Afro Republican
Banned
It's hard to put it into words, but if you look at some of the games that Sega marketed on the Saturn and the Dreamcast, many of them were based on their arcade hits. This isn't too much of an issue, the PlaySation and the N64 had plenty of arcade based games.
The issue is that Segas games felt very, shallow and lacking in substance to the average consumer, even gamer centric ones, after an initial period.
For example Virtual-On:
It's a good looking arcade game, and the concept is interesting, but there's basically no substance here. Is this a game were you would pay hundreds of dollars for a Saturn and $50-$60 for this game? Especially given how mindless the gameplay is and how short the matches are? Why would I pick this over several other games on competing systems? Sure, it would look great at the local arcade and friends would gather around it but that would last a couple weeks at best.
You also have to consider that this game would get a massive downgrade on the Saturn and would look worse than some of the worse early PSX games which many people complain about today. As shown below:
You can use the same arguments for several other Saturn games to varying degrees such as many of their arcade sports games, Virtua Cop, House of the Dead, Fighting Vipers, and others, even with some of the exclusive Saturn games not form the arcade but are in the style of arcade games.
When you move to the Dreamcast you face a very similar issue.
Sonic Adventure which wasn't based on an arcade game, was popular and there was excitement but that declined after the honeymoon period for both consumers and gaming journalists which trashed it and it's sequel years later. The best selling game on the console.
You have another good looking Virtual On with Tangem which has the same issues as the first one. Actually, maybe worse.
While there's a loud niche base, Shenmue was basically a tech demo for almost every other gamer and casual, and eve some reviewers remarked on that.
Sega Bass was a very fadish game for a shot-time.
Daytona 2, sequel to popular arcade original, limited fanfare.
And this seems to be specifically a Sega issue. When you look at arcade ports on the PSX, the N64, and even the 3DO, and those exclusive games that are in the arcade-style but not ports, more consumers wanted to play those at home then any of these Sega games on average. People didn't see any reason to justify paying $50-$60 and in some cases $40 for several of these Sega hits, which many of them Sega invested a lot of money in.
So the question becomes what's wrong with Segas arcade games? Why did people buy those arcade port and arcade style-games from various companies on the PSX/N64/3DO and not buy a Saturn or Dreamcast for those games? Why in the US, arguably the Dreamcast strongest country, consumers were they buying improved PSX ports, sports games, and some other titles in various styles, but for a lot of their arcade-style games people were not really buying many of them in large numbers?
And I think the issue is that Sega didn't know how to make a game that would attract long-term attention. I think a lot of their cult catalog today in 2019, in the 90's had a SHORT shelf-life that expired and only seems relevant today by a loud minority cult and emulation.
But when we look at the gaming market in the past we have to ask our self:
1.We have a Sega Saturn on sale by retailer for $150, an extra controller for $30, and the new Virtual-On Cyber Troopers and a free game that we can choose to go with it due to a Buy one get one free promotion.
2.A PSX for $200 and having to pay $40 separately for Tekken 2 with no free game promotion. Extra controller $40
3.A newly released N64 for $200 special sale with $50 Cruis'n USA separate purchase, Extra controller for $50.
On paper the Saturn looks like the better deal, and if you looked at trailers you would think that the Saturn free pack-in game may be the best of the bunch, while also buying a dual-stick controller thinking it will get more support later one, and as sugar on top you get a free game with your Virtual-On.
Yet nearly no one chose the first option outside a small niche. I feel like there's something about Sega games that have this small window of excitement when they first come out and then they fizzle out.
It's not that they are bad games either, at least some of the games are good, although there are bad ones (hi fighting vipers) but they just never clicked with the average consumer for long-term play.
I feel like this contributed immensely to one of Segas major problems post Genesis, and that's finding more IP's that would really grab the consumers like Sonic did, which was already in decline on the Genesis by the time the Saturn came out. They had some hit titles but those were also short lived. If you can't get people to invest in your hardware long-term it will be hard for you to sell many units.
The issue is that Segas games felt very, shallow and lacking in substance to the average consumer, even gamer centric ones, after an initial period.
For example Virtual-On:
It's a good looking arcade game, and the concept is interesting, but there's basically no substance here. Is this a game were you would pay hundreds of dollars for a Saturn and $50-$60 for this game? Especially given how mindless the gameplay is and how short the matches are? Why would I pick this over several other games on competing systems? Sure, it would look great at the local arcade and friends would gather around it but that would last a couple weeks at best.
You also have to consider that this game would get a massive downgrade on the Saturn and would look worse than some of the worse early PSX games which many people complain about today. As shown below:
You can use the same arguments for several other Saturn games to varying degrees such as many of their arcade sports games, Virtua Cop, House of the Dead, Fighting Vipers, and others, even with some of the exclusive Saturn games not form the arcade but are in the style of arcade games.
When you move to the Dreamcast you face a very similar issue.
Sonic Adventure which wasn't based on an arcade game, was popular and there was excitement but that declined after the honeymoon period for both consumers and gaming journalists which trashed it and it's sequel years later. The best selling game on the console.
You have another good looking Virtual On with Tangem which has the same issues as the first one. Actually, maybe worse.
While there's a loud niche base, Shenmue was basically a tech demo for almost every other gamer and casual, and eve some reviewers remarked on that.
Sega Bass was a very fadish game for a shot-time.
Daytona 2, sequel to popular arcade original, limited fanfare.
And this seems to be specifically a Sega issue. When you look at arcade ports on the PSX, the N64, and even the 3DO, and those exclusive games that are in the arcade-style but not ports, more consumers wanted to play those at home then any of these Sega games on average. People didn't see any reason to justify paying $50-$60 and in some cases $40 for several of these Sega hits, which many of them Sega invested a lot of money in.
So the question becomes what's wrong with Segas arcade games? Why did people buy those arcade port and arcade style-games from various companies on the PSX/N64/3DO and not buy a Saturn or Dreamcast for those games? Why in the US, arguably the Dreamcast strongest country, consumers were they buying improved PSX ports, sports games, and some other titles in various styles, but for a lot of their arcade-style games people were not really buying many of them in large numbers?
And I think the issue is that Sega didn't know how to make a game that would attract long-term attention. I think a lot of their cult catalog today in 2019, in the 90's had a SHORT shelf-life that expired and only seems relevant today by a loud minority cult and emulation.
But when we look at the gaming market in the past we have to ask our self:
1.We have a Sega Saturn on sale by retailer for $150, an extra controller for $30, and the new Virtual-On Cyber Troopers and a free game that we can choose to go with it due to a Buy one get one free promotion.
2.A PSX for $200 and having to pay $40 separately for Tekken 2 with no free game promotion. Extra controller $40
3.A newly released N64 for $200 special sale with $50 Cruis'n USA separate purchase, Extra controller for $50.
On paper the Saturn looks like the better deal, and if you looked at trailers you would think that the Saturn free pack-in game may be the best of the bunch, while also buying a dual-stick controller thinking it will get more support later one, and as sugar on top you get a free game with your Virtual-On.
Yet nearly no one chose the first option outside a small niche. I feel like there's something about Sega games that have this small window of excitement when they first come out and then they fizzle out.
It's not that they are bad games either, at least some of the games are good, although there are bad ones (hi fighting vipers) but they just never clicked with the average consumer for long-term play.
I feel like this contributed immensely to one of Segas major problems post Genesis, and that's finding more IP's that would really grab the consumers like Sonic did, which was already in decline on the Genesis by the time the Saturn came out. They had some hit titles but those were also short lived. If you can't get people to invest in your hardware long-term it will be hard for you to sell many units.