Sega Saturn - Wikipedia. Sega Saturn. Top: Western and Eastern Sega Saturn logos. Middle: Model 1 NA console with model 1 controller. Bottom: Model 2 JP console and controller.
Manufacturer. Sega. Type. Home video game console. Generation. Fifth generation. Release date. JP: November 2. NA: May 1. 1, 1. 99. EU: July 8, 1. 99.
Discontinued. Units sold. Media. CD- ROM, CD+G, CD+EG, Video CD, Mini CD, Photo CD, E- book[1]CPU2× Hitachi SH- 2 @ 2. MHz. Storage. Internal RAM, cartridge. Graphics. VDP1 & VDP2 video display processors. Sound. Yamaha YMF2.
Learn more about Avanquest and its wide range of software. We offer software for PC tune-up, website creation, education, small business, bookkeeping and more! Top: Western and Eastern Sega Saturn logos Middle: Model 1 NA console with model 1 controller Bottom: Model 2 JP console and controller. Charlie Pierce on all this ESPN nonsense and newspapering and what not is so fantastic and I’m bitter we didn’t run it. Go check it out. [SI].
Online services. Sega Net. Link. Predecessor. Sega Genesis. Successor. Dreamcast. The Sega Saturn[a] is a 3.
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Sega and released on November 2. Japan, May 1. 1, 1. North America, and July 8, 1. Europe. The successor to the successful Sega Genesis, the Saturn has a dual- CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD- ROM format, and its game library contains several arcadeports as well as original titles. Development of the Saturn began in 1. Sega's groundbreaking 3.
DModel 1arcade hardware debuted. Designed around a new CPU from Japanese electronics company Hitachi, another video display processor was incorporated into the system's design in early 1. Sony's forthcoming Play. Station. The Saturn was initially successful in Japan, but failed to sell in large numbers in the United States after its surprise May 1.
After the debut of the Nintendo 6. Saturn rapidly lost market share in the U.
S., where it was discontinued in 1. Having sold 9. 2. Saturn is considered a commercial failure. The failure of Sega's development teams to release a game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, known in development as Sonic X- treme, has been considered a factor in the console's poor performance.
Although the Saturn is remembered for several well- regarded games, including Nights into Dreams, the Panzer Dragoon series, and the Virtua Fighter series, its reputation is mixed due to its complex hardware design and limited third- party support. Sega's management has been criticized for its decision- making during the system's development and discontinuation.
History[edit]Background[edit]Released in 1. Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles.[2] In mid- 1. Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as president and CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske developed a four- point plan for sales of the Genesis: lower the price of the console, create a U. S.- based team to develop games targeted at the American market, continue aggressive advertising campaigns, and sell Sonic the Hedgehog with the console. The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it."[2] Magazines praised Sonic as one of the greatest games yet made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) decided to purchase a Genesis instead.
However, the release of a CD- based add- on for the Genesis, the Sega CD (known as Mega- CD outside of North America), had been commercially disappointing.[6][7]Sega also experienced success with arcade games. In 1. 99. 2 and 1. Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased Sega AM2's Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter (the first 3. Dfighting game), which played a crucial role in popularizing 3.
D polygonal graphics.[8][9][1. In particular, Virtua Fighter garnered praise for its simple three- button control scheme, with the game's strategy coming from the intuitively observed differences between characters that felt and acted differently rather than the more ornate combos of two- dimensional competitors. Despite its crude visuals—with characters composed of fewer than 1,2. Virtua Fighter's fluid animation and relatively realistic depiction of distinct fighting styles gave its combatants a lifelike presence considered impossible to replicate with sprites.[1. The Model 1 was an expensive system board, and bringing home releases of its games to the Genesis required more than its hardware could handle. Several alternatives helped to bring Sega's newest arcade games to the console, such as the Sega Virtua Processor chip used for Virtua Racing, and eventually the Sega 3.
X add- on.[1. 4]Development[edit]Development of the Saturn was supervised by Hideki Sato, Sega's director and deputy general manager of research and development. According to Sega project manager Hideki Okamura, the Saturn project started over two years before the system was showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1. The name "Saturn" was initially the system's codename during development in Japan, but was eventually chosen as the official product name.[1. In 1. 99. 3, Sega and Japanese electronics company Hitachi formed a joint venture to develop a new CPU for the Saturn, which resulted in the creation of the "Super.
H RISC Engine" (or SH- 2) later that year.[1. The Saturn was ultimately designed around a dual- SH2 configuration. According to Kazuhiro Hamada, Sega's section chief for Saturn development during the system's conception, "the SH- 2 was chosen for reasons of cost and efficiency. The chip has a calculation system similar to a DSP [digital signal processor], but we realized that a single CPU would not be enough to calculate a 3.
D world."[1. 7][1. Although the Saturn's design was largely finished before the end of 1. Sony's upcoming Play. Station console prompted Sega to include another video display processor (VDP) to improve the system's 2. D performance and texture- mapping.[1. CD- ROM- based and cartridge- only versions of the Saturn hardware were considered for simultaneous release at one point during the system's development, but this idea was discarded due to concerns over the lower quality and higher price of cartridge- based games.[1. According to Kalinske, Sega of America "fought against the architecture of Saturn for quite some time".[2.
Seeking an alternative graphics chip for the Saturn, Kalinske attempted to broker a deal with Silicon Graphics, but Sega of Japan rejected the proposal.[2. Silicon Graphics subsequently collaborated with Nintendo on the Nintendo 6. Kalinske, Sony Electronic Publishing's Olaf Olafsson, and Sony America's Micky Schulhof had previously discussed development of a joint "Sega/Sony hardware system", which never came to fruition due to Sega's desire to create hardware that could accommodate both 2. D and 3. D visuals and Sony's competing notion of focusing entirely on 3. D technology.[2. 3][2. Publicly, Kalinske defended the Saturn's design: "Our people feel that they need the multiprocessing to be able to bring to the home what we're doing next year in the arcades."In 1. Sega restructured its internal studios in preparation for the Saturn's launch.
To ensure high- quality 3. D games would be available early in the Saturn's life, and to create a more energetic working environment, developers from Sega's arcade division were asked to create console games. New teams, such as Panzer Dragoon developer Team Andromeda, were formed during this time.[2. In January 1. 99. Sega began to develop an add- on for the Genesis, the Sega 3. X, which would serve as a less- expensive entry into the 3. The decision to create the add- on was made by Nakayama and widely supported by Sega of America employees.[6] According to former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Nakayama was worried that the Saturn would not be available until after 1.
Atari Jaguar would reduce Sega's hardware sales. As a result, Nakayama ordered his engineers to have the system ready for launch by the end of the year.[6] The 3.
X would not be compatible with the Saturn, but Sega executive Richard Brudvik- Lindner pointed out that the 3. X would play Genesis titles, and had the same system architecture as the Saturn. This was justified by Sega's statement that both platforms would run at the same time, and that the 3. X would be aimed at players who could not afford the more expensive Saturn.[6][3. According to Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the 3.
X served a role in assisting development teams to familiarize themselves with the dual SH- 2 architecture also used in the Saturn.[3. Because both machines shared many of the same parts and were preparing to launch around the same time, tensions emerged between Sega of America and Sega of Japan when the Saturn was given priority.[6].