Gaming News Almost 30 years ago, SEGA prepared the release of an erotic sci-fi thriller on PlayStation so poorly that it was canceled shortly before release
Like cinema and literature, video games are used to disseminate various experiences, whether elegantly artistic or more commercial. In the mid-1990s there was an FMV title from SEGA that aimed to tease the player and tried to mix spaceships, scantily clad women, twisted puzzles and electrifying jump scares. However, it never saw the light of day.
Summary
- Not a one-night stand
- Independence…and decadence?
- With great fanfare
- Hide… that hip… that I can’t see
Not a one-night stand
For at least fifteen years, our video games have been so beautiful that they can show anything. The faces are expressive, the muscles contract naturally and the drops of sweat roll off the bodies realistically. Even before our screens were able to display 3D protagonists with physical characteristics similar to our world, developers were creating experiences with more or less erotic productions in which the body was in the spotlight. We could be talking about Gotcha in 1976, Softporn Adventure in 1981, Night Life, Bachelor Party or even the terrible Custer’s Revenge in 1982. Little by little, the labyrinths and texts gave way to much more impressive images.
Throughout the 1980s we saw the introduction of a number of games.X“, like X-Man and his bonus phase with sexual positions or Leisure Suit Larry. Then technical developments made it possible for our PCs, but also our consoles, to show the body as it really is. In the 1990s, digitized characters became popular (technique used by Acclaim’s Mortal Kombat), but so did FMV (pure full-motion video) thanks to CD support.
Now the characters we can interact with are filmed, so they are real actors moving on screen. FMV is quickly becoming fashionable, and as expected, studios have not hesitated to add eroticism to their productions to attract the attention of gamers. While in 1996 the tickets that Duke Nukem gave strippers to shake caused a smile, SEGA is preparing what it calls:an erotic thriller
Independence…and decadence?
At E3 1996, Sacred Pools, the famous “erotic thriller” as presented by SEGA is officially presented to the press. At that time the manufacturer was doing badly. The confrontation with Sony, which has just released its PlayStation, is not going to his advantage. The Saturn is increasingly coming under criticism from professionals, while sales of the console are declining dangerously. The president of the Japanese company, Isao Okawa, is examining possible action plans to avoid the crisis. He believes that creating a new independent development studio in the United States capable of exploring the growth of the Internet and other video game avenues could perhaps help avoid too difficult tomorrows..
This is how the Californian company SegaSoft was founded at the beginning of 1996, which can be viewed as a free electron within the manufacturer structure. Led by a former IBM executive, Nobuo Mii, the company is authorized to develop games.Adult“Multiplatform! So the group’s future production is planned as a Saturn game, but also as a PlayStation game, which may seem unlikely. With Sacred Pools, SegaSoft decided to bring an FMV game to the market, even if the hype had already died down a bit. With an estimated budget of $2 to 3 million, which was a nice sum for the time, the developers set out to create a title about mystical crystals found on an island where – on the Paper – lust and desire rule.
For SegaSoft, the project was taken seriously and the team enlisted the services of James W. Riley, who had worked in Hollywood on films such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the animated adaptation of Lord of the Rings. Other members of the production team include veterans of American film productions such as Molly Maginnis, Robert Primes, Nina Gilberti and Mars Lasar. These names may not mean anything to you, but you have to remember that the costumes, photography, editing and music are entrusted to big names who have worked with big companies (Disney) or on successful series (The X-Files). On the programming side, the developers from The Code Monkeys (Surgical Strike, Tomcat Alley) are involved.
With great fanfare
In 1996, Sacred Pools was presented for the first time in the hallways of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Although there is only one video of the project, SEGA is doing everything it can to inform people about its game and is inviting passers-by at the SegaSoft booth to an evening that the manufacturer promises to be an unforgettable one. During the latter, artists perform acrobatics in an environment depicting the Amazon (similar to that of the Software) to the sounds of alternative rock group Hole. The actresses also do their best by chatting with the guests and signing various autographs. But while everyone seems to be having fun during the event, the return to reality is brutal for SegaSoft. The trade press is not particularly convinced by the interest in Sacred Pools and mainly believes that the FMV genre is in its twilight ra ther than its zenith. While SEGA saw a bright future for interactive films, the press and gamers saw things differently.
The more months that pass, the less waiting time around the project becomes. The marketing teams are worried, and to make matters worse, the feedback from SEGA’s internal testers is not good. Slowly but surely, Sacred Pools is being forgotten : In 1997, it officially disappeared from SEGA’s gaming schedules. This year, Sega of America decided to stop losing money developing on Saturn, a console that was considered dead compared to the outrageous success of the PS One. The decision to stop developing multiplatform software is made by management, and while internal projects fail to move forward, SegaSoft talent is abandoning ship. The company ceased operations in 2000. Sacred Pools was canceled and the project fell into limbo.
Hide… that hip… that I can’t see
The story could have ended like this. Finally, numerous projects were announced in the 1990s but never saw the light of day.. Only here, in May 2022, the page Gaming Alexandria Anyone who works to preserve video games receives golden information. The administrators are contacted by Joe Cain, a games collector and former QA tester for Sega of America, who tells them that one David Gray, a former associate producer at SegaSoft, received playable versions of Sacred Pools when he left the studio left.
Today the game is available to download and play thanks to Gaming Alexandria. Since it became available, many players have posted gameplay videos on YouTube to show the world what Sacred Pools was supposed to be. And What is certain is that the aspect “erotic” promised when the game was announced is a bit overused. There are certainly a lot of scantily clad women in the video sequences, but there are no complete nudity or particularly racy scenes. What this alpha version shows is, above all, an FMV like we often saw in the early 1990s, with everything that could be charming and attractive in the formula. It’s hard to predict how the press and gamers would have received it and whether SEGA was right to throw in the towel in the face of the cold feedback, but we can only be pleased that this project was saved from eternal obscurity thanks to a former member of the studio.
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