The stage was set. Three primary competitors held high hopes and expectations. Sega, Sony, and Nintendo. Three giants. No one would've guessed back in '94 that Sega's next-gen console would further lead them to a slot as a third-party game developer.
Prelude
The Genesis had run its successful course. Gamers were now looking to the next era, the 32-bit/64-bit era. Many were surprised when the Saturn's scheduled release date, Saturday, September 2nd, 1995 (dubbed "Saturnday"), was a ruse. It would now ship out on May 11th in North America. Sega announced this during the E3 expo, and everyone present was bewildered. Sony was especially surprised, because the PlayStation was marked for September 9th, a week after the supposed "Saturnday." Needless to say, Sega had the gaming market in its hands. The Genesis, SNES, and TurboGrafx were dying (or, in TurboGrafx's case, dead), and both of the competitor's consoles were a long way off. Sega was in control. Or was it?
Specs
The Saturn was and is a great system. It had ahead-of-its-time graphics, it had a cool design, it was the first console to feature an analog stick, and most of all, it included the masterpiece, NiGHTS into Dreams...
Positive aspects:
:arrow: First mainstream console of the 32-bit/64-bit era. (Excluding other less-popular systems.)
:arrow: Many processors allowed for the opportunity of mindblowing graphics. In addition, the Saturn was boasted as being a console for dedicated gamers, claiming that it was more powerful (in terms of hardware) than the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation.
:arrow: Featured mostly high-quality games, including NiGHTS into Dreams and the surprisingly good Sonic 3D Blast port. The N64 and PS were plagued with shoddy third-party titles. (The Playstation suffered more from crappy games than the N64 did.)
:arrow: As stated above, it was the very first console to sport a true analog stick. The next time you play with the Wii Nunchuk, the Xbox360's controller, or the PS3's controller, thank the Saturn.
:arrow: The Saturn was the console for Japanese gamers. It fared well in the Japanese market, while the PS and N64 tried to keep up. There were many high-quality Japanese anime games available as well, which contributed to its great success in that country.
Negative stifles:
:arrow: Although early to market, this "fortunate" move wasn't so "fortunate" after all.
:arrow: Developers for the Saturn were few and far between. They lost confidence in the Saturn when it began to fair poorly in the marketplace. In addition, most developers didn't realize the full potential of the hardware. They didn't take advantage of the Saturn's components. The Saturn was a very powerful system for its time. The reason why PlayStation and N64 graphics might look nicer than the SS is most likely due to the fact that many of the veteran game developers headed for those two other consoles. They mastered the competition's hardware, and the Saturn was at a loss.
:arrow: Imported games are very difficult to play on a US Saturn.
:arrow: Supported only two players. However an add-on was released later which allowed for six-player support.
:arrow: Nowadays, Saturns are expensive due to rarity and demand.
Conclusion
The surprise move by Sega backfired on them. The Saturn was priced at $400, and even though this pricetag seemed lofty, Sega was sure that gamers would purchase it anyway. Third-party developers were upset because they had planned to release their games alongside the Saturn on its original release date, September 2nd. Large store chains such as Wal-Mart and KB Toys felt that they had been ignored and/or betrayed by Sega. Now their competition was benefiting from Saturn sales. KB stores were so upset, in fact, that they refused to supply Saturns to customers.
Get this (taken from Wikipedia): "By the time of the PlayStation's release 
on September 9, 1995, the Saturn had sold approximately 80,000 systems. The PlayStation sold over 100,000 units upon release in the U.S., a record at the time for a new system." So you see, the Saturn had several months to sell itself before the Playstation was released, and yet the Playstation outsold the Saturn in one day. That's incredible.
Sadly, as years went by, the Saturn became known as the "other" game console. The PS and N64 were enjoying marketshare and success. By the end of 1997, Sega turned its attention to its next system, the Sega Dreamcast. Thus, a legend sprang up and died down within the course of two years in North America.
I hope that you enjoyed this first edition of VGS Profiles! Look for a Nintendo 64 profile soon.
For credibility so that all of you know for sure that I actualy own a Saturn, here's a picture of mine along with some boxes, cases, games, etc. To the left is, as you might have guessed, my NiGHTS into Dreams copy. The game came packaged in a large box in order to leave space for the 3D control pad (right, top). At the very top of the picture you can see a "bootleg sampler" in a thin tan slip (the Saturn box has a bright yellow sticker that says "Video Game Sampler Enclosed"). Below that is a NiGHTS manual, followed by Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition, Impact Racing, Virtua Fighter 2, NHL Powerplay '96, and Madden NFL '98. And then, of course, is the original box that the Saturn (bottom) supposedly came in. To the bottom-right is the regular (and very durable) controller. I forgot to include Sonic 3D Blast in this picture, but I only own the disc, so it wouldn't be very exciting to look at anyway.
Every Saturn object you see in the image cost me, in total, around $90 on eBay. This price is inexpensive for such a rich, exhilerating experience, most notably with NiGHTS into Dreams... I encourage every serious gamer to pick one of these powerhouses up.
Related Links
Sega Saturn article on Wikipedia
Sega Saturn game music from dedicated fans
Looking for a Saturn to purchase? There are several available on eBay.