Released: November 1994, 15 years ago
CPU Speed: Dual RISC 28,6 MHz
Memory: 2 MB RAM / 1,54 MB VRAM
Video: 704x480 / True Color
Game Controller: Gamepad
Price in 1994: $399
The year 1995 saw the release of Sega's Saturn home video gaming console system. It was a 32-Bit machine, that seemed to really only take a firm grip on the Japanese market, landing just shy of a complete belly flop in other countries. The reasons for this lack of success seems to escape everyone, since it was a good system compared to other similar systems on the market. It and its games are still highly coveted by retro gamers. Perhaps it was a poor marketing strategy. Maybe it was the fact that its most popular games in Japan were never released in the North American markets. At any rate, Sega was pulled from the North American market in less than four years.
The Sega Saturn certainly had a lot of things going for it. It was released a few weeks ahead of its main rival, the Sony PS1. The release date was touted as "Saturnday" and the system was supposed to hit the shelves for the first time on September 2, a Saturday. It actually bore fruit four months earlier, and it sold 170,000 machines the very first day it went on sale, giving it a promising outlook. Unfortunately, the jump of the gun backfired. The price was high, much higher than the competition was able to sell its consoles for. Moreover, the consoles hit the market without a sufficient gaming library to keep gamer interested and keep sales up. Sega tried a number of tactics to win back the hearts of the gamers who were so high on the Saturn, including marketing bundles of games for lower prices to try to offset the high cost of the actual system. All efforts led to failure, and Sega bailed out of the home console market.
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