Lately, I’ve decided to get back into the fray of console collecting. Anybody who has paid attention to my ramblings over the years knows that my collection is quite vast, and often, completely ridiculous. So I was trying to narrow down to one console to truly dedicate some time and resources to. What about the Nintendo64? Certainly the most neglected of my systems. My collection of N64 games is a give and take of quality. For every Ocarina of Time there’s a Quake II, and so forth. And certainly, the market is flooded with cheap, high quality titles that languish on the discount racks of stores. So there it is. I shall resume my obsessive collecting nature with Nintendo’s ill-fated 64-bit powerhouse…

But then something happened.

I was hooking up my Nintendo64 and gathering up my games for a quick inventory. My current organization system is comprised of a giant box filled with plastic bags. Each bag has the cables and controllers for a particular console. The consoles live on a shelf, precariously perched next to each other, with the games in storage containers not far away. Yes, this system sucks, but it has served me well over the last 5 years or so. So as I was digging, I came across my bag of Sega Saturn stuff, and the nostalgia rolled over me like a warm summer breeze.

Ah the Saturn. Sega at it’s best, and more importantly, worst. But I really did love this system. From the first time I saw a preview of it in GameFan magazine, I fell in love. The chance to play Virtua Fighter in the comfort of my own home was awesome! Now keep in mind, this was before Sega had completely shit on their entire fanbase. Sure, the SegaCD had yet to catch on with anybody except the richest kids on the block, and the 32x was pretty much sitting dormant, but Sega hadn’t outright failed yet. All of their consoles were still supported, and they were still the #2 (or #1 depending on who you asked) game company in all the world. They were the buzz of the industry at that moment in time. GameFan had SIX pages dedicated to a preview of the system and its games! The hype was huge. Sega could do no wrong. And nobody was worried about this new thing from Sony called the “Play Station”, and wrote it off as DOA. I begged my parents for one, and obviously sensing my desperation, they gave in. It was the best birthday present ever. I had a Saturn. The BEST game console ever created. Everyone should be jealous.

Oh how wrong we all were.

I’ll save you the story, and give you the rundown; Sega surprised the world by shipping the Saturn 6 months early to select retailers, the first round of games were abysmal, Sega failed to anticipate the shift to 3D games where Sony embraced it, and within the first year the price slashes had begun. And even though developers finally started to make the system shine towards the end, it was too late. Sega had lost, and the once great company had been defanged and stripped of its crown. Now Sega is a shadow of its former self, shoveling terrible sequels to franchises the world has passed by.

So where am I going with this?

I’ve taken on the task of getting back into the Saturn full-time, so expect lots of ramblings about it.