Sega Saturn Turns 23 Years Old, Feel Old Yet?

When Sega launched the Saturn console, they were not exactly the golden child of gaming like they were with the Sega Genesis (their previous console that was marred with add-ons). To complicate matters, Sega launched the Saturn early, by about five months, in an effort to beat new to consoles competitor, Sony and their PlayStation console.

Gaming being like it was back then - shades of Highlander - there could only be one leader in consoles. History showed us that that leader would be Sony with the PlayStation. They got there because of blunders Sega made long before, but also with and during, the Saturn life started. I am not here to debate that, instead, I am going to discuss the Saturn, the console that was actually named in my first divorce case.

Sega had something Sony did not have - an arcade presence and TONS of intellectual properties that they could draw from to create new games for their console. Games that Sony would have to fight against with their own, presumably newer, IP's.

If only Sega had done that.

Instead of launching the Saturn with a 2.5D Sonic the Hedgehog, new Streets of Rage, arcade ports gamers wanted, and at least some basic "covered the bases" sports offerings - we got Virtua Fighter (arcade), Panzer Dragoon (new 3D dragon riding game), and Daytona USA (arcade).

Rather than showing the power of the Sega Saturn these games showed the problems more. Daytona USA was beat up in the press of the time for the draw distance while Panzer Dragoon was heralded as awesome, but it was so "different" that I am sure more than a few potential fans were turned away till later (5 months is a long time before new games would hit shelves).

Sega launching the Saturn five months early certainly did not help their situation - it made more than a few third party publishers mad for instance, it also did not help with retailers being able to promote it because it was kind of sprung on them without notice. I remember walking into Electronics Boutique and seeing the Saturn there and the staff, people I knew for years, being dumbfounded about it. They claimed it was just in their shipment one day. No fanfare, no pop-up standees to decorate the store, nothing really.

Maybe history would have turned out a little different had Sega waited to launch.

Eventually we got such great games as House of the Dead, Virtua Cop 1 and 2 (I am a gun game fan), a taste of what a 3D Sonic could have been like, among many other great games. Working Designs really stepped up to help make the Saturn awesome before leaving for the greener pasture of PlayStation.

Sega attempted to take on PlayStation but as mentioned already, their past sins just could not be shaken off. The Saturn saw almost 600 games released world wide and nearly sold 10 million units during its life.

Were you one of those that headed "for Saturn"?