Saturn article on 1UP

It really wasn't a bad system like so many like to claim it was. I still think Virtua Fighter 2 and Sega Rally are fairly easy on the eyes, and it’s hard to say that with a lot of games from that era. The Shenmue demo is actually quite impressive for the Saturn.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but I guess Sega's main mistake with the Saturn occurred early on.. I don't think they were forward-thinking enough with the hardware. Assuming the Saturn was in development throughout 1992 and 1993, why they would go so far with a hyper-2D machine when their arcade division was already dabbling in 3D is kind of confusing. I suppose it was due to the expense of selling a 3D chipset, but Sony found a way (by the mid-90s, anyway) to make it work--and more cheaply than Sega did.

And yeah, Saturn marketing was weak and forgettable. Anyone remember the bald chick with the rings around her head?

IMO the Saturn hardware was more than able for it's time. It could do just about everything the PS could do. And it was far better in the 2D department.

I still think Sega should've just went with Model 2 technology. That would've given the Saturn more than enough muscle to go toe to toe with the PlayStation in the 3D department, and being that Lockheed freakin' Martin was making the damn things, I'm sure they could've found a way to mass produce them thus making them cheap.

Well, the first Model 2 game came out in 1995, IIRC. The Saturn was released in Japan the year before that. I doubt it would have been feasible to get the arcade technology in the home for an affordable price.

Though it happened later with Naomi and Dreamcast!

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Originally Posted by Ex Ranza

Well, the first Model 2 game came out in 1995, IIRC. The Saturn came out in Japan the year before that. I doubt it would have been feasible to get the arcade technology in the home for a low price.

Though it happened later with Naomi and Dreamcast!

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Naomi and DC were conceived and designed from the ground up to be in arcade and home from the get go.

Model 2 is just a bulky massive piece of computer. Impressive graphics, but a monster of a machine.

There are pics of Model 2 at System 16.com. Looks like there are 3 separate boards.

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Originally Posted by Kraftwerks

"Back in 1985, when Nintendo successfully resurrected the videogame industry in the U.S."

That's as far as I got. Now that I've been re-educated on the fact that games were alive and kicking on computers during the console crash, I can't stand to see others still shooting off that they were dead.

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We're talking about videogames. Relax.

The Model 2 was out before the Saturn. Daytona was a game being brought over from the Model 2 to the Saturn.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the Naomi larger than the DC?

If I'm not mistaken, arcade hardware is usually larger due to the types of chipsets used (I remember reading arcades use a lot of ZIF chips to facilitate repairs and upgrades).

One of those boards is the ROM board, which if memory serves me correct is the game itself.

Though I'm in doubt about their accuracy, the 1UP article claims the Saturn was a combination of the System 32 board and the Model 1 arcade board. Both those boards are larger than the Model 2.

I think this could've been done.

Are you talking physically larger? The Naomi is a tad larger than the DC but not by much. The only Naomi I've ever seen is the cartridge based one, never seen the GD based one. The Naomi does have more memory than the DC, if that's more what you meant by that statement. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) the additional memory is the only difference from the DC.

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

The Dreamcast's marketing was awful, and SegaNet was an abortion that lived.

The DC really had no chance, Sega shouldnt have even bothered. If they put JGR on PS2 instead I would at least be able to play it without hooking up my DC (and Im too lazy to do that, so no JGR for me).

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What a load of bull. Sega put a ton of effort into the DC as a system (much more than the Saturn and arguably more effort than Nintendo has put into making a diverse lineup on the GC), the system WAS a success here in the U.S. and had plenty of successful titles such as the 2K games, it was Sega's burning stock in Japan that killed it. If Sega had a fallback plan and was at least able to enjoy the muted success Nintendo enjoys in Japan the DC would have still survived in the U.S. and Europe easily.

Never mind how many people loved playing DC games online, me included. I didn't need to subscribe to Seganet either. Hey, free online games, kind of like free online gaming on the PS2, huh? I guess Sony's online strategy is an "abortion" too?

Not to say Sega didn't make a ton of missteps, that goes without saying, but as others will no doubt attest to, you sound like a complete and utterly biased fool when you say "they didn't put enough effort into marketing" then contradict yourself when you say "they shouldn't have even tried" (considering one of the things you always accuse companies of like Nintendo is "they aren't trying, they're too caught up in themselves and their current course of action/refusal to try new things blah blah, ect. ect. Typical retarded, hypocritical and jaded internet fanboy nonsense parading as expert commentary. At least people knew the DC existed and it had a ton more TV ads than the Saturn ever did.

And JGR would not have sold well regardless if it was put on PS2, that was a single, unique title people simply did not catch on to. And your followup quip is that you were too tired to switch out the AV cables and hook up your DC to play it? haha

Ironically, JGR's TV ad was one of the few DC ads I did not like. They should have poured more effort into TV ads for Shenmue and PSO.