If you’re a gamer and have taken more than a quick glance at industry news in the past few years, you probably know how Microsoft screwed up the launch of Xbox One. Whether it was through arrogance, arrogance, or just plain stupid, someone at Microsoft really miscalculated. the marketing of the latest Xbox console, and the effects of that can still be felt today as the PS4 dominates the charts month after month. Sony might be celebrating now, but they too found themselves in a similar situation last generation when they tried to launch their PS3 amidst controversy, high price and poor marketing.
While Microsoft is in the midst of rehabbing its image following the Xbox One DRM debacle and Sony implementing what it learned from the PS3’s relative failure to improve the PS4, at least those companies are still releasing consoles. Back in 1995, SEGA was one of the “big two” when it came to console gaming (along with Nintendo), but some atrocious marketing decisions with the Saturn sent the company into a tailspin from which it never recovered. really, which resulted in early dropout. from their next console, the Dreamcast, and finally remove them from the hardware game altogether.
Prior to the Saturn release, SEGA announced that the console would launch a week before Sony’s newest console, the PlayStation, in September 1995. Either out of fear of the new kid on the block or just a bug. marketing strategy, someone at SEGA HQ decided it would be a good idea to surprise everyone by releasing the Saturn in May as a big surprise. To all. Including the players. and retailers. And developers. And publishers. Oh, and forget about developing for the 32X, that was last month.
Yes, the SEGA Saturn was released in May 1995, but as far as most gamers were concerned, it wasn’t expected until September, so they didn’t get a chance to save up or warn their parents that it was coming. That didn’t really matter all that much, though, as most retailers didn’t know the console was coming either, and thus their stores weren’t prepared to take on a new console launch five months earlier than expected. Though, on second thought, maybe they weren’t worried at all since there weren’t any games ready for the system since SEGA also didn’t alert the game developers about the change in release date, which means there were only six games available on the system. release and all of them were done. from SEGA.
In one fell swoop, SEGA managed to piss off virtually every retailer, every game developer and publisher other than them, and confused gamers all over the world. Basically, it was the gaming equivalent of sending out all your Christmas cards in June and then wondering why no one bothered to return one.
The Saturn wasn’t the final straw, but the decision to sidetrack everyone with a bogus release date for the console crippled it and allowed the PlayStation to clean up when it finally launched on the day Sony told people. would be released in September. SEGA didn’t attempt any such stunt with its next console, the Dreamcast, but the damage to its brand had already been done, and in doing so, it gave Sony a chance to find a foothold in the console market. The PlayStation 2 became the best-selling console of all time, and the Dreamcast lasted less than two years on the market before SEGA abandoned the hardware altogether to focus on developing and publishing games for other consoles.