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.