Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
My question is that why was an Aerospace company working on Saturn 2?!
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Next Generation article on the unreleased 'Saturn 2'
- Thread starter herzogzwei1989
- Start date
Tarin02543
Member
Top men.
sixteen-bit
Member
I would have been thrilled for arcade-perfect conversions.Model 2 was outdated by 1996, so Real3D/100 could've been much better.
Model 2: 300,000 textured polys/s
vs
R3D/100: 750,000 textured, fully featured polys/s
R3D/100 would've eaten Model 2 for lunch
Nope, I just post on forums, I'm not into blogging, but I'd love to have a website someday.
U n i o n 0015
Member
I always thought Next Generation was just a U.S. reprint of Edge?
Either way, I loved that magazine. One of the few gaming mags I actually subscribed to.
Either way, I loved that magazine. One of the few gaming mags I actually subscribed to.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Because, starting with General Electric Aerospace who built the Model 1 board (1992), to Martin Marietta helping out on the Model 2 board (1993/1994) to Lockheed Martin Real3D who built the Model 3 board (1996).
It was discussed between Sega and Lockheed Martin Real3D to build the Saturn 2, either as an upgrade cart (Real3D/100 plus, possibly PowerPC CPU) but officially no hardware was actually developed. Officially anyway. I believe Sega had a secret project with at least one of the PC 3D accelerator companies (3DFX, PowerVR, Real3D) to counter the power of the upcoming Ultra 64 (N64) and the 3DO M2. After Sega and Lockheed parted ways on the console front, Sega almost signed a deal with Matsushita to make games for the M2, or make a combined Saturn-M2 system.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Yes, it was. They were sister magazines.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
I found this interesting post on usenet about 3DFX Voodoo vs Lockheed Martin Real3D/100:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp...t-sim/msg/555aacb2319f5834?dmode=source&hl=en
Extremely interesting and well written IMHO.
http://groups.google.com/group/comp...t-sim/msg/555aacb2319f5834?dmode=source&hl=en
Extremely interesting and well written IMHO.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Imagine playing visually souped up versions of Daytona USA, Sega Rally, VC2 and many other Model 2 games on a 3D-capable Saturn in 1996. My <heart> would've died for this!
I think pricing would've come down to how much memory this version of Saturn wouldve had. Remember, cost of RAM dropped dramatically in mid 1996, that's why 3DFX Voodoo was able to take off in the consumer market. Lockheed missed a massive opertunity here.
I think pricing would've come down to how much memory this version of Saturn wouldve had. Remember, cost of RAM dropped dramatically in mid 1996, that's why 3DFX Voodoo was able to take off in the consumer market. Lockheed missed a massive opertunity here.
Lets discuss this further, GAF!
Shadow Hog
Member
I can't help but feel that having another Sega console so close to the release of the 32X and Saturn would've only cemented Sega's decline during that generation further than it actually was. That'd then have been two consoles Sega released and almost immediately abandoned in a row - what guarantee would there be to potential buyers that the "Saturn 2" wouldn't be another similar situation? (That is, assuming I'm reading things here correctly. I'll admit I'm skimming heavily, so I may be missing something.)
SiegfriedFM
Member
It's fun to see Model 3 being hyped as some super tech and now I have one gathering dust that I don't know what to do with.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Really? That's cool. Would love to see some pics man!
SiegfriedFM
Member
It's the big thing to the left. Not much to see, really. I've removed it from the cabinet since.
http://www.beardednerd.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/kabb_elektronik.jpg
http://www.beardednerd.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/kabb_elektronik.jpg
It's pretty easy these days. Channel all your craziness out of the forum and into working on one with all the same stuff you post and voila!
herzogzwei1989
Banned
That's badass. I assume you don't have any games for it, or have any real use for it. Anyway, that's awesome.
You have twin Real3D-Pro/1000 GPUs in your house *drools*
turnbuckle
Member
Great thread, Herzog. I miss that era of gaming, hardware speculation, and journalism.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Thanks turnbuckle, I appreciate that a lot ^__^
I really truly felt this was an important subject to cover.
I miss that era too in some ways, although I liked the generation after (DC/PS2/GCN/Xbox) even more but Next Generation in its prime, was outstanding.
Hell yeah, Anything to do with Model 2, Model 3, 3DO M2, I was all over that shit.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Forgot to post the firingsquad.com NV2 report
Entire article: http://www.firingsquad.com/features/nv2/page2.asp
Entire article: http://www.firingsquad.com/features/nv2/page2.asp
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Arguement *against* Real3D, in favor of PowerVR2:
IrishNinja
Member
good thread (im in the dark about a lot of this), but - if the genesis wasn't killed off early, how do you think it'dve fared without Sega-CD or 32x? i loved some of the former's scene (Lunar 1/2, Sonic CD, Snatcher, few others) but while SNES would've kicked the crap out of it stateside, it was finding life in plenty of other regions. Saturn dropped in mid-95 over here, yeah? so the genny would've been like six years old and clearly long in the tooth, but do you think the customer confidence would've been that much bigger at that point, or would their e3 "debut surprise" and high-ass price point still have buried them?
For what it's worth, neither the CPU nor GPU on the Dreamcast were more powerful than what the PS2 had.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
Thanks. I think the Genesis could've lasted without the Sega-CD until 1996. Sega should've put everything into a 1996 Saturn launched with PowerPC 603e CPU and a single chip version of the graphics hardware mentioned in the OP. It would've been simpler than 3DO M2, PCs and especially the mess that was the Saturn we got. i think they could've launched at $299 or even $349 instead of $399/$449.
Indeed, I do.
True, PS2 had a much more powerful setup. A CPU with clearly more floating point performance and a graphics chip with an enormous fillrate. Although lower image quality than Dreamcast.
I don't know, it seemed to me the VMU's big problem was the tech wasn't there yet. I mean it didn't have a built in rechargable battery(no idea how much a lithium battery was back then) so you had to use those button batteries which drove up the cost. Of course the screen was awful as well. (We're talking about as bad as the Microvision screen.) Of course they could have made the controller be a full blown handheld that took 'AA' batteries but then the controller would cost $100 each.(which is way too much.) Of course these days with tech improvements the Wii-U can have a tablet which will hopefully not drive the price up too much and give us players all the features we had hoped the VMU would have given us.
Oh, I should put in my big beef with the Dreamcast, the damn GD-Rom breaks. (At least the early ones get out of tolerance and can't read disks. I know you can play around with the adjustment screw and get it working but the last time I did that it took me around 1.5 hrs to get it working.) Oddly enough I have a second DC with a newer drive and that works fine. (I bought a replacement drive in 2001 and that one works fine. Wish I could find another drive on line somewhere but I've had no luck.)
Boards of Canada
Member
TIL. Did not know that. I was reading this month's Edge and was saying to my brother that Edge looks exactly like Next Generation.
Dreamwriter
Member
Yeah, Sega actually wanted a DVD drive in the system, but after Saturn drained their finances, they just couldn't afford the per-console loss. It sucks, Sega knew what moves were needed to make the Dreamcast succeed...but just didn't have the money to do them. It would have been heart-breaking to work there in that era.
DeFiBkIlLeR
Banned
..sigh, Face-palm explosion.
Dreamcast's PowerVR2 + SuperH architecture far outperformed PS2's for a given cost. NAOMI 2 is a more comparable example of the Dreamcast's architecture in terms of release date and processor cost compared to PS2 (and it still didn't use anywhere near PS2's 500+ mm^2 @250 nm), and it easily handled more geometry and lighting along with better texturing and image quality than any comparable hardware.
PS2 used a die devouring eDRAM frame buffer to compensate for its IMR shortcomings, not much different in effect than using an expensively wide external bus. Those rendering approaches have never and will never touch the effectiveness of PowerVR TBDR as a rasterization solution.
That old post criticisizing Real3D is way wide of the mark. Model 3 cost many thousands of dollars because it was an arcade cabinet, being sold with a license to allow amusement operators to profit from it, and the processors had no need to be combined onto less chips for the consumer market. While it would've still been very expensive compared to other consumer graphics solutions of 1996 had it been targeted for an add-in solution, its performance just couldn't be compared to anything else of the time. Real 3D had solid algorithms and a solid design approach, but they weren't focused on competing in the consumer space.
PS2 used a die devouring eDRAM frame buffer to compensate for its IMR shortcomings, not much different in effect than using an expensively wide external bus. Those rendering approaches have never and will never touch the effectiveness of PowerVR TBDR as a rasterization solution.
That old post criticisizing Real3D is way wide of the mark. Model 3 cost many thousands of dollars because it was an arcade cabinet, being sold with a license to allow amusement operators to profit from it, and the processors had no need to be combined onto less chips for the consumer market. While it would've still been very expensive compared to other consumer graphics solutions of 1996 had it been targeted for an add-in solution, its performance just couldn't be compared to anything else of the time. Real 3D had solid algorithms and a solid design approach, but they weren't focused on competing in the consumer space.
herzogzwei1989
Banned
You're talking about the R3D/100 right? What are the main differences between R3D/100 and Pro-1000, besides price ?
p.s. I have little to no interest in the very low-end Real3D/Intel i740 so you can factor that out of the equasion. What if Sega had launched Saturn in 1996 with a single chip version of the R3D/100, would it have not smoked PS1, N64 and 3DO M2?
herzogzwei1989
Banned
paging Lazy8s...
Considering Model 2 could produce more solid visuals than those systems, an R3D/100 shouldn't even be compared.
Without the commitment to high volume production, the likes of which required winning a console design contract, manufacturing an R3D/100 with the integrated geometry engine wasn't a risk LMM was prepared to take. The company saw the opportunity presented by the consumer market, but they didn't structure themselves to fight for it.
I'm not sure about the specific differences between the Pro-1000 and the 100, but I assume they were mostly related to the difference in the type of environment in which they'd be implemented (high-end workstation/arcade board versus consumer grade hardware) in terms of data throughputs and memory allocations.
Without the commitment to high volume production, the likes of which required winning a console design contract, manufacturing an R3D/100 with the integrated geometry engine wasn't a risk LMM was prepared to take. The company saw the opportunity presented by the consumer market, but they didn't structure themselves to fight for it.
I'm not sure about the specific differences between the Pro-1000 and the 100, but I assume they were mostly related to the difference in the type of environment in which they'd be implemented (high-end workstation/arcade board versus consumer grade hardware) in terms of data throughputs and memory allocations.
Sega made a BIG mistake killing the Genesis too soon
Nintendo made a killing with the Snes between 1995 and 1997 when nextgen consoles were still kinda expensive for most gamers
Say whatever you want but Kallinske had the right idea with the 32X: it was low-price nextgen taking advantage of the Genesis huge installed base
With the 32X you didnt have to pack a SuperFX chip on every card, and it was much more powerful too
But pretty hardware wont get you anywhere without support, and the 32X was boycotted from the beginning by Sega of Japan which wanted to get the Saturn out there ASAP, and in fact launched it at the same time
Really, how dumb is that? if the problem was that the Saturn was flawed and they needed more time to redesign it it made perfect sense to launch the 32X.
Had it been done properly the 32X would have competed against both Snes and PSX: the first because it was weaker, and the second because it was much more expensive and had fewer games
This is a 32X tech demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOWZbydnlZE
The 32X had potential, but it wasnt taken seriously by the very company selling it
Nintendo made a killing with the Snes between 1995 and 1997 when nextgen consoles were still kinda expensive for most gamers
Say whatever you want but Kallinske had the right idea with the 32X: it was low-price nextgen taking advantage of the Genesis huge installed base
With the 32X you didnt have to pack a SuperFX chip on every card, and it was much more powerful too
But pretty hardware wont get you anywhere without support, and the 32X was boycotted from the beginning by Sega of Japan which wanted to get the Saturn out there ASAP, and in fact launched it at the same time
Really, how dumb is that? if the problem was that the Saturn was flawed and they needed more time to redesign it it made perfect sense to launch the 32X.
Had it been done properly the 32X would have competed against both Snes and PSX: the first because it was weaker, and the second because it was much more expensive and had fewer games
This is a 32X tech demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOWZbydnlZE
The 32X had potential, but it wasnt taken seriously by the very company selling it
Sega didn't kill the genesis , the extra hardware did .
Sega CD or 32x . They should have picked one of them . The sega CD would have come out earlier and they could have rolled into the saturn when they did , or hold off till the 32x and then release the saturn at later date.
The dreamcast was a great system. They should have invested a bit more and gotten a more powerful system. There are a few games that were able to hold on well compared to ps2 games dispite the fact that the dreamcast was 18 months older and cost $100 less at release and developers really only made games for it over a 2 year period. If it got the time and love that the ps2 did there would be some amazing looking games.
Sega CD or 32x . They should have picked one of them . The sega CD would have come out earlier and they could have rolled into the saturn when they did , or hold off till the 32x and then release the saturn at later date.
The dreamcast was a great system. They should have invested a bit more and gotten a more powerful system. There are a few games that were able to hold on well compared to ps2 games dispite the fact that the dreamcast was 18 months older and cost $100 less at release and developers really only made games for it over a 2 year period. If it got the time and love that the ps2 did there would be some amazing looking games.
Yup...
east of eastside
Banned
Sega was always destined to die as a hardware maker as the industry matured and brought in the big corporations and as the market evolved.
No hardware decision at any point would have changed that fate.
No hardware decision at any point would have changed that fate.
A Black Falcon
Member
You're right that Sega messed up badly. They thought that the 16-bit market was on the way out and they needed to go next-gen now, but didn't realize that they were only right in Japan. Sega of America was quite wrong about thinking that -- the 16-bit market actually had a couple of good years left in the US and Europe. Nintendo indeed showed that, with their success with the SNES from 1995-1997.
However, it's not really true that Sega of Japan never supported the 32X at all. The idea for another Genesis addon can be traced to Japan every bit as much as it can the US -- the idea came from there first, as a basic more-colors addon, that Sega of America added to. It ended up as a kind of compromise system, not powerful enough for Sega of America, but too expensive to be an easy sale...
Anyway though, Sega of Japan DID support the 32X with software for 6-9 months. And honestly, in some ways Sega of Japan's 32X lineup is almost better than their Sega CD library... Sega of Japan's Sega CD library, Sonic CD aside, is both thin and somewhatlow on original titles -- a large number of the games they published were either externally developed, or were ports from various other systems. They also did very little with the scaling and rotation powers of the Sega CD -- the few Japanese games they published that did use it like Afterburner III or F1: Beyond the Limit were externally developed in Japan. And this coming from Sega, the scaling-sprites-game arcade masters. Basically, Sega of Japan seems to have mostly released stuff with lots of (often anime) FMV on it on Sega CD, and ports of Japanese computer games, etc... early-90s-disc-system stuff, quite different from the library on the Genesis and 32X. Some games that were supposed to be major Sega of Japan titles for the Sega CD, like Phantasy Star IV and the game that became Outrun 2019, ended up on the Genesis, too.
In comparison, Sega of Japan's 32X library is much more what the Genesis fan would expect. Sure, it can't match the Sega CD in platformers, because while it has more of them (two, Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix), neither one is nearly the game Sonic CD is, but it beats it in rail shooters (Space Harrier, After Burner), racing games (nothing internal from Sega of Japan on Sega CD, versus the great Virtua Racing Deluxe), etc, and it has some good 3d titles too from Sega of Japan, like Star Wars Arcade, the aforementioned Virtua Racing Deluxe, Virtua Fighter, Metal Head, Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000, the Knuckles Chaotix bonus stages... Sega of Japan released a string of games for the 32X over its first six months, and then one more after that, Virtua Fighter in fall '95. And some of them were good games for sure.
However, after that they were done, and the 32X was abandoned shortly afterwards. I just don't think that "more Sega of Japan game support" really was the problem -- they actually did try. You have to consider that in 1994-1995 Sega was trying to support something like six platforms at once, they were overstretched trying to fully support them all. Obviously the Sega CD was the first casualty of that, and then the 32X became the second, but considering how stupid they were with how many systems they were trying to keep going at once, the 32X's 1994-1995 library isn't too bad. The problem was that Sega couldn't keep up supporting so many systems at once, they'd confused the market too much with too much self-competition, and Nintendo had shown that the 16-bit market hadn't actually faded at all, undercutting the whole reason the 32X had been released in the first place, so something had to give... and Sega of Japan decided that that something was everything that wasn't the Saturn. Of course we all know what happened to THAT outside of Japan, but they didn't really care about that, or their long-term prospects... all they cared about was being successful in Japan for once. They got that, for a couple of years, but at the cost of their hardware business... was it really worth it?
This isn't really true. I mean, it is true that consumer trust in Sega was critically hurt by their own actions, but in late 1995, Sega of Japan did cut off almost all game development for all systems other than the Saturn. Sega of America did continue to develop Genesis games after that, and Sega of Japan had one or two (Virtua Fighter 2, not sure if there were any others), but yes, Sega (of Japan) absolutely did kill off the Genesis, and the 32X, Game Gear, and Sega CD too, in late 1995.
I think that the 32X should never have been released, yeah. Stick with just the Genesis and Sega CD.
They were broke as it was, how could they possibly have invested any more?
What they needed was a more successful 4th gen era (1995-1998), so that they could have released the DC in 1999 or 2000, with better hardware, instead of having to get it out in 1998.
Why did he get banned again? He always made interesting threads...
I didn't know that, I guess you are right Sega did overstretch itself to a point it couldn't make enough games to keep all platforms going
At the end it would've made more sense to not release the 32X and quietly phase out the SegaCD, and concentrate on the Genesis, GameGear (make an improved model like the GBpocket) and the Saturn
By the way what are your thoughts on the failed Sega-Bandai fusion? how would it affected the console wars?
Don't bump old threads unless you have new info.
Who/what is camineet, and what did he do?
I liked Herzogzwei, hope it's not a perman ban...
A Black Falcon
Member
Yeah, one company is simply not going to be able to make enough games to support six systems at one time (five worldwide), as Sega did in 1995. All of them are going to suffer as a result, and indeed that's what happened. It's an issue Sega realized too late.
Yeah, that's absolutely what they should have done. Make a smaller, lighter, better battery life Game Gear instead of the Nomad, and focus on Genesis and Sega CD games that year. Move those teams working on 32X games mostly to Genesis and Sega CD games. Also, Sega should have released a couple more SVP games. (If you don't know, the SVP is Sega's 3d-hardware chip they could include on Genesis game carts, their answer of sorts to the Super FX. It was only used in one game, the Genesis version of Virtua Racing.) Add SVP versions of Star Wars Arcade and Virtua Fighter. Yeah, they'd be a lot worse than the 32X versions we know, and that'd be too bad (compare Virtua Racing to Virtua Racing Deluxe for the comparison), but it'd have been much better for Sega. Star Wars Arcade was one of their more important games in the US in holiday '94, and even if it wasn't as good a game, an SVP version would be far better in hindsight than a 32X version convincing lots of people to buy a $180 addon Sega was going to abandon barely over six months later.
As for the Saturn, my real wish would be for them to can the Saturn as-is and instead release a better, easier to program for system a bit later on (late '95 to early '96), because that's what'd have been best for the Western market, where Sega had seen almost all of their success. That is a possible plan, had Sega of Japan been able to accept that they just weren't going to be successful at home (which of course they were not). Failing that though and releasing the Saturn we know, the best thing would have been to ditch the early US launch. That idea was a miserable failure, and led to an immediate, major software drought Sega never really recovered from. Stick with the original September launch. Also, launch at $300, not $400. And start with the Remix version of Virtua Fighter, please, all that bad press the first version brought was not good. With that plan I think Sony would still have won, but Sega would have done better than they did, which would have been a good thing.
camineet/herzogzwei1989 would have more to say about that than me, I think, but he got banned again for whatever reason. Look up some of his old threads, perhaps. I don't know that much about that one myself.
No, you can also bump "older" threads (though this isn't that old, just three months) if you have a good reply to post (you know, not just a couple of words or something). Maybe you could argue that this doesn't meet that standard (I at least disagree, I like getting replies), but that isn't the only time you can bump an older thread, no.
I don't have any idea what he did, but I think the ban's permanent. It's definitely a loss, I like his classic gaming threads as well.
BishopLamont
Banned
5 systems at once..holy shit. Even Nintendo struggles with 2 at a time.
A Black Falcon
Member
Well, two of them were addons to one of the other ones, but they did have their own game libraries, and yeah, it didn't make any sense at all.
RedNumberFive
Banned
Bummer to see herzogzwei's ban is permanent. He was definitely one of the more interesting contributors here.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
what did he do? man I miss Next gen magazine, it was the best games journalism bar none.
The Nomad wasnt' a bad idea but the tech wasn't there, it needed a SoC to keep the size and power low, and built-in batteries so you didn't have to buy 6 new AA every day.
About the SVP I heard in other forums that the Lock-On feature of Sonic&Knuckles was originally going to be used for the SVP, so you bought it once and it worked with many games, a better alternative than nintendo making you buy it with every new game. Still I think it was too weak for Model-1 type games, even the 32X struggled with those. Still it would have been a great platform for a Genesis version of Doom, Wolfenstein and other FPS of the time, or a version of DN3D that was more like the original.
With the Saturn the problem was time, Sony made a 3D console while the Saturn was 2D with 3D on the side, and back then you couldn't just drop some off the shelf parts and be done with it, even small memory chips were very expensive. I think the other problem was that Sega thought Nintendo was going to launch the N64 before than it actually did, so it was afraid of being the last one to the party.
Still, Sega couldn't wait, it was obvious from the start that the PSX wasn't a 3DO or CDi, it wasn't going to just slide off the market, so they panicked because it was clear nintendo wasnt the problem anymore, but Sony.
I wonder, how expensive would a console version of the Model 2 been at the time? sure the arcade was really expensive but that wasn't just the board but all the other parts too, and economies of scale: Sega simply couldn't expect to sell as many cabinets as consoles, not ever.
IrishNinja
Member
oh man, this so hard. i learned a great deal from threads like these (i love when GAF goes usenet/old mag diving), really sad to see him gone now. wish i had him on XBL/PSN/etc just to stay in touch.
A Black Falcon
Member
The Nomad had several problems, really. First, as you say, it got absolutely atrocious battery life, to the point where it's barely "portable". But almost as importantly, second, it released in 1995, exactly that same point that Sega of Japan was significantly scaling back its Genesis support. As a result, it never quite could catch that Genesis wave; it released too late. It released as the system faded, not when it was at its peak. And last, the games it could play were Genesis games, which weren't designed for portable systems. The difference does matter, particularly back then when so many Genesis games had no saving or anything; the same was true on the GG, all too often, but the games weren't as long in general.
Between those three problems, I just don't think that releasing it made much sense, particularly if it was released instead of a better actual handheld, which it might have been. I have no confidence that Sega could have released what they should have -- that is, something with much better battery life -- but really, that's what they needed. That, and to not abandon the handheld market. The GG had done alright, I think that ditching handhelds was probably a mistake.
Yeah, I think they did at one point have plans for a SVP lockon addon. Of course, the 32X was released instead, but it's much more complex, and much more expensive. I think that doing what they ended up doing with Virtua Racing made the most commercial sense; people were willing to spend money to buy expensive games more so than they were for addons, I think. Still, if they did want to go the addon route, a basic, S&K-style one COULD have worked, if there was no 32X of course. I wouldn't really recommend this path, but if they did it anyway, a "cheap" $80 or something SVP addon, packed in with, say, Virtua Racing, could have worked better. Sell each SVP game as a packin with the SVP addon and alone. Really though, just releasing a few more standalone SVP games, instead of an SVP addon or the 32X, probably would be best. You didn't need all that many games with it anyway, really... and given Sega's problems in 1994-1995 with how many systems they were trying to support at the same time, I don't know that replacing one addon with a different one really would be the best idea. I do think that this SVP addon would be a lot less bad (for Sega's reputation) than the 32X was, though. The price would be lower, and it'd presumably be packed in with a game too. I think they could get away with just releasing just a handful of games for such a thing... but if it was going to be just a handful, just releasing each as its own expensive cartridge, like Nintendo did with the Super FX, probably was the better option. Sega just kept thinking "addons", while Nintendo thought "put more stuff in the carts". Sega lost that fight.
These are some good points (apart from time, which I'll get into below), and yeah, the N64 was delayed, but still... had Sega been thinking more globally, they wouldn't have launched the Saturn that they did. Sega of America disliked it from the beginning, for instance. Japan just didn't care. And as I said above, Sega of America would have launched it later; Sega of Japan forced that May '95 date on them, they'd have done September. Or later, if they released something else, the next year, instead.
Sega didn't need a console in 1994, though, not really. I mean, Nintendo waited, and they sold more than three times more N64s than Sega did Saturns. That shows that it wasn't absolutely necessary to have a new console at the sametime Sony did.
Sega was thinking that they did need it at the same time as the PS1, but while in Japan, as I suggested, that might have been somewhat true (Sega's success in Japan was in the first few years of the generation, 1995-1997 mostly), in the West it was not. 16-bit systems still dominated in 1995. Sega didn't really need a new system that year at all, I think they'd have been fine here even with an early '96 launch, particularly if it led to a more powerful Saturn, as I suggested.
Anyway, in the US, while the PS1 made a good impact at its release in late '95, it wasn't until '97-98 that it really took off. In Japan the Saturn and PS1 were close from '94 to early '97, but then the PS1 started pulling ahead, thanks to things such as FF7 and the DQ7 PS1 exclusivity announcement. Sure, giving the competition a head start can be dangerous, and doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does. I mean, the SNES and Wii both won their generations despite launching some time after their competition, for instance. Same for the PS2 (and PS1, though yeah, the 3DO and Jaguar were not strong competition). You don't have to be first to win. Nintendo didn't suffer too much from delaying the N64, I don't think. I mean, maybe you're right that Sega panicked, but they shouldn't have.
I am unsure if anything Sega could have done could have led to them actually beating Sony, though. The PS1 was just such strong hardware, and the game library was so popular too... but I do think they could have done better than they did, and their mistakes doomed that chance.
Expensive, I would think. Arcade machines are pricey -- see the Neo Geo.
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