The Story Of The Sega Saturn & Sega 32X At War

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Correction: at 8:29 that is a picture of Joe Miller, not Tom Kalinske. I'm not even sure how I made that mistake when I edited this.

[@prettzx]

I could watch retro gaming documentaries forever... you just got yourself a sub. Great content

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+prettzx thanks, appreciate it!

[@kylepace1680]

prettzx I just go through them like podcasts. 8 hours a day, I'm gonna run through his content in no time

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Kyle Pace Thanks man. I'm working on my next video now. Hoping to have it out on 7-10 days

[@kylepace1680]

Wrestling With Gaming no problem subbed and notifications on. You just made the list! Of Kyle's choice channels

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Kyle Pace 😂

[@DeVstatrOmga]

I remember as a kid walking into a Sears store into their games section and seeing the 32X. Was confused even as a KID why Sega would release an add-on when the Saturn was just months away from being released. I felt like they weren't supporting their Sega Genesis and 32X products enough towards the end and felt desperation from Sega releasing the Saturn. Bought the Playstation 1 instead. The rest is history I guess.

[@tylongkicks8821]

I initially wanted to get a 32X Christmas of 94 but than my Dad heard that the Saturn and Sony new system Playstation is coming out the following fall he told me to wait. Christmas 1995 got a Playstation for Christmas.

[@jesspace4069]

seems like a lot of people did the same thing , playstation was really popular and segas consoles had become a bit confusing with all the add ons and stuff

[@SuperZombiepimp]

And that's the ultimate reason why sega died they pissed off their user base and lost it plus the Saturn. Was meh when it came to rpg games another area they failed hard on

[@dtester]

@@SuperZombiepimp While I'm sure those are factors, That probably is not the ultimate reason. Saturn was actually very successful in Japan....and the Dreamcast redeemed Sega to a lot of people in the west and sold well. If I was to choose the ultimate reason, it would be that the Dreamcast failed in Japan and Sega was bleeding money heavily during that period.

[@JORDANLEWISFILM]

32X really destroyed consumer confidence in Sega. I remember being so excited to get 32X only to find out it did nothing for the games I already had, and the only 32X game I got was DOOM, which at the time I was too young and scared to play. What a horrible roll out.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

That was the Sega cycle: Kalinske would say something that Sega of Japan would ignore, then the thing he warned about would come to pass.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Andrew Vrba yep!

[@SomeOrangeCat]

That's not to say Sega of America didn't make some mistakes of their own, like pressuring John Carmack to have the Doom port ready for the 32x's launch, instead of delaying the 32X's launch to coincide with him getting Doom as polished as he could.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Andrew Vrba Yeah, in a lot of ways SOA and SOJ were their own worst enemies. One of these days inn going to do a video on just all of the corporate Sega turmoil.

[@smuckola]

Predicting the right thing to do is often a lot harder than seeing the wrong thing to avoid. Tom Kalinske needed to look no further than Nintendo to generally know what the right thing was, and to look at Sega to know what the wrong thing was. Then he could address Sega with an "um, actually" statement about how wet the water is and wave his arms a bit. So either way, his reactions seemed visionary within such a dysfunctional dud of a company.

[@gm112]

Oh man that would be great. There's a lot of interesting aspects to the relationship between Nakayama and anyone associated with him. Would love to see you cover this video! Do you have a patreon by any chance?

[@emilyapricot1313]

As an aspiring small business person and classic game fan, I love these videos, because they help me understand business history in a way that's relatable to me.

[@MrSEA-ok2ll]

Sony going onto the stage in 1995 and advertising the PlayStation with a lower price than Sega Saturn and walking off was no different than Sony's appearance at E3 2013 right after Microsoft Xbox's announcement. The only saving grace for Xbox was Microsoft's deeper pockets...great video.

[@laberge2]

Man, I'll need to spend a few hours watching your videos. I love them and they're so well done. You deserve a thousand times more subs and views!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+croakz Thanks, I appreciate that! Nothing is better than coming home from a long day at work and reading that, so again thank you. I only have 5 of these little documentaries up so far. Most of the rest of the videos are strange let's plays lol. I'm pretty much concentrating on the documentary style videos for now and am uploading one per week. They're all in the gaming documentaries playlist on my page if you want to avoid all the other stuff. Please share the videos if you can, like practically no one knows these exist lol. Thanks again!

[@laberge2]

No problem. I'll submit one to reddit and hope that we get lucky! I definitely know how you feel relating to video formats though, it's really hard to find a style which suits your skills best. I'm messing around with a bunch of ideas on my channel as well (shameless self promotion haha)

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

croakz thanks a lot, that's really cool of you to offer to post a link. It looks like a few of your videos are already generating pretty good views. I watched the battlefield vs titanfall video. I'm not even a fan of those games and found it really interesting. It was well written abs had great pacing. I think you're already on your way man.

[@bwgti]

Well. I will subscribe. Like croakz said. These are really well done and well paced. Lots of cool bits of info and media. Thank you for the videos Wrestling With Gaming!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+bwgti thanks so much for checking the channel out. This is one of my first ones so if you liked this video I think you'll like the newer ones better since they're, in my opinion, more thorough and better edited. Again, appreciate you taking the time to check out the channel. I know that there endless gaming channels to choose from.

[@XalenMaru]

I remember this debacle. Had just graduated from high school and was finally making some decent money. My brother and I had become Sega Genesis enthusiasts but the whole 32X vs Saturn thing left us confused about which one to buy. Ended up buying a Playstation 1 later on and that was pretty much all she wrote.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Xalen Maru Yeah, I think that echoes the experiences of a lot of people. Sega really screwed things up for themselves.

[@justinbond1432]

Yea.. I loved my genesis 16 bit. I wanted to get a saturn but it was gone by the time i had the money for it. Then ff 7 came out. Wanted to check it out. Looked good from the commercials. So i ended up woth a playstation. Came with a demo for ff7. Was wowed at the time. So i bought it. Was blown away. For the time it was an amazing beautiful story and the cinematics were awesome. Glad i went that route. Tocbad about sega though. I was one of thise kids too. Heck the dreamcast looked great. It is an amazing system.just to little to late.. Was a shame. Phantasy star might have stayed a better direction. The next one better than the last. Wich they were until it ended with dreamcast. The ps2 one was ok but wasn't the same. Shining force could have done more but 3 was the last on saturn. I do believe. They had good titles that could have spanned the times. A few did.

[@teckyify]

Metal Jesus looks different than usual.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Jackson Ha ha!

[@bwgti]

Metal Jesus is ripped is what seems to be going on here.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+bwgti lol

[@worsel555]

And he knows what he is talking about too, none of this "Now this is a real hidden gem of a game that no one ever heard of before! Mario Kart? Am I saying that correctly? Tell me more about it, guest person!" *cuts to a person who looks like a gun is pointing at them just out of frame* Yeah, it's um, great. "Okay, out next game...." Keep up the great videos you make, you deserve so many more subscribers.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Ken Williams lol, this cracked me up man. Thanks for the encouraging words. The subscribers will hopefully come eventually. I'm just happy that there's other people out there interested in this stuff too!

[@mHerrickk]

I love retro Sega history and culture. Thanks for making such comprehensive videos about this stuff.

[@SwankeyMonkey]

This channel deserves way more Subscribers. Your informative and in-depth videos from an apparent true gamer are much appreciated. Keep up the great work!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+SwankeyMonkey Thanks for the kind words man. I'm just happy the people that have been coming to the channel seem to like the videos. Can't ask for much more.

[@SwankeyMonkey]

I wish you much success! You deserve it, not only because of the content and its quality, but it's *very* apparent you put in a lot of hard work making these videos. Not to worry... the gaming community will find you, and support you.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+SwankeyMonkey Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@Stevinfinite]

Informative as always. my thirst for Sega knowledge will never be quenched.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Stevinfinite ha ha. Thanks. Maybe next time I'll cover something they didn't screw up.

[@zsciaeount]

These are really great videos. I thought I was an encyclopedia of gaming history, but I learn new things several times every episode. Great production values, great length that lets you go in-depth. These are some of the best gaming history videos out there.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+zsciaeount Thanks for the kind words. I really enjoy making these. The next video is going to be on the Atari Jaguar. I was able to get some input on it from Leonard Tramiel and am getting some assistance from a guy that works for a gaming magazine with research verification. All of that has made the video take longer to complete bit I think it'll be well worth it. Thanks again for checking the channel out. I truly appreciate it.

[@jsttv]

Excellent video! Good question to start off the video: Sega… What the hell were you thinking???

[@sangan3202]

this still angers me, if they didnt fuck up that badly there maybe they wouldve still making consoles

[@shmiggz]

Nice video! I have and bought both the Saturn and 32x shortly after they came out. I think the reason the Dreamcast failed was due to how easy it was to pirate games and also the lack of support from EA.

[@HistoricNerd]

I'm really glad I found this video. Well done sir!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+HistoricNerd thanks man.

[@lordjimbo2]

I remember all this stuff as it happened. In two years Sega of Japan committed seppuku. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@davcar23]

I bought my Sega Saturn at Good Guys, I bought it just for two games, Virtua Fighter 2 and X-men Children of the Atom. I loved that console.

[@tDADDY09]

Been watching your videos, and I gotta say you do alot of homework on these, and you can tell. Good job man. I'm a fan.

[@Eyeyamgod]

Dude please keep going. This is awesome. Really well done.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Lord Cthulhu Thanks! Definitely more on the way. I'm about halfway through editing my next video (it's on the atari jaguar). I think I should have it out this week. I already have the research and script finished for the one after that so there won't be such a long stretch between that and the next video. Thanks for the kind words. It's really encouraging and appreciated.

[@tayloralmond]

Nice work. All of your videos are top notch. Looking forward to the videos you put out next.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Taylor Almond Thanks man! Next one is going to be on the Atari Jaguar. It should be out in a week or two.

[@elin111]

The whole thing can be summarized as "Sega North America and Sega Japan couldn't agree on anything". Maybe it was for the best, that led to the PS1.

[@m0m02k]

elin111 Sega *OF* America*

[@lincolndexter9514]

Sega of Japan were dumb cunts that didn't listen and they paid for it

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

Very good for Sony, Sega got trashy console.

[@saysoun752]

Navi, The Real Fairies Queen Former YANG. Master, Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast were all great consoles with some great games.

[@madhatter8508]

The problem was Sega of America thought they could control Sega of Japan. They didn't know their place. You don't see Nintendo of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America or Microsoft Japan trying to tell their parent companies what to do.

[@PhinioxGlade]

This was a really well constructed retrospect. I enjoyed it a lot

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Phiniox Glade thanks!

[@t.3841]

A few minutes in and I knew; I'm going to binge watch the Gaming Documentary section. Would like to see more!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+T. Glad t hear it! I think this was like the third video I did. I think you'll find the newer videos are far more polished. At least that's what I tell myself lol. Thanks for checking the channel out.

[@bENOFFICIALMASSIVE]

Man, well done. Heaps impressed. I just watched a podcast of Historic Nerd and CaptnRetro who mentioned this vid in it so I had to watch. I watched The Gaming Historians vid on recently too which was great. The 32x in Australia where I am didn't have a bunch of games that you guys got. The Megadrive was huge here. Bigger than Nintendo sadly. I never got to play a 32x so its cool to watch things that went on.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks so much for checking it out. Funny enough, I just finished watching Gaming Historian video on it as well.

[@torusbrane5629]

I remember getting the Saturn, I think I beat VirtuaCop about 100+ times. I sold it just a few years ago, and it still worked like new. They were well built in my opinion, too bad it didn’t take off like the PlayStation, which I still have. It’s harder to part with the PS1, I’m about to fire it up today to see if it still works! Love your content as usual, I love getting this hindsight of the 32/64 bit wars. I remember wanting the jaguar just cuz it was 64 bit. I remember waiting for a 128 bit console to come out, lol. Enjoyed this very much!

Man , you’ve got some awesome info in all these clips , the one about 3DO had plenty of things I did not know .. Keep the quality content and charisma . 👍🏼😎

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Ricardo Saenz thanks man!

[@c.daubz.5386]

Just recently started watching your video’s, bring back great memories and gives me understanding of what I didn’t know was happening behind the scenes as a kid/teenager” you do great explanation and edit video so it’s interesting to watch”

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thank you. Glad you're enjoying the videos.

[@blank8327]

You make some of the best gaming videos I've ever seen. Definetly subbed and I hope your channel grows even more because you deserve it.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

My last coment had a big typo lol. It should say this: Thanks so much. Really appreciate you taking the time to comment. It's definitely provides encouragement. My next video (on the jaguar) is taking longer than usual to complete but it's about halfway edited now. I hope to have it out soon. Reply ·

[@RelativeStrengthFit]

What a monumental clusterf#@& for Sega.. Thanks for the vid buddy

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Relative Strength Advantage Yeah man, Sega really were in many ways their own worst enemy. Thanks for watching. This is one of my first ones. I'd definitely go back and change some things with the presentation of I did this today lol.

[@EdwinTyler]

Subscribed! Love your channel, brings back so many memories and I'm getting to know so much stuff about my childhood consoles.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Jeevitesh Khoda Thanks for checking the videos out, I appreciate it! if all goes well the next video will probably be out this weekend.

[@jimmyguy428]

I'm sure you get this a lot, but why do you not have more subs? Great, informative videos that are also great to re-watch. Thanks, and please keep up the hard work.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks a lot! Hopefully one day the subs will come. I'm happy as many people have liked the videos enough to subscribe so far.

[@jimmyguy428]

@@WrestlingWithGaming You're welcome! It's going to be awesome to see your channel grow. Plus this kind of content brings back a lot of memories, having grown up through the home video game console's rise since the (I'm dating myself here, LOL) 70's.

[@gamebunkeradventures4575]

What a great video dude, I love these history/educational videos!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Mike Evans thanks man !

[@Baneslayer]

Great video, loved it. Thanks for creating and sharing. From gamer to gamer.

[@Chelaxim]

History of PlayStation as like nerdy kid who never got chosen in gym class and got made fun of then becomes a multi-millionaire Rockstar and makes a big deal of his high school reunion.

[@UrskaFur]

thats after Nintendo made them who they are

[@madhatter8508]

@@UrskaFur Get a load of this Nintentard. Nintendo didn't make jack shit when it comes to Sony. Sony gained more experience publishing games for the Sega CD than Nintendo ever gave them. All they got from the Little N was a stab in the back.

[@christopherwalkinalloverya5824]

@@madhatter8508 Actually it was Sony's greedy licensing contract that caused Ninty to ditch them. Sony wanted too much control over the Nintendo Play Station games distribution.

[@eben3357]

@@UrskaFur Ken Kutaragi loved Virtua Fighter and that helped make Playstation a 3D console. Namco also had former Sega employees working for them. Tekken was the child of a Virtua Fighter team member. You seem to ignore how much inspiration Sony drew from Sega.

[@UrskaFur]

@@eben3357 lol

[@joshuamartinez5655]

Sega Japan: screw Sony's play station offer what an insult 😡! Couple Years later.... Sega Japan: dam you play station taking our money & market share 😡!

[@labeld]

Just found your channel... your narrative style and production quality are exactly the thing I enjoy (and I dig you NJPW shirt) Sub'd!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Labeld Thanks! Glad you dig the videos. Oh and I love me some New Japan.

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

I like you; straight, to the point, and even stuff I've heard of lots you had something new to tell me.

[@Williamkurk]

Great channel / content!! Just when I thought I ran out of quality gaming channels to watch...BAM!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Williamkurk Thanks!

[@Trialwolf]

Really great video, very in depth. Just subscribed because of this video.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Wolfsite Thanks so much. Glad you liked it. This was only like my 3rd retrospective video. There's definitely a few things I'd go back and change. But If you like this one I think you'll really enjoy the newer ones. The newer ones have quite a bit more detail and better pacing in my opinion. Certainly better editing! Lol. Thanks for the comment though. Made my day.

[@BubblegumCrash332]

I've been reading the official SDK 32x technical information manuals and I'm obsessed with the 32x now. I'm convinced if enough time is spent developing a game it could push beyond what the PSX could do. It really has a lot of hidden potential that wasn't even utilized.

[@brentgranger7856]

I get the idea from my personal research that Sega of Japan (SoJ) was very jealous of Sega of America (SoA) and Sega of Europe with the success of their products in western markets compared to the home Japanese market that had been dominated by Nintendo and NEC. One example is SoJ President Nakamura reluctantly allowed SoA President Tom Kalinske to release "Sonic the Hedgehog" as a pack-in game with the Genesis/Mega Drive since SoJ wasn't too keen about losing sales on its hottest selling game. Another opportunity not mentioned in the video was that Tom Kalinske approached Silicon Graphics as an alternative system to the Saturn. SoJ, like with Sony, turned them down (Silicon Graphics would eventually partner with Nintendo to produce the Nintendo 64). The Saturn's game library was obviously aimed at the Japanese market with its emphasis on arcade-style play and JRPG's instead of 3-D graphics. This made the system the success SoJ wanted in its Japanese homeland, but at the expense of Sega's other successful markets.

[@rufioquin2406]

When I was kid, I couldn't get the $400 Saturn, so I got a 32X and Virtua Fighter (my best friend had a Saturn with Virtua Fighter). From what I recall, the 32X version was good enough to hold me over until I was able to buy a Saturn. I wish I still had the 32X. IMO, the Dreamcast failed in America because people here generally have very bland taste in games, and because the PS2 played DVDs. I still have my PS2 and my Dreamcast... but if I had to choose one to keep, it would most definitely be my Dreamcast. I've watched a few of your videos now, and have subscribed. Really good content. I'm sure your channel will grow quite a bit if you keep up this quality of work. 👍🏼

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Rufio Quin I think the 32x gets a bad rap due it kind of being seen by a lot of people as another unnecessary add on to the genesis. It does have some really fun games on it though. And thanks for the compliment, glad you're enjoying the videos!

[@Smokydoggg]

Not including Best Buy and Walmart in the Saturn release was a boneheaded move. I lived in a tiny town and the only big store we (and all the towns around me) had was a Walmart. This combined with Walmart not selling the Saturn later meant that I never even saw a Saturn in a retail store (I was too young to drive to a big city).

[@ez054098]

Another great video. I believe it was the lack of a DVD drive (and PS2's inclusion of one) that killed the Dreamcast.But the Saturn, 32x didn't help. Thanks again!

[@MrMarinus18]

But also I think it was bad timing. The Dreamcast came out in 1998 when the PS1 and N64 were firing on all cylinders. A big reason the PS1 succeeded was because it came out at the perfect time when many people were looking to replace their aging SNES or Genesis. When the Dreamcast came out many people were still enjoying their PS1's and N64's and both still had many great titles come out every year. The PS2 came out in 2000 which is when many PS1 players were starting to get tired of their console and it was starting to look significantly behind pc's so when most were looking to upgrade. The lack of DVD drive wasn't the only thing that made the PS2 succeed. Sony had a very reliable brand name and in 2000 many people wanted a new console. The PS1 and N64 in 1999 were losing a lot of steam and their age was really starting to show.

[@TheSektorz]

And to think, if SEGA of America and SEGA of Japan had better communication, maybe we'd still have SEGA consoles. If SEGA accepted Sony's proposal, there might never have been a PlayStation, we'd currently have SEGA alongside Xbox and Nintendo as the big three game console manufacturers. Them bad choices tho. Anyways. Great video.

[@smuckola]

Even the Xbox wasn't assured. For all we know, in a parallel universe, Sega's console business survived and Microsoft published games for it instead of making their own console because they deserve each other. In another universe, Nintendo and Sony didn't doublecross each other and there was no PlayStation, so maybe Microsoft saw a giant market opportunity to make a console because Nintendo would never collaborate with a company as third-rate, tasteless, monopolistic, and generally terrible as Microsoft.

[@smuckola]

Andy Craig honestly I think 3DO was a good idea only in the sense of a commoditized clone model, and only in theory. I think it was overall ill-fated because it is made of weak, weird, clunky, overbuilt, underpowered hardware with no talent for games. It wouldn't be until 1999 when CDROMs would be anything but an expensive slow gimmick. I can't believe 3DO was designed by an Amiga guy. The whole thing was smoked by a couple of cartridge upgrade chips in the SNES along with the world's best game software -- and a much lower price tag.

[@smuckola]

As for Sega's ability to maintain consoles, I really wonder, because in the end, it all comes down to games! In the parallel universe where Sega never quit making consoles, then we'd still be left with Sega, which mostly doesn't make great games. Today's retrospective on Sega and the misfit/reject/copycat culture that it fostered allows us to skip year after year and title after title that are just forgettable dreck, and only focus on the compilation of classics. lol. Of the few Sega games I liked, most were arcade games, not the console games. And we see how Sonic turned out, even before the platform's demise. Other than developing cool arcade hardware, I don't know what substance Sega has except its self-victimized rebellion complex of reacting to Nintendo and to basic cultural decency. So I guess I'd give a similar assessment of 3DO, although they weren't as obnoxious and disgusting and lame as Sega. :) Because it's allllll about the games. It's just 100% of nothing, in a race to the bottom, in a bowl full of crabs clawing to get over each other, without the best games. AKA Mario and Zelda and Pokemon lol.

[@randywatson8347]

To me it's like divisions within corporation that disagree and only care about their local economy.

[@whyzyttf6614]

The SektorZ yeah Sony proposed to Nintendo not Sega oh tho Sony had involvement with the Sega CD game's so to think Microsoft worked alongside with with the Dreamcast while Sony was trying to work with Nintendo and now look it's Sony PlayStation or Microsoft Xbox man those companies stole gaming ideas from them I'm Tru to my roots Sega all the way

[@Immorpher]

I wish this was longer as the story is quite interesting!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Immorpher Thanks. I'll probably do a longer video on all of Sega of America and Sega of Japan's infighting one day. I think this was the second or third video I did and I was pretty much trying to keep them at around 10 minutes or less so that the length wouldn't turn people off. I just assumed that's what would happen since no one knew of my channel. I mean, still pretty much no one knows of my channel lol. but I don't concern myself with the length as much anymore

[@ramberto7785]

Great Channel Man keep up the Great Work!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Ram Berto thanks so much man. Appreciate it!

[@adamhovey407]

I had a Genesis for a long time but I remember my brother buying a 32x at a local thrift store and we had a few games for it I don't remember all of them we had Doom and some fighting game and I distinctly remember smoke coming from it.

[@lark-f3k]

Man you really deserve more than 7k subscribers

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+OH MY GOD!!!! Thanks! I'm just glad even that many people have bothered to subscribe lol

[@roberdanger]

great videos. subbed. also i own all 3 of these. the 32x, saturn and dreamcast and i was really only dissapointed with the 32x. if you havent played Dragon Force for the saturn your missing out on one of the most underrated games ever imo, its deff in my top 10 of all time. also Time Stalkers on Dreamcast was another great game. I think also one of Segas problem with consoles is they were always trying to be way ahead. look at the releases of all their consoles vs nintendo and eventually sony. they released these years before the next. so when the others came out technology was better and so were the console hardware. couple that with bad management and you are shooting yourself in the foot. but hats off to sega for always trying to push the bar

[@clubsanz4437]

Sega has a special place in my heart. I didn't know Sega US, and Sega Japan had so many differences though. The Genesis was my first console, and I begged my dad for the Saturn, only for him to buy us a Playstation cuz older brothers pick first lol. I knew 1 kid in school that owned a Saturn while everyone had the Playstation. I would have been #2. ... man I would have been such an outcast. My dad still bought me a Dreamcast though just so I could continue to play Sonic while he got my older brothers the PS2. I think the Sega and The PS1 and PS2 were the only consoles we bought side by side in such a short span of time.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Club Sanz yeah, it's crazy all the infighting at the Sega between SOA and SOJ. There was even more infighting unrelated to the 32 bit stuff. Sega's biggest enemy turned out to be Sega. It's too bad.

[@MrBenMcLean]

I know a perfect name for the SEGA Genesis 2: Just call it the "SEGA Exodus"

[@adamw2911]

Even Sega fanboys held their nose and bought the PS1. I Remember seeing a PS1 and Saturn side by side. PS was running Ridge Racer, Saturn Daytona. In hindsight we all know that original version of Daytona wasn't great. However virtually everyone who was present had already decided the PS was the way to go.

[@P2000Camaro]

Why all the downvotes? I'm enjoying your videos, man.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks man! I appreciate the support.

[@Redfoot138]

I'm enjoying these too! Late 1993 to 1996 was such an interesting time in the gaming industry.

[@alexman128]

The best, there was actually real competition, and all parties involved had innovative things which differentiate them from the rest.

[@StryderK]

P2000Camaro two words, hedgehog fans....

[@adamhovey407]

P2000Camaro good question, because they're fairly well done videos

[@WhiteJarrah]

2:29 "While still being backwards compatible with the Genesis software and peripherals" The problem is that it was not fully backwards compatible. While the 32X will still let you play all your old Mega Drive and Mega CD games, it doesn't support the Master System converter. It also doesn't support the Magic Key adapters, which allow you to play import MD cartridges. I have a Japanese Mega Drive, Japanese Mega CD and a Genesis 32X. If I want to keep the 32X plugged in, I need to swap it out whenever I want to play Master System or post-1993 PAL games. This wouldn't be an issue if the 32X simply plugged into the MD, but it requires an link AV cable between it and the MD. It's becoming tedious swapping systems out.

[@markvicferrer]

Living through this confusing Genesis successor era, every bit of new info had me wondering what the heck Sega was doing. They were going literally every way they could except forward. 😩

[@MaxAbramson3]

Every single month, there were changes to their roadmap. It wasn't until the Saturn had been in stores for over a year before people were ready to plunk down their hard earned money on the machine. Why take a risk? And by then, third party developers were bolting en masse to the new PlayStation because it was $100 cheaper and could put 90% as many textured polygons onscreen at once. To this day, some people think that the PS1 was more capable in 3D, and only a few 1997-99 Saturn titles proved otherwise. If only SoJ had stuck with their previous plan to support Tom Kalinski and let him run Sega Atlantic as he clearly knew retailers and consumers better.

[@Gungho73]

When you consider the idea that both Sega and Nintendo could've been attached to the hip, at least for one console generation, in seperate cases to Sony...nothing seems more of a defining moment in the gaming industry in that era, and one of the most significant moments in gaming history with Sony joining the race.

[@mmike855]

Dude. Loving your channel!!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Michael Muncatchy Thanks. Glad to hear it! Plenty more videos to come. I just need to start pumping them out faster.

[@mmike855]

You'll get into the swing of things, and are already generating plenty of buzz! I'd love to help spread the word as well.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Michael Muncatchy Thanks man, I appreciate the support. I love making these anyway so I'm not super hung up on getting a ton of subs. Don't get me wrong, it'd be nice to have more people watch them but I'm flattered so many people have taken the time to check the channel out at all.

[@SinceSpacies]

The saddest part of all this is that when the Sony CEO got up there on stage like a big shot and just dropped that "$299" announcement he should have came back up to say "oh... and plus $X for a memory card and $X for a game" as the Saturn had that as part of the entry price. But... this was ultimately Sega of America's fault for failing to convey this bleeding obvious oversight. They rushed out of the gate with the Saturn and didn't come up with a sufficient gameplan to take Sony on. Sad.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+...Since Spacies so true!

[@VOAN]

Have you ever why Sony never launch their hardware first in a generation, it's because they lack innovation and usually wait til the competitors reveal their game plan before the competition. This is Sony's way of imitating ideas and assure that they won't make mistakes. The PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, PS Vita and PSVR were never the first hardware to launch in their market. For the PS1 generation, the 3DO launch first, for the PS2 generation the Dreamcast launch first, for the PS3 generation the Xbox 360 launch first, for the PS4 generation the Wii U launch first, for the PSP market, the DS launch first, for the PS Vita market the 3DS launch first, for the VR market the Oculus Rift launch first.

[@JCupCakes79]

I'd say it's more of marketing strategy rather than lack of innovation and every console has different circumstances which lead to their launch dates. First like was said in the video Sony was trying to break in to the console biz as a partner at first and the 3DO was never really a rival it was just Nintendo and Sega and Sony tried to partner up with both. Also the PS2 is the best selling console of all time and I don't think Sony really ever considered the Dreamcast a threat which was still feeling the fallout from the Saturn and Sony knew it. I also don't really think Sony considered the Wii U it's rival due to the Wii U's specs at launch and just the design concept plus the Xbox One which was Sony's true competitor launched at around the same time(only 1 week later). I do agree that Sony's handhelds have been in response to Nintendo's DS/3DS line and that they haven't really been that creative in that department but then again it's just not a priority like Nintendo. The DS has saved Nintendo and is now just as important to them as their consoles which isn't the case with Sony but I disagree about them not being innovating with their consoles. Sony we're the ones who realized that 3D gaming was the future when sprite based gaming was the norm, they also brought dual analog controls to gaming which is now an industry standard, motion controls with the playstation eye before the wii and kinect, along with other minor things but they wouldn't/couldn't have been such a successful console gaming company if they we're innovative.

[@corey2232]

But there were dozens of other issues too, that was just a publicity stunt on Sony's part. He failed to mention in the video Sega of Japan, upon seeing the specs for the Playstation, were afraid the Saturn would lack power to compete in the newly 3D video game market, so they haphazardly threw in an extra chipset in hopes to raise its power. Unfortunately, that made development for the system way too cumbersome and difficult. Most developers didn't even have dev kits with the ability to use the new chipset so skipped on using it entirely. Sega had envisioned the Saturn of being a 2D powerhouse with the added ability of playing limited 3D games. With the announcement of the Ultra 64 being rumored, coupled with the Playstation, they knew 3D was the next wave of games. Along with retailers refusing to carry the Saturn (Walmart actually wouldn't carry them either, not just KB Toys), they really burned a ton of bridges along the way.

[@corey2232]

There was definitely internet then. I had internet in my house in the 95 for damn sure.

[@PatrickBaptist]

Saddest part is that Atari was way ahead with their Jaguar 64. I had one, they were so slick. I was the only one I knew that had one and all my friends wanted one so bad.

[@DemonDethchase]

Wow with Sega of America and Sega Japan, it really does feel like that left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing scenarios

[@neorococco]

Thanks for making such nicely done, well-informed videos! Much appreciated.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+neorococco thanks!

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

I was a Sega kid growing up. I liked the Master System, LOVED the MegaDrive, was really fond of the GameGear, and the best of all that for me was the Sega Mega CD. To this day the CD add-on has some of my favorite all time games. I even pined after the Nomad, but sadly never got a chance to buy one due to the high cost and me being a kid with limited money. With this this being said, I never bought a 32X. I rented it, but combing yet another thing to my MegaDrive was cumbersome and annoying. It's disappointing the Sega Neptune never actually got released. That would've been my system of choice, attached to the Sega CD. I'd probably still have it hooked up even today in 2017.

[@dustmighte]

Hey man, solid videos, kudos! Here's another sub.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+azz666 thanks!

[@MrMekmek29]

I subscribed because we need more content creators like this. So glad to have stumble to this Channel.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+MrMekmek29 thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it!

[@MrMekmek29]

Wrestling With Gaming you are welcome hoping for more content currently browsing your videos. Now I have you and the gaming historian to look forward to.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+MrMekmek29 I took a break last month but definitely have content coming this month. Editing a video on digital pictures as we type. I love Gaming Historian too. Dude is so good.

[@carlzimmerman8700]

Also the Saturn and the 32x both used dual processors which was much harder to program for than PlayStation's or N64's single processors. Combined the two processors in the Saturn were very powerful, but one alone was much less powerful than the single processors found in the PS1 and N64. Multi threaded game programming was not as well understood as it is today and required a lot of extra effort. This is why when you look at titles on the Saturn, that were made by Sega, they look excellent. Yet 3rd party games generally looked way worst than their PlayStation counterparts, simply because it was harder for 3rd parties to program for the Saturn vs the PS1. So 3rd party titles would be released that only used one of the Saturn's processors, or both, but very inefficiently. Great video, keep em coming!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Carl Zimmerman Thanks and you bring up a great point. I'm working on the final touches of my video on the Atari Jaguar, which also had a similar chip set in that it had two custom 32 bit chips that were difficult to program for and use to their full potential. The Saturn at least had a more complete and better documented dev kit/system than the jaguar so it didn't suffer quite as badly. It still hurt it though, particularly with third party titles as you pointed out.

[@jerrymondragon2020]

this channel is badass I need to binge all of your videos. glad I stumbled across your channel :))

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Jerry Mondragon thanks man. Glad you like it!

[@e501p]

Cool video. watched the whole thing... Keep it up!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+e501p Hey thanks so much for taking the time to watch and comment. I really, really, do appreciate it. I have more of these kinds of videos coming. Going to be putting one up about once a week.

[@djkarmainfinite]

"$299" I love Sega but that was savage by Sony 😆

[@h.celine9303]

Great vid as always, man.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+H. Celine thanks!

[@NickBartolo]

New to your channel and I'm loving it.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Nick Bartolo thanks man. Glad you like the videos!

[@stokesa3122]

The Sega PlayStation. Man, what could have been...

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Stokes A I know, right?

[@yarpen26]

To be fair, under that scenario there would be no Dreamcast. I seriously doubt if having Sega of America collaborate in building the PlayStation or PlayStation 2 would significantly alter the console on a technical level. Maybe a few more gaming franchises to offer and even a bigger share of domination over the market but overall, I'm pretty sure it would have ended up similarily.

[@eben3357]

It would mean Sega might still be a household name and more people would respect how Sega inspired Sony to make Playstation a 3D machine, because everyone would know it by default rather than having to read up on the history and how much Ken Kutaragi loved Sega's arcade games just think about how advanced they were in 1993 3D wise. It is funny that Kutaragi saw where games were going, thanks to Sega, and then convinced Sony to make Playstation 3D. It is a less well known account that Kutaragi explained at a conference.

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

SNK PlayStation is better than being Sega ownership.

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

jgfjgfify Ain’t "Saturn is not our future" an official quote.

[@FelipeLobo]

Your videos are amazing! Thanks for the content!

[@LordProteus]

I remember the Saturn being a great console.

[@CecilTheDarkKnight234]

It honestly was "selling nearly 6 million units in japan only" However the Saturn as meant to be 32bit 2d console and games where moving towards 3d at the time. That was the main issue/flaw with the saturn despite there being early ports/versions of 3d games on 3d0/Saturn/ps1 the Saturn versions where not always the best. Still I wonder what would've happened if the Saturn stuck to being a 32bit 2D only system with some 3D graphics, maybe we would've gotten Sonic Mania back in the 90's as the 4th game in the series.

[@adamw2911]

@@CecilTheDarkKnight234 The Saturn was also hamstrung by some mediocre release games. The PS got this vital step absolutely spot on.

[@MrMarinus18]

@@CecilTheDarkKnight234 I still find that decision so weird cause in the early 90's Sega was the absolute king of 3D arcade games. It would have been better if they had made a cut-down version of that 3D hardware which is pretty much what Nintendo did with the N64. However Nintendo had to outsource most of that while Sega had most of it in house.

[@LucasBlackofficial]

Another very good vid from You !! Cheers

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Lucas Black thanks!

[@rupturemetal5471]

I bought the 32X in a heartbeat. Genesis was my favorite console and was dreading that it would become obsolete with the upcoming consoles. 32X came along and gave me the option to expand my gaming while keeping the Genesis in the mix. I was very disappointed with Sega for the lack of support. Although I had a great experience with the top games for the 32X, I would never purchase another Sega console due to lack of trust.

[@easlern]

I’m starting to see how badly Sega was self-sabotaging in the later years. I used to think their products were failures but maybe Sega itself was the real failure. They made good products I think.

[@elin111]

2:23 They were probably thinking "WHY did we turn down the PlayStation?!"

[@foxymetroid]

They probably figured Sony would try to rip them off the same way Sony tried to rip Nintendo off a few years earlier.

[@jamesmincks5877]

The Saturn was a great system but very difficult to program games for. The Atari Jaguar had the same problem.

[@johnraymondt.domingo4105]

Dude your review is unique compared to others. At first i said to my selft who the hell is this guy. But im impresed good job.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+John Raymond T. Domingo Thanks a lot, really appreciate it. And I completely get where you're coming from. "Who the hell is this guy?" is pretty much what I think anytime I come across a new gaming channel lol. Thanks for giving my stuff a chance.

[@DJ-Krimson-Steele]

Dude. I absolutely love that New Japan shirt. That's dope.

[@JasonMontell2501]

Your tricep game is on point. You're a beast

[@Saki630]

Sad to see SEGA destroying themselves from within. If only they didnt fuck it up, they could still be around today on the back of a Dreamcast+PS2 device prior to 2000.

[@whyzyttf6614]

Saki630 yes true and they were working on a prototype of a DVD player for the Dreamcast as they seen how popular and success the DVD market got

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

Happy to see Nintendo renewed themselves from Switch launch. They’ve been fast forwards on backups blueprints plan of a GameCube + Xbox hardware device prior to 2000.

[@madcommodore]

You make really good documentaries, would love to see one about the Dreamcast, Regarding Sega USA and the Saturn, vs Sega Japan wasn't sales of the respective territories for the Megadrive vs NES and then SNES part of the difference in timescale preference for a true next gen successor to the Megadrive/Genesis to be released?

[@anas6-1-9]

another interesting video, this channel is like a gem keep it up

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Anas Elfellah thanks man. I just need to get more videos out. Should hopefully have one up on the jaguar in the next couple of weeks or so.

[@Mittens_Explains_It_All]

This is great! I didn't know al Snow was a game geek

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Jon Sorenson what does event want? Games!

[@KarcusKorpse]

So true, and the "Wrestle with Gaming" is a dead give away.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Karcus Korpse 😁

[@blakfloyd]

What's up with the Neptune being referred to as the fifth 32-bit console Sega was working on at 7:51? That exact same console is mentioned at the 0:50 mark and I couldn't find anything mentioned that differentiated it from the one mentioned in the beginning of the video and I've watched this twice now. Help me out here cuz I wanna understand what's going on but it just sounds like an erroneous redundant mention.

[@Noobie2k7]

Imagine an alternate Universe where Sega did produce the Playstation with Sony and Atari did end up with the production rights for the NES before then. We'd probably still have Sega and Atari as major Videogame giants today. It really would be Sonic vs Mario.

[@johnathandon]

Your vids are well put together and interesting.

[@GeoNeilUK]

The problem with Sega, it was a company at war with itself, Sega of Japan was competing with Sega of America

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+GeoNeilUK YES! Exactly. I really only touch on the tip of the iceberg in this video. I plan on doing a video on the full history of SOA and SOJ's infighting at some point. I'll probably steal the Sega civil war title for it again lol

[@smuckola]

Don't forget that SGI developed a 3D game console chipset and shopped it around to Sega first. Tom liked it and Sega of Japan hated it. And...lol....a crestfallen Tom suggested Nintendo. Which SGI did, along with improvements based upon Sega's cold-hearted and dismissive critique. The history of the video game industry is dominated by the story of Nintendo's success, which is a story that's told just as much by Tom's interviews about Sega's endless failures from within Nintendo's looooong shadow. I discovered that lengthy interview with Tom, when I researched and rewrote the history of the Nintendo 64 on Wikipedia.

[@smuckola]

Yeah xenophobia is a Japanese habit, especially amongst older businessmen. :/

[@SwankeyMonkey]

Normally this would be the opportunity to choose sides in that Civil War... #TeamSOA :D But, SOJ had some incredible games that never made Stateside, which was a bummer. So too bad they didn't get along so well, because then SEGA would have been an absolute force to reckon with with all their combined amazing IPs.

[@reptester]

That was a very informational and entertaining video but i'm surprised that you didn't mention the Sega CD.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Reptester Bragg thanks! since the Sega CD itself wasn't 32 bit I didn't really want to go into it. But I am going to do an entire video dedicated to the Sega CD at some point in the near future.

[@skidmarx8905]

Man i wish i could go back in time and buy like 50,000 Sarturns just to keep it afloat.

[@PointReflex]

The main problem started back in 1989 with Sega of Japan not understanding how to fight the war against Nintendo and it's 85%+ marketshare over the US (let alone the domination over Japan). In 1990 things changed with Tom Kalinske and his tactic: "let's piss of Nintendo" (to the point in wich they celebrated a "cease and desist" letter from Nintendo of America concerning a Sega's TV commercial in wich they just made fun of the Game Boy). Sonic was a hit (and Sega own 64%+ of the marketshare on the US in an instant) just because the input of the team at Sega of America. But in time the Japanese division started to fight against the north american one because they couldn't make the same hit success in Japan. In the late 1993~1994 the "cold war" between both divisions destroyed the chances to overcome the 32-bit competitor. You mentioned Sony asking Sega to built a console, but don't forget about Silicon Graphics and THEIR request to Sega of America to use their new GPU in the new Sega's 32-bit console, wich Sega of Japan rejected and then Silicon ended up making a deal with Nintendo... wich ended up with the birth of the Nintendo 64 D: Of course BOTH divisions did a LOT of fails during the 16-bit war, Sega of America fucked up their own marketing (specialy with the Sega CD) and Sega of Japan fucked up themselves (by not understanding the consumers over the US and not daring to fight against Nintendo), yet both divisions made history, in the US Sega almost obliterated Nintendo with one single strike thanks to the development crew at Sega of Japan, so is a much complex story than what the average joe could grasp.

[@alaeriia01]

It's actually simple: Sega was trying to do market segmentation, like how GM sold (what were essentially) the same cars as Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and GMC.

[@SeaToSkyImages]

Great content. I love these failed console retrospectives.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+matterofact Thanks so much.

[@obvfw]

Another thing that left the Saturn dead in the water was its arcade-like architecture that would require knowing Assembly to really get the most out of it. Most developers by that point preferred easier-to-understand languages like C, and the PlayStation's developer-friendly SDKs were way more appealing than having to figure out what the heck to do to even render a single polygon on the screen with the Saturn.

[@andrewzigmont2673]

I've always been a nes/snes guy but the Sega has always fascinated me

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Andrew Zigmont same here actually. Became more of a Sega fan as an adult than a kid.

[@mtshark7]

Awesome video man! There have been some people that have modded a genesis model 2 and a 32x to be a Neptune. If i had better modding equipment I would love to make one.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+mtshark7 thanks!

[@TimEssDub]

That "299" speech was pure genius.