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TornadoCreator on 12 March 2014
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TheLastStarFighter said:
TornadoCreator said:
TheLastStarFighter said:

Your comment about launching a system early shaking consumer confidence is completely unfounded.  There is no example of an early launch killing consumer confidence, however there are multiple examples of an early launch capturing it.

...Sega Saturn. It did exactly that. Destroyed both consumer and developer confidence by releasing early, also outright killed any chance the 32X would sell at all. In fact the release date of the Sega Saturn is one of the major contributing factors for Sega's collapse.


Yeah, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.  Whether you consider 32X a console or not, either way it proves the exact opposite of what you intend.  If 32X is not a console (as I wouldn't consider it to be), then Saturn launched 6 years after Genesis.  If 32X is a console, then launching a few months after it (or at the same time in Japan) was good for Saturn as it sold 10X as many units.

Sega collapsed for many reasons, none of which were launching systems early.  Early launches were the only way they were competitive at all.

You need to brush up on your console history. Sega Saturn released earlier than originally planned specifically to beat PSOne to release, meaning many of the games 3rd party developers where planning as release titles where now not going to be out until a few months after the Saturn released. This angered many of the developers and confused customers who where expecting an add on for the Mega Drive followed by a successor console the following year. What we got was only 5 months with the 32X as the Saturn was rushed forwards, third parties and even Sega themselves abandoned the 32X, getting only 37 games in it's less than 6 month lifespan before it was discontinued. This pissed off people who bought it especially as the Sega Saturn had nothing to show for it because there where no games out for it yet; so consumers felt uneasy buying another console from Sega so soon after, knowing how happy they are to drop poorly performing hardware. People knew to be uneasy about Sega rushing because they forced the Saturn out so quickly that it released in Japan before the 32X had released in Europe... which is just insane.

The Sega Saturn was a blunder because it was rushed forwards for an early release. It is an example of EXACTLY what was said. "There is no example of an early launch killing consumer confidence" - Yes there is, I just gave you one. Be gracious and admit when you're wrong; being stubborn helps no-one especially when everyone reading here could google it themselves and see that I'm right here.