"Deep Fear was never going to be enough on its own to keep the Saturn alive, and I doubt even the combined force of Panzer Dragoon Saga and a decent conversion of Sega Touring Car would have done it, either - RPG titles are known for getting critical acclaim and love from gamers, but in terms of sales has there ever been an example of this genre that has set the charts alight, especially back in the Saturn/PlayStation days (well, maybe except for the obvious Final Fantasy VII)?

As for assumptions, speculation and leaps of faith, I must emphasise that I have only written about what I read - none of my last message was created personally, but compiled from a combination of hard fact and the views of those in the know. Of course, I've no way of knowing who saw Saturn Virtua Fighter 3 or exactly why it was cancelled as I'm not fortunate enough to have contacts within Sega, though if exsegadev lives up to his name I look forward to many further discussions on this subject as it's something a lot of people here - myself definitely included - would like to know more about...

As for the suggestion that VF3 was cancelled because not enough sales could be guaranteed in all territories, this is a bombshell as it contradicts all previous knowledge I have acquired regarding this long-lost Saturn game. From what I was able to figure out, the second revision of VF3 was planned for a simultaneous PAL release to coincide with the domestic Japanese version, though I've never heard of there being a US edition before now - unless I read this wrong, that is! I was under the impression that Sega of America had given up on the Saturn by the time of VF3's proposed release (September 1998) , but for something that important I'm not doubting for a second that views may have changed to allow for one last "punch in the table," so to speak.

Considering how many units of VF2 were shifted in Japan and the continued support for the Saturn there many years after it had been abandoned elsewhere, I'm not sure this angle is entirely to blame for the absence of VF3 from the system. One thing I am sure of is that Sega was afraid to upset Yu Suzuki, but his silence on the subject of Saturn Virtua Fighter 3 today proves just how much damage was ultimately done.

Finally, we should respect the wisdom of exsegadev for not disclosing the names of those who actually did get to witness Saturn VF3, and far from being a dead end this opens up many new possibilities as it does confirm that the game did exist after all - a killer blow if ever there was one to those who still believe to the contrary, despite Yu Suzuki's word. Continuing on from that point, I guess I was correct on most of the other details, such as the performance figures and methods AM2 used to extract previously unseen levels of graphical quality from the Saturn for this game?

Those particular fragments of information came to me from various sources, including discussions with certain people within Sega at the time who knew of VF3's existence along with other titles later cancelled (Sonic The Fighters, etc). Also, there were other sightings of Saturn VF3 apart from the SOE showing we know of, and it has been suggested that a correspondent for SSM got to see the second revision (which he described as "a basic version") up and running in Japan - could this have been the rumoured Tokyo Game Show backstage preview, or perhaps another held within the Sega/AM2 offices?

Last but certainly not least, if exsegadev is confirming that Saturn Virtua Fighter 3 really did exist and was shown many times - including at Sega Europe to select in-house employees and possibly journalists as well, all under the greatest of secrecy - then does this mean that copies of the game may still exist? I don't think we'll get to see this one in a hurry, but I'm probably never going to give up hope... after all, stranger things have happened before - just look at the video of Shenmue Saturn Version, for example! "