SEGA SATURN F.A.Q. Version 1.0 Released January, 2000 Compiled and Maintained by John Hokanson Jr. (isamu@usagi.com) See further down for additional authors. This file is best viewed in Microsoft Wordpad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ====================================================================== INTRODUCTION * From the maintainer * Authors, Contributors, and Special Thanks * Where can I find future versions of this FAQ? * Revision History * Information Needed * Disclaimer and Copyright ====================================================================== ====================================================================== O. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ====================================================================== ====================================================================== I. SYSTEM CAPABILITIES AND BASIC QUESTIONS 1.1 What is the Sega Saturn? 1.2 What media does the Sega Saturn play? 1.3 Does Sega still develop for the Saturn? 1.4 What is the relevance of "bits" in Video Game hardware? 1.5 Is the Sega Saturn really a 32-bit system? 1.6 Is the Sega Saturn backwards compatible with the Sega CD, Genesis, or any other older Sega system? 1.7 Will Sega's next system, the Dreamcast, work with Saturn software? 1.8 How is the Saturn related to the ST-V/Titan arcade board? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== II. PACKAGING RELATED 2.1 What Saturn packages were sold? 2.2 How was Saturn software packaged? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== III. SATURN MODEL QUESTIONS 3.1 What different models of the Saturn were released? 3.2 What's with these licensed Saturns (V-Saturn, Hi-Saturn)? 3.3 What's with the Majesco re-release? 3.4 What's the deal with the different BIOS revisions? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== IV. CONNECTION INFORMATION 4.1 What different means are there for hooking up my Saturn? 4.2 What about an RGB hookup? 4.3 What power plugs can I use? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== V. AUDIO/VIDEO REALTED QUESTIONS 5.1 Can the Saturn perform transparency and light sourcing effects? 5.2 Can the Saturn really display a 704x480 resolution? 5.3 How come the FMV on the Saturn doesn't look as good as the FMV on the Playstation? 5.4 How come the audio is certain Saturn games sounds muffled? 5.5 What is the Video Decoder/MPEG card? 5.6 What is Truemotion? 5.7 What is ADX? 5.8 What is QSound? 5.9 What is Cybersound? 5.10 Were there any games designs to take advantage of Dolby _________? 5.11 Does the Saturn ever use its FM Synthesis capabilities? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== VI. INTERNAL MEMORY AND BIOS FUNCTIONS 6.1 Help! I bought my Saturn new, and games won't save, and I have to constantly reset the date and time! Why? 6.2 Okay, my Saturn is old or used, and the battery is finally dead. What do I do? 6.3 How often should I replace the battery? 6.4 Can I replace the battery without loosing all my saved data? 6.5 Does the date and time function on the Saturn really serve a useful function? 6.6 What games take advantage of the clock/calender? 6.7 Is the Saturn Y2K compliant? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== VII. CARTRIDGE SLOT QUESTIONS 7.1 What is the Saturn's cartidge port for? 7.2 What's the difference between a memory cart and a RAM Cart? 7.3 Do memory carts require battery changes? 7.4 What memory carts & RAM carts are available for the Saturn? 7.5 What games support RAM carts? 7.6 Are the different RAM & Memory carts compatible with each other? 7.7 What about the cart that comes with King of Fighters '95? 7.8 What is all the bad press concerning Interact Memory Carts about? 7.9 What is the "Game Shark"? 7.10 Help! My Saturn cartridge port won't work correctly! (Or: Is frequent use of my cartridge port okay)? (Or: Can I use any cart without damaging my system)? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== VIII. THE SATURN NETLINK ====================================================================== ====================================================================== IX. MODIFICATION INFORMATION 9.1 Can I play games from another region on my Saturn? 9.2 I've decided to play games from another region. What are my options? 9.3 What about NTSC on a PAL console, and visa versa? 9.4 How do I build a 50/60Hz (PAL/NTSC) switch? 9.5 What exactly is a MOD switch or a language switch? 9.6 How can I install a language switch? 9.7 Can I play CDR discs (copied games) on my Saturn? 9.8 What is a MOD Chip? 9.9 Is there a single "one-time" modification that will allow me to play imports *AND* CDRs without the use of a cartridge? 9.10 What about "Disc Swaping"? 9.11 What is the Sega Satellite? 9.12 ...and what about the ST Key? 9.13 What is the Super Strong Card 2.0? 9.14 How can I use a Game Shark to play imports? 9.15 What if I have a converter catridge like the ST Key or Sega Satellite and I want to play a RAM cart game? 9.16 Will these methods allow me to play any game from another region? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== X. JAPANESE IMPORT QUESTIONS 10.1 Why would I want to play Japanese imports? 10.2 Where can I get Japanese imports? 10.3 What is the "Saturn Collection"? 10.4 Hey! Cool! There are files on my Japanese Saturn Import ("Omake" Directory)? 10.5 What is Anime? 10.6 What is Hentai? 10.7 Explain the Japanese Rating System please? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XI. MISCELANEOUS HARDWARE QUESTIONS 11.1 Can I build a custom joystick for my Saturn? 11.2 Is there anyway I can use a better/faster CD drive in my Saturn? 11.3 What's the port marked "Communication Connection" on the back of my Saturn? 11.4 How does the link cable work? 11.5 What about the floppy disk drive? 11.6 Can you "soft reset" a Saturn? 11.7 Is there any way to get Saturn software to always play in mono so don't have to keep entering it in the game's option menu? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XII. ACCESSORIES, PERIPHERALS, AND REPLACEMENT ITEMS 12.1 What optional controllers are available for the Saturn? 12.2 Can I extend the cord length of my Saturn controls? 12.3 Whats the difference between the new and old Saturn control pads? 12.4 What is the Sega Mission Stick, and what games supported it? 12.5 What multiplayer adaptors are there, and what games support them? 12.6 I lost my manual! Can you help? 12.7 ....but what about game manuals? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XIII. SOFTWARE RELATED QUESTIONS 13.1 How are the Capcom conversions on the Saturn? 13.2 How are the SNK conversion on the Saturn? 13.3 What demo discs were released for the Saturn? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XIV. EMULATION / COMPUTER RELATED 14.1 Are there any Saturn Emulators? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XV. COMPLETE SATURN SOFTWARE CATALOGUE ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XVI. CONTROVERSIES AND BURNING QUESTIONS 16.1 Is it true the Saturn's processors are underpowered, and it's hard to program 3D games on the Saturn? 16.2 Were the Saturn's 3D capabilties added at the last minute? 16.3 What is the Sega Jupiter, and why was it never released? 16.4 Is the Satcast really a hoax? I thought it was announced before April? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XVII. FACTS AND FIGURES 17.1 What was the _____ Saturn Game? 17.2 How many Saturns were sold? 17.3 What are the rarest Saturn games? 17.4 What does Sega mean? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XVIII. ALSO OF INTEREST... 18.1 What Saturn Magazines are there? 18.2 What webpages are there on the world wide web concerning the Saturn? 18.3 What newsgroups are there for the Saturn? 18.4 What electronic mailing lists are there for the Saturn? 18.5 What IRC channels are there for the Saturn? 18.6 What retailers sell Saturn stuff? ====================================================================== ====================================================================== XIX. CONTACT INFORMATION ====================================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ ------------------- From the maintainer ------------------- Greetings! And think you for taking the time to read the Sega Saturn FAQ! This FAQ was a project undertook by me starting in the fall of 1998. It was something I had been mulling over in my head for quite some time, and ultimatlely my love for this underrated system prevailed, and I decided to thow together the myriad of information and frequently asked questions for distribution on the internet and anywhere else where it can be easily accessable. This FAQ is a hodgepodge of info borrowed from other FAQs, USENET posts, websites, insider industry information, and some contributions by myself. Credit is naturally given wherever and whenever it's due. Questions and comments regarding information in this FAQ can be directed towards me at isamu@usagi.com or if you can't seem to contact me there, then try yangnewman@hotmail.com or isamu@temecula.com. Please send all corrections to the above address ASAP, so that I might correct it in the next release. How long this FAQ lasts depends very much on your support. "^_^" Thank you, and enjoy! - John Hokanson Jr. ----------------------------------------- Authors, Contributors, and Special Thanks ----------------------------------------- I'd like to take the time to thank the following people. Without their kind contributions, this FAQ would not be as informative. - Raymond McKeithen II A lot. 'Nuff said. He is a godsend when it comes to information about the Saturn. - Christopher Coleman List of Saturn demo discs. - Terrence Huey (aka MoonPrince) For some import information (the list of Saturn Collection games). - Ken Tam Ken's Saturn Catalogue was used for the Games List and was an invaluable addition! - Ken Arromdee This Ken (^_^) allowed me to use select portions of his rec.games.video.* FAQ, thus significantly cutting down the time it took to write certain sections. - Barry W. Cantin Loads of moral support and other useful tidbits. - Richter Belmont Japanese system information. - Jose Barragan Proofreading and miscellaneous input. - The Axledental DJ Mucho modification information. - Jerry Lynds Author of the language switch modification I believe. Also provided video pinout information. - Kirk Patten Contributor to the language switch modification. No e-mail address provided I'm afraid. - Lucan Duran Information on what software uses the video decoder card. With additional contributions by: - Tyler V. Snow - Victor Ireland - Thomas Baetzler - Brian Osserman Special thanks to: - Wesley Reiser, who wrote the very first Saturn FAQ in 1996. A pioneer! - Dave Zydeko, who's Sega-Saturn.com was a haven for all Saturn owners. God bless you Dave! Damn the Sega nazis for making you take it down! "^_^" - Special greets to SR Dominguez and Rachael Ryan. Staunch UK supports of the Saturn (where are these two anyways?). - Douglas Erickson, who gave me loads of moral support and never took anything too personally while I posted to r.g.v.s. :) - Joe Ottoson - Joshua Kaufman - The populace of rec.games.video.sega (with the exception of the trolls "^_^). You helped make this FAQ, even if you never knew. - All Saturn fans throughout the world! Keep the memory alive! "^_^" --------------------------------------------- Where can I find future versions of this FAQ? --------------------------------------------- A copy will be posted to http://www.gamefaqs.com. Following that, the FAQ will be posted on the newsgroups rec.games.video.sega and alt.games.video.sega-saturn. The FAQ will also be available through e-mail on request (unless I get bombarded by requests, in which case I'll stop, and just expand the archives that carry this FAQ). ---------------- Revision History ---------------- v1.0 - 1/1/00: First Public Release. Intended primarily just to stir up interest. ------------------ Information Needed ------------------ The following information is needed for the FAQ. Any assistance you can lend will be greatly appreciated. - A decent introduction to the Saturn. - Need to fill the holes in the RAM cart/Memory cart listings. Specifically regarding how many "blocks" of save RAM a certain memory cart has. - Need information on how to modify a US system to play European games, and vice-versa. - Need hookup information, and serial numbers (Power Plugs, S-Video, RCA A/V, RF Coaxial, ect). - Saturn Model list is kinda thin. I believe I have every model except european ones, and those outside US/Japan. Model numbers would also be appreciated, and some of the information on the models I do list is pretty thin also. - Need pack-in information for Saturns from all regions. - Need Explanation (preferably in-depth but understandable) of "Alpha Transparency" and why the Saturn can't do it. - Control Pad pin outs anyone? :) - Controller section is extremely incomplete. Need help. - Netlink information (I don't have one!) - Places that sell Saturn stuff. - What models accept a 20 pin MOD chip, and what models accept a 21 pin? And! Anything else you want to see here but don't. ------------------------ Disclaimer and Copyright ------------------------ Sega Saturn is a registered trademark of Sega Enterprises Ltd. All rights reserved. No infringement intended. All information in this FAQ is provided as is. I take no responsibility for what you do with it. You can distribute this FAQ freely provided that it is unmodified and the author section remains intact. (c) 1999-2000 John Hokanson Jr. and Saturn FAQ authors. ------------------------ TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ------------------------ EIGHT PROCESSORS * 2 Hitachi 28.6MHz, 50-MIPS SH2 32-bit RISC processors * Hitachi SH1 32-bit RISC processor * VDP 1 32-bit video display processor * VDP 2 32-bit video display provessor * Saturn Control Unit (SCU) * Motorola 68EC000 sound processor * Yamaha FH1 DSP sound processor MEMORY * 2MB (16 Megabits) RAM * 1.54MB (12 Megabits) video RAM * 540KB (4 Megabits) audio RAM * 540KB (4 Megabits) CD-ROM cache * 32KB nonvolatile RAM (battery backup) AUDIO * 22.6MHz Yamaha FH1 24-bit digital signal processor * 11.3MHz Motorola 68EC000 sound processor * 32 PCM (pulse-code modulation) channels * 8 FM channels * 44.1KHz sampling rate VIDEO * VDP 1 32-bit video display processor * Sprite, polygon, and geometry engine * Dual 256KB frame buffers for rotation and scaling effects * Texture Mapping * Goraud shading * 512KB cache for textures * VDP 2 32-bit background and scroll plane video display processor * Background engine * Five simultaneous scrolling backgrounds * Two simultaneous rotating playfields * 200,000 texture-mapped polygons per second * 500,000 flat-shaded polygons per second * 60 frames of animation per second * 24-bit true-color graphics * 16.7 million colors * 352 x 240, 640 x 240, and 704 x 480 resolution STORAGE * Double-Speed CD-ROM * 320KB per second transfer speed * Audio CD compatible * CD+G compatible * CD+EG compatible * CD single (8cm CD) compatible * Video CD, Photo CD, Electronic Books, digital karaoke (optional) * 512KB memory cartridges for game save (optional) INPUT/OUTPUT * High-speed serial communications port * Internal 32-bit expansion port * Internal multi-AV port for video CD (MPEG) adaptor * Composite video/stereo (standard) * NTSC RF (optional) * S-Video compatible (optional) * RGB compatible (optional) * HDTV compatible (optional) * Analog control pad POWER SOURCE * AC120 volts; 60Hz POWER CONSUMPTION * 25W OPERATING CONDITIONS * Temperature: 41 F to 95 F * Humidity: 10% to 80% RH DIMENSIONS * Width: 260 mm (10.2 in) * Length: 230 mm (9.0 in) * Height: 83 (3.2) --------------------------------------- SYSTEM CAPABILITIES AND BASIC QUESTIONS --------------------------------------- ---------------------------- 1.1 What is the Sega Saturn? ---------------------------- The Sega Saturn is a 32-bit video game console developed by Sega Enterprises Ltd., and released to the Japanese public on November 22nd, 1994, and with the American and European release following in 1995. ----------------------------------------- 1.2 What media does the Sega Saturn play? ----------------------------------------- Out of the box, the Sega Saturn plays standard ISO-9660 formated CDs with software programed for use with the Sega Saturn written on them (regional code permitting). In addition, the Sega Saturn can play Music CDs (standard and 8cm singles) by way of full featured CD player written into the system's firmware. CD-Gs, and CD-EGs are also supported. Finally, the Saturn can also play VCD and Photo CD discs with the optional video decoder card added in. This card retails from about $60 to $100 and is explained in section 5.5. ------------------------------------------- 1.3 Does Sega still develop for the Saturn? ------------------------------------------- No. In fact, Sega (all branches) completely abandoned the Saturn when the Dreamcast came out in Japan in November of 1998. Some third parties still devlop for the Saturn, but things have died down enormously this past year. ----------------------------------------------------------- 1.4 What is the relevance of "bits" in Video Game hardware? ----------------------------------------------------------- From the now defunct rec.games.video.* FAQ previously maintained by Ken Arromdee: "There are several processor characteristics that measure in bits; whether or not a processor counts as 32-bit may depend on what you consider important. (A 32-bit processor might have 32-bit address space, perform operations on 32-bit quantities, or have a 32 bit wide bus). It's never legitimate to add the bits in all a system's processors, so a Sega CD is not a 32-bit system even though it has two 16-bit processors, nor is a Neo-Geo a 24-bit system." "When discussing graphics, professionals often use "bits" to refer to how many colors there are: if a system lets a pixel be one of 2^16 colors, the system has "16-bit graphics". (A common error associated with this definition is to say that this means the machine can show 2^16 colors at once, although video game systems don't have enough pixels on the screen to do so.)" "This contrasts with video game company hype, which usually says either 1) "This is a 16 bit machine, so we'll call the graphics 16 bits", or 2) "This is a 16 bit processor, and we use it for graphics, so we'll say we have 16-bit graphics"." ""How many bits of graphics" and "how many bits" are about equally worthless, er, bits, of information. It's only in the FAQ because people keep asking for it anyway." "There also seems to be a trend for Usenet posters to deliberately lie about the number of bits in systems, just to cause more confusion (the 64 bit Jaguar is especially prone to this; one person even quoted from a Jaguar developer, but altered the quote so as to read 32 instead of 64.)." ------------------------------------- 1.5 Is Saturn really a 32-bit system? ------------------------------------- Yes. The Saturn's central processing units can process 32-bit instructions and the dual VDPs are capable of the same, as well as displaying a 32-bit color depth. The audio processing end of things is primarily 16-bit, although this has no effect whatsoever upon the performance capabilities of the other components. Most importantly however, the Saturn is equiped with a 32-bit wide BUS. I can think of no legitimate argument for calling the Saturn either a 16 or 64 bit system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.6 Is the Sega Saturn backwards compatible with the Sega CD, Genesis, or any other older Sega system? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No. The Saturn uses proprietary technology that is not directly compatible with any other system (Sega or Non-Sega). Sega did however use certain microchips (such as the venerable Motorola 68000 series) from their older systems. Specifically, the custom 68EC000 controlled the audio end of things. An interesting anecdote Raymond illustrates is that up until the Dreamcast, the main processor in the previous Sega machine was the audio processor in its direct replacement: SMS - Z80 CPU, ? Sound CPU Genesis/MD - 68000 CPU, Z80 Sound CPU Saturn - SH2 CPUs, 68000 Sound CPU Emulation of older systems using the Saturn hardware may be possible, but was never officially explored. ------------------------------------------------- 1.7 Does the Dreamcast work with Saturn software? ------------------------------------------------- No. Given the historical failures and financial resources needed to make backwards compatibility a reality, it may not be a prudent business decision anyways. Presumably, it might only be a good thing for retailers want to sell their Saturn backstock. Some rumors have been circulating about a peripheral known as "Satcast" which would allow Saturn games to play on the Dreamcast. The "Satcast" and everything surrounding it was an "April Fools" joke spread primarily by "Gamers Republic", in which they themselves later identified it as a hoax. Sega officially has no such product. For more information on this issue see section 14.4. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1.8 How is the Saturn related to the ST-V/Titan arcade board? ------------------------------------------------------------- The Sega ST-V arcade board (codenamed "Titan"), is essentially a JAMMA compatable mainboard that uses the Saturn chipset (supposedly with more memory ) and accepts cartridges (roughly the size of a Genesis cart). It was seen in a number of arcades playing games such as Baku Baku and Virtua Fighter Kids. ST-V to/from Saturn conversions are near perfect (if not totally) both ways. In fact, Sega's "Hanagumi Taisen Columns" was created for the Saturn, and then later ported over to ST-V. Much like the Saturn though, further development on the ST-V has ceased. My MK-80000A Saturn has "TITAN" written on the mainboard. Other Saturns may have this as well. Titan is, by the way, a moon of Saturn. "^_^" If you'd like to know more about the ST-V (including how to purchase one), I suggest you read Chris Mullins' FAQ at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/sega_stv.txt or http://members.aol.com/CMull11217/private/segast-v.txt --------------------- II. PACKAGING RELATED --------------------- ----------------------------------- 2.1 What Saturn packages were sold? ----------------------------------- Under Construction. ------------------------------------- 2.2 How was Saturn software packaged? ------------------------------------- Japanese Saturn software usually comes packaged in standard jewlcases much like music CDs. They often came with spinecards. These are three-fold peices of light cardboard that hug the spine of the jewlcase with the shrinkwrap holding it on (they are valuable to collectors, and necessary if you want to sell the game "complete", so don't throw them away). The spinecard also indicates that the CD is for use with a Sega Saturn console, and on Japanese NTSC systems. Most of the time the spinecard will have a gold and black background with the Japanese Saturn logo and lettering printed vertically. Saturn collection games will have red and white spinecard with white lettering, the Saturn Collection logo under that, the 2,800 yen price featured prominantly. Manual is included with the cover seen through the front of the jewlcase. The left side of the manual will usually have a bar similar in design to the spinecard. The Japanese rating, if there is one, will be included on the manual front (usually on one of the corners). There is also the insert on the back which may feature artwork or screenshots from the game. A black bar on the bottom of the insert contains information much like the spinecard, licensing information, et cetera. The US and Europe use much larger jewlcases. On US games the left font and spine contain a 30 degree stripe pattern (think barber shop). In the US Sega used a different color stripe pattern for each system. For the Saturn this happens to be gray and white, with white outlined lettering displaying "Sega Saturn". In Europe its just solid black, with white lettering displaying "Sega Saturn". The manual slides in just like a normal jewlcase. And like a normal jewlcase, it also has an insert in the back with information about the game. ------------------ III. SATURN MODELS ------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 What different models of the Saturn were released? ------------------------------------------------------ This list is incomplete, but thanks to Chuck Smith and members of the Saturn Mailing list, as well as Raymond McKeithen II, I was able to get this far. I would really appreciate help in filling in any gaps. ___________ U.S. MODELS All US Saturn models are black in color. There were four different subversions of the Saturn released in the US, and the differences varried, but were generally minor except in cosmetic and internal modification cases. Model numbers can be ascertained by viewing the back of the Saturn. MK-80000: Manufactured from approximately 8/95 to 3/96, and was the first to have a notched power cord. MK-80000A: Manufactured from 3/96 to 7/96. It featured a notched power cord, no drive access light, round power and reset buttons, and a 1.00a BIOS. Jumper locations are once again different. MK-80001: Manufactured starting 7/96. It's similar in appearance to the MK-8000A model, with difference being the jumper locations. _______________ JAPANESE MODELS - Gray Japanese Saturn (?): The Original Japanese Saturn model is virtually identical to the US first generation model except it is gray in color with blue buttons and the cartridge slot flap is also black in color. Like before, it has the drive access light, and non-notched power cord. Production was apparently later ended in favor of the white system. HST-3200 (in HST-0001 box) - White Japanese Saturn (2): There are two models of the White Saturn. The first is based off the first generation Saturn with purple buttons, and the second is identical to the second generation with gray buttons. The systems come packed with a matching white controler with multi-colored buttons similar to a Super Famicom controler except only the bottom row buttons are colored green, yellow, and blue respectively. It is also rumored that the White Saturn *may* have a slightly faster CD access time. The Cartridge slot flap is also gray in color. The white Saturns Raymond has seen all have a 1.01 BIOS, although we can't confirm that hes seen them all. Raymond McKeithen II writes: "I'd also like to point out that "white" Saturns are no more white in reality than Dreamcasts are; both are very light gray. I guess that's an opinion, but to me white means *white* like a piece of paper, not some off-white (gray) color like you might paint your walls." :P - Hi-Saturn (2) The Hi-Saturn is yet another early style Saturn with the MPEG hardware built in, and Hi-Saturn printed on the CD drive lid. It's manufactured by Hitachi, and is supposed to cost less then a White Saturn with an optional MPEG card added in (so, it's a good deal). Richter Belmont has written the following description: "First off, the unit is a dark charcoal color. It's not as black in color as the US Saturn but pretty close. You wouldn't think otherwise unless you got really close and examined the hues. Also, the buttons on it are circular, not oval, like subsequent Saturn units. The buttons are a khaki looking color. The machine has a very drab feel to it. The box it comes in is very plain looking almost all black with a light gray/white border." "The start up screen is different as well. Instead of a bunch of pieces forming together, the word "Hi-Saturn" shoots out from the middle of the screen and then flips around till it's readable and then it flashes on screen like other Saturns do." "Controllers have the same color layout as the unit. The buttons are khaki and a gloomy looking blueish/gray. The controllers say Hitachi on them." MMP-1000NV: The second model of the Hi-Saturn has a lower, more square profile, and an add-on LCD monitor for playing games on. The system is completely flat on top and lacks the bulge of the CD drive. Also reportedly included an Netlink and a GPS receiver (with only Japanese regional software being available). This model intended to be a "portable" system for use in luxury cars though a joint deal with Nissan. NCS (see contact information) sold these models for about $1,000 two years ago, and offered a mod to defeat the territorial lockout. - V-Saturn (2) Another authorized clone of Saturn. Built by JVC-Victor. There are two versions of this system. The casing is similar to that of any standard Saturn. The colors are different, as is the machine's circutry, and "V-Saturn" is printed on top of the machine. RG-JX1: Model with oval buttons. Two toned gray with black as bottom second tone. RG-JX2: Model with round buttons. Two toned gray with darker gray as bottom color. From inspecting the later version, as far as I can tell it is identical in every way to the Sega machine aside from color and markings, to the point I suspect both are made by the same people, or at minimum are made out of exactly the same parts (all the plastic moldings are identical etc.). The boot-up sequence on a V-Saturn has the polygons form a V-Saturn logo instead of the SegaSaturn logo, of course. The boot-up screen on the second one shows "Ver. 1.01" just as it does on white Saturns I've seen... - Skeleton Saturn (2) The "Skeleton Saturns" are the final Saturn models to be produced in Japan (and the world). The first had a limited production run of 5,000. The single unique feature of this model is the smokey grayish/black "see-through" case (Yes, you can actually see the guts of the machine), and "This is Cool" printed on the CD drive lid. Other then that, it's basicly identical to the second version of the white Saturn. Quite the collectors item if you can find one. In the US they retailed for a little over $200 (even though you could pick up a US stock one for much less). HST-0022: blue "Sketon Saturn" Saturn released on 3/25/99 in a promotional tie-in with ASCII's Derby Stallion Saturn game. (it came with stickers for the game and says something about the game on the box). There is no "This is Cool" printed anywhere on the system, and came with the same smokey gray controler as the other one (no clear blue controler was ever made). The BIOS version is 1.01. Supposedly, its easier to acquire a blue Skeleton Saturn. Though this may just be because by the time it was released, few people cared anymore. Also, reliable sources have stated that the blue Saturn will not play the Japanese version of "Space Harrier". _______________ EUROPEAN MODELS All back Saturns. Externally quite similar to the U.S. models except they naturally run at a 50Hz PAL frequency. Production run model numbers are very similar except they have a 2 in place of the third digit. I *think*, a US MK-8000A would be an MK-80200A in Europe. Also, European machines will have "PAL" next to the BIOS revision number on the system settings screen, instead of "NTSC", unless the system has been modified. MK-802000 MK-802000A MK-802001 MK-802000-50: Has the oval buttons, plus the power and access LEDs. Version 1.01a BIOS. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 What's with these licensed Saturns (V-Saturn, Hi-Saturn)? ------------------------------------------------------------- After development, Sega licensed the Saturn specifications out to third parties so they they could build their old clones of the Saturn hardware. In this way, the Saturn used the same marketing principle as the 3DO by partnering up with other companies to ensure better market saturation. Licenses were given to JVC Victor, Hitachi, and Yamaha. JVC Victor and Hitachi both manufactured V-Saturn and Hi-Saturn respectively (both of these models are explained in section 3.1). Yamaha had the option of creating their own model, but apparently chose not to. --------------------------------------- 3.3 What's with the Majesco re-release? --------------------------------------- In 1998, New Jersey company Majesco Sales Inc., announced that they would manufacture and sell a new version of the Saturn for $49.99, as well as certain Saturn games for $14.99. Majesco would be able to get away with these low prices because the need to invest in R&D wasn't an issue. Majesco previously did this with their redesigned Sega Genesis (Genesis 3), which is still sold today in stores such as Toys R' Us for $20. Preliminary reports seem to indicate that the console would be more compact, and perhaps even portable. Majesco has also been known to remove certain features or expansion options from their redesigned systems (ie. The Genesis 3 lacks the ability to use the Sega CD). This redesigned system was to be on store shelves by Christmas 1999. This story repeated again in 1999 from several sources. In July 1999, another story out of segaweb.com hinted that this deal may have fallen through. If anything materializes, it'll be posted here. ------------------------------------------------------ 3.4 What's the deal with the different BIOS revisions? ------------------------------------------------------ Every US and European Saturn will display its set televison standard, regional ID, and BIOS revision number. This information is located on the lower right hand corner of the system settings screen (main menu). I believe middle number indicates what regional software the Saturn is set to play. This number will change if you have a language switch installed. 1) Japan 2) ??? 3) ??? 4) US C) Europe If anybody wants to confirm this. Please feel free. The NTSC/PAL identification will also change to reflect what television standard you're set to run on if the Saturn is modified (ie. an NTSC/PAL switch is installed.) For instance: NTSC-1-v1.00a ...indicates that the system is set at at 60Hz NTSC, runs Japanese software, and has a version 1.00a BIOS. Japanese Saturns display the BIOS version during the bootup sequence. For example: "SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD. 1994 Ver. 1.00" ...is displayed on a Japanese gray Saturn. Furthermore, Japanese BIOSes and Non-Japanese BIOSes don't appear to be the same. 1.00 - Japan 1.00a - US and Europe 1.01 - Japan 1.01a - US and Europe As to what was fixed or added in each BIOS revision; I honestly have no idea. It's probably also something the fanbase won't be able to find out for quite a while. Perhaps some documentation will be released, or an emulator author will stumble across something and be able to tell us more. -------------------------- IV. CONNECTION INFORMATION -------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 4.1 What different means are there for hooking up my Saturn? ------------------------------------------------------------ There are three means of hooking your Saturn up to a TV: - Auto RF Switch US Part Number: MK-80116 (Sega) P045 (Interact) UK Part Number: ??? Japanese Part Number: HSS-0110 (Sega) RF mixes all the signals (audio and video) together. Decent if you don't have any other hookups, but not as good as your other options. This connection also supports mono sound only. - Composite Video (RCA AV Stereo Cable) US Part Number: ??? UK Part Number: ??? Japanese Part Number: HSS-0106 (Sega) Composite separates the video from the audio providing cleaner signals for both. Two RCA style jacks provided for stereo sound. Just let one of the jacks hang loose if you have an mono hookup. - S-Video US Part Number: ??? UK Part Number: ??? Japanese Part Number: HSS-0105 (Sega) S-video further splits the signals into Chroma and Luma for the cleanest picture (outside of RGB). Two RCA style jacks provided for stereo sound. Just let one of the audio jacks hang loose if you have an mono hookup. - RGB Japanese Part Number: HSS-0109 (Sega) Additionally, you can use an RGB cable with an analogue monitor, but this is not officially supported by Sega in the US or Europe. You can build a cable however. RGB is supported in Japan. The official Sega RGB cable is HSS-0109. In Japan there is a standard for RGB connectors on some TVs or monitors. ----------------------------- 4.2 What about an RGB hookup? ----------------------------- Yes, the Saturn A/V output is extremely versatile and supports RGB without hardware modification (well, maybe). As mentioned before, you could purchase a RGB cable for the Saturn in Japan (HSS-0109). If you want the best video quality, you won't do any better than using an RGB cable. Thanks to Gamers X and Jerry Lynds, the following describes the pinout configuration, so you can can construct a stereo NTSC cable for your Saturn. You will need a 10 pin mini-DIN plug though. If you can't find one, some rewiring may be necessary. /-----------\ | O1 O2 O3 | | | |O4 O5 O6 O7| | | | O8 O9 O10 | \-----------/ <---- Ground 1) Chrominance 2) Luminance 3) Comp Video 4) Blue 5) Green 6) Red 7) 5 VDC 8) Stereo L 9) Stereo R 10) Sync If you require better pictures (my ASCII art kinda sucks, you should go here: http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/saturnav.htm One might be able to coax a cable out of www.redcab.com (Redmond Cable). In the old days NCS had them, and they're still available if you're in Japan. UK SCART ones are probably still available as well. Note that the UK cables and the Japanese cables look alike, but the SCART end is wired differently (and the Japanese one isn't called SCART). --------------------------- 4.3 What about power plugs? --------------------------- Under Construction. -------------------------------- V. AUDIO/VIDEO RELATED QUESTIONS -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 Can the Saturn perform transparency and light sourcing effects? ------------------------------------------------------------------- The answer to this question is really dependent on different conditions. The Saturn is at *least* capable of generating transparent layers for use in 2D spirte based images. Furthermore, pseudo 3D transparencies (like the water in Panzer Dragoon) are also possible. These effects can be done by directly manipulating the hardware registers of the Saturn's VDP2. If anybody doubts this (and there have been a few), you can check out games such as Astal, Darius Gaiden, and Radiant Silvergun. These are but a few examples. You can also simply powerup your Saturn and check out the system settings. The menu screens themselves provide a glimpse at the Saturn's layered transparency effects. Effects such as these are nothing really new, as they were seen earlier on Nintendo's Super Famicom, and perhaps on other platforms that preceded the Saturn. Where the Saturn does have trouble, is in the generation of these effects in a 3D environment. Along with lightsourcing, three dimensional transparency must be generated through software routines. This is not a problem if the developer is familiar with writing Saturn software or was provided with the necessary programming libraries. For instance, Sega's "Sonic-R" features 3D transparency throughout the "Radiant Emerald" course, and lightsourcing can clearly be seen along the corridors of Lobotomy's "Powerslave". Brian Osserman writes: "The situation with transparencies on the Saturn is exceedingly odd. The most common kind is via the background processor, which can more or less put two properly texture-mapped translucent perspective correct planes. This is what Panzer Zwei and Panzer Saga use for water, for instance. Beyond this, I don't remember the details, but Sonic R and Burning Rangers seem to use two different hacks to get non-dithered transparencies. I can't remember whether there are any other examples, though. I think these were cases of exceedingly clever programming, though, and it's no coincidence they were both late in the Saturn's lifetime." ------------------------------------------------------- 5.2 Can the Saturn really display a 704x480 resolution? ------------------------------------------------------- Yes. The VDP2 can produce a maximum displayable resolution of 704x480, with a 24-bit color depth. US Sega Saturn manuals related a max spec of 720x576 but this is incorrect as it is inconsistant with the maximum resolution displayable under the NTSC standard (525 scanlines max). Thanks Raymond! :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.3 How come the FMV on the Saturn doesn't look as good as the FMV on the Playstation? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Full motion video on the Saturn is widely described as being much grainier or pixelated than what is commonly seen on the Playstation. For the most part, this has to do with the fact that the Playstation hardware is handling video decoding in the form of motion JPEG, though its custom MDEC chip. The end result is a much cleaner video image. On the other hand, the Saturn uses a software codec written on each game CD for video playback. This is similar to how it works in a computer environment like Windows. In the majority of early cases the codec used happened to be Cinepak, although the move to Truemotion by some developers greatly increased the quality of FMV in a majority of cases. Raymond McKeithen II : "Truemotion on average looks better than Cinepak, but Cinepak done really well beats Truemotion done badly. The very best video quality I've ever seen (even looks better than the MPEG card, the resolution is better) on Saturn is Lucid Motion, C's Ware's proprietary system they use in Desire and Eve The Lost One (I suspect that this is optimized for cartoon animation). The upcoming Friends from NEC Interchannel is supposed to have another proprietary format that gets hi-res mode with 24 bit color." -------------------------------------------------------------- 5.4 How come the audio is certain Saturn games sounds muffled? -------------------------------------------------------------- Although, the quality of components used for the Saturn's audio reproduction are of high quality, the system has some unfortunate limitations that creep up every now and then. On certain games, digital PCM samples can sound muffled and/or scratchy. All Saturn PCM samples must be loaded into audio RAM while in raw form, where as the Playstation supports hardware compression. Loading files in raw form natually means a larger file size, which in turn means that overall sample quality will suffer in an effort to cram everything in. This is particularly worse in games that require a great number of samples loaded into memory all at once. Games such as Virtua Fighter II. Many fighting games by Capcom and SNK feature similar problems. So while the Staurn might have an audio suite superior to that of the Playstation, memory limitations can stymie an attempt to get full enjoyment out of it. Streamed yellowbook audio plays directly off the CD. It does not need to be loaded into RAM, and thus does not have the memory constraint problems that the PCM samples can face. Macross DYRL, for instance, streams Apple AIFF files recorded at 16 bit stereo, 22Khz as its soundtrack. Good programers can often produce excellent digital sound from the Saturn, while games that were programed for another platform, or ported from the PSX can often sound rather crude. "Saturn's sound hardware is phenomenal. It's way, way, better than the PlayStation's sound - you can basically plug in a synthesizer and play it through MIDI." --Saturn Developer, Next Generation, December 1995 ---------------------------------------- 5.5 What is the Video Decoder/MPEG card? ---------------------------------------- The Video Decoder Card is a daughtercard-like peripheral that fits inside the Saturn though the door the battery is accessed from. It allows hardware playback of MPEG-1 (version 1) video in certain games, as well as playback of VCDs. There were versions of the hardware manufactured by Sega, JVC, Hitachi, and maybe more (help appreciated). There are 3 versions of the JVC MPEG card. The first is more-or-less like the Sega card, and the second was called the Twin Operator and added support for PhotoCD. I think the third is just like the second but comes in a different package and sold for a lower price. These cards are somewhare hard to find now, but probably a lot easier if you're in asia or have a good import source. Games that used the card include (not necessarily complete list): Lunar Silver Star Story complete MPEG version (the only game that requires the card) Sakura Taisen Hangumi Tsuushin Sakura Taisen Nekki Radio Show (a.k.a. Steam Radio Show) Vatlva Chisato Moritaka disc Moon Cradle Wangan Deadheat + Triangle Love Falcom Classics 1 (disc 2 of the limited edition) Gungriffon 1 (Japanese version only) None of these games were released in the US, and VCDs never really caught on outside of asia (instead, we now have DVD which is considered far better and uses MPEG-2). The card fits in all versions of the Japanese Saturn (the Hi-Saturn and V-Saturns natually come with this capability). Early Japanese Saturns (i.e. the gray ones) have the connector for it on a second circuit board inside the unit, later ones have the connector on the main board. It *should* work in all versions of the US Saturn with the language switch installed. The JVC version(s) is also said to be PAL compatible, but I can't confirm that. ----------------------- 5.6 What is Truemotion? ----------------------- Truemotion is a audio/video compression format developed by the Duck Corporation. It was used by several Saturn games as an alternative "middleground" between standard Cinepak that many Saturn games used for FMV, and the use of the VCD card. Generally speaking, Truemotion is of much higher quality than Cinepak, but inferior to the MPEG compression of the video decoder card. Games that use Truemotion usually feature the "TM" logo both on the packaging and before the game's title screen. Authough Duck is an American corporation, numerous Japanese licensees used TM. Duck's webpage can be accessed at http://www.duck.com/ There have also been rumors that Truemotion would have been the compression method used by Working Designs to achieve high quality full screen movies without the video decoder card on Lunar SSS, had the US Saturn version actually been realized. ---------------- 5.7 What is ADX? ---------------- ADX is an audio compression method developed by the Japanese company CRI. It appeared on the scene rather late in the Saturn's career, but was used in a number of Japanese Saturn games. ------------------- 5.8 What is QSound? ------------------- QSound is a patented audio encoding method by QSound Labs which was created in an attempt to model a three dimensional sound environment though two speaker stereo equipment. This is accomplished by using a series of spatial processing algorithms that trick your ears into thinking a sound is emminating from a different source. QSound does not require any special hardware to work. I say "attempt" because it obviously will run into the limitations of using only two speakers (Dolby Surround it is not). QSound was licensed for use in certain Saturn games. Namely those published by Sega and Capcom. A number of people have commented that QSound really sounds best when using a set of quality headphones. QSound Labs has a webpage at: http://www.qsound.com ----------------------- 5.9 What is Cybersound? ----------------------- Cybersound was a MIDI instrument set used by certain Saturn games such as NiGHTs and Dragon force. It was also used on other platforms such as the PC and Macintosh. Since the samples were contained within the software itself for subsequent digital playback, one could accurately compare the Cybersound instrument set to a software synthesizer like those currently being offered by Yamaha. The company that developed Cybersound (InVision Interactive) is now out of business, and a search of the newsgroups will reveal a number of people wondering what to do with a product that is no longer supported (doh! >.<). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.10 Were there any games designs to take advantage of Dolby _________? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- No. If the Saturn were hooked up the proper receiver, I'm sure it would be possible, but no games were ever written to take advantage of *any* Dolby standard (Digitial, Surround, Pro-Logic, ect). ------------------------------------------------------------ 5.11 Does the Saturn ever use its FM Synthesis capabilities? ------------------------------------------------------------ The Saturn is equiped 8 FM synthesis channels driven by the Yamaha 68EC000 sound processor. As of yet, I do not know if this feature was ever used, nor do I know the quality of the FM synth (I imagine it would be at least as good as the YM 2612 used in the Megadrive, but that is mere speculation on my part). Raymond McKeithen II writes: "Two games from adult developer KID I've heard play music that sounds like an old PC Adlib card (I'm not kidding, even the "tempo" problems inherent to Adlib are there), perhaps they were using it. Then again, it might just be streamed yellowbook audio..." -------------------------------------- VI. INTERNAL MEMORY AND BIOS FUNCTIONS -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 Help! I bought my Saturn new, and games won't save, and I have to constantly reset the date and time! Why? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Check to make sure you pulled out the ribbon from under the battery. It's there to prevent the battery in your new Saturn from making a connection and draining itself before you unpack it. Not pulling it out is a very common mistake among new Saturn owners. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2 Okay, my Saturn is old or used, and the battery is finally dead. What do I do? -------------------------------------------------------------------- You can replace the battery with any type CR2032 lithium battery. Sega recommends using only UL listed batteries. These can usually be acquired at your local Radio Shack, Walmart, or anyplace that sells watch or calculator batteries, and shouldn't set you back more than $5 at the most. ------------------------------------------- 6.3 How often should I replace the battery? ------------------------------------------- The battery that comes with a new Saturn lasts about 2 to 3 years max. Sega recommends you replace your battery once a year. That figure may be a little too cautious though. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6.4 Can I replace the battery without loosing all my saved data? ---------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a memory cart, you can copy the data to the cart while you change the battery. You can also carefully change the battery while the system is turned on. The manual says don't do this, but that's just for your safety (very small chance you could shock yourself or something). The battery is out of the circuit when the system is on so it's safe as far as the system is concerned. WARNING: We take no responsibility for any electrical shock that may result from doing this. Zap Zap! "^_^" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.5 Does the time and date function on the Saturn really serve a useful function? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Useful" is subjective, as there are no-doubt people who could care less. However, it does indeed serve a purpose. There's a few games that use the date/time function of the BIOS to trigger certain events. Christmas NiGHTS was probably the most talked about game in the US to take advantage of this. But, all in all, Japanese games tended to make better use of the feature, and in turn, used it much more often. The dating sim "Roommate" is one such game that prompted some people to comment that it was almost surealistic in its ability to keep pace with the passing of time. ---------------------------------------------------- 6.6 What games take advantage of the clock/calender? ---------------------------------------------------- To be completed. -------------------------------- 6.7 Is the Saturn Y2K compliant? -------------------------------- Yes. Unlike many popular computer systems, the Saturn's internal calender runs on a four (as opposed to two) digit year. However, the catch is, the highest date you can set it to is 12/31/2199. However, the date WILL roll over into 1/1/2200, and I have no idea how high it will ultimately go. More importantly, I can't think of any reason why the year is absolutely critical to the Saturn's function (or the rest of the date for that matter). You're more likely to exhibit stange (but entirely non-fatal) effects related to time, day, and month, before the year is of much importance. ----------------------------------------- VII. EXTERNAL MEMORY (CARTS) AND RAM CARTS ----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- 7.1 Whats does the Saturn Cartride port do? ------------------------------------------- The Saturn comes equiped with a cartridge port located on the top of the machine near the rear. This port is designed to act as an input for a number of peripherals, including: Memory Carts RAM or ROM Carts The Sega Netlink Interact Gameshark Converter Cartridges --------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2 What's the difference between a Memory Cart and a RAM Cart? --------------------------------------------------------------- The terminology gets rather confusing, but the general consensus is that a memory cart will act as a repository for saved games, while a RAM cart adds extra (R)andom (A)ccess (M)emory for texture storage and thus better and more fluid sprite animation in certain select Sega Saturn games. RAM carts do NOTHING whatsoever for Polygon count. That's tied directly to the Saturn's hardware rendering capabilties. It's merely for bitmaps. No RAM carts were ever created for the US market. To make things worse, Sega used to call their Sega CD Memory Cart a RAM cart (go figure), and E.M.S. insists on calling everything a RAM *Card*. Card is a term usually reserved for Playstation memory cards. Sega manufactures both a Memory Cart and two RAM carts (the latter being import only). They will always insist you use their official products, but most people have had no problem with some of the 3rd party products. -------------------------------------------- 7.3 Do memory carts require battery changes? -------------------------------------------- Sega-brand Saturn memory carts use flash-memory and thus have no battery to replace. I'm not sure about third party carts, but I'd assume they'd be the same. --------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4 What Memory Carts & RAM Carts are available for the Saturn? --------------------------------------------------------------- The following list is incomplete: Official Sega RAM Cart Manufactured by Sega Enterprises. 8 megabit (1 Megabyte) capacity. ??? Blocks Comments: Official Saturn memory carts came in at least four different flavors in Japan: 1) First one is gray, somewhat lighter than the gray Saturn. 2) Later ones are lighter gray, but darker than a white Saturn. 3) A pink one that came with the game Tamagotchi Park. 4) A turquoise one that came with Tokimeki Memorial limited edition. In the US, and presumably (?) the UK, there is only a black cartridge. E.M.S. 8 Meg Memory Cartridge Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 8 Megabit (1 Megabyee) capacity. ??? Blocks Comments: None E.M.S. 16 Meg Memory Cartridge Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT.of Hong Kong. 16 Megabit (2 Megabyte) capacity. Approx. 32,511 Blocks. Comments: Can serve as an import converter. Supports direct save. E.M.S. 64 Meg Memory Cartridge Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 64 Megabit (8 Megabyte) capacity. ??? Blocks. Comments: None Action Replay Plus Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 512K of backup memory. ??? Blocks. 1 Megabyte RAM Cart Compatibility. Can link with PC Comms card. USA/JAPAN/EUROPE Converter. Comments: Compatible with the Sega HSS-0155. Reffered to as the 4 in 1. Does NOT support direct save. Action Replay 4M Plus Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 512K of backup memory. ??? Blocks. 4 Megabyte RAM Cart Compatibility. Can link with PC Comms card. USA/JAPAN/EUROPE Converter. Comments: Compatible with Sega HSS-0150 and HSS-0163 RAM Carts. Sometimes incorrectly referred to as the 5 in 1 because it covers both the 1 meg and 4 meg RAM cart. Does NOT support direct save. Expand RAM Card Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 1 Megabyte RAM Cart Compatibility. Comments: Compatible with Sega HSS-0150 RAM Cart. 4M Expand RAM Card Manufactured by E.M.S. Industries LDT. of Hong Kong. 4 Megabyte RAM Cart Compatibility. Comments: Compatible with Sega HSS-0150 and HSS-0163 RAM Carts. Interact Memory Card Plus Manufactured by Interact 8 Megabits (2 megabytes) of backup memory. ??? Blocks. Comments: See section x.x for a special notice. --------------------------------- 7.5 What games support RAM carts? --------------------------------- Name Developer Required? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Groove on Fight Atlus 1MB RAM Cyberbots Capcom NONE - 1 or 3MB modes Dungeons & Dragons Capcom 1MB RAM (Disc 2 only) Marvel SH Capcom NONE - 1 or 3MB modes Marvel SH vs. SF Capcom 4MB RAM Pocket Fighter Capcom NONE - 1 or 4MB modes Street Fighter Zero 3 Capcom 4MB RAM Vampire Savior* Capcom 4MB RAM X-Men vs. SF Capcom 4MB RAM Fighters History Dynamite Data East 1MB RAM Fatal Fury 3 SNK 1MB RAM King of Fighters '95** SNK 1MB Proprietary ROM King of Fighters '96 SNK 1MB RAM King of Fighters '97 SNK 1MB RAM Metal Slug SNK 1MB RAM Ragnagard SNK 1MB RAM Real Bout Fatal Fury SNK 1MB RAM Real Bout Fatal Fury Special SNK 1MB RAM Samuari Showdown III SNK 1MB RAM Samuari Showdown IV SNK 1MB RAM Cotton 2 Success NONE - 2MB mode Astra Super Stars Sunsoft NONE - 4MB mode Waku Waku 7 Sunsoft 1MB RAM NOTES ----- * Refer to section 7.5 for important compatibility information. ** Refer to section 7.6 for important compatibility information. ------------------------------------------------------------- 7.6 Are the different RAM & Memory carts compatible with each other? ------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly. Provided you satisfy the RAM reqirements for a particular game. Vampire Savior has difficulty with older versions of the Action Reply Plus 4MB cartridge (those manufactured before April 17th, 1998). The newer revisions of this cartridge (manufactured 2-4 weeks after the game's release) work fine. Special thanks to Sega Force/Shin Force for this info. You can modify you old Action Replay cartridge to work with Vampire Savior by following these instructions posted on Sega Force's website: http://www.cyberdrive.net/~gskalba/SAT-4MBRAM-mod.htm Some people have voiced other problems with using the EMS products, but this is as of yet unsubstantiated as the number of people who voice no troubles at all outweighs reports to the contrary. Problems could be related to any number of causes, including a worn out cartridge port. Nobody has isolated anything yet. King of Fighters '95 is *not* a RAM cart game. It won't work with anything other than its own proprietary ROM cart. See below. Memory carts should be completely compatible with each other regardless of the country lockout (with the caveats for the Interact products explained below). Be advised though that both the Game Shark and the two EMS 4 in 1s do not support direct save. Files must be moved from the Saturn's internal memory to the card, and back again when you want to play. All Saturns will also display saved items in Japanese characters if a Japanese game is saved. The same is naturally true for the internal memory. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.7 What about the cartridge distributed with King of Fighters '95? ------------------------------------------------------------------- King of Fighters '95 used a special 1 Megabyte ROM cartridge that predated the use of RAM cartridges. The ROM cartridge came packaged with KOF '95, and was manufactured by SNK and Sega. It included all the additional textures needed by the game in its self-contained (R)ead (O)nly (M)emory. The SNK ROM cartridge will not work on any other game. You can not substitute a RAM cartridge in order to get the KOF '95 to work either. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.8 What is all the bad press concerning Interact Memory Carts about? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Many Interact products have been getting complaints over the years. People have complained about save files suddenly being corrupted. These complaints have held sway over both their Saturn and Playstation memory products. The Interact nightmare really came into the light when Victor Ireland, President of Working Designs, advised his customers not to purchase Interact products. "We are advising ALL SEGA Saturn owners AGAINST purchasing and/or using any of the unlicensed Interact memory cartridges (pictured below). They are sold as "Game Shark", "Memory Card", and "Memory Card Plus." "The problem with these devices is that they were created without technical help from SEGA, and since this requires reverse engineering, they CANNOT be guaranteed to be fully compatible. Also, there are about 10 or more revisions of the BIOS in these carts, and 5 or more revisions of the SEGA Saturn BIOS. Finding a fair match is nearly impossible, and even then, it only means less problems, not the elimination of Interact RAM problems." "Another problem is that even though these devices boast "8 megs" of storage, they actually only contain 4 megs of physical RAM, and they therefore compress data to achieve 8 megs of storage in only 4 megs of RAM. The problem with this is that on large save files (such as Dragon Force, amongst others) the compression time is longer than small save files, and this can upset the required timings on the SEGA Saturn, thereby corrupting or even DESTROYING data." "In fact, these carts can even corrupt the INTERNAL RAM on the Saturn, requiring that the SEGA RAM be cleared to fix the corruption before any games can be guaranteed to work correctly once again." "Most users decide on these cartridges for one of three reasons: Cheat codes made possible with the Game Shark, relatively cheap price of these carts ($39 or so) compared to the official SEGA RAM cart ($60 and up), or the difficulty finding the SEGA RAM cartridge in stores, since store buyers prefer to carry the Interact carts since they are less expensive and offer better price margins." "We used to make the Official Saturn RAM cartridge available for $49.95, delivered to your door, including Federal Express 2 day shipping, as well as a custom Dragon Force Backup RAM Sticker. However, SEGA, in their infinite wisdom, deemed that we were only authorized to publish software and not authorized to sell hardware (as the RAM cart is considered), and threatened legal action. Since then, they have given us the stall for the last 5 months and counting with regard to our request to receive authorization to continue making these scarce RAM carts available to consumers. As has been the case under SEGA's new and "improved" management, you, the consumer lose." "However, if you have a Saturn, we personally don't care WHERE you buy the Official SEGA Backup RAM cart. Just buy IT, and not these shoddy Interactproducts. These carts are our #1 support problem on our game help lines. Users have experienced frequent lockups, corrupt backup RAM data, destroyed backup RAM data, problems with the Saturn recognizing the carts, Corrupt internal Saturm RAM when an Interact card was used once or more, Saturns that load and perform erratically with the carts installed, etc, etc, etc...the list goes on and on. Would you risk 50, 60, even 100 hours worth of game saves simply to save $20-30? It's just not worth it. Just say no." - Victor Ireland A quick look at dejanews archives will reveal plenty of posts made by people who were having troubles. Incidentally a similar warning was later issued by WD concerning the PSX memory cards, and then broadened yet again to include *most* third party carts/cards. Following that, Interact threated to sue WD over this if they didn't take the warning down from their webpage. Vic reworded the message, but the gist remained. The Working Designs page later goes on to give testimonials of people suffering from Interact woes. The WD webpage can be accessed at http://www.workingdesigns.com Check the "Newsroom" section. -------------------------- 7.9 What is the Gameshark? -------------------------- Under Construction. --------------------------------------------------------- 7.10 Help! My Saturn cartridge port won't work correctly! (Or: Is frequent use of my cartridge port okay)? (Or: Can I use any cart without damaging my system)? --------------------------------------------------------- Some people state the Saturn cartridge port contacts are made of cheap tin instead of a higher quality material (like gold which is a much better conductor of electricity and tends so last longer), and that the contacts are much cheaper then that of an NES, SNES, Genesis, ect. and were never meant for as frequent usage. This was seen as a cost cutting procedure by Sega, and thus the connectors tend to become corroded or worn out rather easily. On the other hand, Raymond McKeithen presents a different take on the qualitive matter: From my experience (a 4+ year-old Japanese Saturn that works fine and has never had a problem plus 3 other import ones) and what I've been able to tell from others, the only people that have trouble with cart slots are those that use 3rd party cartridges. I believe that once you do that, the *cart* damages the slot, and then even Sega carts won't work reliably." "If you look at the card edge on a Sega cart compared to most 3rd party carts, there are 2 clear differences. The Sega carts have the edges of the card filed/tapered so it isn't sharp/abrasive, the 3rd party ones typically don't. Probably more importantly, look at the thickness of the circuit boards in the two. Every 3rd party one I've seen has a "thick" circuit board, which will spread the cart-slot contacts which can certainly cause a problem if a non-thick one is used afterwards; it may damage the slot in other ways since it wasn't specifically designed for thick boards." ---- For dirty/corroded contacts: Cleaning the contacts with isopropyl alchohol will help. Just be sure to thin out the mixture with some tap water until you get about a 50/50 mixture. Using a artist's erasier may also help somewhat, as will a can of compressed air for removing dirt and deposits. The same can be done with the cartidges themesleves. Blowing on the contacts may have offer temporary relief, but you run the risk of moisture on the contacts by way of your own saliva. It may be possible to get a replacement contact part if yours become too corroded and causes frequent problems. Contact Sega of America at 1-800-USA-SEGA. Also, if anybody knows if and where these parts can be ordered via third party, please let me know (include addresses and contact info for these establishments please). You used to be able to buy aftermarket 70 pin connectors for the NES. Raymond McKeithen II writes: "With the machine off, remove and insert the cartridge several times. If there's some minor corrosion on the cartridge or machine contacts, this should clear it up. This is especially a possibility if you've never used the cartridge slot before. I've seen exactly the same situation on another new white Saturn..." ----------------------- VIII. THE SATURN NETLINK ----------------------- Completely Under Construction. ---------------------------- XI. MODIFICATION INFORMATION ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ 9.1 Can I play games from another region on my Saturn? ------------------------------------------------------ Not out of the box. There are certain hurdles to clear and steps to take in order to successfully play games from one region, on a system designed for another region. Briefly, these hurdles include the territorial lockouts, and the television system your country uses. --------------------------------------------------------------- 9.2 I've decided to play games from another region. What are my options? --------------------------------------------------------------- In many cases, your options of playing imports are wide. Assuming you have a US or Japanese NTSC Saturn you have three distinct options: 1. Install a language switch. 2. Use "Disc Swapping" (Not Recomended!). 3. Get one of the multitudes of converter cartridges. 4. Use an Interact Game Shark. European Saturn owners have to ensure that their system will support NTSC if they wish to play US or Japanese games, On the other hand, US and Japanese owners will have to support PAL if they wish to play European games. Still, yet another distinct possibility.... From the Saturn MOD FAQ by The Axledental DJ : "You (in theory) could disassemble the info on the BIOS chip and rewrite the bits where it looks for CD authentication, making your machine a "universal" unit that plays ALL games no matter where it came from, including a game you might of copied yourself to a gold or silver CD-R disc. Then youwould burn the patched ROM image to an EEPROM and attempt to play foriegn/ pirated games." This unfortunately, would still do nothing with PAL on NTSC or NTSC on PAL circumstances. ----------------------------------------------------- 9.3 What about NTSC on a PAL console, and visa versa? ----------------------------------------------------- NTSC and PAL are television broadcast frequencies. NTSC is about 60 (actually 59.94) fields per second, 525 lines per frame (each frame is 2 fields). PAL is 50 fields per second and 625 lines per frame. Parts of Europe and Hong Kong use PAL, while North America and Japan use NTSC. There were NTSC and PAL versions of the Saturn released in the appropriate regions, and knowing what system you have is important when buying games from another region. The Sony CXA1645M, the video output chip in the Saturn (or at least the ones we've seen), is capable of outputting both NTSC and PAL signals. The problem is in instructing the mainboard to run at the correct rate. If you play a NTSC game on a PAL console and the game is not programmed to notice what kind of console you're on, there are two effects: first, the game's screen is squashed because the 525 lines fit on a narrower portion of the screen, and second, the game runs about 17 percent slower _if_ the game's timing depends on events that happen at a specified rate compared to the frame. (Or if its timing depends on the current, but it probably won't, because part of Japan is 50 hertz but 60 fields per second.) The opposite happens in reverse: the screen is stretched out (and probably rolls badly) and the game is too fast. You can correct this problem by building a 50/60Hz Switch. Of course, the easist thing to do would be to get NTSC equipment if you wish to play US or Japanese games, and PAL equipment if you want to play PAL games. However, then you would need to buy a power converter, and it can be a pain in the ass....or "arse", depending on who's reading this. "^_^" ----------------------------------------------- 9.4 How do I build a 50/60Hz (PAL/NTSC) switch? ----------------------------------------------- Information is provided on Tony's Sega Saturn page. His dual DPDT switch mod also does the country modification at the same time. One of these days I'll provide detailed instructions on building a PAL/NTSC switch here. http://www.trsoft.demon.co.uk/satmod.htm ------------------------------------------------------ 9.5 What exactly is a MOD Switch or a Language Switch? ------------------------------------------------------ A MOD Switch or a language switch (it can referred to as both) is quite simply a modification to your Saturn that will allow you to play Japanese games on an American system or vice-versa. It subverts the lockout code normally contained on many Saturn CDs. It, in effect, tricks the system into thinking it's a Japanese, American, or UK system when it really isn't. The modification usually consists of a single DPDT switch that can be toggled between US and Japanese software. This is arguably that best (certainly most permanent) way to play imports if you are a serious gamer. Assuming you have all the tools and equipment, the MOD will also cost you only about $4 for a single DPDT switch and wires. This should *NOT* be confused with a MOD Chip, which is different (see next question). The switch does *NOT* allow to to play CDRs, prirated software, or software developed for another television standard (PAL, SECAM, ect). The modification can be performed on virtually any Saturn, although the procedure for each system is slightly different, and the jumpers that you need to solder wires to are located on different places on the bottom of the motherboard, depending on model. Also, performing the modification will, of course, void your warranty. If you'd like to do this modification yourself, see the next question. The video game importer NCS will also perform the modification via mail order for $35 if you don't want to do it yourself (that price by the way, includes return postage, but you still have to send the system yourself and pay for the outgoing postage). Customer satisfaction with this service has been very high. You can visit the NCS homepage at: http://www.ncsx.com/ ...or refer to the "Contact Information" towards the end of this FAQ. ---------------------------------------- 9.6 How can I install a language switch? ---------------------------------------- By far, Jerry Lynds & Kirk Patten have provided the most reliable method for installing a language switch on your Saturn. This information only pertains to Japanese and US systems however, and have not been confirmed to work with PAL equipment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * For the modification of the Saturn, you will need: * Phillips Screwdriver, Standard Size * Phillips Screwdriver, Small * Flatblade Screwdriver, Small * Sidecutters * Pencil Tipped 15 Watt Solder iron * (1) DPDT Switch, Small * ~8" 6 strand ribbon cable, or 6 pcs 8" wire * Needlenose Pliers with Bent Tip * X-Acto or other sharp knife * Drill In its most basic sense the modification consists of hooking a DPDT switch up across two pairs of two jumpers to allow you to alternate between two jumper configurations conveniently. Currently, I am aware of four versions of the Sega Saturn Hardware that are for sale. This document details performing the modification for each of these versions of hardware. There do exist other versions of this hardware (ex: the White Saturn), but they do not differ signifigantly relating to the modification. ___________ Disassembly Before modifying any of the three hardware configurations, it is necessary to completely disassemble your Sega Saturn unit. The jumpers will be located on the main PC board, and in order to access them you will have to remove this board from the unit. In all three versions of the hardware, this is located at the very bottom of the case. I have found it helpful to lay out the parts on a towel or some such to facilitate easy re-assembly. Be careful when disconnecting wires and ribbon cables, they are fragile. Note that on the newer versions of the Saturn, you will have to lift the CD drive off its mounting posts, and remove a small phillips screw holding the CD grounding strip to the metal shielding. If you do not do this, you will be unable to lift the drive, shield, or main PC board from the case. Take your time disassembling the unit. There is nothing very difficult, but some components are easily damaged, and it will be easier to re-assemble if you take care to remember where the components are located. It is not necessary to remove the battery from the PC board to perform the mod, but it is a wise precaution. If you do remove the battery, your saved data will all be lost. ______________ Wiring the Mod The 6 posts of the DPDT switch will be referred to as A-F, as below. B and E will be the center terminal designations in this document. An X signifies that the connection point will not be used in the modification. Simply connect the corresponding letters on the switch to the corresponding letters on the main PC board for the version of your hardware. DPDT Switch Left Right A D B E C F ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 1 JP# LeftRight JP11 F E JP10 D X JP7 A X JP6 C B This version of the mod is for the original version of the Saturn. This hardware version will have the MPEG daughter board, and the power connector will not have any notches in it. The jumpers are located in one bank on the bottom of the main PC board. There will be two small traces on the circuit board shorting JP6 and JP11, or JP7 and JP10. You will have to physically cut these traces before you wire for the switch to function properly. The common posts of JP10 & JP11 and JP6 & JP7 are on the right side in both instances. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 2 JP# LeftRight JP11 X A JP10 B C JP# LeftRight JP# Left Right JP6 D X JP7 F E In this version the power cord is notched. This version was manufactured from approximately 8/95 - 3/96. You will have to remove two small components from either JP7 and JP10 or JP6 and JP11. They are unimportant and serve merely to short the jumpers that establish the world area in which your machine is designed to operate. JP10 & JP11 are located on the top of the main motherboard near the center in the configuration shown above. JP6 & JP7 are on the bottom in a side by side configuration like in the table above. The common post of JP6 & JP7 is on the right, while the common post of JP10 & JP11 is on the left. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 3 JP# LeftRight JP6 X A JP7 B C JP# LeftRight JP11 D X JP10 F E In this version the power cord is notched. This version was manufactured from around 3/96 - 7/96. You will have to remove two small components from either JP7 and JP10 or JP6 and JP11. They are unimportant and serve merely to short the jumpers that establish the world area in which your machine is designed to operate. In this version of the hardware, the jumpers are all grouped together on the bottom of the board. The common post of JP6 & JP7 is on the left, while JP10 & JP11 is on the right. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 4 JP# LeftRight JP# Left Right JP6 A X JP7 B C JP# LeftRight JP# Left Right JP10 F E JP11 X D In this version the power cord is notched. This version was manufactured starting 7/96, it is the second version that does not have a drive light. You will have to remove two small components from either JP7 and JP10 or JP6 and JP11. They are unimportant and serve merely to short the jumpers that establish the world area in which your machine is designed to operate. In this version of the hardware, the jumpers are all grouped together on the bottom right of the board. The common post of JP6 & JP7 is on the right, while JP10 & JP11 is on the left. ___________ Re-assembly In all four versions, you should be able to feed the connecting wires from under the main PC board to a location near the reset switch. You should be able to re-assemble the machine with the top not screwed down and the switch hanging on the outside to test it. When you are ready to finalize the mod, there is ample room to drill a hole in the top of the case to the right of the reset switch. In all four versions of the hardware, there should be room inside the case for a regular microswitch in this area. ________________ Additional Notes Again, if you do not understand part of this document, then it is not a good idea to utilize any of the information contained herein. I do not intend to answer questions about this from now until the end of time, so only do this mod if you understand this document as it stands. I will not answer questions about this unless I feel like it. You should not have to cut or change any part of your machine except the jumpers, and drilling a hole for the switch. You can even avoid drilling the hole to mount the switch if you make the connecting wires long enough to feed the switch out the battery access door in the rear of the unit. [John's note:] You can also cut a square hole in the battery door and mount the switch there. The plastic is very soft and easy to work with and it holds the switch nicely. --- On the other hand, U.K. Saturn owners may find Tony Ross's guide more informative, as he takes PAL modifications into consideration at the same time. You can view that particular proceedure here: http://www.trsoft.demon.co.uk/satmod.htm ----------------------------------------------------- 9.7 Can I play CDR discs (copied games) on my Saturn? ----------------------------------------------------- Not without a MOD chip or a special cartridge. The Saturn has a security lockout code on each disc that the Saturn must read in an effort to discourage piracy. ----------------------- 9.8 What is a MOD Chip? ----------------------- A MOD chip is a little dubious. Japanese, US, and UK software contain lockout codes that prevent and discourage illegal copying of CDs. This lockout code should not be confused with the regional recognition codes of above. When you copy a CD, the CD Burner will not copy this code, so whenever you put a copied CD in your Saturn regardless of whether or not it's an import or domestic game, you won't be able to play it. The Saturn will assume that in the absence of that lockout keycode, the disc is unsuitable (read: not Saturn software). The MOD chip is designed to overcome this by fitting in between the drive ribbon cable, and the drive itself, and allow you to play copied games. Naturally, we would hope that the only reason why you'd want to play copied software is for backup purposes. >=) Gameworld USA (http://www.netgsi.com/~gwusa) sells mod chips for your Saturn for about $39.95, or you can purchase a pre-modded system for $179.99 ($199.99 and they'll throw in a Action Replay Plus cart). Games City (http://gamescity.com/) can do it for $80 installed. MOD chips can also be purchased cheaply in Hong Kong, or so I'm told. Bear in mind, MODing is much trickier then a language switch, and the 21 pin MOD chips that are sold don't work in every system. If you have an older Saturn with oval buttons, the MOD *may* not work (see "Saturn Models") since those require 20 pin MOD chips. The only way to be sure is to count the number of pins. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.9 Is there a single "one-time" modification that will allow me to play imports *AND* CDRs without the use of a cartridge? ------------------------------------------------------------------- There *was*. Game World USA sold a MOD BOARD for the Sega Saturn. The Sega Saturn Mod Board allowed gamers to play US Import and CDR back up games. A feat which no other mod has been able to match before or since. Unfortunately, Game World USA went out of business before this FAQ could be posted, and the board itself is no longer manufactured. Somebody may come out with something simiar some day though. ------------------------------- 9.10 What about "Disc Swaping"? ------------------------------- Disc swaping is a risky proposition, and should be discouraged. It involves opening the lid to the drive while it is running so that you can swap out the game after it checks and confirms the code on the first game. Doing this repeatedly can damage your drive electronics, and it doesn't always work all the time. It also requires you to *short out* (!!!) the lid sensor on the CD drive, and you constantly have to swap, or play the entire game in one sitting (annoying for RPGs). However, it is a last resort measure for playing imports or CDRs. From the Saturn MOD FAQ by The Axledental DJ : Either manually, or with the Super Strong Card 2.0, you can do the infamous "swap trick" to play all foriegn games on your Saturn. What you do is short / disconnect the lid sensor, so you can have access to the disc while the Saturn reads it. Put in an American game, let it load, then immediately after the black SEGA logo, pop the other disc in. If you did it at the right time and quick enough, you can play the other game. The main problem is this, the Saturn also reads the American game's TOC, Table Of Contents, which has the length of each track. The other game you swapped may have a totally different TOC, so the music might dropout, and (most likely)the game will freeze or glitch. On top of all that, it's difficult to do, and swapping will eventually cause damage to your Saturn's drive motor. Playstation owners have this exact same problem too. -------------------------------- 9.11 What is the Sega Satellite? -------------------------------- The Sega Satellite is a cheap 3rd party cartridge manufacted by E.M.S Industries Ldt. of Hong Kong. It allows you to play import games (USA, Japanese and European) without a switch. The Cartridge is *ONLY* a converter cartridge and lacks the ability to save games, or act as a RAM cart like the Action Replay 4 in 1 or 5 in 1 (also by E.M.S). It also does nothing for CDRs. It's a plain looking white or blue cartridge with a sticker that says Sega Satellite, and can be purchased in various places for around $20. I do not know how reliable they are. ---------------------------------- 9.12 ...and what about the ST Key? ---------------------------------- Same function as the Sega Satellite, but for about half the price. --------------------------------------- 9.13 What is the Super Strong Card 2.0? --------------------------------------- This rather unique catridge device slows down the Saturn's CD drive to better allow for disc swaping (see below). From the Saturn MOD FAQ by The Axledental DJ : "There is a rumor that some pirated HK games REQUIRE the Super Strong Card 2.0. It's totally false, just a rumor generated so dealers can unload those useless things that they have so much of. NO game requires any certain brand of converter to be played." ------------------------------------------------ 9.14 How can I use a Game Shark to play imports? ------------------------------------------------ From Tyler V. Snow "You can also play imports using Interact's Game Shark accessory. Just press Start while holding down X+Y+Z when the Game Shark asks if you want to start the game with/without enhancements. Newer Game Sharks apparently let you just press Start without having to hold down X+Y+Z when it asks that question." ---------------------------------------------------------------- 9.15 What if I have a converter catridge like the ST Key or Sega Satellite and I want to play a RAM cart game? ---------------------------------------------------------------- You're screwed. Well I hesitate to say, but that's not entirely true. There is a way to swap out the cartridge, and it's rather straightforward way at that. Simply pull out the converter and replace it with the RAM cart after the CD player screen says "Checking Disc" and the "Start Application" button appears. Suffice it to say, this is stupid as it can screw up your cartridge port. Never insert or remove a cartridge while the system is running. You have been warned. If you think that the risk of screwing up your Saturn doesn't justify the cost of getting a switch installed, or getting a 4 in 1 cart then continue are your own peril. From the Saturn MOD FAQ by The Axledental DJ : "I have seen many Usenet posts about people who have damaged their Saturn by cart-swapping to play import games like KOF'95 and Real Bout. Despite what you might hear, cartridge swapping WILL damage your Saturn, maybe the cart port will no longer work, maybe no games will run, etc. No matter how much you like a game, DON'T SWAP!! It's not worth one round of King of Fighters '95 (well, maybe =) to risk your $200 Saturn machine." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.16 Will these methods allow me to play any game from another region? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Assuming that the mod you choose will allow you to satisfy any extra peripheral requirements (such as RAM and memory carts), yes. However, reliable information from NCS tells us the Japanese version of the shooter known in the US as "In The Hunt" does *not* work on a US Saturn under any circumstances (switch, converter, etc.). ------------------- X. IMPORT QUESTIONS ------------------- -------------------------------------- 10.1 Why would I want to play imports? -------------------------------------- "Should I, or shouldn't I?" seems to be a dilemma among many Saturn fans. It's the one million dollar question, and many Saturn supporters have asked it in one form or another. The question of whether or not imports are for you rests upon how much of a gamer you actually are. Imports open up a whole new world of opportunity for the Saturn gamer. If your into RPGs, anime games, or just more games period, then importing is something to definately think about. Importing is also a bastion for staunch supporters of the Saturn who are displeased with the PSX catalogue, or simply believe that the Saturn import tiles can ofter a higher level of enjoyment for them. This is not to say that you should limit yourself to just the Saturn, and you should realize that the difficulty level in aquiring imports and the ability to play them increases significant in many cases, as well as the money involved. You should decide whether or not the ends will justify the means in your case. Everybody is unique. The deciding factor should be made after through analysis of the import enviroment. Check magazines, post to USENET, visit some of the websites listed at the bottom of this FAQ and see if anything interests you. -------------------------------------- 10.2 Where can I get Japanese imports? -------------------------------------- Please refer to section XIX. ------------------------------------- 10.3 What is the "Saturn Collection"? ------------------------------------- The Saturn Collection is a basically a series of re-releases in Japan from Sega on some of the more poplar Saturn titles at a lower price (about 2,800 Yen). This program was extended to third party titles as well. The following list is provided by the Sega of Japan website, and is translated courtesy of Terrence Huey. Current Saturn Collection (SATAKORE) titles[as of 3/11/99], all 2,800 yen: RPG: Terra Fantastica Dragon Force Langrisser III Langrisser IV Albert's Oddysey Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Sword & Sorcery Falcom Classics Princess Crown Action: Sonic Jam Dynamite Deka(Die Hard Arcade) NiGHTS K-1 Fighting Illusion Saturn Bomberman Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Legends Gundam Silhouette Mirage Rockman X4 Rockman 8 Fighting: Virtua Fighter 2 All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua Street Fighter Zero 2 Sports/Drive: Sega Ralley DEKA Street Fire Pro Wrestling 6 Men Scramble Steep Slope Sliders J-League Pro Soccer Club wo Tsukurou! 2 Pro Baseball Greatest Hits '98 Choro Q Park Shooting: Bulk Slash Metal Black Gun Griffon Layer Section Do Donpachi ThunderForce V The House of the Dead Simulation: Command & Conquer Advanced World War Sea Bass Fishing 2 Sankyo Fever Simulation S Princess Maker 2 The KONBINII~Ano Machi wo Dokusen se yo~ Chaos Seed Adventure: Sakura Taisen Tomb Raider D Enemy Zero Puzzle: Puyo Puyo Sun Puzzle Battle 2 X Jookai Banri no Choujou(Great Wall of China) Baku Baku Animal World Puyo Puyo Tetris S Magical Drop 3 Table: Tou Tarou Doochuuki Kochira ?ShokuKuKiYuu Kooen ZenHa Shussho: Nakagawa Land Dai REESU! no Kan Honkaku Pro Majhong Tetsu? Special Gyuwanburaa Jiko Shin-ha Tokyo Majong Land Pro Mahjong Kyoku S DX Jinsei Game KARUDOSEPUTO/Culdcept Side Pocket 3 TEKUSUTOOTO RUDO ~ARUKANA Senki~ Variety: Koden Koosetsu Jutsu Hyaku Monogatari ~Honto ni Atta Kowai Hanashi 2-do Rukoto wa SANDOAARU Techno Motor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10.4 Hey! Cool! There are files on my Saturn Import ("Omake" Directory)? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some Sega Sattun imports (And even a few domestic games) will have a directory titled "Omake" somewhere on the disc. Sega Saturn CDs are formated in standard ISO-9660, and can thus be read by most computer CD-ROM drives. These "Omake" directories usually contain pictures, text (of various subject matter), and sometimes even Screen Savers. "Omake" loosely translated into english means: "A gift for you". I'd like to get a list of these games, so if somebody wants to send in submissions of games that have these, I'd be greatful. ------------------- 10.5 What is Anime? ------------------- From the now defunct rec.games.video.* FAQ previously maintained by Ken Arromdee: "Anime refers to Japanese animation. It's often better done, less censored, and aimed towards an older audience than, American animation. (Cautionary note: some American fans go overboard in thinking anime adult; a lot of series popular in America _are_ aimed at children or teenagers.) In the past, lots of anime was hacked up and changed for the US market (Speed Racer, Star Blazers, Robotech), but in the last few years new companies have released unedited anime with better translations. The connection with video games is that many Japanese video games are anime-based or have anime-style art, and moreover such games are often either not ported or drastically changed for American release because of supposed lack of interest in anime. Also, much anime is made _from_ video games; the Fatal Fury, Samurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown), and Street Fighter II anime are available in America. (The US TV series, however, of SF2 is not anime.)" The Saturn has a vast number of anime based or anime themed games in Japan. Precious few of these made it outside of Japan though without importation. -------------------- 10.6 What is Hentai? -------------------- Hentai is often in reference to sexually explicit or suggestive anime. I bring this up only because there are a number of Hentai games available for the Saturn in Japan. *NONE* of these have been ported for the US Saturn. The amount of hentai on the Japanese Saturn is greatly exaggerated however. ^_^ Hentai games on the Saturn basically pale in comparison to their PC counterparts (usually for the Japanese Windows 95) and have been censored. Nevertheless, there are nearly 50 hentai titles available for the Saturn, accounting for about 15% of all titles (figure is a rough estimate, and does not count illegitimate, pirated, or non-licensed games). A lot of the material in the Saturn versions of many hentai games are simply suggestive (ie. underwear, but little nudity) or implied sexual encounters with strategically choreographed fadeouts. "^_^;" While character interaction is normally the focus of many of these games, the artwork is usually very nice, and i've been told that the company ÉLF produces hentai games that are very well written (as far as plot scripting is concerned). Note: "Puppy Love" simulations like Tokimeki Memorial, Sakura Taisen, Roommate, etc., should *NOT* be confused for hentai. Trying to hit on cute anime chics does not automatically imply the inclusion of mature themes. =P~ ----------------------------------------------- 10.7 Explain the Japanese Rating System please? ----------------------------------------------- The Japanese rating system is really quite simple. On many Saturn games you will see a little colored box (usually on the front of the manual through the jewlcase), with Kanji in the center. The rating system breaks down as follows: Green: Suitable for all ages. Yellow: Some adult situations Red: Adult situations/Nudity (18+) There's also a blue colored box, but it states the same as the green box. Raymond McKeithen II writes: "Many early Saturn adult games were what's usually referred to as "red label" (there is a red rating symbol that says "X18" and some other stuff on them). These allowed nudity to be shown, but that's about as far as it goes in what you actually could see (in other words, red-label equalled about PG-13 for US movie standards). Around Oct. 1996 (think that's the right date) these were disallowed and we were left with "yellow label" in which nudity was not allowed but the games still contain "adult situations" (I'd say, in general, nothing you can't see on daytime soap operas or something like Melrose Place)." A variant of this system was also imposed for Dreamcast games, although it's more of a bar instead of a box, and is located on the back of the jewlcase insert. ------------------------------------ XI. MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE QUESTIONS ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------- 11.1 Can I build a custom joystick for my Saturn? ------------------------------------------------- Sure, but the joystick port appears to be of a proprietary design. Building a connector may prove dificult. If I can find pinouts, or anything like that, It'll be provided here. Some people have provided instructions for modifying an arcade control stick to work on a Saturn. It involves using some wiring from a canbalized Saturn controller. It might be a good starting point. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/misc/file/arcade_joystick.txt --------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.2 Is there anyway I can use a better/faster CD drive in my Saturn? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Some people make wild statements to the effect of "Wouldn't it be cool to stick a Quad-Speed CD-ROM drive in my Saturn?". The truth is, I honestly don't know if it'd work. I'd err on the side of caution when I say it probably wouldn't. The CD drives controller chip may have trouble negotiating with a different model drive, much less a faster one. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.3 What's the port marked "Communication Connection" on the back of my Saturn? --------------------------------------------------------------------- It's used for 2 peripherals: the link cable and the floppy disk drive. Both peripherals are Japan-only, although the port was included on all models of the Saturn. ---------------------------------- 11.4 How does the link cable work? ---------------------------------- The link cable hooked two Saturns together for head to head play. Each Saturn was in turn hooked to its own television set or monitor. You also needed two copies of the same game. In this way, the link cable was reminiscent of the "Jag Link" used on the Atari Jaguar. Games that used link cables (not necessarily complete): Gebockers Gun Griffon 2 Steeldom Raymond McKeithen II writes: "AFAIK the Sega cables were never sold separately but were just packed in with the above games. GG2 and Steeldom came both ways, Gebockers, being the first game, I think always came with the cable. There are 3rd party link cables that apparently don't work right and don't work with all the games." "One of the US FPS games (Doom, Duke Nukem, something) I think has a hidden option for linkmode that may or may not work well. Since there's no US linkcable they didn't document it, perhaps they didn't finish it either? I've only read about this on newsgroup posts." -------------------------------------- 11.5 What about the floppy disk drive? -------------------------------------- The floppy disk drive is a rare animal it seems, and it's not even listed on the peripheral sheet that came in late Saturns though it was listed earlier. I can't *prove* it came out, but it is shown in some magazines I have, and Japanese Panzer Dragoon Saga supports it directly, as does Dezaemon 2, the shooter construction kit. I forget the exact size, but a single save file of Dezaemon 2 takes most of a memory cartridge (and obviously can't save to the Saturn's internal memory). ----------------------------------- 11.6 Can you "soft reset" a Saturn? ----------------------------------- Yes. Hold A B and C, and then press start while still holding the buttons. The game software will reset, usually to the title screen. Pressing the buttons again will result in the system further resetting to the CD player. This may not work in all games, but it works in the games I've seen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.7 Is there any way to get Saturn software to always play in mono so don't have to keep entering it in the game's option menu? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Most Saturn software will check your systems settings to determine if you have your Saturn set to output mono or stereo. You can change the setting by going to "Other Options" in the system settings main menu, and then select either mono or stereo, depending on what you want. ---------------------------------------------------- XII. ACCESSORIES, PERIPHERALS, AND REPLACEMENT ITEMS ---------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 12.1 What optional controllers are available for the Saturn? ------------------------------------------------------------ The following information reflects products that are (at the time this FAQ was written) available in the US. Please mail any corrections to me. Please check with the company to ensure availability and current price. Also, many of the information here is taken directly from the manufacturer. None of the FAQ authors are endorsing ANY of these sticks. What follows are NOT reviews. This list is also...you guessed it... incomplete! - Cobra Light Gun Compatible for use with both the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation, auto bullet reload with programmable number of bullets from 1-15. It has variable speed rapid fire, rapid fire + auto bullet reload combination, a red LED shooting effect on both sides during play and a single cable with dual end plug that simplifies hookup to both systems. - Eclipse Pad | STD/Interact 8 fire buttons, slow motion, LED display panel, programmable with extra long cord. - Eclipse Stick | STD/Interact | SV-462A 8 Fire buttons, Independent auto-fire control, Programmable synchro-fire, Slow motion, LED display panel, Durable metal base, and an extra long cord. - Naki Lightgun | Naki No data. Looks like a purple .357 Magnum revolver though. - Psychopad JR Gamepad Unleash HYPER programmable mayhem in your favorite fighting and action games. With HYPER programmable 10 in 1 technology, Psychopad JR delivers up to 10 moves with a push of a button. Check out these features: 12 HYPER Programmable buttons, 4 user defined macros, game default setting, pause and continuos motion control and stay in play programmability. - Strike Pad | nYko Technologies The Strike Pad from nYko Technologies is a replacement controller for your Sega Saturn. It features the original factory design layout, six front fire buttons, tip mounted L & R buttons, an eight way directional pad and a 6 foot cord. It carries a suggested retail price of $17.99. - Super Pad 8 | Interact Features auto-fire, simulated slow motion, eight way direction pad, six fire buttons, and an extra-long cord. It carries a suggested a suggested retail price of $14.99. - Virtual Gun Machine Gun fire power! Most Advanced technology! Don't settle for less. The Virtual Gun out guns the competition with features such as the Machine Gun mode that combines auto-fire and auto-reloading. Three speeds of autofire or single fire action. Auto-reload up to 15 shots or reload manually. Manual reload button. Special button for launching other game weapons and an exciting LED shooting effect! ---- NOTES: Slow motion on the Eclipse Pad and Super Pad 8 is acheived by pressing the pause button rapidly. Therefore the screen may flicker when these pads are used. -------------------------------------------------------- 12.2 Can I extend the cord length of my Saturn controls? -------------------------------------------------------- Yes. Interact manufactured and sold a 6 foot cord extention as part of their Performace product line. It plugs in between the Saturn and whatever control device you are using. Finding it is the difficult part. http://www.videogamedepot.com/ sells them for $5. You can try E-bay or the newsgroups to see if anybody is selling them. Mad Catz manufactured a similar cable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.3 What's the difference between the new and old Saturn control pads? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sega manufactured two different standard control pads for the US market. The first these controlers (MK-80100) was packaged in older model Saturns (those with oval buttons). The controllers were larger, had a different button design and featured sunken L & R buttons. The second one (MK-80116) was packaged with newer model Saturns (with round buttons), and more in line with the Japanese controlers. Most people who have used both controlers prefer the durability and feel of the newer, Japanese-style model. Suprisingly, there were also two different Japanese control pads, although its harder to tell the difference compared to the US models. Raymond McKeithen explains: I'm aware of two primary versions of the [Japanese] controller. They look the same (not talking about the early crap US controller). They are also all numbered HSS-0101. However, internally they are completely different. Saturn controllers have a "plus-sign" shaped piece of plastic inside the controller under the D-pad. The pad is raised above this and that's what gives the pad the "rocker" feel as opposed to the mushy feel of a Nintendo or PSX controller. 1) First version. Easily breakable within hours of play. This plastic piece *is* plastic, and has ridges in it in such a way that it adds to its fragility. I don't use pads at all, and a friend broke this one day, the first time it was ever used. I had a second one that I'd made a joystick out of, I switched the housings, and that one broke quickly too. This version has a tan circuit board, and the primary chip on it is a regular"through-hole" IC with the markings sanded off. The board doesn't even say "Sega" on it, if I didn't know better I'd think it was a counterfeit (since one came with the system and the other was a separate controller it's near impossible, besides it still has the official plug that says Sega on it etc.). 2) Second version. Durable. Plastic piece is now nylon, and no longer has ridges. Circuit board is now green, says "Sega" on it, and uses surface mount chip. With some minor changes all controllers were still like this until the end. The gray Japanese controllers that Toys R Us sold were the second version (ones I've seen anyway) so it must have been changed relatively quickly. The switches for L/R are different on the two versions too, they were softer on the first version and I think felt better. Parts between the two versions for the most part are not interchangable, most of the plastic parts have been altered in one (non-obvious) way or another. However, the nylon piece will fit in the old-style, so if there's some source for that part... ----------------------------------------------------------------- 12.4 What is the Sega Mission Stick, and what games supported it? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Phaedrus writes: "More or less. It's an analog stick, with the usual Saturn buttons (which can be flipped to the left or the right of the stick), as well as trigger buttons on the stick. Interestingly enough, there's an expansion connector on the bottom of the stick, as well as support for mounting something else on the opposite side of the stick from the button panel, so there's a possibility that someone could add a slide throttle/extra buttons/whatever at a later date." To the best of my knowledge, no expansion accessory was ever developed for the Mission Stick. It was also one of the more expensive Saturn peripherals. Because of design differences from the regular digital control pad, not all games will recognize the Mission Stick (ie. Thunderstrike 2). Furthermore, certain games such as Solar Eclipse will ignore custom button configurations you set. I'd like to get list of games that support/do not support/have problems with the Mission Stick. There have been rumors on r.g.v.s. that an undocumented feature in Panzer Dragoon II would allow a gamer to pair up two mission sticks for dual controls (one controlling your dragon, and the other your crosshairs). I have no found confirmation of this though... As with most Sega accessories, a white version was released in Japan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.5 What multiplayer adaptors are there, and what games support them? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A multiplayer adaptor is a peripheral that plugs into one of your Saturn control ports, and acts as a junction box for multiple controlers to be used simultaneously. Two muliplayer adaptors were created for the Saturn. The first is the official Sega version which supports up to six controllers. This version WAS released in the US (MK-80102). The second, is a special licensed Hudson Soft adaptor packaged with the Japanese Bomberman game and shaped like Bomberman's head. This version supports up to 10 controllers, and was NOT released in the US. There are several multiplayer games designed to take advantage of these multiplayer adaptors, and I'd imagine its a great thing during parties. Games that supported multiple players (not complete): Blast Chamber (up to four players) Bomberman* (up to ten players) Bomberman Fight! (up to four players) Duke Nukem 3D** (up to six, maybe seven, players) Firepro Wrestling: Six Man Scramble (up to six players) Guardian Heroes (up to four players) Madden '98 (???) NBA Action '98 (???) NHL '98 (???) Powerslave** (up to six players) Three Dirty Dwarfs (up to three players) Worldwide Soccer '98 (???) * Bomberman will work with Hudson Soft's own adaptor, or with the official Sega one. Only one level supports all 10 players. ** Powerslave has a hidden multiplayer game called "Death Tank", which supports the multitap. Duke Nukem 3D has the sequel, "Death Tank Zwei". Worms was a 1-16 player game, but it did NOT support the multitap. One controller was passed from player to player. ------------------------------------------- 12.6 I lost my Saturn manual! Can you help? ------------------------------------------- Sega of America sold new Core System manuals for $3 plus S/H. They still might, so give them a call at 1-800-USA-SEGA. ------------------------------------- 12.7 ....but what about game manuals? ------------------------------------- You'd have to contact the individual company that makes the game. That's too much contact information to list here, but GameSages provides a handy reference guide at: http://sages.ign.com/features/developers/ This is assuming the companies can or will even provide this service anymore. -------------------------------- XIII. SOFTWARE RELATED QUESTIONS -------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- 13.1 How are Capcom conversions on the Saturn? ---------------------------------------------- Under Construction. ----------------------------------------------- 13.2 How are Neo-Geo conversions on the Saturn? ----------------------------------------------- Short answer: Close, but not quite the Neo. For the most part, pretty darn good. Much better than the PSX. Long answer: The Saturn WILL seem inferior to an actual Neo-Geo system, but not because of anything relating to processing power. If you were to compare the Neo Geo CD to the Saturn and PSX, you would find the Neo-CD has 56 megabits (7 megabytes) of RAM, compared to the 16 megabits (2 megabytes) of RAM in the Saturn and Playstation. What this means is that Neo Geo conversions on either system will miss frames of animation, and probably experience added slowdown. The absense of load times with the Neo Geo cart system will obviously appeal to arcade purists as well. The Neo Geo cart system is also free of most memory constraints as it using the ROM contained inside the cartridge itself for texture storage. A similar feature was used with the KOF '95 for the Saturn, which came with its own special ROM cart. The 1 megabyte RAM cart brings the Saturn's total RAM up to 24 megabits (3 megabytes), which allows for far smoother animation over PSX conversions. The difference can clearly be seen when playing PSX and Staurn Neo Geo conversions side by side. The number of frames of animation are greater. Metal Slug on the PSX has to stop and swap out RAM data in mid-level! Unfortunately, when all is said and done, some of the larger Neo Geo games will still suffer. SNK never used the 4 megabit RAM cart as Capcom did, which is ashame as the added 4 megabytes would have brought the Saturn very close to the Neo CD's capabilities. Furthermore, there have been complaints about the clarity of sound effects in Saturn Neo Geo games. One thing the Saturn does best the Neo-CD in is loading time. The Saturn's CD drive has a faster acess time than the 1X drive in the Neo-CD, and there have been reports that it is faster than the 2X in the CDZ as well. The Saturn also supports CD-XA which allows music to play as the system loads new data into RAM. The Neo-Geo does not support CD-XA, which means that music playback must stop as the game loads between levels. All Neo Geo conversions were released in Japan only. None of these were censored, so you can play with all the blood and Mai's bounciness. It's not the content, it's the principle dammit! ^^;;; -------------------------------------------------- 13.3 What demo discs were released for the Saturn? -------------------------------------------------- Christopher Coleman has taken the time to compile a list of every Saturn demo disc (that we know of) released for the Sega Saturn. If you know more, please e-mail the FAQ maintainer or Chris directly. Special thanks is extended to: Chris Evans, Ryoni Schouten, Glen Varley, Clint Dyer, Robert Worne, Gloworm, Steve Wargo, Barry W Cantin, Bruce Tomlin, Glen Bussell, Rich Depping, chris@joytech.co.uk and Pat Strobel. Also you may elect to check out Mr. Coleman's Demo CD gallery here: http://users.wantree.com.au/~coleman/updated/gallerynew.htm - Special Discs Section: ** Ferrari Demo This demo, although never released to the public (it was in-house only), was a FMV demo of a Ferrari racing through town that was made to show off the Saturn's prowess when it comes to FMV. ** In House Demos (seen so far: Virtua Cop 2, Virtua Fighter, Virtual Hydlide) These demo CDs were circulated internally to SoA, sent from SoJ to be used to showcase/preview titles, and/or to demonstrate progress made in the completion of development on a game, and are labelled "Work in progress" Examples can be seen at the above demo CD gallery. - NTSC/American Demo CDs: ** Bootleg Samper Vol. 1 Playable: World Series Baseball, Sega Rally Championship, Clockwork Knight 2, Bug Video: Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, Mystaria, Wing Arms, NHL All Star Hockey, Panzer Dragoon, Daytona, "other games" (brief shots of Ghen War, Cyber Speedway, Virtua Fighter Remix, Black Fire, Astal, Mr Bones, Congo: The Movie, The Mansion of Hidden Souls) ** Bootleg Sampler Vol. 2 (Aka. Sega Screams Vol. 1) Playable: Virtual On, Daytona CCE, Bug Too!, Three Dirty Dwarves, Baku Baku Animal Video: Mr Bones, Sega Worldwide Soccer 97, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, Dark Savior ** Bug! Sampler Contains a playable level from Bug. Came with the second run of Saturns in the USA. ** Choice Cuts A non-playable set of video sampler clips from the following games: Black Fire, Bug, Clockwork Knight, Myst, Panzer Dragoon, Solar Eclipse, Virtua Fighter, NHL All Star Hockey, Pebble Beach Golf, Worldwide Soccer, Daytona USA, VR Virtua Racing ** Christmas NiGHTS A playable level of NiGHTS with Christmas and winter-specific graphics added, along with other in-game extras. ** NiGHTS into Dreams Sampler Two playable levels from NiGHTS (one for Claris, and one from Eliot). Came with some new Saturn units. ** Panzer Dragoon Playable Preview A playable level from Panzer Dragoon. ** Rayman Sampler A playable level from Rayman, produced by Ubi Soft, "Rayman's Dream Forest". Contained a $5 coupon off on purchase of the full game (It expired on 5/1/96). - PAL/European Demo CDS ** Block Rocking Beats Audio CD - contains tracks from various games. From Saturn Power #3. ** Bootleg Sampler Vol 1 See the entry in the NTSC/American section. ** Christmas NiGHTS See the entry in the NTSC/American section. ** Eidos Sampler Contains playable levels of Tomb Raider, Blam Machinehead and Fighting Force ** Total Saturn #1 coverdisk Playable levels of Europe '96, Loaded and Actua Golf ** Saturn Power #2 coverdisk Playable levels of Reloaded, Hardcore 4x4 and Actua Soccer Club Edition ** Panzer Dragoon Playable demo of level 2 of Panzer Dragoon. Received when sending in console registration in the UK. ** Pinball Graffiti A playable table from Pinball Graffiti - "Circus Fantasia" ** Sega Flash Vol 1 Playable: Virtua Fighter 2, Baku Baku Animal, Golden Axe: The Duel, Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei, Sega Rally Championship Video: UEFA Euro 96 England ** Sega Flash Vol 2 Playable: NiGHTS, Sega Worldwide Soccer 97, Athlete Kings, Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei, Baku Baku Animal Video: "Demo Movie" - Virtua Fighter Kids, The Story of Thor 2, Three Dirty Dwarves, Exhumed This CD was also a pack-in with Australian Saturns. ** Sega Flash Vol 3 Playable: Daytona CCE, Virtual On, Tomb Raider, Worldwide Soccer 97 Video: Bug Too!, Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, NiGHTS, Dark Savior, Mr Bones ** Sega Flash Vol 4 Playable: Sonic 3D, Die Hard Arcade, Virtual On Video: Manx TT, Fighters Megamix, Mass Destruction, Saturn Bomberman, Sky Target, Torico, Amok, Scorcher, Sega Ages 3 in 1 ** Sega Flash Vol 5 Playable: Sonic Jam, Sonic 3D, Sega Rally Championship, Die Hard Arcade Video: Last Bronx, Resident Evil, Dragon Force, WipeOut 2097, Duke Nukem 3D, Sega Touring Car, Enemy Zero ** Sega Flash Vol 6 Playable: Sega Touring Car, Steep Slope Sliders, World Wide Soccer 98 Video: Lost World, NBA Action 98, Sonic R, Enemy Zero (the intro), Panzer Dragoon Saga (the intro) ** Sega Flash Vol 7 Playable: World League Soccer, Steep Slope Sliders, Sega Touring Car Video: Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Enemy Zero, Shining Force III, House of the Dead, Winter Heat, Sonic R, NBA Action 98 ** Sega Preview Vol 1 Playable: Alien Trilogy, Loaded, NHL Powerplay '96, Keio Flying Squadron 2 Video: Tomb Raider, Exhumed ** Total Saturn #2 coverdisk Playable demo of Impact Racing ** Victory Boxing Playable demo of JVC's Victory Boxing, was Saturn+ #1's cover disk. ** WipeOut 2097/Saturn Power 5 coverdisk A playable track from WipeOut 2097. From Saturn Power #5(?), a UK magazine. - NTSC/Japan Demo CDs ** Ma Jan Kyo Jidai/Ma Jan Kaigan Monogatari/Sekushi Aidoru Hen Translating to "Mah Jong Seaside Story - Sexy Idol Edition" (roughly), this is a playable demo of a rude mahjong game, more details unknown. ** Teikoku Kageki Dan Tai-in na Meibo This translates to "Imperial Radical Group Member Name List", but other than that, not a clue yet as to what the demo CD contains. A quote from the owner, Clint Dyer: "I have to say, though, that even after playing it and choosing everything, I have NO idea what the game is like. The disc didn't have anything playable (that I could find), but had character bios, interviews, etc." ** Silhouette Mirage Mentioned in a preview in the UK's Sega Saturn Magazine, this may be a press only demo, or a Japanese release one.. no other info available. ** Grandia There is a sampler/preview demo CD of Grandia available in Japan, but that's all the info available at the moment. ** House of the Dead There is a demo CD included in a special pack from Japan that includes Virtua Cop 1, Virtua Cop 2 and a black stunner as well. ** Sega Flash Vol 1 Playable: Darius Gaiden, Sega Rally Championship, Mobile Suit Gundam Video: Magical Drop, (some isometric Godzilla game?), Guardian Heroes ** Sega Flash Vol 9 Playable: Magical Drop 2, Steeldom (a bad Virtual On clone), Video: SNK Real Bout , Ogre Battle , Sakura Wars [NB: This demo CD wouldn't work with an analog controller in either port.. a single screen with a giant exclamation mark and a bunch of Japanese text came up, and exited to the Saturn startup screen] ** Sega Flash Vol 10 Playable: Tryrush Deppy, Fist, Master of Monsters, Le Livre De Lulu Video: Riglord Saga 2, World Series Baseball 2 ** Tech Vol 1 Spring 1995 - Saturn Tsuukei (Total Saturn) Has an assortment of demos and FMV clips and other oddities: - graphics of ships, tanks and planes, possibly from a game - a playable demo of Side Pocket 2 - Interview clips with a Japanese woman (singer? actor? who knows) - Video clips of two different standup comedians' acts. - Screenshots from (a lot of) upcoming games - A couple cartoon strips (manga?) of Sir Polygon ** Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Collection demo disc. This disk contains CGI images of Virtua Fighter characters from the individual portrait collections. Each character had their own collection, with about 10-13 different hi-res pics and this disc contains 1 picture from each. --------------------------------- XIV. EMULATION / COMPUTER RELATED --------------------------------- ------------------------------------ 14.1 Are there any Saturn Emulators? ------------------------------------ Several Saturn emulators have been in development for a while now. All of them are very incomplete, and *none* of them currently run any games. All of these run on PCs, save for one Unix emulator. For more information, I recommend you visit Zophar's Domain at: http://www.zophar.com/ - Satan was the very first "emulator", although it really nothing more than a CD header reader, and doesn't really emulate anything. Development was discontinued at version 0.1a. Satan ran on Windows 95. - UltraSat is another CD header reader, and can only read the copyright information from 15 games. This is a DOS program which was discontined at version 0.04. - SSEmu was the first emulator to emulate some of the instruction sets. It only emulates the Saturn control unit however, and nothing else. This project has been discontinued at version 0.7a, although the author is willing to sell his research documentation to interested parties. For Windows 9x platform. Homepage: http://www.zianet.com/marshallg/ssemu/ - A-Saturn seems to be the one most along in development. It currently emulates 99% of the main SH2 processors, 96% of the 680MC00, and considerably less of the other chips. A-Saturn runs on Windows 9x and DOS, and requires Direct X 6.1 or higher. This emulator is still being developed Homepage: http://www.emuunlim.com/A-Saturn/ - Lucifer (previously Sat'On'Em) is closer to where A-Saturn is. It can currently emulate 89% of the CPU core. It is a Windows 9x emulator, and is still in development. Homepage: http://www.emuunlim.com/Lucifer/ - Semu is the only UNIX/Linux emulator for the Saturn in development. Very incomplete, but development is continuing. Homepage: http://emu.simplenet.com/semu/ --------------------------------------- XV. CONTROVERSIES AND BURNING QUESTIONS --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------ 15.1 Is it true the Saturn's processors are underpowered, and it's hard to program 3D games on the Saturn? ------------------------------------------------------------------ In a 1995 Next Generation article, it was explained that the Saturn's twin SH2processors not only don't run in tandem, but also have trouble acessing emory at the same time (although a RAM cache will help). The article further went on to explain developers like Peter Molynuex of Bullfrog and Yu Suzuki of Sega voiced dissatisfaction with the Saturn's processing archetecture. Quoted from Yu Suzuki: "Trying to program for two CPUs has its problems. Virtua Fighter uses a different CPU for calculating each character. The two CPUs start at the same time but there's a delay when one has to wait for the other to catch up. One very fast central processor would be preferable. I don't thank that all programmers have the ability to program two CPUs - most can only get about one-and-a-half times the speed you can get from one SH-2. I I think that only one 100 programmers are good enough to get that kind of speed out of the Saturn." Furthermore, the problem is compounded by the fact that most Japanese programmers use the C programming language, where as assembly is needed to acheieve optimal performance from the Saturn. Virtua Fighter uses assembly, and runs 1.8 times faster than it would on a single SH-2. --------------------------------------------------------------- 15.2 Were the Saturn's 3D capabilties added at the last minute? --------------------------------------------------------------- The claim that the Saturn was originally developed without 3D in mind appears to be popular USENET myth. Reserach has shown that the Saturn was originally intended to be more like a home version of the Model 1 arcade mainboard back when it was codenamed the "Gigadrive" (like the "Megadive" that preceded it). Therefore, the Saturn was always designed with 3D capabilities. However, the myth is not too far from the truth in that modifications were undertaken to the hardware after Sega caught wind of the Playstation specs in 1993. Hayao Nakayama, president of Sega, demanded that the Saturn be improved to put it on more even terms with the PSX. At the cost of several months delay (leading some to speculate the Saturn might be cancled), an additional VDP chip was added to give the Saturn better texture mapping capabilities in both 2D and 3d games. ------------------------------------------------------------- 15.3 What is the Sega Jupiter, and why was it never released? ------------------------------------------------------------- When the Saturn was under development, the original plan called for both a CD-ROM and cartridge based machine equiped with the same chipset. The latter cartridge based machine was codenamed "Jupiter". The Jupiter would also support an add on CD-ROM drive with addition RAM, which made it in effect, a Saturn. However, it was decided that it would be a hard sell to offer inferior cartridge based versions of games when cheaper CD versions were available. Consequently, the Jupiter project was scrapped. Shortly thereafter, the Jupiter project was retooled to become the "Mars" (which we know as today as the ill fated 32X). The Mars was primarily created to fill the gap between the Genesis and Saturn, so Sega of America would not loose their well established userbase. The Jupiter and the Saturn were to be compatible with each other, while the Mars was completely stand-alone. The Mars used two slower running SH-2 chips (28Mhz to 23Mhz), but otherwise a completely different archetecture. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.4 Is the Satcast really a hoax? I thought it was announced before April? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Some people state that the Satcast must be real because other websites broke the news before April '99. There seems to be some truth in this. Indeed, in March of that year, the infamous "Magic Box" appears to have reported a surprise announcement by SEL regarding the Satcast, and this was later picked up my katana-edge.com, and numerous other non- professionalor semi-professional gaming sites. The rumor mill *MAY* have originated inside Sega of Japan. However, it is important to stress that these sites are often prone to posting rumors. As near as anyone can tell, Dave Halverson and the jokers over at Gamers Republic decided to report this established rumor as a bonifide fact for an April Fools joke (in other words, "Satcast" was never their idea from the beginning). Other gaming sites quickly picked up the story, and it spread like wildfire from there (IGN editors were *not* amused when they found out it was hoax). With the combined strength of rampant internet rumors, the GR article, and thanks in no small part to a slow-coming clarification on the issue by the editors of Gamer's Republic, some people still cling on to the belief that the Satcast is coming. The important thing to remember is that Sega of Japan has officially denied that the Satcast exists or will exist. ------------------------------ XVI. SATURN SOFTWARE CATALOGUE ------------------------------ Ken has given me permission to reprint his Complete Saturn Catalogue here. Please be advised however that this list is only about 98% complete, there may be duplicate entries, and neither Ken or myself make promises as to it's accuracy. This list includes both import and domestic software (A "J" has been put in front of all Japanese imports). _______________________________________________________________ Complete Catalog - Vers. 9-9-98 with 758 games listed By Ken Tam with a great deal of thanks to Rich Harper and the members of the Saturn-list@joyce.eng.yale.edu If you're going to show this list, please give us credit. Especially me. This isn't easy to do. Need help finding a game? Netscape and Internet Explorer have 'Find' options. You can use this to search the list for games by using keywords. ________________________________________________________________ Legend ACT - action ADV - adventure COR - corridor DATA- database DSIM- dating sim FGT - fighting FMV - full motion video IDC - interactive digital comic GUN - gun shooter HRAC- horse racing KAR - karaoke MISC - miscellaneous MJ - mahjong PIN - pinball PUZ - puzzle PLT - platform RAC - racing RPG - role playing SHT - shooter SIM - simulator SPO - sports STR - strategy RAMC - ram cart compatible (size is marked by 1 and/or 4) (H) - hentai/yellow label (HH) - HENTAI/red label Title Country_Catalog Company Note 2DO Arukotowa (Sega Ages Classics) J_T-5802G Sega MISC 3 x 3 Eyes J_T-21301G Nihon IDC/RPG 3D Baseball US_ Crystal Dyn.SPO Advanced VG (Variable Geo) J_T-32506G TGL w/puzzle After Burner 2 J_ Sega SHT Air's Adventure J_ Gamestudio RPG Akumazensho 2 J_T-14421G Atlus DATA Albert Odyssey US_T-12705H WD RPG Albert Odyssey J_ Sunsoft RPG Album Club J_ Societa Bikini Girls Alien Trilogy US_T-8113H Acclaim COR All Japan Pro-Wrestling: Virtua J_GS-9158 Sega SPO All Star Baseball '98 US_ Acclaim SPO Alone in the Dark US_T-29401H THQ COR Alone in The Dark 2 J_T-10206G Infogrames/EA ACT/PUZ Amok US_81604 Sega SHT Anarchy in the Nippon J_T-28902G KSS 3DFGT Andretti Racing US_T-5020H EA Sports RAC Anearth Fantasy Stories J_T-27801G Hudson RPG Angel Grafitti S J_T-7308G Coconuts DSIM Angel Paradise 2 J_T-2405G Sada Soft Idol (H)Angel Lips J_T27001G Nihon Sys. MJ Angelique Special J_T-7615G Koei SIM Aponashi Gals J_ Human DSIM Aquazone J_ 9003 Inc. Fish SIM Arcana Strikes J_T-10311G Takara RPG Area 51 US_T-9705H Williams SHT Assault Suit Leynos(Target Earth) J_ Masaya 2DSHT Astal US_81019 Sega PLT Asuka 120% Ltd J_ Kodansha FGT Atari Classics US_T-9706H Williams MISC Atelier Marie J_T-15033G Imadio Augusta Masters J_T-11401G T&E Soft SPO Ayakashi Ninden Plus J_ CRI ACT Baku Baku US_81501 Sega PUZ Bakuretsu Hunter R J_T-24903 King RPG Baroque J_T-33901G Sting RPG Bases Loaded '96 US Jaleco SPO Batman Forever US_T-8140H Acclaim ACT Batsugun J_ Toaplan SHT Battle Arena Toshinden Remix US_81029 Takara 3DFGT Battle Arena Toshinden URA US_81054 Takara 3DFGT Battle Atheletes J_T-24601G AIC SPO Battle Garegga J_T-10627 Raizing SHT Battle Monsters US_T-8137H Naxat 2DFGT Battlestations US EA STR Bio Hazard Dash J_ Capcom ACT Black Dawn US VIE SIM Black Fire US_81003 Sega SIM Blast Chamber US Activision ACT Blast Wind J_ Technosoft 2DSHT Blazing Dragons US_T-15907H Blazing Heroes (Mystaria) US_81303 Sega STR Blazing Tornado J_T-4302G Human SPO Blue Breaker J_T-4314 Human RPG Blue Seed J_GS-9014 Sega RPG Body Special 264 J_T-21003G Yanoman PUZ Bomberman J_T-14314G Hudson PUZ/ACT Bomberman Fight J_T-14321G Hudson PUZ/ACT Bomberman Wars J_T-14320G Hudson PUZ/ACT Bootleg Sampler US_81031 Sega MISC Bottom of the 9th US_T-9505H Konami SPO Brain Dead 13 US_T-12103H Readysoft FMV Break Point Tennis US_T8145H Ocean SPO Breakthru J_T-21501G Spectrum PUZ Bubble Bobble(&Rainbow Islands) US_T-8131H Acclaim PUZ/ACT Bubble Symphony J_ Ving PUZ/ACT Burning Rangers J_GS-9174 Sega ACT Burning Rangers US_ Sega ACT Bug! US_81004 Sega 3DPLT Bug Too! US Sega 3DPLT Bulk Smash J_ Hudson 3DSHT Burning Rangers J_ Sega 3DACT Bust a Move 2 US_T-8132H Acclaim PUZ Bust A Move 3 US_T-31103H Natsume PUZ (H)Can Can Bunny Premiere J_T-19703G KID DSIM(2CD) (H)Can Can Bunny 2 J_T-19705G KID DSIM (H)Can Can Extra J_ KID DSIM Casper US Interplay ADV Center Ring Boxing US_T-6005H JVC SPO CG portrait series 9 (Kage) J_GS-9067 Choaniki Kyukyoku Otokonogyakushu J_T-2503G Masiya STG Chaos Seed Ltd J_ Neverland RPG Chatting Parodius(Forever w/me) J_T-9513G Konami SHT Chisato Moritaka J_GS-9172 Sega DATA Choro Q Park J_T-10314G Takara RAC Christmas Nights US_81067 Sega ACT (H)Classmate ~if~ J_ Elf DSIM (H)Classmate 2 J_ Elf DSIM Clockwork Fufubuku (1&2) J_ Sega PLT Clockwork Knight US_81007 Sega PLT Clockwork Knight J_GS-9004 Sega PLT Clockwork Knight 2 US_81036 Sega PLT Clockwork Knight 2 J_GS-9029 Sega PLT College Slam US_T-8111H Acclaim SPO Columns Collection J_ Sega PUZ Command & Conquer US_7028 Virgin STR Congo: the Movie US Sega COR Contra: Legacy of War US Konami ACT/SHT Corpse Killer US Digital Pic FMV/GUN Cotton 2 J_T-9904G Success 2DSHT,RAMC Courier Crisis US_T-25415H GTI ACT Coveni 2, The J_ store SIM Creature Shock SE US_T-1304H Data East SHT Creature Shock J_T-1303G Virgin COR Crow, The US Acclaim FGT Crimewave US Eidos ACT Criticom US_T-2302H Vic Tokai 3DFGT Croc US FOX 3DPLT (H)Cross Romance J_T-7103G Nichibutsu MJ/SIM Crossworld J_T-10503G Shogakukan DSIM Crusader US_T-5014H EA ACT Crypt Killer US Konami SHT Crystal Legend J_GS-9019 Sega PLT Cube Battler Ltd J_T-21004G Yanoman PUZ Culdcept J_T-31401G Omiya RPG Cyberbots: Ltd J_T-1216G Capcom FGTw/book,sheet Cyberia US_T-12508H Interplay ADV Cyber Speedway US_81205 Mindscape RAC D US_T-8106H Acclaim ADV D J_ Warp ADV Daisenryaku: Strong J_T-21202G Oz Club STR Daisuke J_ Gaga DSIM Darius Gaiden US_T-8123H Acclaim SHT Darius Gaiden J_T-1102G Taito SHT Dark Legend US_T-1305H Data East 2DFGT Darklight Conflict US_T-5022H EA SHT Dark Savior US_81304 Sega ADV Dark Savior J_T-22102G Sega ADV Daytona USA US_81200 Sega RAC Daytona USA J_GS-9013 Sega RAC Daytona USA: CCE US_81213 Sega RAC Daytona USA: CCE J_GS-9100 Sega RAC Dead or Alive J_T-3603G Tecmo FGT Deadalus J_GS-9008 Sega COR Death Crimson J_T-23202G Ecole GUN Debut S J_ NEC Idol singer SIM Decathlete US_81115 Sega SPO Decathlete J_GS-9150 Sega SPO Defcon 5 US_T-1301 Data East STR Densetsu Ogre Battle J_T-5305G Artdink STR (H)Desire J_T-15031G C's Ware Destruction Derby J_T-18604G Psygnosis RAC? Detana Twinbee Yahho-! Deluxe Pack J_T-9505G Konami SHT Dezaemon 2 J_T-16804G Die Hard Arcade US_81057 Sega ACT Die Hard Trilogy US Fox Int. MISC Digital Ange J_ TiMedia DSIM Digital Dance Mix: Amuro Namie J_GS-9133 Sega Do Don Pachi J_ Atlus 2DSHT Doom US_T-25405H GTI COR Double Header J_T-5703G Jaleco SPO Double Switch US Sega FMV/ACT Doukoku Soshite J_T-1315G NEC ADV Dracula Detective J_T-2103G Ascii ADV Dragon Ball Z: Legends J_T-13317G Bandai STR/FGT Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden J_T-13302G Bandai 2DFGT Dragon Force US_T-12703H WD STR Dragon Force J_GS-9028 Game Arts STR Dragonheart US_T-8117H Acclaim (H?)Dragon Knight 4 J Dragon Master Silk J_T-19503G Datam RPG Drift King '97 J_T-15019G Mquest RAC Duke Nukem 3D US_81071 Sega COR Dynamite Deka (Die Hard Arcade) J_ Sega ACT Earthworm Jim 2 US_T-13203H Playmates PLT El Hazard J_T-22202G Pioneer IDC Elevator Action Returns J_T-19903G Taito ACT Emit J_T-7602G Koei Learn English Enemy Zero US_81076 Sega ADV Enemy Zero J_T-30001G Warp ACT (4CD) Evangelion J_GS-9141 Gainax ACT,IDC Evangelion 2 J_GS-9129 Gainax ACT,IDC Evangelion DCL J_GS-9159 Gainax DATA Evangelion: IM J_GS-9194 Gainax IDC? (H)Eve Burst Error J_T-15032G C's Ware Eve the Lost One J_T-15035G C's Ware F1 Challenge US_MK-81206 Virgin RAC Falcom Classics J_ Victor MISC Falcom Classics Ltd(Ys,Xanadu,DS) J_T-31502G Victor MISC Fanta Step J_T-5710G Victor 3DADV Fantastic Pinball J_T-1801G Technosoft PIN Fantasy Zone J_GS-9136 Sega 2DSHT Farland Saga J_T-32507G TGL RPG Fatal Fury: Real Bout Special J_T-3119G SNK 2DFGT FIFA Soccer '96 US_T-5003H EA Sports SPO FIFA Soccer 96 J_T-10606G EA SPO FIFA Soccer '97 US EA Sports SPO FIFA Road to Cup 98 US_T-5025H EA Sports SPO Fighter's History D (Karnov's Revenge) J_ Data East w/ram Fighters Megamix US_81073 Sega 3DFGT Fighting Vipers US_81041 Sega 3DFGT Fighting Vipers J_GS-9101 Sega 3DFGT (H)Final Romance 4 J_T-3003G Videosystem SIM Find Love J_ AIC MISC Find Love 2 J_ AIC MISC Fire Prowrestling 6 Men Scramble J_T-4316G Human SPO Fist (Pretty Fighter X 2) J_ Imagineer FGT Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball US_T-8138H Acclaim SPO From TV Animation Slam Dunk J_T-13301G Funky Fantasy J_ Yoshimoto RPG Funky Head Boxers J_ Sega uh...SPO Gaia Breeder J_T-34801G Aspect Life SIM Gakko No Kowai J_T1205G Capcom ADV Gal Act Heroism J_ MicroCabin IDC,STR Galactic Attack (Layer Section) US_T-8116H Acclaim SHT Galaxy Fight US_ Acclaim 2DFGT Galaxy Fight J_T-1510G Sunsoft 2DFGT Galaxy Force 2 J_GS-9197 Sega 3DSHT Galaxy Fraulein Yuna 3 J_T-14311G Hudson STR Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Remix J_ Hudson IDCw/LOTS of stuff (HH)Galjan Mahjong J_T-29101G Warashi MJ Game Paradise, The J_ Jaleco SHTw/VHS Gameware 5 J_T-17006G Sega MISC Ge Ge Ge Kitaro J_T-13310G Bandai ADV Gebockers J_T-5303G Riverhill Soft ACT Gekirindan J_ Taito 2DSHT Gex US_15904 Crystal Dyn.PLT Ghen War US_81001 Sega COR Girl Revolution Utena J_GS-9182 Sega Goiken Muyou (Anarchy in Nippon) J_T-28902G KSS Golden Axe: The Duel US_81045 Sega 2DFGT Golden Axe: The Duel J_GS-9041 Sega 2DFGT Gotha 2 J_T-7608G Micronet SHT Gradius Deluxe(1&2) J_T-9509G Konami 2DSHT (H)Graduation 2 J_T-5301G NEC School SIM Graduation 3 J_T-10506 NEC School SIM Graduation Album J_T-10504G NEC DATA (H)Graduation S J_T-20103G NEC School SIM Gran Chaser J_GS-9022 Sega RAC Grandia J_T-4507G Game Arts RPG Grandia Digital Musee J_T-4512G Game Arts DATA Grandread J_ Banpresto Space Opera Great Adventure J_T-23101G Soft Office ADV Greatest Nine '97 J_GS-9139 Sega SPO Greatest Nine '98 J_GS-9185 Sega SPO Grid Runner US_ Virgin ACT Groove on Fight (Power Instinct 3) J_T-14413G Atlus FGTw/ram? Groove on Fight (Power Instinct 3) J_ Atlus FGT GT-24 J_T-5714G Jaleco RAC Guardian Force J_ Success SHT Guardian Heroes US_81035 Sega ACT Guardian Heroes J_GS-9031 Treasure ACT Gulliver Boy J_T-14303G Hudson RPG Gun Bird J_T-14402G Atlus SHT (H)Gun Blaze S J_T-19710G Kid RPG Gunbuster XTO J_ MediaRings RAC Gundam Gaiden I J_T-13300G Bandai 3DFGTw/pin Gundam Gaiden II (Side Story) J_T-13309G Bandai 3DFGT Gundam Gaiden III (Side Story) J_T-13312G Bandai Book-case,VOstick comp. Gundam Giren J_T-13327G Bandai STR Gundam Z J_T-13315G Bandai SHT Gundam Z Houhen J_T-13320G Bandai SHT Gun Frontier J_ Xing SHT Gun Griffon US_81046 Sega GUN Gun Griffon J_T-4502G Game Arts ACT,MPEG comp. Gun Griffon 2 J_T-4510G Game Arts ACT Gussun Oyoyo 2 J_T-20604G Xing PUZ/PLT Hakaider J_ Sega GUN Hang-On GP US_81202 Sega RAC Harukaze V-Force J_ Ving STRw/VHS Hat Trick Hero S J_T-1103G Taito SPO (H)Haunted Casino J_ Societa Casino Heartbeat Scramble J_ Imagineer DSIM Heir of Zendor: The Legend of the Land US_T-7605H Koei SIM Henry Explorers(Crypt Killer) J_ Konami GUN Herc's Adventure US_ LucasArts ACT Hexen US_T-25406H GTI COR Hideo Nomo World Series Baseball J_GS-9061 Sega SPO (H)High School Terra J_T-19715G Kid DSIM High Velocity US Atlus RAC Highway 2000 US Natsume RAC Hi-Octane US RAC Hokago Renai Club Ltd J_T-19714G Kid DSIM Hokuto No Ken J_T-20601G Hop Step Idol J_T-20507G Media Ent. DSIM Horde, The US_T-15909H Crystal Dyn.STR House of the Dead, The J_GS-9173 Sega GUN House of the Dead, The US_81802 Sega GUN Hunter Lime Collect J_T-22402G Asmik ADV Hyper 3D Pinball US Virgin PIN Hyper Dual J_ Technosoft 2DSHT Hyper Reverthion J_T-1803G Technosoft 3DSHT/FGT Hyper Securities S J_T-9105G Pack In Security SIM (H)Idol Star Mahjong J_T-31001G Shar Rock MJ Image Fight XMultiply J_ Xing SHT Impact Racing US_T-8139H Acclaim RAC Incredible Hulk US_T-7905H Eidos ACT Independence Day US_ FOX SHT In the Hunt US_T-10001H THQ SHT In the Hunt J_T-15005G Imagineer SHT Inspector Minton J_T-5307G Riverhillsoft ACT/ADV International Victory Goal J_GS-9044 Sega SPO Irem Arcade Classics J_T-22403G I'MAX MISC "Iron Man, XO Manowar" US_T-8119H Acclaim PLT Iron Storm US_T-12701H WD SIM Jajamaru Ninja J_ Jaleco 3DPLT JL Go Go Goal! J_T-3602G Tecmo SPO Johnny Bazookatone US_T-7909H US Gold PLT J-Swat J_T-20602G Banpresto COR Jung Rhythm J_T-16607G Altron Rap/dance SIM Jungle Park Island J_T-18009G Digitalogue MISC (H)Kakyusei J_T-28002G Elf DSIM Keio Yugekitai 2 J_T-6003G Victor PLT King of Boxing (Center Ring Boxing) J_T-6001G Sega SPO King of Fighters '95 J_T-3101G SNK 2DFGT,RAMC King of Fighters '96 J_ SNK 2DFGT,RAMC King of Fighters '97 J_T-3120G SNK 2DFGT,RAMC Kingdom Grand Prix J_T-18506G Raizing SHT/RAC Kisuisyoudensetsu Asutaru (Astal) J_GS-9019 Sega ACT Kiwame S J_ Athena MJ Kunoichi Torimono J_ CRI ACT Kururin Pa! J_T-24201G SkyThink PUZ Kyukyoku Tiger 2 J_T-18715G Naxat SHT Langrisser 3 J_T-2504G NCS STR Langrisser 4 J_T-2505G NCS STR Langrisser 5: The End of Legend J_T-2509G NCS STR Langrisser Drama(1 & 2) J_T-2507G NCS STR Lapurus Panic J_T-21503G Shoeisha PUZ Last Bronx US_81078 Sega 3DFGT Last Bronx J_GS-9152 Sega 3DFGT Last Gladiators J_T-18901G Sega PIN Last Gladiators Digital Pinball US_T-4804H TWI PIN Layer Section I (Galactic Attack) J_T-1112G Taito SHT Layer Section II J_T-26409G Taito SHT Legend of Oasis (Thor) US_81302 Sega ACT/RPG Linkle Liver Story J_GS-9055 Sega RPG (H)Literary Fragment, The J_T-21204G OZ CLUB Horror Loaded US_T-12519H Interplay ACT Lode Runner J_T-25101G Patra PLT Lost World US_ Sega PLT Lost World J_GS-9162 Sega PLT Lulu de Livre J_GS9118 Sega ACT/ADV Lunacy US_ Atlus Exploratorive Lunar 2: Eternal Blue J_T-27905G Game Arts RPG Lunar: Silver Star J_ Game Arts RPG Lunar: Silver Star MPEG J_T-27904G Game Arts RPG Lupin III: Chronicles J_T-18806G Tms ADV/DATA M ~kimi wo tsutae~ J_T-31202G Nexus DSIM Machine Head US_T-7914H Eidos COR Macross: Ai Oboete Imasu Ka (DYRL) J_T-23403G Bandai Double CD Madou Monogatari J_T-6607G Compile RPG Madden NFL '97 US_5010 EA Sports SPO Madden NFL '98 US_ EA Sports SPO Magical Drop 2 J_GS-9104 Sunsoft PUZ Magical Drop 3 J_ Sunsoft PUZ Magic Carpet US_5006 EA/Bullfrog ACT Magic School Lunar J_ Game Arts Lunar Gaiden (H)Mahjong Gakuensai J_ Make Soft MJw/card deck Majong Goku J_T-10601G EA MJ Majong Taikai 2 J_ Koei MJ (HH)Majong Wakakusa J_ Naxat MJ Mansion of Hidden Souls US_81012 Sega ADV Mansion of Hidden Souls J_GS-9005 Sega ADV Manx TT US_ Sega RAC Manx TT J_GS-9102 Sega RAC Marica J_ Victor IDC/FGT Marie Atelier J_T-15033G Gust Co ACT/STR Marriage J_T-10501G Headroom SLG Martian Successor J_GS-9142 Sega ACT Marvel Super Heroes US_ Capcom 2DFGT,RAMC? Marvel Super Heroes J_ Capcom 2DFGT,RAMC Mass Destruction US_T-18007 ASC ACT Master of Monsters J_T-6301G Systemsoft STR Masters Harukanaru Augusta 3 J_T-11401G Polysys SPO Mechwarrior 2 US_13004 Activision STR Mega Man 8 US_1216 Capcom PLT Mega Man X4 US_ Capcom PLT Meltylancer Ltd J_ Imagineer STR Metal Slug J_T-3111G SNK ACT,RAMC Midway Arcade's Greatest Hits US_T-9703 Miku Metal Fighter J_T-6002G Victor ACT Milky Way Heroes J_T-22301G Microvis STR Milky Way Plus J_T-22303G Microvis STR Minataka Hakudo J_T-14414G Atlus 3DADV (H)Minisuka Polis(Miniskirt Police) J_T-30812G Sadasoft MISC Minnesota Fats US_ Data East Pool Mortal Kombat 2 US_T-8103H Acclaim 2DFGT Mortal Kombat Trilogy US_ Midway 2DFGT Mr. Bones US_81016 Sega PLT (H)Mujintou Story R J_T-28901G KSS SIM (H)My Best Friends J_ Bandai PUZ Myst US_T-8101H Sunsoft STR Mystaria US_81300 Sega STR/RPG Nanatsu Kaze J_ Enix ADV NASCAR 98 US_ EA RAC National Wrestling: Featuring VirtuaJ_GS-9158 Sega SPO (H)Natsuiro Memories J_ Shar Rock MJ NBA Action US_81103 Sega SPO NBA Action 98 US_81124 Sega SPO NBA Live '97 US_T-5015H EA Sports SPO NBA Live '98 US_T-5027H EA Sports SPO NBA Jam TE US_ Acclaim SPO NBA Jam Extreme US_T-8120H Acclaim SPO Need for Speed US_T-5009H EA RAC (H)Neo Generation 2 J_T-5301G Riverhill School SIM Net Link Browser US_80118B Next King Ltd. J_ Bandai RPG NFL '97 US_81111 Sega SPO NFL Quarterback Club '96 US_T-8109H Acclaim SPO NFL Quarterback Club '97 US_T-8136H Acclaim SPO NHL '97 US_T-5016H EA Sports SPO NHL '98 US_T-5026 EA Sports SPO NHL All-Star Hockey US_81102 Sega SPO NHL All-Star Hockey 98 US_81122 Sega SPO NHL Powerplay '96 US_T-7013H Virgin SPO (H)Nightruth J_T-20204G Sonnet ADV Nights Into Dreams US_81020 Sega ACT Nights (Into Dreams) J_GS-9046 Sega ACT Nights Into Dreams Sampler US_81063 Sega ACT Night Warriors (DS 2) US_T-1208H Capcom 2DFGT Ninku J_GS-9036 Sega 2DFGT Ninpen Manmaru J_T-35502G Enix PLT Nobunaga Returns J_T-7614G Koei STR (H)Nonomura Hitobito J_ Elf ADV Noon J_T-5206G Micro Cabin PUZ/ACT Norse by Norsewest US_ Interplay STR (HH?)Nonomura Hitobito J_ Elf ADV Nouvelle Fanpasia Gulliver Boy J_T-14303G Hudson RPG (2CD) Off-World Interceptor Extreme US_T-15908H Crystal Dyn.RAC Oh-Edo Renaissance J_T-9104G Pack-in STR (H)Ohsama Game J_T-21904G Societa (H)Ojousama wo Nera J_T-38101G Crystal IDC Olympic Soccer US_ US Gold SPO Omakase Savers J_GS-9030 Sega RPG Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty J_T-1302G Data East 2DFGT Outrun J_ Sega RAC Pandemonium US_T-15914H Crystal Dyn.ACT Paneltia Story J_T-21510G Sega RPG Panic Chan J_T-15010G Imagineer ACT/IDC Panic Chan Ltd J_T-15029G Imagineer w/pins&book Panzer Dragoon US_81009 Sega SHT Panzer Dragoon J_ Sega SHT Panzer Dragoon Sampler Disc US_81018 Sega SHT Panzer Dragoon Azel (Saga) J_GS-9076 Sega RPG Panzer Dragoon Saga US_81307 Sega RPG Panzer Dragoon Zwei US_81022 Sega SHT Panzer Dragoon Zwei J_GS-9049 Sega SHT Pastel Muses J_T-30602G Soft Office PUZ Pebble Beach Golf Links US_81101 Sega SPO PGA Tour '97 US_T-5011H EA Sports SPO Phantasy Star Collection J_GS-9186 Sega RPG (H)Pia Welcome Carrot J_T-19708G Kid DSIM Planet Joker J_ Naxat 2DSHT (H)Playboy Karaoke J_ Playboy KAR (H)Playboy Karaoke 2 J_ Playboy KAR Pocket Fighter J_T-1230G Capcom 2DFGT,RAMC Policenauts J_ Konami ADV Power Drift J_GS-9181 Sega RAC Powerslave US_T-13205H Virgin COR (H?)Pretty Fighter X J_T-15001G Imagineer FGT Prikura Daisakusen J_T-14409G Atlus 3DPLT Primal Rage US_T-4802H TWI FGT Princess Crown J_T-14418G Atlus ACT/ADV Princess Maker 2 J_T-5203G Micro Cabin ADV Princess Quest J_T-24604G AIC ACT/IDC Private Idol J_T-30801G SadaSoft Sexy Idol Worship Private Idol 5 J_T-30811G Sadasoft Sexy Idol Worship Private Idol 6 J_ SadaSoft Sexy Idol Worship Pro Pinball US_T-12520H Interplay PIN PTO 2 US_ Puyo Puyo 2 J_T-6604G Compile PUZ Puyo Puyo Sun J_ Compile PUZ Puzzle Bobble 2X J_T-1106G Taito PUZ Puzzle Bobble 3 J_ Taito PUZ Pyon Pyon MJ J_ Natsume MJ Quake US_81066 Sega COR Quantum Gate J_T-18502G Gaga FMV Quarterback Attack US_ Digital PicsSPO Quiz Nanairo J_T-1220G Capcom Quiz Quo Vadis J_T-174901G Glams STR Quo Vadis 2 J_ Glams STR R?MJ J_T-13322G Bandai Mystery Hospital Rabbit J_ EA FGT Radiant Silvergun J_T-32902G Treasure SHT Rampage World Tour US_ Midway ACT Rayman US_T-17701H UBI Soft PLT Real Bout Collection (RB & RBS) J_T-3124G SNK 2DFGT,1or4RAMC Real Bout Fatal Fury Special J_T-3117G SNK 2DFGT,RAMC Real Bout Fatal Fury Special J_T-3119G SNK 2DFGTw/ram Real Sound J_ Warp Refrain Love J_ Riverhill DSIM Resident Evil US_T-1221H Capcom ADV Revolution X US_T-8107H Acclaim pseudoGUN Riglord Saga 2 J_ Sega RPG/STR Rise 2: Resurrection US_T-8114H Acclaim FGT Road Rash US_T-5008H EA RAC Robo Pit US_T-10002H Kokopelli STR Robopit J_ Altron STR Robotica US_T-8104H Acclaim COR Rockman 8 J_ Capcom PLT Rockman X3 J_T-1210G Capcom PLT Rockman X4 J_T-1222G Capcom PLT Rockman X4 Ltd J_T-1221G Capcom PLTw/model Romance of the 3 Kingdoms IV US_T-7601H Koei STR/RPG Ronde J_T-14415G Atlus 3DRPG Roommate Ryoko J_ Datam SIM Roommate Summer J_ Datam SIM Roommate 3 J_ Datam SIM Roukanitcaidantoa J_GS-9043 Sega PUZ/ACT Ryuteki 5000 years (Dragons of China)J_T-15025 Imagineer IDC Sailor Moon Super S J_T-15701G Bandai FGT Sakura Columns J_GS-9138 Sega PUZ Sakura Radio Show J_GS-9160 Sega Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) J_GS-9037 Sega ACT,IDC Sakura Taisen Ltd (Sakura Wars) J_ Sega ACT,IDCw/mouse&pad Sakura Taisen 2 (Sakura Wars 2) J_GS-9169 Sega ACT,IDC Sakura Tsushin J_GS-9134 Sega DATA Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus J_ Konami 2DSHT Samurai Collection (3&4) J_T-3123G SNK 2DFGT,1RAMC Samurai Spirits 3 J_ SNK 2DFGT Samurai Spirits 4 J_ SNK 2DFGT Samurai Spirits 4 J_ SNK 2DFGTw/ram Samurai Spirits RPG J_ SNK RPG Sangokushi Eiketsu J_T-7603G-11 Koei STR Sangokushi V J_T-7606H-11 Koei STR Saturn Bomberman US_81070 Sega STR Saturn Bomberman J_T-14302G Hudson STR Savaki J_T-5208G Cyrius FGT Scorcher US_81214 Sega RAC Scud US_ Segasoft SHT/ACT Sea Bass Fishing 2 J_ Victor Fishing SIM Sega Ages US_T-12707H Spaz MISC Sega Ages Memorial J_GS-9135 Sega MISC Sega Ages Memorial 2 J_GS-9163 Sega MISC Sega Rally J_ Sega RAC Sega Rally Championship US_81207 Sega RAC Sega Screams US_81075 Sega Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 J_GS-9187 Sega SPO Sengoku Blade J_ Atlus SHT Sentimental Grafitti J_T-20106G NEC DSIM Sexy Parodius J_T-9514G Konami SHT Shadows of the Tusk J_T-14319G Hudson Xband comp. Shanghai: Triple Threat US_T-13001H Activision STR Shell Shock US_T-7901H US Gold SHT Shienryu J_T-29102G Warashi SHT Shin Kaitei Gunkan J_ Atlus STR Shin Megami Tensei J_ Atlus ADV Shin Shinobi Den J_GS-9010 Sega PLT Shining Force 3 US_ Sega STR/RPG Shining Force 3 J_GS-9175 Sega STR/RPG Shining the Holy Ark US_81306 Sega RPG Shining the Holy Ark J_ Sega RPG Shining Wisdom US_T-12702H Sega(WD) ACT/RPG Shining Wisdom J_ Sega ACT/RPG Shin Kaitei Gunkan J_ Atlus STR Shinobi Legions US_T-2301H Sega(Vic Tokai) PLT Shinoken/Ragnagard J_ SNK 2DFGT Shiroki Majou J_T-14322G Hudson RPG Shockwave Assault US_ EA SHT Shukudaiga Tanto J_GS-9042 Sega MISC Silhouette Mirage J_T-32901G Treasure PLT SimCity 2000 US_12601 Maxis SIM Simulation Zoo J_ Gamebank Animal SIM Six Man Scramble J_T-4316G Human SPO Skeleton Warriors US_T-13204H Playmates PLT Skull Fang J_T-1311G Data East 2DSHT Sky Target US_ Sega SHT Sky Target J_GS-9103 Sega SHT Slamdunk J_ Bandai SPO Slam 'n Jam '96 US_ Crystal Dyn.SPO Slayers Royal J_ ESP RPG Snatcher J_T-9508G Konami IDC Soccer Kids J_ Fujitsu Soccer Tutor Solar Eclipse US_T-15911H Crystal Dyn.SHT Sol Divide J_T-14423G Atlus SHT Soldnerschild J_GS-9155 Sega STR Solocrisis J_T-23501G Quintet God SIM Sonic 3D Blast US_81062 Sega 3DPLT Sonic Council J_T-20611G Banpresto 2DFGT Sonic Jam US_81062 Sega PLT Sonic Jam J_GS-9147 Sega PLT Sonic R US_81800 Sega RAC Sonic R J_GS9170 Sega RAC Soukyugurentai Otokuyo J_T-10626 EA SHT Soul Hackers (Megami Tensei sequel) J_T14420G Atlus RPG Soviet Strike US_5013 EA SIM Space Hulk US_T-5007H EA SHT Space Invaders J_T-1107G Taito SHT Space Jam US_T-8125H Acclaim SPO Spot Goes to Hollywood US_ Virgin ACT Stakes Winner J_T-3107G SNK HRAC Stakes Winner 2 J_T-3115G Saurus HRAC (H)Stand By Say You J_T-4312G Human IDC (H)Stand By Say You J_T-4311G Human IDC (H)Stand By Say You J_T-4311G Human IDC (H)Stand By Say You J_T-4311G Human IDC Star Fighter US_T-8135H Acclaim SHT Steamgear Mash J_T-10301G Takara 3DPLT Steep Slope Sliders US_81128 Sega RAC Steep Slope Sliders J_ Victor RAC Stellar Assault J_T-4403G Sega SHT Street Fighter Alpha US_T-1206H Capcom 2DFGT Street Fighter Alpha 2 US_T-1213H Capcom 2DFGT,art gallery Street Fighter Anime J_ Capcom Movie Street Fighter Collection US_T-1222H Capcom 2DFGT Street Fighter Collection J_ Capcom 2DFGT Street Fighter: The Movie US_T-8105H Acclaim 2DFGT Street Fighter Real Battle On Film J_T-1201G Capcom 2DFGT Street Fighter Zero J_ Capcom 2DFGT Street Racer US_ UBI Soft RAC Striker '96 US_T-8133H Acclaim SPO Strikers 1945 J_T-14407G Atlus 2DSTG Suchie Pai Adventure J_T-5713G Jaleco 3DACT Suikoenbu J_T-1302G Sega 2DFGT Suikoenbu Fuunsaiki J_ Sega FGT Sugoventure Dragon J_T-19505G Datum P ACT/RPG Summer Fantasy J_ Bandai V IDC Super Casino Special J_T-7306G Sega Gambling Super Mahjongg Grafty J_T-16504G Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo US_T-1215H Capcom PUZ Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo J_ Capcom PUZ (H)Super Real Mahjong J_ Seta MJ (H)Super Real Mahjong P7 J_T-16509G Seta MJ Super Robot Wars F J_T-20612G Quest w/book Super Robot Wars F Deluxe J_ Quest w/robots Super Tempo J_T-26413G MQuest PLT Tactical Fighter J_T-21402G Media Ring FGT Tactics Formula J_T-34101G Sega RAC Tactics Ogre J_ Quest STR Taiheiyo No Arashi 2 J_ Sega STR Tamagotchi Park J_T-13325G Bandai PUZ/ACTw/4ram Tempest 2000 US_T-12516H Interplay SHT Tenchi Muyo IV J_ Pioneer PUZ Tenchi Muyo Touko J_T-26103G Pioneer IDC Tenchi Wo Kurau 2 J_ Capcom ACT Tengai Makyo 4: The Apocalypse J_ Hudson RPG Ten Pin Alley US_ ASC SPO Terra Cresta J_ Nichibutsu SHT Terra Phantastica J_ Sega War SIM Tetris Plus US_T-5704 Jaleco PUZ Tetris Plus J_ Jaleco PUZ Texthoth Ludo J_T-23102G Pai RPG Theme Park US_ EA SIM Thor (Legend of Oasis) J_GS-9053 Sega ADV Three Dirty Dwarves US_14002 Sega ACT Thunder Force 5 J_ Technosoft SHT Thunder Force 5 ltd J_ Technosoft SHT Thunder Force Gold J_ Technosoft SHT Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 J_T-1808G Technosoft SHT Thunderstrike 2 US_T-7902H US Gold SIM Tiger 2 Plus (Kyukyou Tiger 2 Plus) J_T-18715G Naxat SHT Tilk J_T-32508G TGL RPG TNN Hardcore 4x4 US_T-13703H ASC RAC Tomb Raider US_ T-7910H Eidos ACT/ADV Tokimeki Columns J_T-9512G Konami PUZ Tokimeki Drama J_ Konami DSIM Tokimeki Drama 2 J_T-9529G Konami DSIM (H)Tokimeki Mahjong Graffiti J_T-20202G Sonnet MJ Tokimeki Memorial J_T-9504G Konami DSIM Tokimeki Selection J_T-9517G Konami DSIM Tokyo Mahjongland J_T-4504G Game Arts MJ Top Angler J_ Naxat Soft Fishing Torico J_GS-9056 Sega 3DACT/ADV Toshinden S J_GS-9078 Sega 3DFGT Toshinden URA J_T-10305G Takara 3DFGT Touring Car US_81216 Sega RAC Touring Car J_GS-9104 Sega RAC True Pinball US_T-16406H Ocean PIN Tunnel B1 US_T-8149H Acclaim COR Turf Wind '96 J_T-5707G Jaleco HRAC Twinbee Yahoo Dlx J_ Konami SHT Twinkle Star Sprites J_37301G ADK/SNK SHT Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 US_T-9701H Williams 2DFGT Ultraman J_T-13308G Bandai FGTw/ram Ultraman Collection J_T-25501G Bandai DATA Universal Nuts J_ Lay Up ADV Uno DX J_T-26414G MediaQst. cards Valora Valley Golf US_2303 Vic Tokai SPO Vampire Hunter (Night Warriors) J_ Capcom 2DFGT Vampire Savior (DS3) J_T-1228G Capcom 2DFGT Vampire Savior (DS3) J_T-1229G Capcom 2DFGTw/4ram Victory Goal J_ Sega SPO Victory Goal '96 J_ Sega SPO Victory Goal '97 J_ Sega SPO Virtua Cop US_81026 Sega GUN Virtua Cop J_GS-9060 Sega GUN Virtua Cop 2 US_81043 Sega GUN Virtua Cop 2 J_ Sega GUN Virtua Fighter US_81005 Sega 3DFGT Virtua Fighter 2 US_81014 Sega 3DFGT Virtua Fighter 2 J_GS-9079 Sega 3DFGT Virtua Fighter Kids US_81049 Sega 3DFGT Virtua Fighter Kids J_GS-9098 Sega 3DFGT Virtua Fighter Portrait: Akira J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Jacky J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Jeffrey J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Kage J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Lau J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Lion J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Pai J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Sarah J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Shun J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Portrait: Wolf J_ Sega KAR,DATA Virtua Fighter Remix US_81023 Sega 3DFGT (H)Virtua Photo Studio J_ Virtua Racing US_T-4801H TWI RAC Virtual Casino US_31102 Natsume Gambling Virtual Hydlide US_T-14401H Sega RPG Virtual Hydlide J_ Sega RPG Virtual On: Cyber Troopers US_81042 Sega 3DFGT Virtual On: Cyber Troopers J_ Sega 3DFGT Virtual Open Tennis US_T-8129H Acclaim SPO Virtual Open Tennis J_ Imagineer SPO Virus J_ Hudson ACT/ADV Voice Idol Maniacs J_ Data East Pool VR Golf '97 US_ VR Sports SPO VR Soccer US_ VR Sports SPO Wachenroder J_GS-9183 Sega ADV Waku Waku Puyo J_ Compile RPG Waku Waku Seven J_ Sunsoft 2DFGT Waku Waku Seven J_ Sunsoft 2DFGTw/ram Wangan Deadheat 2 J_ Pack-In Driving Wara Wara Wars J_ Sega STR WarCraft II US_T-5023H EA/Blizzard STR Williams Arcade Collection US_ Williams MISC Willy Wombat J_ Hudson 3DPLT Wing Arms US_81024 Sega ACT Wing Arms J_ Sega ACT Winning Post US_T-7602 Koei SPO Winter Heat J_GS-9177 Sega SPO Wipeout US_81211 Sega RAC Wipeout XL J_ Gamebank RAC Wizards Harmony J_ Arc Sys IDC? Wizardry VI & VII J_ Data East RPG Wonders 3 J_T-26107G Xing MISC World Advanced 2 J_ Sega STR? World Advanced 3 J_ Sega STR? World Cup Golf Pro US_7903 US Gold SPO World Cup Soccer '98 J Sega SPO World Evolution Soccer J_ Human SPO World Heroes J_ SNK 2DFGT World Series Baseball US_81109 Sega SPO World Series Baseball 2 US_81113 Sega SPO World Series Baseball '98 US_81127 Sega SPO Worldwide Soccer US_81105 Sega SPO Worldwide Soccer '97 US_81112 Sega SPO Worldwide Soccer '98 US_81123 Sega SPO Worms US_16403 Ocean STR WWF: Arcade Game US_T-8112H Acclaim FGT WWF In Your House US_T-8126H Acclaim FGT X-Men: Children of the Atom US_T-8108H Capcom 2DFGT X-Men: Children of the Atom J_T-1203G Capcom 2DFGT X-Men vs Street Fighter J_ Capcom 2DFGT X-Men vs Street Fighter J_T-1226G Capcom 2DFGTw/4ram (H?)Yakyuken Special J_T-27901G Societa strip Yellow Brick Road J_ Acclaim ADV Yukyu Gensokyoku J_T-27805G MediaWorks SIM Yukyu Kobako J_T-27806G Mediaworks DATA Yukyu 2nd Album J_T-27807G MediaWorks SIM Yumimi Mix Remix J_ Game Arts IDC? Yuna: Galaxy Fraulein J_ Hudson IDC (H)Yu-No J_T-28004G Elf IDC Zap! Snowboarding Trix J_ Pony SPO Zap! Snowboarding '98 J_T-7504G Pony SPO Zero 4 Champ J_ MediaRings RAC/RPG Zero Divide: The Final Conflict J_T-31001G Zoom 3DFGT Zork US_ Activision RPG ----------------------- XVII. FACTS AND FIGURES ----------------------- ------------------------------------ 17.1 What was the _____ Saturn Game? ------------------------------------ First Public Saturn Game: Virtua Fighter First RPG (Japan): Virtual Hylide Last US Saturn Game: Magic Knights Rayearth Last Japanese Saturn Game: ??? (As of yet unknown. Software is still being published). -------------------------------- 17.2 How many Saturns were sold? -------------------------------- It depends entirely on who you ask (or want to believe). Sega quotes figures slightly under 2 million units in North America, while Next Generation only claims a 1.6 million unit userbase in North America (source: December 1997 issue). IGN once gave an a low figure of 1.2 million that had drawn criticism. In Japan, around 5.5 million seems about right. The sum total of systems sold worldwide is in the neighborhood of 8 million. I have no data on Europe, or other regions, so I don't know what percentage of the pie chart they account for. -------------------------------------- 17.3 What are the rarest Saturn games? -------------------------------------- There's been some debate on USENET as to exactly what Saturn games are the rarest. I have composed a list of titles which consistantly come up. All these titles *HAVE* been released one way or another. They are not vaporware. Also, don't confuse rare with uncommon. There are many games not on this list that are still hard to find in their own right. This list could also be slightly skewed as it's being presented from an American perspective. Foriegn perspectives are welcome. NEVER under any circumstances let anybody on Ebay persuade you into thinking an item they'll selling is rare just because they say so. This if often not the case. USA --- Buster Bros. Collection Capcom Panzer Dragoon Saga Saga Return Fire* ??? Mysteria ** * Return Fire *WAS* released. Some people on USENET claim it wasn't, but this is simply untrue. It has been reportedly seen in a few bargain bins back in 1998 as well. ** Pretty rare under the "Mysteria" name. Changed to "Blazing Heros" becuause of copyright issues. - Contrary to popular belief, Christmas NiGHTs is not thought to be rare. Some Blockbuster Video chain stores are (or were) selling off their copies for $5. The only time it might presumably become rare is if they don't sell to the point that Blockbuster destroys all their backstock. - Reportedly, 10,000 copies of Magic Knights Rayearth were pressed. However, it appears to be a semi-common item up for sale on Ebay and USENET (Not to mention WD's own page), and doesn't seem to qualify at this time (at least nowhere near the level Lunar: Eternal Blue for the Sega CD does). This may change in the future however. - Galaxy Fight by Sunsoft *may* be rare. It can be at least categorized as uncommon. Japan ----- Black/Matrix* ??? Blue Seed Sega Psychic Assasin Taromaru** ??? Sakura Taisen LE*** Sega/Red * Apparently 60,000 (approx) pressed. Supposedly if you didn't pre-order it in Japan, you didn't get it. It sold something like 47,000 the first week according to Saturn Fan and was out of the top list the next week. Nothing drops that quick without help (i.e. it being unavailable). NCS /never/ got it at all. There were two reprints. The first one had a different cover, and the second had the same cover as the original, and only 2,000 were made. ** Only a mere 7,500 of these were pressed before the company folded. *** The limited edition box set contains, in addition to the regular edition Sakura Taisen 2-CD set, a white Saturn mouse, a Sakura Taisen mouse pad (one of two designs) and a laminated character sheet. Only 100,000 of these were made originally, and all were sold almost instantly. It was re-released 6/20/97 to celebrate Sakura Taisen winning the CESA Awards, says Red. (Info courtesy of Ming's Sakura Wars Page at: http://pei.physics.sunysb.edu/~ming/anime/sakura.html) I don't know how many were made in the re-release, but the game is not available from nearly all importers. NCS used to sell copies briefly for $115 before it ran out of stock, never to be reordered. :( ------------------------- 17.4 What does Sega mean? ------------------------- Sega is short for "Service Games". Amusingly enough, it's also slang for "masturbate" in Itallian when it is pronounced in the same way it's prenounced here in the U.S. What a coincidence! ^_^; ---------------------- XVIII. OTHER REFERENCE ---------------------- ------------------------------------- 18.1 What Saturn Magazines are there? ------------------------------------- Unfortunately there are no US Saturn magazines (an indication of the respect the system holds in the US, or lack thereof). There was however a UK-based Saturn Magazine, and a prominent Japanese one. The UK one was called "The Official Sega Saturn Magazine" and it retailed for about $6.50-$6.95 (USD) at various bookstores in and out of the UK (Borders is one that definately carried it). Sadly, the demo disc(s) you could get in the UK with the purchase of the mag were not available outside the country (something to do with trade laws). It contains heavy amounts of text and pictures. Import reviews are included. The magazine was a monthy ordeal, and you could get a 12 month subscription. The Japanese magazine was titled "Saturn Fan", it is a very popular monthy Japanese magazine that covers all aspects of the Saturn's Japanese presense. It was renamed to "Dreamcast Fan" when the Dreamcast came out, and not longer covers the Saturn. I've mentioned it just in case anybody is interested in acquiring backissues. I'd like to get phone numbers and addresses of where to find these magazines if possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 18.2 What webpages are there on the world wide web concerning the Saturn? ----------------------------------------------------------------- The ebb and flow of Sega Saturn related webpages has dwindled significantly in recent months. However, there are some still alive that should be worth a visit: Sega Force http://www.cyberdrive.net/~7Egskalba/ Great source of Saturn information. Including reviews, and analysis of the Saturn hardware/software. TK's Saturn Page http://www.crl.com./~tehyang/ Effectively dead since late 1997, but still up (mostly). Back in the day, this site was really great for Japanese Saturn info in English. Also includes a sub-site dedicated to the SRPG series, Langrisser. Dimension S http://www.dimension-s.com/ Covers Sega Saturn, and the Dreamcast. Has reviews, editorials, news, screenshots, ect. All reader submitted. Gaming Age - Saturn Section http://www.gaming-age.com/saturn/ Has many in-depth reviews and previews of import and domestic games with accompanying screenshots. SegaNet http://www.seganet.com/ Has many in-depth reviews and previews of import and domestic games with accompanying screenshots. Please also check out the Yahoo search engine (http://www.yahoo.com) under Sega Saturn. There are a coupld of fanpages still alive. ---------------------------------------------- 18.3 What newsgroups are there for the Saturn? ---------------------------------------------- - rec.games.video.sega is the most populated, but you'll have to wade though a lot of Dreamcast stuff lately. - alt.games.video.sega-saturn is not as populated, but entirely Saturn oriented. - alt.games.video.import.japanese is a good group for import information. - rec.arts.anime.games is a good group if your interested in anime derived video games (plenty of which are on Saturn). Your newsreaders may or may not carry these groups. You could also just use Deja.com though at http://www.deja.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ 18.4 What electronic mailing lists are there for the Saturn? ------------------------------------------------------------ The Sega Saturn Mailing List is maintained by Rich Harper and you may join the list my accessing the following webpage and following the directions: http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/saturn/subscribe.html You can also join manually by sending a message to: saturn-list-request@joyce.eng.yale.edu ...with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message. The list has medium traffic and it *IS* moderated. Flaming or abuse will not be tolerated, and nither will CDR trading. You will recieve a note outlining the rules of contact upon sending your subscription request to the listserver. Recently the Saturn Mailing list has added Dreamcast discussion to its itinerary (boo!!!). Be sure to tell those deadbeats I sent you. Maybe they're actually contribute more to the FAQ. "^_^" ------------------------------------------------- 18.5 What IRC channels are there for the Saturn? ------------------------------------------------- There is a Sega IRC channel on EFnet named "#SEGA". For information on connecting to EFnet, please visit http://www.efnet.com/ There is also a Sakura Taisen DALnet channel named "#SakuraTaisen". For information on connecting to DALnet, please visit: http://www.dalnet.com/. I'm a semi-frequent lurker on #SakuraTaisen. --------------------------------------- 18.6 What retailers sell Saturn stuff? --------------------------------------- See Contact Information below. ------------------------ XIX. CONTACT INFORMATION ------------------------ Importers that Stock Saturn Software: National Console Support Monday through Friday 10AM to 6PM Eastern Standard Time 121 Baxter St, Suite #1 New York, NY 10013 Phone: (718) 523-5774 Fax: (718) 523-7069 Pager: (917) 788-0699 E-mail: ncs@escape.com or ratnuts@panix.com Homepage: http://www.ncsx.com/ ------------------------- Tronix 347 Fifth Avenue, Suite # 1508 New York, N.Y. 10016 Phone: (212) 447-5980 Fax: (212) 727-8934 E-mail: tronix2@worldnet.att.net Homepage: http://www.tronixweb.com/ ------------------------- Video Source Mon-Fri: 9:30 AM PST - 6:00 PM PST Sat: 10:00 AM PST - 3:00 PM PST Sun: Closed 973 Foxglove Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: (408) 720-8575 Fax: (408) 720-8576 E-mail: vidsourc@netcom.com Homepage: http://www.video-source.com/ ------------------------- Highly incomplete! ------------ *END OF FAQ* Thank you for reading. Please feel free to contribute anything you feel is needed. (c) 1999-2000 John Hokanson Jr. and all FAQ authors. All rights reserved.