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Sega 2

1) In 1993, Sega partnered with Hitachi to develop the "SuperH RISC Engine" (SH-2) CPU for the Saturn console, choosing it for its cost efficiency and capabilities. 2) Although the Saturn's design was largely finished in late 1993, reports of the PlayStation's power prompted Sega to include an additional video display processor to improve 2D performance. 3) Sega launched the Saturn in Japan in November 1994, bundling Virtua Fighter which sold very well, though they lacked other major first-party games initially.

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80 views2 pages

Sega 2

1) In 1993, Sega partnered with Hitachi to develop the "SuperH RISC Engine" (SH-2) CPU for the Saturn console, choosing it for its cost efficiency and capabilities. 2) Although the Saturn's design was largely finished in late 1993, reports of the PlayStation's power prompted Sega to include an additional video display processor to improve 2D performance. 3) Sega launched the Saturn in Japan in November 1994, bundling Virtua Fighter which sold very well, though they lacked other major first-party games initially.

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azrte
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In 1993, Sega and Japanese electronics company Hitachi formed a joint venture to

develop a new CPU for the Saturn, which resulted in the creation of the "SuperH
RISC Engine" (or SH-2) later that year.[18][19] The Saturn was designed around a
dual-SH2 configuration. According to Kazuhiro Hamada, Sega's section chief for
Saturn development during the system's conception, "the SH-2 was chosen for reasons
of cost and efficiency. The chip has a calculation system similar to a DSP [digital
signal processor], but we realized that a single CPU would not be enough to
calculate a 3D world."[18][20] Although the Saturn's design was largely finished
before the end of 1993, reports in early 1994 of the technical capabilities of
Sony's upcoming PlayStation console prompted Sega to include another video display
processor (VDP) to improve the system's 2D performance and texture-mapping.[18][20]
[21] CD-ROM-based and cartridge-only versions of the Saturn hardware were
considered for simultaneous release during the system's development, but this idea
was discarded due to concerns over the lower quality and higher price of cartridge-
based games.[18]

According to Kalinske, Sega of America "fought against the architecture of Saturn


for quite some time".[22] Seeking an alternative graphics chip for the Saturn,
Kalinske attempted to broker a deal with Silicon Graphics, but Sega of Japan
rejected the proposal.[23][24][25] Silicon Graphics subsequently collaborated with
Nintendo on the Nintendo 64.[23][26] Kalinske, Sony Electronic Publishing's Olaf
Olafsson, and Sony America's Micky Schulhof had discussed development of a joint
"Sega/Sony hardware system", which never came to fruition due to Sega's desire to
create hardware that could accommodate both 2D and 3D visuals and Sony's competing
notion of focusing on 3D technology.[24][27][28] Publicly, Kalinske defended the
Saturn's design: "Our people feel that they need the multiprocessing to be able to
bring to the home what we're doing next year in the arcades."[29]

In 1993, Sega restructured its internal studios in preparation for the Saturn's
launch. To ensure high-quality 3D games would be available early in the Saturn's
life, and to create a more energetic working environment, developers from Sega's
arcade division were asked to create console games. New teams, such as Panzer
Dragoon developer Team Andromeda, were formed during this time.[30]

In January 1994, Sega began to develop an add-on for the Genesis, the Sega 32X,
which would serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era. The decision to
create the add-on was made by Nakayama and widely supported by Sega of America
employees.[6] According to former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Nakayama
was worried that the Saturn would not be available until after 1994 and that the
recently released Atari Jaguar would reduce Sega's hardware sales. As a result,
Nakayama ordered his engineers to have the system ready for launch by the end of
the year.[6] The 32X would not be compatible with the Saturn, but Sega executive
Richard Brudvik-Lindner pointed out that the 32X would play Genesis games, and had
the same system architecture as the Saturn.[31] This was justified by Sega's
statement that both platforms would run at the same time, and that the 32X would be
aimed at players who could not afford the more expensive Saturn.[6][32] According
to Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the 32X served a role
in assisting development teams to familiarize themselves with the dual SH-2
architecture also used in the Saturn.[33] Because both machines shared many of the
same parts and were preparing to launch around the same time, tensions emerged
between Sega of America and Sega of Japan when the Saturn was given priority.[6]
Launch
A first-model Japanese Sega Saturn unit

Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994, at a price of ¥44,800.[34]
Virtua Fighter, a faithful port of the popular arcade game, sold at a nearly one-
to-one ratio with the Saturn console at launch and was crucial to the system's
early success in Japan.[12][13][35] Though Sega had wanted to launch with Clockwork
Knight and Panzer Dragoon,[30] the only other first-party game available at launch
was Wan Chai Connection.[36] Fueled by the popularity of Virtua Fighter, Sega's
initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day.[35][37][38]
Sega waited until the December 3 launch of the PlayStation to ship more units; when
both were sold side by side, the Saturn proved more popular.[35][39]

Meanwhile, Sega released the 32X on November 21, 1994 in North America, December 3,
1994 in Japan, and January 1995 in PAL territories, and was sold at less than half
of the Saturn's launch price.[40][41] After the holiday season, however, interest
in the 32X rapidly declined.[6][32] 500,000 Saturn units were sold in Japan by the
end of 1994 (compared to 300,000 PlayStation units),[42] and sales exceeded 1
million within the following six months.[43] There were conflicting<

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