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Post by akumajobelmont on May 27, 2015 1:36:00 GMT -5
This video popped up on my YouTube's yesterday. It's a really, REALLY neat look at how the Saturn does transparencies, and with what chips certain effects can be attributed to. The maker of the video had the same video up in his native language, but went to the trouble of creating a similar video in English, using the same examples from his previous works, which is fantastic. By his own admission, his English is far from perfect, so make sure to turn on Closed Captioning. I learned a lot from this video, and found it absolutely compelling. It really touches on aspects I myself was a little hazy on, so I definitely gained some clarity after watching.
Enjoy!
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Post by Colonel Kurtz on May 27, 2015 17:35:04 GMT -5
Extremely cool. great find, Jo! That guy is adorkable, but it is true that you spend the whole video reading the captions, with barely enough time to watch some graphics. He speaks fast!
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Post by akumajobelmont on May 27, 2015 23:35:20 GMT -5
Yeah, it took me a couple of views to get everything that he was saying, but it was worth it.
It's so amazing to see people analyzing the hardware so many years after the fact. The Saturn is truly one of the most misunderstood consoles of all-time, and as Saturn owner, it's extremely rewarding to dive into it's library and lore. I'm constantly finding out new things about the hardware, discovering games that even I never knew existed - there's just so much to being a Saturn owner, beyond even it's games. Collecting for the Saturn is, out of all the systems I own, the most exciting, fresh and rewarding.
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Post by Colonel Kurtz on May 28, 2015 7:57:18 GMT -5
The Saturn sure has a lot of charm.I'm happy he showed Last Bronx, because I really love that one. It has a certain Je ne sais quoi... Not that it beats Fighter Megamix, which is one of my top 5 fave fighters ever released, easily. Every Saturn owner should have Megamix!
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Post by JOshISPoser on May 30, 2015 18:13:40 GMT -5
That was pretty great.
So, in conclusion, saturn couldn't do 3D, it was actually manipulated sprites?
I always hear people go back and forth on that one.
That baseball game looked fun and familiar...it's the japanese version of World Series Baseball 98. I wonder if there are many differences.
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Post by kal on May 30, 2015 23:07:30 GMT -5
No the Saturn could do 3d, the textures themselves are manipulated sprites I believe rather than being mapped to the polygons like most modern 3d systems. At least I think that's what he's saying, it's back end rendering stuff so I wouldn't know the details.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2015 23:17:45 GMT -5
Great video, thanks for the link! The Western world definitely got shortchanged when it came to the Saturn. Then again, nerd culture wasn't nearly as en vogue back then, so maybe all those great exclusives might not have sold over here, even if they'd been localized.
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Post by GamerL on May 30, 2015 23:40:18 GMT -5
Great video, thanks for the link! The Western world definitely got shortchanged when it came to the Saturn. Then again, nerd culture wasn't nearly as en vogue back then, so maybe all those great exclusives might not have sold over here, even if they'd been localized. Wasn't the Saturn pretty much an abject failure right out of the gate in the US? I can't see how anything could have sold well over here. |
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2015 23:47:34 GMT -5
Yeah. If the market hadn't been fractured by the Sega CD and 32X first, though, I think the Saturn would have stood a much, much better chance overseas.
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Post by GamerL on May 31, 2015 0:22:43 GMT -5
Yeah. If the market hadn't been fractured by the Sega CD and 32X first, though, I think the Saturn would have stood a much, much better chance overseas. That's probably what happened is Sega ultimately shot itself in the foot by being unable to wait and muddying the waters with the Sega CD and the 32X, the Sega CD is one thing, there were some cool games for it, but the 32X was reaaaaaaaaaaally pushing it, what were they thinking? |
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 0:32:09 GMT -5
Sega management doesn't know its ass from a hole in the ground? Impossible!
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Post by Snarboo on May 31, 2015 10:00:57 GMT -5
To be fair, 3D tech in the 90s was a huge gamble, and nobody seemed to know what the right solution was. Even Nintendo stumbled a bit with the N64.
Still, I wonder what would have happened if Sega focused on one strategy for that generation? Like imagine if they combined the Sega CD and a slightly suped up 32X into one console, would that have worked? Would the Saturn have really done better if the 32X wasn't there to splinter the market, or was it doomed to failure either way?
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Post by Weasel on May 31, 2015 10:44:57 GMT -5
The Saturn also released ahead of schedule, which double-doomed their 32X strategy. A lot of people didn't even realize the Saturn had come out, so that's a massive marketing failure.
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Post by akumajobelmont on May 31, 2015 11:24:26 GMT -5
Great video, thanks for the link! The Western world definitely got shortchanged when it came to the Saturn. Then again, nerd culture wasn't nearly as en vogue back then, so maybe all those great exclusives might not have sold over here, even if they'd been localized. No worries! And yeah, I don't think a lot of those games would have sold if localized. In hindsight though, it would have been awesome to have English versions of certain games like Saturn Grandia, Bulk Slash and others. They might not have sold then, but they'd be very welcome today  |
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Post by Feynman on May 31, 2015 14:45:58 GMT -5
Although the 32x flopped and probably did at least some damage to the brand, I think the impact of the 32x's failure on the Saturn was relatively small. Hardly anyone bought a 32x to begin with, so not many Sega customers got burned on it... because the vast majority of Sega's market was already waiting for the next full system (the Saturn). If anything, the upcoming Saturn did more harm to the 32x. Folks like to bring up the Sega CD as well, but that wasn't a failed system. It was expensive and niche, but successful. The Sega CD was generally regarded well and considered a good system expansion.
Really, the vast majority of the shit that made the Saturn fail is the direct result of Sega of Japan's petty feud with Sega of America. From the design of the system's hardware to the marketing blunders, it all comes down to Sega of Japan's weird self-sabotage in their drive to make sure they were more successful in their home market and "beat" Sega of America.
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