Page 5 of 5 FirstFirst 12345
Results 81 to 92 of 92

Thread: It's summer 1996. How can the USA Sega Saturn become successful?

  1. #81
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    32
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    There is one way to make the Saturn successful....

    Send in Segata Sanshiro to beat it into their minds.


    All jokes aside, adverts play quite a big role, and points about bringing as many of the titles it had in Japan that never made it over were actually quite valid.

  2. #82
    ServBot (Level 11) Custom rank graphic
    calthaer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Turks and Caicos Islands
    Posts
    3,014
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    16
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    3
    Thanked in
    3 Posts
    Steam
    calthaer

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by celerystalker View Post
    By 1996, too much had gone wrong. Yes, the glut of good shooters and fighters would have been nice, cheap localizations, but that wasn't what people were buying at the time...People wanted sports games in 3D, Final Fantasy, 3D platformers, and Resident Evil...and then Metal Gear happened.
    This is just about what I was going to come to this thread to say, except pithier. What could Sega have done in '95-'96?

    Get Final Fantasy VII.

    The rest of the amazing PS1 library helped a lot, too, but that game alone was massive back in the day. A total departure from any experience that had come before. Might be hard to imagine that if you revisit the title today, but in the mid-'90s it was kind of revelatory, giving even a hard-core PC gamer like myself steeped in RTS and old-school RPGs (like Ultima) reason to pick up a system and play.
    You are startled by a grim snarl. Before you, you see 1 Red dragon. Will your stalwart band choose to (F)ight or (R)un?

  3. #83
    ServBot (Level 11) Tron 2.0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    3,091
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    13
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    31
    Thanked in
    30 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by MadaoBob View Post
    There is one way to make the Saturn successful....

    Send in Segata Sanshiro to beat it into their minds.


    All jokes aside, adverts play quite a big role, and points about bringing as many of the titles it had in Japan that never made it over were actually quite valid.
    Would have been some thing if he knock out berine stolar to begin with

  4. #84
    Bell (Level 8) Cafeman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    1,789
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    SEGA was wise to pursue their coin-op games on Saturn like VF2, V.Cop, V. Racing and Sega Rally, but SOA made a mistake by not pursuing popular Genesis IP's , yet giving us weird new ones like Ghen War, Bug, Astal, Clockwork Knight, Mr. Bones, etc. Not that these games weren't decent. But Sony had better new properties like Crash Bandicoot , Wipeout, and Spyro. but where where:

    - A new Sonic game. WTH happened? Sonic Jam along with a fuller Sonic World 3D gameplay should have been available earlier. Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R were too little, too late for anybody to care. Even though they weren't terrible games. To tell you the truth, the aborted Sonic 3D game never looked that great to me from magazine shots, especially with its weird fisheye camera. It didn't shock me that it was cancelled.

    - Updates to Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions, Thunderforce, or even a decent Batman or Spider-Man game?

    - NiGHTS into Dreams is excellent, but I doubt many gamers understood it or loved it as much as Sonic.

    - We shoulda got another Sega Rally on Saturn. Or the rumored Racing Megamix!

    - Where was Shining Force or Phantasy Star, near launch???

    Also, I was disappointed that Sega kept playing Sony's game , trying for better 3D and to prove it could do transperencies. I wish Sega had used the Saturn for what it was designed for -the best 2D ever!

  5. #85
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Posts
    9
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Totally agree. I seriously don't understand why they didn't get a Phantasy Star game going for Saturn. I remember I had just gotten into RPGs with Shining Force II, got excited for Lunar II and Final Fantasy III on SNES, and was fiending for RPGs. I think it was FFIII on SNES that helped pave the way for a wider audience for RPGs in the US.
    Can you imagine if Sega Saturn would have launched with a Sonic game, Phantasy Star V: The Return of Alis, Streets of Rage IV, and Eternal Champions? I know I would have been excited for it despite the price tag. Even though 3D was the future, I think Saturn could have at least carved out a bigger niche for itself had they done more quality 2D games with recognizable franchises.
    I always had a soft spot for Clockwork Knight, but Sonic III and Sonic and Knuckles seemed to look better overall, and feature more varied and fast paced gameplay. NiGHTS always looked awesome to me, but by the time it was released I think it was too late to garner the audience it needed.

  6. #86
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    4
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WelcomeToTheNextLevel View Post
    On November 22, 1994, Sega launched the Saturn in Japan, to great success. But when it came time to introduce the Saturn in America, Sega didn't stick to their original September 2, 1995 launch date, jumping the system ahead to May 11, 1995 and only giving select retailers Saturns. The system came out with few games and many retailers pissed at Sega. Through the summer of 1995, the Sega Saturn sells slowly and the Sony PlayStation, released September 9, 1995, sells more units in its first two days alone than the Saturn could muster in its first four months.

    Now it's June 1996. The PlayStation has been kicking the Saturn's ass in sales, and the Nintendo 64 is on its way. What can Sega do to make the Saturn successful in the USA?

    I think that to make a successful Saturn, Sega would need to:

    1) Keep supporting the Genesis. This seems counterproductive, but Sega itself was being hurt when they de-emphasized the Genesis in 1995. The 16 bit market was still doing very well in 1996: Nintendo only had a 16 bit console for most of that year, and they did well. Cut 16 bit marketing in 1997, not 1995.

    2) No regional lockout. Many of the Saturn's best games were Japanese exclusive. Immediately remove regional lockout from newly produced Saturn systems, and let people know.

    3) Get translating. Even without regional lockout, uptake of Japanese games will be limited. Localize a lot of the Japanese games, especially RPGs.

    4) Sonic X-treme. This is still in development in June '96. Take it to completion and release it, even if it's a late '97 release.

    5) "The Saturn is not our future." Don't say that at E3. Keep Saturn development going as long as possible - preferably until the Dreamcast launch.
    Huge mistake was not releasing X-Men vs. Street Fighter to US and beat the Playstation release. I mean who wouldn't want to play that here?

  7. #87
    Bell (Level 8)
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    1,672
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    5
    Thanked in
    5 Posts

    Default

    Is releasing X-Men vs. Street Fighter likely to have been a profitable move for Sega in the US, especially after considering the cost of the RAM cartridge and the X-Men license?

  8. #88
    celerystalker is a poindexter celerystalker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    St Louis, MO
    Posts
    2,816
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    16
    Thanked in
    14 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SparTonberry View Post
    Is releasing X-Men vs. Street Fighter likely to have been a profitable move for Sega in the US, especially after considering the cost of the RAM cartridge and the X-Men license?
    Nope. Great game. I bought it with the RAM cart. But 2D fighters weren't the answer. Saturn already had dynamite ports of Nightwarriors, Street Fighter Alpha and Alpha 2, X-men: Children of the Atom, Dark Legend, Golden Axe: The Duel, Marvel Super Heroes, Galaxy Fight, and more in the US, and they hardly made a difference. We also got Galactic Attack and Darius Gaiden, but people want to delude themselves and think that these games and Guardian Heroes and so on were system sellers in their actual release window. This stuff only became popular much, much later with collectors and retro gaming enthusiasts. I bought all this stuff so cheap back then because nobody cared. They weren't going to save a system that just was out of place in its lifespan.

    People don't remember, as we get starved for classically-styled 2D games now, but fighters, shooters, and platformers were comsidered unambitious, also-ran games that were played out at the time. I am not disparaging these games. I love them, and they were the ones I was buying. However, the mass appeal in the US just did not exist in the late '90s, when these games couldn't even get good enough arcade revenue.

  9. #89
    Pac-Man (Level 10)
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sacramento metro
    Posts
    2,243
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    jdotaku

    Default

    the issue for the saturn celerystalker was in my opinion the 3d was lacking and so they focused on quality 2d games which went over quite well on the system

  10. #90
    celerystalker is a poindexter celerystalker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    St Louis, MO
    Posts
    2,816
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    16
    Thanked in
    14 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by otaku View Post
    the issue for the saturn celerystalker was in my opinion the 3d was lacking and so they focused on quality 2d games which went over quite well on the system
    That's definitely true. It's just a shame that 2D quality games weren't what people wanted at the time. Retroactively, people have found a lot to love in games like Astal, Three Dirty Dwarves, etc., but at the time they really wanted to play Crash Bandicoot. Nowadays, the 2D enthusiasts will pay good money for the likes of Punky Skunk, who was a freaking punchline at the time.

  11. #91
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Posts
    8
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    They should have decreased the price by at least 100 to compete at the same level as Sony.

  12. #92
    Great Puma (Level 12) bangtango's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    4,353
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    3
    Thanked in
    3 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SparTonberry View Post
    I'd wonder if some of PlayStation's early momentum probably came from Sega and Nintendo's mistakes. (when Nintendo decided to make the N64 a cart console, it drove away third-parties, especially Japanese. Would be interesting to think about what if Nintendo did use CDs... or some CD-like disc, knowing Nintendo's preference to proprietary formats. How would that have changed things?)
    Sony had more financial and marketing resources, so I think it was in the bag for them before the Playstation even launched. Having the most money behind you will either give you better odds of getting shit right or being able to recover from any screw-ups you make.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 01-12-2015, 06:21 PM
  2. sega saturn freeze on SEGA SATURN boot screen.
    By retronerd in forum Technical and Restoration Society
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-27-2014, 09:42 AM
  3. Replies: 45
    Last Post: 10-29-2013, 01:17 PM
  4. WTB Sega Saturn Magazines and Sega Saturn MPEG VCD Card
    By nhamze in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 06-27-2004, 10:02 PM
  5. WTB Pre-1996 FIFA, NHL(EA SPORTS), NFL(SEGA SPORTS)4 GENESIS
    By Kamino in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-18-2004, 08:24 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •