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[Afro Republican]

While we are going back to a few gens ago in this NPD flashback series, I Thought that people would be really interested in how the Saturn did. The Saturn of course doesn't have that many big selling games, in fact, arguably it didn't have any. However, I thought it would be interesting to see what games NA was interested in.

Here are the top 10 best-selling Sega Saturn games:

1. Virtua Fighter (Bundled sales only) 250,000
2. Madden NFL 97 240,000
3. NiGHTS (All versions) 220,000
4. Virtua Fighter 2 (All versions) 200,000
5. Sega Rally (All versions) 190,000
6. Daytona USA 170,000
7. Sonic 3D Blast 170,000
8. Tomb Raider 170,000
9. NHL 97 130,000
10. Virtua Cop 130,000

Looks like Sonic 3D Blast did better than expected. Relatively. Also glad to see interest in VF back then.

 

[Azelover]

No Panzer Dragoon... what a shame! People don't know what they missed..

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Yes, those are pretty disappointing numbers overall, and demonstrates how Sega Saturn was really only able to hold on until Nintendo 64 dropped in 1996. After that, the system was pretty much dead in the States, and that's too bad, because there were so many great videogames that just didn't click with the gaming public. Looking back today, it's almost scandalous that the Fighters Megamix, Panzer Dragoon trilogy, Dragon Force, Guardian Heroes or Powerslave are nowhere to be found.

Just like the movie and music business, videogames are built on hits. You need a really big sustainable hit to draw in the kids. For whatever reasons, Sega just couldn't create a hit. Arcades were fading away, Playstation had all the early buzz, Saturn was crippled with a reputation for poor hardware before it even launched, and there was no Sonic to be found.

Worst of all was the backlash against 32X and the impression that Sega would flood the market with hardware machines, only to dump them ten minutes later. It certainly didn't help matters when Bernie Stolar infamously declared at E3 1997 that "Saturn is not our future," two full years before Dreamcast would arrive. It was a toxic reputation that even Dreamcast couldn't shake (there were endless rumors of a "Dreamcast 2" as early as 2000).

In retrospect, yeah, everybody was a little too hard on Sega, who were quietly burning through their creative peak. Pity hardly anybody bothered to notice. But, as they say, that's the business.

 

[Naked Lunch]

A true travesty. Funny how after all these years later - I would much rather play the Saturn's library today over the other consoles of its era. Many of its games have gotten better with age - especially in comparison to the junk we are offered today. I still have my mine hooked up in 2018 and beyond.

 

[Kazza]

There was a thread last month giving the NPD Saturn lifetime figures, and they seem a little different:



It's good that this new list has actual sales figures though. Afro Republican , where did you get this info from?

 

[DiscoJer]

Back in the day, when I had a Saturn, I remember being pissed that Madden wouldn't be on it anymore, despite it being its best selling game. But even at 240,000 copies, wouldn't you think that would have been profitable?

 

[Dthomp]

Man I loved me some World Series Baseball on my Saturn, had most of those games outside of Virtua Cop and Tomb Raider

 

[Yoshi]

What is the source on those sales numbers?

 

[Afro Republican]

There was a thread last month giving the NPD Saturn lifetime figures, and they seem a little different:



It's good that this new list has actual sales figures though. Afro Republican , where did you get this info from?

Even the chart says dollar sales. This is unit sales.

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Back in the day, when I had a Saturn, I remember being pissed that Madden wouldn't be on it anymore, despite it being its best selling game. But even at 240,000 copies, wouldn't you think that would have been profitable?

Fortunately, EA did release Madden 98 on Saturn and it’s quite excellent. Unfortunately, it’s likely that it didn’t sell much of anything. Same goes for the Sega Sports 98 lineup. That’s really too bad, because those are the strongest sports gams on Saturn, and hardly anybody noticed. Add in Winter Heat and Steep Slope Sliders, and the system was really rockin’ the sports games in its final year.

Update: while we don’t have direct sales numbers for Madden 97 on PSX, Madden 99 and 2001 both sold over a million copies. By that time, of course, Saturn was already dead everywhere but Japan.

 

[Insane Metal]

That's kinda... low?

 

[Afro Republican]

That's kinda... low?

At first I was going to say that it wasn't as low as the others, but I think 3Do might have actually beat Saturn in software. Maybee....

 

[Mr Hyde]

Where the fuck is Guardian Heroes? It should be number 1 with ten million copies sold.

 

[Afro Republican]

Where the fuck is Guardian Heroes? It should be number 1 with ten million copies sold.

The GBA version is the one that actually sold if that's what you're wondering

 

[Bakkus]

Wait, so there's like less than 100.000 of each individual Panzer Dragoon in the world? Probably less than 70.000 if we exclude Japan?

 

[cryptoadam]

Not even 1 million seller.

Says it all why Sega went 3rd party.

 

[Mr Hyde]

The GBA version is the one that actually sold if that's what you're wondering

There is a GBA version!? Almost wanna mod my Switch now.

EDIT: Checked out the GBA version and that was one watered down version. I´m sticking with the original.

 

[ph33rknot]

my poor Saturn never had a chance

 

[Daniel Thomas MacInnes]

Segata Sanshiro is going to have to judo flip a lot of gamers this Christmas. You better save yourself the beatdown and get a Sega Saturn right away. It makes for the perfect Holiday gift!

C'mon, like you really wanted an Xbox. Whatever.

 

[Afro Republican]

There is a GBA version!? Almost wanna mod my Switch now.

EDIT: Checked out the GBA version and that was one watered down version. I´m sticking with the original.

Well there's the remastered Xbox Live version if you have a 360.

 

[Alexios]

Tasteless murica, it's all your fault

 

[sunnysideup]

Thankfully it had great support from fans in japan so it had a fantastic library.

Subjectivty aside and objectivity googles on. Not as good as psonne, but fuckloads better than the travesty that was n64.