 Sega tasked the U.S.-based Sega Technical Institute ( STI ) with developing what would have been the first fully 3D entry in its popular Sonic the Hedgehog series . The game , known as Sonic X @-@ treme , was moved to the Saturn after several prototypes were discarded . Featuring a fisheye lens camera system that caused levels to rotate with Sonic 's movement , the project was set back after Sonic creator Yuji Naka refused to allow the developers access to the engine he created for Nights into Dreams .... Sega Enterprises executives who visited STI in March 1996 were unimpressed by X @-@ treme 's progress , so Nakayama ordered that the entire game be reworked around the engine created specifically for its boss battles , and employees worked between 16 and 20 hours a day in an attempt to meet their December 1996 deadline . After programmer Ofer Alon quit and designer Chris Senn caught pneumonia , the project was cancelled in early 1997 . Sonic Team started work on an original 3D Sonic title for the Saturn ( which eventually became Sonic Adventure ) , but development was shifted to the Dreamcast . STI was officially disbanded in 1996 as a result of changes in management at Sega of America . 
