Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Sega Saturn" in English language version.
Kenji Eno: But, the PlayStation and the Saturn aren't that different, so moving it [Enemy Zero] to Saturn wasn't too difficult.
This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles.cf. Williamson, Colin. "Fighters Megamix Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. cf. "Fighters Megamix". Next Generation Online. February 3, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
The best console fighter yet.
Sega's knee-jerk reaction was to delay its Saturn development program for a few months to incorporate a new video processor into the system. Not only would this boost its 2D abilities considerably (something that Sony's machine was less proficient at), but it would also provide better texture mapping for 3D graphics ... Of course, Hitachi's link with the Saturn project goes much deeper. In 1993, the Japanese electronics company set up a joint venture with Sega to develop a CPU for the Saturn based on proprietary Hitachi technology. Several Hitachi staff were seconded to Sega's Saturn division (it's now believed that the same team is now working on preliminary 64-bit technology for Sega), and the result was the SH-2 ... As with most Sega hardware, Model 1 was basically an expensive assortment of bought-in chips. Its main CPU, an NEC V60 running at just 16 MHz, was simply too slow for the Saturn. And the bulk of Virtua Racing's number crunching was handled by four serial DSPs that were way too costly to be included in any home system. Sega's consequent development of the SH-2 meant that it could also produce a Saturn-compatible arcade system.
Kenji Eno: But, the PlayStation and the Saturn aren't that different, so moving it [Enemy Zero] to Saturn wasn't too difficult.
Ezra Dreisbach: And really, if you couldn't tell from the games, the PSX is way better than the Saturn. It's way simpler and way faster. There are a lot of things about the Saturn that are totally dumb. Chief among these is that you can't draw triangles, only quadrilaterals.
Lack of distribution may have contributed significantly to the failure of the Sega Saturn to gain an installed base. Sega had limited distribution for its Saturn launch, which may have slowed the building of its installed base both directly (because consumers had limited access to the product) and indirectly (because distributors that were initially denied product may have been reluctant to promote the product after the limitations were lifted). Nintendo, by contrast, had unlimited distribution for its Nintendo 64 launch, and Sony not only had unlimited distribution, but had extensive experience with negotiating with retailing giants such as Wal-Mart for its consumer electronics products.
Virtua Fighter's 3D characters have a presence that 2D sprites just can't match. The characters really do seem 'alive', whether they're throwing a punch, unleashing a special move or reeling from a blow [...] The Saturn version of Virtua Fighter is an exceptional game in many respects. It's arguably the first true 'next generation' console game, fusing the best aspects of combat gameplay with groundbreaking animation and gorgeous sound (CD music and clear samples). In the arcades, Virtua Fighter made people stop and look. On the Saturn, it will make many people stop, look at their bank balance and then fork out for Sega's new machine. Over to you, Sony.
The 3D environments were drawn by one processor, while another handled the 2D enemies, hoops and trees, melding them seamlessly to create a smooth, surprisingly fast-moving game that still looks striking today.
Hackers are still unsure how some components work.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
Even though some aspects of Guardian Heroes haven't aged well, the strength of the battle system, branching paths, and characters help this brawler retain its place near the top of the class.cf. Parkin, Simon (October 12, 2011). "Guardian Heroes". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
One of the most satisfying combat games ever conceived.
Although AM2 has managed to replicate the coin-op tolerably well, Saturn Daytona fails to capture the arcade experience that PlayStation Ridge Racer so convincingly delivers.cf. McNamara, Andy; et al. (September 1995). "Prepare Yourself for the Ultimate Racing Experience". Game Informer. Archived from the original on November 20, 1997. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
Daytona rules the arcade, but I think Ridge Racer dominates the home systems.cf. Air Hendrix (August 1995). "Pro Review: Daytona USA". GamePro. Vol. 7, no. 73. p. 50.
Daytona pales in comparison to Ridge Racer for the Japanese PlayStation, which takes an early lead with better features, gameplay, and graphics.
I'm far more impressed with this title than I was with Daytona.cf. "Top Gear". Next Generation. Vol. 2, no. 14. February 1996. p. 160.
Totally eliminates the hit or miss polarity of other light-gun games and adds a whole new level of detail to the genre.
This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles.cf. Williamson, Colin. "Fighters Megamix Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. cf. "Fighters Megamix". Next Generation Online. February 3, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
The best console fighter yet.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
World Series Baseball is by far the smoothest baseball game ever made.cf. "Worldwide Soccer '98". Game Informer. January 1998. Archived from the original on September 30, 1999. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
The graphics are smooth, and the physics are perfect.
Even though some aspects of Guardian Heroes haven't aged well, the strength of the battle system, branching paths, and characters help this brawler retain its place near the top of the class.cf. Parkin, Simon (October 12, 2011). "Guardian Heroes". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
One of the most satisfying combat games ever conceived.
I still can't believe that a game that came out in 1997 feels so fresh and exciting over 15 years later.
This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles.cf. Williamson, Colin. "Fighters Megamix Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. cf. "Fighters Megamix". Next Generation Online. February 3, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
The best console fighter yet.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
Ryoji Akagawa: If it wasn't for Virtua Fighter, the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept.cf. Thomason, Steve (July 2006). "The Man Behind the Legend". Nintendo Power. Vol. 19, no. 205. p. 72.
Toby Gard: It became clear to me watching people play Virtua Fighter, which was kind of the first big 3D-character console game, that even though there were only two female characters in the lineup, in almost every game I saw being played, someone was picking one of the two females.
Bernie Stolar: I'm also a big believer in RPGs as well. No one ever believes that because I came out of the coin-op side of the business. But I'm an older, wiser person these days.
Sega executives started to quietly state that Virtua Fighter 3 was not going to come out for the Saturn.
Yuji Naka: The reason why there wasn't a Sonic game on Saturn was really because we were concentrating on Nights. We were also working on Sonic Adventure—that was originally intended to be out on Saturn, but because Sega as a company was bringing out a new piece of hardware—the Dreamcast—we resorted to switching it over to the Dreamcast, which was the newest hardware at the time. So that's why there wasn't a Sonic game on Saturn. With regards to X-treme, I'm not really sure on the exact details of why it was cut short, but from looking at how it was going, it wasn't looking very good from my perspective. So I felt relief when I heard it was cancelled.
But that doesn't mean it's a total bust. Numerous excellent games were released for the console, which was supported primarily in the mid-to-late 1990s, including a variety of original Sega classics and several stellar third-party releases. RPG and fighting game fans, in particular, enjoyed a healthy array of options on the platform.
... all [figures] from CESA white paper.
Steven Spielberg, CES 1995: This is the character! This is the character that is going to do it for Saturn!
A wholly competent (but somewhat workmanlike, as the Saturn was not as good at 3D as the PSone or N64) action-adventure game.
Lack of distribution may have contributed significantly to the failure of the Sega Saturn to gain an installed base. Sega had limited distribution for its Saturn launch, which may have slowed the building of its installed base both directly (because consumers had limited access to the product) and indirectly (because distributors that were initially denied product may have been reluctant to promote the product after the limitations were lifted). Nintendo, by contrast, had unlimited distribution for its Nintendo 64 launch, and Sony not only had unlimited distribution, but had extensive experience with negotiating with retailing giants such as Wal-Mart for its consumer electronics products.
Sega of America Inc. (SOA) Monday announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer. Sega also announced that Bernard Stolar, previously of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has joined the company as executive vice president, responsible for product development and third-party business [...] Sega also announced that Hayao Nakayama and David Rosen have resigned as chairman and co-chairman of Sega of America, respectively.
[The VDP2] can generate and manipulate 3D backgrounds. This leaves the twin processors free to deal with manipulating the fighters themselves. The result is swift, elegant animation at 60 frames a second—the same speed as the VF2 coin-op ... Sony's machine does not have an equivalent of the VDP2, so the demands for better animation and more realistic movement are placing greater and greater pressure on its central processor.
Although a familiar face at Sega of America, Shoichiro Irimajiri has spent his first week in charge re-meeting all the staff.
This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles.cf. Williamson, Colin. "Fighters Megamix Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. cf. "Fighters Megamix". Next Generation Online. February 3, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
The best console fighter yet.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
Kentaro Yoshida: We thought we'd have no problem making games that were superior to PlayStation games.
Sega Enterprises said today that it would base its next-generation home video game machine, due in the fall of 1994, on a new chip being developed by Hitachi Ltd [...] One Sega official said Hitachi's chip was attractively priced and would be designed with Sega's needs in mind [...] Yamaha is expected to provide sound chips and JVC the circuitry for compressing video images.cf. "Sega to add 64-Bit Processor to New Saturn System!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 53. December 1993. p. 68.
There are reportedly seven different processors in the Saturn. The main processor will be a custom 32-Bit RISC chip under joint development by Sega and Hitachi.
Tom Kalinske: I remember we had a document that Olaf and Mickey took to Sony that said they'd like to develop jointly the next hardware, the next game platform, with Sega, and here's what we think it ought to do. Sony apparently gave the green light to that [...] Our proposal was that each of us would sell this joint Sega/Sony hardware platform; we'll share the loss on the hardware (whatever that is, we'll split it), combine our advertising and marketing, but we'll each be responsible for the software sales we'll generate. Now, at that particular point in time, Sega knew how to develop software a hell of a lot better than Sony did. They were just coming up the learning curve, so we would have benefited much more greatly [...] I felt that we were rushing Saturn. We didn't have the software right, and we didn't have the pricing right, so I felt we should have stayed with Genesis for another year.
Joe Miller: I'd say that the rhetoric around the deteriorating relationship is probably overblown a little bit, based on what I've read. Nakayama-san and SOJ knew they had a strong, proven management team in place at SOA, and while everyone was concerned about growing the business, neither side lost confidence in the other.
Roger Hector: When it became obvious that Sony was taking the lead, Sega's corporate personality changed. It became very political, with lots of finger-pointing around the company. Sega tried to get a handle on the situation, but they made a lot of mistakes, and ultimately STI was swallowed up in the corporate turmoil.
Lack of distribution may have contributed significantly to the failure of the Sega Saturn to gain an installed base. Sega had limited distribution for its Saturn launch, which may have slowed the building of its installed base both directly (because consumers had limited access to the product) and indirectly (because distributors that were initially denied product may have been reluctant to promote the product after the limitations were lifted). Nintendo, by contrast, had unlimited distribution for its Nintendo 64 launch, and Sony not only had unlimited distribution, but had extensive experience with negotiating with retailing giants such as Wal-Mart for its consumer electronics products.
Sega of America Monday announced that, effective immediately, it will dramatically drop the price of its high-end Sega Saturn system to $299.
Estimated dollar share for Sega-branded interactive entertainment hardware and software in 1995 was 43 percent, compared with Nintendo at 42 percent, Sony at 13 percent and The 3DO Co. at 2 percent. Sega estimates the North American videogame market will total more than $3.9 billion for 1995.
Ryoji Akagawa: If it wasn't for Virtua Fighter, the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept.cf. Thomason, Steve (July 2006). "The Man Behind the Legend". Nintendo Power. Vol. 19, no. 205. p. 72.
Toby Gard: It became clear to me watching people play Virtua Fighter, which was kind of the first big 3D-character console game, that even though there were only two female characters in the lineup, in almost every game I saw being played, someone was picking one of the two females.
Virtua Fighter's 3D characters have a presence that 2D sprites just can't match. The characters really do seem 'alive', whether they're throwing a punch, unleashing a special move or reeling from a blow [...] The Saturn version of Virtua Fighter is an exceptional game in many respects. It's arguably the first true 'next generation' console game, fusing the best aspects of combat gameplay with groundbreaking animation and gorgeous sound (CD music and clear samples). In the arcades, Virtua Fighter made people stop and look. On the Saturn, it will make many people stop, look at their bank balance and then fork out for Sega's new machine. Over to you, Sony.
Sega Enterprises said today that it would base its next-generation home video game machine, due in the fall of 1994, on a new chip being developed by Hitachi Ltd [...] One Sega official said Hitachi's chip was attractively priced and would be designed with Sega's needs in mind [...] Yamaha is expected to provide sound chips and JVC the circuitry for compressing video images.cf. "Sega to add 64-Bit Processor to New Saturn System!". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 53. December 1993. p. 68.
There are reportedly seven different processors in the Saturn. The main processor will be a custom 32-Bit RISC chip under joint development by Sega and Hitachi.
Tom Kalinske: I remember we had a document that Olaf and Mickey took to Sony that said they'd like to develop jointly the next hardware, the next game platform, with Sega, and here's what we think it ought to do. Sony apparently gave the green light to that [...] Our proposal was that each of us would sell this joint Sega/Sony hardware platform; we'll share the loss on the hardware (whatever that is, we'll split it), combine our advertising and marketing, but we'll each be responsible for the software sales we'll generate. Now, at that particular point in time, Sega knew how to develop software a hell of a lot better than Sony did. They were just coming up the learning curve, so we would have benefited much more greatly [...] I felt that we were rushing Saturn. We didn't have the software right, and we didn't have the pricing right, so I felt we should have stayed with Genesis for another year.
Kentaro Yoshida: We thought we'd have no problem making games that were superior to PlayStation games.
Joe Miller: I'd say that the rhetoric around the deteriorating relationship is probably overblown a little bit, based on what I've read. Nakayama-san and SOJ knew they had a strong, proven management team in place at SOA, and while everyone was concerned about growing the business, neither side lost confidence in the other.
Although AM2 has managed to replicate the coin-op tolerably well, Saturn Daytona fails to capture the arcade experience that PlayStation Ridge Racer so convincingly delivers.cf. McNamara, Andy; et al. (September 1995). "Prepare Yourself for the Ultimate Racing Experience". Game Informer. Archived from the original on November 20, 1997. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
Daytona rules the arcade, but I think Ridge Racer dominates the home systems.cf. Air Hendrix (August 1995). "Pro Review: Daytona USA". GamePro. Vol. 7, no. 73. p. 50.
Daytona pales in comparison to Ridge Racer for the Japanese PlayStation, which takes an early lead with better features, gameplay, and graphics.
Sega of America Monday announced that, effective immediately, it will dramatically drop the price of its high-end Sega Saturn system to $299.
I'm far more impressed with this title than I was with Daytona.cf. "Top Gear". Next Generation. Vol. 2, no. 14. February 1996. p. 160.
Totally eliminates the hit or miss polarity of other light-gun games and adds a whole new level of detail to the genre.
[The VDP2] can generate and manipulate 3D backgrounds. This leaves the twin processors free to deal with manipulating the fighters themselves. The result is swift, elegant animation at 60 frames a second—the same speed as the VF2 coin-op ... Sony's machine does not have an equivalent of the VDP2, so the demands for better animation and more realistic movement are placing greater and greater pressure on its central processor.
Estimated dollar share for Sega-branded interactive entertainment hardware and software in 1995 was 43 percent, compared with Nintendo at 42 percent, Sony at 13 percent and The 3DO Co. at 2 percent. Sega estimates the North American videogame market will total more than $3.9 billion for 1995.
Sega of America Inc. (SOA) Monday announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri has been appointed chairman and chief executive officer. Sega also announced that Bernard Stolar, previously of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has joined the company as executive vice president, responsible for product development and third-party business [...] Sega also announced that Hayao Nakayama and David Rosen have resigned as chairman and co-chairman of Sega of America, respectively.
Although a familiar face at Sega of America, Shoichiro Irimajiri has spent his first week in charge re-meeting all the staff.
Bernie Stolar: I'm also a big believer in RPGs as well. No one ever believes that because I came out of the coin-op side of the business. But I'm an older, wiser person these days.
Roger Hector: When it became obvious that Sony was taking the lead, Sega's corporate personality changed. It became very political, with lots of finger-pointing around the company. Sega tried to get a handle on the situation, but they made a lot of mistakes, and ultimately STI was swallowed up in the corporate turmoil.
Yuji Naka: The reason why there wasn't a Sonic game on Saturn was really because we were concentrating on Nights. We were also working on Sonic Adventure—that was originally intended to be out on Saturn, but because Sega as a company was bringing out a new piece of hardware—the Dreamcast—we resorted to switching it over to the Dreamcast, which was the newest hardware at the time. So that's why there wasn't a Sonic game on Saturn. With regards to X-treme, I'm not really sure on the exact details of why it was cut short, but from looking at how it was going, it wasn't looking very good from my perspective. So I felt relief when I heard it was cancelled.
The 3D environments were drawn by one processor, while another handled the 2D enemies, hoops and trees, melding them seamlessly to create a smooth, surprisingly fast-moving game that still looks striking today.
Ezra Dreisbach: And really, if you couldn't tell from the games, the PSX is way better than the Saturn. It's way simpler and way faster. There are a lot of things about the Saturn that are totally dumb. Chief among these is that you can't draw triangles, only quadrilaterals.
Hackers are still unsure how some components work.
But that doesn't mean it's a total bust. Numerous excellent games were released for the console, which was supported primarily in the mid-to-late 1990s, including a variety of original Sega classics and several stellar third-party releases. RPG and fighting game fans, in particular, enjoyed a healthy array of options on the platform.
This has to be one of the finest fighters to ever grace consoles.cf. Williamson, Colin. "Fighters Megamix Review". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. cf. "Fighters Megamix". Next Generation Online. February 3, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
The best console fighter yet.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
World Series Baseball is by far the smoothest baseball game ever made.cf. "Worldwide Soccer '98". Game Informer. January 1998. Archived from the original on September 30, 1999. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
The graphics are smooth, and the physics are perfect.
Steven Spielberg, CES 1995: This is the character! This is the character that is going to do it for Saturn!
A wholly competent (but somewhat workmanlike, as the Saturn was not as good at 3D as the PSone or N64) action-adventure game.
Even though some aspects of Guardian Heroes haven't aged well, the strength of the battle system, branching paths, and characters help this brawler retain its place near the top of the class.cf. Parkin, Simon (October 12, 2011). "Guardian Heroes". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
One of the most satisfying combat games ever conceived.
I still can't believe that a game that came out in 1997 feels so fresh and exciting over 15 years later.
Sega executives started to quietly state that Virtua Fighter 3 was not going to come out for the Saturn.
Only Final Fantasy VII tops it.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga Review". Edge. March 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
Adds a creative depth only SquareSoft games can currently rival.cf. "Panzer Dragoon Saga". Next Generation Online. May 14, 1998. Archived from the original on August 29, 1999. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
One of the best RPGs ever.
Ryoji Akagawa: If it wasn't for Virtua Fighter, the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept.cf. Thomason, Steve (July 2006). "The Man Behind the Legend". Nintendo Power. Vol. 19, no. 205. p. 72.
Toby Gard: It became clear to me watching people play Virtua Fighter, which was kind of the first big 3D-character console game, that even though there were only two female characters in the lineup, in almost every game I saw being played, someone was picking one of the two females.
