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Did we say Sega Saturn? Oh yes and we’re not kidding. The latest Wii rumors are that we can expect to see the lost Sega system popping up on Wii Virtual Console. The rumor started back at DigiPen, who shares an office building with Nintendo America.

Now when I think retro SS hardly ever pops into my mind but why not bring Sega’s 32-bit, CD based gaming system to a whole new generation. If you remember the Saturn to rendered First-person shooter games better than other consoles at the time, games like Quake, Powerslave, Duke Nukem 3D, HeXen.

And now a history lesson from our friends at Wikipedia:

In early 1995 Sega president Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would launch in the U.S. on “Saturnday”, (Saturday) September 2, 1995. This date was greatly anticipated by gamers and the media. It also allowed Sony to announce that the Playstation release date would be one week later on September 9, 1995. However, at the first Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 in May 1995, Kalinske announced that the “Saturnday” date was a ruse and that the system was being released nationwide by a few select retailers immediately.

This surprise move shocked everyone in attendance (Sony most of all) and it appeared that Sega had a real opportunity to take a commanding lead in the 32-bit race by beating the Playstation to the market. In reality the “surprise attack” launch backfired for Sega. The Saturn was released at a high price point of [USD]$400 (Sony announced a $300 price for the Playstation at E3).

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.

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