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[RAIDEN1]

Sega Saturn ultimately was the most affordable way to experience Neo Geo gaming...but that wasn't enough in the mid-90s...

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I want solutions to be proposed, how Sega could save the Sega Saturn, I already wrote my opinion in this thread.

1. Focus on 3D from the beginning

2. Better dev tools a year before launch

3. Call it UltraDrive instead of Saturn

4. Change the Japanese controller design to include handles, use that worldwide

5. Sonic Team to focus on Sonic first. Sonic Jam/World at launch, proper Sonic 3D by Xmas 96, save NiGHTS for a bigger audience in 1998

6. No shitty cardboard boxes in PAL regions, DVD style from day 1

7. Big new franchise that appeals to global 20 something audience similar to WipEout

8. Offer both the black western design and grey Japanese design globally, the latter will suit more modern TV styles

9. More console exclusive content/features in arcade ports (eg: a couple more cars/tracks in Sega Rally)

10. 32X, just no

 

[Signalis]

RE is better on the Saturn and yes Alien Trilogy is a great port on the Saturn, but it lacks the lighting effects, but I knew full well most 3rd party games were better on the PS1,, but I still got the Saturn versions because that was my main system and the system I loved

A lot of my friends had a PS2 and Xbox, but would still buy the PS2 version even though they could see and even hear the massive gulf in graphics between the Xbox version and the PS2 when they came up my house and played the same game and could see the clear difference

That what always gets me with the PlayStation fans is the double standards when it comes to the PS2 . A system that was harder to developer on than its rivals, didn't have an exclusive NFL game early in, unlike its rivals, was outclassed for USA launch line up by its rivals and where 3rd party ports looked better on 'rival' system

All reasons to bash Sega Saturn, but not the PS2

Saturn didn't have enough bussy back in the day. That caused it's failure

 

[Team Andromeda]

Saturn didn't have enough bussy back in the day. That caused it's failure

I'm so glad I bought the Saturn then and not the She/her trans PS1.

 

[RetroAV]

The way Sega could have saved the Saturn would've been to fully commit to 3D from the start. Instead, Sega seemed intent on easing developers into 3D since most were still accustomed to working in 2D—meaning they could pump out Saturn software faster. On top of that, Sega didn't want to devalue their arcade business by bringing near-arcade-perfect games to consoles too quickly.

The problem was that Sony completely changed the game. The PS1 had both the specs and the developer-friendly tools to make 3D the clear standard, and suddenly Sega was scrambling to catch up with hardware not truly designed to excel in that space. The Saturn might have thrived as a "super-scaler" machine for System 32–style games, but once Sony set the bar for 3D, that vision was outdated overnight.

If it were up to me, the first move would've been to delay the Saturn and rework it into a more capable 3D competitor, while assigning a smaller team to maintain the 32X as a temporary stopgap. Realistically, I doubt anything Sega could've done would've flipped the outcome entirely—Sony was too smart in prioritizing the right development tools alongside their hardware, something Sega wasn't in a position to match. But at the very least, Sega could have made things more competitive. In the end, their fear of cannibalizing arcade profits by making the Saturn too powerful is what cost them the generation.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

The problem with this "3D from the beginning" theory is that the Saturn has been 3D from the beginning. Yes, there was something 2D until early 1993, but that wasn't the Saturn ,again that wasn't the Saturn. The Saturn is what it is, and the marketing campaign determines what the product is, and the marketing of both the Saturn and the 32X was 3D again 3D. Sega should have just made clone games of Guardian Heroes at some point these games would burst the bubble but they chose to make 3D games, this was a fatal mistake because with each new 3D game, it was like a free marketing campaign for the PS1, it tacitly positioned itself as a second-class PS1. When competing against more powerful hardware, the fight needs to be asymmetrical; they needed to insist on the massive production of non-3D games. Because making 3D was like going to fight on terrain that favors the enemy.

 

[RAIDEN1]

The other thing being, I think instead of the 32x, Sega should have made the cartridge slot at the back of the console compatible with Genesis games, that would have been the better "bridge" to 32 bit gaming, than the 32x ever was or could have been....if they could do it with the Genesis and Master System, then why not for the Saturn.....

 

[RetroGamingUK]

The other thing being, I think instead of the 32x, Sega should have made the cartridge slot at the back of the console compatible with Genesis games, that would have been the better "bridge" to 32 bit gaming, than the 32x ever was or could have been....if they could do it with the Genesis and Master System, then why not for the Saturn.....

I remember mates asking me if the cartridge slot played MegaDrive games back in the day and I think I just lied and said "yeah, think it does".

If it could have doubled up as a Memory Card & MegaDrive cartridge slot with just a small extra cost I say do it!

People would have traded their existing MegaDrives to cover cost.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

The problem with this "3D from the beginning" theory is that the Saturn has been 3D from the beginning. Yes, there was something 2D until early 1993, but that wasn't the Saturn ,again that wasn't the Saturn. The Saturn is what it is, and the marketing campaign determines what the product is, and the marketing of both the Saturn and the 32X was 3D again 3D. Sega should have just made clone games of Guardian Heroes at some point these games would burst the bubble but they chose to make 3D games, this was a fatal mistake because with each new 3D game, it was like a free marketing campaign for the PS1, it tacitly positioned itself as a second-class PS1. When competing against more powerful hardware, the fight needs to be asymmetrical; they needed to insist on the massive production of non-3D games. Because making 3D was like going to fight on terrain that favors the enemy.

Yup, Saturn was always going to have the dual VDP set up.

In hindsight they should have designed it for polygons as per PlayStation, N64 and PC.