Sega CD wasn’t a Sega of America thing, that was started in Japan. SOA was behind the 32X with the idea to have a cheaper 32-bit alternative to the Saturn as well as being able to release ports of 3D games like Daytona USA without having to have expensive chips in the carts like the Virtua Racing port (which retailed for something ridiculous like $100).
Of course, it failed because nobody wanted to spend money on a dead end 32-bit addon right before the actual 32-bit console was about to release
Also Nintendo at the time was marketing the shit out of the Nintendo 64 and how Mario 64 was revolutionary (which It was really at the time) and they beat them to It. Also from what I heard Sony’s PS1 was relatively easy to develop for which is what made It popular too + the marketing.
The Saturn was very hard to develop for, partially because the hardware design was changed at the last minute for better 3D capabilities. The surprise US launch also didn’t help.
I don’t think they would’ve moved the needle much since 2D was considered passé at the time, but stopping all the good 2D games from coming to the West was another nonsensical decision. Instead, here’s a terrible game based on the movie Congo exclusively on the Saturn.
Afaik regarding Sony vs Nintendo thing, one of the major draws of CDs was the relatively low cost to produce vs cartridges, which meant bigger profit margins for PS1 than in N64. This is also I think why a lot of PS1 games were $50 while N64 games could go for upwards of $80. Ease of development and available storage space (much more for CDs at the time) were also pretty important
Also I heard It was super easy to pirate stuff on It. I heard It was really prevalent in the 90s post-Soviet Russia. Even homebrews and emulators were made for It.
Sega CD wasn’t a Sega of America thing, that was started in Japan. SOA was behind the 32X with the idea to have a cheaper 32-bit alternative to the Saturn as well as being able to release ports of 3D games like Daytona USA without having to have expensive chips in the carts like the Virtua Racing port (which retailed for something ridiculous like $100).
Of course, it failed because nobody wanted to spend money on a dead end 32-bit addon right before the actual 32-bit console was about to release
My bad about the Sega CD thing.
Also Nintendo at the time was marketing the shit out of the Nintendo 64 and how Mario 64 was revolutionary (which It was really at the time) and they beat them to It. Also from what I heard Sony’s PS1 was relatively easy to develop for which is what made It popular too + the marketing.
The Saturn was very hard to develop for, partially because the hardware design was changed at the last minute for better 3D capabilities. The surprise US launch also didn’t help.
I don’t think they would’ve moved the needle much since 2D was considered passé at the time, but stopping all the good 2D games from coming to the West was another nonsensical decision. Instead, here’s a terrible game based on the movie Congo exclusively on the Saturn.
Afaik regarding Sony vs Nintendo thing, one of the major draws of CDs was the relatively low cost to produce vs cartridges, which meant bigger profit margins for PS1 than in N64. This is also I think why a lot of PS1 games were $50 while N64 games could go for upwards of $80. Ease of development and available storage space (much more for CDs at the time) were also pretty important
Also I heard It was super easy to pirate stuff on It. I heard It was really prevalent in the 90s post-Soviet Russia. Even homebrews and emulators were made for It.