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Some Saturn Questions
Startropic1 - Sep 9, 2010
  Startropic1 Sep 9, 2010
I just got a Sega Saturn off ebay. The idiot seller just shipped the thing loose in a box, no peanuts, no bubble rap, no shredded newspaper/tissue paper/etc. nothing but the box and saturn stuff. All he gave me was the system, power cord, & AV cord. No controllers. The ebay listing said he was going to send me Iron Storm which according to him was "rare and worth more than the system itself". Well he didn't send me Iron Storm, I got Aliens Trilogy instead. I'm a little annoyed about the situation with the game, but at the end of the day I'd rather have Alien Trilogy than Iron Storm anyway. (I would have just sold/traded Iron Storm anyway.)

So let me get to my questions:

1. Do I have the moddable not-Sanyo Saturn? Model # is MK-8000A and serial # is 067011346. I don't see the word Sanyo anywhere on the machine.

2. On the back of the Saturn there is a removeable panel, inside I see a coin shaped battery and a slot for some type of interface card or something. Did the seller remove something that is supposed to be in there, or did the Saturn not have anything in there in the first place?

 antime Sep 10, 2010

Startropic1 said:
2. On the back of the Saturn there is a removeable panel, inside I see a coin shaped battery and a slot for some type of interface card or something. Did the seller remove something that is supposed to be in there, or did the Saturn not have anything in there in the first place?


The card slot is for the MPEG expansion. Very few games support it. The battery powers the Saturn's internal save memory. It is a normal CR2032 battery you can buy just about anywhere. When it runs out or you remove it, the save memory will be cleared. This is one reason why cartridges with external flash memory are popular.

 Startropic1 Sep 10, 2010

antime said:
The card slot is for the MPEG expansion. Very few games support it. The battery powers the Saturn's internal save memory. It is a normal CR2032 battery you can buy just about anywhere. When it runs out or you remove it, the save memory will be cleared. This is one reason why cartridges with external flash memory are popular.


Is the MPEG expansion needed for Corpse Killer? (I know it's a bad game, but it's one of the ones I want to get and I know it uses FMVs. That and Night Trap.)

 s8n187 Sep 10, 2010

Startropic1 said:
Is the MPEG expansion needed for Corpse Killer? (I know it's a bad game, but it's one of the ones I want to get and I know it uses FMVs. That and Night Trap.)


hiya Startropic1 , usually a Sanyo Drive will have 2 Gold Coils around the Laser Eye........but to be sure you can open it up to be sure , there are about 5 screws underneath the Saturn to take out and then the Top part of the Shell will come off exposing the Laser Assembly in full.

Check this link out to identify what Model you have

http://www.segastyle.com/saturnmod.html...

hope this helps

s8n

 antime Sep 10, 2010

Startropic1 said:
Is the MPEG expansion needed for Corpse Killer? (I know it's a bad game, but it's one of the ones I want to get and I know it uses FMVs. That and Night Trap.)


No, the MPEG card was never released outside Japan. There's only a handful of games that support it, and I believe only one that actually requires it (a special version of Lunar Silver Star Story Complete). The vast majority of games used software video playback which in turn meant most had fairly poor quality videos. This was one of the arguments used when comparing the Saturn against the Playstation, which had built-in hardware MJPEG decoding.

 Startropic1 Sep 15, 2010
Well my saturn has a round power button, and I don't see any gold coils. What's the best place to get a reasonably priced 4-1 Action Replay? Some listed on ebay seem to be not the genuine article, and/or missing some of the features. Some don't mention the ability to play import games and I've seen some comments that some you can't save your game to directly, you have to copy saves from internal to the cartridge after the fact. I guess I need a real one to play the marvel capcom fighting games, which XMen vs SF & MSH vs SF are apparently import only.

 s8n187 Sep 15, 2010

Startropic1 said:
Well my saturn has a round power button, and I don't see any gold coils. What's the best place to get a reasonably priced 4-1 Action Replay? Some listed on ebay seem to be not the genuine article, and/or missing some of the features. Some don't mention the ability to play import games and I've seen some comments that some you can't save your game to directly, you have to copy saves from internal to the cartridge after the fact. I guess I need a real one to play the marvel capcom fighting games, which XMen vs SF & MSH vs SF are apparently import only.


hiya Startropic1 , your Saturn is definitely a Model 2 and either a 64-Pin or 32-Pin .......for a 4-1 Action Replay Cart i recommend PlayAsia. I was going to get a 4-1 but have reports that they sometimes breakdown and stop working , only a few reports tho.


  
	
	

		
		

			I guess I need a real one to play the marvel capcom fighting games, which XMen vs SF & MSH vs SF are apparently import only


For this setup i recommend a Official SS 4MB Ram Cart and Region Patching the Marvel Capcom games of course you'll need a Modchip to run the Patched game as it will be burnt on a CD-R............



http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/information/Cartri...

chat soon

s8n

 Startropic1 Sep 16, 2010

s8n187 said:
hiya Startropic1 , your Saturn is definitely a Model 2 and either a 64-Pin or 32-Pin .......for a 4-1 Action Replay Cart i recommend PlayAsia. I was going to get a 4-1 but have reports that they sometimes breakdown and stop working , only a few reports tho.

For this setup i recommend a Official SS 4MB Ram Cart and Region Patching the Marvel Capcom games of course you'll need a Modchip to run the Patched game as it will be burnt on a CD-R............



http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/information/Cartri...

chat soon

s8n


Actually I found both the mod chip & the AR4-1 available at the segastyle.com store, and reasonably priced. Also they're located the next state over from me, so shipping time will be quick. I just need to get the money to order the stuff. I opened up my Saturn and I have the model 2 32-pin version, ie. easiest one to mod! I looked at the guide for installing the mod chip and it should be a peice of cake for me. I usually don't like installing mod chips in systems because many chips for newer systems require soldering like 20 wires. While I do know how to solder, I'm not the greatest solderer in the world.

Also I've found an import copy of X-Men vs Street Fighter for pretty cheap on ebay, as a matter of fact there are a LOT of import versions of games being sold on ebay for far less than their US counterparts. What's that about? The only one I may be forced to play on a CD-R is MSH vs SF, as every copy of that game I've found for sale fetches a high pricetag.

 s8n187 Sep 17, 2010

Startropic1 said:
Actually I found both the mod chip & the AR4-1 available at the segastyle.com store, and reasonably priced. Also they're located the next state over from me, so shipping time will be quick. I just need to get the money to order the stuff. I opened up my Saturn and I have the model 2 32-pin version, ie. easiest one to mod! I looked at the guide for installing the mod chip and it should be a peice of cake for me. I usually don't like installing mod chips in systems because many chips for newer systems require soldering like 20 wires. While I do know how to solder, I'm not the greatest solderer in the world.

Also I've found an import copy of X-Men vs Street Fighter for pretty cheap on ebay, as a matter of fact there are a LOT of import versions of games being sold on ebay for far less than their US counterparts. What's that about? The only one I may be forced to play on a CD-R is MSH vs SF, as every copy of that game I've found for sale fetches a high pricetag.


Thats great news on having a 32-Pin SS as you said it is the easiest SS to mod i have a 32-Pin aswell and just got it working about 2 weeks ago. I am going to be using my SS on my New Astro City SS has a lot of great Arcade Ports the Capcom games especially.


  
	
	

		
		

			as a matter of fact there are a LOT of import versions of games being sold on ebay for far less than their US counterparts.  What's that about?


I think thats cause SS was most popular in Japan and there are many units of games floating around , in the US the SS didnt fair too well and there are less units going round hence RARE ITEM.

I recommend if you are going to burn any games use a high quality CD-R , Taiyo Yuden is what i use and are pretty cheap down here (Australia)

Also i recommend using SRP ( Saturn Region Patcher ) to Region Patch your ISOs

http://madroms.satakore.com/#SRP...


  Startropic1 Sep 17, 2010

s8n187 said:
Thats great news on having a 32-Pin SS as you said it is the easiest SS to mod i have a 32-Pin aswell and just got it working about 2 weeks ago. I am going to be using my SS on my New Astro City SS has a lot of great Arcade Ports the Capcom games especially.

I think thats cause SS was most popular in Japan and there are many units of games floating around , in the US the SS didnt fair too well and there are less units going round hence RARE ITEM.

I recommend if you are going to burn any games use a high quality CD-R , Taiyo Yuden is what i use and are pretty cheap down here (Australia)

Also i recommend using SRP ( Saturn Region Patcher ) to Region Patch your ISOs

http://madroms.satakore.com/#SRP...



I'd actually like to get an empty arcade cabinet and just stick some kind of computer inside running MAME. There are also options for sticking a game console in a cabinet as well: Nintendo PC-10, the NeoGeo, etc. That project is a long way off though.

Quick question, does the mod-chip enable playback of import games or would I still need the action replay cart to do that?

As for CD-Rs, I have a pack of Fujifilm discs which I have always had great success with. When I have to buy more it looks like I'll have to get Taiyo Yuden, (I already have a big pack of TY DVD-Rs), since Fujifilm media seems to be getting very sparse (and I've heard Fuji changed their manufacturer to boot.)

Side note, when I got my DVD-Rs I was directed to a great site for ordering media: http://www.supermediastore.com...

EXTREMELY low prices on media, and they do have TY.

Edit: One more question: How to the light gun games work? With NES and SNES you have to have a regular controller plugged in for most games to actually start the game and navigate menus, etc. Can saturn light gun games be played without the use of a regular controller?

 s8n187 Sep 17, 2010

Startropic1 said:
I'd actually like to get an empty arcade cabinet and just stick some kind of computer inside running MAME. There are also options for sticking a game console in a cabinet as well: Nintendo PC-10, the NeoGeo, etc. That project is a long way off though.

Quick question, does the mod-chip enable playback of import games or would I still need the action replay cart to do that?

As for CD-Rs, I have a pack of Fujifilm discs which I have always had great success with. When I have to buy more it looks like I'll have to get Taiyo Yuden, (I already have a big pack of TY DVD-Rs), since Fujifilm media seems to be getting very sparse (and I've heard Fuji changed their manufacturer to boot.)

Side note, when I got my DVD-Rs I was directed to a great site for ordering media: http://www.supermediastore.com...

EXTREMELY low prices on media, and they do have TY.

Edit: One more question: How to the light gun games work? With NES and SNES you have to have a regular controller plugged in for most games to actually start the game and navigate menus, etc. Can saturn light gun games be played without the use of a regular controller?



  
	
	

		
		

			I'd actually like to get an empty arcade cabinet and just stick some kind of computer inside running MAME


I run MAME on my Astro as well as other emus such as demul , Makaron , etc......... i use a J-PAC to do that checkout Ultimarc for info on J-PAC's


  
	
	

		
		

			Quick question, does the mod-chip enable playback of import games or would I still need the action replay cart to do that?


Im pretty sure you need a Action Replay to do that


  
	
	

		
		

			Side note, when I got my DVD-Rs I was directed to a great site for ordering media: http://www.supermediastore.com... 



EXTREMELY low prices on media, and they do have TY.


Supermedia Store are great for TY they are one of their Official Distributors


  
	
	

		
		

			Edit: One more question:  How to the light gun games work?  With NES and SNES you have to have a regular controller plugged in for most games to actually start the game and navigate menus, etc.  Can saturn light gun games be played without the use of a regular controller?


Im unsure if you have to have a Controller plugged in or not to navigate through menus

s8n