In celebration of Saturn month, I knew we had to feature the excellent Segata Sanshiro ad campaign from Japan. Initially I thought I’d share a few of the best commercials, but then I came across this video gem. From bestdamnpodcastever.com comes this cool mini-documentary on Segata Sanshiro. The video gives a few fun facts about the campaign, a little history, highlights some of the best commercials and ends with an awesome music video. Check it out… unless you want to be placed in a headlock. SEGATA SANSHIRO!
Look closely at the Japanese Guardian Heroes website url. Notice how it starts with a ‘SS’, what could this stand for? The obvious? SEGA Saturn. Why would they format a URL like that for a one off title?
This could possibly mean that SEGA is most likely planning on releasing more than one SEGA Saturn title on digital services. I mean, why not? They are already doing Dreamcast releases and overdo SEGA Genesis. Seems like the smart choice.
16 years ago today, SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske took to the stage at E3 and announced that the SEGA Saturn was now available in select retailers across the United States. Though this would later be seen as one of the greatest marketing blunders in SEGA’s history, it nevertheless marked the debut of one of the greatest consoles ever made. In commemoration of this momentous birthing of this epically underappreciated game console, we at SEGAbits are committing not a day, not a week, but a full month for all things SEGA Saturn! You can expect to see plenty of reviews, articles, and a dedicated episode of the SEGAbits podcast all about the Saturn from here until E3 on June 7th.
Those of you who don’t know much about the Saturn, or think there was a big load of nothing between the Genesis and the Dreamcast, should learn something this month. The SEGA Saturn is a veritable treasure trove of SEGA hits that have yet to see the light of day on other systems due to the Saturn’s difficult to emulate architecture, and the general obscurity of its library. Sure, we’ve all heard of NiGHTS and Panzer Dragoon, and Guardian Heroes has recently risen from obscurity to be remade as an Xbox Live Arcade release. But have you ever heard of Blazing Heroes? Ever heard of Astal? Did you know the SEGA Saturn had two Die Hard games, one which was a piece of crap and one which kicked ass? Have any of you guys even seen Dragon Force?
While Nintendo spent the 32 bit generation giving its 16 bit hits the 64 bit upgrade, and Sony spent it producing games that would go on to define its Playstation brand for more than a decade to come, SEGA went through a creative renaissance, almost completely ditching the franchises that made the Genesis a hit in favor of all new franchises that, regrettably, no one would buy. Even Sonic took a backseat to NiGHTS, which became and still remains one of the best reasons to own a Saturn.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy this month long ride through SEGA’s forgotten generation.
We all have our own personal favorite SEGA moments. So this week the staff is sitting back, thinking about our favorites. As always you can let us know your favorites via the comments.
[Fuck yeah, playing Sonic Adventure with no widescreen]
Yosuke Okunari, who is producing the SEGA Dreamcast re-releases and produced the Sega Ages 2500 series, has an interview with Impress Watch. In the interview, they asked him about the SEGA Saturn, you know, the only major SEGA console not to get digital re-releases?
“What we announced this time is a project where we will have consecutive releases of titles that were debuted on Dreamcast. Separate from this, we’re of course thinking about ports of Saturn games. It’s the same as how Sega Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It’s not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests.” – Yosuke Okunari
Hum, we can start off the list by saying NiGHTS. You know, that campaign that was launched by NiGHTS fans? But I will be greedy and demand Panzer Dragoon Saga. Go me! He also says that the second batch of Dreamcast titles have already been chosen.
For those of you wondering what team is porting the Dreamcast over, that they can’t even add widescreen to Sonic Adventure. Well, its SEGA Shanghai, the team that did the PS2 port of NiGHTS into Dreams and Dynamite Dekka. He also confirms that the games are not running via emulation. He said both Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi will run at 60fps. That is nice.
SEGA has stated they are planning on bringing 18 to 24 DC titles to PSN and XBLA by next summer. Shenmue re-release seems pretty likely now.This is according to Mike Hayes, who of course is the president of SEGA West.
“We hope to have somewhere between 18 to 24. Around that.” – Mike Hayes
So what about SEGA Saturn? Mike Hayes says that right now, they have no plans on bringing SEGA Saturn games to HD consoles. Come on, give us some Panzer Dragoon and Shining Force III!
Even though SEGA is preparing for the upcoming Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, does not mean it will stop adding stuff to Virtua Fighter 5R. SEGA updated VF5R this month, with classic SEGA consoles.
The image above shows the prices of the consoles, which can be used on your characters back. The prices for the in game items are the same price as the real consoles when they launched in Japan. Of course, you buy the consoles with in-game currency. Make Akira look like Segata, with a Saturn on his back? Brilliant!
This is probably the best news piece out of Alpha Protocol, it has a SEGA Saturn! Reminds me of Shenmue and it also having a SEGA Saturn. Not that it made sense in that game, since it was the 80’s.
But who cares, lets all go on youtube now and watch Segata Sanshiro adverts and wonder if the 3-D SEGA Saturn in game lets you play some Saturn games like on Shenmue.
Oh, SEGA, just to 1up Sony you guys decided to launch your console early. 15 years ago today, SEGA CEO Tom Kalinske stood in front of the press and announced that the SEGA Saturn would launch early do to “high consumer demand”. The announcement was made at the first ever E3.
“Many Americans have gone to the extent of paying $ 800 and more for Sega Saturn units from Japan,” Kalinske explained. “We’ve decided to bring the product to market earlier than scheduled to meet the high consumer demand, to refine our marketing strategy over the summer, prior to the important fall season, and to get a headstart on the competition.”
The SEGA Saturn launched at the price of $399.99 for the stand alone version and $499.99 with Virtua Fighter (also came with a disc that showed other titles).
Hit the jump to read SEGA’s press release from 1995. It is like going back in time.
Welcome to the first ever ‘The Last Boss’, where I’ll be covering a different Sega Boss Character/Fight each article. It’s something I hope to do on a semi-regular basis, and as you well know there are a lot of unique and great ones to cover. In an ironic fashion, lets dive into the First Last Boss, The House of the Dead series’ Magician.
The Magician, like all other bosses in the House of the Dead Series (barring Overkill) is named after a Tarot Card. In Tarot cards, the Magician is representative of ‘creation by willpower and desire’. In the House of the Dead Games, he is representative of lots of fireballs and repeatedly inserting more money into the machine as he kills you again and again. And again.
