My analysis of Saturn's failure

It was admittedly weaker in places than both.

You were definitely missing out by being locked to one console that gen.

Absolutely

Just looking at consoles, today Switch consoles still get so many excellent Nintendo games making it essential, where as Microsoft have practically made owning an Xbox pointless to anyone with a PS5.

As for 5th gen, these are my top 8 console exclusives for each...

Saturn
1. Virtua Fighter 2
2. Sega Rally
3. Nights: into Dreams
4. Saturn Bomberman
5. Virtua Cop 2
6. Fighting Vipers
7. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
8. Virtual On

N64
1. Ocarina of Time
2. Mario 64
3. Perfect Dark
4. Banjo Kazooie
5. GoldenEye
6. F-Zero X
7. International Superstar Soccer 2000
8. Lylat Wars

PlayStation
1. Metal Gear Solid
2. Gran Turismo 2
3. Tekken 3
4. ISS Pro Evolution 2
5. Tomb Raider II
6. Ridge Racer Type 4
7. Ape Escape
8. Silent Hill

Most people couldn't afford all 3, so most people missed out on so many classics in the late 90s. PC had so many big exclusives compared to today too.
 
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There were so many games coming out for PS1 that I doubt that anyone that owned it felt like they were missing out unlike owners of the other two.

I agree

It has quality across all genres, though I'd say there's nothing on PS1 or Saturn that reaches the level of Oracina of Time or Mario 64 for me, Perfect Dark and GoldenEye are the only console FPS games I like from that generation too.
 
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We all very much appreciate that library of 2d games today, and I did back then, too. But the zeitgeist in those years was "32-BIT CDROM" and these consoles were promising the fucking world. When ps1 won the market, 2d games were starting to get more of a fair shake again but in those years of 3DO, 32X, and Jaguar, I was in a frenzy for 3d games.

I knew that some of these 2d games I was passing over were more well developed and complete than the 3d ones I passed them over for. But novelty goes a long way. Twisted Metal is a hot mess but hey I'd never played anything like that. That counts for a lot even if it doesn't hold up the best these days. At the time I wanted to see what my new $300 toy could really do and there were endless examples.

And no the huge bias towards 3d wasn't just everyone blinded by sony marketing. It's because 3d was there and it was the real thing. It looked awesome and enabled so much new gameplay. I those 94-96 years were dominated by 3d games and it's a totally natural thing to expect.
Fully agree.

It's so easy today to critisize the 3D 5th gen games and in hindsight declare they haven't aged well, And how the 2D games look timeless and all that.

But back then it was different. People wanted 3D textured grsphics. That's what those new consoles brought to the table. Whoever was going to deliver the better 3D textured graphics would win. And so it did.
 
It has quality across all genres, though I'd say there's nothing on PS1 or Saturn that reaches the level of Oracina of Time or Mario 64 for me.
Okay but they are both wack to me. Toddler-fare compared to the likes of Soul Reaver and Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. I never knew anyone with Banjo Kazooie or Resident Evil 2 on N64 at the time either.
 
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Fully agree.

It's so easy today to critisize the 3D 5th gen games and in hindsight declare they haven't aged well, And how the 2D games look timeless and all that.

But back then it was different. People wanted 3D textured grsphics. That's what those new consoles brought to the table. Whoever was going to deliver the better 3D textured graphics would win. And so it did.

In many ways the games that were popular back then are still popular today.

The appeal was newly immersive worlds to escape into and that's why the likes of 3D Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Harry Potter were huge during the 5th gen and are huge today.

People would have you believe that if Bernie Stolar had allowed porting of 2D shmups that it would be a different story, people didn't want them then just like they don't want them today.
 
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In many ways the games that were popular back then are still popular today.

The appeal was newly immersive worlds to explore and that's why the likes of 3D Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Harry Potter are still big today.

People would have you believe that if Bernie Stolar had allowed porting of 2D shmups that it would be a different story, people didn't want them then just like they don't want them today.
Resident Evil is a dominant IP but Zelda fell off after COVID lockdowns and plays second fiddle to FromSoft medieval themed titles. You have to be a habitual Nintendo user to even consider playing Mario or Pokemon nowadays. Nintendo is a hell of a drug.

P.S. Harry Potter fades in and out of relevancy based on media.
 
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Resident Evil is a dominant IP but Zelda fell off after COVID lockdowns and plays second fiddle to FromSoft medieval themed titles. You have to be a habitual Nintendo user to even consider playing Mario or Pokemon nowadays. Nintendo is a hell of a drug.

P.S. Harry Potter fades in and out of relevancy based on media.

I'm sorry but you're talking out of your arse!

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (21m) joins Breath of the Wild (32m) in absolutely trouncing sales of prior installments (previous high being Twilight Princess at 9m sold) and released way after the pandemic.

Zelda has absolutely blown up in terms of players and fans this decade,

Mario Kart 8 and Mario Odyssey on Switch are two of the best selling Mario games of all time and counting.

Hogwarts Legacy has been a consistent high seller for 2 years now.




 
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People didn't feel like they were missing out because half the games never left Japan. Anyone at all that was a Street Fighter fan could easily see the difference on Saturn. Most of the people I hung out with owned both Saturn AND PS, but gaming was like our entire existence, and paid the bills back then too.
 
People didn't feel like they were missing out because half the games never left Japan. Anyone at all that was a Street Fighter fan could easily see the difference on Saturn. Most of the people I hung out with owned both Saturn AND PS, but gaming was like our entire existence, and paid the bills back then too.

Would the likes of Sakura Wars, Super Robot Wars, Night Warriors, Grandia or Neon Genesis Evangelion really have moved the needle for Saturn in the west?

Outside of the Final Fantasy games JRPGs didn't sell in great numbers in the west. Barely anyone in the west bought Dragon Force on Saturn or Grandia on PlayStation for example.
 
on our timeline these games did nothing for the Sega Saturn, they only served to boost the PS1 then it is preferable not to have them all imo.

Many people bought Saturns to play those games, FIFA and Tomb Raider were big sellers in the UK.

You don't just take away games completely because they didn't look as nice as other consoles, it's always better to have them than not.

Saturn desperately needed quality games in these 2 categories...


1. 3D action/adventure

2. 3D platformers
 
Many people bought Saturns to play those games, FIFA and Tomb Raider were big sellers in the UK.
another timeline there would be other games, people would like them as much as these, new reality, new heroes if you don't understand this, well. But these are just conjectures, the past cannot change, but since you try to refute me, I suggest you present some solution to save the Sega Saturn without modifying its hardware. I wait
 
another timeline there would be other games, people would like them as much as these, new reality, new heroes if you don't understand this, well. But these are just conjectures, the past cannot change, but since you try to refute me, I suggest you present some solution to save the Sega Saturn without modifying its hardware. I wait

Yeah that's the best starting point, hardware is set in stone, Saturn is Saturn.

In order of priority

1. Investment in dev tools, they're way behind Sony in this regard, something like SGL needs to be available by end of 1993, not 1995

2. Yuji Naka, you're making a 3D Sonic whether you like it or not. Console needs to launch with Sonic Jam, and a game with several levels based off Sonic Jam's Sonic World engine needs to be ready by Christmas 1996

3. Instead of 32X fob Calinske off with a couple more SVP games (Star Wars being one).

4. Launch western Saturn in September as originally planned

5. Yu Suzuki, after Virtua Fighter 2 no more derivative cash-ins (Kids/Fighting Vipers/Megamix), move straight onto Project Berkely, Saturn needs a fully 3D adventure exclusive by Christmas 1997 (otherwise RetroGamingUK is trading his in for a PlayStation with Tomb Raider II)

6. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, after Sega Rally no more arcade racers, I want you to make a big driving game with a career mode based on the Sega Rally engine, it needs to release before Gran Turismo.


Result: 30 million units sold as of 2000

Best selling games:

1. Sonic World 2
2. Sonic World
3. Sega GT
4. Shenmue
5. Tomb Raider II
6. Virtua Fighter 2
7. Sega Rally
8. Daytona USA (doesn't run like shit at launch thanks to SGL)
9. Resident Evil
10. Nights: into Dreams (doesn't release until 1999)
 
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Would the likes of Sakura Wars, Super Robot Wars, Night Warriors, Grandia or Neon Genesis Evangelion really have moved the needle for Saturn in the west?

Outside of the Final Fantasy games JRPGs didn't sell in great numbers in the west. Barely anyone in the west bought Dragon Force on Saturn or Grandia on PlayStation for example.
Nah, PS1 had such dominance it would not have mattered too much, but Saturn could have held on longer and given possibly more funding and 3rd party support to Sega for the future of Dreamcast. Overall I think gaming just still wasn't ready for global. Back then it still took over a year for a JP game to release to English markets, often in a very half ass translation state which def did not help.
 
Like I said before, I think more of a mistake than Shinobi was SEGA not porting Revenge Of Death Adder and Arbian Fight, games that not only would have been a great showcase for Saturn 2D and with Golden Axe a totally brilliant game to a SEGA fans IP fav, but also great titles for the Multi-Tap
They're not possible, there's a lack of memory, Rad Mobile had to change some models to run at 30fps.
Are you really comparing Cyber Speedway to the PlayStation version of Wipeout ?
Sega made a mistake by designing hardware unsuitable for running its own games.
 
If you enjoyed Fighting Force or something more because it was 3D, sorry, you did fall for the marketing of 3D flash
I liked this game, it officially sold 1M copies, Sega made a mistake in not naming this game as Streets of Rage, change the characters, music by Yuzo Koshiro, job done.
 
Yu Suzuki, after Virtua Fighter 2 no more derivative cash-ins (Kids/Fighting Vipers/Megamix), move straight onto Project Berkely, Saturn needs a fully 3D adventure exclusive by Christmas 1997 (otherwise RetroGamingUK is trading his in for a PlayStation with Tomb Raider II)
Fighting Vipers/Megamix are more innovative and directed by Hiroshi Takaoka. Tomb Raider II was polarizing and far from an ideal sequel.
 
Fighting Vipers/Megamix are more innovative and directed by Hiroshi Takaoka. Tomb Raider II was polarizing and far from an ideal sequel.

Tomb Raider II reviewed great and sold great.

I was a big fan of the original and going into Christmas 1997 I had my eye on 3 games; Last Bronx, Touring Car, Sonic R).

Last Bronx didn't click with me like VF2, Touring Car's demo was a fucking disgrace, the final straw was playing Sonic R in Curry's, it looked amazing but half an hour in I'm feeling "this is terrible, why can't I get into it".

Right next to it though is a PlayStation with the Venice level of Tomb Raider II. After about 15 minutes of playing I'm buying a PlayStation along with TR2, Soul Blade and ISS Pro.



Tomb Raider III, on the other hand, can fuck off.
 
PS: VF/Daytona as the face of Saturn (still for hardcore haters, never mind then) after VC/2, Sega Rally, VF Remix/2 (or random ok stuff like Hang On) vs weaker board PS ports is another (Sony) marketing success (gaming/mainstream media covered it & little after).

OMG are you insinuating that I'm a hardcore hater? My lord, man.

Only by rejecting all multiplatform games would Sega have any chance. And definitely, their 3D game should be clones of Guardian Heroes and Clockwork knight maybe some fighting games , many clones made at industrial level, after so many games some of them burst the bubble. In any other scenario, Sega wouldn't have a chance, not with the weak Saturn that was released.

OMG you are a madman!.
 
Yeah that's the best starting point, hardware is set in stone, Saturn is Saturn.

In order of priority

1. Investment in dev tools, they're way behind Sony in this regard, something like SGL needs to be available by end of 1993, not 1995

2. Yuji Naka, you're making a 3D Sonic whether you like it or not. Console needs to launch with Sonic Jam, and a game with several levels based off Sonic Jam's Sonic World engine needs to be ready by Christmas 1996

3. Instead of 32X fob Calinske off with a couple more SVP games (Star Wars being one).

4. Launch western Saturn in September as originally planned

5. Yu Suzuki, after Virtua Fighter 2 no more derivative cash-ins (Kids/Fighting Vipers/Megamix), move straight onto Project Berkely, Saturn needs a fully 3D adventure exclusive by Christmas 1997 (otherwise RetroGamingUK is trading his in for a PlayStation with Tomb Raider II)

6. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, after Sega Rally no more arcade racers, I want you to make a big driving game with a career mode based on the Sega Rally engine, it needs to release before Gran Turismo.


Result: 30 million units sold as of 2000

Best selling games:

1. Sonic World 2
2. Sonic World
3. Sega GT
4. Shenmue
5. Tomb Raider II
6. Virtua Fighter 2
7. Sega Rally
8. Daytona USA (doesn't run like shit at launch thanks to SGL)
9. Resident Evil
10. Nights: into Dreams (doesn't release until 1999)
your result would be worse than what Sega achieved.
 
The only way that SEGA could have been helped, is by finding a way to prevent Sony from buying the entirety of the good third party games.

It's not like SEGA had a shitty product and shitty games, far from it. A ton of Saturn games reviewed extremely well, just as well as PS1 games. And the consoles were close enough. You can have few missteps, it is not going to turn a good product with good games in a complete disaster (see PS3 for this).

However, if your main competitor starts buying all the third party games that could drive your sales, you are fucked.

Going into 1996 the MegaDrive and Game Gear were still relevant. They could have kept these two going to make some easy money.
 
Yeah that's the best starting point, hardware is set in stone, Saturn is Saturn.

In order of priority

1. Investment in dev tools, they're way behind Sony in this regard, something like SGL needs to be available by end of 1993, not 1995

2. Yuji Naka, you're making a 3D Sonic whether you like it or not. Console needs to launch with Sonic Jam, and a game with several levels based off Sonic Jam's Sonic World engine needs to be ready by Christmas 1996

3. Instead of 32X fob Calinske off with a couple more SVP games (Star Wars being one).

4. Launch western Saturn in September as originally planned

5. Yu Suzuki, after Virtua Fighter 2 no more derivative cash-ins (Kids/Fighting Vipers/Megamix), move straight onto Project Berkely, Saturn needs a fully 3D adventure exclusive by Christmas 1997 (otherwise RetroGamingUK is trading his in for a PlayStation with Tomb Raider II)

6. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, after Sega Rally no more arcade racers, I want you to make a big driving game with a career mode based on the Sega Rally engine, it needs to release before Gran Turismo.


Result: 30 million units sold as of 2000

Best selling games:

1. Sonic World 2
2. Sonic World
3. Sega GT
4. Shenmue
5. Tomb Raider II
6. Virtua Fighter 2
7. Sega Rally
8. Daytona USA (doesn't run like shit at launch thanks to SGL)
9. Resident Evil
10. Nights: into Dreams (doesn't release until 1999)

Yeah not bad.

Anyone know if there was any way they could have launched at 299? Was the bomb too high or so we even know that?
 
The only way that SEGA could have been helped, is by finding a way to prevent Sony from buying the entirety of the good third party games.

It's not like SEGA had a shitty product and shitty games, far from it. A ton of Saturn games reviewed extremely well, just as well as PS1 games. And the consoles were close enough. You can have few missteps, it is not going to turn a good product with good games in a complete disaster (see PS3 for this).

However, if your main competitor starts buying all the third party games that could drive your sales, you are fucked.

Going into 1996 the MegaDrive and Game Gear were still relevant. They could have kept these two going to make some easy money.

Blaming Sony is such a cop out

N64 sold over 32m units and made a healthy profit off that console.

Nintendo now outsell PlayStation consoles.
 
Thanks to Iwata and totally shifting to another market.

Sega had no equivalent to Mario 64 (over 11m sold)

Sega had no equivalent to GoldenEye
(over 8m sold)

Sega had no equivalent to Ocarina (over 7m sold)

Nintendo survived and thrived because they were better than Sega, better management, better talent better games resulting in better sales.

N64 made profit and succeeded, Saturn made big losses and failed, it's that simple.
 
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Put FF7, Tomb Raider 2, Resident Evil 2 and MGS on Saturn and you get a different story. Not a single SEGA game needed.

Why only on Saturn? If PlayStation didn't "buy" exclusives then, barring FFVII, those other games come to N64 and you're back to first party being the differentiator.
 
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Fighting Vipers/Megamix are more innovative and directed by Hiroshi Takaoka. Tomb Raider II was polarizing and far from an ideal sequel.
nobody cares, the Saturn didn't need 3D fighter after 3D fighter after 3D fighter.

The only way that SEGA could have been helped, is by finding a way to prevent Sony from buying the entirety of the good third party games.

It's not like SEGA had a shitty product and shitty games, far from it. A ton of Saturn games reviewed extremely well, just as well as PS1 games. And the consoles were close enough. You can have few missteps, it is not going to turn a good product with good games in a complete disaster (see PS3 for this).

However, if your main competitor starts buying all the third party games that could drive your sales, you are fucked.

Going into 1996 the MegaDrive and Game Gear were still relevant. They could have kept these two going to make some easy money.
Sony was so bad at buying third party games that Sony games came out for Saturn.

The Saturn got plenty of third party support. Until it didn't. And it didn't not because Sony was buying all of them, it was because the Saturn was failing and it was clear Sega was giving up on it.
 
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Why only on Saturn? If PlayStation didn't "buy" exclusives then, barring FFVII, those other games come to N64 and you're back to first party being the differentiator.
Did I say only on Saturn somewhere ? Put Tomb Raider II on N64 as well if it makes you happy. The end result will be the same : less forced sales for PS1 and more sales for Saturn and N64.

And it didn't not because Sony was buying all of them, it was because the Saturn was failing and it was clear Sega was giving up on it.
The Saturn largely failed because Sony occupied all the communication landscape and offered insane marketing advantages to third parties, when they didn't directly buy exclusivity or constrained them in some way.

Which led to Saturn being abandoned to move on quickly to the next console, which was the worst move SEGA could make as the Dreamcast totally tanked the company.

But we already had this discussion.
 
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By that logic the N64 did not need 3D platformer after 3D platformer after 3D platformer.

The point is that Sega had scarce time and resources in those early years and they dedicated it to making a gazillion 3D fighters that most people realistically are not going to buy (like, yea, you buy one, maybe two, but come on), while neglecting core properties that could have made the system more successful.
 
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By that logic the N64 did not need 3D platformer after 3D platformer after 3D platformer. And unlike 3D fighters on the Saturn they all sucked with the sole exception of Banjo Kazooie.

Mario 64, Conker, Banjo Tooie, Rayman 2 all sucked?

I'd love to hear your opinion on the platformers Sega shat out on Saturn.

Going from Sonic, Dynamite Headdy, Ristar etc to dogshit like Clockwork Knight and Bug! was just depressing.
 
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dogshit like Clockwork Knight
tom-delonge-blink182.gif


Dynamite Headdy was developed by Treasure, by the way.
 
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Sony was aggressive on deals (which included marketing and development support at times), but I think a lot of that was to make up for not having the proven in-house game pipeline. Both nintendo and sega would pump out good games. Nintendo made good choices of what games to make, sega not so much. Nintendo went straight for mario, zelda, and kart.

Sega came with Bug and Clockwork night. Not like that's all it was, but in their place we could have had eco or vectorman. Even Panzer Dragoon perhaps should have been Thunderblade. Search your feelings...


edit: wow just missed retrogaminkuk with the bug and clockwork knight lol. Co-signed those were booty and awful choices to go forward with.
 
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tom-delonge-blink182.gif


Dynamite Headdy was developed by Treasure, by the way.

They had a good relationship with treasure, though. But it's hard to say if they could have got treasure to lean into an especially flashy game with 3d effects before they felt ready. They did get radiant silvergun as an exclusive later so that's a strong hint the relationship was still good.
 
Mario 64, Conker, Banjo Tooie, Rayman 2 all sucked?

I'd love to hear your opinion on the platformers Sega shat out on Saturn.

Going from Sonic, Dynamite Headdy, Ristar etc to dogshit like Clockwork Knight and Bug! was just depressing.
They were mediocre and have aged worse than Banjo Kazooie. From a modern lens they do all suck. Also, forget Sega for a moment. Saturn received the only good version of Earthworm Jim 2 which was a great follow up to the Genesis king. Meanwhile, N64's Earthworm Jim 3D was so bad it killed the IP.
 
I'm going to raise you and say bug and clockwork sucked at the time, too.
They did. 3D platformers were not a strength of the Saturn. At the same time entire genres were absent on N64...

P.S. Hybrids like Burning Rangers were awesome though. The system also had a game like Sonic The Hedgehog called Tryrush Deppy (never localized :rolleyes:).
 
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They did. 3D platformers were not a strength of the Saturn. At the same time entire genres were absent on N64...

P.S. Hybrids like Burning Rangers were awesome though.

There was waaaaay less overlap in libraries back then. It's clear looking back that you could make up for missing exclusives with your own. You could get a hit game out in a year!
 
There was waaaaay less overlap in libraries back then. It's clear looking back that you could make up for missing exclusives with your own. You could get a hit game out in a year!
I am not so sure. Brands were still king back in the day and marketing was the key to making new IPs sell.
 
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I am not so sure. Brands were still king back in the day and marketing was the key to making new IPs sell.

But sega had the brands!!! Some would need to be dusted off a bit, but those mid-late genesis ip's were still viable with a strong refresh. They just needed to far exceed what you had seen on 16-bit.
 
But sega had the brands!!! Some would need to be dusted off a bit, but those mid-late genesis ip's were still viable with a strong refresh. They just needed to far exceed what you had seen on 16-bit.
Outside of Sonic SEGA did not really have mainstream IPs. Most of the best selling Genesis games were third party. I even think the constant Sonic releases caused franchise fatigue.
 
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