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All Rights Reserved Create Account Sign In BETA This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here Edit Story May 11, 2019, 07:00am EDT Happy 24th Birthday, Sega Saturn: The Console Doomed By Its American Launch Matt Gardner Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Games Im a British writer who covers current and retro gaming Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin. Before learning of Sonys plan, the Saturn had prioritized 2D graphics, reflecting the companys ongoing success with arcade games utilizing this approach. The Saturns design was all but complete by the end of 1993, but leaked information about the PlayStation forced Sega to add another video display processor to boost its texture mapping and 2D performance. A lack of communication between two wings of the same company meant Silicon Graphics wouldnt partner with Sega; it eventually lent its tech prowess to Nintendo for the development of the N64. In Japan, Sega dropped its new flagship console on November 22, 1994, just two weeks ahead of Sonys launch on December 3. It sold well Japanese manufacturers of consoles always have, domestically yet while Sega was bolstered by sales of half a million Saturns in the first month, the upstart PlayStation was catching up. After all, whod buy two full-priced consoles in one year, and at 800 a pop in todays money. This didnt just shock attendees; he also caught plenty of others off guard. KB Toys, which Sega didnt initially provide the Saturn to, felt so slighted by the move that it never stocked it. The gaming rumor mill in the mid-90s was powered by magazines and TV ads. And if you think the Saturns TV campaign was enough to excite the average US customer, think again. Sony knew it needed to surprise the audience too and, in one of E3s best-ever moments, it did exactly that. Responding to the Saturn briefly, but devastatingly, he said just three words. Gamers just had to wait until September 9 to get it, but by then, Sony would have amassed a game line-up which included Ridge Racer, Rayman, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition and Battle Arena Toshinden, with Wipeout, Jumping Flash, Twisted Metal, Mortal Kombat 3 and Tekken not far behind. Tekken 2 was already in arcades, and was secured as a PlayStation exclusive. It ended up giving us Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant Silvergun, Virtua Cop, Guardian Heroes, Sega Rally Championship and NiGHTS into Dreams. But the sales figures speak for themselves: in its lifetime, the Saturn sold three million units in the US. The year after, Sega learned from its mistakes and released the glorious Dreamcast, which went on to be the savior of the company. It absolutely bombed and, exactly like its predecessor, took four years to enter and exit the market. I run GameTripper, which gives writers the opportunity to share deeply personal stories about individual games and VGM.
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