Sega's Secret Move Revealed
Alexis Gonzalez
aegis@coqui.netSince last year all Saturn fans have been waiting for many new games for the Saturn. Although Sega has revealed some great ones like Panzer Dragoon Saga, we must admit that those games weren't the ones we were imagining.
Sega knows that, and I think that's their trick. In an older editorial I wrote about how the Saturn was being treated as the Master System in almost every aspect. Now I find another point that may be crucial in Sega's future.
When the Genesis was released, Sega promised support for their old platform. And how they did it? Well, I remember Altered Beast (which was the Genesis's first pack-in cart) was released on the Master System also with pathetic results. Then they released many of their flagship games for the Genesis on the Master System, like Sonic, Ghost and Ghouls, Golden Axe, etc.
In the meanwhile they released improved versions of OutRun and AfterBurner, Hang-On and Space Harrier (their arcade best sellers and Master System's best) on the Genesis. But what was the purpose?
Well I believe their idea was to make YOU abandon the Master System instead of them. It worked perfectly: imagine yourself (like I did) playing the 8 bit version of Altered Beast while watching other kid on the neighborhood or at TV playing the 16-bit version with many colors, speech and details not found on yours... The first thing you would say is, wow I want a Genesis. You paid the same for a Master System game that was also available on Genesis but better, so why continue buying for the Master if you could have a Genesis with little effort. They changed your mind, so they abandoned the Master when most of us had already left it.
Sega's Saturn transition wasn't that smooth. The Genesis still had great games like Vectorman and the first Saturn games were not available for comparison with Genesis (Bug, Virtua Fighter)... We knew Saturn was better, but we couldn't measure the extent unless we were able to understand the specifications written on box. Most friends called the Saturn at first "Sega's 3DO".
Now, what I believe to be Sega's Secret Move is that they already have Virtua Fighter 3 ready. They must have also the 3D Sonic somewhere. They surely have NiGHTs 2 in a drawer somewhere 500 feet underground... And why they don't release them? Because they are waiting for the new system to appear. As soon as it is on stores (or close to be) they will release VF3 on Saturn as promised. Surely the game will be VF2 with different clothing because the Saturn cannot handle much more. Then you'll see Sega's NewSystem's VF3... You'll drool over a near arcade quality conversion. Then Sonic 64 and Nights 64... All will be so precious that Saturn Users will flock away by themselves, without the need for an official statement from Sega saying that they wont support the Saturn anymore. Read the news, and see which companies have stated support for the system: Konami, Capcom, Shiny, etc. We will see new versions of Saturn games or even better, of N64 and PlayThing games that will make all children and parents buy an NewSystem.
This way they'll grab all Sega's loyal customers (the Genesis and Saturn owners, no matter if they already have a PlayThing or a N63.5) and bring them to their new golden age.
Sega's Customer Loyalty is over human comprehension.