Anyone that's followed the video game industry over the past decade knows that Sega's Saturn did not fare too well in the US the first time around. A surprise launch that caught most third-party developers off-guard, not to mention a steep $399.95 price tag, all combined with many other factors to spell demise for Sega's 32-bit console. So why is it that over the past ten years Sega's Saturn has become one of the most collectible consoles ever released? Today I'll take a look at many of the reasons that the Saturn failed to make a splash here in the US and also some reasons that collectors and hardcore gamers are flocking to the Saturn even ten years later.
Let's start with the downfall of the Sega Saturn. There are about a hundred reasons one could come up with as to why Sega and their Saturn system never really took off here in the US. The one reason that sticks out the most has to be the system's launch. Sega pulled the surprise of the century off when they took the floor at E3 with the media anxiously waiting to hear the pricing of the console only to be told by Peter Kalinske that the Saturn was hitting store shelves across the US as he spoke. The only problem with launching almost four months early was that Sega's third-party developers didn't have their games ready. That led to a serious drought of games during that four-month period and that made it difficult for consumers to shell out $400 for a console that didn't have many games available for it. Count that as strike one.
Another viable reason the Saturn had little success in the US was because upon hearing of Sony's Playstation system's lofty 3-D specs, Sega wanted to add 3-D capabilities to their Saturn system to go along with its' 2-D architecture. Because there just wasn't time to completely rework the console's insides, the system ended up sporting dual processors. While this made the system look particularly good on paper, it made the system very difficult for developers to create games on it. This lengthened development times and costs and caused even further delays with the games. What it also did was cause the first generation of games to not look too terribly good, especially when people kept comparing them to early Playstation titles. One good example would be the constant barrage of side-by-side screenshot comparisons of Sega's Virtua Fighter and Playstation's Battle Arena Toshinden. While both were 3-D fighting games, Toshinden was clearly the more visually stunning title and this further added to the myth that the Saturn was just not a very powerful machine in the eyes of consumers. Gamers just didn't flock to the Saturn, despite it being available much earlier than the Playstation console, the way Sega had hoped. Count that as strike two.
Sega and Sony both knew that getting good third party support was a vital part of any type of success in the console race. Unfortunately, not only did Sega pull the rug out from under what little third party support they had left when they launched the Saturn early, but by the time it came time to line up third party developers for the Saturn, most of them had already been burned too many times by Sega in the past, especially during the 16-bit era. While Sega showed great support for the Genesis system, their constant attempts to upgrade it via the Sega CD system and the 32X attachment, made it difficult for consumers and developers to know exactly which direction the company was going with it all. Couple that with the fact that Sega didn't stick with either upgrade for very long, deciding to just dump one and move on to the next one, this caused a lot of distrust among both consumers and third party supporters. And as I said above, what few loyal third party companies hung on to begin developing for the Saturn, most jumped ship before too long since the Playstation was getting all of the attention and Sony seemed to be the more stable company at the time. Count that as strike three.
The end was already in sight when Bernie Stolar took over as CEO of Sega and what hadn't already been destroyed was quickly dead and buried when Stolar announced to the world that the Saturn was not the future of Sega. That let everyone know that once again Sega had jumped ship and was already working on another console. This console would become the Dreamcast, and much like the Saturn, it was a perfectly capable console that pretty much went to waste here in the US. Most people know the rest of the story as Sega was forced to abandon the hardware market and now develops and publishes games for the other consoles. It's a sad story, but one that companies can surely learn from.
Now that we've covered the downfall of the Saturn here in the US, it's time to take a look at why the Saturn, despite failing to gain ground here, is now becoming a very hot property among collectors and hardcore gaming enthusiasts.
We all know that one of the main catalysts for someone getting interested in a classic game system is through emulation. Now that most orphaned game systems are well emulated and readily available on the internet it makes the opportunity to try these systems out before you buy them. Unfortunately the Sega Saturn's architecture is so complicated that not only was it difficult to develop games for, it's also proven to be nearly impossible to emulate, even on more recent powerhouse PCs. While this would seem to be a strike against the Saturn since most people can't try the system out for themselves, it's actually worked to the opposite effect making gamers want to pick the system up simply because there's no other way to play the games. It's kind of like the old adage "you always want what you can't have." Even with talk that the system's games might be possibly making their way onto the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, sales of the system around the net and on ebay hasn't slowed down one bit.
As if not being able to emulate the system weren't enough lure for gamers wanting a taste of the classic gaming goodness of the Saturn, the cheap price the system tends to sell for on eBay doesn't make it any easier to resist. You can normally find a complete Saturn system for around $30 on ebay with many games selling for less than $10. That's not to say that you won't find some expensive Saturn items on ebay. Some of the more rare and sought-after games can go as high as $200, but for the most part, Saturn gear is generally fairly inexpensive and accessible by just about any gamer. You just can't beat a good bargain to make sales of something shoot up and the Saturn is a good example of that.
Last, but certainly not least, is probably the number one reason that hardcore gamers and collectors flock to the Sega Saturn system and that's the import titles that were never released here, namely the shooters. You'd be hard-pressed to find another game system in the long and storied history of video gaming that sports the sheer number or quality of shooters that are found on the Saturn. The majority of these shooters are available only as imports so you will have to either purchase an import Saturn, have a mod chip installed, or pick up one of the converter carts available for the system. It's a small price to pay to be able to play some of the greatest shooters ever made. Trust me, if you're a shooter fan, you absolutely must pick up a Saturn system and not just for the much-hyped Radiant Silvergun game, although it's one you need to own. There are probably over 50 shooters for the Saturn and truth be told the majority of them are definitely worth owning.
At the end of the day, it's easy to see why gamers are picking up Saturn systems and games even all these years later. There are just so many reasons it would be hard to not appreciate the console that many people have either never played or forgotten over the years. If you've got a Sega Saturn in your closet, it might be time to dig it out and get on ebay to locate some of the import titles you've been missing. Don't forget about many of the fantastic US games released for the system either. If you've never owned a Saturn system, it might be time to discover what all the fuss is about.
Now here's a shooter to get your blood flowing. You won't find a more intense or frenetic shooter anywhere than Soukyugurentai. Most people like to talk about Radiant Silvergun, but believe it or not the Saturn does have other outstanding shoot em' ups and this is one of them. If you're a shooter fan there's no reason you shouldn't own this game. It's one of the best shooters ever made and the good news is that it will only set you back about $25. Quite a bargain when you compare it to Radiant Silvergun's $200 price tag. One of the best shmups ever made and one that will hand your ass to you if you're not ready for the challenge. : )
