14 DAY TRIAL // Many gamers have wondered why SEGA is releasing remakes only from the Genesis and Dreamcast eras, completely ignoring titles that were available on the Sega Saturn. In a recent interview, Yosuke Okunari, the producer of the Dreamcast and Sega Ages 2500 series re-releases, shed some light on the subject of Sega Saturn downloadable games in modern times.
“When you look globally,” said Okunari, “the Genesis and Dreamcast are well known, but Saturn is unknown. During that period, PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were a success overseas, but to be honest Saturn was not a success. Because of this, we decided on Dreamcast.” The interview was made by Japanese site Impress Watch and translated by Andriasang.
However, there will be a chance to see games from the Saturn console become downloadable titles for the modern home boxes if there is demand for them, according to Okunari. He commented, “We're of course thinking about ports of Saturn games. It's the same as how Sega Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It's not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests.”
SEGA is working at the moment on Sonic Adventures and Crazy Taxi Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network ports, two successful games that were released first on the Sega Dreamcast system.
The two titles will not be available for the Wii, as Nintendo's console is not equipped with enough hard drive space to handle the download size. The original versions from the Saturn console came on 1GB discs and this is too much for the Wii's limited resources. No release date has been announced, as the developer wants them to be of great quality. Both titles will run in 720p resolution at a 60 fps framerate.