What if...

gilly · Postby **gilly** » April 1st, 2011, 11:00 pm

What if Sega released a new home console?

nesfan1 · Postby **nesfan1** » April 2nd, 2011, 12:08 am

gilly, I know the answer to your question. If Sega made a new home console, then I and a few of my friends would be the happiest people alive.

Luke · Postby **Luke** » April 2nd, 2011, 12:13 am

[QUOTE=oldschoolgamer][QUOTE=Luke]What if the Dreamcast had been backwards compatible with Saturn games?[/QUOTE] It would have been as effective as the Genesis' backwards compatibility with the SMS. The Saturn didn't have enough of a market share for that to be a selling point. [/QUOTE]I disagree. The only reason the Saturn failed so miserably was because of its initial price - $399. But the Dreamcast was $199 at launch. And a lot of people wanted to buy a DC anyway. So I can guarantee you that the backwards compatibility of Saturn games would have been a VERY nice selling point. If you ask around today, I'm sure you could still find people who will say that they would have liked to have had a Saturn back in the day. Heck, some of them might even still like to have one now!

JesusSaves · Postby **JesusSaves** » April 2nd, 2011, 8:38 am

[QUOTE=gilly]What if Sega released a new home console?
[/QUOTE]

Orion1 · Postby **Orion1** » April 3rd, 2011, 7:12 pm

[QUOTE=Luke][QUOTE=oldschoolgamer][QUOTE=Luke]What if the Dreamcast had been backwards compatible with Saturn games?[/QUOTE] It would have been as effective as the Genesis' backwards compatibility with the SMS. The Saturn didn't have enough of a market share for that to be a selling point. [/QUOTE]I disagree. The only reason the Saturn failed so miserably was because of its initial price - $399. But the Dreamcast was $199 at launch. And a lot of people wanted to buy a DC anyway. So I can guarantee you that the backwards compatibility of Saturn games would have been a VERY nice selling point. If you ask around today, I'm sure you could still find people who will say that they would have liked to have had a Saturn back in the day. Heck, some of them might even still like to have one now!

[/QUOTE]

There are a lot of reasons why the Saturn failed; there's nothing that's "the only reason."

Luke · Postby **Luke** » April 4th, 2011, 1:51 am

Nope. The ridiculous price WAS the main reason.

JesusSaves · Postby **JesusSaves** » April 4th, 2011, 6:53 am

[QUOTE=Luke]Nope. The ridiculous price WAS the main reason.[/QUOTE]
And the underproduction of consoles at launch, giving the PS a foothold in the market. And the meager launch titles.

Orion1 · Postby **Orion1** » April 4th, 2011, 1:20 pm

The Saturn did a surprise launch way ahead of time, pissing off retailers and game developers. They made a complicated system to develop games for. The complicated system also did not allow for any type of slim version to be made. The retail price was high. They had a mediocre marketing campaign, with bad commercials and print ads. The gaming public felt burned by the 32x. The guy in charge at Sega of America made statements that caused Working Designs to leave as a developer. He also prematurely broke the news that another system was in development that would replace the Saturn.

Leo1 · Postby **Leo1** » April 4th, 2011, 9:38 pm

There were many reasons that contributed to the failure of the Saturn.

To credit it to just one reason is ridiculous.

Chaz1 · Postby **Chaz1** » April 5th, 2011, 12:45 am

What if the video game market never crashed in 1983?

What if there was a surge of profitability from home consoles in 1983 instead?