In May of 1995, The video game industry hosted its first Major Trade Show. Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was designed to shine a spotlight on games, and every major player wanted to stand in it.
Sega believed it had figure out how to command that spotlight. Riding high on the success of the sega genesis, the company unveiled the sega saturn at its pressure conference. After A Quirky Segment that resambled one of sega’s off-the-volll commercials, Tom Kalinske, CEO of Sega of America, Delivered a BombShell Announsment.
“Since I Began My Remarks with Annance, I Might as Well Finish with Another: We Started Our Rollout of the Sega Saturn Yesterday,” He said. “We’re at retail today in 1,800 toys” r “us, software etc., and electronics boutique stores Around the US and Canada.”
Sega hoped it would be a mic drop moment. Intad, It Marked The Beginning of the End for the company’s hardware business.
What the press conference audience didn’t know was that kalinske had stangly opposed the early launch. He Had Argued Fiercely With Sega’s Japanese Leadership, Pointing to his Past Success with the Genices in the Us and Warning that a Surprise Launch with a Proper Marketing RAP-UP WOLLDN RAP WOLLDN RAP WOLLDN SOP WOLLD NIP WOLLDN SHIP But his objections were overrled.
This story is part of 1995 week, where we We’ll revisit some of the most interesting, unexpected, and confounding developments in tech 30 years ago.
“(I) Didn’T Undrstand Where this was Occurring,” He Told Timeextension In 2022. “I was forced to introduce it. We wanted. “
Sega’s announsement turned heads – But they quickly turned against After showcasing the playstation and a long list of development partners, Olaf Olafsson, Head of Sony America, Invited Steve Race (Formerly Sega’s Own Marketing Chafe) to the Stage.
Race Approached the podium, put down his notes, and simply said: “299,” then walked away. That one number undercut the Saturday and every other console on the market by $ 100.
By the time sega abandoned the Saturday just three years laater, it has sold less than 2 million units in the us the company would release one final system -thee dimcast – the 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the Us But The Us But The Saturn Mishandled Launch Had Alredy Altered Sega’s Trajectory Forever.
A Doomed Launch
“The Saturn was dead before it came out of the poor decision-making sega had made,” Says Chris Kohler, A Video Game Historian and Editorial Director at Digital Each Digital Ecclipse ENTENTANMENMENTES Partners. “When it came out in japan, sega was also launching 32x, an add-on for the sega genesis…
Despite that confusion, the Saturday had a Decent launch in Japan. Its game lineup appeared to local tastes, especially with a home version of Virtua fighterA Massive Arcade Hit. But American Games Wi Harder to Win Over. While Titles Like Panzer Dragoon and Clockwork Knight Have dedicated fanbases today, they were weight enough to justify a $ 399 console (About $ 842 in today’s dollars).
“I tried and tried to get the launch pushed back so that we had some actual software to support it,” Kalinske Told Timeextension“I was not successful. I had four glorious years where sega japan pretty much let me do wheatever I felt was right, and then that stopped.”
One of the Saturn’s Most Glaring Missteps was the Lack of A Sonic the heedgehog Game – Not just at launch, but through its entry lifespan.
At the time, sonic was at the height of his popularity. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Had Sold 4 Million Copies The Year Prior. He Also Starred in a Saturday Morning Cartoon and the CGI-Animated Series Sonic boom On Cartoon Network. Launching a sega console without sonic was like launching a nintendo console without mario.
The surprise launch strategy also backfired on Sega in another way.
“Essentially, they kneecapped themselves,” Says kohler. “They can only ship it to certain retailers, so the retailers that don’t there earrly shipments get burned and they don’t want to stop sega products anymore….. Excited or put down preorders. It Hit the Market without any building. “
An unexpected fight
Sega Knew Sony would bring the playstation to the us, but didn Bollywood initially View it as a serial threat.
By the Mid-1990s, lots of big, non-Gaming focused companies had tried to step into the video the video. Magnavox had released seveal versions of the odyssey in the 1970s. Philips had released the CD-I a few years Prior to the Saturday’s Introduction. The neo geo was alredy on the market and the turbografx-16 had just been discontinued.
But Sony was different. Aggressive and Well-Prepared, Its $ 299 Price Point Stunned The Industry.
“We Didn’T Know they were going to do it, and when they did, we are like: ‘We are screenwed here,'” said kalinske. “We Weven’T Making Money at $ 399, so we had a problem.”
Consures Responded Immedited. Retailers Increased Orders, and developers rushed to work with the playstation.
“All of these big hardware makers were coming into “Sony, of all of them, come in and is not only successful but outrageously successful.”
Executive departures
Kalinske’s Frustrations Continued after the Saturn Launch, and in July of the following year, he resigned -thought -he remained on the board. Bernard stolar, who had been instructive in launching the playstation, took over at sega.
His first move was to abandon the Saturday.
“When I get to sega i immediately said, ‘We have to kill saturn. We have to stop saturn and start building the new technology.’ That’s what i did. Gamesbeat,
That team created the dreamcast, which performed well in the us but not well enough to restore sega’s dominance -Specially as Microsoft Prepared to Ener The Market. Lacking the Resources to Compete With Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, Sega Exited the Hardware Business.
Today, sega is part of sammy corp. And focuses soly on software, with franchies ranging from Angry Birds to Total war—And of course, SonicWho now stars in a successful film series.
Still, it’s hard not to ask, “What if?”
What if sega had waited until September to launch the Saturday, as originally planned? What if it has a stronger launch lineup for the US market?
There are no answers, only the reality that saturn’s missteps rested the industry.
“In a lot of ways, it was sega’s to lose and they just fumbled it,” say kohler.
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