Sega Saturn

Hideki Sato led development, which began more than two years before the console was announced at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994. In 1993, Sega and Hitachi jointly created the SH-2 processor, and the console was designed around two of them. In early 1994, after learning about the PlayStation's capabilities, Sega added a second video processor. Sega of America disliked the architecture and proposed a Silicon Graphics chip, but Sega of Japan turned it down.

It launched in Japan on November 22, 1994, at ¥44,800. Thanks to Virtua Fighter, the first shipment sold out on day one. In the US, Sega brought the launch forward by surprise to May 11, 1995, during the first E3, at $399. Only four retail chains got stock, angering other stores. Sony then announced the PlayStation at $299. Europe followed on July 8, 1995, at £399.99.

Its library leaned on Sega's arcade conversions, such as Virtua Fighter 2, Sega Rally Championship and Virtua Cop, and on exclusives like Nights into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Guardian Heroes and Dragon Force. Many games, such as the Sakura Wars series, never left Japan. Sonic X-treme, meant to be the first 3D Sonic, was cancelled in 1997. The twin CPUs and the way it drew polygons made life hard for developers.

The Nintendo 64 cut deeply into its sales from 1996, and in 1997 Final Fantasy VII put the PlayStation ahead in Japan. At E3 1997, Bernie Stolar said the Saturn was not Sega's future. It was discontinued in North America in March 1998, in Europe that year, and lasted in Japan until 2000. It is considered a commercial failure, although it did far better in Japan than in the West. Today its library of 2D fighting games and shooters is highly regarded.