COOL BEANS

[Twilight Wolf]

It depends on how you look at it. Many agree that it was actually the Sega CD/32X that started the downhill descent of Sega. However, the Saturn was very poorly managed and certainly didn't help matters. I can tell you more if you wish.

Also, Shika, you can't deny that picture's sexy.

[Commodore Axilon]

i would like you to tell me more

[Twilight Wolf]

No problem, Commodore.

The Saturn was essentially doomed from the start. Tom Kalinske, President and CEO of Sega of America at the time, initiated a surprise launch of the Saturn in May of 1995, months before the planned launch date in September, in order to get a jump on their main competition, Sony's PlayStation. However, this surprise attack had several problems:

One, it made the game developers angry, as they were not informed of this rush launch, and meant that the other planned launch titles in development were either rushed to be finished ("Daytona USA" is a good example), or would be released several months after launch in September. The Saturn had ultimately only one game available at launch, Sega's arcade hit "Virtua Fighter."

Two, the Saturn was quite a bit more costly than the PlayStation ($399.99, as opposed to the PlayStation's $299.99). Sega had hoped that gamers eager to get in on the next-gen bandwagon would be willing to pay the higher price for the only next-gen system on the market. They were incorrect. Saturn sales were initially pretty good (80,000 units by the time of the PlayStation's launch), but things went downhill when the PlayStation sold 100,000 units at launch.

Three, Sega also only released the Saturn at select retailers, and stores like Wal-Mart and KB Toys were left out. These stores felt betrayed because it allowed their competitors to  profit. Some even went so far as to remove all Sega merchandise period to make room for the Saturn's competition. Sega, as you can imagine, had a heck of a time trying to get these stores to stock the Dreamcast later on.

Further down the road, Sega of America hired a businessman formerly employed by Sony Computer Entertainment America named Bernie Stolar. Bernie had been fired from SCEA because they didn't like his policies, but he brought them over to Sega. One of his least popular policies? "No RPGs." The Saturn had a lot of RPGs in Japan, but he wouldn't allow many of them to be brought to the US because he felt that the American market wouldn't like them. Kind of funny considering the PlayStation's "Final Fantasy VII," an RPG, sold over seven million copies in the US. Hmm. This "No RPG" policy also drove away one particular developer, Working Designs, to SCEA. Ironically, they had left SCEA before because of Bernie Stolar's policies when he had been there.

With the Saturn tanking in the US (while being Sega's most popular console ever in Japan), Mr. Stolar decided that Sega needed a new console to revive them. After getting the okay from his superiors, Sega began developing a new console, known now as the Dreamcast. As any smart company would do, they would have kept this a secret and discontinue the Saturn eventually. That's not what they did. At a conference in 1997, Bernie Stolar made this quote: "The Saturn is not our future." Game developers were angered because they now felt like they were working for a futureless console, and consumers were angered because they felt they had wasted their money on a dead sytem. Why bother with the Saturn any more when the new, more powerful Dreamcast was on the way? Sales of the Saturn dropped even further, and game production began to slow. Finally, at the end of 1998, Sega cut off life support for the Saturn. It would be almost a whole year until the Dreamcast would be released, so gamers were left with no Sega consoles in that space of time. They didn't even have a token system like the Genesis to occupy their time, because Sega had ceased production of every console except for the Saturn in 1997.

So anyways, that's pretty much how the Saturn was born and died.

[Gamefreak]

I am interested in your views and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Twilight Wolf]

You'll have the first issue in your mailbox next week. Thanks for your support!

[MagmarFire]

I'll take two subscriptions. Just because it's that good.

[Twilight Wolf]

You will have two copies of the first issue in your mailbox next week as well.

As thanks for being the first to subscribe, you and Gamefreak will also get a free Sega hat or t-shirt, your choice.

[Commodore Axilon]

oh man i wanna subscribe too

[DW]

Your views have revolutionized my life. I would like you to have my children.

[Commodore Axilon]

...

Why don't you have a seat?

[Keaton]

Your views have revolutionized my life. I would like you to have my children.

NO FAIR YOU SAID I COULD EAT THEM.

[DW]

lol are u talking to me or commodore? XDXD jk

[Commodore Axilon]

umm...ok

[MagmarFire]

Shika, are you female? I had no clue!

[DW]

Stop using sarcasm!