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[Geometric-Crusher]

If we look, we will see that the western Sonic fans are the ones who support Sega's business.

but we don't guide anything, we are passive, Sega has modern arcades and doesn't make a port, the community demands a Saturn Mini they say it's not viable however Genesis collection gives us, even Genesis Mini, Genesis Genesis Genesis. games that fans have grown tired of playing for years.

I think Sega fans deserve better. They deserve to be heard, for example.

 

[Puscifer]

None, it's architecture is so ridiculously complex that we got a fully functioning PS3 emulator running games in 4K before we got Saturn games running at full speed. It's just not worth the effort for them, and even if it was at that point just buy an original Saturn and a drive emulator to save yourself the hassle.

 

[diffusionx]

You need to be reasonable here. A Saturn Mini would require much more processing power and storage than a Genesis Mini, with the corresponding costs. This is to say nothing of ensuring the emulation is good enough. Never say never but if we saw one in say the next 5 years I'd be surprised. The "mini" game console trend largely burned out anyway, they're not the novelty and normie gift they used to be.

 

[nkarafo]

None, it's architecture is so ridiculously complex that we got a fully functioning PS3 emulator running games in 4K before we got Saturn games running at full speed.

Not true. We had SSF since the early 2000s. It could run the majority of Saturn games without major bugs and near full speed on my Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, more than a decade ago.

You need to be reasonable here. A Saturn Mini would require much more processing power and storage than a Genesis Mini, with the corresponding costs. This is to say nothing of ensuring the emulation is good enough.

True. I was also saying the same thing in older Saturn Mini posts.

However, the same applies for the N64, if not more so. Yet Nintendo was able to emulate it on the good old Wii. Pretty sure even the cheapest soc in existence is more powerful that that.

Of course, the emulation itself was not accurate.... But when was the last time Nintendo (or any other publisher/developer) made an accurate emulator? Even on the Switch, the emulator is less accurate than something like Mupen64plus (let alone Ares).

Publishers don't care about accuracy. I think the only official emulator that was made for retail and it's very accurate was the one used for the Atari 50 release (which btw made it's way on PC and it's now the best Jaguar Emulator available). But other than that, every other emulator is just "good enough" to be able to play some games.

As for the size of the games, that didn't stop the PS1 mini. 5th gen CD games are not that big and most of the time they filled less than 50% of the disk, you can easily fit more than 100 games on a 64GB flash drive (which costs what, 5-10$ these days?) without even compressing them. You can fit 100 games in chd format on a 32GB flash drive. They only need enough space for what, 20-30 games?

 

[Alexios]

Yeah just stop talking about Sega altogether, that will teach em, thanks.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

Oh that would be at least as impressive as the harry potter boycott.

 

[Hudo]

None, because some people at Sega Japan already said that they've looked into a Saturn Mini and concluded that it's not worth doing for the price they'd need to charge customers.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Sega doesn’t want people to remember there ever was anything after the Genesis.

They made a custom box for playing Nights and another custom box for playing Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. Then they realized it would be more financially sound to just let other companies make hardware to run their games on. Saturn and Dreamcast are folk tales. They never existed. Why would they re-release consoles that never existed? Burning who? Skies of what? Jet Set Radio, what station is that?

 

[ShirAhava]

Sega is sitting on a pile of golden IP and does almost nothing of value with it say nothing of the Saturn

Sega doesn't have a fundamental understanding of what made Sega great or respect for its own legacy

Just a bunch of bean counters and greedy old Yakuza who want games about how cool they were back in the day

Buy a saturn and one of those fancy SD Card mods and make your own "mini"

 

[cireza]

Mini consoles are a pain. Release the games on all platforms.

 

[Shifty1897]

These mini consoles are potato chipsets running well optimized emulators. Saturn emulation is just not there, the price of the chip needed to get these games close to smooth would cause the mini console to cost more than the average consumer is willing to pay for it.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Sega has modern arcades and doesn't make ports, how difficult is it to put it in a box and sell it to us?
I think Sega fans deserve better

 

[Roger Rabbit]

I hope there are a few more Astro City Minis on the way, but I’m not holding my breath. The first one gave us Revenge Of Death Adder, which I never thought would be ported. A new one with Sega Rally, Manx TT and some more arcade ports would be amazing.

 

[RoboFu]

The chip you need to make it run well is far beyond the price of a $99 retail unit.

 

[StereoVsn]

The chip you need to make it run well is far beyond the price of a $99 retail unit.

Yep, Saturn Mini would run $200-250 at least, and nobody would buy it in the West to justify the effort.

Sega instead needs to get their crap together and release remasters of the better Saturn and Dreamcast games. Where are Panzer Dragoon Saga and Skies of Arcadia ? Why the hell haven’t these games been re-released?

I am guessing maybe code was lost but even then could have released on modern consoles and PC through emulation or something.

 

[Deerock71]

Boycott Sega? This would be them in a week:

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Yep, Saturn Mini would run $200-250 at least, and nobody would buy it in the West to justify the effort.

Do you believe it ? Dude Dreamcast , a new tech was $ 199 in 1999.
If they don't want to make a retro Saturn then let them launch a new one. $349 I buy, the important thing is not to invent excuses to deceive fans by launching the same Genesis collection as always and always.

 

[KiteGr]

Why should we want a Saturn Mini?

Just Emulate the 20+ games worth a damn, fan-translations and decensore patches included, into your Raspberry-Pi powerd PS1 mini.

 

[El Muerto]

I think the mini console fad is over with. They should just release a Saturn classics compilation for consoles/steam. Cotton Guardian Force on the Switch uses a Saturn emulator so Sega can easily do it. And if you have a hacked Switch you can play Saturn isos with it too.

 

[gunstarhero]

Just do a Saturn collection on modern consoles - Digital Eclipse style. Do a deluxe edition that comes with one of those 8bitDo Saturn controllers.

Honestly, the nostalgia is why you run out and buy a mini console anyway - I'd rather the games come with interviews, history facts, etc.

I want my Last Bronx to have lore!

 

[Del_X]

Boycotting a company to spend millions over a niche system (in the west) that a niche audience would even buy is definitely a take

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’d love a Saturn mini myself but don’t see it happening. I doubt the hardware exists on a cheap enough level to make it viable.

 

[PanzerCute]

Too much of a hassle, no return on investment.

 

[poppabk]

I'm in, I won't buy a Saturn mini or a single Saturn game until they release a Staurn mini. Let's see how they like them apples.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Not true. We had SSF since the early 2000s. It could run the majority of Saturn games without major bugs and near full speed on my Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, more than a decade ago.

That's what I did back in the day and, no issues. Not even a lot of RAM (2 GB IIRC) and integrated graphics.

Just had to make sure not many other things were running in the background. No web browsing video, for example.

Yep, Saturn Mini would run $200-250 at least, and nobody would buy it in the West to justify the effort.

Sega instead needs to get their crap together and release remasters of the better Saturn and Dreamcast games. Where are Panzer Dragoon Saga and Skies of Arcadia ? Why the hell haven’t these games been re-released?

I am guessing maybe code was lost but even then could have released on modern consoles and PC through emulation or something.

Panzer Dragoon Saga code was never really "lost", that was just a long-running myth. Got (pseudo) debunked a few years ago by Futatsugi himself:



Basically, between the game being finished and being mastered for print he left Sega, so he wouldn't have known what happened to the code. While they jokingly talk about the code being "discovered", I don't think they would say that without knowing the source code was in fact still around. At least, IMO.

Although for a simple remaster they wouldn't need the source code anyway. It's something like a remake where that would be a potential requirement. The studio that remade Panzer Dragoon and Zwei mentioned they were planning to do a remake for Saga as well. I'd assume they have access to the source code, in order to attempt such a remake.

Granted I think that studio's ran into some problems lately dev-wise on other projects so that could make a remake by them, less likely.

 

[SmokedMeat]

In order to get Sega to make a Saturn Mini we should boycott them, so Sega is reminded of what it was like when they released the Saturn in the West.

 

[Chastten]

The 12 people who would be interested in buying it could each sign a contract that they'll each buy at least 100.000 copies of the thing. Otherwise there is no way this would be a viable business decision for Sega.

 

[StereoVsn]

Do you believe it ? Dude Dreamcast , a new tech was $ 199 in 1999.
If they don't want to make a retro Saturn then let them launch a new one. $349 I buy, the important thing is not to invent excuses to deceive fans by launching the same Genesis collection as always and always.

Do I believe what? Grab a new Arm device with a relatively newish SoC for under $200 and see how well Saturn emulates yourself.

Hint: not well at all.

Again, nobody bought the damn thing in the West in the first place. What the heck makes you think Western fans will buy “Saturn Mini” in droves now for let’s say ~$250!?

Mind you, I like the Saturn. I have US and Japanese consoles and a ton of games (mostly Japanese as US prices are nuts). I also play Saturn games emulated as well as Dreamcast ones. And I also would buy the thing for $250 if it had a good selection of games.

I am also absolutely not a typical customer alongside with most people on this board. Saturn Mini will not recoup itself unless they did mainly Japanese launch with both Japanese and English games somehow. And even then I remain skeptical.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The 12 people who would be interested in buying it could each sign a contract that they'll each buy at least 100.000 copies of the thing. Otherwise there is no way this would be a viable business decision for Sega.

There's obviously a lot more than 12 people who want a Saturn mini. But if Sega could get off their asses and make a modern Saturn Collection for current-gen consoles, that would be a great alternative.

 

[Rat Rage]

Just get a regular Saturn and a CRT. Problem solved.

 

[Loomy]

Why ask for more ewaste in the form of a mini console when you could ask for those games to be emulated on a system you already own?

Those mini consoles are a gigantic waste of time and money.

 

[consoul]

Why stop at a boycott? Try death threats, firebombing, blackmail. Sega owe you a Saturn Mini.

 

[The Stig]

Im a big Sega fan but I've got to disagree. The Saturn was so bleh and almost certainly the most forgettable of Sega's consoles (there are a few gems, to be sure, I'm not a hater)

Combined with the technical arguments that have been provided above mean most sensible people would agree this is a stupid hill to die on.

If youre going to work on porting games from that time, make it the arcade games, Sega rally/2 etc.

 

[Alexios]

Im a big Sega fan but I've got to disagree. The Saturn was so bleh and almost certainly the most forgettable of Sega's consoles (there are a few gems, to be sure, I'm not a hater)

Trying hard to figure out just what kind of crap you were into back in the day if Saturn really couldn't have anything to satisfy you with its rather sizable library of gems even compared to the Dreamcast. Now sure, arcade ports were lesser (some more, some less, some virtually identical, much like Dreamcast which also reached similar lifetime sales) but nobody (outside Neo Geo, ha) had an arcade at home, never mind many for multiple games. I really don't wanna bump this stupid ass thread just because you said some even worse shit so I'm not gonna go on list wars even if you do pretend to reply objectively but even Saturn haters know your statement to be wrong so, you're worse than most haters, mr "big sega fan", lol. I'm a fan of good games and Saturn has loads even if we don't take in account some of the awesome fan translations that have followed (but we do). Funny shitpost!

​

 

[Chastten]

There's obviously a lot more than 12 people who want a Saturn mini. But if Sega could get off their asses and make a modern Saturn Collection for current-gen consoles, that would be a great alternative.

Obviously 12 was an exageration to make my point, but I don't believe for a second Sega could make a profit from releasing a Saturn Mini. The Saturn sold like trash, and so did it's games. There's very few people who have nostalgia for it. Same reason Nintendo didn't release an N64 mini, despite the N64 selling well over three times the Saturn numbers.

And sure, I'm all for a Saturn software collection as I've never played an original Saturn game before, but even that would have a hard time turning a profit imo. Looking at the Saturn library there aren't all that much (exclusive) games that would make it a desirable item. There's Panzer Dragoon Saga that would sell a few thousand copies to people like here on GAF, but other than that, I'm not really sure what they could include that would make it sell a lot. Virtua Fighter/Racing and those kind of games sure as hell wouldn't make it sell. Maybe some anime games like the Sakura Wars RPG would but I'm not sure about that, as the PS4 game sold like crap.

 

[cireza]

Looking at the Saturn library there aren't all that much (exclusive) games that would make it a desirable item.

That's the issue. You don't know anything about the console but still make conclusions like these.

There are a ton of excellent games on this console.

 

[Chastten]

That's the issue. You don't know anything about the console but still make conclusions like these.

There are a ton of excellent games on this console.

I know exactly what I'm talking about though.

I'm sure there are an amazing fuckton of amazing games on the Saturn. It's just that most of them are completely unknown to the masses and wouldn't make it sell beyond a few thousand hardcore Sega junkies.

I'm not talking about the quality of the Saturn software, I'm talking about the sales potential.

 

[Killer8]

Not buying their games to force them to release a system which couldn't get people to buy its games sounds like a winning strategy.

 

[Skifi28]

Bycott the saturn mini until they actually release a saturn mini.

 

[Panajev2001a]

If we look, we will see that the western Sonic fans are the ones who support Sega's business.

but we don't guide anything, we are passive, Sega has modern arcades and doesn't make a port, the community demands a Saturn Mini they say it's not viable however Genesis collection gives us, even Genesis Mini, Genesis Genesis Genesis. games that fans have grown tired of playing for years.

I think Sega fans deserve better. They deserve to be heard, for example.

Considering it is Sega, the business equivalent of bizzarro world, I would suggest to buy anything they make, maybe double dip.
The sudden influx of money will likely cause Sega management to panic and such existential dread induced moves might be likely outcomes

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Just get a regular Saturn and a CRT. Problem solved.

Easier said than done. Quality CRTs are rare these days and run a high price. Saturns themselves have gone up in price over the years. I think the average price for a used system in good quality with proper cords & a controller is ~ $100.

Which in itself isn't bad, but if you need to buy a quality CRT alongside that? The price can add up.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Not buying their games to force them to release a system sounds like a winning strategy.

I think it's fair .

Sports fans do this about their favorite team

If those who buy Sonic say they will buy new Mini or non-Mini consoles, what sense does it make for SEGA not to include Western consumers, especially fans, in the strategy?

Sega has been an expert in offering products that we don't want and neglecting what the Western base demands.

My disappointment is that there is no major pro-Sega tastemaker putting a Western boycott on the brand.

 

[StereoVsn]

That's the issue. You don't know anything about the console but still make conclusions like these.

There are a ton of excellent games on this console.

Yep, especially if you consider Japanese library. There are a ton of great games on a Saturn. There are even a bunch of them with English fan translation now.

Admittedly US library alone was quite a bit worse, but it still had a lot of interesting titles.

 

[StereoVsn]

Easier said than done. Quality CRTs are rare these days and run a high price. Saturns themselves have gone up in price over the years. I think the average price for a used system in good quality with proper cords & a controller is ~ $100.

Which in itself isn't bad, but if you need to buy a quality CRT alongside that? The price can add up.

Just get Retrotink, it does quite a great job and you can use it with different consoles.

 

[Azelover]

I had a nightmare once, that Sega made the Saturn Mini but it did not enable Panzer Dragoon Saga to be played. Which is the entire reason I'm even interested in this. I already have NiGHTS on Steam.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

20 Games

Xmen vs street fighter
Vampire Savior
Street Fighter zero 3
MK Trilogy
Groove on Fight
astra superstars
kof 97
golden axe the duel
Samurai Shodown 4
Real Bout Special

fighters megamix
virtua fighter kids
last bronx
Dead or Alive
Toshinden

Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Sega Rally
Daytona CE
Resident evil

Oh it would take a total of 50 games

 

[dreamcastluvr]

There is no "pressure" that will push Sega to release a Saturn Mini. They've already addressed the reasons why they will not be releasing one.

Modern Sega is not the same company as 90's Sega. They do not care about their legacy. They are not interested in taking risks anymore. I was done waiting for them to re-release their classic Saturn and arcade stuff a long time ago. The full library can be compiled on a hard drive running on Terra Onion-modded Saturn console. Dreamcast is covered too. As for the arcade stuff; all of the games I care about are emulated near-perfectly. Saturn emulation has also advanced too as previously pointed out. The level of attention that Saturn has received from die-hard Sega fans is ridiculous. There are even fan translations of Japan-only games like Symphony of the Night and Bulk Slash available. All of my Sega wishes have pretty much been fulfilled by the online Sega community.

I do not endorse piracy, but people are gonna do what they are gonna do to preserve classic works of art, and that includes video games. If Sega ever get their heads out of their asses, I will gladly drop the cash for official re-releases. Being the collector that I am, I've bought all of their Genesis/ Mega-Drive collections since PS2 days along with their minis. But if they don't want my (nor other Sega fans') money, that's their problem and not mine since all of their classic games are easily accessible.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

Yep, especially if you consider Japanese library. There are a ton of great games on a Saturn. There are even a bunch of them with English fan translation now.

Admittedly US library alone was quite a bit worse, but it still had a lot of interesting titles.

You are right. Unless you know the Japanese Saturn library, you can’t really judge the Saturn.

That said, some of the titles I like best are now out on later consoles. Radiant Silvergun, the Cotton games and Elevator Action Returns. Would love to see Sega Rally on Switch. Overall, though, I think I prefer the Dreamcast.

 

[StereoVsn]

You are right. Unless you know the Japanese Saturn library, you can’t really judge the Saturn.

That said, some of the titles I like best are now out on later consoles. Radiant Silvergun, the Cotton games and Elevator Action Returns. Would love to see Sega Rally on Switch. Overall, though, I think I prefer the Dreamcast.

Yeah, I have a few Cotton games for the Switch now as physical, it’s pretty cool.

Overall though I think I would take Saturn over Dreamcast if you count Japanese library. There are a ton of less known but still great games for the system they never came out in US.

That said, Dreamcast is certainly no slouch, especially if you also count its Japanese games.

 

[Roger Rabbit]

Still an excellent choice - I can respect preferring the Saturn. All the main Sega consoles are brilliant if you ignore the Mega CD and 32X. The fantastic arcade ports to the Megadrive / Genesis complemented the also excellent SNES perfectly. And as I’m from the UK, I’ll always have a lot of time for the Master System. It’s probably the only time PAL regions got the best of the releases on a console. I didn’t have a Saturn until years after it had failed, so I don’t have the living in the moment nostalgia that I have for the Dreamcast which I bought day one, but I think its best games have aged really well.

Such a shame that the company’s management was so incompetent.