Is the Sega Saturn overrated?

[isiolia]

If you look at the regional sales figures for all the Sega consoles, you'll notice that the Saturn's sales were the most lopsided in favor of Japan of any of their systems, while it was the exact opposite with the Dreamcast. That's why Dreamcast and Genesis, from a non-importing American's point of view, have much better libraries than the Saturn. They had to cater to a more Western market.

While it's certainly a product of sales/popularity, the total sales numbers would be skewed that way due to the Saturn being on the market for almost twice as long in Japan. The Dreamcast was as well, by around a year...but the Saturn had nearly an additional three years on the shelf in Japan - more than the Dreamcast had at all.

The Genesis was available longer in the U.S. than Japan.

I think the domestic Saturn library was influenced a lot by the ability to actually bring the arcade home again, which the Dreamcast continued.

[flamepanther]

Another thought.

I'm not sure about the Japanese side of things but at least from the huge amount of games I've played in the US library the Saturn seems to be a bit tame. That's not to say Sega didn't put out new and interesting IP, it just doesn't have as many of the Eccos, Jet Grind Radios, and other off the wall games that Sega had on the Genesis and Dreamcast.

Burning Rangers and NiGHTS weren't off the wall enough for you?

[Breetai]

Why the North Stars girl? We sent them to Dallas because when you hear about a sport played on ice Texas is the first thing you think of right?

Yeah, pretty much. They needed more 'ass' (pronounce ice like a Texan) down there, so we (huh?) sent them the North Stars. Then they won the cup.


I love that logo. It just might be the best looking logo in sports.

What does this have to do with the Sega Saturn?


Hmmm... not this... but Brody does like hockey on the Saturn. Go Hartford!


Anyway, as long as this game exists...

...it is impossible for the Saturn to be overrated.

Don't forget about:


and this:


The Saturn is underrated!

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Another thought.

I'm not sure about the Japanese side of things but at least from the huge amount of games I've played in the US library the Saturn seems to be a bit tame. That's not to say Sega didn't put out new and interesting IP, it just doesn't have as many of the Eccos, Jet Grind Radios, and other off the wall games that Sega had on the Genesis and Dreamcast.

Burning Rangers and NiGHTS weren't off the wall enough for you?

I didn't say there weren't traditional off the wall Sega games on the Saturn, just that it isn't packed full of them like the Genesis and Dreamcast were.

Don't get me wrong, the Saturn still remains as my favorite console. I've just been on a Genesis binge and I'm noticing some differences in the style of games Sega was putting out. And I'm actually starting to prefer the Genesis in some ways to the Saturn. Partly because of cost, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I go hunting for a new Saturn game because I know it will cost at least around $40 now.

[Lodestar]

Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle were also on the SNES and PSX, so not much of a bragging point there.

[Breetai]

Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle were also on the SNES and PSX, so not much of a bragging point there.

I put those there to make deaf anyone who would try to counter the mighty Dragon Force with the Ogre games.

[Hobie-wan]

Then when you add in the initial high price of the console, you have an overrated/over-priced piece of shit.

Late to the party as I was occupied all weekend, but.

[flamepanther]

I didn't say there weren't traditional off the wall Sega games on the Saturn, just that it isn't packed full of them like the Genesis and Dreamcast were.

Don't get me wrong, the Saturn still remains as my favorite console. I've just been on a Genesis binge and I'm noticing some differences in the style of games Sega was putting out. And I'm actually starting to prefer the Genesis in some ways to the Saturn. Partly because of cost, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I go hunting for a new Saturn game because I know it will cost at least around $40 now.

I think--similar to what some have been saying--the Saturn wasn't around long enough in the U.S. to get the same total quantity of off-the-wall Sega titles. Considering how briefly it was around compared to the Genesis, I'd say it's still on par in terms of average quantity per year.

[pakopako]

Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle were also on the SNES and PSX, so not much of a bragging point there.

I put those there to make deaf anyone who would try to counter the mighty Dragon Force with the Ogre games.

Also, the Saturn version, unlike the SNES and PSX counterparts, was voiced. Any time you had a character (with talking head) speak, they actually spoke. (No idea why the PSX version didn't do that.)

Neither Persian (Farsi?) nor Urdu are hieroglyphic. Technically, neither is Chinese. The characters are properly logograms.

Ah. My mistake. Apparently I have fallen into the trap of confusing hieroglyphs with hieratic writing. Terms like logogram and ligature are very unknown to me.

[Breetai]

Also, the Saturn version, unlike the SNES and PSX counterparts, was voiced. Any time you had a character (with talking head) speak, they actually spoke. (No idea why the PSX version didn't do that.)

I've owned the PS1 US version, JP Saturn version and played the US SNES version, but never tried the JP PS1 version. Does the JP PS1 version have no voices? The Saturn version only came out a month or two later I think. Maybe Sega struck a deal?