Sega Saturn
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Template:CVG system The Sega Saturn (Japanese: セガサターン, Sega Saturn), is a video game console of the 32-bit era. It was released on November 22 1994 in Japan, May 1995 in North America and July 8 1995 in Europe. Approximately 170,000 machines were sold the first day of the Japanese launch. 5,000 were sold in the weekend following the UK launch.
At one time, the Sega Saturn held second place in the console wars, placing it above Nintendo's Super Famicom in Japan and Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in North America and Europe, but the Saturn slowly lost market share to Sony's PlayStation and, outside Japan, the cartridge-based Nintendo 64.
The Japanese Saturn was rushed to the market, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation. This led to very few games being available at launch.
The system was supported in North America and Europe until late 1998, and in Japan until the end of 2000. The last official game for the system, Yukyu Gensokyoku Perpetual Collection, was released by Mediaworks in December that year. Interestingly, a game called Sega Saturn: Lost & Found VOL #1 was released in the US by Older Games in August of 2004 (although it is not playable with a retail, unmodified Saturn).
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Development
Sega's 27-member Away Team, comprised of employees from every aspect of hardware engineering, product development and marketing, worked exclusively for two years to ensure the Sega Saturn's hardware and design met the precise needs of both the U.S. and Japanese markets and would launch with some of the world's best software.
The Saturn was a powerful machine for the time, but its design, with two CPUs and 6 other processors, made harnessing its power difficult. Rumours suggest that the original plan called for a single processor, but a second one was added late in development to increase potential performance. Yu Suzuki is reported to have said:
- One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't think that all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs - most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I think only one out of 100 programmers is good enough to get that kind of speed out of the Saturn.
Third-party development was further hindered by the initial lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language to achieve decent performance. Programmers would often utilize only one CPU to simplify development, and when compared to their Playstation versions, many games would be visibly slower or uglier. Alien Trilogy is a notorious example of this phenomenon.
The main disadvantage of the dual CPU architecture was that both processors shared the same bus, and besides 4K of on-chip memory, all data and program code for both CPUs was located in the same shared 2MB of main memory. This meant that without very careful division of processing, the second CPU would often have to wait while the first CPU was working, reducing its processing ability.
The hardware also lacked light sourcing and hardware video decompression support, and design bugs prevented hardware transparency from functioning correctly. Nevertheless, when properly utilized, the dual processors in the Saturn could produce impressive results such as the 1997 ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D by Lobotomy Software, and later games like Burning Rangers were able to achieve true transparency effects on hardware that used simple polygon stipples as a replacement for transparency effects in the past.
From a market viewpoint, the architectural design problems of the Saturn meant that it quickly lost third party support to the PlayStation, which Sony supported with a very well-regarded development kit.
Unlike the Playstation's use of triangles as its basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quads. This proved a hindrance as most industry standard design tools were based around triangles, and multiplatform games were usually developed with triangles and the Playstation's larger market share in mind.
If used correctly the quad rendering of the Saturn would show less texture distortion than was common on Playstation titles, as demonstrated by several cross-platform titles such as Wipeout and Destruction Derby. The quad-focussed hardware and a 50% greater amount of video RAM also gave the Saturn an advantage for 2D game engines and attracted many developers of RPGs, arcade games and traditional 2D fighting games. A 4MB RAM cart, released only in Japan, boosted available memory even further for games such as Capcom's X-Men Vs Streetfighter.
Tomb Raider was originally designed for the Saturn's quad-based hardware and as a result was incapable of displaying levels containing any triangular parts. This restriction remained in place for most of the 32-bit sequels.
Due to the differences in rendering paradigm, it is ultimately meaningless to compare the Saturn's and Playstation's rendering capabilities based on any numerical measure. When programmed correctly, any technical advantage of either machine over the other is slight.
Performance in the marketplace
Image:Sega saturn analog controller.jpg
North America and Europe
The Saturn was launched almost four months ahead of schedule in North America and Europe. This was announced at that year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) where Sega representatives were engaged in a public relations battle with Sony. This surprise move resulted in very few sales due to the USD$399 price of the system, versus the announced Playstation launch price of USD$299, and the lack of available software at launch.
In North America, Sega chose to ship Saturn units only to four select retailers which caused a great deal of animosity from unselected companies, including Wal-Mart and KB Toys. Additionally the summer launch broke with the tradition of launching in early fall to coincide with the Christmas shopping season [1]. Sega also struggled against distrust amongst gaming consumers after a series of quickly discontinued add-on peripherals to the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, including the Sega CD system and the Sega 32X.
Japan
Although the Saturn was outsold by the PlayStation in Japan between 1995 and 1997, Saturn software enjoyed higher sales leading to the perception that the Saturn was the platform of choice for more dedicated gamers while the PlayStation had a more casual audience.
Many of the games that made the Saturn popular in Japan, such as the Sakura Taisen series and numerous quirky anime style RPGs, were never released in foreign territories due to policies put in place by then Sega of America president Bernie Stolar who believed that RPGs were not appealing to the North American audience.
International
As price drops continued throughout the 32-bit era, the system board design of the Saturn wasn't as easy to condense in a cost saving manner and Sega fell behind on price drops offered by Nintendo and Sony.
By early 1997 the Saturn was trailing the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in both North America and Europe to such an extent that senior management began planning a new platform and by E3 1997 had begun talk of the system that would become the Dreamcast. As Sega started aggressively moving that project forward a rift developed with many third party developers. As the Saturn was popular in the Japanese marketplace, many Japanese developers saw little reason for Sega to rush another platform to market. Many Saturn projects were cancelled in anticipation of the new console or through frustration with Sega.
After further poor sales throughout 1997 many games planned for a western Saturn release were cancelled, including highly anticipated titles such as Sonic X-treme, Policenauts and Lunar The Silver Star Story. A chain reaction of cancellations transformed a promising 1998 schedule of releases to a small handful of titles extending little beyond Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, Shining Force 3 and Magic Knight Rayearth — the only third party title released that year. Eventually the Saturn was discontinued in both Europe and North America in late 1998.
Emulation
Because Saturn developers did not always have extensive vendor-supplied programming libraries and because of the complicated timing characteristics of the shared bus, it is generally not possible to emulate the Saturn with the same high-level emulation techniques that allow usable Playstation and Nintendo 64 emulators on comparitively low-end computers. Hence for a long time it was impossible to produce a usable emulator, and those now available require much faster hardware than their Playstation and Nintendo 64 equivalents.
The first recognisable emulation started in 2000 with A-Saturn, Hyperion, Satourne and PC-Saturn, although none got further than the BIOS screen. In 2001, GiriGiri Project became the first emulator to run commercial games, although only Golden Axe: The Duel, Fighters Megamix, Battle Arena Toshinden and Vampire Hunter were supported. Public work on the emulator ceased when Sega bought the rights and began marketing it in Japan as Cyberdisk.
On April 2, 2002, a new version of Satourne was released that was able to run a number of Saturn games with 3D acceleration and it remained the most advanced Saturn emulator until April 12 2003, when a hacked version of Cyberdisk was released. Known unofficially as GiriGiriGav after the cracker who spread it, Gavionne, it supported many more games than Satourne and gained a lot of popularity despite not being distributed through mainstream emulation sites.
GiriGiriGav was subsequently disassembled, debugged and renamed to Cassini. On July 12, 2004, the first version of Cassini was released alongside its assembly source code. Three more releases followed quickly, but most changes were to the interface.
SSF became available in 2005 and is considered the most compatible Saturn emulator as of 2006.
Saturn models
Asian models
In Japan Sega licensed the rights to produce Saturns to their hardware partners - Hitachi, who provided the CPUs and several other chips, and JVC who produced the CD drives for most models, although functionally identical Sanyo drives were sometimes used. SunSeibu released a model with a 7-CD changer for use in hotels. The concept of a multi-game player for hotel use is very common in Japan.
| Manufacturer & Model | Case Color | Button Color | Type of Buttons | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sega HST-3200 | Grey | Blue | Oval | The original Japanese Saturn, production was ended in favour of the White Saturn. This model had a black cartridge flap and came in a box labelled HST-0001. The power chord is un-notched and this machine has a drive access light. |
| Sega | White | Purple/Grey | Round | Sega switched from purple to grey buttons during the production run. This controller was a matching white with multi-colored buttons similar to a Super Famicom controller with the bottom row buttons colored green, yellow, and blue. The 'white' plastic is a very light grey and shares its color with the later Dreamcast. The cartridge flag is visibly grey. Some people report faster CD access time with this model. |
| Sega Skeleton Saturn | Translucent smokey grey | - | - | Came with a matching smokey grey controller. Both controller and system had "This is cool" printed on them. Only around 50,000 were produced. Has some compatibility problems, notably with Metal Slug and Space Harrier. |
| Sega Derby Saturn | Translucent blue | - | - | Released on March 25, 1999, this model was only available as part of a promotion with ASCII's popular horse racing sim, Derby Stallion. It came with the same smokey grey controller as the Skeleton Saturn but did not have "This is cool" printed on the system. After limited supplies of the Skeleton Saturn, the Derby Saturn was quickly bought in bulk by exporters and for a time was easier to find outside Japan than inside. Shares the compatibility problems of the Skeleton Saturn.
Uses BIOS 1.01. |
| Hitachi Hi-Saturn | Charcoal | Khaki | Round | This machine appears similar in color to the European and North American Saturn without close inspection. Hi-Saturn is printed on the CD drive lid. Controllers have the same color layout as the unit with pinkish-beight and dark blueish/greay buttons. The Hitachi logo appears on them.
The machine was packaged in an almost all black box with a light gray/white border. Excepting some limited promotional bundles, the Hi-Saturn came packaged with an MPEG plug-in card allowing Video CD playback. The start up screen differs slightly from other models - instead of a shower of pieces forming the Saturn logo, the word "Hi-Saturn" shoots out from the middle of the screen and then flips around till it is readable. |
| Hitachi Hi-Saturn Navi (MMP-1000NV) | Charcoal | Khaki | Round | This is the only consumer Saturn to differ in functionality or shape. It's much thinner, and is flat instead of curved on top, in order to accommodate a folding LCD monitor that clips to the rear. It includes GPS capability, and has a standard port on the rear for use with an included antenna. Navi-ken CDs are used for map data. Since Navi-ken was only available in Japan, only Japanese maps are available. |
| JVC/Victor V-Saturn RG-JX1 | Light Grey | - | Oval | Two tone appearance, grey on top with a black base section. "V-Saturn" is printed on top of the machine. Features a V-Saturn logo in place of the SegaSaturn logo at boot-up. |
| JVC/Victor V-Saturn RG-JX2 | Light Grey | - | Round | Two tone appearance, greay on top, dark grey base section. "V-Saturn" is printed on top of the machine. Besides color and markings, this is completely identical to the Sega model.
Features a 1.01 BIOS, and shares the boot-up sequence of the RG-JX1. |
| Samsung Saturn (삼성새턴) | - | - | Oval | Intended only for South Korea, this machine combines the older style oval-button shell with the smaller and newer main board which normally comes with a round-buttoned shell. The Japanese language option is removed from the setup screen and the system lacks all LEDs. [2] |
| GPS NAVI Hi-Saturn | - | - | Round | The Navi HI-SATURN came with a high quality TFT screen and a GPS function using software and hardware. The hardware is the antenna and interface. It had a built in VCD card and could play games as normal. This the most extreme and rare SEGA SATURN ever. |
North American models
All North American models are black in color and were produce by Sega.
| Model | Type of Buttons | Manufacturing Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MK-80000 | Oval | 8/95 - 3/96 | Identical to the Grey Japanese Saturn but for color. |
| MK-80000A | Round | 3/96 - 9/96 | Features a notched power cord, no drive access light and a 1.00a BIOS. Internal jumper locations are changed. |
| MK-80001 | Round | 7/96 - 98 | Similar in appearance to the MK-8000A, this machine has some changed internal jumped locations. |
European/Australian models
European and Australian Saturns are identical as both regions share the same AC voltage and TV standard. There is no internal variation between PAL and SÉCAM machines as all were shipped with SCART leads. All models are black and externally quite similar to the North American variations. PAL and SECAM machines will have "PAL" next to the BIOS revision number on the system settings screen instead of "NTSC".
| Model | Type of Buttons | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MK-80200-50 | Oval | Version 1.01a BIOS. |
| MK-80200A-50 | Round | Lacks a drive access LED. Buttons are grey. |
Game packaging
Japan
Image:Sega Saturn Bubble Symphony Inlay.jpg Japanese software is usually packaged in a standard CD jewel case with a spinecard - a three-fold piece of light cardboard that hugs the spine of the jewel case and is held in place by the overall shrinkwrap usually with a gold and black background and the Japanese Saturn logo and lettering printed vertically. Saturn collection games will have a red and white spinecard with white lettering, the Saturn Collection logo under that, and the 2,800 yen price featured prominently. Spinecards are valuable to collectors, and necessary if one wishes to sell the game as "complete". The spinecard bears the name of the title to which it is attached.
The game manual is included in place of liner notes and the cover will usually carry a bar similar in design to the spinecard and the Japanese rating, if there is one. The back card usually features artwork or screenshots from the game and a black bar at the bottom containing necessary legal information such as copyright notices.
Some games were packed in "double" CD cases or in a non-standard slightly thicker variant of the single case. The game Super Robot Wars F (a Japanese-only game produced by Banpresto) comes in a special jewel case, approximately 1mm thicker, made necessary by its 54-page manual.
North America
Image:Sega Saturn North American Street Fighter Alpha 2 box.jpg In North America the existing tall, single hinged case design used for Sega CD games was adopted for Saturn titles. The cases incorporate a white spine containing a 30 degree stripe pattern in gray, with white outlined lettering displaying the words "Sega Saturn". The manual slides into the case in the same manner as the liner notes in a normal jewel case, and the cover often carries a back insert with information about the game. The manuals were substantially larger than standard CD manuals, and as a result had more room for art.
These cases had several problems:
- Their sheer size made them vulnerable to cracking.
- The mechanism that keeps the cover closed wears out quickly if the cover is opened and closed too much
- There is sufficient empty space inside the case that if the CD comes loose of the case's spindle then it can easily suffer scratching or be shattered during case transportation. Some games came with a sponge-sized foam brick to keep the disc from falling off the spindle.
Games packaged with the system or a peripheral such as Virtua Fighter and NiGHTS Into Dreams often came in a standard CD Jewel case.
Europe
Image:Sega Saturn European Saturn Bomberman box.jpg The European Saturn cases were custom designed and similar to a DVD case, composed of either a two piece clamshell enclosure held together by a single large piece of card comprising both the front and back covers and spine, or a single-piece plastic case with a paper insert detailing covers and spine underneath a flexible plastic outer window similar to a commercial VHS video case except in dimensions. Some titles, notably those from Electronic Arts featured an extended deeper version of the VHS style case.
When the case is opened the disk rests inside the case to the right of the hinge, while the booklet was placed to the left. Standard art design includes a solid black spine and white lettering displaying the words "Sega Saturn".
Screenshots
 Virtua Fighter 2 |
 Virtua Cop |
||
 Panzer Dragoon Saga |
 Resident Evil |
||
 Clockwork Knight |
Technical specifications
Processors
- Two Hitachi SuperH-2 7604 32-Bit RISC processors at 28.2MHz (50-MIPS) - each has 4 kB on-chip cache, of which 2 kB can alternatively be used as directly addressable RAM
- SH-1 32-bit RISC processor (controlling the CD-ROM)
- Custom VDP 1 32-bit video display processor
- Custom VDP 2 32-bit video display processor
- Custom Saturn Control Unit (SCU) with DSP for geometry processing and DMA controller
- Motorola 68EC000 sound processor
- Yamaha FH1 DSP sound processor, "Saturn Custom Sound Processor" (SCSP)
- Hitachi 4-bit MCU, "System Manager & Peripheral Control" (SMPC)
Memory
- 1MB (8 Megabits) SDRAM
- 1MB (8 Megabits) DRAM, combined with SDRAM to make the main 2 MB memory area
- 512KB (4 Megabits) VDP2 video RAM
- 4K VDP2 on-chip color RAM
- 512KB (4 Megabits) audio RAM
- 512KB (4 Megabits) CD-ROM cache
- 32KB nonvolatile RAM (battery backup)
- 512KB (4 Megabits) BIOS ROM
Audio
Video
Storage
Input/output
- Two 7-bit bidirectional parallel I/O ports
- High-speed serial communications port (Both SH2 SCI channels and SCSP MIDI)
- Cartridge connector
- Internal expansion port for MPEG adapter card
- Composite video/stereo (standard)
- NTSC/PAL RF (optional)
- S-Video compatible (optional)
- RGB compatible (optional)
- EDTV compatible (optional)
Peripherals
- Saturn digital gamepad (D-pad, 6 buttons)
- Analog gamepad (introduced with NiGHTS Into Dreams)
- "Stunner" lightgun (introduced with Virtua Cop)
- Multitap (up to 10 players)
- Sega NetLink
- Netlink PS/2 Keyboard Adapter (for use with Netlink modem)
- 1.44 MB 3.5" disk drive (interfaces with serial port, supported by only a few games)
- Arcade Racer Joystick
- DirectLink
- Various MPEG cards allowing VCD playback using the Saturn
- RAM expansion cartridges
- Backup data Memory Cartridges
- Action Replay/ Game Shark cheat devices
Power source
- AC120 volts; 60 Hz (US)
- AC240 volts; 50 Hz (EU)
- AC100 volts; 60 Hz (JP)
- 3 volt lithium battery to power non-volatile RAM and SMPC internal real-time clock
- Power Consumption: 25 W
Dimensions (US/European model)
- Width: 260 mm (10.2 in)
- Length: 230 mm (9.0 in)
- Height: 83 mm (3.2 in)
Errata
VDP1 transparency rendering quirk causes strips of pixels to be rewritten to framebuffer for 2-point (scaled) and 4-point (quadrangle) "sprites", applying the transparency effect multiple times. Rarely seen in commercial games (Robotica (Sega game) explosions), later titles implemented software transparency to correctly render polygons (Dural in Virtua Fighter Kids).
Trivia
- Majesco explored a second release of the Sega Saturn in North America, similar to their Genesis 3, but cancelled plans due to lack of retail interest.
- Radiant Silvergun, released in 1998 by Treasure, is considered by many to be the best shoot-em-up of all time.
- Panzer Dragoon Saga, which came on four CDs, sold out immediately upon its US release and has since become one of the most collectible domestically released games in that market.
- NiGHTS Into Dreams, a score attack game released in 1996 by Sonic Team, was groundbreaking in its use of 2.5D gameplay and is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games ever. A special Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams was released freely with European versions of Sega Saturn Magazine and is very rare. It features a presents system whereby completing the game gives you the opportunity to reveal cards and win extra functionality - this includes a karaoke mode, a number of variations on the main game and a Sonic the Hedgehog minigame.
- Tomonobu Itagaki, lead developer of Tecmo's Team Ninja, compared the Xbox 360 architecture to the parallel processing systems of the Saturn in a 2005 interview. He called the Xbox 360 a "buffed-up Saturn".
- The popular Sega Dreamcast title Shenmue was originally planned for release on the Sega Saturn. Work on the Saturn version is believed to have been fairly complete. A 3-minute video showing footage from this cancelled project can be unlocked on the sequel Shenmue 2.
- The Drew Carey Show features a Sega Saturn system with many games on top of Drew's TV.
- In the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, Asuka is seen playing a Sega Saturn at Hikari's house - most likely due to Sega's sponsorship of the production. It should be noted, however, that someone owning the system would be highly unlikely, as the show takes place many years in the future.
- It is estimated that about 10 million Sega Saturn units were sold worldwide, including 2 million in North America. [4]
- The internal pins of the slot were not gold plated and would easily wear down or become too dirty to recognize contact, and the size and depth of the slot varied from model to model. Carts would fit fine in one Saturn while needing to be forced in on other models.
- The Sega Saturn has very strong anti-piracy measures. All games feature a ring around the outer edge of their disc containing data that ordinary computer CD drives cannot read and CD burners will not write. A dedicated CPU is embedded in the CD control circuitry to detect unlicensed discs and will completely refuse to read them. Extensive modifications are required if the user wants to play copied games.
- The Saturn was far more popular than the Sega Mega Drive in Japan, while in North America the Sega Genesis, the Mega Drive's local counterpart, enjoyed more success than the Saturn. This was partly due to Japanese advertisements featuring a character named Segata Sanshiro, who became well known throughout Japan. Conversely, the release of the Saturn prompted a change of marketing strategy at Sega of America, which replaced the rebellious image of the Sega Genesis (characterized by the Sega Scream commercials) with a more arty attitude that was largely disliked by consumers.
- Sega's flagship character and mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, never made a major Saturn appearance - Sonic 3D Blast (an enhanced Mega Drive/Genesis port), Sonic R (a racing game) and Sonic Jam (a compilation of his major 16-bit adventures) were released, but only Sonic R was exclusive and did not prove to be a major title. This left Sega with no Sonic-themed answer to Super Mario 64 as the planned major title Sonic Xtreme was cancelled after development problems.
- A common misconception is that 3D capabilities were added as an afterthought to the Saturn to compete with the Sony PlayStation and later with the Nintendo 64. In reality its 3D display chip, VDP1, was a logical progression of the established framebuffer-based sprite hardware implemented in the Sega System 24 and System 32 arcade platforms.
- In 1995 NVIDIA released the NV1, a PC graphics and audio accelerator which used a similar rendering paradigm to the Saturn and allowed Saturn pads to be used. Despite support from Sega through PC ports of several Saturn titles including Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter Remix, the card proved a failure in the marketplace.
See also
Template:Dedicated video game consoles
External links
- Retrogaming with Racketboy - Reviews, lists, screen shots, advice for system modification.
- SegaFans - Sega Saturn commercial featuring Segata Sanshiro, reviews, and other resources.
- Sega Jumps the Gun, Gets Shot
- Dave's Sega Saturn Page - Famous fansite that was extremely popular during the Saturn's heyday.
- Sega Saturn Magazine - Reviews featuring a large amount of screenshots and editorials.
- Sonic the Hedgehog Information Treasury - Open database focusing on Sonic the Hedgehog, the games and the hardware that powers them.
- Sega Saturn the Pleasure and the Pain - After ten years, a look back on Sega's third home system.
- SegaBase - Comprehensive history of this system
- NFG Games: HiSaturn Navi
- NFG Games: Samsung Saturn
- NFG Games: SunSeibu Hotel Saturn
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