Saturn, I'll Miss You
Henry Knapp
plumber3@ix.netcom.comUnfortunately, with Dreamcast arriving in Japan this fall, the Saturn seems to be going under. With the United States market long inactive and unproductive, it looks as if Sega of Japan will begin to focus its efforts on the Dreamcast. Most current Saturn owners have relied on imports lately, but,with Dreamcast on developer's minds, they will most likely cease production of Saturn games.
This is sad because Saturn, in my opinion, was the best 32-bit system ever. Yeah, I'm probably favoring emotion in lieu of factual basis, but I like Saturn better than Playstation, despite the latter platform's immense success in the video-games arena. I don't care if the Saturn can't do transparencies; I'd like to see a Guardian Heroes caliber game on the Playstation or the Nintendo 64. I didn't think there were any takers for that one.
The sad thing is that it seems as if Sega didn't want the Saturn to succeed. They underestimated the customers. Sony did a great job of marketing Final Fantasy VII to an RPG-blind American audience, and that game went on to be one of the best-selling games that holiday season. With advertising blitzes like this one, Sega could've easily promoted games like Guardian Heroes into hundreds of thousands of homes across the United States. Instead, it has slipped into veritable obscurity when it should have beenhailed as one of the true 32-bit masterpieces.
Sega could've coaxed the public into buying these games by pounding them into people's heads. But they didn't. And they didn't even attempt to port over some of SOJ's finest games with the mentality that they wouldn't sell well due to the fact that they weren't sports games. The ironic thing is that some of Sega's sports games were the saddest attempts at entertainment in a long time. The fact is that Sega could've marketed these games and forced them into the market. Final Fantasy VII is a great example of this strategy. Sony KNEW FF VII was a great game; the American gaming public at large did not. With massive media coverage, people began to take notice: "Hey, if everybody's talking about it, it has to be good!" Same deal. Maybe this strategy is too expensive, too consuming, but Sega could have easily implemented it for at least a few games. And it's not as if this is marketing genius here, either...if it's good, promote it.
Saturn, admittedly, wasn't as good as Playstation when it came to pushing polygons. But it cleaned up on 2-D, especially with the RAM cart. Has anyone played Vampire Savior with the 4-Meg option? Can you say no loading time? Loading time is one of the biggest gripes with CD games. This is partially why Nintendo went with cartridge for the Nintendo 64. But a hybrid system is a great idea, a midpoint between fast, expensive cartridges and slower, cheaper CD-ROMs. The cart itself is very cheap--give or take US $10. Is that so bad to pay for more animation and NO loading time? The Capcom 2-D fighters are all perfect ports on Saturn, and on Playstation they are weak and watered-down. X-Men Vs. Street Figher EX for the PSX wasn't a favor on the part of Capcom--there was no way they were going to cram in four simultaneous characters and multiple backgrounds on the Playstation's limited RAM. The Saturn version, though, is good enough to make you cry. Silky smooth animation, and again, that magical instantaneous transport from character select to fierce battle.
Sega could have done even more with the cartridge port, and it really makes you wonder. The PSX memory cards, so cool and innovative and revered as a hallmark of video-gaming originality, could have been overshadowed by Saturn memory carts. Certainly less pricey, (I hated paying $20 for a slab of grey plastic) and capable of holding more, Saturn carts could have been great. And, if they had really wanted to, Sega could have released some cart-exclusive games on the Saturn. With the hybrid system, though, there really wouldn't be any point to that...loading time has been eliminated with the introduction of the 4-Meg cart, and cartridge-only games would just be pricier.
Also, I lament the unnoticed ion-lithium battery. Most people that own Saturn don't even know what I'm talking about. I'm not sure if the PSX has the same option, but on the Saturn, you could save game data directly onto the battery! I thought that was the coolest. Sure, you ran the risk of losing your data, but you saved $20 or so...another victim to obscurity.
All in all, I'm sure everyone will agree that the Saturn died an early death, and could've been much more than the sad system it is today. My friends still scoff at me when they hear I have a Saturn, and snicker wickedly when word is that I actually like it...They, too, are oblivious to Saturn and what a great system it is. I'll love my Saturn until the very last game hits the shelves. But for now, I'll enjoy the precious three months I have until Dreamcast frenzy hits Japan...