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The Sega Saturn (Japanese: セガサターン, Sega Saturn) is a 32-bit video game console, first 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 United Kingdom 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).

Development

Sega's 27-member Away Team, comprising 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 extremely 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.

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 in titles such as Alien Trilogy

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 2 MB 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. 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. Unlike the Playstation's use of triangles as its basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quadrilaterals. 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 quadrilateral 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 quadrilateral-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 4 MB RAM cart, released only in Japan, boosted available memory even further for games such as Capcom's X-Men Vs Street Fighter.

Tomb Raider was originally designed for the Saturn's quadrilateral-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. In the other hand, the quadrilateral ability allowed the Saturn to render First-person shooter games better than other consoles at the time, games like Quake, Powerslave, Duke Nukem 3D, HeXen. Also, the extra video RAM allowed larger levels than in PlayStation versions.

A true example of the Saturn's capability is widely considered to be the systems version of Shenmue, the Yu Suzuki masterpiece that would eventually find a new home on the Saturn's successor, the Sega Dreamcast. Work on the title is believed to have been fairly complete, and several technical demo's and gameplay footage have since been released to the public. The footage displays a system capable of producing fully rendered, entirely 3D locations and characters. The quality of image Suzuki and his team were able to achieve is quite extraordinary considering the Saturn's infamously complicated hardware. Certainly, Shenmue was graphically superior to anything that had been produced on the Saturn before it. Some would argue it is also technically superior to anything ever produced on the Sony PlayStation.

Performance in the marketplace

North America and Europe

The Saturn was launched almost four months ahead of schedule in North America and Europe. This was announced at 1995'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 *. 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 (or even most Japanese games in general) 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. In a magazine article involving Will Muscelli, he summed up the life cycle of the Sega Saturn as being "disappointing".

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 comparatively 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 recognizable 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 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.

Uses BIOS 1.01.

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.

Features a 1.01 BIOS, and shares the boot-up sequence of the RG-JX1.

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 labeled HST-0001. The power cord is un-notched and this machine has a drive access light.
Sega White Purple/Grey Round/oval 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. There were limited models of the oval button saturn. 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.
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/gray buttons. The Hitachi logo appears on them.
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, gray 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.
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. *

North American models

All North American models are black in color and were produced 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 jumper 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

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 1 mm thicker, made necessary by its 54-page manual. Riglord Saga 2 uses a similar case for the same reason.

North America

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 (especially early in the system's life) came with a 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

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".

These cases had several problems:

  • The cardboard hinges wore out very quickly
  • The spindles which held the discs in place wore out very quickly, causing discs to move around in the cases in transit and scratch
  • There was nothing holding the manual in place; as the manuals were often heavy, with several languages, it was difficult to close the cases without the manual falling out of place.
  • The mechanism for closing the cases wore out very quickly and was very ineffective to begin with

Screenshots

Image:Sega Rally.jpg|Sega Rally
Sega Sports (1995) Image:Nightsintodreams-frozenbell.jpg|NiGHTS Into Dreams
Sonic Team (1996) Image:Virtua Fighter 2 Saturn.jpg|Virtua Fighter 2
Sega (1996) Image:Virtua Cop Saturn.jpg|Virtua Cop
Sega (1996) Image:Shining Force 3.jpg|Shining Force III
Camelot (1998) Image:Panzer Dragoon Saga.jpg|Panzer Dragoon Saga
Sega (1998) Image:Guardian Heroes.jpg|Guardian Heroes
Treasure Co. Ltd (1996) Image:Saturn_resident_evil.jpg|Resident Evil
Capcom (1997) Image:clockwork-knight.gif|Clockwork Knight
Sega (1995) Image:saturn-nightwarriors.jpg| DarkStalkers Revenge
Capcom (1996) Image:Umk32.jpg|Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Midway (1996) Image:Shenmue_Saturn.jpg|Shenmue (Unreleased)
Sega (1996)

Technical specifications

Processors

  • Two Hitachi SuperH-2 7604 32-Bit RISC processors at 28.2 MHz (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 (running at 7.1590 MHz on NTSC Systems, 6.7116 MHz for PAL Systems)
  • Custom VDP 2 32-bit video display processor (running at 7.1590 MHz on NTSC Systems, 6.7116 MHz for PAL Systems)
  • Custom Saturn Control Unit (SCU) with DSP for geometry processing and DMA controller
  • Motorola 68EC000 sound processor
  • Yamaha FH1 DSP sound processor, "Sega Custom Sound Processor" (SCSP)
  • Hitachi 4-bit MCU, "System Manager & Peripheral Control" (SMPC)

Memory

  • 1 MB (8 Megabits) SDRAM
  • 1 MB (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, Start button, 6 face buttons, 2 triggers)
  • Analog gamepad (introduced with NiGHTS Into Dreams)
  • "Stunner" lightgun (introduced with Virtua Cop)
  • Cobra light gun by Nuby, Also was compatible with non GunCon PlayStation games
  • 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 (containing various MPEG video/audio decoder ASICs)
  • 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. *
  • The internal pins of the cartridge 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's anti-piracy measures feature a ring around the outer edge of the game 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. However with a small modification requiring a piece of sticky tape, it is possible to trick the hardware into believing the CD tray is closed even when it is open. Exploiting this weakness, pirates have devised a disc swapping technique 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.
  • In issue 51 of Edge (magazine) the magazine summed up the Saturn, in a retrospective fashion, as: "The Saturn, casualty of the second-generation 32bit console war, is neither 3DO or Jaguar. It boasts arcade conversions that Namco rivals but rarely beats, classy RPGs and support from offbeat developers such as Treasure. It is, in short, the hardcore gamer's machine of the 90's. In this sense, Sega's failure is also its greatest triumph."

See also

External links

Sega consoles | Fifth-generation video game consoles | 1994 introductions

Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Saturn | Saturn | 세가 새턴 | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | セガサターン | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | Sega Saturn | 世嘉土星

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Sega Saturn".

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