The Rise & Fall of the Sega Saturn - Why Did it Fail? - Gaming History Documentary

[@LadyDecade]

Here is a link to the video on Frinton On Sea that I covered in my outro, enjoy! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJCnhamkecensLs&t

[@SEABASSTHEGREAT]

1 minute 36-37 second mark on the link. Y’all are welcome

[@markjenniferwolkotte8221]

As much as I loved Sega and still do. For them it simply was "Gome Over"!

[@greenkoopa]

@@SEABASSTHEGREAT Señor Velez 🤔 try this 01:37

[@greenkoopa]

@@markjenniferwolkotte8221 Bimmy and Jimmy

[@SEABASSTHEGREAT]

@@greenkoopa no no. The aforementioned link in the top of this comment

[@Sea0tter]

I bought my Saturn in 1997, I seem to remember being surprised when it got axed soon after. By that point it had a pretty good roster of games. Still sits under my TV today.

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

Smart guy☝️

[@JoeMoore413]

Wanna sell it lol

[@BobbyHo2022]

Happened to me w the 32x, the saturn, and the dreamcast. I'm an idiot.

[@DarkArtistKaiser]

I've watched countless videos about Sonic and Sega and all its failures. And virtually EVERY failure starts with "And then Sega of Japan..." It was no short miracle that Sega survived the turn of the millennia...too bad they learned nothing.

[@hayasher]

Yakuza

[@tgheretford]

Sega of Japan's management style is a textbook example of the phrase "pride before a fall".

[@retromemories8522]

The landscape could be very different had there not been so much in-fighting.

[@jsttv]

Exactly.

[@ShadowArtist]

Bernie Stolar took over as CEO of Sega of America, he pushed a policy/idea that "RPGs and 2-D games don't sell" he refused to release the 2Meg and 4meg ram expansion carts needed for the near-perfect amazing Capcom and SNK fighting games, so those popular arcade games couldn't be localized, long delays and intial refusal to support or do US localization of any RPGs (a few did much later). he infamously said "Saturn is not our future" killing third party developer confidence in the console. then Final Fantasy 7's success proved Stolar wrong! So Stolar was a HUGE factor of why the Saturn did poorly (along with sub-par 3rd party support in the US)

[@jsttv]

@@ShadowArtist Exactly. Before he took over Sega, he was w/Sony.

[@asaviklund9414]

Big time

[@houseoftheted637]

The story of the Saturn is one I've heard many times, but never get bored of. Excellent video as always 😎👍👌👌👌

[@markjenniferwolkotte8221]

Same! I love that console. Still play mine today.

[@thefractured_butwhole]

Same, bro.

[@JudgeMikeman]

I was about to write the same comment XD

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

Same here.

[@eyalrephaeli6833]

Sega should've used the Cartridge Slot and Controller Port of the Sega Mega Drive for the Saturn from the get go. also they should've made the Saturn backwards compatible with Master System, Mega Drive, Mega-CD and 32X games.

[@wondiefive]

The Saturn was the last console my parents bought me, before I started buying my own. I felt played when the popularity for the Saturn died, and I was one of 4 people that gave a dayum about it in high school. I still had love for it to buy Saturn games long after its life cycle. Now, I'm proud of the collection I've amassed over the years. Games that I bought for 10 to 30 bucks, are now in the hundreds!

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

Now you know you were one of the lucky few!

[@wondiefive]

@@AndysInfamousArcade Yes indeedy! 😁

[@EOTA564]

I must have worked on my parents for a whole 18 months and finally my dreams came true on Christmas Day 1995. I have mixed feelings about choosing the Saturn over the PS1 and N64. It may have been short lived but for 2 years it gave me some of my best gaming memories. The blow was somewhat softened due to my growing interest in the RTS genre which was going through a golden age in the late 90s. I had almost completely abandoned my Saturn by 1998 and was investing all my time in StarCraft and Total Annihilation and so sadly barely noticed it’s demise. The only time I noticed was when I played the N64 at my friends’ and we had a blast playing Goldeneye and Mario Kart. We did have some fun playing Guardian Heroes a couple of times.

[@kaox44]

"Frinton on Sea, we don't even allow buses at the gate" LOL!

[@brichan1851]

I loved my Saturn. I never should have gotten rid of it. It was the perfect system for importing fighting games and shooters like Radiant Silver Gun. Just needed to be marketed properly and a stronger focus on 3D games. If SEGA of Japan could’ve just gotten over their egos because SEGA of America found success where they failed, we may still be playing SEGA consoles. As always, another brilliant video from Madame Decade! You are an unbelievable talent.

[@brichan1851]

@@matt8264 man! I miss my Dreamcast.

[@johnnopeyy4129]

Saturn was VERY complicated to code for, especially in 3D.

[@brichan1851]

@@johnnopeyy4129 yeah, that’s true. But some companies managed it and did really well. Look at Virtua Fighter 2, Dead or Alive, Fighting Vipers, Nights Into Dreams, House of the Dead, the Panzer Dragoon series, Daytona USA… Granted, most of these games are Sega. Dead or Alive is Tecmo, but it’s built on the same engine as Virtua Fighter 2. Radiant Silvergun still looks good to this day. Tomb Raider was good on the system. Resident Evil was good. Doom, Quake. All I’m saying is that 3D games were possible on the Saturn. They were often pretty well done.

[@CharlesHepburn2]

Glad to hear the full catch phrase story… which was exactly what I needed to fulfill the requirement for gracious living.

[@AlexRoivas]

To be fair Kalinske was the one that pushed FMV games during the Sega CD days and damaged Segas reputation. He was great at coming in and selling a product and competiting in the west. He is the reason the Genesis got a price cut and had Sonic as a pack in which allowed sales to explode but when he had to actually come up with games to sell he failed since he wasnt a gamer but a corporate man. Bernie Stolar which replaced him was even worse and destroyed whatever goodwill Sega had

[@hkoizumi3134]

I got my PS1 back in 1996. There was a deal in Toys R Us where we trade in Sega Genesis Console and 10 games would get heavy discount on PS1. If it wasn't for this promo, I would have gotten Sega Saturn instead. 1996 was a very strange year for both Sega and Sony. It was the year when the console was still finding its own identity, especially for PS1. Because of this, the game had such a wide variety of odd games. Like Krazy Ivan, Warhawk, Jumping Flash, Toon Race, Tobal #1, Beyond the Beyond, and so on. It was until 1997 and 1998 when both console found their mark in history with legendary titles like FF7, Crash Bandacoot, Resident Evil, and so on.

[@AtlasBlizzard]

The Saturn had the best controller ever. It's my go-to controller for emulation of 32-bit games and down. I love the 6-button controller, it's especially great for fighting games. I want this controller scheme to make a comeback, I'm sick of every controller having buttons with the same, diamond layout now.

[@131457c]

I remeber that, here, in Portugal, the PlayStation really started to take off in late 1997, early 1998. Until then, the craze was all about the Saturn. A friend of mine got a Saturn in christmas 1996 and I remember that back then, the Saturn cost more than a minimum wage in Portugal!! So, after 1998, it was normal (for the rich kids) to have a Saturn and a PlayStation. I had to hold on to my Mega Drive until 2002... Until I got a PS2...

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

I absolutely loved “Steep Slope Sliders”. One of the funnest snowboarding games

[@Choralone422]

Why did the Saturn fail (at least in the US?) Answer - $299 The Playstation coming in at $100 less at launch plus Sega deciding to release the Saturn early and only at a few select retailers (which pissed off many other US retailers) guaranteed that Sega would have an uphill battle just getting the consoles into stores at all! Sega didn't just shoot themselves in the foot with the US launch of the Saturn, they blew off one leg at the knee!

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Don't forget how Stolar blew off its other leg by stating it wasn't Sega's future. At that point in time, the Saturn was falling behind, but it did have diverse and unique titles as well as still getting ports of games that the Playstation got; it had a niche that it could have rode out in the West for another year or so. Once that announcement came out, developers who might have considered making a new Saturn decided to stop production or shift it to the other consoles. Consumers who had just seen the 32X come and go within a year or two, would have held back as well.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

...and during the launch of the Saturn and PlayStation, I owned a Panasonic 3D0 that I paid $550 CAD in 1994.

[@Konuvis]

I was a Sega kid through and through and even so, in France, I don't recall hearing much about the Saturn but after coming from the US in the summer of 94 I HAD to have a PSX and basically begged my grandmother to buy me the console so I got a JP model because the PAL wasn't out yet.

[@mattm7798]

I really think if the Saturn had been developed as 3d powerhouse like the PS1 from the get go, that alone could have undone all the other mistakes in this video because it would have been easier to develop for(in theory) and thus had a longer lifespan as 3D was the new norm. Sega could have reduced the cost of the console to compete directly with the PS1 and being easier to develop for means more quality games faster. The sad thing is the Dreamcast could have been a huge comeback had they delayed launch until around the PS2 release date, thus alowing the console to also be a dvd player, which is hard to understate how big that was in 2000. DVD players were still a hot product and having your gaming console double as a dvd player was a massive selling point.

[@warriorlink8612]

I remember when I had a N64 at my house and my neighbor friend had a Sega Saturn. I was blown away by the realistic video cut scenes that Nintendo just could not match with the cartridges. I really liked my N64, but I also wanted a Sega Saturn. Then, another friend stayed with us for a week and brought over his Playstation. I was witnessing the best of this generation of gaming. 1996-1999 was an incredible time for gaming.

[@ShadowArtist]

Why the Saturn failed in the USA: 1) Price of the console was WAY too high 2) Bernie Stolar took over as CEO of Sega of America, he pushed a policy/idea that "RPGs and 2-D games don't sell" he refused to release the 2Meg and 4meg ram expansion carts needed for the near-perfect amazing Capcom and SNK fighting games, so those popular arcade games couldn't be localized, long delays and intial refusal to support or do US localization of any RPGs (a few did much later). he infamously said "Saturn is not our future" killing third party developer confidence in the console. then Final Fantasy 7 proved Stolar wrong! 3) HUGE *lack of localized games from Japan*, where Saturn was doing really well with arcade fighting game and shoot em up fans in Japan and had a *strong* user base *in Japan*, At least *threee* major game magazines (Saturn Fan and Beep! Saturn were two major ones) that focused on Saturn games, with making of articles, previews, reviews, free game guides, free manga inserts, fan art sections, prize drawings 4) Refusal to publish or support ANY 2-d Saturn games (even though the console was a 2-d power house). NO releases of the classic Arcade games released in JAPAN as "Sega Ages"... 5) the selection of games for the Saturn was atrocious, very hard to find quality games, as it seems US publishers mostly wanted to do low-effort 3-d sports games, wonky 3-d action games that were low-effort licensed games based on a movie. So third party support was weak to start off with... **IN JAPAN** The Sega Saturn growing library of near arcade perfect Fighting Games, arcade Shoot-em-ups, and engaging RPGs help it grow a sizable gamer base and seemed to be doing better sales wise than the N64, as that console was seen more as a "for kids" console. Serious arcade gamers were buying up Sega Saturns and the excellent home ports of SNK and Capcom games as well as the great shoot-em-ups I not from the UK but it seemed like in the the UK that the Saturn had a fairly strong gamer support...

[@blinxman4956]

The Saturn's "surprised" launch at E3 1995 basically ended SEGA making consoles.

[@williansnobre]

Every time I watch your stuff I keep anticipating "is she gonna say it?" at the start so that explanation at the end was awesome

[@erockbrox8484]

Hardware is nothing without software. What they needed is a killer app that sells the console. If Square had made Final Fantasy 7 exclusive for the Saturn it would have been a different story. That pretty much sums it up.

[@trik6727]

Still have mine with 48 complete games, love it

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

...it was my best friend for many years. Sad but true.

[@icenode]

Joyful, thoroughly researched and fascinating as ever! I love my Saturn, you're absolutely right that it has a library of many underappreciated gems. I've even got 10 pads and 2 multi-taps for Saturn Bomberman!

[@adamking6645]

It didn't help that Sega was stretching it's resources thin by trying to support FIVE different platforms simultaneously during the latter half of 1995. They had the Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, 32X and now the Saturn.

[@jimpatterson1111]

You and the Gaming Historian should do something together. Even a live feed discussion walking viewers through your processes. Also, it’s unfortunate that Sega didn’t lean into Super Scaling vs 3D polygon graphics. Just reference how the Neo Geo AES is so fondly remembered.

[@greenkoopa]

I think a collaboration with THGM would be her very first crossover. But really she doesn't need any crossovers in my humble opinion, her channel has been strong since she had 5.8k followers.

[@ostiariusalpha]

The AES is fondly remembered, but it didn't sell particularly well. There are far more 2D scaling games on the Saturn than there were on the PlayStation, by the way.

[@jimpatterson1111]

@@greenkoopa Yes, I do agree. I’m thinking of a “one off”.

[@BobbyHo2022]

Forget Top Hat. Gaming Historian and this chick should make gaming history together.

[@ALM1GHTY.PEANUT]

It didn't help that Sega was working on the Dreamcast right away and gave it a Japan release while the Saturn was still hot and the US crowd were craving the Dreamcast far more.

[@Super-DeLuxe-]

The story surrounding the « A necessity for gracious living! » is awesome! Keep up the good work!

[@j.goggels9115]

Too many components implied a surge in the price of all Sega products, Mega-CD, 32X and Saturn, where the Master System and Game Gear had been affordable to a wide demographics of Brazilians and Europeans.

[@mrglasses8953]

Although I didn't really get into gaming until the PS1 came out and games went 3d, looking back the Saturn has aged the best from this generation, as its 2d games have stood the test of time. Whereas the 3d games from this generation have not aged well.

[@invalidsin5665]

Sega made so many greedy mistakes after the Genesis. By the time the Dreamcast released, trust In Sega had already eroded... Truly, it was a damn shame.

[@iwanttocomplain]

They did look greedy. But only because the Mega CD looked so pointless and expensive. The 32X, given it‘s specs was actually a bargain.

[@arneltalabucon4386]

The other thing that is why Sega totally defunct on making a console because of being boastful especially on their tvc when they ranting Nintendo that their GENESIS is the best,, but look at them now, from being a console maker and now they became a 3rd party developer of games to other consoles especially on NINTENDO who still making a console until now...

[@tylerkobelia]

Yeah the Dreamcast was awesome

[@chaunceyvaughan5264]

I got the Saturn for Christmas in 1995 and it had virtual fighter 2, Daytona, USA and Lethal Enforcers as pack in titles, as well as a sampler disk with games like clockwork night. The Saturn was such a wonderful system. I feel like the release of the PlayStation really hindered what it could’ve been. Panzer Dragoon alone was such a classic title. I have the remaster on switch and it’s still a wonderful time playing it.

[@hiijjh100]

I got my Sega Saturn for Christmas of 97 and i loved it! It was my primary system until i got an xbox in 01. So many memories playing command and conquer, tombraider, cruzin usa. Good times.... but unfourantly after a few moves and a new incompatible TV my Saturn had been sitting in a box for the past 8 years in my basementcollecting dust. So a few months ago i decided to sell my Saturn.. the system, 2 controllers and 30 games fetched me 80 bucks. Lady at mega media exchange told me they already had a buyer lined up. May it bring him as much joy as it did to me.

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@Ryan Antczak cruzin USA wasn't on the sega saturn

[@hiijjh100]

@@cryptocsguy9282 yea I know, I meant Daytona USA. Lol

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@@hiijjh100 oh 🤣🤣🤣🤣 , makes sense lol

[@BobbyHo2022]

Tell me where you got that Cruzin Usa saturn port. 😂

[@chaospoet]

If Panzer Dragoon was available at launch, Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter would have been an awesome one-two punch. I mean look up the PS1 launch titles. Those two are better than anything PS1 was offering at the time.

[@d0dg3st4r]

Im not far from Frinton, a place where I clearly havent been living graciously, I didnt have most of these necessities 😅

[@chriscox3709]

I had a Saturn. It never had a rise, just a release and implosion. Not a bad system. Just overpriced and little support. Lady Decade, a necessity for gracious living. 🎩

[@pokemontradingcardgamecoll5934]

That's what she said (not her literally, but you already know what I mean since a chick has an implosion because of a dude's rise hahaha)

[@deckofcards87]

I love the Saturn library, especially its Japanese exclusives. Besides bad marketing choices, SEGA failed -- at least outside of Japan -- because their company priority was to re-invent themselves with each console iteration. That was their downfall, ultimately. You can't just leave your mascot and biggest franchises as an after-thought. (Sonic, Shinobi etc). I respect creative risk taking, but not to that extent. NINTENDO were a much more conservative company who not only continued their biggest franchises but built upon them with each console generation.

[@Longlostpuss]

My favourite console of all time, literally the most fun I ever had with a controller in my hand. I bought the console after it had already been out for a year and had a massive price cut, so it was a win-win (cheaper console and alot more games available). I care nothing about retail numbers, popularity or anything like that, never have done, I care about quality games and Sega were delivering that whether people recognised that or not. So what, the old Genesis IPs never made it across - that's exactly what I loved about this machine, Sega were absolutely banging out NEW stuff, these were the days when innovation was a thing and regurgitating the same old IPs and stagnating the industry as a result (like we've been seeing for the past 20 years), was not. The machine just captured a moment in time that will not be replicated and marked the beginning of my journey as a young man who was prepared to stick by his choices with total conviction and stoicism. People laughed at me in college when I said I had a Saturn and had no interest in PlayStation, because I believed at the time I was playing the best games available currently on the market and I stuck by that and I still believe it now. The early PlayStation line up of games could not hold a candle to what Sega were doing, they weren't even close. I got my Saturn chipped to play games from any region and the people laughing at me didn't have the slightest clue what I was playing from Japan. Those Japanese imports were serious. Look now all these years later and there is a scramble to get hold of all those archive Saturn titles and they are going for an absolute killing now. Panzer Dragoon Saga (which isn't even one of the unheard of titles) is going for as much as $2,800 on eBay. People are now horrendously overpaying to play ancient titles that nobody had an interest in at the time and are well out of fashion now. Who's laughing now eh?

[@AlrickCollinsJr]

I LOVE this sentiment. I totally stand by this logic: stand your ground, regardless of popular opinion

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

Certain fanboys will be crying somewhere just because you said you like SEGA and stuck by their products. If I wasn’t a lame 10 years old at the time, I’d like to think my story would have been as cool as yours!!

[@AlrickCollinsJr]

I remember when the launch of the Saturn and N64 was slowly approaching. I wanted both and yes, even the new comer Sony Playstation, but the Saturn and N64 much MUCH more. While I ended up getting the N64 and PSX, I sadly never got ahold of the Saturn. That is the console on the very top of my gaming console acquisition list.

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

@@AlrickCollinsJr My friend brought over the N64 early on and I remember thinking I cannot believe this dude gets to play this all the time. Blew my mind. I sat there Christmas 95 worshiping the SEGA Saturn ads. Didn’t get one but I got “my own” genesis. Wish I would of known cause I’d have asked for a Super Nintendo. We already had a Genesis model 1 since early 92. Loved it so much but still missed some great Nintendo rpgs at that precious age. I should have known my parents budget and been realistic back then. Damn you Santa. Thanks for the Model 2 though, mom 😁

[@AndysInfamousArcade]

You’d imagine Japan would have listened to Tom Kalinske like gospel by that point. GOSPEL. Those fools were actually jealous of their own company’s success in North America. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I was a SEGA kid, still love SEGA. They were brilliant when they listened to Tom.

[@edwilliamson8327]

i swear lady decade is doing a constant top hat gamer impression.

[@niahoad]

Watching lady decade. A necessity for graceus living

[@tgheretford]

Something else to add is the decision to use quadrilaterals instead of polygons to make up 3D objects in the Saturn's VDP1 graphics processor. A wise decision in the early 90s when computing power was limited and quads had a lower cost compared to polys (1 quad instead of 2 polys). However that quickly became irrelevant with increasing processing power and everyone went toward easier to use polygons. It made converting games to the Saturn even more complex and caused issues with transparencies which GameHut explained on his channel covering Sonic R. In some ways, a dual processor system made the Saturn a console ahead of its time and criminally under-rated.

[@jetfrog4574]

Sorry, I know this is nitpicky but quads are polygons, you mean tris(triangles).

[@Bucketlistgamer8787]

We need more of your takes on the socioeconomic situation in specific parts of the UK in the 1960s. I unironically love it

[@BMichaelNeal]

Sega Rally was better than any racing game on the PS1. I liked both systems, and actually held out on spending my paper route money on a PS1, until FF7.

[@phayroent9742]

"$299" was the predecessor to Sony destroying Microsoft over the always-on DRM nonsense they tried with the Xbox One.

[@DarthCrust66]

It’s a dam shame the Saturn never caught on because it has so many cool games and hardware

[@ChurchKeys]

I've always had much respect for Sega. They started their journey fighting Nintendo toe-to-toe, back-to-back, gat-for-gat in the Master System days. ALL their titles slapped and they made them all in-house because Nintendo cornered the market back then: * Altered Beast *Afterburner *Hang On *Thunderblade *Daytona USA *Shinobi And their very first console even had 3D Glasses as an option. The best I've own for a console until PSVR for the PS4. I owned ALL of the Sega consoles right down to the Dreamcast. It was an awesome ride. I don't regret a minute of it. Thx for the flashbacks. 👍

[@jsttv]

If SOJ allowed Thomas Kalinske to run the Sony Sega alliance. We could of had the Sega Sony PlayStation 5, S.S.P.S.5 for short, by now. Moreover, Thomas Kalinske could still be w/Sega.

[@user-ys9sc2hl4e]

There are several reasons why the Sega Saturn failed in Japan, but the biggest reason is that in the wake of FinalFantasy7, franchises of popular domestic titles such as DQ I think the biggest reason is that it became a PS exclusive title. When I was a teenage student, I bought a Sega Saturn with what little money I had for "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner". One day, my mind went blank when I suddenly learned from a TV commercial that FF7 would be a PS exclusive title. It was such a shocking event.

[@DaveVoyles]

First the Sega CD, then the 32X, and now the Saturn? You've been covering the trifecta of gaming glory!

[@Nick_Nightingale]

32x was gaming glory?

[@DaveVoyles]

To peasants such as myself, yes

[@MoroMagrew]

Loved the story about Frinton! I’m a Colchester lad myself, well Wivenhoe actually! My grandma retired to Walton, so I have many happy memories over in your neck of the woods! Great gaming content as always, take care!

[@datriaxsondor590]

Sega got a taste of market success with the Genesis, and were absolutely paranoid of giving up even an inch of it in the hardware generation transition. Some of the dumbest decisions in video game history were made between 1992 - 1995, by Sega.

[@tntpodcasts]

A truly magical time for gaming. 3D graphics were brand spanking new and titles had original stories and gameplay.

[@danielfrabotta5501]

It sounds like you grew up in Newport Beach, CA. I lived there for awhile and man, everyone thinks it's so freaking posh it's quite unreal. Nice town though and pretty good surfing too. Huntington Beach which was down the road was way better though. The people were chill and the waves were way better. Now it's all changing though as the elderly want it to be a quiet town instead of Surf City, USA which it's well known as. I guess it can happen anywhere though. We must stay vigilant lest toffs take over. Great video and please, keep 'em coming.

[@williamoverton7775]

Working so close to Christmas is admirable

[@Lordbaka17]

Your first Saturn video was already one on my favorites, im happy that you are growing as a channel, well done :3

[@wjscottiii]

"Lady Decade's youtube channel... A necessity for gracious living"... so say we all!

[@jamesnewman4351]

Had my Saturn since 1995 , still loving it. I love it when you do stuff about the Saturn and it's games 👍

[@remylubue2827]

Lady decade I love your videos please keep them coming

[@Rassenomatjutut]

Lady, have you heard of Japanese Saturn game commercials featuring judo master Segata Sanshiro? They helped the console sellings in Japan, which encouraged Sega to develope Dreamcast.

[@chrisnichols9014]

Your knowledge of obscure gaming stuff is insane! Learning about Sega and the Sega Saturn was incredible!

[@ExilioRebelBC]

I see what you did here 18:32 , a brilliant Mr. Burns quote.

[@mikemena2369]

Great Video! Thanks for the random history piece at the end. Also liked the way you said DAYTONA!! 😆💯📈👍

[@skionn5810]

I love you and your content, I found out your channel a couple of weeks ago and I've been binging your vídeos almost everyday, love you gorgeous Lady Decade ❤️

[@83jdc1]

You Make really good, high quality content

[@Banderpop]

There's couple of very significant things missing. The Saturn stayed ahead of the PlayStation for a long time in Japan. With the massive success of Sakura Taisen, there wasn't really a hint that the Saturn could fall behind until Square announced that they'd be making games, including the next Final Fantasy, for Sony and not for Sega or even Nintendo. It's well known that the franchise moved because of the CD-ROM format, but I don't think Square choosing PlayStation exclusively over the Saturn or a multi-format approach has ever been explained. Sony and Square/SquareEnix always did love their exclusives though. And in the western markets, the gaming press clearly preferred the PlayStation over the Saturn from before their releases. Among anyone that knew gaming journalists, it was said that Sony were extremely generous, going so far as to having drugs and prostitutes at their parties. A necessity for gracious living.

[@rmc310]

I’d love to watch a full Q and A video. I think it would be really fun and interesting while also being a necessity to gracious living of course.

[@HeyImGaminOverHere]

I found the 2D quality on the Saturn was waaay higher than the PlayStation. I didn’t play many sports games but they always looked much better on the Saturn at least at first. I am fairly certain if a developer figure out how to use all of the features of the Saturn it would have blown us all away with its abilities. I still have a Saturn but it died, I keep it around for the memories though.

[@grinbrothers]

20:24 - I'd always thought the UK lacked Saturn marketing but it's nice to get it confirmed. I almost went the entire of Gen 5 having never heard of the Saturn; even asking my brothers why Sega never made a follow-up to the Mega Drive as we played on the PlayStation. It rather baffles me how little of a voice Sega of Europe seemed to have given the success of the Master System and Mega Drive in such areas. Also, lovely tale of the origins of your gracious living line.

[@aclstudios]

I'm from the USA but only heard of the Saturn when the Dreamcast launched lol. Because stores were trying to get rid of Saturn stuff in the bargain area.

[@grinbrothers]

@@aclstudios I do wonder if the lack of Saturn talk came down to a lack of marketing or the overwhelming popularity of the PlayStation. Looking back on game releases, there were quite a few titles I thought were PlayStation exclusives that actually released on other systems, yet I'd never talk of these games releasing on these other systems.

[@amk8411]

CD-ROM drive *_and_* cartridge slot... ...it should have been the King of its era but 3rd party support meant Sony came from nowhere to take the crown!

[@CompressedEarthBlocks]

Stumbled across this while reviewing older console history. Subscribed.

[@sega-re-trop-vieux]

The Saturn is still my favorite Sega console. More than 1100 games, amazing rpg and so many different Consoles variants. The Dreamcast is just behind in my taste because the lack of rpg ( I know there is great rpg but not enough compare to the Saturn)

[@clippacaddy1605]

The Saturn was like the PS3, while the PS1 was like the XB360. Funny how Sony took the same route as sega making their console very powerful, yet equally hard to program for.

[@jopiaspieder1184]

Saturn was a damn good system but sadly they screwed up with that early launch of the system. I loved the library of games it had.

[@Caddy666]

weirdly relevant, i finally bought one...it turned up yesturday

[@SotNist]

I had PS1, Saturn and N64 that generation. Saturn was my favorite one.

[@pennylessz]

I absolutely love your catch phrase and the explanation of its origin only makes it better.

[@Earbugvlog]

They should make new games for the old systems that never got the chance to show their true potential!

[@stevieh6]

Thanks for the vid. I'd like to see a video of your own personal history in gaming

[@rgerber]

6:29 that joke was definetively powered by 64-bit Blast Processing

[@W3S3333]

The Saturn actually is a very well-rounded console with a ton of variety in games. I'm approaching 51 Saturn games and over half of them are (in gorgeous) 2D. It still has plenty of games that look and play great today. My personal favorites in my library are (in no particular order) Nights into Dreams, Super Tempo, Magic Knight Rayearth, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, and The Game Paradise. I just ordered The House of the Dead and Mighty Hits and I have a strong feeling they'll be way up on my list. I'm very slowly getting into Grandia, Princess Crown and 七つ風の島物語 (Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari, The Island of Seven Winds Story) all kind of at the same time, too.

[@iwanttocomplain]

Never heard of it at the time. So either I wasn’t paying attention or it wasn’t getting any coverage. I would have probably got one if I knew about it. Re. Fripton on Sea. I have to side with the locals. It’s just greed to put up flats on the sea front and demolish old housing stock. Which is why the country is looking a bit ropey now.

[@Riz_]

Hi Lady Decade, Honestly I enjoyed your video about the Sega Saturn, but I enjoyed the story for your infamous phrase even more. Keep up the good work, it's so entertaining and informative at the same time.

[@Trade2077]

Thanks :) Tbh the fall of the Saturn and DC are still hurting. They had unique games like deep fear.. carrier, Albert odyssey, radiant silvergun, lunar, Grandia.. last Bronx..Shen mue.. soul calibur..power stone.. oh man

[@joefiggy7042]

Immediately Liked I love sega saturn so much nostalgia so many RPGs

[@movieman2344]

Awesome vid. Not only was the console notoriously hard to program for, but the price of a Saturn dev kit for second and third party developers were extremely costly and off putting.

[@maroon9273]

Sega wanted to kill the saturn asap and leave the hardware market as soon as possible.

[@ALM1GHTY.PEANUT]

Sega saw what Atari was doing with difficult multiprocessor programming and said "Hold my controller".

[@mudddge]

@@maroon9273 so they went ahead and released the Dreamcast?

[@maroon9273]

@@mudddge yes, NA should've released the dreamcast first and eu and jp last since they cancelled the saturn in NA first.

[@madspunky]

The Saturn had a better library than the PS1 until the release of Final Fantasy 7 (late '97): Panzer Dragoon, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, World Series Baseball, Virtua Cop, Guardian Heroes, Powerslave, Saturn Bomberman, Nights, Die Hard Arcade, Dragon Force, X-Men, X-Men Vs Street Fighter, Virtual-On...

[@sarges1712]

2 fold. Blockbuster refused to carry Saturn games and Sony entered the ring. I was a Sega kid from the minute the Master System/Genesis dropped. After getting a Saturn and going to rent a game only to find out I couldn't, next day I had a Playstation. Only had one other friend who had a Saturn as everyone else went PS or stuck w/ Nintendo.

[@DevilsReject765]

I really liked the "Sega Saturn" wish It could have done better 😕

[@Bloodyshinta1]

the issue with the saturn hardware complexity goes beyond even the hardware itself, Sega didn't even provide information in English on how to utilize it for years after its release.

[@wileycoyote64]

I love Lady Decade!!

[@julientorri5359]

hello from france, always happy to see new content , thanks for the work.

[@houseoftheted637]

I don't remember ever seeing any advertising for the Saturn

[@stevenspx6226]

Never had Saturn but loved my Dreamcast

[@dodgydruid]

I think Sega were the victims of much BSery by Sony, everyone expected this awesome amazing powerhouse and instead got a tarted up SNES leading Sega to seriously overshoot the runway when they could have just done Mega Drive 3 with a CD, uprated graphics output and likely have been a contender. Problems with the technological advances on the Saturn was it made it hard to develop for because the Dev kits were heinously prices and expensive for the punter, all things the PS were not and this put Sega on a serious back foot much noticed with the Dreamcast's appalling launch and ultimate failure when the DC could have wiped the floor with Sony if only they had done it properly.

[@metalgrinch]

Can i just say that you so such a GREAT job narrating these videos! Such a great voice and great info. I remember wanting a Saturn back in the day but went for a PS1 and N64 instead. Just more games that appealed more, such as Mario 64 and Resident Evil 1 and 2, among classics like Silent Hill and the Metal Gear Solid games. Would have been cool to have gotten this one though, but probably never will.

[@rickkitcthing3750]

Used to go there for days out as a kids . Has a nice pier though some cool arcade game