This is the eight piece in Mama Robotnik's Sega Obscura ResetEra Series:
Sega Obscura 1 - The Sega Saturn was the best console EVER for…
Sega Obscura 2 - Sonic 1 (8-bit) is a better game than Sonic 1 (16-bit)
Sega Obscura 3 - The first "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" released hates Sonic, and hates us all
Sega Obscura 4 - The Eleven SEGA "Zeldas"
Sega Obscura 5 - The extraordinary Sega game that played the player
Sega Obscura 6 - The ambitious Sonic game from 2009 that you will never, ever get to play
Sega Obscura 7 - When Sega took on Zelda, they really went for the jugular
Sega Obscura 8 - The most consistent sequence of fuckups in the entirety of the history of video games
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I love the Sega Saturn.
In this Sega Obscura series, I've offered a number of threads celebrating Sega. In one of the early pieces, I noted as an aside that the Saturn in particular, was the most catastrophically mismanaged console that had ever been - and for this piece I wanted to expand on that assertion.
Given that we are in an exciting console-generation transition, it is interesting to look back the console that went the most wrong.
This won't be ground-breaking or obscure if you've already done any background reading into the history of the Saturn. It also contains some choice language – I'm not trying to be edgy here, just writing from the heart. Sega hubris in this era is enough to make anyone's blood boil!
This is the story of one company that was riding high on the massive success of the Genesis/Mega Drive, and proceeded to fuck EVERYTHING up. Every decision was a fuck up. Every strategy, every choice, everything that Sega did was a cacophony of minor, moderate and major fuck ups, that contributed to the catastrofuck that was the Sega Saturn.
We've seen drama in the industry.: We watched the success of the Wii, followed by the failure of the Wii U. We observed the sales onslaught of the PS2, followed by the somewhat troubled PS3. We saw the Xbox 360 revealed to be a faulty product due to the RROD, and we witnessed Sega itself leave the hardware industry when the Dreamcast lost its way.
They are all small fry compared to the Sega Saturn. Those failures were a result of some poor decisions, but none of them compare to the sheer volume, density and prime-vintage quality of the fuck ups that Sega achieved with the Saturn.
Some of these are petty, and many have a western focus. It is true that the Saturn did have some moderate success in Japan, but such success is utterly eclipsed by the scale of its failure elsewhere.
Context
It's the 1990s. Sega were riding high, the Genesis/Mega Drive was an international success with fantastic hardware and software sales. Their IPs were awesome, with Sonic the Hedgehog an international megastar. Nothing could go wrong.
Until of course, it did.
Pre Saturn Fuck Ups
The Sega CD and 32X
Instead of focussing their energies on the successor to their 16-bit marvel, SEGA put vital resources into the development of two expensive, failed add-ons. The SEGA CD and the SEGA 32X didn't sell well, burned cash, consumed research and development resources, and took up marketable software that could and should have been saved for the Saturn. Sonic CD, Snatcher, Chaotix, Keio Flying Squadron, Shining Force CD, Star Wars Arcade – if these had instead been Saturn titles, they could have really bolstered the system's utterly meagre software launch lineup and given it some much-needed software momentum.
Premature killing of the Genesis / Mega Drive
Sega killed internal software development on their 16-bit console even though it was still selling well. They didn't need to rush into Saturn development, but they did, and prematurely killed off a revenue stream that could have greatly supported them during the expense of the Saturn's launch. Some have asserted that the Genesis/Mega Drive had at least a further year of profitability within it.
Internal Politics
Within Sega, the company had allowed tensions and politics to build up between the East and West branches. This would be a poison that would throttle the company in the Saturn era. Sonic Team were even able to forbid a western Sega team from using their software engine, despite said engine being SEGA PROPERTY.
Financial Recklessness
While Nintendo kept considerable cash reserves aside in case their SNES successor failed, Sega had no such foresight. If their next console failed them, it would put the very future of the company at risk.
Development fuck ups
Hardware woes
Sega started R&D with no idea what they wanted the Saturn to be. They continued to add components in late development, making an unnecessarily complex behemoth of a console even more so.
No consultation or communication
Let's look at the competition: Sony consulted with external partners during the development of the PlayStation, to ensure that the final product met a range of needs.
Let's look at team fuck up; Sega didn't consult at all, and built a coding monstrosity that no one in their right mind would ever want to work on.
Team Andromeda, one of Sega's internal game developers, were forced to make their game Panzer Dragoon without actually knowing what the Saturn hardware would be capable of. They had to make guesses as to what the Saturn would be able to do, and program their game without any information on the hardware being developed within the same fucking company.
Shite Software Libraries and devkits
Let's look again at the competition: Sony built accessible, comparatively easy software libraries and devkits to aid developers who wanted to work on the PlayStation.
Back to team fuck up: Sega provided some impenetrable software which would only be updated post-release, and sold expensive half-baked devkits with poor documentation as to what external components the owner would need to get the units to actually work properly. Consequently there would be little third-party support for launch, as few programmers could come even close to giving the time investment needed to decipher the fucking thing.
How Sony – who hadn't even officially entered the video game industry at this point - knew what they were doing so much better than the experienced teams at Sega, is something we will never be able to comprehend.
Little coordination with arcade teams
Sega were big business in the arcades. Their teams were pumping out various great games, and this presented an opportunity – Sega could ask their arcade developers to develop software with eventual Saturn ports in mind – an approach that would capitalise on these teams, and save time and resources in getting these games to the Saturn for the increased profitability of all of Sega.
They of course didn't do this, because reasons.
Sega would eventually recognise this mistake, and encourage a better link between the software development teams across console and arcade, but this would be years into the Saturn's release, and far too late to have an impact.
A Genesis/Mega Drive sized cart slot, that doesn't play Genesis/Mega Drive games
The Saturn had a wide cartridge slot behind the CD drive, which was nearly identical in size to 16-bit game carts. It looked as if you could pop one of your classic Sega carts in, and have some great fun with backwards compatibility while waiting for some Saturn games to actually come out. This would have been an interesting USP, as no consoles in this era had such a feature.
But nope, despite the Genesis/Mega Drive sized cartridge slot dominating the top of the console, it was just for memory cards and expansions. Sega decided to tease this with the design for absolutely no reason.
Also, the cartridge slot had a serious design fault – because of course it fucking did. If you put a Saturn memory cartridge in a few too many times, the connectors would loosen and the system would stop reading the slot, preventing you from externally saving your games or using expansion memory carts that were vital for some games to run.
The shittest disc case design in gaming
For some reason, Sega decided that every region would have a different case design for their Saturn game CDs. In PAL regions, Saturn games would come in rectangular black fuckup cases that wouldn't close properly, wouldn't hold the CD securely, were flimsy and easily broken, and led to loose and scratched game discs. I've played video games from the ZX Spectrum through to the Switch and the consoles in between, and nothing is as fucking shite as these EU Saturn cases.
They would later be replaced with robust molded plastic cases, also black, but this was far too late in the Saturn's lifespan to save many cracked and damaged games.
Launch Fuckups
Stupid, spontaneous US launch
Sega seemingly decided that the Saturn – the product of vital importance to the success of failure of their entire business – didn't need any significant marketing. At E3, the CEO of Sega of America took to the stage and announced that the console was available right now, for $399. It just appeared on shelves with little fanfare or explanation.
In this pre-mainstream-internet age, the news that the Saturn was on store shelves eventually made its way out to the public through magazines and other media – taking weeks – while the consoles gathered dust.
Overpriced
It was $399. The PlayStation was then famously priced at $299. The Nintendo 64 later launched (much later) at $199.
Who the fuck did Sega think they were, charging so much for a console with a limited library that struggled to impress next to this competition?
Almost no games
Sega was a company with a vast breadth of IPs, loads of software teams, and a wide range of third-party software partners from the 16-bit era. The Saturn had been in development for two years, which you would have expected to be abundant time for some impressive titles to be ready.
So, here is your fucking launch lineup: Clockwork Knight, Daytona USA (rushed port, 20fps), Panzer Dragoon, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Virtua Fighter (not a good port) and Worldwide Soccer.
No SONIC
Sonic was Sega. He was the international megastar of the corporation. Hedgehog merchandise brought in good money, and the character had spread across pop culture in a range of cartoons, comic books, novels and anime productions. Non-gamers knew who Sonic was. If people saw Sonic, they took interest, and bought. He sold consoles, and Sega were releasing a console.
So, of course, Sega decided not to involve Sonic at launch. Because fucking hubris.
Even if they didn't want to spend the money developing something new with Sonic, they still could have done something. They could have ported SegaSonic the Arcade game. They could have done an enhanced port of Sonic CD, which was at that point languishing on a dead format. They could have tied into that Sonic the Fighters arcade game that was soon planned for development.
Think about how Mario 64 launched with the Nintendo 64, and how logical that had been for Nintendo. How much obvious business sense had it made for Nintendo to capitalise on a core, popular franchise to support their new console?
Then contrast with the bozos at team fuck up, who not only didn't launch their console with Sonic, but would later decline to give their megastar mascot a mainstream game throughout the entirety of that console generation.
Sega might as well have just set fire to their money.
Lifespan fuckups
Controller Confusion
(Image source)
The standard Saturn Control Pad is a work of art. For some genres of games – particularly fighting – it is famed to this day for its layout, responsiveness and comfort. In this world of fuck ups, somehow Sega had produced something beautiful.
So, they had to fuck it up. Someone decided that this elegant, impressive controller wasn't suitable for PAL and US audiences, and made a mediocre redesign. This weird alternate controller had bizarre concave D-pad buttons, oddly-angled L and R buttons, some weird face button placement and an ugly sheen. It wasn't totally awful, but utterly crap by comparison to the genuine Saturn controller.
So, of course, the US and EU launched with the worse controller. Of course they did.
Eventually, Sega came to their senses and adopted the good controller (that had successfully launched with Japanese systems) for later releases of the Saturn. This was too late however for those lumbered with the worse controller.
Wasted Peripherals
What the Saturn needed desperately, was games. Games, games, games, games, games, games, games.
So Sega had teams working on nine different Video CD cards (so the Saturn could read the failed Video CD format), karaoke adaptors, Netlink adaptors, floppy-disk-drive attachments, the MIDI interface box, modem, Netlink Modem, Infrared controller, keyboards and more.
While some of these might have had limited success in certain markets (while most just flopped hard), such success would pale in comparison to the profits that could have been made from selling actual fucking video games for their fucking video game machine thing.
Leaving Successful IPs in the Bin
Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Ecco the Dolphin, Phantasy Star. Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions, Thunder Blade, Castle of Illusion and ToeJam and Earl; these IPs had all made money on the Genesis/Mega Drive and earlier Sega consoles. They had brand recognition and interested fans.
So naturally, Sega didn't do a fucking thing with any of them on the Saturn, with the exception of a Phantasy Star Collection, which offered basic ports of that franchise's titles.
The Saturn needed games. Sega had a rich and enviable library of game IPs.
This company couldn't work out that 2 + 2 equalled 4 at this point.
Badmouthing their own product
How do you even begin to explain this one?
Sega of America VP Bernie Stolar announced at E3 that "The Saturn is not our future", because that is exactly what prospective buyers want to hear when considering an expensive console purchase.
Speaking of which…
Bernie FUCKING Stolar
The Vice President of Sega who seemed to hate the Saturn. He decided that the Sega Saturn – a legitimately impressive 2D machine – shouldn't have 2D games. He blocked the release of Megaman X3 from Japan and many other 2D games as he didn't want 2D on his console, regardless of marketability or franchise selling power. He also blocked the release of a number of excellent RPGs, which were predominantly 2D at the time.
He instituted a "Five Star" release policy, in which he would only allow the best (five star) games to be released on the console, based on his arbitrary and unfair criteria. For example, he reportedly rejected a port of Diablo to the Saturn citing PlayStation sales that didn't set the world on fire, and therefore the game must not be "Five Star".
Despite this, some utter shite managed to keep getting released on the Saturn. Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal, Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, The Crow: City of Angels and Euro 96 Soccer were appalling titles, utter unplayable ugly messes that somehow made it through the "Five Star" system that rejected Diablo.
Decisions not to port marketable titles from Japan
Many porting decisions were arbitrarily made from Sega of Japan. For various reasons, it was decided that PAL and EU audiences didn't need:
Grandia, Shining Force III episodes 2 and 3, Waku Waku 7, Radiant Silvergun, Bubble (Bobble) Symphony, Dragon Force 2, Bomberman Wars, X-men Vs Street Fighter, Marvel Superheroes Vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Zero 3, Sillhouette Mirage, Snatcher, Policenauts , Columns Arcade Collection and Castlevania : Symphony of the Night (which while a terrible port, had international franchise recognition).
Some of these games are amongst the most impressive software to ever be released on a Sega console, and gamers in US and PAL territories – utterly desperate for new Saturn software – never saw them. While this may have been justified by citing localisation and marketing costs, many of these titles were light on text (and therefore easier to port), while others were tied into franchises that were popular in the west, making them immediately more marketable.
You might note that a number of the above titles were ported for PAL and US PlayStation owners, because Sony thought that video games were a good thing to have, if you happen to be selling video game systems.
But fuck it, us international Sega Saturn owners got Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, an apparent "Five Star" game so utterly awful that the Official Sega Saturn Magazine reviewed it with "Super heroes are normally created by being exposed to radiation, or by being bitten by a radioactive insect – the creators of this game deserve both".
Hiding marketable gaming experiences behind cheat codes or unlockables
Despite Sega's best efforts, some video games were released on their platform. Some of these contained incredibly marketable features, which for some insane reason, were hidden from view. For example:
-The excellent shooters Exhumed/Powerslave and Duke Nukem 3D contained a secret multiplayer game called Death Tank. This seven-player competitive masterpiece was a stunningly playable game, and was beloved by anyone who had the chance to play it. So naturally, it was hidden behind obscure collectable quests, so most gamers never even knew it was on the disc.
-The Saturn port of Hexen had a fully functional deathmatch mode, the likes of which the console had never seen. This was of course hidden behind a cheat code, and most gamers also never knew it was on the disc.
-Within Christmas Nights, there was a full 3D Sonic level, complete with its own custom boss. It was very impressive for what it was, and was therefore of course hidden behind an unlockable grid.
These features should have been at the forefront of these games and their marketing, and hiding them made zero business sense.
Who needs demo discs?
Picture yourself – a dedicated Saturn owner, with no games. At least some demo discs could keep you occupied eh?
NO.
Sega released minimal demo discs for their console, for no fucking reason. While Sony had multiple magazines each with their own different demos every month, Sega would only bestow demo discs to the Official Sega Saturn Magazine on a meagre and desolate schedule.
It is true that Sega – in an uncharacteristic act of giving a shit about their player base – eventually gave the magazine two of the greatest cover discs of all time, the entirety of Christmas Nights and Panzer Dragoon Saga Disc 1 – but this in no way made up for the utterly bewildering approach of denying their consumers decent demos. Not to mention denying their partners a vital tool in marketing their third party software through said demo discs.
Releasing excellent software to die
The Saturn had some amazing games. Given all the factors we have discussed so far, this is a fucking miracle in of itself.
But they weren't advertised. They weren't given demo discs. They were represented in media in often quite shallow terms.
For example – Fighter's Megamix – a fantastic 3D fighter with crossover characters from across Sega franchises. It was a culmination of home and arcade gaming, with non-fighting genres also represented e.g. Janet from Virtua Cop and the car (!) from Daytona. It was completely unprecedented in scale and scope, and deserved celebration and success.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Dark Savior – a action adventure game that through some programming miracles, changed storyline when you repeatedly played through it. A subversive and engaging adventure across a fantastic and unique locale, with a meta-narrative that pushed the boundaries of gaming storytelling.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Saturn Bomberman – this pinnacle of the Bomberman franchise brought 10-player simultaneous party gaming to the masses. No console local multiplayer games operated on this scale, and the result was supremely playable and enormously fun.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Exhumed / Powerslave – a Metroid-esque FPS focussing on upgrades and exploration across a stunningly playable world of science fiction invades ancient Egypt. This game had secret exits, secret collectables, SUPER secret collectibles, and was just a stunningly deep and replayable package. CVG magazine initially gave it 4 out of 5 stars in their review, and in the next issue immediately revised the score saying that their further time with the game had elevated it to five stars – this was unprecedented, and spoke of the quality of the title.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
This is the story of almost all Saturn games. Good games, sent out to die.
The best selling game on the console in the US was Madden 97, which happened to sell a pittance more than everything else.
Channelling more resources into more potential fuckups
The 32X was a colossal failure.
Team fuck up decided, of course, that they'd like to explore a similar add-on system for the Saturn, code named Eclipse. They put resources into exploring this 64-bit expansion for the Saturn – for some fucking reason – before finally going against it and moving towards the Dreamcast.
What the failing console didn't need was another console to stick into it, it needed games! How could they not see this!?
Post Death Fuckups
Letting an amazing partner go bust
During the Sega Saturn, there was one small third-party developer who made that fucked-up machine perform miracles: Lobotomy Software. This team were skilled and dedicated enough to overcome all the programming and hardware barriers that Sega had put in the way of all developers, to release:
-Exhumed – an incredible FPS detailed above, with ambition that should have been beyond the limits of the mere Saturn.
-A perfect port of Duke Nukem 3D, adding enhanced lighting features to the game that other versions lacked.
-The "impossible" port of Quake, realising the legendary FPS and all of its 3d-modelled bad guys, on the fucking Saturn of all things!
This company were incredible. The amount of effort they put into their Saturn games, and the frankly astonishing results, should have secured their future.
But it didn't. Their efforts sold as poorly as all other Saturn software. They went bust. If there was ONE company that Sega should have brought into the fold, one company that had fucking proven its chops and deserved to be a partner on some amazing Dreamcast products, it was Lobotomy. Sega should have saved them, for no other external team committed so much to the Saturn. But of course, they didn't.
The treatment of the Official Sega Saturn Magazine
When the internet discusses the greatest video game magazines to have ever existed, the Official Sega Saturn Magazine always comes up. It was funny, clever, very well-written, and utterly devoted to the Saturn. They'd also try to sneak in as much reference to importing as they were allowed to get away with, to try and ensure that their readers knew of the amazing Saturn games in Japan.
They would take the pitiful gaming release schedules, and through some magic, make them genuinely sound exciting. They would have amazing and unexpected features "X-Men versus Street Fighter – what would REALLY happen?" and would champion their favourite developers (Lobotomy Software always earned a mention). They had barely any demo discs to boost sales, so they had to make do with quality – and quality it was.
As the Saturn died, they still kept printing, trying to gather ANYTHING they could regarding Dreamcast news from Japan, in order to keep readers informed. For many Saturn owners, these impassioned writers cared so much more than Sega ever did.
Naturally, Sega fucking binned them at short notice – choosing a more generic publishing house to deliver the Official Dreamcast Magazine. I still have my last copy of Sega Saturn Magazine, and I really wished these guys had been there to continue the journey into the Dreamcast era. They'd bloody earned it.
The Lost Library
Despite fuck up after fuck up after fuck up after fuck up, the Sega Saturn had an amazing library of games. It shouldn't have, but it did.
Panzer Dragoon Saga – Shining Force III – Shining the Holy Ark – Story of Thor 2 – Dark Savior
Fighters Megamix – Sonic Jam – Christmas NiGHTS – Keio Flying Squadron 2 – Enemy Zero
Burning Rangers – Exhumed – Saturn Bomberman – Albert Odyssey – Astal
Magic Knight Rayearth – Shinobi X – Grandia Digital Museum – Saturn Bomberman FIGHT – Torico
Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru - Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari – Deep Fear - Dungeons & Dragons Collection – Iron Storm
These are only a sampling of what the Saturn offered - there are far more quality games out there. What the above have in common, however, is that they have never been re-released in any form, outside their original Saturn run.
The Saturn was such hardware fuck up, that software on it still too costly for Sega to emulate and package, 25 years later. They fucked up so badly, that the company can't even monetise their own extensive 32-bit library.
In conclusion
The Sega Saturn. A nexus of fuck ups so dense, that it still haunts the company and industry a quarter of a century later. There will never be a sequence of consistent fuck ups ever again.
Fuck.
Citations
This article owes a lot to the following links. They have provided enormous insights into the story of the Sega Saturn, and should be considered if you want to know more.
Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition
The Guardian - Sega Saturn - How one decision destroyed PlayStation's greatest rival
Sega Nerds - Former Sega President gives his thoughts on the Saturn's launch
Sega Lord X - Why the Sega Saturn Failed
Sega Obscura 1 - The Sega Saturn was the best console EVER for…
Sega Obscura 2 - Sonic 1 (8-bit) is a better game than Sonic 1 (16-bit)
Sega Obscura 3 - The first "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" released hates Sonic, and hates us all
Sega Obscura 4 - The Eleven SEGA "Zeldas"
Sega Obscura 5 - The extraordinary Sega game that played the player
Sega Obscura 6 - The ambitious Sonic game from 2009 that you will never, ever get to play
Sega Obscura 7 - When Sega took on Zelda, they really went for the jugular
Sega Obscura 8 - The most consistent sequence of fuckups in the entirety of the history of video games
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I love the Sega Saturn.
In this Sega Obscura series, I've offered a number of threads celebrating Sega. In one of the early pieces, I noted as an aside that the Saturn in particular, was the most catastrophically mismanaged console that had ever been - and for this piece I wanted to expand on that assertion.
Given that we are in an exciting console-generation transition, it is interesting to look back the console that went the most wrong.
This won't be ground-breaking or obscure if you've already done any background reading into the history of the Saturn. It also contains some choice language – I'm not trying to be edgy here, just writing from the heart. Sega hubris in this era is enough to make anyone's blood boil!
This is the story of one company that was riding high on the massive success of the Genesis/Mega Drive, and proceeded to fuck EVERYTHING up. Every decision was a fuck up. Every strategy, every choice, everything that Sega did was a cacophony of minor, moderate and major fuck ups, that contributed to the catastrofuck that was the Sega Saturn.
We've seen drama in the industry.: We watched the success of the Wii, followed by the failure of the Wii U. We observed the sales onslaught of the PS2, followed by the somewhat troubled PS3. We saw the Xbox 360 revealed to be a faulty product due to the RROD, and we witnessed Sega itself leave the hardware industry when the Dreamcast lost its way.
They are all small fry compared to the Sega Saturn. Those failures were a result of some poor decisions, but none of them compare to the sheer volume, density and prime-vintage quality of the fuck ups that Sega achieved with the Saturn.
Some of these are petty, and many have a western focus. It is true that the Saturn did have some moderate success in Japan, but such success is utterly eclipsed by the scale of its failure elsewhere.
Context
It's the 1990s. Sega were riding high, the Genesis/Mega Drive was an international success with fantastic hardware and software sales. Their IPs were awesome, with Sonic the Hedgehog an international megastar. Nothing could go wrong.
Until of course, it did.
Pre Saturn Fuck Ups
The Sega CD and 32X
Instead of focussing their energies on the successor to their 16-bit marvel, SEGA put vital resources into the development of two expensive, failed add-ons. The SEGA CD and the SEGA 32X didn't sell well, burned cash, consumed research and development resources, and took up marketable software that could and should have been saved for the Saturn. Sonic CD, Snatcher, Chaotix, Keio Flying Squadron, Shining Force CD, Star Wars Arcade – if these had instead been Saturn titles, they could have really bolstered the system's utterly meagre software launch lineup and given it some much-needed software momentum.
Premature killing of the Genesis / Mega Drive
Sega killed internal software development on their 16-bit console even though it was still selling well. They didn't need to rush into Saturn development, but they did, and prematurely killed off a revenue stream that could have greatly supported them during the expense of the Saturn's launch. Some have asserted that the Genesis/Mega Drive had at least a further year of profitability within it.
Internal Politics
Within Sega, the company had allowed tensions and politics to build up between the East and West branches. This would be a poison that would throttle the company in the Saturn era. Sonic Team were even able to forbid a western Sega team from using their software engine, despite said engine being SEGA PROPERTY.
Financial Recklessness
While Nintendo kept considerable cash reserves aside in case their SNES successor failed, Sega had no such foresight. If their next console failed them, it would put the very future of the company at risk.
Development fuck ups
Hardware woes
Sega started R&D with no idea what they wanted the Saturn to be. They continued to add components in late development, making an unnecessarily complex behemoth of a console even more so.
No consultation or communication
Let's look at the competition: Sony consulted with external partners during the development of the PlayStation, to ensure that the final product met a range of needs.
Let's look at team fuck up; Sega didn't consult at all, and built a coding monstrosity that no one in their right mind would ever want to work on.
Team Andromeda, one of Sega's internal game developers, were forced to make their game Panzer Dragoon without actually knowing what the Saturn hardware would be capable of. They had to make guesses as to what the Saturn would be able to do, and program their game without any information on the hardware being developed within the same fucking company.
Shite Software Libraries and devkits
Let's look again at the competition: Sony built accessible, comparatively easy software libraries and devkits to aid developers who wanted to work on the PlayStation.
Back to team fuck up: Sega provided some impenetrable software which would only be updated post-release, and sold expensive half-baked devkits with poor documentation as to what external components the owner would need to get the units to actually work properly. Consequently there would be little third-party support for launch, as few programmers could come even close to giving the time investment needed to decipher the fucking thing.
How Sony – who hadn't even officially entered the video game industry at this point - knew what they were doing so much better than the experienced teams at Sega, is something we will never be able to comprehend.
Little coordination with arcade teams
Sega were big business in the arcades. Their teams were pumping out various great games, and this presented an opportunity – Sega could ask their arcade developers to develop software with eventual Saturn ports in mind – an approach that would capitalise on these teams, and save time and resources in getting these games to the Saturn for the increased profitability of all of Sega.
They of course didn't do this, because reasons.
Sega would eventually recognise this mistake, and encourage a better link between the software development teams across console and arcade, but this would be years into the Saturn's release, and far too late to have an impact.
A Genesis/Mega Drive sized cart slot, that doesn't play Genesis/Mega Drive games
The Saturn had a wide cartridge slot behind the CD drive, which was nearly identical in size to 16-bit game carts. It looked as if you could pop one of your classic Sega carts in, and have some great fun with backwards compatibility while waiting for some Saturn games to actually come out. This would have been an interesting USP, as no consoles in this era had such a feature.
But nope, despite the Genesis/Mega Drive sized cartridge slot dominating the top of the console, it was just for memory cards and expansions. Sega decided to tease this with the design for absolutely no reason.
Also, the cartridge slot had a serious design fault – because of course it fucking did. If you put a Saturn memory cartridge in a few too many times, the connectors would loosen and the system would stop reading the slot, preventing you from externally saving your games or using expansion memory carts that were vital for some games to run.
The shittest disc case design in gaming
For some reason, Sega decided that every region would have a different case design for their Saturn game CDs. In PAL regions, Saturn games would come in rectangular black fuckup cases that wouldn't close properly, wouldn't hold the CD securely, were flimsy and easily broken, and led to loose and scratched game discs. I've played video games from the ZX Spectrum through to the Switch and the consoles in between, and nothing is as fucking shite as these EU Saturn cases.
They would later be replaced with robust molded plastic cases, also black, but this was far too late in the Saturn's lifespan to save many cracked and damaged games.
Launch Fuckups
Stupid, spontaneous US launch
Sega seemingly decided that the Saturn – the product of vital importance to the success of failure of their entire business – didn't need any significant marketing. At E3, the CEO of Sega of America took to the stage and announced that the console was available right now, for $399. It just appeared on shelves with little fanfare or explanation.
In this pre-mainstream-internet age, the news that the Saturn was on store shelves eventually made its way out to the public through magazines and other media – taking weeks – while the consoles gathered dust.
Overpriced
It was $399. The PlayStation was then famously priced at $299. The Nintendo 64 later launched (much later) at $199.
Who the fuck did Sega think they were, charging so much for a console with a limited library that struggled to impress next to this competition?
Almost no games
Sega was a company with a vast breadth of IPs, loads of software teams, and a wide range of third-party software partners from the 16-bit era. The Saturn had been in development for two years, which you would have expected to be abundant time for some impressive titles to be ready.
So, here is your fucking launch lineup: Clockwork Knight, Daytona USA (rushed port, 20fps), Panzer Dragoon, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Virtua Fighter (not a good port) and Worldwide Soccer.
No SONIC
Sonic was Sega. He was the international megastar of the corporation. Hedgehog merchandise brought in good money, and the character had spread across pop culture in a range of cartoons, comic books, novels and anime productions. Non-gamers knew who Sonic was. If people saw Sonic, they took interest, and bought. He sold consoles, and Sega were releasing a console.
So, of course, Sega decided not to involve Sonic at launch. Because fucking hubris.
Even if they didn't want to spend the money developing something new with Sonic, they still could have done something. They could have ported SegaSonic the Arcade game. They could have done an enhanced port of Sonic CD, which was at that point languishing on a dead format. They could have tied into that Sonic the Fighters arcade game that was soon planned for development.
Think about how Mario 64 launched with the Nintendo 64, and how logical that had been for Nintendo. How much obvious business sense had it made for Nintendo to capitalise on a core, popular franchise to support their new console?
Then contrast with the bozos at team fuck up, who not only didn't launch their console with Sonic, but would later decline to give their megastar mascot a mainstream game throughout the entirety of that console generation.
Sega might as well have just set fire to their money.
Lifespan fuckups
Controller Confusion
(Image source)
The standard Saturn Control Pad is a work of art. For some genres of games – particularly fighting – it is famed to this day for its layout, responsiveness and comfort. In this world of fuck ups, somehow Sega had produced something beautiful.
So, they had to fuck it up. Someone decided that this elegant, impressive controller wasn't suitable for PAL and US audiences, and made a mediocre redesign. This weird alternate controller had bizarre concave D-pad buttons, oddly-angled L and R buttons, some weird face button placement and an ugly sheen. It wasn't totally awful, but utterly crap by comparison to the genuine Saturn controller.
So, of course, the US and EU launched with the worse controller. Of course they did.
Eventually, Sega came to their senses and adopted the good controller (that had successfully launched with Japanese systems) for later releases of the Saturn. This was too late however for those lumbered with the worse controller.
Wasted Peripherals
What the Saturn needed desperately, was games. Games, games, games, games, games, games, games.
So Sega had teams working on nine different Video CD cards (so the Saturn could read the failed Video CD format), karaoke adaptors, Netlink adaptors, floppy-disk-drive attachments, the MIDI interface box, modem, Netlink Modem, Infrared controller, keyboards and more.
While some of these might have had limited success in certain markets (while most just flopped hard), such success would pale in comparison to the profits that could have been made from selling actual fucking video games for their fucking video game machine thing.
Leaving Successful IPs in the Bin
Altered Beast, Alex Kidd, Ecco the Dolphin, Phantasy Star. Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions, Thunder Blade, Castle of Illusion and ToeJam and Earl; these IPs had all made money on the Genesis/Mega Drive and earlier Sega consoles. They had brand recognition and interested fans.
So naturally, Sega didn't do a fucking thing with any of them on the Saturn, with the exception of a Phantasy Star Collection, which offered basic ports of that franchise's titles.
The Saturn needed games. Sega had a rich and enviable library of game IPs.
This company couldn't work out that 2 + 2 equalled 4 at this point.
Badmouthing their own product
How do you even begin to explain this one?
Sega of America VP Bernie Stolar announced at E3 that "The Saturn is not our future", because that is exactly what prospective buyers want to hear when considering an expensive console purchase.
Speaking of which…
Bernie FUCKING Stolar
The Vice President of Sega who seemed to hate the Saturn. He decided that the Sega Saturn – a legitimately impressive 2D machine – shouldn't have 2D games. He blocked the release of Megaman X3 from Japan and many other 2D games as he didn't want 2D on his console, regardless of marketability or franchise selling power. He also blocked the release of a number of excellent RPGs, which were predominantly 2D at the time.
He instituted a "Five Star" release policy, in which he would only allow the best (five star) games to be released on the console, based on his arbitrary and unfair criteria. For example, he reportedly rejected a port of Diablo to the Saturn citing PlayStation sales that didn't set the world on fire, and therefore the game must not be "Five Star".
Despite this, some utter shite managed to keep getting released on the Saturn. Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal, Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, The Crow: City of Angels and Euro 96 Soccer were appalling titles, utter unplayable ugly messes that somehow made it through the "Five Star" system that rejected Diablo.
Decisions not to port marketable titles from Japan
Many porting decisions were arbitrarily made from Sega of Japan. For various reasons, it was decided that PAL and EU audiences didn't need:
Grandia, Shining Force III episodes 2 and 3, Waku Waku 7, Radiant Silvergun, Bubble (Bobble) Symphony, Dragon Force 2, Bomberman Wars, X-men Vs Street Fighter, Marvel Superheroes Vs Street Fighter, Street Fighter Zero 3, Sillhouette Mirage, Snatcher, Policenauts , Columns Arcade Collection and Castlevania : Symphony of the Night (which while a terrible port, had international franchise recognition).
Some of these games are amongst the most impressive software to ever be released on a Sega console, and gamers in US and PAL territories – utterly desperate for new Saturn software – never saw them. While this may have been justified by citing localisation and marketing costs, many of these titles were light on text (and therefore easier to port), while others were tied into franchises that were popular in the west, making them immediately more marketable.
You might note that a number of the above titles were ported for PAL and US PlayStation owners, because Sony thought that video games were a good thing to have, if you happen to be selling video game systems.
But fuck it, us international Sega Saturn owners got Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga, an apparent "Five Star" game so utterly awful that the Official Sega Saturn Magazine reviewed it with "Super heroes are normally created by being exposed to radiation, or by being bitten by a radioactive insect – the creators of this game deserve both".
Hiding marketable gaming experiences behind cheat codes or unlockables
Despite Sega's best efforts, some video games were released on their platform. Some of these contained incredibly marketable features, which for some insane reason, were hidden from view. For example:
-The excellent shooters Exhumed/Powerslave and Duke Nukem 3D contained a secret multiplayer game called Death Tank. This seven-player competitive masterpiece was a stunningly playable game, and was beloved by anyone who had the chance to play it. So naturally, it was hidden behind obscure collectable quests, so most gamers never even knew it was on the disc.
-The Saturn port of Hexen had a fully functional deathmatch mode, the likes of which the console had never seen. This was of course hidden behind a cheat code, and most gamers also never knew it was on the disc.
-Within Christmas Nights, there was a full 3D Sonic level, complete with its own custom boss. It was very impressive for what it was, and was therefore of course hidden behind an unlockable grid.
These features should have been at the forefront of these games and their marketing, and hiding them made zero business sense.
Who needs demo discs?
Picture yourself – a dedicated Saturn owner, with no games. At least some demo discs could keep you occupied eh?
NO.
Sega released minimal demo discs for their console, for no fucking reason. While Sony had multiple magazines each with their own different demos every month, Sega would only bestow demo discs to the Official Sega Saturn Magazine on a meagre and desolate schedule.
It is true that Sega – in an uncharacteristic act of giving a shit about their player base – eventually gave the magazine two of the greatest cover discs of all time, the entirety of Christmas Nights and Panzer Dragoon Saga Disc 1 – but this in no way made up for the utterly bewildering approach of denying their consumers decent demos. Not to mention denying their partners a vital tool in marketing their third party software through said demo discs.
Releasing excellent software to die
The Saturn had some amazing games. Given all the factors we have discussed so far, this is a fucking miracle in of itself.
But they weren't advertised. They weren't given demo discs. They were represented in media in often quite shallow terms.
For example – Fighter's Megamix – a fantastic 3D fighter with crossover characters from across Sega franchises. It was a culmination of home and arcade gaming, with non-fighting genres also represented e.g. Janet from Virtua Cop and the car (!) from Daytona. It was completely unprecedented in scale and scope, and deserved celebration and success.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Dark Savior – a action adventure game that through some programming miracles, changed storyline when you repeatedly played through it. A subversive and engaging adventure across a fantastic and unique locale, with a meta-narrative that pushed the boundaries of gaming storytelling.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Saturn Bomberman – this pinnacle of the Bomberman franchise brought 10-player simultaneous party gaming to the masses. No console local multiplayer games operated on this scale, and the result was supremely playable and enormously fun.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
Exhumed / Powerslave – a Metroid-esque FPS focussing on upgrades and exploration across a stunningly playable world of science fiction invades ancient Egypt. This game had secret exits, secret collectables, SUPER secret collectibles, and was just a stunningly deep and replayable package. CVG magazine initially gave it 4 out of 5 stars in their review, and in the next issue immediately revised the score saying that their further time with the game had elevated it to five stars – this was unprecedented, and spoke of the quality of the title.
Released quietly and died on its arse.
This is the story of almost all Saturn games. Good games, sent out to die.
The best selling game on the console in the US was Madden 97, which happened to sell a pittance more than everything else.
Channelling more resources into more potential fuckups
The 32X was a colossal failure.
Team fuck up decided, of course, that they'd like to explore a similar add-on system for the Saturn, code named Eclipse. They put resources into exploring this 64-bit expansion for the Saturn – for some fucking reason – before finally going against it and moving towards the Dreamcast.
What the failing console didn't need was another console to stick into it, it needed games! How could they not see this!?
Post Death Fuckups
Letting an amazing partner go bust
During the Sega Saturn, there was one small third-party developer who made that fucked-up machine perform miracles: Lobotomy Software. This team were skilled and dedicated enough to overcome all the programming and hardware barriers that Sega had put in the way of all developers, to release:
-Exhumed – an incredible FPS detailed above, with ambition that should have been beyond the limits of the mere Saturn.
-A perfect port of Duke Nukem 3D, adding enhanced lighting features to the game that other versions lacked.
-The "impossible" port of Quake, realising the legendary FPS and all of its 3d-modelled bad guys, on the fucking Saturn of all things!
This company were incredible. The amount of effort they put into their Saturn games, and the frankly astonishing results, should have secured their future.
But it didn't. Their efforts sold as poorly as all other Saturn software. They went bust. If there was ONE company that Sega should have brought into the fold, one company that had fucking proven its chops and deserved to be a partner on some amazing Dreamcast products, it was Lobotomy. Sega should have saved them, for no other external team committed so much to the Saturn. But of course, they didn't.
The treatment of the Official Sega Saturn Magazine
When the internet discusses the greatest video game magazines to have ever existed, the Official Sega Saturn Magazine always comes up. It was funny, clever, very well-written, and utterly devoted to the Saturn. They'd also try to sneak in as much reference to importing as they were allowed to get away with, to try and ensure that their readers knew of the amazing Saturn games in Japan.
They would take the pitiful gaming release schedules, and through some magic, make them genuinely sound exciting. They would have amazing and unexpected features "X-Men versus Street Fighter – what would REALLY happen?" and would champion their favourite developers (Lobotomy Software always earned a mention). They had barely any demo discs to boost sales, so they had to make do with quality – and quality it was.
As the Saturn died, they still kept printing, trying to gather ANYTHING they could regarding Dreamcast news from Japan, in order to keep readers informed. For many Saturn owners, these impassioned writers cared so much more than Sega ever did.
Naturally, Sega fucking binned them at short notice – choosing a more generic publishing house to deliver the Official Dreamcast Magazine. I still have my last copy of Sega Saturn Magazine, and I really wished these guys had been there to continue the journey into the Dreamcast era. They'd bloody earned it.
The Lost Library
Despite fuck up after fuck up after fuck up after fuck up, the Sega Saturn had an amazing library of games. It shouldn't have, but it did.
Panzer Dragoon Saga – Shining Force III – Shining the Holy Ark – Story of Thor 2 – Dark Savior
Fighters Megamix – Sonic Jam – Christmas NiGHTS – Keio Flying Squadron 2 – Enemy Zero
Burning Rangers – Exhumed – Saturn Bomberman – Albert Odyssey – Astal
Magic Knight Rayearth – Shinobi X – Grandia Digital Museum – Saturn Bomberman FIGHT – Torico
Shinrei Jusatsushi Tarōmaru - Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari – Deep Fear - Dungeons & Dragons Collection – Iron Storm
These are only a sampling of what the Saturn offered - there are far more quality games out there. What the above have in common, however, is that they have never been re-released in any form, outside their original Saturn run.
The Saturn was such hardware fuck up, that software on it still too costly for Sega to emulate and package, 25 years later. They fucked up so badly, that the company can't even monetise their own extensive 32-bit library.
In conclusion
The Sega Saturn. A nexus of fuck ups so dense, that it still haunts the company and industry a quarter of a century later. There will never be a sequence of consistent fuck ups ever again.
Fuck.
Citations
This article owes a lot to the following links. They have provided enormous insights into the story of the Sega Saturn, and should be considered if you want to know more.
Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition
The Guardian - Sega Saturn - How one decision destroyed PlayStation's greatest rival
Sega Nerds - Former Sega President gives his thoughts on the Saturn's launch
Sega Lord X - Why the Sega Saturn Failed
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