Sega Saturn — Twin SH2s and a Surprise Launch

The Sega Saturn went on sale in North America on 11 May 1995, at $399 with Virtua Fighter in the box. Japan had it first, on 22 November 1994, at ¥44,800, and Europe followed on 8 July 1995. The North American date was not the one Sega had announced: it was revealed on the day, at a trade show, with the consoles already in some stores.

In Japan, Sony's PlayStation followed eleven days later, on 3 December. Sega's own history calls the contest among 32-bit machines the "next-generation console war": Panasonic's 3DO REAL in March 1994, the Saturn in November, the PlayStation and NEC's PC-FX in December, and the Nintendo 64 in June 1996.

A planet's name and two SH2s

According to Sega's official hardware history, the Saturn was developed as Sega's sixth home console and so was named after the sixth planet of the solar system. The same page gives this specification:

The page says the pair of 32-bit SH2 processors made possible both polygon-based 3D games and much richer 2D games. In arcades, Sega introduced ST-V, a board compatible with the Saturn, so popular titles could be brought home quickly.

Famitsu's 2020 retrospective notes that the Saturn's 2D drawing matched or exceeded arcade boards, and that fans would sometimes sum up the generation as "2D for the Saturn, 3D for the PlayStation."

Japan: a million in six months

According to Famitsu, Japanese shipments of the Saturn passed one million within six months of launch. Virtua Fighter at launch was followed by arcade conversions such as Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2 and Sega Rally Championship. Sega itself describes the Saturn as its biggest-selling console in Japan.

Sega was not the only maker. According to Sega's history, Victor (JVC) sold the V-Saturn, and Hitachi sold the Hi-Saturn (1 April 1995, ¥64,800), which added Video CD and Photo CD playback; Hitachi later built a car-navigation version (6 December 1995, ¥150,000). Sega's own redesigned, cheaper model, known as the white Saturn, went on sale on 22 March 1996 at ¥20,000—less than half the launch price, sixteen months on.

North America: four months early

North America went differently. According to Retronauts, Sega of America had announced a launch on 2 September 1995. Then, on 11 May 1995, at its keynote at the first E3 in Los Angeles, CEO Tom Kalinske revealed that 30,000 Saturns, bundled with Virtua Fighter, were already in stores across the country at $399.

English Wikipedia says Sega of Japan had pushed for the early launch to give the Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation.

According to heise online's 2025 retrospective, Sony announced the PlayStation's American price a few hours later at the same show. Steve Race stepped to the microphone, said "299" and left the stage to cheers. At the same event Sony announced a launch on 9 September 1995 in more than 12,000 stores. The Saturn reached North American shelves four months before the PlayStation, but at a price $100 higher.

The early start had a cost. Retronauts says retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart, which received none of the 30,000 consoles, were annoyed, and that only a handful of games were available for months. It concludes that the move gave Sega barely any advantage over Sony.

In Europe too, according to English Wikipedia, the Saturn arrived ahead of the original North American date, on 8 July 1995, at £399.99.

Totals

These totals could not be confirmed on Sega's own site; all three come from English Wikipedia, which puts Europe at one million. On those figures, Japan accounted for about 60 percent of the total, and the machine never took hold in North America or Europe.

Its successor, the Dreamcast, launched in Japan on 27 November 1998. For the wider story, see the game consoles timeline.