What Went Wrong With The Sega Saturn?

Since bowing out of the console race over 20 years ago, we’re still yet to see anyone quite like Sega. Hitting lofty heights and shocking lows with as much breakneck speed as their nippy blue hedgehog, all in the space of a decade, it’s no wonder the saga of Sega in the 90s still holds an air of reverence. At the height of Nintendo’s power, they beat that goliath at their own game, taking the home console market by storm until it all came crashing down in a storm of company division, fierce competition, and baffling decisions in a swiftly changing market. And one console sits at the heart of this storm: The Sega Saturn. Here's the story of What Went Wrong With The Sega Saturn.
VO/Presenter: Ben Potter (@Confused_Dude)
Script: James Jenkins (@Jenx_137)
Video Editor: James Jenkins (@Jenx_137)
#Sega #SegaSaturn #WhatWentWrong
--------------------------
Subscribe for more wonderful video game content from Ben Potter, Peter Austin, and Ashton Matthews!
TripleJump provides video coverage of video games - including top ten lists featuring current gen platforms (PS4 & PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch and PC), retro consoles (PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox and Sega), as well as Worst Games Ever, video game challenges, launch games videos, first impressions, podcasts, livestreams and much, much more.
Careers, contacts, and more information can be found on our website: tripleju.mp
⇨ Patreon: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Twitch: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Merchandise: triplejumpshop.com/
⇨ Cameo: www.tripleju.mp/cameo/
⇨ Livestream VODs: tripleju.mp/vods
⇨ Podcast: play.acast.com/s/triplejump
⇨ Twitter: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Instagram: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Facebook: / teamtriplejump
⇨ TikTok: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Discord: tripleju.mp/discord
Follow the team on social media:
• Ben: / confused_dude & Confused_Dude on PSN
• Peter: / thatpeteraustin & / thatpeteraustin
• Ashton: / scrambledashton & / scrambledashton
The TripleJump Podcast is hosted by Acast, but available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and more!
Acast: play.acast.com/s/triplejump

[@TeamTripleJump]

Were you Team Nintendo or Team Sega in the 90s? Can anyone hope to join the console game today as a viable 4th competitor? 🎮

[@JaceSpencer]

Old computer

[@ridleyrage5283]

I was raised under the banner of Sega!

[@sparky4878]

Is Team Sony an option? My first console was a PlayStation, though I did have a PC too.

[@grandgamer605]

Too bad it’s so rare for this channel to talk about failed consoles because this video was just fantastic!!! Can you do the Atari Jaguar if you touch upon failed consoles again? Thanks!!!!

[@drummerbob10]

My first console was the Sega Master System so I was Team Sega in the 90s. I had the Master System, Genesis (Mega Drive), Game Gear, and Saturn.

[@mfnick7536]

The Saturn is genuinely my favourite console of all time. Now I’m not naive, Im not saying it’s the best, but personally this is the one that I love the most. Just at the right time in my life to really hit me and there was something about it being the underdog and the specialness which came with importing games no one knew about. The games just appealed more than most PS stuff too. I loved it so much. I eventually moved onto the N64 when they stopped supporting it but this was the console for me.

[@raliger]

Same. Such a great, underrated console.

[@jimdavies9354]

I never got a chance to play a Sega Saturn. I wanted the Sega Saturn and Tomb Raider bundle from Comet way back when. My parents picked up the PlayStation for me instead. Not going to complain as FF VII came with it. I got that Christmas '97. However, my favourite Sega Console has to be the DreamCast. I got this for Christmas early 2000s. I got it with Shenmue and Sonic Adventure. There were so many great games. Whoa, sorry, this comment is longer than I meant it to be. I'm sorry. Have a great day.

[@lifespanofafry1534]

I farted

[@darthkobe73]

I still have and love the Saturn

[@SaturnSteve]

I just came here to applaud all of you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@rodneyabrett]

Sega always had this habit of releasing consoles in-between other console's life cycles, so they always felt like a 1.5 upgrade from previous gen. There were some advantages of being first to market, but this also came with some disadvantages as well. Your competitors know what your retail price and hardware capabilities are ahead of their own launch and can counter with a lower price point and better hardware.

[@benbbuxton]

Yes, I feel this was part of their demise.

[@skycloud4802]

It's ironic that the market eventually moved towards the 1.5 upgrade anyway. Sony released the PS4 Pro and is speculated to be doing a PS5 Pro. Nintendo released the DSi to the DS, and the New 3DS upgrade to the 3DS. The market ran too fast back then for half way upgrades.

[@johnnyfulton4755]

@@skycloud4802 This impacted by the amount of time that's been spent in the three console ecosystem. Nintendo largely doesn't directly compete with the other two anymore and Sony has always has the engineering advantage allowing them to bend the rules. In a way, Sega dropping out of the console race is what allowed it to stabilize in favor of the producers.

[@DavidSteck83]

@@johnnyfulton4755Nintendo dropped out of the console market too. Nintendo just makes handhelds now

[@adamtajhassam9188]

the recent failure was catured for greed.

[@adamrad2220]

I absolutely loved the Sega Saturn. My older sister's boyfriend sold me his Saturn and games for really good price in around 1995. I was 14 and had a next-gen system with a decent amount of games, and it left such a great gaming mark on my life, that I'll always look back with such fondness on the Saturn. The number of hours I spent playing Virtua Fighter, Albert Odyssey, Daytona USA, Bug, Myst, Nights and others was pretty extraordinary. I also ended up getting a PlayStation and Dreamcast over the next year or two, but there was always something special about the Sega Saturn to me.

[@mattball8622]

I absolutely love this series. I'm a software engineer by trade and I've always had an interest in the history of the industry, so there's something about the format of a well-researched breakdown of an important event that really tickles my brain. Also, excellent biscuit prop work. 10/10, no notes.

[@ZenShroud1]

You might also check out Gaming Historian.

[@Globalastral5]

In 2001, I did a home stay exchange in Tokyo. Dreamcast was long dead by then. My home stay brother had a Saturn with a good selection of games including DBZ Legends. Seeing the Saturn from a Japanese perspective rather than the American view was extremely different

[@proudofyourroots9575]

long dead? It only got cancelled in april of that year. There were plenty of releases for the whole of 2001. "EDIT: Dembilaja is from CROATIA where no 5th gen consoles were ever sold officially and they barely had a single console gaming magazine. The only consoles they had were imported chipped PS1's. So when he says he was poor, what he really mean to say is, he's from Croatia where they didnt sell any 5th gen consoles officially so he had no opportunity to see Saturn or n64 games. Only burned PS1 games. None of that is because he was poor

[@Dembilaja]

I didn't even know that Saturn existed until 2009. I'm from Europe. I genuinely thought that Sega skipped generation, until I found KZbin and all the answers

[@proudofyourroots9575]

@Dembilaja EDIT: *Dembilaja is from CROATIA where no 5th gen consoles were ever sold officially and they barely had a single console gaming magazine. The only consoles they had were imported chipped PS1's. So when he says he was poor, what he really mean to say is, he's from Croatia where they didnt sell any 5th gen consoles officially so he had no opportunity to see Saturn or n64 games. Only burned PS1 games. None of that is because he was poor*

[@Dembilaja]

@@proudofyourroots9575 not really, we were poor. However, that didn't stop me from being video game enthusiast, I always use to read through local game magazines, and talk about games with friends at school all the time. No one ever mentioned Saturn, and when I've asked them about it years later, they were like, what's that

[@proudofyourroots9575]

@@Dembilaja *EDIT: Discovered your lie. You're from Croatia, where no 5th gen consoles were ever sold officially and the only ones you had were chipped imported PS1's. You're mid 30s and telling lies on the internet because of what? Because you're a Sony f-a-nboy still? SMH*

[@exorphitus]

"We have to do something about the Atari Jaguar!" - Hayao Nakayama: Sega CEO when pushing for the 32X Sega really was the embodiment of the phrase "Ready, Fire, Aim!"

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

Other console companies: Push the hardware they have to the limit, keep a consistent user base not forced to keep buying new hardware so much so they can actually afford the games as well, make said users happy and faithful Sega: "lol people only care about tech and edge and will pay anything for them" "WHY AREN'T PEOPLE BUYING?!!!"

[@remixchild]

Seriously the jaguar yeesh

[@rockguitarist931]

I feel like they pushed the 32X because they didn't want to use compression chips to cram 32 bit games into 16 bit cartridges cause that's what nintendo would do, it's incredible that they lived off the success of the Genesis for damn near 15 years before finally dropping out of the console wars.

[@carpathianpsychonaut]

My original release-day Saturn still works and has a place in my gaming heart. Not even close to perfect but there's still just something about it.......

[@UltimateGamerCC]

yup, it even has a unique feel when you play with it. while ultimately a failure, it was by no means BAD. just a victim of Sony's godlike rise overshadowing it, had some really great games on it like Astal, the Panzer Dragoon series, Nights Into Dreams and Shining Force III just to name a few.

[@michaelwalsh3474]

"there he goes, some kind of high powered mutant. Too weird to live and too rare to die "

[@paulwoodford1984]

then the dreamcast came out and you adored that

[@HiNRGboy]

@@paulwoodford1984 Nah Saturn was better.. Dreamcast was the end..

[@John-bu2xt]

No clue were my Saturn went lol. Still wondweing if i sold it to an old friend.

[@ParanoidThalyyMVS]

I love the Saturn to bits, glad to have one, it's my absolute favorite Sega console.

[@SaturnSteve]

I love you

[@ParanoidThalyyMVS]

@@SaturnSteve :D

[@paulwoodford1984]

until the dreamcast

[@aegisreflector1239]

I have two, one US and one Japanese console. Love the Saturn, so underrated and powerful

[@IAmJustFlux]

I miss my Saturn. . . it was awesome!

[@stevolution7833]

Such a sad story. I was a massive Sega fan in the 90s (still am, in truth), and I actually bought the Dreamcast the day after it was released in the UK (only games console I've ever bought on launch). It was such a groundbreaking system, so far ahead of its time, and I honestly still believe that Sega would have been Sony's main gaming rival for years to come if they hadn't burned so many bridges and tarnished their reputation so badly with the Saturn debacle.

[@wheatgrinder83]

Dreamcast was great. I just don’t feel it had the catalog to compete with Sony or the PS2 (which I hated as a console). Same with the N64 before it. I’d much rather play the Dreamcast or GameCube today.

[@stevolution7833]

@@wheatgrinder83 that was kind of my point, the Dreamcast didn't have the third-party games to support it because the Saturn had damaged Sega's reputation so badly that the likes of EA wanted nothing to do with them.

[@orion5813]

dreamcast shits on ps2

[@XboxxxGuy]

Sadly OP, you are mistaken. Sega of America CEO (and Xbox CEO) Peter Moore who lead Sega during the Dreamcast era, explained that the main reason Sega left the industry wasn't because of Sony or the Saturn debacle, it was all because of software attachment rates. Not enough people bought the Dreamcast, or bought Dreamcast games. That's all it came down to, there was even a way to bypass the Dreamcast anti-piracy security and pirate copies of the games. That's what sank Sega, lack of money. It's also why Sega will never come back into the console space, they had their first profitable quarter in years after exiting console.

[@michaeltorris5675]

The Dreamcast was too underpowered to compete with the PS2. And Sony had GTA III exclusively, at least in console. Even if they Dreamcast’s hardware was comparable to the PS2’s, it wouldn’t have had GTA III. That would have killed them. That said, I still have a Dreamcast.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

Segata died for all of us and we must respect and love his sacrifice. Also Dark Saviors is one of the strangest games I ever accidentally played, and I loved it. That and Dragon Force are my favorite memories of this blighted, misguided console.

[@aaronskuse2207]

Sega’s incompetence and all round jackassery is absolutely mind boggling.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Are we surprised that Saturn failed because let’s face it Sega specialists in Fadia in Japan, and North America and then in the west in general with the Saturn and dream cast just goes to show that you can’t all be winners in video games and Nintendo very rarely loses except with the Wii U cause I think the game cube was a relatives success in my opinion even though it finished in last place behind the original OG Xbox.

[@moochoman9948]

I loved my Sega Saturn. Die Hard arcade, virtua fighter, virtua cop, Sega rally, knights into dreams. Loved it!

[@BagzAndPresident]

Crap games

[@j.b.gruberiiiesq6582]

I loved Virtua Fighter. In high school all my friends would come after school and play that. We'd have single elimination tournaments and shit lol

[@Lordofthebong]

Daytona USA, fighting vipers, marvel super heroes and so many others. It really had a lot of great games.

[@themetalgamer9864]

1. No [mainline] Sonic game. 2. The United States market, which was responsible for Genesis' success, was completely ignored.

[@mikejones-nd6ni]

Sega Genesis was actually a pretty sweet system. It definitely competed with the Super Nintendo. And they did a great job marketing they also had some really good exclusives. I never really understood how they messed it all up. They should make a movie on it like they did about Tetris

[@GuiltyKit]

I barely even knew the Saturn was a thing. By the time anybody I knew had even talked about it, it was already gone from store shelves. I saw a few copies of its games at a second hand store, but that's about it. Later on in life I met exactly one person that had owned one and talked about a couple of their favorite games on the platform like Guardian Heroes and Dragon Force. Which is sad because having gone back and looked at it, it really had some pretty good games on it! It's not like the Jaguar that deserved its summary execution.

[@Ziaonfilmandtv]

😂

[@jaythomas468]

The thing you brought up in the video that I thought was an EXCELLENT CRITIQUE of the general perception of the Saturn and its software AT THE TIME (at least, here in the USA) was that the PlayStation and Nintendo were seemingly pushing things FORWARD with games like Super Mario 64, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, Wipeout, Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, etc. ALL THESE GAMES felt like a PROPER 3D EVOLUTION of what came before where Sega seemed to be very much “stuck in the past” making games that were ALSO high-quality and had a great “pick-up-and-play” factor to them, but they were also firmly rooted in that “arcade/coin-op design mentality” which made them GREAT for the few hours they lasted but they just didn’t offer as much longevity and substance as the “heavy hitters” on the PS1 and N64. It’s like you look at stuff like Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII on the PS1 or Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time on the N64 versus like Daytona Racing and Virtua Cop on the Saturn and it made Saturn games look QUAINT and ANTIQUATED by comparison (not that they weren’t GOOD GAMES, but they just kind of had this perception of, “ohhh, look-an arcade shooter and racer and some fighting games that’ll last you a couple hours of playtime for a single session UNLESS YOU REPLAY THEM OVER AND OVER AND OVER-that’s CUTE”).

[@Liam3072]

I mean, you're not wrong but you're not entirely right either. Yes, Sega was mainly in for the arcade ports, but then again so was Namco with its immensely successful Tekken and Ridge Racer series. Sony actually had few games of their own, they mostly hard third parties. The fun fact being that some of the games you cite as pushing games forward on the PS1 actually got released - or sometimes even debuted - on the Saturn, including Tomb Raider and Wipeout. The lack of third party games of the scope of MGS or FF7, however, did hurt the Saturn a lot, especially in the West where many games that could actually have somewhat competed never got a release (the Saturn actually had a ton of RPGs, but most stayed in Japan). One of the reasons for the lack of massive scope third party games is, as correctly explained in the video, that the Saturn was a nightmare to develop for. Not only was its hardware very convoluted, but the SDKs were buggy and with little to no documentation (again, especially in the US, as what little documentation Sega put together was mostly in Japanese). Most of the greatest games of the Saturn were written in assembly. ASSEMBLY. On a 32-bits system! That'd be like having to write this comment using a hammer and a chisel! Now, a console can be a nightmare to develop for and still be successful. See the PS2 for example which shared many flaws with the Saturn, strangely enough. But the amount of sales of the PS2 just made it too big to ignore for devs. Whereas the Saturn never reached a critical mass where devs could be bothered to develop major games in such conditions.

[@jaythomas468]

@@Liam3072 To be fair, a lot of my comment is based on a mixture of personal experience (despite EVERYONE I KNEW and their grandma having a Genesis, I didn’t know A SINGLE PERSON THAT HAD A Saturn, hence why I freely admit to some ignorance on my part about certain PlayStation games that may have ALSO APPEARED on the Saturn), hindsight, and an imperfect recollection of the time. And my point was that: even though Namco was also big in the coin-op space with Tekken and such on the PlayStation, they still USUALLY filled their “home console conversions” with a whole bunch of added bonus content, characters, modes, etc, which led to a lot of Sega’s (like their home conversions of, say, Virtua Fighter) feeling rather “vanilla” by comparison.

[@nicolemonrue]

I was on Nintendo's boat at the last years of the NES. I saw a commercial for the Sega Genesis and lost my damn mind. FINALLY there was a system that made games that looked like the arcade! Me and my brother were the only kids in our neighborhood that had one and we had company all the time. Then we got the Sega Cd, then the 32X, then the Saturn. After Saturn i jumped off Sega's boat and back to Nintendo. The super NES was out and i saw super metroid so it was a wrap. I used to work at Toys R Us and when they discontinued the Dreamcast, they had it on sale for $50 and the accessories were super cheap. So i bought it and all the accessories and a ton of games for $200. I'm glad i kept everything because i get sooooo many offers for it lol

[@ThisFace]

Imagine the atmosphere at Sega after that $299 line.

[@SaturnSteve]

Oof 💀

[@SilverHunterN]

This is why in my opinion, at presentations you don't go 1st. Because then who comes after can update their presentation in a few minutes. I think in the future, they should do it where all companies has to do their presentations at the same time, like sitting an exam at the same time.

[@randomguywithacar]

Thats such a good idea​@@SilverHunterN

[@BaddeJimme]

@@SilverHunterN I would argue that the underlying products mattered, not who got to speak second. There were no rules preventing Sega announcing something the next day. "$299" hurt because the other consoles were more expensive than the PS1 and not noticeably better, and there wasn't much that could be done about it.

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Even though I grew up with Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 as a kid, I've been getting into older Sega games as of the past 10 years and Saturn has to be one of my favorites for some of its fun, unique, and underrated games that don't get as much recognition that I feel they deserve.

[@chrisjfinlay]

This was a fantastic, well-researched and incredibly well-presented piece. I never had a Saturn growing up - I had a Mega Drive at launch and didn’t get a new console until midway into the Dreamcast’s life - but a friend of mine did and we spent hours playing Sega Rally at home. Weirdly, we also spent a lot of time playing Command & Conquer on it…

[@YoSoyElQuesoGrande]

Do you have any idea how pissed I would be if I fired up Sonic the Hedgehog and got to hear my console shout “SAYGERRRRR” instead of “SEGA”???

[@PhilipMarcYT]

This video showed up as a KZbin recommendation, but as a Sega Lord X viewer and a Sega fan in general it's not hard to decipher what went wrong. However, I still love the Saturn and especially the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast will always live on.

[@SaturnSteve]

I love your avatar, I love that you’re a Sega Lord X viewer, and I love this comment. 😂😂💪🏻🔥🔥🔥💪🏻 🇺🇸💪🏻

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

For me, how anything went right for the Saturn, and very little of what the Saturn got right is outweighed by what it got wrong, actually scratch that with what Sager got wrong with the Saturn and with Sega out of the console market only highlights watching Nintendo did write. Nintendo did far more right than they got wrong.

[@JodyBruchon]

Hey PM. Nice to see you here. I'm a Saturn fan myself. I played Panzer Dragoon and Black Fire constantly.

[@nthgth]

Never had Saturn but I thoroughly enjoyed my Genesis and later Dreamcast, with just a few games for each but oh the replay value. I was an N64 kid in that generation but very much respect the Saturn, a shame they shot themselves in the foot with it.

[@Ammar777s]

Probably one of the best competition slogans I've ever heard: "If you still want a Saturn, your head is in Uranus"

[@RickyRicardo03]

Simply fascinating! I’ll never forget my first love, SEGA. But what can I say, Sephiroth enchanted me with those eyes. I’ve been hooked ever since!

[@souless4654]

I swapped my PS1 for a Sega Saturn back in the day. I felt so special having an underdog console no one else had. I was on it constantly compared to the PS1, specially with Panzer Dragoon & Sega Rally, I had so much love for them games 😊

[@commiehunter733]

I had a Sega saturn and played a football game on it everyday 😂

[@critchblackpoolful]

You are a fool then..... U missed out on some of the greatest 32 bit games ever made

[@nthgth]

I just played Genesis until N64 came out, I would never have had time to devote to a Saturn or PlayStation. They did have games I enjoyed at friend's houses though

[@FliCityBoi_810Gaming]

I did the opposite traded my Saturn for a PS1. I liked the Saturn but too many great games were coming out on Sony's side

[@wazzer912]

That's partly why people still love the GameCube lol.

[@stephenward9468]

Just wanted to say, truly love how much Triple Jump has grown, great production, writing & editing Always a genuine joy when that new video drops! ❤

[@chrisw443]

Family friend had a genesis, with the 32x and the sega CD. Holy shit did those CD games look AMAZING.

[@goodcitizen7064]

I had those as well, Sewer Shark was on another level!

[@KarldorisLambley]

really? i thought they looked dreadful.

[@jtlbb2]

I remember the Sega CD at launch. The most surprising and impressive thing (at the time) was that it could play real video. Other than that, the graphics looked awful even at the time. If not for the FMV, the Sega CD wouldn't have gotten any attention at all.

[@deemz312]

People always talk shit about Sega. But I will go to my grave singing high praise for the Dreamcast.

[@gwensalador4325]

Im sorry but both the dreamcast and saturn had amazing arcade games....the street fighter alpha 3 and so on

[@barryklinedinst6233]

Dreamcast was a special console

[@jaysherman2615]

The Dreamcast arguably has the single best libraries of any console. Let me ask this question, what is the ratio of good games to bad games on the console? The answer is rather surprising.

[@emmiannon1266]

Really nice production value on this. Fits the journalistic angle of the channel and makes it all feel more high class (as much as I love the vidiots style nonsene)

[@ff10fire666]

I think a combination of lack of western games, difficult to create for, being pretty expensive compare to competitors, lack of advertising in the west (Here in the UK Sega was king and no-one knew about it) and it having a shadow release drop so retails were unprepared. In my opinion the lack of communication between Sega America and Sega Japan killed Sega's console line.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

closer to infighting than lack of communication if you ask me. and i'd say that the N64 wasnt much better, but Nintendo had many more diehard fans who hadnt previously bought a Genesis Addon like the SEGA fans did. SEGA really shot themselves in the foot with that one, imagine the SEGA CD's best games having been on the Saturn rather than used to prolong the Genesis. that would've already helped the Saturn with two major issues; a small western library and no Sonic game to herald in the device. Nintendo had made sure that Mario was there to promote the N64 and it was even included with the console upon purchase, had SEGA had Sonic CD to pack in with the Saturn, SEGA might have fared a lot better than they did.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

All of what you said is true, but ultimately, the PlayStation struck the final blow by simply doing everything right that say did wrong and Sega lost Nintendo again in the west. In fact, sake of Japan, got what they wanted in finally beating Nintendo in Japan, but I huge cost to losing the western market badly to the PlayStation. In my opinion, I think of America never truly believed in the Saturn and Tom Kinsky has pretty much said so in an interview that the Saturn was underpowered compared to the PlayStation, I wouldn’t say underpowered because, the Saturn was more powerful than the PlayStation but in reality, it was much easier for developers to get the best out of the PlayStation due to its more developer friendly tools compared to the complicated architecture of the Saturn. Ultimately, though Nintendo did win against SEGA overall because they’re still around making consoles and innovating while they got are now just a third-party and a mediocre one at that that’s producing mediocre sonic game after mediocre sonic game.

[@Chelaxim]

Lack of Western game PLUS hesitant to localize Japanese one especially 2D games on a system that was a 2D beast.

[@eben3357]

@@Adamtendo_player_1 Nintendo lost their monopoly. Sega did that. Yes, Sega lost to PlayStation, but Nintendo is nothing compared to what they were in the 80s. In 1994 there were 14 or so consoles on the market, it was high diversity of products. The industry however could have been Nintendo's alone, if it weren't for Sega, or as we have it, 3 main players now. The Xbox is from the Sega lineage, and PlayStation worked with both Nintendo and Sega. Ken Kutaragi developed the SNES sound chip and he was also inspired by Virtua Fighter to make PlayStation a 3D console. There is an article about this online, how Sega helped to make Sony 3D, originally, PlayStation was going to be more like the Amiga CD or 3DO.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

@@eben3357 in 1994 it was really only 2 players as Atari, 3DO and Commadore weren’t really competing with Sega and Nintendo back then at least in the UK, it was when Sega got what they deserved and bowed out of the console market that Xbox entered the market but I see where you’re coming from the Sega links to the Xbox but Sega would never have spent the money that Microsoft did on the Xbox nor did Sega have anywhere near the money Microsoft have even when Sega was successful with Sonic, Nintendo was richer than Sega too, Microsoft’s first console blew away the competition in power and specs which is what Sega should’ve done in the 8 and 16 bit era but they didn’t because the Master System had its shortcomings against the NES, especially in sound and many people like to point out the shortcomings of the Mega Drive against the SNES in graphics and sound too although I disagree a bit in regards to its sound capabilities but using the Master System sounds chip did hold it back a bit though, Sega lost because of Sega of Japan not caring about the rest of the world outside of Japan and Sega of America not giving a shit about the Saturn along with the 32X being unnecessary also you could argue that the Meg CD was pointless as it was held back by the limitations of the Mega Drive hardware in regards to its low colour palette so Sega deserved their fate and clearly haven’t learned their lessons even as a 3rd party developer.

[@maryyram5039]

The biscuit explanation was actually really helpful! More longform content please, Team TripleJump!

[@jordanwhite352]

I think what's absolutely insane is that if Sega of America and sick of Japan could have found the middle ground between but what both of the them wanted and then ironed out all the bad parts and exemplified all the good parts. They could have made a monster machine with absolutely great games and a pipeline that would have been a real rival. And it's still boggles my mind that Sega has this exact internal problem till this day.

[@johnnunez5715]

Cause it's still a bunch of separate companies and Sega of Japan has final say. Note: Sega AM teams (arcade developers) had no part in developing the Saturn hardware. The team on the Saturn hardware had no prior 3D experience. The team lead admitted in an interview that he feared asking Yu Suzuki for help on the 3D systems. Meanwhile in Sony land, Sony's PS1 work fell under the Computer division but the CD tech came from the consumer electronics division. Chips were built internally. Sony Music even joined in by acquiring licenses and publishing games like Tenchu!

[@jcruz5050]

"If u still want a Saturn, your head is in Uranus" 🤣☠️ whoever wrote that line is Savage AF & deserved a raise!

[@commiehunter733]

The saturn was better than the ps1 at that time... its undisputed. The football games were immaculate for that time

[@user-wi3tc1ek8f]

Agree. Beast mode on steroids.

[@datacipher]

If you are old enough to have been around at that time, you’re not 12 anymore. “Uranus” - yeah…..

[@gump5ter01]

Love this channel. Glad I subbed to it. Every video is worth watching.

[@mutalix]

What an awesome look at the Saturn, its history and fate, can't believe this is the first time I've seen this channel but I thank the holy algorithm for making it happen. In my younger years I admittedly was a Sega fanboy, I had the Genesis which was called MegaDrive in the middleast and europe, had so many great memories with that system. I remember getting really hyped for the Saturn when I read about it, especially the jaw dropping virtua fighter! Unfortunately it was so expensive, but I started saving up for a japanese import, about a year & few months later I didn't anticipate how long it would take to import, not sure if the importers were at fault or Sega not getting enough units. One fateful evening my cousin comes over with his Japanese imported PlayStation, my god, my mind was truly blown, never had I seen such quality cgi intros, graphics and gamplay, it never occured to me how much hand grips on a controller helped lol. He brought ridge racer, resident evil 1, tekken, soul edge, and air combat( ace combat 1). The next day I immediately bought a PlayStation, been on PC and PlayStation ever since, my younger brother eventually bought the Saturn and later Dreamcast which is another fantastic console, so I still enjoyed what Sega had, and will always have a soft spot for their consoles and games. I must commend the channel for this quality documentary, gladly subbed and cant wait for more from you guys.

[@chris_is_here_oh_no]

Excellent video, perfect overview!

[@maroon9273]

Also, nvidia was working on the NV2 chip for the saturn (Saturn V08 project) prior to the NA/EU release. Which turn into a cancelled saturn sucessor project alongside yuzuki/lockheed martin model 3 chipset prior to the dreamcast development. Plus, sega of japan could not wait for the lockheed martin and yuzuki (both built the model 2 and 3 boards) design the saturn hardware. The infighting and platform nightmare with the genesis, sega cd, 32x cd and 32x led to cancelation of saturn games. Plus, neglect of genesis and master system ips during the saturn.

[@bejisan1]

Choosing between a Sega Saturn or a Sony Playstation was one of my toughest gaming decision in 1995... I was 14 yo, all read tons of magazines to help me buy one. Glad I sided with the PlayStation, when there was only Battle Arena Toshinden to sell the console. FF7, RE... I wouldn't have known those games if I were playing Dreams on the Saturn ...

[@TechieXP]

The Saturn was the beginning of the end of SEGA. But the Dreamcast was the kill shot. I remember SEGA faboys saying SEGA was so much better than Mario would end up being on the Genesis. Well we see how that turned out.

[@KoolKeithProductions]

So...long story short, Sega of Japan effed everything up 😢

[@Becauseimbrian]

Great video guys, would love to see more like this!

[@lifespanofafry1534]

Whoa! It’s you!

[@chattingwithbabesallday]

Great video guys, probably one of your best ones. Very well made.

[@Gavinchi88]

Right this “What Went Wrong” playlist of videos are so good we need more 👌 Ideas off the top of my head. “What Went Wrong” with the - GameCube, Wii U, Jaguar 64, Dreamcast, PlayStation Move, Kinect, DVD HD, Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (2023), Resident Evil 6, Cyberpunk 2077, PlayStation Vita, GTA The Trilogy The Definitive Edition, Rare (Initially after leaving Nintendo) and……. Peter Molyneux 😂 Honestly there’s so much you could do and would be awesome to see if there as in depth as the 4 videos you’ve done so far. Can’t wait for more 💪

[@mauler15]

Loving the long form content 🙌🏻

[@deusprogrammer_thekingofspace]

I think it was ultimately that in the west we didn't get a lot of strong titles for the Sega Saturn. The console was a contender and in Japan it had a much different and stronger reception than it did here. And the reason? More software. And ultimately more software that was geared towards the Japanese audience.

[@sheltongolden4394]

Enjoyed the subject and new format. Looking forward to future WWWW entries!

[@Amenhir1]

I've only seen two Saturns in the wild. One that my little brother's friend had and the demo console at the local Toys R Us. I didn't own a Sega console until a coworker came in one night and said that same Toys R Us was selling Dreamcasts for forty bucks with three games. My friends and I all had Playstations because the games were thirty dollars cheaper than a N64 game.

[@r2dxhate]

What happened was people bought the Sega CD and it barely had any games, and then they came out with Saturn and it was burned by the same reputation before it could even get started. There was rumors and leaks of all these other systems around the corner, so kids told their parents to save their money for the next system. Same thing happened with the dreamcast. It was rare that you met kids that had them.

[@mdjey2]

"kids told their parents" wow thats how you do it in America? I could never in my life imagine that possible.

[@sidvicious332]

I told my mom to wait cos I wanted a playstation. Its funny how it was known back then. This was pre internet information. Crazy.

[@semicharmedlife311]

As a former Saturn owner, I loved it. Dragon Force, Gungriffon, and Albert Odyssey were personal favorites.

[@shakzor]

31:45 : "It lasted longer in Japan, even out-selling the N64. Explain that one to me, please." RPG's.

[@chrislaustin]

The better question would be what went right with the Sega Saturn, as there's to many negatives to mention, but it got a decent amount of things right. The Saturn is one of my favorite systems of all time, and I started gaming in the late 70's, early 80's, so I've played and owned my fare share of the greats.

[@SaturnSteve]

Great point, Chris! I agree and I’m curious, what would you say SEGA / the Saturn DID get right? 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🔥😄😄

[@UltimateGamerCC]

the Saturn had great controlllers, insane Arcade emulation, as well as some really noteworthy gems. such as Nights Into Dreams, the Panzer Dragoon games, Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge and Shining Force III. that and the systems capabilties were actually stronger than any other console, but nobody took advantage of it to the point it could be shown off.@@SaturnSteve

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Sadly, with what the Saturn got right is far outweighed with what it got wrong, so it’s kind of a moot point of what the Saturn got right.

[@commiehunter733]

Better game play, better graphics... especially with football games.. the saturn was way ahead of the ps1

[@johnnunez5715]

@@commiehunter733 Every Saturn game I saw was unable to render fog/smoke without a moire pattern. A good way to compare the graphics is to compare Tomb Raider 1 on both systems. Also what got me was the addition of a 2nd processor that was suppose to assist with the 3D but ended up being a bottleneck cause they could access RAM at the same time. I was a huge Sega fan, couldn't wait to play Virtua Fighter and saved for the Saturn. I went to purchase one with a co-worker during lunch and he begged me to stop. "Come over and check out what the PS1 can do". I did... dodged that bullet!

[@tren380]

Telling me don’t you dare fall asleep just as I selected your video to fall asleep to 💀

[@elin111]

Also need to point out that Naka saw a team working on a Starfox esque game, and said he'll fire the entire team and steal their tech to use for his own games, right in front of the team's faces thinking they wouldn't understand his japanese. Naka won't share his work and screw over entire teams but stealing other people's work without their consent was perfectly fine for him. Why did anyone look up to that guy.

[@nthgth]

Because Sonic.

[@MrBeardsley]

It says a lot about the state of home consoles at the time that Sega was intimidated by the 3DO and Jaguar, two machines that were not only massive commercial failures but aren’t even fondly remembered. The Saturn and Dreamcast still have well-deserved cult followings even among younger gamers, meanwhile the 3DO and Jaguar are little more than fodder for AVGN and Matt McMuscles videos.

[@sertianaputra3569]

The fifth generation of console was such a wild west. Everyone wanted to be the big thing. Jaguar, 3DO, Saturn, CDi, you name it. Then Sony came out of nowhere and obliterated the competition.

[@MrBeardsley]

@@sertianaputra3569 Tell me about it. I first properly got into games at the tail end of the NES’ lifecycle, then five years later it was “STOP MAKING SO GODDAMN MANY CONSOLES, I’M ONLY 12 AND I HAVE NO MONEY.”

[@yeahyousowhat7841]

Sony didn't come out of nowhere, they got their know how and tech from Sega. Sega even gave away their tech in which Nintendo used it to develop the N64. If Sega didn't exist nor teach Sony, it wouldn't be any PlayStation. Plus it was supposed to be a Sega PlayStation at one point

[@onemorechris]

lessons to learn: ceo/execs regularly haven’t got a clue what they are doing and often fail to see a new direction in favour of nostalgia // rushing rarely works (because it’s forced by fear // changing the plan when you’ve already started dooms the project (that’s one thing the Saturn has in common with train projects n the uk 🤣)

[@lucasallakariallak8244]

Awesome video, very interesting. I never had a Sega, but I remember as a kid looking through game magazines being very confused with all the different Sega consoles.

[@costasvasilogiannakis7816]

great work love this video so many memories

[@robknight164]

Love the Saturn it’s just a shame so many of its games never came out in the west

[@Mrnotpib]

The fact that they *shadowdroped a console*

[@skittstuff]

I realize I'm spoiled as a programmer living in the modern age where everything is extremely well-documented, but if I was told 'hey make a game for this new console coming out. there's no documentation btw, just figure it out' I would have jumped from a 12th story balcony lol. I imagine that must have been hell to develop for at the time.

[@admiralhowdy]

21:43 I did a double take at this, that's CRAZY. I first played Tomb Raider and Resident Evil on the Saturn. I spent at least 30 minutes in a Toy's R Us debating my purchase of a PS or Saturn, and the available games (games of my taste) and price points at the time made me choose Saturn. I didn't know at the time that Saturn was already dead.

[@ProcyonAlpha]

Saturn will always be the console that brought the arcade experience home. I still remember the feeling when i was playing virtua cop, sega rally, daytona, virtua fighter 1 and 2 in my living room. Unbelievable!

[@mr.jamster8414]

Well, Sega Saturn, and also the Neo-Geo. Saturn probably holds a more true claim though. Neo-Geo was expensive and reall no different than the NES having the VS system & Playchoice-10. Saturn had games that were made for the arcade FIRST as an affordable console.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

For me it’s the Mega Drive that brought the arcade home first yes the Saturn was the first console that didn’t have as much compromises but for me the Mega Drive laid the foundation for the Saturn but ultimately it was the PlayStation that brought the arcade home because Daytona USA is embarrassing on Saturn and I’d argue that Ridge Racer is a better game than Daytona USA but it hasn’t aged as well graphically.

[@mr.jamster8414]

@@Adamtendo_player_1 what about TG16 then?

[@commiehunter733]

The saturn was the best console on release.. it just needed more games 😊

[@johnnunez5715]

And Sony's Playstation was "Powered by Namco". Sega's competitor in the arcades. Namco's System 11 boards were just PS1 hardware with hard drives. Namco's jump back into the console market was to go after Nintendo after getting screwed with their NES games. Funny that Square was also aiding Sony cause of the SuperMario RPG debacle.

[@mscottjohnson3424]

Or Genesis, "if you want to get Seger of Ameriker about this"

[@Dungeon00X]

I'm now finding out there were so many great games on Saturn and now I can see why the games go for insane prices now. I really should've begged my parents for it when I had the chance.

[@ancientgamer3645]

I had one. Got from Block Buster video store as a rental. Then I reported it as stolen and paid them the purchase price. You couldn't buy them anywhere when they first came out. Sadly, there was a serious lack of games for the system. I had every major console on the market at that time. The Saturn was amazing!

[@Postpost90s]

Loved this kind of retrospective. Change is good

[@BagzAndPresident]

“Touching is good” Nintendo DS

[@krypotico]

Nintendo: We don't want to make a console with Sony. Sega: We don't want to make a console with Sony. Sony: Fine, I'll make my own console, with blackjack and hookers.

[@mr.jamster8414]

xD

[@nthgth]

In fact, forget the console!

[@tkal17]

You've earned a sub. Great video and content and I very much enjoy your humor.

[@jcchaconjr]

Of all the reasons for Saturn's failure. I personally think that the lack of games is probably what did it in outside of Japan. As noted in the video, it did resonably well in Japan, but that was mostly due to its pretty decent library... While there was no way it was going to beat the Sony juggernaut, I personally think it could have made a respectable showing if other regions had access to games left in Japan.

[@tripandfall2379]

Great video.... I remember importing a Japanese PS1 and taking it to a friends house - he had a Saturn with Daytona. The difference in visuals and overall quality was night and day, he was blown away. Even Need for Speed on my 3DO was superior. Later on, the PS1 version of Tekken also made the Saturn version of Virtua Fighter look last gen. Saturn had a great version of Worms and Street Fighter Alpha but that wasn't enough. Then in 1997 (in my region) Mario 64 came out and changed the game completely. RIP Sega.

[@supernintendro]

I love how year-after-year, video game history is steadily becoming a serious and respectable hobby. Wouldn't be surprise to see it as a course in colleges, in the near future.

[@BigGainer98]

Lol why?

[@supernintendro]

Because I love history, in general. Especially musicology.@@BigGainer98

[@J.Wick.]

1080p50? What is this? You silly Euros lol...Kidding. Great content. Fond memories of Sega in general, and the Saturn as well. Cheers.

[@epicon6]

21:36 This is the most important point here that most people seem to miss when covering this topic, so i’m glad you mentioned it! No matter what Sega would have done they would have not lasted as a console maker beyond 2005. The only way to survive would have been the Nintendo way which was: let’s sell old cheap hardware and campaign gimmicky consoles for families and keep rebranding the same kid’s games.

[@pigboykool]

Sega Saturn is still my favor console of all time this day, especially its Model 2 controller. It is the console with all the BEST 2D fighting games in its era. I still use my Saturn controller for all 2D fighting games till today.

[@gwensalador4325]

Thats why i love it so much...those 2d games just looks so amazing on it

[@CR0NO-NL]

Fun docu , please make more

[@zodwraith5745]

The Saturn was a great console, but really died from 1000 cuts more than any massive flaw. The console was notably more powerful than the PS1 but much like the PS3 a couple generations later it was notoriously difficult to get the full performance from it. The "$299" ordeal actually angered Japanese PS1 owners because _they_ had just paid $399 a few months earlier, so no one saw a price cut coming for a console that hadn't even launched yet. Sega couldn't match that price as it was much more complex and expensive to produce, so uptake was slow stateside, but it was still very much in the lead in Japan, and Japan was the source of most software that got ported to western markets. What really pushed Sony past Sega in Japan was the disastrous announcement by Nintendo that the N64 would be cartridge based throwing Squaresoft under the bus already deeply in development on FFVII. I don't have to point out what a juggernaut FF is in Japan and Square chose to take what they could save and shift development to the PS1. This was when PS1 sales really climbed in Japan. I really wouldn't hold Sega's smaller library in the US against the Saturn, as the PS1 was easier to program for, but that also meant it received heaps of truly shit shovelware and Sony has no qualms about how bad a game is, as long as they get their royalties. Look up the PS1 library and you'll notice how many cash grab games like zero effort movie tie ins and Barbie's Dreamboat Adventure bloat out those numbers. The later years were ALL crap shovelware trying to cash in on younger siblings still on old hardware while dad and big brother moved onto the PS2/Dreamcast. Last of all neither Nintendo or Sega were prepared to compete with Sony's backroom deals for exclusives from 3rd party developers. Nintendo and Sega didn't know how to play this game and Sony were masters of it after years of format wars. Nintendo survived through this from their strong 1st party titles but it really hurt the Saturn, and killed the Dreamcast with big titles like every EA sports and Squaresoft game never seeing the light of day on anything but a Sony console. It's rather ironic that the final nail in Sega's hardware coffin was Sony's exclusivity deals, when it's Sony that's crying foul today with just the _chance_ that Microsoft might do the exact same thing they've been doing for decades.

[@jakeiswayblack3377]

Im so glad I bought a Saturn last year. I had a friend who got one for christmas back at launch, but then he ended up moving away like 2 weeks later. I never saw one in person again for 25 years, so i never really got to play one until now. It definitely didn't disappoint

[@Snakefeel]

The “sager of seger” 😂

[@juggaleaux]

The British put an r when connecting words with vowel ends and it's awful

[@foursquarehomerepair]

Loved the quirkiness of the Saturn at the time, but what I really enjoy now is the build quality of the hardware. Saturns and saturn controllers just work. The failure rate is just so darn low.

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

My cousin had the saturn. I had playstation. To be honest towards the tail end of the 1990s and definitely starting from 2000, I was transitioning to PC more and more thanks to my friends at school (who were, to put it mildly, pretty different from most other people at school because several of them were PRETTY hardcore about PC in an era when most people here viewed it as a niche platform), but I did love the megadrive greatly. What got me to playstation was final fantasy 7, however. I DID like several of saturn's offerings.

[@marlybob1]

Loving your content. Hit me right in the nostalgia.

[@mattm7798]

It sounds like had Sega recognized the need for 3d graphics over 2d sprites, development could have streamlined and not led to the saturn being tough to program for. Also, you never ever want to reveal price points or hardware specs first. To their credit, I can see why Sega didn't want to work with Sony and were afraid they would essentially take over the project, but it's telling Kalinsky called this a giant blunder, and i dont think he means in hindsight.

[@Pocket_Fox]

I was a Genesis player who jumped ship to Playstation with zero regrets. But I did buy a used Saturn dirt cheap years later, exclusively for Nights into Dreams. That game was awesome. I still have my Saturn and that 1 game to this day (complete with the 3D controller).

[@user-bi8wk9jy6w]

This is a verry well put together video

[@Sly88Frye]

I knew about some of these things you explain but not all of them so I'm really happy to see this entire video It's very informative and make some very good points. I'm glad that somebody besides me finally pointed out that Sony starting the PlayStation was not 100% Nintendo's fault because Sega could have actually joined forces with them

[@WigWoo1]

Honestly I think it’s as simple as if the Sega CD and 32X never existed the Saturn would have done just fine in America. And the people would have also trusted sega enough to buy the Dreamcast and I think Sega may still be here today

[@seanjdempsey]

"Hedgehodgepodge" - That gets a follow 😂

[@ProudBostonian]

This was educational AND HILARIOUS!!! Thank you for this!!

[@joecorbs]

Dude this video earned you my sub. Very entertaining.

[@hwertz10]

Indeed, the Saturn items were called quads. A few early 3D cards for PCs used quads (Nvidia NV1 did for instance, and one or two vendors put out basically the Saturn GPU on a card to drop in the PC.) There was a battle early on over whether Direct3D should use triangles or quads. OpenGL apparently supported both (triangles were FAR more common but it had a GL_QUADS option - I say "had" because it was removed in newer OpenGL versions, although I honestly don't know if in reality newer Windows OpenGL drivers, or Mesa for that matter, may still support it. I have no idea if any software actually used GL_QUADS.) A few of these cards became a paperweight (other than the few games they ran that most likely were ports of Saturn games), a few got some ultra-kludgey 3D drivers to try to take pairs of triangles and turn them into quads to send to the hardware.

[@SlowSpyder]

Got a Saturn in 1998 from Funcoland for under $100. Got a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga (that I still have) for $60 from that same store around 1999.

[@MarioCosta86]

I had Famicom, Super Famicom, Master System, Sega Genesis, PSX1 and you guys will never know my happiness when my mom delivered to me the Saturn box. At the time, Saturn had a huge hype around and the kid who had it, was a happy kid. I only bought the PSX1 because of Tomb Raider 2 and then I sticked to it, Saturn didnt launch more good games unfortunately. Still love the console ❤

[@jankmedia1985]

Fantastic video! I love the Saturn, it truly has a fantastic library but man, it was such a mess behind the scenes. Such a shame, imagine what other developers could have done if given more assistance and time for development. PD: Zwei, Radiant Silvergun, Grandia, Vampire Savior, etc. the Saturn is a beast in the right hands.

[@JMFSpike]

It wasn't just lacking a proper Sonic sequel either, I think the severe lack of ANY big name Sega IP's making the transition to Saturn really hurt it. Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, ToeJam & Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Vectorman, Phantasy Star, and Monster Boy never got followups on the Saturn. All it got was a Golden Axe fighting spin-off, one new Shinobi title, and a very incomplete Shining Force III (outside of Japan). Had they released proper sequels to all of those series' on the Saturn, it may have faired a lot better in the west. It could have had a good shot against the PS1 if they were smarter about it. Even if it didn't win, it probably would have come in at a fairly close 2nd place.

[@zeppilipizzasong]

You can thank sega for hiring bernie stolar who didn't know what any of those franchises were.

[@JMFSpike]

@@zeppilipizzasong Well, it would be unfair to put all the blame on him. He deserves some of it for sure, but Sega as a whole was already a lost cause by the time he came in. There was no unity between SoA and SoJ. They were fighting against themselves. It was only going to be a matter of time before they went down.

[@jrchmgn2774]

Before: Genesis does what Nintendon't. Now: Nintendoes what Genesisn't.

[@0x44_]

I remember when the Saturn came out, I was at a local videogame store as usual on the weekend and saw it in stores and I thought it was just a display hype, but turned out it was the actual console. This was in the Spring, and I wanted it, but it was too expensive. It has such a great library though. It and the PC-Engine are my favorite sleeper consoles.

[@jcollins1305]

There’s a very good book in here. What a story! Well presented, a really fascinating look at a crazy time in the industry.

[@JerichotheSplendid]

Big fan of this video. Hope it's a new series.

[@MattHunterSays]

Nobody I knew had one. I think it was because everyone had either a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis, and because there were still games being made for both, no parents would buy their kids a new console. The next step was Nintendo 64 vs. Sony Playstation.