Oh yeah, Sega was screwed as far as capitalizing on the emerging 3D market. That is why I said they should have launched the Saturn with the titles I mentioned. Those titles had a connection with gamers, much more so than say Astal or Clockwork Knight ever could. While those games were visually impressive 2D and 2.5D affairs, they simply did not have name recognition with fans. Imagine Dynamite Heady using the Clockwork Knight engine or Ristar using the Astal engine (or Clockwork Knight's engine). It would have almost blown away Sega die hard fans of the time. Especially considering Sony's stance against 2D at the time. This could have been Sega's poke in the chink of Sony's armor.

The Dreamcast was a great console but it was clearly ill advised of Sega to have launched it so quickly. They should have done the waiting game and seen what the competition were bringing to the table. Instead, they attempted to be first, as they did with the Genesis and Saturn. The only time being first helped them was with the Genesis - every other time it screwed them more than it helped.

Pushing the Saturn launch forward six months, and not telling 3rd parties, certainly made it tough for them to support Sega's console then and in the future. Again, being first hurt more than it helped.

Sega simply did not know how to capitalize on success. Just look at the titles that they brought from their back catalog onto the Saturn or Dreamcast for proof.