Sega Saturn

With Sega's reputation in the tiolet, and gamers eagerly anticipating the launch of the Playstation, Sega decided to launch the Saturn six months earlier than the Playstation. Unfortunately, this caused many problems for Sega. There were very few quality games at launch, the system was hard to develop for since Sega was forced to rush it to the market, the launch came unexpectantly, since nobody expected it to come out for another six months, and the Sega Saturn was very expensive: it costed $400.00. The Sony Playstation was $300.00, and the Nintendo 64 would cost $200.00. Many described the Sega Saturn controller as being uncomfortable. The Sega Saturn performed poorly in the American and European markets, and had only sold about 80,000 in six months. The Playstation sold 100,000 in it's first week, and it was obvious that the Sega Saturn was going to fail. It was much more popular in Japan, though. This is because many Japanese Sega Saturn games never were released outside of Japan. Overall, the Sega Saturn was a huge disappointment for Sega, but it did help Sega learn from it's mistakes when it began development on their next home console-the Sega Dreamcast.

Worldwide Name: Sega Saturn

Market Share in Beginning of Lifespan: Unknown

Market Share in Middle of Lifespan: 10%

Market Share in End of Lifespan: 10%

Best-Selling Game: Virtua Fighter 2 (1.70 million copies)

A 32-Bit System

Price at Launch: $400.00

Number of Units Sold: 10 million

Slogans:

When you've got Sega Saturn, nothing else matters.

SEGA!!!

Sorry Plaything, you're not ready.

Released in Japan in: 1994

Released Worldwide in: 1995

Discontinued Worldwide in: 1998

Discontinued in Japan in: 2000

Popularity Compared to Competitors:

In Japan:

1st-Sony Playstation

2nd-Sega Saturn

3rd-Nintendo 64

In America:

1st-Sony Playstation

2nd-Nintendo 64

3rd-Sega Saturn

In Europe:

1st-Sony Playstation

2nd-Nintendo 64

3rd-Sega Saturn

Graphics Comparison:

1st-Nintendo 64

2nd-Sony Playstation

3rd-Sega Saturn