1988 – 1998retired
CD-i
“It dreamed of classrooms and ended up a game console. Honestly, a fine retirement.”
“Eight processors, one mission: make great games. Rest well, complicated friend.”
The Sega Saturn was the fifth-generation successor to Sega's beloved Genesis, arriving in Japan on November 22, 1994, then North America and Europe in 1995. Built around a new Hitachi CPU with a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors, it played games on CD-ROM, including treasured arcade ports and originals. A second video display processor was even bolted on in early 1994 to keep pace with Sony's upcoming PlaySt
In Japan, the Saturn found early success; in the United States, a surprise May 1995 launch four months ahead of schedule left retailers and fans rattled. After the Nintendo 64 debuted in late 1996, the Saturn rapidly lost ground stateside, and Sega discontinued it there in 1998. The cancellation of Sonic X-treme, meant to be Sega's first 3D entry in the series, didn't help, and the Saturn went down in the books as a
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“It dreamed of classrooms and ended up a game console. Honestly, a fine retirement.”
“He fought on-screen villains, 9/11-era skepticism, and a 2016 reboot — only the reboot beat him.”
“It taught us letters, counting, and that Sonic could do homework too.”