Editing Sega Saturn (section)

==Performance==
===Japan===
The Japanese Saturn was released in November 1994, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation.<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=GameFAQs|url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/saturn/data/916393.html|title=Saturn Release Information for Saturn|accessdate=3 January 2009}}</ref> Approximately 170,000 consoles were sold the first day the Saturn went on sale.

Many of the games that made the Saturn popular in Japan, such as the ''Sakura Taisen'' series and various console role-playing games, or even most Japanese games in general, were never released in foreign territories as it was assumed at [[Sega|Sega of America]] and Sega of Europe that they were not appealing to a Western audience.

The last commercially licensed release in Japan and last official game for the system was ''Yuukyuu Gensoukyoku Hozonban Perpetual Collection'', released by MediaWorks on 4 December 2000.

===North America===
The early launch of the Sega Saturn in North America meant that the console had only a handful of games available at the moment, as most third party games were slated to be completed and rolled out around the original September 2nd launch date and many successful Japanese titles were not yet imported. Third party publishers, particularly these based in North America, were angered as the surprise launch prevented them from capitalizing on the momentum inherent in an anticipated, planned release. Essentially the only software available on the shelves at launch was software released by Sega. Many within the gaming industry viewed the early launch as a calculated move to give Sega larger sales of Saturn software at the expense of independent developers.

In addition, the retailers who were not included in the early launch, most notably Wal-Mart and KB Toys, felt betrayed and some even retaliating by supporting Sega's rivals. This resulted in Sega having difficulties with these distributors for both Saturn and its successor, the [[Dreamcast]]. For example, Sega's actions so angered KB Toys that the latter refused to release the Saturn at all, and actually went as far as having some retailers remove anything Sega-related in stores to provide more retail space for the Saturn's competition instead.

By the time of the PlayStation's release on 9 September 1995, the Saturn had sold approximately 80,000 systems. The PlayStation sold over 100,000 units upon release in the U.S., and Sega's dreams of early domination of the new generation of hardware were quickly forgotten.

From 1995–1997, the Saturn became the "other" system, running a distant third behind the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation. However, it was the preferred system for many arcade gamers who eagerly anticipated Sega's classic games being ported to the system. Sales of the Saturn would generally spike as new arcade ports were released, then die off shortly thereafter. By the end of 1997, with Sega publicly saying that it would develop a successor, console sales and released games dropped dramatically.

Saturn's failure caused Sega to lose $267.9&nbsp;million&nbsp;USD and lay off 30% of its workforce.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Sega Dreamcast|url=http://www.g4tv.com/gamemakers/episodes/1259/Sega_Dreamcast.html|series=Game Makers|network=G4|city=Los Angeles|airdate=20 August 2008|number=302}}</ref>

===Europe===
Despite the successful results of previous Sega consoles in this region, as the [[Sega Master System|Master System]] and [[Sega Mega Drive|Mega Drive]] were both the top-selling consoles, the Sega Saturn was launched in Europe in July 1995 to poor results. Releasing just months before the PlayStation, the momentum for Sony's console amongst consumers began to build rapidly, stalling Saturn sales in the region. As a result, the Sega Saturn never enjoyed the success it achieved in Japan or even the post-launch hype that was awarded in North America, leaving the market almost solely in the competition's hands. By the time that the Nintendo 64 hit European shelves in early 1997, the Saturn's sales had long since stagnated.

What support that remained for the Sega Saturn in the UK was bolstered by the successful publication of ''[[wikipedia:Sega Saturn Magazine|Sega Saturn Magazine]]''. Although the publication of the magazine technically ran parallel to the last commercially released games, it dedicated the bulk of its pages to reviewing Japanese releases and news relating to the eagerly anticipated [[Dreamcast]]. In another marketing blunder, Sega refused to give EMAP, the publisher of ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', the ''[[wikipedia:Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK magazine)|Official Dreamcast Magazine]]'' licence in the UK, despite there being a large and extremely loyal fanbase.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/interview/3/richard-leadbetter.php|title=Interview with Richard Leadbetter, editor at Sega Saturn Magazine|publisher=Mean Machines|accessdate=9 January 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522001029/http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/interview/3/richard-leadbetter.php|archivedate=22 May 2008}}</ref>

The last commercially licensed release in Europe was ''Deep Fear'', distributed by [[Sega/Sega Europe|Sega Europe]] in November 1998. The Saturn, along with all other consoles, was majorly outsold by the Mega Drive.

===End of an era===
As price drops continued throughout the 32-bit era, the system board design of the Saturn was not as easy to condense in a cost-saving manner, and thus [[Sega]] fell behind after Nintendo and Sony reduced their respective consoles' price tags. As a marketing strategy, Sega bundled three of its best selling games (''Daytona USA'', ''Virtua Cop'', ''Virtua Fighter 2'') with the Saturn in an attempt to keep the more expensive system competitive with its rivals. This was not entirely successful, as gamers preferred to purchase game titles of their own choice instead and turned to the cheaper options yet again.

By early 1997, the Saturn was trailing the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation in both North America and Europe to such an extent that senior management began planning a new platform. By E3 in 1997, talk of the system called the "Katana" had begun, which would later be renamed as the [[Dreamcast]]. [[Sega/Sega of America|Sega of America]] CEO Bernie Stolar, who was strongly in favour of the upcoming console, announced that "the Saturn is not [Sega's] future".

As Sega began public discussion about their next system, barely two years after having launched the Saturn, it ironically became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with some citing it as an example of the Osborne effect. This move, combined with Sega's recent history of short-lived consoles, led to a chain reaction that quickly caused the Saturn's future to collapse. Immediately following the announcement, sales of the console and software substantially tapered off in the second half of 1997, with many planned games being canceled as well. While this allowed Sega to focus on bringing out its successor, the premature demise of the Saturn caused them many financial problems. Even though the [[Dreamcast]] did address many of the problems with the Saturn, Sega's bad reputation caused customers and publishers alike to be skeptical and holdout to see how the console would fare against [[Sony Interactive Entertainment|Sony]]'s [[PlayStation 2]] and [[Nintendo]]'s [[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]].

The aggressive move to replace the Saturn resulted in a rift between Sega and many of their third-party developers and publishers. North American developers were already hostile to the Saturn because it was difficult to program for, along with them being left out by its early release, so the future project alienated what remaining support Sega had in that region. However, many Japanese developers had strongly supported the Saturn in its homeland and saw little reason for Sega to rush another platform to market. The announcement caused a substantial drop in software sales, causing frustrated third parties to cancel many planned releases. The early abandonment of the Saturn hurt third party software support not only for that system, but for Sega as a whole. Several major publishers, such as Electronic Arts, declined to support the upcoming [[Dreamcast]], which played a part in its discontinuation as well.

The games planned to be released in North America or Europe that were canceled included highly anticipated titles such as ''[[Sonic X-treme]]'', ''Policenauts'' and ''Lunar: Silver Star Story''. A chain reaction of cancellations transformed the 1998 schedule of released games down to a minimum with titles like ''Steep Slope Sliders'', ''Panzer Dragoon Saga'', ''Burning Rangers'', ''The House of the Dead'', ''Shining Force III'' (only part one of the three-part series), and ''Magic Knight Rayearth''.

The Saturn was discontinued in 1998 in most countries, with Japan following in 2000.<ref name="book"/><ref name="gamepro"/>