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[RetroGamingUK]

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Sega Saturn's launch in the UK

As with many console launches back then, each region was different and the UK was no exception

The Sega Saturn Celebrates 30 Years in Europe

While it celebrated its 30th birthday in Japan last November and the 30th anniversary of its surprise American launch in May, today marks another significant three-decade milestone in the Saturn’s …

www.segasaturnshiro.com

Some differences between the UK and US launch experience

- Saturn released on 8th July 1995

- Release date was announced in official Sega Magazine 3 weeks prior

- Only 4 games at launch (Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA, Victory Goal, Clockwork Knight)

- Panzer Dragoon wouldn't launch until 30th August

- We got the same terrible controller at launch

- Games initially came in cardboard/plastic cases that would fall apart (these would later be replaced by DVD style cases)

- Official Sega Saturn Magazine was one of the best aspects of being a Saturn owner in the UK, edited by none other than Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter

- Two of the "big three" (Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2) would miss the Christmas shopping period and launch in late January 1996

- Unlike America and Japan, Europe didn't get Netlink

- Final release was Sega's Deep Fear, a Resident Evil style game, on 18th September 1998

 

[RetroGamingUK]

SegaGuys documentary covering the UK launch

 

[cireza]

Amazing console, amazing days. Best period of my gamer life ever.

The amount of amazing games we were getting every year back then was just stupid lol.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Amazing console, amazing days. Best period of my gamer life ever.

The amount of amazing games we were getting every year back then was just stupid lol.

The leap to 3D was something we'll never see again, it's akin to movies switching to colour or adding sound.

It was also a great time for big new franchises and risk taking, you could push the limits of these consoles without spending too much.

It was also a gold rush though, half the developers and publishers wouldn't make it to the Dreamcast/PS2 generation.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Some UK media from around launch

 

[Alan Wake]

Memories, memories. I bought mine sometime in 1997. At that time it was all over, and the shop in Gothenburg where I bought it obviously didn't understand why I bought a Saturn instead of a PlayStation.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Memories, memories. I bought mine sometime in 1997. At that time it was all over, and the shop in Gothenburg where I bought it obviously didn't understand why I bought a Saturn instead of a PlayStation.

Yeah retailers really pushed the PlayStation.

They were obviously making more money from game sales on the console due to more frequent releases, but I think Sony might have had a hand in that too.

 

[Calverz]

Never owned but always wanted one. So hers my plan:

Get an NTSC Saturn (preferably a black model 2) for that 60hz goodness.
Get a Saroo HD loader
Mod the console to runoff a modern psu. Like a Saturn psu or dream psu. Maybe even the usb one.
Already have the retrofit wireless Saturn controller I can use.
Get an rgb scart cable.
Play resident evil and get a light gun for house of the dead 1.
And of course the most important part, play it all on a crt!!

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Some Guardian articles which offer a great UK perspective

The Sega Saturn at 30: a pioneering games console ripe for rediscovery

A commercial failure by comparison with its rival the PlayStation, the Saturn nevertheless boasted stylish, genre-defining titles that are still played and beloved by retro games enthusiasts today

www.theguardian.com

Sega Saturn: how one decision destroyed PlayStation's greatest rival

After the huge success of the Mega Drive, Sega was filled with confidence about its future. But then on this week, twenty years ago, everything fell apart

www.theguardian.com

 

[CliffBronger]

I had one i bought mainly games based on there arcade classics like virtua cop, virtua fighter, sega ages.

It never had a chance against the PS1 and once it was discovered you could boot burnt PS1 games using the swapping method every man and his dog bought one round here where i live.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I had one i bought mainly games based on there arcade classics like virtua cop, virtua fighter, sega ages.

The arcade ports were great.

AM2 had to pull off all kinds of tricks to get Virtua Cop running, great developer

 

[Plies]

 

[Porcile]

Never even saw one or its games in a shop in the UK. I remember seeing a few adverts for the Sonic racing game on TV and that's all. It was wasn't till after the Dreamcast died and well into the PS2/GameCube that I saw Saturn games on a shelf for the first time in Gamestation and those were obviously second-hand. Like quite a lot of consoles it felt like it basically didn't exist in the UK.

 

[Windle Poons]

Never even saw one or its games in a shop in the UK.

That's weird. HMV and Virgin were full of them. But to each their own.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

That's weird. HMV and Virgin were full of them. But to each their own.

That's true of 1996, which matched my experience.

Once the N64 arrived in March 97 Saturn's shelf space was severely reduced.

Virgin Megastores seemed to drop Saturn completely after Christmas 1996.

 

[Randall365]

Never even saw one or its games in a shop in the UK. I remember seeing a few adverts for the Sonic racing game on TV and that's all. It was wasn't till after the Dreamcast died and well into the PS2/GameCube that I saw Saturn games on a shelf for the first time in Gamestation and those were obviously second-hand. Like quite a lot of consoles it felt like it basically didn't exist in the UK.

Our local HMV had one on demo next to the Playstation (and Virgin Megastore/EB had them running demos).

The problem was that the Playstation had Tekken demoing on it and the Saturn had Streetfighter 2: The Movie, with a crappy controller. Bye bye sales!!!

 

[Soodanim]

I was 7 when this came out and I remember nothing about it. The only thing I remember from that time period was a magazine saying the new Sonic would probably be the last on the Mega Drive and me being mildly disappointed it wouldn't Mega Drive forever because I didn't have anything else.

A few years later I remember being scared to put a PlayStation disc inside a mate's Saturn in case it broke it. I don't think he ever actually played that Saturn.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Our local HMV had one on demo next to the Playstation (and Virgin Megastore/EB had them running demos).

The problem was that the Playstation had Tekken demoing on it and the Saturn had Streetfighter 2: The Movie, with a crappy controller. Bye bye sales!!!

I recall HMV having a demo pod and playing Daytona and Virtua Fighter on it back in the day. As with other shops it made way for N64 once it arrived.

While people here like to draw comparison between Daytona and Ridge Racer, in the UK it was all about WipEout.

Whenever you saw a PlayStation demo pod (and they put those things everywhere; nightclubs, cinemas, clothes shops) they'd all be running WipEout and it just blew everything else out of the water.