History Platform / SegaSaturn

Once the North American ads ([[WhatWereTheySellingAgain finally]]) started promoting it as a gaming system, one of them boasted about how the Saturn had two 32-bit processors while the [=PlayStation=] only had one. The irony is that those "two 32-bit processors" made the system far more difficult to develop for and played a major role in third-party companies favoring the [=PS1=]. Depending on which account you believe, Sega either slapped on a second [[UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit CPU]] and [[MediaNotes/GraphicsProcessingUnit graphics card]], or planned the design from the start in order to be capable of both 2D and 3D, the former of which the [=PlayStation=] was notably less competent at. Not without precedent or prescience, because [=CPUs=] with [[UsefulNotes/MultiCoreProcessor multiple cores]] are the norm in video game consoles and [=PCs=] today; multiple [=CPUs=] were nothing new to veteran arcade developers like Sega, who had already been utilizing multiple processor units in their arcade games, and subsequently adapted the paradigm into the Saturn hardware and subsequently into the Saturn derived Titan Video (ST-V) arcade board. Back in the mid 90s, however, having entirely separate units just jacked-up the cost and the complexity of developing for the console. It was literally just individual processors with very little cross-talk between them.

* Each [=CPU=] has 4 KB of [[UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory RAM Cache]].

Once the North American ads ([[WhatWereTheySellingAgain finally]]) started promoting it as a gaming system, one of them boasted about how the Saturn had two 32-bit processors while the [=PlayStation=] only had one. The irony is that those "two 32-bit processors" made the system far more difficult to develop for and played a major role in third-party companies favoring the [=PS1=]. Depending on which account you believe, Sega either slapped on a second [[UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit CPU]] and [[UsefulNotes/GraphicsProcessingUnit graphics card]], or planned the design from the start in order to be capable of both 2D and 3D, the former of which the [=PlayStation=] was notably less competent at. Not without precedent or prescience, because [=CPUs=] with [[UsefulNotes/MultiCoreProcessor multiple cores]] are the norm in video game consoles and [=PCs=] today; multiple [=CPUs=] were nothing new to veteran arcade developers like Sega, who had already been utilizing multiple processor units in their arcade games, and subsequently adapted the paradigm into the Saturn hardware and subsequently into the Saturn derived Titan Video (ST-V) arcade board. Back in the mid 90s, however, having entirely separate units just jacked-up the cost and the complexity of developing for the console. It was literally just individual processors with very little cross-talk between them.

The backlash was multi-pronged and immediate: At that year's [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]] conference where Sega announced the early release and launch price, Sony rep Steve Race who next took the stage had the plum task of explaining that the [=PlayStation=] would cost a hundred dollars less than the $399 Saturn, and the crowd turned on Sega at once. This is literally the entire transcript of Sony's announcement: "two ninety-nine" ($299). [[ShowStopper The crowd went nuts]], and suddenly it seemed better to wait a little more to spend less on the [=PS1=].[[note]]Even if eventually the lack of a pack-in game and the requirement of a separately purchased memory card could bridge the $100 gap.[[/note]] Not helping matters was Kalinske's famously brash public persona, which everyone in the industry had grown weary of, nor the fact that he blew off an exclusivity agreement for ''[[VideoGame/FIFASoccer FIFA 96]]''[[note]]After the original ''FIFA International Soccer'' was a multi-platform game, Sega paid Creator/ElectronicArts for a deal that made ''FIFA 95'' exclusive to the Genesis, and gave Sega the option of renewing said deal annually. Supposedly, Kalinske only bothered looking at the North American sales figures for ''95'', and decided they didn't justify renewing the contract -- completely ignoring the far better sales of the title in Europe, Asia, and South America, where both UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball and the system were far more popular than in North America[[/note]], which would have at least kept a major license out of Sony's and Nintendo's hands for a year.

So, as you can see, pride was essentially a major factor into why the console didn't do as well as it should've at a time the company's branches ''really'' needed to work together, when they instead focused more on fighting each other than the growing competition. What's more, it's too bad Sega didn't see the point of localizing said games or porting ''any'' of its North American titles to the Dreamcast, although the Saturn's complex architecture made that easier said than done. Furthermore, due to the general disarray at Sega at the time, the source codes for many of those games (including ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoonSaga'') [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes have been lost]]. And the games themselves usually don't come cheap on eBay, thanks in no small part to the console developing a very dedicated [[CultClassic cult following]] in later years, not to mention many late era games that DID make it over received insultingly low print runs (including, you guessed it, ''Panzer Dragoon Saga'', which even had an ad {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing it). While ports and remakes of some of these games would at least find homes on the Platform/NintendoDS, Platform/PlayStationNetwork, Platform/XboxLiveArcade, and [=PC=], [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes a great many have not received re-releases]]. To make matter's worse, UsefulNotes/{{Emulation}} of the Saturn remains difficult due to its complex architecture.[[note]]As a result, many ports of Saturn games are coded from the ground up for their target platforms instead of being emulation ports, allowing for much better performance at the cost of porting accuracy, and likely why Nintendo skipped over the Saturn for Platform/VirtualConsole and Platform/NintendoSwitch Online libraries. By far one of the most infamous attempts to do officially-licensed emulation ports of Saturn games is the ''Saturn Tribute'' collection (consisting of ''[[VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton Cotton]] 2'', ''Cotton Boomerang'', and ''Guardian Force'') for Nintendo Switch and Platform/PlayStation4. This collection ended up having TEN FRAMES (a whole 1/6th of a second) of input lag![[/note]]

* 2 MB main RAM, 1.5 MB UsefulNotes/VideoRAM. The Extended RAM Cartridge (released exclusively in Japan) added 1 MB or 4 MB to the main RAM.

* ''Goiken Muyou: Anarchy in the Nippon''

* ''Elan Doree''

* DuelingWorks: Sony and [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] had great success with their respective ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' and ''{{Franchise/Tekken}}'' franchises, which were essentially ripoffs of Sega's ''Virtua Racing'' and ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter''. ''Tekken'' in particular had much-cooler characters with their own lore, and it's still going strong today.

*** ''Street Fighter Alpha 2''/''[[UpdatedRerelease Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold]]'' (part of the aforementioned ''Street Fighter Collection'')

* DuelingWorks: Sony and [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] had great success with their respective ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' and ''{{VideoGame/Tekken}}'' franchises, which were essentially ripoffs of Sega's ''Virtua Racing'' and ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter''. ''Tekken'' in particular had much-cooler characters with their own lore, and it's still going strong today.

* ''Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty'' (also known as ''Suiko Enbu'' and ''Dark Legend'')
** ''Suiko Enbu: Fuun Saiki''

During their heyday, Sega promoted some add-ons for the [[Platform/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]], namely the Platform/SegaCD and [[Platform/Sega32X 32X]]. They had major [[ObviousBeta performance issues]] and not a lot of good games on them, so many faithful Sega customers got burned. Fast forward to the release of their next stand-alone console, the Saturn. Facing off against one major competitor, Nintendo, was one thing, and one they could surmount by once again beating them to the market. [[Creator/SonyInteractiveEntertainment A new contender]], and one with loads of cash and third-party goodwill? [[Platform/PlayStation Surprisingly, a big problem.]] But the Platform/{{Nintendo 64}} and Platform/PlayStation would hardly be the only thorns in the side for the Saturn.

* ''[[VideoGame/LindaCubeKanzenban]]''