PlayStation 10 84 Notwithstanding a subsequent increase in Saturn sales during the 1995 holiday season the games were not enough to reverse the PlayStation s decisive lead 84 85 By 1996 the PlayStation had a considerably larger library than the Saturn although Sega hoped to generate interest with upcoming exclusives such as Nights into Dreams 64 An informal survey of retailers showed that the Saturn and PlayStation sold in roughly equal numbers during the first quarter of 1996 86 Within its first year the PlayStation secured over 20 of the entire U S video game market 59 On the first day of the May 1996 E3 show Sony announced a PlayStation price reduction to 199 41 a reaction to the release of the Model 2 Saturn in Japan at a price roughly equivalent to 199 87 On the second day Sega announced it would match this price though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture 88 89 Changes at Sega Edit I thought the world of Hayao Nakayama because of his love of software We spoke about building a new hardware platform that I would be very very involved with shape the direction of this platform and hire a new team of people and restructure Sega That to me was a great opportunity Bernie Stolar on joining Sega of America 34 Despite the launch of the PlayStation and Saturn sales of 16 bit games and consoles continued to account for 64 of the video game market in 1995 90 91 Sega underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis and did not have the inventory to meet demand 85 90 Sega was able to capture 43 of the dollar share of the U S video game market and sell more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995 but Kalinske estimated that we could have sold another 300 000 Genesis systems in the November December timeframe 85 Nakayama s decision to focus on the Saturn over the Genesis based on the systems relative performance in Japan has been cited as the major contributing factor in this miscalculation 92 Due to long standing disagreements with Sega of Japan 19 34 Kalinske lost interest in his work as CEO of Sega of America 93 By early 1996 rumors were circulating that Kalinske planned to leave Sega 94 and a July 13 article in the press reported speculation that Sega of Japan was planning significant changes to Sega of America s management 95 On July 16 1996 Sega announced that Kalinske would leave Sega after September 30 and that Shoichiro Irimajiri had been appointed chairman and CEO of Sega of America 96 97 A former Honda executive 98 99 Irimajiri had been involved with Sega of America since joining Sega in 1993 96 100 Sega also announced that David Rosen and Nakayama had resigned from their positions as chairman and co chairman of Sega of America though both remained with the company 96 101 Bernie Stolar a former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America 95 102 was named Sega of America s executive vice president in charge of product development and third party relations 96 97 Stolar who had arranged a six month PlayStation exclusivity deal for Mortal Kombat 3 103 and helped build close relations with Electronic Arts 34 while at Sony was perceived as a major asset by Sega officials 97 Finally Sega of America made plans to expand its PC software business 96 99 Stolar was not supportive of the Saturn feeling it was poorly designed and publicly announced at E3 1997 that the Saturn is not our future 34 While Stolar had no interest in lying to people about the Saturn s prospects he continued to emphasize quality games for the system 34 and later said that we tried to wind it down as cleanly as we could for the consumer 102 At Sony Stolar had opposed the localization of Japanese games that he felt would not represent PlayStation well in North America and advocated a similar policy for the Saturn although he later sought to distance himself from this perception 34 103 104 These changes were accompanied by a softer image that Sega was beginning to portray in its advertising including removing the Sega scream and holding press events for the education industry 64 Marketing for the Saturn in Japan also changed with the introduction of Segata Sanshiro played by Hiroshi Fujioka a character in a series of TV advertisements starting in 1997 the character eventually starred in a Saturn game 105 106 Temporarily abandoning arcade development Sega AM2 head Yu Suzuki began developing several Saturn exclusive games including a role playing game in the Virtua Fighter series 107 Initially conceived as an obscure prototype The Old Man and the Peach Tree and intended to address the flaws of contemporary Japanese RPGs such as poor non player character artificial intelligence routines Virtua Fighter RPG evolved into a planned 11 part 45 hour revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema which Suzuki hoped would become the Saturn s killer app 34 108 109 The game was eventually released as Shenmue for the Saturn s successor the Dreamcast 110 111 Cancellation of Sonic X treme Edit Main article Sonic X treme A screenshot of Chris Senn and Ofer Alon s version of Sonic X treme The game s cancellation and the lack of a fully 3D Sonic the Hedgehog platformer is considered a significant factor in the Saturn s commercial failure As Sonic Team was working on Nights into Dreams 112 Sega tasked the U S based Sega Technical Institute STI with developing the first fully 3D entry in its popular Sonic the Hedgehog series The game Sonic X treme was moved to the Saturn after several prototypes for other hardware including the 32X were discarded 112 113 114 It featured a fisheye lens camera system that rotated levels with Sonic s movement After Nakayama ordered the game be reworked around the engine created for its boss battles the developers were forced to work between 16 and 20 hours a day to meet their December 1996 deadline Weeks of development were wasted after Stolar rescinded STI s access to Sonic Team s Nights into Dreams engine following an ultimatum by Nights programmer Yuji Naka 113 114 115 After programmer Ofer Alon quit and designers Chris Senn and Chris Coffin became ill Sonic X Treme was cancelled in early 1997 113 114 115 Sonic Team started work on an original 3D Sonic game for the Saturn but development shifted to the Dreamcast and the game became Sonic Adventure 116 117 STI was disbanded in 1996 as a result of changes in management at Sega of America 112 Journalists and fans have speculated about the impact a completed X treme might have had on the market David Houghton of GamesRadar described the prospect of a good 3D Sonic game on the Saturn as a What if situation on a par with the dinosaurs not becoming extinct 114 IGN s Travis Fahs called X treme the turning point not only for Sega s mascot and their 32 bit console but for the entire company but noted that the game served as an empty vessel for Sega s ambitions and the hopes of their fans 113 Dave Zdyrko who operated a prominent Saturn fan website during the system s lifespan said I don t know if X treme could ve saved the Saturn but Sonic helped make the Genesis and it made absolutely no sense why there wasn t a great new Sonic title ready at or near the launch of the Saturn 17 In a 2007 retrospective producer Mike Wallis maintained that X treme definitely would have been competitive with Nintendo s Super Mario 64 115 Next Generation reported in late 1996 that X treme would have harmed Sega s reputation if it did not compare well to contemporary competition 118 Naka said he had been relieved by the cancellation feeling that the game was not promising 117 Decline Edit From 1993 to early 1996 although Sega s revenue declined as part of an industry wide slowdown 59 119 the company retained control of 38 of the U S video game market compared to Nintendo s 30 and Sony s 24 91 Eight hundred thousand PlayStation units were sold in the U S by the end of 1995 compared to 400 000 Saturn units 120 121 In part due to an aggressive price war 59 the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by two to one in 1996 while Sega s 16 bit sales declined markedly 91 By the end of 1996 the PlayStation had sold 2 9 million units in the U S more than twice the 1 2 million Saturn units sold 49 The Christmas 1996 Three Free pack which bundled the Saturn with Daytona USA Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop drove sales dramatically and ensured the Saturn remained a competitor into 1997 122 However the Saturn failed to take the lead After the launch of the Nintendo 64 in 1996 sales of the Saturn and its games were sharply reduced 102 while the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by three to one in the U S in 1997 59 The 1997 release of Final Fantasy VII significantly increased the PlayStation s popularity in Japan 123 124 The game helped push PlayStation sales ahead of the Saturn in Japan after the PlayStation and Saturn had been very close in Japan prior to the game s release 125 As of August 1997 Sony controlled 47 of the console market Nintendo 40 and Sega only 12 Neither price cuts nor high profile game releases proved helpful 102 Reflecting decreased demand for the system worldwide Saturn shipments during March to September 1997 declined from 2 35 million to 600 000 versus the same period in 1996 shipments in North America declined from 800 000 to 50 000 126 Due to the Saturn s poor performance in North America 60 of Sega of America s 200 employees were laid off in late 1997 98 I thought the Saturn was a mistake as far as hardware was concerned The games were obviously terrific but the hardware just wasn t there Bernie Stolar former president of Sega of America giving his assessment of the Saturn in 2009 34 As a result of Sega s deteriorating financial situation Nakayama resigned as president in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri 98 Stolar subsequently acceded to president of Sega of America 102 127 Following five years of generally declining profits 128 in the fiscal year ending March 31 1998 Sega suffered its first parent and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 129 Due to a 54 8 decline in consumer product sales including a 75 4 decline overseas the company reported a net loss of 43 3 billion 327 8 million and a consolidated net loss of 35 6 billion 269 8 million 128 Shortly before announcing its financial losses Sega announced that it was discontinuing the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor 98 102 Only 7 Saturn games were released in North America in 1998 Magic Knight Rayearth was the final official release compared to 119 in 1996 130 131 The Saturn would last longer in Japan 99 Between June 1996 and August 1998 the Saturn sold a further 1 103 468 consoles and 29 685 781 games in Japan giving the Saturn a Japanese attach rate of 16 71 games per console the highest of that generation 132 Rumors about the upcoming Dreamcast spread mainly by Sega itself were leaked to the public before the last Saturn games were released 99 The Dreamcast was released on November 27 1998 in Japan and on September 9 1999 in North America 133 The decision to abandon the Saturn effectively left the Western market without Sega games for over one year 134 Sega suffered an additional 42 881 billion consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 1999 and announced plans to eliminate 1 000 jobs nearly a quarter of its workforce 135 136 Worldwide Saturn sales include at least the following amounts in each territory 5 75 million in Japan surpassing the Genesis sales of 3 58 million there 137 1 8 million in the United States 1 million in Europe and 530 000 elsewhere 138 With lifetime sales of 9 26 million units 139 the Saturn is considered a commercial failure 140 although its install base in Japan surpassed the Nintendo 64 s 5 54 million 141 Lack of distribution has been cited as a significant factor contributing to the Saturn s failure as the system s surprise launch damaged Sega s reputation with key retailers 49 Conversely Nintendo s long delay in releasing a 3D console and damage caused to Sega s reputation by poorly supported add ons for the Genesis are considered major factors allowing Sony to gain a foothold in the market 59 142 Technical specifications Edit Hitachi SH 2 Saturn Custom Sound Processor SCSP Motorola 68EC000 Video Display Processor 1 VDP1 Video Display Processor 2 VDP2 Saturn motherboardFeaturing eight processors 143 the Saturn s central processing units are two Hitachi SH 2 microprocessors clocked at 28 6 MHz and capable of 56 MIPS 13 49 144 It uses a Motorola 68EC000 running at 11 3 MHz as a sound controller a custom sound processor with an integrated Yamaha FH1 145 DSP running at 22 6 MHz 146 6 capable of up to 32 sound channels with both FM synthesis and 16 bit 44 1 kHz pulse code modulation 147 and two video display processors 10 the VDP1 which handles sprites and polygons and the VDP2 which handles backgrounds 146 9 Its double speed CD ROM drive is controlled by a dedicated Hitachi SH 1 processor to reduce load times 32 The System Control Unit SCU which controls all buses and functions as a co processor of the main SH 2 CPU has an internal DSP running at 14 3 MHz 146 6 8 It features a cartridge slot that allows for memory expansion 143 16 Mbit of work random access memory RAM 12 Mbit of video RAM 4 Mbit of RAM for sound functions 4 Mbit of CD buffer RAM and 256 Kbit 32 KB of battery backup RAM 147 Its video output provided by a stereo AV cable 147 displays at resolutions from 320 224 to 704 224 pixels 148 and can display up to 16 78 million colors simultaneously 147 The Saturn measures 260 mm 230 mm 83 mm 10 2 in 9 1 in 3 3 in It was packaged with an instruction manual control pad stereo AV cable and 100 V AC power supply with a power consumption of approximately 15 W 147 One very fast central processor would be preferable I don t think all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs most can only get about one and a half times the speed you can get from one SH 2 I think that only 1 in 100 programmers are good enough to get this kind of speed double out of the Saturn Yu Suzuki reflecting on Saturn Virtua Fighter development 13 The Saturn had technically impressive hardware at the time of its release but its complexity made harnessing this power difficult for developers accustomed to conventional programming 149 The greatest disadvantage was that both CPUs shared the same bus and were unable to access system memory at the same time Making full use of the 4 KB of cache memory in each CPU was critical to maintaining performance For example Virtua Fighter used one CPU for each character 13 while Nights used one CPU for 3D environments and the other for 2D objects 150 The Visual Display Processor 2 VDP2 which can generate and manipulate backgrounds 151 has also been cited as one of the system s most important features 15 81 The Saturn s design elicited mixed commentary among game developers and journalists Developers quoted by Next Generation in December 1995 described the Saturn as a real coder s machine for those who love to get their teeth into assembly and really hack the hardware with more flexibility and more calculating power than the PlayStation The sound board was also widely praised 15 By contrast Lobotomy Software programmer Ezra Dreisbach described the Saturn as significantly slower than the PlayStation 152 whereas Kenji Eno of WARP observed little difference 153 In particular Dreisbach criticized the Saturn s use of quadrilaterals as its basic geometric primitive in contrast to the triangles rendered by the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 152 Ken Humphries of Time Warner Interactive remarked that compared to the PlayStation the Saturn was worse at generating polygons but better at sprites 154 Third party development was initially hindered by the lack of useful software libraries and development tools requiring developers to write in assembly language During early Saturn development programming in assembly could offer a two to fivefold speed increase over higher level languages such as C 13 The Saturn hardware is extremely difficult to emulate 155 Sega responded to complaints about the difficulty of programming for the Saturn by writing new graphics libraries which were claimed to make development easier 15 Sega of America also purchased a United Kingdom based development firm Cross Products to produce the Saturn s development system 30 156 Despite these challenges Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa stated that the Nintendo 64 was more difficult to develop for than the Saturn 157 Traveller s Tales founder Jon Burton felt that while the PlayStation was easier to get started on you quickly reach its limits whereas the Saturn s complicated hardware had the ability to improve the speed and look of a game when all used together correctly 158 A major criticism was the Saturn s use of 2D sprites to generate polygons and simulate 3D space The PlayStation used a different design based entirely on 3D triangle based polygonal rendering with no direct 2D support As a result several analysts described the Saturn as an essentially 2D system 27 13 159 For example Steven L Kent stated Although Nintendo and Sony had true 3D game machines Sega had a 2D console that did a good job with 3D objects but wasn t optimized for 3D environments 64 Model 1 North American European controller 3D Pad Arcade Racer Model 2 North American European controller Saturn multitap RAM backup cartridgeSeveral Saturn models were produced in Japan An updated model in a recolored light gray officially white 87 was released at 20 000 to reduce the system s cost 160 and raise its appeal among women and younger children 87 161 Two models were released by third parties Hitachi released the Hi Saturn a smaller model equipped with a car navigation function 162 while JVC released the V Saturn 147 Saturn controllers came in various color schemes to match different models of the console 163 The system also supports several accessories A wireless controller powered by AA batteries uses infrared signal to connect 164 Designed to work with Nights the Saturn 3D Pad includes both a control pad and an analog stick for directional input 165 Sega also released several versions of arcade sticks as peripherals including the Virtua Stick 166 167 the Virtua Stick Pro 168 the Mission Analog Stick 169 170 and the Twin Stick 171 Sega also created a light gun peripheral the Virtua Gun for shooting games such as Virtua Cop and The Guardian 172 and the Arcade Racer a wheel for racing games 173 174 The Play Cable connects two Saturn consoles to for multiplayer gaming across two screens 175 176 and a multitap connects up to six players to the same console 177 178 The Saturn was designed to support up to 12 players on a single console by using two multitaps 179 RAM cartridges expand the memory 180 Other accessories include a keyboard 181 mouse 182 183 floppy disk drive 184 and movie card 1 185 Like the Genesis the Saturn had an internet based gaming service The Sega NetLink was a 28 8k modem that fit into the cartridge slot in the Saturn for direct dial multiplayer 10 In Japan a pay to play service was used 186 It could also be used for web browsing sending email and online chat 187 Because the NetLink was released before the Saturn keyboard Sega produced a series of CDs containing hundreds of website addresses so that Saturn owners could browse with the joypad 188 The NetLink functioned with Daytona USA Duke Nukem 3D Saturn Bomberman 189 Sega Rally and Virtual On Cyber Troopers 190 In 1995 Sega announced a variant of the Saturn featuring a built in NetLink modem 191 under the code name Sega Pluto but it was never released 192 Sega developed an arcade board based on the Saturn s hardware the Sega ST V or Titan intended as an affordable alternative to Sega s Model 2 arcade board and as a testing ground for upcoming Saturn software 13 The Titan was criticized for its comparatively weak performance compared to the Sega Model 2 arcade system by Yu Suzuki 193 and it was overproduced by Sega s arcade division 112 Because Sega already had the Die Hard license members of Sega AM1 working at the Sega Technical Institute developed Die Hard Arcade for the Titan to clear excess inventory 112 Die Hard became the most successful Sega arcade game produced in the United States at that point 112 Other games released for the Titan include Golden Axe The Duel and Virtua Fighter Kids 13 72 Game library EditMain article List of Sega Saturn games Much of the Saturn s library comes from Sega s arcade ports 34 including Daytona USA The House of the Dead 194 Last Bronx Sega Rally Championship the Virtua Cop series the Virtua Fighter series and Virtual On 195 Saturn ports of 2D Capcom fighting games including Darkstalkers 3 Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha 3 were noted for their faithfulness to their arcade counterparts 195 196 Fighters Megamix developed by Sega AM2 for the Saturn rather than arcades 110 combined characters from Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter to positive reviews 197 Highly rated Saturn exclusives include Panzer Dragoon Saga 198 Dragon Force 199 Guardian Heroes 200 201 Nights 202 203 Panzer Dragoon II Zwei 204 and Shining Force III 205 206 207 PlayStation games such as Castlevania Symphony of the Night Resident Evil and Wipeout 2097 received Saturn ports with mixed results 195 The first person shooter PowerSlave featured some of the most impressive 3D graphics on the system leading Sega to contract its developers Lobotomy Software to produce Saturn ports of Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 17 195 While Electronic Arts limited support for the Saturn and Sega s failure to develop a football game for late 1995 gave Sony the lead in the sports genre 17 34 64 Sega Sports published Saturn sports games including the well regarded World Series Baseball and Sega Worldwide Soccer series 17 208 Due to the cancellation of Sonic X treme the Saturn lacks an exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog platformer instead it received a graphically enhanced port of the Genesis game Sonic 3D Blast the compilation Sonic Jam and a racing game Sonic R 10 209 The platformer Bug received attention for its eponymous main character being a potential mascot for the Saturn but it failed to catch on as the Sonic series had 210 211 212 Considered one of the most important Saturn releases Sonic Team developed Nights into Dreams a score attack game that attempted to simulate both the joy of flying and the fleeting sensation of dreams The gameplay of Nights involves steering the imp like androgynous protagonist Nights as it flies on a mostly 2D plane across surreal stages broken into four segments each The levels repeat for as long as an in game time limit allows while flying over or looping around various objects in rapid succession earns additional points Although it lacked the fully 3D environments of Nintendo s Super Mario 64 Nights emphasis on unfettered movement and graceful acrobatic techniques showcased the intuitive potential of analog control 150 213 214 Sonic Team s Burning Rangers a fully 3D 17 action adventure game involving a team of outer space firefighters garnered praise for its transparency effects and distinctive art direction but was released in limited quantities late in the Saturn s lifespan and criticized for its short length 215 216 217 One of the biggest killer apps for the Saturn in Japan were the Sakura Wars games 218 Co developed by Sega and Red Entertainment Sakura Wars mixed elements of tactical RPGs anime cutscenes and visual novels 219 Despite games such as the Sakura Wars series and Grandia 17 helping make the Saturn popular in its homeland they never saw a Western release due to Sega of America s policy of not localizing RPGs and other Japanese games that might have damaged the system s reputation in North America 34 220 Despite appearing first on the Saturn games such as Dead or Alive 195 221 Grandia 195 and Lunar Silver Star Story Complete only saw a Western release on the PlayStation 17 Working Designs localized several Japanese Saturn games before a public feud between Sega of America s Bernie Stolar and Working Designs president Victor Ireland resulted in the company switching their support to the PlayStation 17 According to the review aggregator GameRankings Panzer Dragoon Saga is the most acclaimed Saturn game 222 it was praised for its cinematic presentation evocative plot and unique battle system However Sega released fewer than 20 000 retail copies in North America in what IGN s Levi Buchanan characterized as an example of the Saturn s ignominious send off in the region 216 223 224 Similarly only the first of three installments of Shining Force III was released outside Japan 207 The Saturn s library also garnered criticism for its lack of sequels to high profile Genesis era Sega franchises with Sega of Japan s cancellation of a planned third installment in Sega of America s popular Eternal Champions series cited as a significant source of controversy 17 131 225 Later ports of Saturn games including Guardian Heroes 226 Nights 214 and Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 227 continued to garner positive reviews Partly due to rarity Saturn games such as Panzer Dragoon Saga 223 224 228 and Radiant Silvergun 229 230 are noted for their cult following Due to the system s commercial failure and hardware limitations Saturn projects such as Resident Evil 2 231 Shenmue Sonic Adventure and Virtua Fighter 3 232 233 were cancelled and moved to the Dreamcast Reception and legacy EditAt the time of the Saturn s release Famicom Tsushin awarded it 24 out of 40 higher than the PlayStation s 19 out of 40 234 In June 1995 Dennis Lynch of the Chicago Tribune and Albert Kim of Entertainment Weekly praised the Saturn as the most advanced console available Lynch praised the double speed CD ROM drive and intense surround sound capabilities and Kim cited Panzer Dragoon as a lyrical and exhilarating epic demonstrating the ability of new technology to transform the industry 235 236 In December 1995 Next Generation gave the Saturn three and a half stars out of five highlighting Sega s marketing and arcade background as strengths but the system s complexity as a weakness 15 Four critics in Electronic Gaming Monthly s December 1996 Buyer s Guide rated the Saturn 8 6 7 and 8 out of 10 and the PlayStation 9 10 9 and 9 237 By December 1998 EGM s reviews were more mixed with reviewers citing the lack of games as a major problem According to EGM reviewer Crispin Boyer the Saturn is the only system that can thrill me one month and totally disappoint me the next 238 Retrospective feedback of the Saturn is mixed but generally praises its game library 34 195 According to Greg Sewart of 1UP com the Saturn will go down in history as one of the most troubled and greatest systems of all time 17 In 2009 IGN named the Saturn the 18th best console of all time praising its unique game library According to the reviewers While the Saturn ended up losing the popularity contest to both Sony and Nintendo Nights into Dreams the Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragoon series are all examples of exclusive titles that made the console a fan favorite 196 Edge noted that hardened loyalists continue to reminisce about the console that brought forth games like Burning Rangers Guardian Heroes Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga 239 In 2015 The Guardian s Keith Stuart wrote that the Saturn has perhaps the strongest line up of 2D shooters and fighting games in console history 240 Retro Gamer s Damien McFerran wrote Even today despite the widespread availability of sequels and re releases on other formats the Sega Saturn is still a worthwhile investment for those who appreciate the unique gameplay styles of the companies that supported it 10 IGN s Adam Redsell wrote Sega s devil may care attitude towards game development in the Saturn and Dreamcast eras is something that we simply do not see outside of the indie scene today 190 Necrosoft Games director Brandon Sheffield felt that the Saturn was a landing point for games that were too adult in content for other systems as it was the only one that allowed an 18 rating for content in Japan some games like Enemy Zero used it to take body horror to new levels an important step toward the expansion of games and who they served 131 Sewart praised the Saturn s first party games as Sega s shining moment as a game developer with Sonic Team demonstrating its creative range and AM2 producing numerous technically impressive arcade ports He also commented on the many Japan exclusive Saturn releases which he connected with a subsequent boom in the game import market 17 IGN s Travis Fahs was critical of the Saturn library s lack of fresh ideas and precious few high profile franchises in contrast to what he described as Sega s more creative Dreamcast output 134 Sega has been criticized for its management of the Saturn McFerran felt its management staff had fallen out of touch with both the demands of the market and the industry 10 Stolar has also been criticized 17 according to Fahs Stolar s decision to abandon the Saturn made him a villain to many Sega fans but it was better to regroup than to enter the next fight battered and bruised Dreamcast would be Stolar s redemption 34 Stolar defended his decision saying I felt Saturn was hurting the company more than helping it That was a battle that we weren t going to win 102 Sheffield said that the Saturn s quadrilaterals undermined third party support but because nVidia invested in quads at the same time there had been a remote possibility they could have become the standard instead of triangles if somehow magically the Saturn were the most popular console of that era 131 Speaking more positively former Working Designs president Victor Ireland described the Saturn as the start of the future of console gaming because it got the better developers thinking and designing with parallel processing architecture in mind for the first time 17 In GamesRadar Justin Towell wrote that the Saturn s 3D Pad set the template for every successful controller that followed with analog shoulder triggers and left thumbstick I don t see any three pronged controllers around the office these days 241 Douglass C Perry of Gamasutra noted that from its surprise launch to its ultimate failure the Saturn soured many gamers on Sega products 242 Sewart and IGN s Levi Buchanan cited the failure of the Saturn as the major reason for Sega s downfall as a hardware manufacturer but USgamer s Jeremy Parish described it as more a symptom than a cause of the decline which began with add ons for the Genesis that fragmented the market and continued with Sega of America s and Sega of Japan s competing designs for the Dreamcast 17 131 243 Sheffield portrayed Sega s mistakes with the Saturn as emblematic of the broader then decline of the Japanese gaming industry They thought they were invincible and that structure and hierarchy were necessary for their survival but more flexibility and a greater participation with the West could have saved them 131 According to Stuart Sega didn t see the roots of a prevailing trend away from arcade conversions and traditional role playing adventures and toward a much wider console development community with fresh ideas about gameplay and structure 244 Pulp365 reviews editor Matt Paprocki concluded that the Saturn is a relic but an important one which represents the harshness of progress and what it can leave in its wake 131 Notes Edit Japanese セガサターン Hepburn Sega Satan In Japan the console s name is commonly romanized as one word SegaSaturn References Edit a b Movie card in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on July 30 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Sczepaniak John 2006 Retroinspection Mega Drive Retro Gamer No 27 pp 42 47 Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved May 1 2014 Kent 2001 p 431 Virtua Racing Arcade 1992 GameSpot 2001 Archived from the original on April 12 2010 Retrieved June 6 2014 cf Feit Daniel September 5 2012 How Virtua Fighter Saved PlayStation s Bacon Wired Archived from the original on October 14 2014 Retrieved October 9 2014 Ryoji Akagawa If it wasn t for Virtua Fighter the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept cf Thomason Steve July 2006 The Man Behind the Legend Nintendo Power Vol 19 no 205 p 72 Toby Gard It became clear to me watching people play Virtua Fighter which was kind of the first big 3D character console game that even though there were only two female characters in the lineup in almost every game I saw being played someone was picking one of the two females a b Leone Matt 2010 The Essential 50 Part 35 Virtua Fighter 1UP com Archived from the original on July 19 2012 Retrieved December 10 2016 Donovan Tristan 2010 Replay The History of Video Games Yellow Ant p 267 ISBN 978 0956507204 One of the key objections to 3D graphics that developers had been raising with Sony was that while polygons worked fine for inanimate objects such as racing cars 2D images were superior when it came to animating people or other characters Virtua Fighter Suzuki s follow up to Virtua Racing was a direct riposte to such thinking The characters may have resembled artists mannequins but their lifelike movement turned Suzuki s game into a huge success that exploded claims that game characters couldn t be done successfully in 3D Teruhisa Tokunaka chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment even went so far as to thank Sega for creating Virtua Fighter and transforming developers attitudes Mott 2013 pp 226 250 Virtua Racing was perhaps the first to treat polygons not as a graphical gimmick but as an opportunity to expand the boundaries of traditional driving games It s like witnessing the discovery of fire Virtua Fighter establish ed the template that future 3 D fighters would follow a b Kent 2001 pp 501 502 a b Virtua Fighter Review Edge December 22 1994 Archived from the original on December 10 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Virtua Fighter s 3D characters have a presence that 2D sprites just can t match The characters really do seem alive whether they re throwing a punch unleashing a special move or reeling from a blow The Saturn version of Virtua Fighter is an exceptional game in many respects It s arguably the first true next generation console game fusing the best aspects of combat gameplay with groundbreaking animation and gorgeous sound CD music and clear samples In the arcades Virtua Fighter made people stop and look On the Saturn it will make many people stop look at their bank balance and then fork out for Sega s new machine Over to you Sony a b c d e f g h McFerran Damien Retroinspection Sega Saturn Retro Gamer No 34 pp 44 49 Harris 2014 p 386 EGM Interviews SEGA SATURN Product Manager HIDEKI OKAMURA EGM2 Vol 1 no 1 July 1994 p 114 Hideki Okamura Saturn was just a development code name for hardware that was adopted by the Japanese development staff The name has become common knowledge and it has a nice ring to it a b c d e f g h i j k Sega Saturn Next Generation Vol 1 no 2 February 1995 pp 36 43 Sega s knee jerk reaction was to delay its Saturn development program for a few months to incorporate a new video processor into the system Not only would this boost its 2D abilities considerably something that Sony s machine was less proficient at but it would also provide better texture mapping for 3D graphics Of course Hitachi s link with the Saturn project goes much deeper In 1993 the Japanese electronics company set up a joint venture with Sega to develop a CPU for the Saturn based on proprietary Hitachi technology Several Hitachi staff were seconded to Sega s Saturn division it s now believed that the same team is now working on preliminary 64 bit technology for Sega and the result was the SH 2 As with most Sega hardware Model 1 was basically an expensive assortment of bought in chips Its main CPU an NEC V60 running at just 16 MHz was simply too slow for the Saturn And the bulk of Virtua Racing s number crunching was handled by four serial DSPs that were way too costly to be included in any home system Sega s consequent development of the SH 2 meant that it could also produce a Saturn compatible arcade system Pollack Andrew September 22 1993 Sega to Use Hitachi Chip In Video Game Machine The New York Times Archived from the original on April 18 2014 Retrieved April 15 2014 Sega Enterprises said today that it would base its next generation home video game machine due in the fall of 1994 on a new chip being developed by Hitachi Ltd One Sega official said Hitachi s chip was attractively priced and would be designed with Sega s needs in mind Yamaha is expected to provide sound chips and JVC the circuitry for compressing video images cf Sega to add 64 Bit Processor to New Saturn System Electronic Gaming Monthly Vol 5 no 53 December 1993 p 68 There are reportedly seven different processors in the Saturn The main processor will be a custom 32 Bit RISC chip under joint development by Sega and Hitachi a b c d e f NG Hardware Saturn Next Generation Vol 1 no 12 December 1995 pp 45 48 The early pictures and technical breakdowns have remained relatively close to the final system perhaps because the system was completed far earlier than many people realize It was too late to make major alterations to the system so at the cost of pushing the launch schedule slightly a video processor was added to the board to boost its 2D and 3D texture mapping abilities The real processing power of the Saturn comes from two Hitachi SH2 32 bit RISC processors running at 28 MHz These processors were specially commissioned by Sega and are optimized for fast 3D graphics work NG Hardware Saturn Next Generation Vol 1 no 1 January 1995 pp 44 45 Sega has spent the last nine months or so playing catch up with Sony after a publisher friend tipped Sega off about the power of PlayStation a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Sewart Greg August 5 2005 Sega Saturn The Pleasure And The Pain 1UP com Archived from the original on March 17 2014 Retrieved December 10 2016 a b Fahs Travis April 21 2009 IGN Presents the History of Sega IGN p 6 Archived from the original on March 6 2014 Retrieved May 1 2014 a b c d e Dring Christopher July 7 2013 A Tale of Two E3s Xbox vs Sony vs Sega MCVUK com Archived from the original on February 22 2017 Retrieved January 4 2019 Harris 2014 p 465 Harris 2014 p 464 Horowitz Ken July 11 2006 Interview Tom Kalinske Sega 16 Archived from the original on February 7 2009 Retrieved December 24 2014 Tom Kalinske I remember we had a document that Olaf and Mickey took to Sony that said they d like to develop jointly the next hardware the next game platform with Sega and here s what we think it ought to do Sony apparently gave the green light to that Our proposal was that each of us would sell this joint Sega Sony hardware platform we ll share the loss on the hardware whatever that is we ll split it combine our advertising and marketing but we ll each be responsible for the software sales we ll generate Now at that particular point in time Sega knew how to develop software a hell of a lot better than Sony did They were just coming up the learning curve so we would have benefited much more greatly I felt that we were rushing Saturn We didn t have the software right and we didn t have the pricing right so I felt we should have stayed with Genesis for another year Harris 2014 p 452 Kent 2001 p 509 a b The Making Of Panzer Dragoon Saga Part 1 Now Gamer December 17 2008 Archived from the original on July 24 2014 Retrieved March 20 2014 Kentaro Yoshida We thought we d have no problem making games that were superior to PlayStation games News Digest RePlay Vol 19 no 8 May 1994 p 14 a b c d e f McFerran Damien 2010 Retroinspection Sega 32X Retro Gamer No 77 pp 44 49 Scot Bayless The 32X call was made in early January 1994 There s a part of me that wishes the Saturn had adopted the 32X graphics strategy but that ship had sailed long before the greenlight call from Nakayama Kent 2001 p 494 a b Beuscher David Sega Genesis 32X Overview Allgame Archived from the original on December 10 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 a b Horowitz Ken February 7 2013 Interview Joe Miller Sega 16 Archived from the original on December 2 2013 Retrieved May 25 2014 Joe Miller I d say that the rhetoric around the deteriorating relationship is probably overblown a little bit based on what I ve read Nakayama san and SOJ knew they had a strong proven management team in place at SOA and while everyone was concerned about growing the business neither side lost confidence in the other Sega Saturn in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on July 16 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 a b c d Sega and Sony Sell the Dream Edge Vol 3 no 17 February 1995 pp 6 9 The December 3 ship out of 100 000 PlayStations to stores across Japan was not met with the same euphoria charged reception that the Saturn received Saturn arrived to a rapturous reception in Japan on November 22 200 000 units sold out instantly on day one Japanese gamers were beside themselves as they walked away with their prized possession and a near perfect conversion of the Virtua Fighter coin op Sega and Sony have proved that with dedicated processors handling the drive the SH 1 in the Saturn s case negligible access times are possible Semrad Ed December 1994 Saturn Ahead of its Time Electronic Gaming Monthly No 65 p 6 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Fahs Travis April 21 2009 IGN Presents the History of Sega IGN p 8 Archived from the original on November 6 2015 Retrieved May 1 2014 Harris 2014 p 536 gives a lower figure of 170 000 a b Kent 2001 p 502 Buchanan Levi October 24 2008 32X Follies IGN Archived from the original on April 17 2016 Retrieved May 25 2013 Super 32X in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on July 16 2014 Retrieved February 23 2014 Japanese Stats Give Saturn the Edge Edge Vol 3 no 19 April 1995 pp 10 11 This equates to the Saturn shifting an average number of 17 241 units a day and the PlayStation 15 789 a b Sega Saturn You ve Watched the TV Commercials Now Read the Facts Next Generation Vol 1 no 8 August 1995 pp 26 32 a b c History of the PlayStation IGN August 28 1998 Archived from the original on February 18 2012 Retrieved November 16 2014 a b Kent 2001 p 504 The Making Of PlayStation Edge April 24 2009 p 3 Archived from the original on October 18 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 a b c Kent 2001 p 516 Let the games begin Sega Saturn hits retail shelves across the nation Sept 2 Japanese sales already put Sega on top of the charts Business Wire March 9 1995 Archived from the original on October 25 2014 Retrieved December 24 2014 Harris 2014 p 536 a b Sega Saturn launch takes consumers and retailers by storm retailers struggling to keep up with consumer demand Business Wire May 19 1995 Archived from the original on October 25 2016 Retrieved October 24 2016 Cifaldi Frank May 11 2010 This Day in History Sega Announces Surprise Saturn Launch 1UP com Archived from the original on June 29 2013 Retrieved December 10 2016 a b c d Schilling Mellissa A Spring 2003 Technological Leapfrogging Lessons From the U S Video Game Console Industry California Management Review 45 3 12 23 doi 10 2307 41166174 JSTOR 41166174 S2CID 114838931 Lack of distribution may have contributed significantly to the failure of the Sega Saturn to gain an installed base Sega had limited distribution for its Saturn launch which may have slowed the building of its installed base both directly because consumers had limited access to the product and indirectly because distributors that were initially denied product may have been reluctant to promote the product after the limitations were lifted Nintendo by contrast had unlimited distribution for its Nintendo 64 launch and Sony not only had unlimited distribution but had extensive experience with negotiating with retailing giants such as Wal Mart for its consumer electronics products cf Is War hell for Sega Next Generation Vol 2 no 13 January 1996 p 7 Tom Kalinske We needed to do something shocking because we were 100 more than the other guy I still think the surprise launch was a good idea If I had it to do over again would I do it a little differently Yeah definitely I wouldn t take the risk of annoying retailers the way we did I would clue them in and do an early launch in a region or three regions or something so we could include everybody Harris 2014 p 545 Kent 2001 pp 505 516 Patterson Patrick May 12 2015 This Week in Gaming History How E3 1995 changed gaming forever Syfy Games Archived from the original on December 25 2015 Retrieved June 25 2018 Keith Stuart May 14 2015 Sega Saturn how one decision destroyed PlayStation s greatest rival the Guardian Archived from the original on March 30 2018 Retrieved June 25 2018 Dear Saturn Mag I ve Heard the Saturn Couldn t Handle Alex Kidd Is This True Sega Saturn Magazine Vol 1 no 2 December 1995 p 51 Horsman Mathew November 11 1995 Sega profits plunge as rivals turn up the heat The Independent Archived from the original on January 20 2015 Retrieved January 20 2015 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc Business Development Europe SCE Archived from the original on July 28 2014 Retrieved January 20 2015 Sega Saturn gets astronomical send off with landmark marketing campaign Sega breaks 50 million marketing campaign to support surprise launch at E3 Business Wire May 11 1995 Archived from the original on February 18 2015 Retrieved February 18 2015 a b c d e f Finn Mark 2002 Console Games in the Age of Convergence In Mayra Frans ed Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings Proceedings of the Computer Games and 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Andy et al September 1995 Prepare Yourself for the Ultimate Racing Experience Game Informer Archived from the original on November 20 1997 Retrieved April 15 2014 Daytona rules the arcade but I think Ridge Racer dominates the home systems cf Air Hendrix August 1995 Pro Review Daytona USA GamePro Vol 7 no 73 p 50 Daytona pales in comparison to Ridge Racer for the Japanese PlayStation which takes an early lead with better features gameplay and graphics Mott 2013 p 239 A disastrous home version of Daytona USA for the Sega Saturn in 1995 is reviled for its choppy frame rate and flickering polygons Kent 2001 p 582 a b Tekken Edge Vol 3 no 21 June 1995 pp 66 70 Namco took a significant risk in basing its Tekken coin op on raw PlayStation hardware considering that it would be competing directly with Sega s Model 2 powered Virtua Fighter 2 For once a home system can boast an identical conversion of a cutting edge coin op Namco s research section managing director Shegeichi Nakamura explains When Sony came along we decided to go for a low cost system in short we ve left the big arcade stores to Sega and VF2 and Tekken has been sold to smaller arcade centres Namco has a further four titles planned for System 11 all of which are likely to make the jump to the PlayStation a b c Tokyo Drifter April 2002 Virtua Fight Club GamePro Vol 14 no 163 pp 48 50 Namco Next Generation Vol 1 no 1 January 1995 pp 70 73 Tekken Next Generation Vol 1 no 2 February 1995 p 82 An Audience With Katsuhiro Harada on 20 years of Tekken and the future of fighting games Edge September 23 2013 Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Mott 2013 p 254 cf Scary Larry August 1995 Pro Review Virtua Fighter GamePro Vol 7 no 73 p 48 The graphics were state of the art when this game was released in the arcades a year ago Other fighters notably Tekken and Toh Shin Den now make better use of the polygon engine Sega announces 299 Sega Saturn core pack Virtua Fighter Remix pack in available for 349 Business Wire October 2 1995 Archived from the original on May 4 2014 Retrieved December 24 2014 Sega of America Monday announced that effective immediately it will dramatically drop the price of its high end Sega Saturn system to 299 cf Reiner Andrew et al January 1996 Easy Left Baby Game Informer Archived from the original on November 20 1997 Retrieved September 16 2014 I m far more impressed with this title than I was with Daytona cf Top Gear Next Generation Vol 2 no 14 February 1996 p 160 cf Reiner Andrew et al January 1996 Rendered and Ready to Wear Game Informer Archived from the original on November 20 1997 Retrieved September 16 2014 cf Stunning Next Generation Vol 2 no 14 February 1996 p 162 Totally eliminates the hit or miss polarity of other light gun games and adds a whole new level of detail to the genre a b Virtua Fighter 2 is Here at Last Next Generation Archived from the original on April 19 1997 Retrieved April 12 2014 The VDP2 can generate and 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seamlessly to create a smooth surprisingly fast moving game that still looks striking today Saturn Technical Specs Next Generation Archived from the original on December 20 1996 Retrieved April 22 2014 a b Interview Ezra Dreisbach Curmudgeon Gamer July 9 2002 Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved December 24 2014 Ezra Dreisbach And really if you couldn t tell from the games the PSX is way better than the Saturn It s way simpler and way faster There are a lot of things about the Saturn that are totally dumb Chief among these is that you can t draw triangles only quadrilaterals Bettenhausen Shane Mielke James Kenji Eno Reclusive Japanese Game Creator Breaks His Silence 1UP com Archived from the original on March 22 2014 Retrieved December 10 2016 Kenji Eno But the PlayStation and the Saturn aren t that different so moving it Enemy Zero to Saturn wasn t too difficult Primal Rage Interview Electronic Gaming Monthly No 83 Ziff Davis June 1996 p 66 The PlayStation does polygons much better but Primal Rage is a sprite based game and the Saturn obviously has better sprite handling We can do better compression One of the big differences between the PlayStation and the Saturn versions is that the Saturn has 64 colors for each of the dinosaurs and background sprites as opposed to the PlayStation which has only 16 color sprites Moss Richard June 2 2014 Life after Death Meet the People Ensuring that Yesterday s Systems Will Never be Forgotten Edge Archived from the original on December 2 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Hackers are still unsure how some components work The official development system Edge Vol 3 no 23 August 1995 p 55 Treasure Talks Yuke Yuke IGN April 14 1997 Archived from the original on May 6 2014 Retrieved May 26 2014 Traveller s Tales Sonic R Programmer Speaks Sega Saturn Magazine Vol 3 no 24 October 1997 p 25 Inside the PlayStation Next Generation Vol 1 no 6 June 1995 p 51 Sega Saturn HST 0014 in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on December 14 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Hunter Yasuhiro May 1996 Sega Reveals a New Saturn Maximum The Video Game Magazine No 6 Emap International Limited p 127 On the Move Sega Saturn Magazine Vol 2 no 4 February 1996 p 9 Sega Saturn controller in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Sega Saturn wireless controller in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Sega Saturn Multi controller in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on October 25 2013 Retrieved March 3 2014 Virtua Stick in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Stick Fix GamePro No 84 IDG September 1995 p 118 Virtua Stick Pro in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Mission analog stick in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Fired in the Sky GamePro No 91 IDG April 1996 p 24 Twin stick in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Virtua Gun in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Racing controller in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Sega s Saturn is off to the Races Electronic Gaming Monthly Vol 7 no 73 August 1995 p 30 Saturn Gets Hooked Up Electronic Gaming Monthly No 82 Ziff Davis May 1996 p 20 Play cable in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Six Packed GamePro No 85 IDG October 1995 p 154 Multi Terminal 6 in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 3 2014 Sega s Saturn Launched in Japan Electronic Gaming Monthly No 65 December 1994 p 60 RAM cartridge in Japanese Sega Corporation Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Retrieved March 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Next Generation No 13 Imagine Media January 1996 p 9 Sega of Japan recently announced it was going to produce a Saturn with Internet access built in Blagdon Jeff April 17 2013 Forgotten Sega Pluto console prototype surfaces online update The Verge Archived from the original on March 22 2014 Retrieved March 22 2014 Sega Saturn Next Generation Vol 1 no 2 February 1995 pp 36 43 42 House Michael L The House of the Dead Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 14 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 a b c d e f g Best Saturn games of all time GamesRadar March 6 2014 Archived from the original on April 8 2016 Retrieved April 6 2014 But that doesn t mean it s a total bust Numerous excellent games were released for the console which was supported primarily in the mid to late 1990s including a variety of original Sega classics and several stellar third party releases RPG and fighting game fans in particular enjoyed a healthy array of options on the platform a b SEGA Saturn is number 18 IGN Archived from the original on January 20 2012 Retrieved January 23 2012 Fighters Megamix for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 26 2014 Retrieved March 26 2014 cf McNamara Andy et al May 1997 Fighters Megamix Saturn Game Informer Archived from the original on August 24 1999 Retrieved March 19 2014 This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles cf Williamson Colin Fighters Megamix Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 15 2014 Retrieved December 13 2014 cf Fighters Megamix Next Generation Online February 3 1998 Archived from the original on August 31 1999 Retrieved December 18 2016 The best console fighter yet Panzer Dragoon Saga for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on January 9 2013 Retrieved March 26 2014 cf Panzer Dragoon Saga Game Informer May 1998 Archived from the original on August 24 1999 Retrieved March 26 2014 Only Final Fantasy VII tops it cf Panzer Dragoon Saga Review Edge March 25 1998 Archived from the original on December 24 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival cf Panzer Dragoon Saga Next Generation Online May 14 1998 Archived from the original on August 29 1999 Retrieved December 19 2016 One of the best RPGs ever Dragon Force for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 26 2014 Retrieved March 26 2014 Guardian Heroes for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 26 2014 Retrieved March 26 2014 Mott 2013 p 300 Nights Into Dreams for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved March 26 2014 Mott 2013 p 302 Panzer Dragoon II Zwei for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 26 2014 Retrieved March 26 2014 Shining Force III for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 26 2014 Retrieved March 26 2014 Shining creators Hiroyuki Takahashi and Shugo Takahashi have named Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force 3 their favorite games in the series See Power Profiles Takahashi Brothers Nintendo Power Vol 21 no 229 August 2008 pp 80 83 a b Mott 2013 p 350 cf Sega Sports Does It One More Time Game Informer November 1995 Archived from the original on August 24 1999 Retrieved March 19 2014 World Series Baseball is by far the smoothest baseball game ever made cf Worldwide Soccer 98 Game Informer January 1998 Archived from the original on September 30 1999 Retrieved March 19 2014 The graphics are smooth and the physics are perfect Sonic 3D Blast Game Informer January 1997 Archived from the original on October 21 1997 Retrieved November 27 2014 Bug for Saturn GameRankings Archived from the original on March 15 2014 Retrieved March 15 2014 cf McNamara Andy et al September 1995 Not To Be Denied Game Informer Archived from the original on November 20 1997 Retrieved March 15 2014 cf Bug review Electronic Gaming Monthly Vol 7 no 73 August 1995 p 38 Buchanan Levi February 2 2009 What Hath Sonic Wrought Vol 10 IGN Archived from the original on November 11 2013 Retrieved March 15 2014 Steven Spielberg CES 1995 This is the character This is the character that is going to do it for Saturn Bug Next Generation Vol 1 no 9 September 1995 pp 88 89 Buchanan Levi August 18 2008 Nights into Dreams Retro Review IGN Archived from the original on December 27 2012 Retrieved December 17 2014 a b Robinson Martin May 10 2012 Nights Into Dreams HD review Eurogamer Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved December 17 2014 Classic Reviews Burning Rangers Game Informer Vol 12 no 110 June 2002 p 104 This futuristic fire fighting game was an instant cult classic The game has all the makings of a masterpiece but is held back by both the Saturn s limited power and the fireman motif a b Buchanan Levi September 3 2008 Burning Rangers Retro Review IGN Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 A wholly competent but somewhat workmanlike as the Saturn was not as good at 3D as the PSone or N64 action adventure game Mott 2013 p 353 Sakura Wars Strikes the Dreamcast IGN October 19 1999 An introduction to Sakura Wars the RPG series created to save the Sega Saturn Eurogamer April 15 2020 cf Japan Votes on All Time Top 100 Edge March 3 2006 Archived from the original on October 10 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 cf Catching up with Tecmo s Prince of Darkness Game Informer Vol 15 no 140 December 2004 p 203 Tomonobu Itagaki Saturn was a great machine great system If someone were to ask me if I want to make a game for PSone or Saturn I would 100 percent of the time make games for the Saturn Panzer Dragoon Saga for Saturn GameRankings CBS Interactive Archived from the original on 15 May 2013 Retrieved 19 December 2015 a b Panzer Dragoon Saga The Sad Tale of the Saturn s Last Great Game Game Informer Vol 17 no 176 December 2007 pp 164 165 One of the greatest games ever crafted by human hands Critically the game was a smash hit lauded as one of the year s best and generally considered the Saturn s finest title But despite glowing reviews across the board Saga was destined to fail Sega had moved on shifted its focus to developing its next console the Dreamcast and wasn t willing to risk any more money on a system that had already lost so much Therefore less than 20 000 retail copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga were even made making it a very rare title and a prize for collectors a b Mott 2013 p 361 The History of Sega Fighting Games GameSpot p 11 Archived from the original on May 17 2009 Retrieved December 17 2014 The History of Sega Fighting Games GameSpot p 12 Archived from the original on May 17 2009 Retrieved December 17 2014 Vore Bryan October 12 2011 Guardian Heroes Game Informer Archived from the original on March 30 2014 Retrieved March 17 2014 Even though some aspects of Guardian Heroes haven t aged well the strength of the battle system branching paths and characters help this brawler retain its place near the top of the class cf Parkin Simon October 12 2011 Guardian Heroes Eurogamer Archived from the original on February 3 2014 Retrieved March 28 2014 One of the most satisfying combat games ever conceived Wallace Kimberley April 16 2013 Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers Game Informer Archived from the original on January 4 2015 Retrieved March 17 2014 I still can t believe that a game that came out in 1997 feels so fresh and exciting over 15 years later Top 10 Cult Classics 1UP com June 22 2005 Archived from the original on June 29 2012 Retrieved December 10 2016 Hatfield Daemon September 13 2011 Radiant Silvergun Review IGN Archived from the original on July 12 2017 Retrieved March 15 2014 Time Extend Radiant Silvergun Edge January 12 2013 Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Ohbuchi Yutaka October 21 1998 RE2 for Saturn Canceled GameSpot Archived from the original on November 10 2014 Retrieved November 23 2014 Suzuki Yes on VF3 Next Generation November 22 1996 Archived from the original on December 20 1996 Retrieved April 21 2014 The History of Sega Fighting Games Page 18 GameSpot Archived from the original on May 17 2009 Retrieved June 6 2014 Sega executives started to quietly state that Virtua Fighter 3 was not going to come out for the Saturn Game Machine Cross Review セガサターン Weekly Famicom Tsushin in Japanese No 335 May 12 19 1995 p 166 Lynch Dennis June 16 1995 Saturn Runs Rings Around Its Rivals Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on January 20 2015 Retrieved January 20 2015 Kim Albert June 9 1995 Sega Saturn Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on January 20 2015 Retrieved January 20 2015 EGM rates the systems of 1996 1996 Video Game Buyer s Guide December 1996 Electronic Gaming Monthly looks at the top systems for this year 1998 Video Game Buyer s Guide 51 December 1998 How Consoles Die Edge September 17 2008 p 3 Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved March 5 2015 Stuart Keith May 15 2015 Sega Saturn how to buy one and what to play The Guardian Archived from the original on May 26 2015 Retrieved May 27 2015 Towell Justin November 22 2014 Sega Saturn turns 20 and it s not as shit as you think GamesRadar Archived from the original on January 20 2015 Retrieved January 20 2015 Perry Douglass C September 9 2009 The Rise and Fall of Dreamcast Gamasutra Archived from the original on March 18 2014 Retrieved December 24 2014 Buchanan Levi July 29 2008 Top 10 SEGA Saturn Games IGN Archived from the original on July 12 2017 Retrieved March 26 2014 Stuart Keith May 14 2015 Sega Saturn how one decision destroyed PlayStation s greatest rival The Guardian Archived from the original on May 26 2015 Retrieved May 27 2015 Bibliography EditDeMaria Rusel Wilson Johnny L 2004 High Score The Illustrated History of Electronic Games Emeryville California McGraw Hill Osborne ISBN 0 07 223172 6 Harris Blake J 2014 Console Wars Sega Nintendo and the Battle That Defined a Generation New York HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 227669 8 Kent Steven L 2001 The Ultimate History of Video Games The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World Roseville California Prima Publishing ISBN 0 7615 3643 4 Mott Tony 2013 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die New York Universe Publishing ISBN 978 0 7893 2090 2 Portal Video games Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sega Saturn amp oldid 1133597985, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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