The Sega Saturn Mega Thread

[sheath]

Suzuki's comments about the Saturn are limited to comparing it and Titan to Model 2's 3D hardware. It was a technical discussion and the Model 2 is technically superior to the Saturn and Titan at 3D in every respect. Suzuki also mentioned that they had to get the Saturn's SH-2s working on separate code for Virtua Fighter. These facts cannot be applied to the Playstation versus Saturn, Edge did it anyway without any facts to connect the two discussions.

[Black_Tiger]

They've got that right, a terrible port of Virtua Fighter and worthless junk like Clockwork Knight that can be completed in a matter of hours.

A terrible port of one of the greatest games of all time.

Dated Feb 1995, yep, this is right on the money too, Virtua Fighter was indeed the only game worth buying at that stage, and yes it was glitchy and unfinished feeling.

Yet the Playstation had no games that compared and arguably never would have a 3D fighter as good.

and yet again EDGE are right on the money, Ridge Racer was an excellent port of the arcade game, Daytona on Saturn was very disappointing.

An excellent port of a lackluster games versus a lackluster port of an excellent game. Nevermind that the Arcade of Daytona was a league above Ridge Racer graphically. The Playstation port was closer to the game whose graphics were closer to console quality.

If the Saturn's graphics suck as much as you make it out to be and the Playstation's as awesome... And if graphics are so much more important than gameplay or game quality... Then the Playstation was a ripp off and people were better of buying a vcr instead.

[Thenewguy]

Suzuki's comments about the Saturn are limited to comparing it and Titan to Model 2's 3D hardware. It was a technical discussion and the Model 2 is technically superior to the Saturn and Titan at 3D in every respect. Suzuki also mentioned that they had to get the Saturn's SH-2s working on separate code for Virtua Fighter. These facts cannot be applied to the Playstation versus Saturn, Edge did it anyway without any facts to connect the two discussions.

The guy stated that using 2 CPUs was a poor design choice, and that 1 more powerful CPU would've been better.

You don't publicly show reservations about your own companies hardware, that's just stupid

[sheath]

One powerful CPU would have been better, the PS1's CPU is irrelevant to Suzuki's comment though. Suzuki would have preferred one CPU running at 60Mhz, and who wouldn't?

[Kamahl]

...

Sega Mega Drive, that is all.
(Although, in all honesty, it could have been designed way better for little extra cost, if any)

[sheath]

Apparently not while launching in 1994 and thereby giving the Playstation a run for its money in Japan. I can turn this hardware discussion on the Playstation with the same logic. Sony just needed to have more Video RAM and it would have been better than the Saturn in every way but sound. Sony should have waited and put a 60Mhz CPU in the Playstation and it would have been better than the Model 2 tech without 3D acceleration. Sony should have focused on a hardware accelerated 3D GPU so it would have had so much trouble with polygon tearing and texture warping.

Nobody considers these things for one reason, the Playstation ended up dominating after 1997. That actually happened because of exclusive third party software and Sony overmarketing the platform, swallowing losses on each console sold, etc. The Saturn having a 60Mhz CPU instead of two SH-2s, which actually were better than the PS1's CPU even if they "only" managed 1.5x the processing ability of one SH-2, would not have changed the massive financial advantage Sony had.

[Thenewguy]

A terrible port of one of the greatest games of all time.

and Namco ripped it off, made it more accessible, lightweight and mainstream and released it on Playstation within months of release, you can paint it however you want with subjective statements, but the harsh reality is that at the end of the day most people prefered Tekken anyway.

Yet the Playstation had no games that compared and arguably never would have a 3D fighter as good.

Yeah, because its really arguable that Tekken 3, or Soul Blade aren't as good as the Saturn port of the first Virtua Fighter game

An excellent port of a lackluster games versus a lackluster port of an excellent game.

Pffft, this is the sort of crap I come to expect from this place, Ridge Racer and Daytona were both fantastic arcade games, Daytona was the more impressive game in the arcades, Ridge Racer was the more impressive game in the home.

If the Saturn's graphics suck as much as you make it out to be and the Playstation's as awesome... And if graphics are so much more important than gameplay or game quality... Then the Playstation was a rip off and people were better of buying a vcr instead.

This may be an alien concept to the Saturn fanboys of the world, but if a console costs substantially more to manufacture it better damn well create superior results to its competition, why do you expect people to happily pay more, or even the same amount for a machine which is consistently outperformed by one costing the same price/less?!?!

The PS1 had more good games by miles, the Saturn was buried by PS1 software certainly by 1996, the only genre it still put an active fight against was 3D fighting, and Namco were effectively ripping off all of Sega biggest games and releasing them on PS1 anyway.

The PS1 had tons more games, it cost less to manufacture, it was easier/faster to develop for, and its graphical results were usually better, that's not even taking into account that Sony had masses of money to advertise with, how can you guys even begin to argue a case for the Saturn?!!?

[Da_Shocker]

Sega simply panicked really and let's be real if Sonic was your best selling game on your previous system don't you think you have a Sonic game ready for launch? Oh of course not, Sonic didn't do to well in Japan and SoJ thought that VF would be an even better launch title than Sonic. Sure that strategy worked in Japan but in the US and Europe it was a huge flop.

[sheath]

• Title System Publisher Region Notable
  
  Playstation:
  Agile Warrior F-111X Playstation 1995 Virgin
  Air Combat Playstation 1995 Namco
  Bases Loaded '96: Double... Playstation 1995 Jaleco
  Battle Arena Toshinden Playstation 1995 Sony Yes
  Criticom Playstation 1995 Vic Tokai
  Cybersled Playstation 1995 Namco .
  Cyberspeed Playstation 1995 Mindscape
  Defcon 5: Incoming Playstation 1995 Data East
  Destruction Derby Playstation 1995 Psygnosis Yes
  Discworld, Terry Prachett's Playstation 1995 Psygnosis
  Doom Playstation 1995 Williams Yes
  ESPN Extreme Games Playstation 1995 Sony
  FIFA '96 Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts
  Geom Cube Playstation 1995 Amer Technos
  Gex Playstation 1995 Crystal Dynamics
  Hi-Octane: The Track Fights Back Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts
  Jumping Flash! Playstation 1995 Sony Yes
  Jupiter Strike Playstation 1995 Acclaim
  K-1 Revenge Playstation 1995 Jaleco
  Kileak: The DNA Imperative Playstation 1995 Sony
  Lemmings 3D Playstation 1995 Psygnosis
  Loaded Playstation 1995 Interplay
  Mortal Kombat 3 Playstation 1995 Midway
  NBA In the Zone Playstation 1995 Konami
  NBA Jam Tournament Edition Playstation 1995 Acclaim
  NFL Full Contact Playstation 1995 Konami
  NFL GameDay Playstation 1995 Sony
  Novastorm Playstation 1995 Psygnosis
  Off-World Interceptor Extreme Playstation 1995 Crystal Dynamics
  Panzer General Playstation 1995 SSI Yes
  PGA Tour '96 Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts
  Power Serve 3D Tennis Playstation 1995 Ocean
  Primal Rage Playstation 1995 Time Warner
  Raiden Project, The Playstation 1995 Sony
  Rayman Playstation 1995 Ubi Soft Yes
  Ridge Racer Playstation 1995 Namco Yes
  Road Rash Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts
  Shockwave Assault Playstation 1995 Crystal Dynamics
  Space Griffon VF-9 Playstation 1995 Atlus
  Tekken Playstation 1995 Namco Yes
  Theme Park Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts Yes
  Total Eclipse Turbo Playstation 1995 Crystal Dynamics .
  Twisted Metal Playstation 1995 Sony Yes
  Viewpoint Playstation 1995 Electronic Arts
  Warhawk Playstation 1995 Sony Yes
  Wipeout Playstation 1995 Psygnosis Yes
  WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game Playstation 1995 Acclaim
  X-Com: UFO Defense Playstation 1995 Microprose Yes
  Zero Divide Playstation 1995 Time Warner Yes
  Zoop Playstation 1995 Viacom
  
  Saturn:
  Astal Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Bases Loaded '96: Double... Sega Saturn 1995 Jaleco America
  Black Fire Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Bug! Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Center Ring Boxing Sega Saturn 1995 JVC America
  Clockwork Knight Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Corpse Killer: Graveyard Edition Sega Saturn 1995 DigitalPictures America
  Cyber Speedway Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Cyberia Sega Saturn 1995 Interplay America
  D Sega Saturn 1995 Acclaim America
  Dark Legend Sega Saturn 1995 Data East America Yes
  Daytona USA Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Double Switch Sega Saturn 1995 DigitalPictures America
  Gex Sega Saturn 1995 Crystal Dynamics America
  Ghen War Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  High Velocity: Mountain Racing... Sega Saturn 1995 Atlus America Yes
  Horde, The Sega Saturn 1995 Crystal Dynamics America
  Mansion of Hidden Souls, The Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  NHL All-Star Hockey Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America
  Off-World Interceptor Extreme Sega Saturn 1995 Crystal Dynamics America .
  Panzer Dragoon Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Pebble Beach Golf Links Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America
  Primal Rage Sega Saturn 1995 Time Warner America
  Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka Sega Saturn 1995 DigitalPictures America
  Rayman Sega Saturn 1995 Ubisoft America Yes
  Revolution X Sega Saturn 1995 Acclaim America
  Robotica Sega Saturn 1995 Acclaim America
  Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV:... Sega Saturn 1995 Koei America Yes
  Sega Rally Championship Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Shanghai: Triple Threat Sega Saturn 1995 Activision America
  Shellshock Sega Saturn 1995 US Gold America
  Shinobi Legions Sega Saturn 1995 Vic Tokai America Yes
  SimCity 2000 Sega Saturn 1995 Maxis America Yes
  Solar Eclipse Sega Saturn 1995 Crystal Dynamics America
  Street Fighter: The Movie Sega Saturn 1995 Acclaim America
  Theme Park Sega Saturn 1995 Electronic Arts America Yes
  Virtua Cop Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Virtua Fighter Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Virtua Fighter 2 Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Virtua Fighter Remix Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  Virtual Hydlide Sega Saturn 1995 Atlus America
  VR Virtua Racing Sega Saturn 1995 Time Warner America Yes
  Wing Arms Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America Yes
  World Series Baseball Sega Saturn 1995 Sega America

Yeah, the Playstation just destroyed the Saturn in total software numbers and better games.

Playstation true believers seem to conveniently forget that it took the PS1 1.5 years to sell 1 million units in the US as well. We are talking about scraps of the video game industry that established the PS1's "dominance" in software releases early on.

-edit-

1996 saw 158 PS1 games versus 127 on Saturn. Sorry, but the evidence suggests that developers griped but didn't really have all that much trouble making games quickly on the Saturn.

[j_factor]

The Sega Saturn was God's gift to humanity. This is inarguable fact!

[Da_Shocker]

The Sega Saturn was God's gift to humanity. This is inarguable fact!

QFT!

[Mr Smith]

This thread is full of lies. The Saturn was tosh, an abject failure by even Sega's standards. You people and your precious Saturns should be sent away to some island somewhere.

[sheath]

By the way, I don't think the Saturn was the greatest thing to happen to our idiosyncratic dirt ball, Virtual On is.

[Kamahl]

This thread is full of lies. The Saturn was tosh, an abject failure by even Sega's standards. You people and your precious Saturns should be sent away to some island somewhere.

I love you Mr. Smith.

Sega Mega Drive FTW.

[Thenewguy]

Notable.....Revolution X...Street Fighter the Movie....Corpse Killer...Solar Eclipse

Honestly, is this a practical joke?