The Year That Could Have Been, But Wasn't
J.M. Vargas
sjvargas@concentric.netIt's been a while since I've written one of these editorials, but frankly there was no single topic that made me jump up and scream "I must let the world know what I think" (the Katana name for the upcoming Sega platform came close). So, rather than having a central point for this editorial I'll just share with you my two cents about a number of stuff about Sega and the Saturn in 1997, from my biased and well-versed point of view. And yes, I did send brief versions of these topics vie E-mail to Sega of America, just so people don't say that we're loyalists talking amongst ourselves. Extreme masochism if you ask me, since I type on Netlink and can't send my messages to different sites (like other reviewers in this very site usually do)...and I would rather have my stuff read by people who still give a f%*^ (and I'm not sure there are many of those left at SOA). Start your engines...
THE RAM CART FROM/FOR CAPCOM:
----------------------------I strongly urge those thinking about purchasing Capcom's mega-hot "X-Men vs. Street Fighter" from import stores to hold your purchase until Sega and Capcom finish their negotiations and make public what the outcome of those talks were. It isn't an easy proposal to arrange for such an expensive add-on to be made available for a Saturn userbase that constantly keeps shrinking (and if you don't believe me go visit a Funcoland and watch the used Saturn parade go on for hours). Not a single Saturn game made the top 25 console games of October '97 according to figures from the TRST's...NOT ONE! Keep in mind when you bitch about Sega not having their heads straight; the company is bleeding red ink, and has to operate accordingly.
Think about my case: I'm not interested in "X-Men vs...", but I can't wait for "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter" (it's all about Sakura and the Hulk teamed together...don't ask :-). Do I have to buy "X-Men..." to get the cart? Can I resell the game without the cart? Will Sega make the game workable without the cart in order for consumers to order the cart via Sega/Capcom distribution? With very few Saturn games selling well, will Sega risk distribution via retail outlets (EB, Babbages, etc.) and unsold stocks of unpurchased RAM carts stacked up in warehouses? Will they sell versions of later games ("Darkstalkers III") with and without the cart for people not interested in the earlier "...vs..." games? Given the circumstances, I dare you to come up with a distribution scheme that will give you a reasonable profit on the investment. It's not as easy as counting 1-2-3.
All I'm asking is for you to give Sega of America a chance to hang themselves by refusing to bring the RAM cart to the US (if they choose to do so), rather than you providing a premature blow to the whole enterprise by importing "X-Men vs..." and eat away the potential profits of Capcom/Sega. A good 1/3 of Saturn releases in 1998 are dependent on the RAM cart seeing these shores, and patience is of the essence. But of course it's your patience, your money and your gaming bliss; want to play the arcade-exact ports promised by the cart, and are willing to put up with some language barriers? Go for it! I'll actually take the plunge and mold my Saturn if SOA passes on the Capcom cart. To have Sailor Mo...Sakura (he, he) and the Hulk as a tag team is just too much to miss.
NeXT!!!
WHAT WAS HOT IN '96 IS STILL HOT IN '97:
---------------------------------------NG Online reported in late November (using reliable industry sources) the top ten games that sold during October of 1997 on the Saturn and the PSX. The number of units sold wasn't revealed, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the PSX games sold considerably more units than the Saturn game's (and need I remind you that not a single Saturn game made the console top 25 list for October?). PSX titles such as "Final Fantasy VII", "Gameday '98", "Bushido Blade" and "Street Fighter EX + Alpha", with their sleek look, strong license and promotional campaigns were walking off the shelves. But when you check the Saturn's top ten, a disturbing trend easily becomes apparent: the average Saturn owner has become a bargain hunter, and an NFL junkie in need of a fix (any fix).
Six relatively brand-new games made the list: "Madden '98" (1), "Resident Evil" (2), "Marvel Super Heroes" (3), "World Series Baseball '98" (4), "The Lost World" (5) and "Megaman X4" (9). Three Capcom games on the list confirms what we all knew: without Capcom on it's side, Saturn would have already become a 3DO-like afterthought. The other four games, though, were older games that had their peak selling period last year but are still moving: "NFL '97" (6), "Madden '97" (7), "Sonic 3D Blast" (8) and "Tomb Raider" (10). Most of these games are now selling at discounted prices (usually $29), which is the norm when a product isn't hot anymore. Sony does it too with their new "Power Price" list of greatest hits or misses: "Jet Motto", "Tenka", "Swagman", "Alien Trilogy", etc. So what's the moral we can deduct from the above figures?
First, Sega truly dropped the ball by allowing the PSX to inherit the Genesis' reputation as the platform for the sports enthusiast, and will have to work hard to get that respect back when the new system hits next year. The fact that "Madden '97" and the (so I heard) terrible football game from Sega Sports, "NFL '97", are still selling well this late in their life cycle shows how starved the average Saturn owner is for the sports games that just seem to tumble out of the wood work for Sony's PSX. And of course, the list shows that when your platform isn't constantly being fed new games, the masses go back and look for discounted goodies but don't necessarily buy all the new games coming out ("Sonic Jam", "Sky Target" and "Bomberman" didn't make the list).
NeXT!!!
THE WAR OF THE SHINY FREE DISCS:
-------------------------------I don't know about you, but I love to have samplers of 32-bit games in my collection because they allow me to "own" a piece of the game that I don't have any intention of ever owning. For multiple-platform owners, this is a God-sent that can keep a library of titles lean and mean. I don't ever have any intention of owning "Bug Too!", "Vs.", "Po'ed", "Test Drive 4", "Herc's Adventures", "Way of the Warrior" or "Baku Baku", but since they're on my pile of sampler discs I can just pop it up and experience the essence of the game. Sega shouldn't be left behind in this trend when their new platform gets released, but should study and copy (no shame in emulating your competitor's success stories) Sony's strategy regarding Sampler Discs.
Originally pioneered (on consoles) by 3DO, the sampler disc contains a handful of previews (most of them playable) of the upcoming games that will be available for the CD-based platform and give the potential buyer a look, an incentive, and maybe a push to financially buy the game. The explosion of samplers on PSX has been phenomenal, and Sony is exploiting the medium's potential to it's fullest: their Jam Pack series sells well ($5 for a CD with appx. 12 playable previews), and their Underground magazine ($30 for a year's subscription, with double-CD installments every few months) is a hip and technologically-savvy alternative to the kiddie-oriented Nintendo Power magazine. Occasionally it might even ignite an unexpected sale or two: a friend bought me "Bushido Blade" as a gift after playing it on the sampler, and the temptation to invite Laura Croft one more time into my PSX for "Tomb Raider 2" has grown since I sampled her new 1/50th-of-a-level demo.
Sega missed this trend from the very beginning with the faulty and bugged sampler that was bundled with the first Saturns released in 1995 (which, oddly enough, had "Bug" as one of the games on display). Aside from the touch of genius that was "Christmas NiGHTS", Sega just let the competition take over this means of self-promotion and establish its own rules. It makes no sense to invest on samplers for the lost cause that the Saturn has become, but Dural/Black Belt/Katana should be able to give their owners a taste of the good (and occasionally bad) things that are yet to come. Imagine a platform with no new games but a CD with sampler versions of "Virtua Striker 2", "Motor Raid", "Virtua Fighter 3" or "Daytona USA 2"...or one of those games with a "Preview" section that shows movies or a couple of levels from an upcoming red-hot release. Crystal Dynamics did that with "Gex" and "Slam & Jam '95" for the 3DO, and it might be an area worth investing some thought and effort into. Just a thought.
NeXT!!!
"HOUSE OF THE DEAD (PROGRAMMERS)"?:
----------------------------------Just a word of caution for those arcade-goers with their trigger fingers itching at the prospect of playing "House of the Dead" on your Saturn later this Winter. AM1 developed the game for the arcade (its' true: look at the very last scene in the game, when the girl runs toward the screen), and unless AM2 steps in and takes over the port with their "Virtua Cop" engine, then AM1 will be responsible for the Saturn port of "HOTD". These are the wonderful folks that gave the world the coaster of a game that we've come to know as "Sky Target", a game so lacking in fun factor, graphical eye-candy and polish that is easily beaten in every aspect by "After Burner II" (AM2's classic arcade shooter available on Working Design's "Sega Ages"). Just a word of caution to those expecting the world from their Saturn: AM1 is a competent and fine team of developers, but AM2 and AM3 wipe AM1's butt with their own left-over assembly code.
NeXT!!!
CAN YOU SPARE $25 MILLION? I NEED TO HIDE FROM THE WORLD!:
---------------------------------------------------------I can't recall another occasion in which I sought out to find a publicity campaign, rather than the other way around. Sega of America spent $25 million this holiday season advertising their Saturn killer apps; that figure pales to the dozens of millions spent by Sony and Nintendo to advertise everything from that guy in a Crash suit (still don't get it) to "Diddy Kong Racing". And when you factor in the millions spent by third-party publishers like Acclaim ("Turok", "Extreme G"), Electronic Arts ("Madden Football"), GT Interactive ("Abe's...", "Duke Nukem") and Eidos ("Tomb Raider 2", which in my opinion had the best TV spot with the "Lara's back" campaign), you realize that the videogame industry is looking more like the bloated schedule of movies that get released around the holidays.
Considering Sega's market share, I'm amazed they have and are willing to spend $25 million on their ads, but here in a nutshell are the memorable moments I can remember from what little I saw of their TV campaigns (saw all their print ads though). The "Sonic R" TV spot was lousy and generic, and it could have been promoting any racer out there; what do freaky-looking dudes racing on invisible vehicles through hallways have to do with Sonic's universe? "World Series Baseball '98", both print and TV, were the equivalent of a funny one-liner that sticks in the mind but fails to interest much after that; the fact that there were only a handful of seconds of videogame footage seems to suggest that Saturn graphics aren't worthy of being exposed to TV audiences, which is a sharp contrast to what every other non-Saturn game advertised on TV seems to be doing. Couldn't find any other TV spots for "Enemy Zero" or "Last Bronx", and damn if I didn't actually watch MTV looking for them (I hate MTV!). "Enemy Zero" had a cool print ad with bodies flying in outer space (trust me: for once a game actually lives up to the premise), and that dude with the pierced face in the "Sonic Jam" print ad was kinda gross!
In the end, I'll actually remember the 1997 holiday push more for what wasn't shown than for what made it to the airwaves/magazines: not a single promotional push for Lobotomy's fine ports of PC mega-hits "Duke Nukem 3D" and "Quake"...not a single promotional push for "Manx TT Super Bike" and "Sega TouringCar Championship"...and a TV media buy so stealth and secretive that Bill Clinton's cronies (John Huang, Charlie Tree, Craig Livingstone, etc.) could have been prominently displayed and the Republicans wouldn't have noticed they were there. Oh well, it's their money, their prerogative, and in the end it'll be their neck (are you listening Bernie?).
NeXT!!!
..FINALLY, MAY I HAVE THE ENVELOPE PLEASE?:
-------------------------------------------It's fun to believe anybody gives a f^*@ about what you think about anything, so what the heck do I have to loose by telling you my picks for the best and the worst games I had the pleasure to experience on the big bad ol' black box, the Sega Saturn. Keep in mind that it's YOUR OPINION that matters above anyone else's, and that my bias is reflected by the lack of RPG's and sports games (which I simply do not like...you may burn me with scolding words anytime). Here we go:
-BEST SATURN GAME OF 1997: "Fighters Megamix", which although somewhat flawed in the graphics, the resetting music and the lack of taunts at the end, more than made up for that in gameplay, depth, characters, and "VF3" moves... a must for the true Saturn faithful!
-RUNNERS-UP FOR BEST OF 1997: "Duke Nukem 3D" (the game to justify buying the Netlink), "Quake" (a small-scale programming miracle, and a mean one-player shoot-athon), "Enemy Zero" (moody as hell!), and "Sonic R" (wonky control almost sinks it, but the graphics/music/joy of running saves it).
-SECOND-BEST THAT ARE WORTH GETTING AS A GIFT (JUST DON'T PAY MONEY FOR THEM): AM3/ANNEX games that were good arcade emulations of the real deal, but lacked that little extra touch of "Virtua Fighter 2"/"Sega Rally" magic (we're talking "Manx TT", "Sega TouringCar Championship" and "Last Bronx"), museum-type compilations of classic Sega games ("Sega Ages" and "Sonic Jam"), and all Capcom games (2D beauties like "Street Fighter Collection"/"Megaman X4", plus a nice port of "Resident Evil").
-WORST GAME OF 1997: a three-way tie (it's just too much fun to vent :-) between three high-profile licenses that were not done justice on Saturn. "Doom" (no link option, 5-10 frames-per-second animation, no extras, NO F%#@%+*& GAME!), "Hexen" (ditto) and "Independence Day" (crappy FMV even by Saturn's low-res standards, no control over an airplane that bounces off canyons and buildings unscathed, and butt-ugly graphics that draw-in all around...and not a single corny one-liner from the movie to at least let the steam blow!) are the cream of the beaten crop, the worst sinners of them all because we expected so much from them.
-HONORABLE INDUCTION INTO THE HALL OF SHAME: here we go... "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" (a game that gets older by the minute from the moment you get it? "You Gotta Believe..."), "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (just like the summer movie, beautiful and gorgeous graphics a great game don't make...how about some control?), "Sky Target" ('nuff said), "Incredible Hulk" (Hulk smashed his head into a Ukraine Nuclear Plant...he was that ashamed!) and "Crimewave" (an Eidos exclusive the Saturn could have done without). And although it isn't out yet, I'm pretty sure that the messenger-simulator "Courier Crisis" will land somewhere in this category come release-time; mark my words.
NeXT!!!
SUCKING-UP:
----------A word of thanks to Dave Z. for keeping this site fresh and running up as the premier gamer-run site for Saturn gamers seeking solace and comfort in knowing they're not the only freaks out there who truly and honestly prefer the Sega black box over the Playstation and the Nintendo64 (I have received those weird stares when I say it in public; we all have). Thanks to those of you crazy enough to waste time reading the stuff me and other dedicated regulars contribute, and thanks to the couple of semi-pals I've met since becoming a visitor on this turf...with over 20 reviews under my belt, sega-saturn.com is home to some of the best writing even I never thought could be accomplished from a couch, in pajamas, eating Pop-Tarts, via the Netlink, watching "Politically Incorrect w. Bill Maher" on my Picture-in-Picture 32" XBR Trinitron (the girlfriend lives across town, therefore she isn't included :-). Is this a great country or what?