25 years of the Sega Saturn: Part 1-The Doomed Singularity

ut of all the rituals that you’d expect a seven-year-old to have in the early nineties, feverishly running to the supermarket newsstand for the latest video game magazine isn’t one that I’d imagine topping a Family Feud chart anytime soon. Yet there I was, a twinkle-eyed sap who cared for nothing more than to drool over the latest news and gossip of the one brand that ruled my kid life: SEGA.

The year 1994 was a particularly lucid period, because of the gaming hype for releases like Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, and Sonic & Knuckles, nothing was more exciting to me than Sega’s 32-bit project, the Sega Saturn. I couldn’t tell you how many times I read the August issue that year of Electronic Gaming Monthly, and the preview coverage they gave to the specifications of the system, and games that were going to be able to run on it like Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter, and Virtua Cop.

May 11th, 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the polarizing console—even to this day, the same fevered school ground arguments over the Saturn have transcended into keyboard wars across online forums and social networks because unlike anything else like in the medium. The Sega Saturn is a complex story that peels back like an onion; so I figured what better way to way to reminisce on my favorite game machine than with an editorial series on it.

In this chapter, we’re going back to where it all began, as the system’s origin is one that’s born through a gradual divorce between the East and West divisions of SEGA, with the Saturn being the child that was caught in the middle of it all.

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PPR 124

ow is everyone doing? Like, how’re are you guys, gals, and Nonbinary folk really doing...honestly, we’re all a bit scared, and tired, and nothing is normal at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t hope, right?

So, on with the show we must go  then, and while we’ve all been really overwhelmed here at Pres Pause Radio, we’ve still managed to keep busy with some games that we would like to discuss in this quarantine special of What’s in Your Console. Just to name a few, we’ve been getting down on Final Fantasy VII Remake, Gaieres, The Turbo Grafx 16/PC Engine Mini, Stadia, Valfaris, Destiny 2, Tom Clancy's The Division 2, Bravely Default 2 Demo, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Animal Crosssing: New Horizons, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, Rune Factory 4, some handheld Tiger Electronic bullshit, and a slew of other things.

There might not be a commute blat a podcast on at the moment, but we hope you can squeeze some time in for our humble little gaming podcast, with Press Pause Radio Episode 124.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: The Procession To Calvary (Steam)

t can be difficult to find something new and interesting in the genre of adventure games, a form of media that has existed for over forty years. In The Procession To Calvary, it’s creator Joe Richardson is able to create an unapologetic and humorous entry into the market utilizing free use artwork from the Renaissance and public domain music that is a refreshing ode to the cutout hilarity of Monty Python. And although the mechanics of the game are also laughable, it does not take away the fact that it has a sense of humor that was exactly on my level of gross and stupid.

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House Show: Fred Durst is the New Undertaker

Greetings, this is the pilot episode for House Show we recorded after Wrestlemania. We at Press Pause Radio have discussed for awhile about doing a wrestling podcast and now that there are dozens upon dozens of wrestling podcasts already in the space we figured we might as well give it a shot. Toast and his co-host Bull talk about the events of Mania and what's to come in the future. Check it out and be sure to tune into the show with new episodes coming soon. 

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PPR Limelight: Guilty Gear: Strive Closed Beta

 have been looking forward to checking out this latest installment in the Guilty Gear franchise since it was announced at last year's EVO. The online servers should be live on Friday, April 17 2020 at 11:00pm EST. Come and watch me be absolute garbage online, or maybe just staring at a loading screen while the servers try to connect. Arc System Works are implementing a rollback netcode for the online, so fingers crossed it will work!

QCF: Bubble Bobble 4 Friends (Switch)

t the time of this review, many have found video games to be a way to escape the uncertainty and harshness of an ever-changing structure in society. What has surprised me, however, is how video games and sharing that passion to those that may not have had any interest in the past can take our minds off that stress and uneasiness, if even for just a little bit. I have a bit of familiarity with the protagonists of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, mostly from the spin-off Puzzle Bobble but I did not spend too much time with the Taito titles from decades ago. This current iteration published by ININ Games does a great service to fans of those original entries while introducing the series to a new audience, myself and various members of my family included. Although there are some features and additions to the gameplay that are lacking, I am glad that this title and the cooperative nature it promotes is available to enjoy while we adjust to finding entertainment in the comfort of our homes.

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PPR Limelight: Totally Reliable Delivery Service

ith the current state of society and our everyday lives changing, our only way to combat the feelings of uneasiness and stress is for our site to do something we've not done in like six years. That's right, we will be streaming on Twitch tonight! We should be (maybe) live around 8 pm EST jumping into the upcoming title Totally Reliable Delivery Service from We're Five Games and tinyBuild on the Epic Game Store. Hope to see you there!

PPR Presents The Golden Zonkies: Class Of 2019

an, I don’t know about you guys but it feels like it we post this this annual special of ours even later than the last one, year by year—we’re really sorry about that. Rest assured, just as reliable as the groundhog, and its shadow, so too is our Game-of-the-year feature, The Golden Zonkies! (well, at least until Climate change fucks it all up for everyone anyway.)

In case y’all don’t remember the updated flow from last year’s show, we have changed up our format for the special mega cast—we’re doing away with categories!  Now, bear in mind, we’re still giving our prestigious mark of excellence, a Golden Zonkey, to the games that are deserving of recognition, only, we’re not doing by a respective genre, or category. Instead, we will be giving them out in a personal list format by each of us in the podcast, and we’ll be spending time discussing why we picked the titles we did within a countdown of five, and before we even get into that, we’ll also do a roundtable of games that were worth a quick mention from the year. We will then award the “Golden Zonkey of The Year” in a unanimous vote that was similar to previous format, and conclude the show from there.

We’re also planning another Golden Zonkey Special, a top ten best of list for the past decade! Keep an eye out for it because we’ll be dropping that one real soon!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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