Thinking of getting a Jap Saturn

Pyongyang

I've been reading the many other interesting posts on this console. Just have a couple of questions I hope one of you Saturn experts may be able to answer for me please.

1. How much should you pay for a boxed, complete Jap Saturn console?

2. Is it better to buy a later white model or is the grey one ok?

3. What is a V Saturn? Is it worth getting?

4. Can you still get a mod for a Saturn? Can you do it yourself or is there anyone that does this in Ireland?

Thanks everyone!

o1s1n

Pyongyang wrote: »

1. How much should you pay for a boxed, complete Jap Saturn console?

It really depends which model you're going for. Some of them can be super expensive.

Is there any particular reason why you want a boxed one? You can get unboxed ones for cheap enough. I think my own one was something like €30 posted from Japan. But that was a bare bones console. Nothing else with it at all.

Pyongyang wrote: »

2. Is it better to buy a later white model or is the grey one ok?

From my own limited knowledge it comes down to aesthetics. The earlier model has a cd access light on it that some of the later ones had removed to cut down on costs.

Pyongyang wrote: »

3. What is a V Saturn? Is it worth getting?

I have no clue on that one!

Pyongyang wrote: »

4. Can you still get a mod for a Saturn? Can you do it yourself or is there anyone that does this in Ireland?

It depends what you want to do with it.

You can get an action replay cart for it (It's called a 4-in-1)

It works as a RAM expansion, memory card and lets you play imports. I have one for a Japanese Saturn to play my PAL games. You should be able to get one for about 25 euro. They're pretty essential.

Other mods would be a 50/60hz switch. That would mainly be for people who have PAL consoles and want to run the games at 60hz full speed. If you have a Japanese one it'll be running at 60hz by default.

The last mod then would be a modchip to let you run backup games. Haven't done that to my own one. I know Retr0 has so he'd be the man to ask about it.

Myrddin

Two of my Saturns are chipped, and all are region modded & 50/60Hz modded. Installation of the mod chip is extremely easy, you take the ribbon cable coming from the cd drive out of the motherboard, plug the mod chip into the motherboard where the ribbon cable used to be, plug the ribbon cable into a slot on the mod chip, then provide 12v & Ground to the chip (it's either 12v or 5v, years since I done it).

Thats it, the saturn will boot anything you throw at it once it's chipped & region modded. Frankly I don't see the point of overspending for a Jap Saturn. Sure they look great, & have the rare factor, but it'll still need to be modified to run PAL games & it will still need a chip for cd-r's. You've then got to use a stepdown transformer & pillage a psu from a PAL Saturn.

My advice, pick up a bog standard Saturn here, have it modified for all-regions & 60hz....and prey to god you can find a mod-chip for it. Last time I looked, there was zero hope of getting one.

Edit - I forgot about the action replay thingy, if that allows multi-region then you can disregard all of the above lol, except the psu, & modchip.

o1s1n

I was pretty much looking at it from the standpoint of the less mods required the better Plus you can get a Jap saturn for as cheap as a PAL one.

If you buy an NTSC model with a 4-in-1 you don't need the 60hz mod. The only reason for it is for PAL games like Panzer Dragoon that were optimized so if you run them at 60hz you lose a bit of the top and bottom of the screen. But I've been doing this ages now and haven't really noticed it at all?

That's really interesting about the mod chip! Sounds crazy easy.

Retr0gamer

To answer about what a V-saturn is sega licensed out the saturn hardware to JVC - Victor and Hitachi so they could make the console themselves as a reward for all the work they put into the sound chip and twin processors respectively. Basically a V-saturn is a saturn made by Victor - JVC and a H - Saturn is a Hitachi saturn. They are exactly the same as the Sega Saturn with only some aesthetics being different. These variants were only released in japan. I've a V-saturn myself. It's like how there's Panasonic and Goldstar 3DO's. There is a one H-saturn that is ultra rare and expenisve that plays karaoke CDs.

If you want a prechipped saturn or 4-in-1 carts well I got mine from this site here:

http://www.robwebb1.plus.com/

Also make sure you pick up an RGB cable. 2D games look absolutely gorgeous on the saturn through RGB.

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

I was pretty much looking at it from the standpoint of the less mods required the better Plus you can get a Jap saturn for as cheap as a PAL one.

If you buy an NTSC model with a 4-in-1 you don't need the 60hz mod. The only reason for it is for PAL games like Panzer Dragoon that were optimized so if you run them at 60hz you lose a bit of the top and bottom of the screen. But I've been doing this ages now and haven't really noticed it at all?

That's really interesting about the mod chip! Sounds crazy easy.

Well I guess the Action Replay negates having to do the region mod, the 50/60hz and chip still needs doing though, plus you have the added hassle of a stepdown. Are the Jap Saturns that cheap now? It's prob the shipping that bumps the cost up.

Yeah the chip is very simple, old school style chipping really Where to get them today though is a different matter. Also, there's two different type of cd boards in a Saturn, a 32pin & a 64pin. Modchips nearly always work with the 32pin ones, however very few 64pin boards work with a chip. I ordered two chips years ago as they were already becoming scarce, & fit one to my 32pin board which worked straight away. I remember seeing a discussion on SegaXtreme about mod chips & 64pin boards, it seems less than 20% of 64pin boards work with a chip & not a soul knew the reason why. I decided to try my spare chip in my 64pin board...what do ya know, it worked perfectly :cool::pac: Quite a few folks on SegaXtreme wouldn't believe me despite my assurances, but I can say for sure that some 64pin boards certainly work with chips.

o1s1n

EnterNow wrote: »

Well I guess the Action Replay negates having to do the region mod, the 50/60hz and chip still needs doing though, plus you have the added hassle of a stepdown. Are the Jap Saturns that cheap now? It's prob the shipping that bumps the cost up.

Grey Japanese Saturns are really cheap. Mine was about €30 delivered. I think €20 of that was the postage fee!

To have the ultimate Saturn I guess the 50/60hz switch is needed. But it still works perfectly fine at 60hz without it. I haven't noticed any issues with mine worth opening it up for. Although I may be dropping it out to you at some point just for completion :pac:

EnterNow wrote: »

Yeah the chip is very simple, old school style chipping really Where to get them today though is a different matter. Also, there's two different type of cd boards in a Saturn, a 32pin & a 64pin. Modchips nearly always work with the 32pin ones, however very few 64pin boards work with a chip. I ordered two chips years ago as they were already becoming scarce, & fit one to my 32pin board which worked straight away. I remember seeing a discussion on SegaXtreme about mod chips & 64pin boards, it seems less than 20% of 64pin boards work with a chip & not a soul knew the reason why. I decided to try my spare chip in my 64pin board...what do ya know, it worked perfectly :cool::pac: Quite a few folks on SegaXtreme wouldn't believe me despite my assurances, but I can say for sure that some 64pin boards certainly work with chips.

If you ever happen to come across one or see them for sale anywhere give me a shout. I'd love to get my one chipped. There are some games that are just too silly expensive.

Retr0gamer

Did nobody check out the link I gave??? The guy there sells modchips that work with all saturns.

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Did nobody check out the link I gave??? The guy there sells modchips that work with all saturns.

Missed it the first time, but wow there you go. Very cheap mod-chips, I might order a few of them up just to be sure as I definitely remember shopping around a few years ago & they couldn't be got. Be wary of claims that it will work on 64pin boards though, not all 64pin boards work with the chip.

I might have bought off this guy before, the name rings a bell form the SegaXtreme days. There you go o1s1n, time to pop that modding cherry It's about as easy a modchip install as can be got

o1s1n

He's the guy you sent an email about getting the n64s but it was horribly expensive.

Cheers for the link Retr0. I'll give it a look now.

Retr0gamer

I'd say modchip shipping would be chaeper.

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'd say modchip shipping would be chaeper.

Yep, very reasonable price I think. If anyone's ordering I'd be open to getting in on it & splitting the shipping etc

o1s1n

Are you looking to get more modchips or did you want to get something else from him? I'd be interested in a group order.

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

Are you looking to get more modchips or did you want to get something else from him? I'd be interested in a group order.

Well another chip or two for sure, & I'll see if he has anything else of interest. Good thinking, if we're gonna be hit with postage, we may as well get what we all want & share the burden

CiDeRmAn

Hey, Enternow..
Great sig!

".....not so good in single player and has probably aged horribly."

Retr0gamer Magazine, describing practically every game ever released - Dec '10

chopperbyrne

Never knew Saturns were so easy to mod.

Might get one myself. Wonder how easy it is to find a decent PS1/2 > Saturn converter...

Myrddin

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Hey, Enternow..
Great sig!

".....not so good in single player and has probably aged horribly."

Retr0gamer Magazine, describing practically every game ever released - Dec '10

Your the first to notice it, though I suspect the Retr0 man spotted it due to an erroneous thanks I got in a post from him

Pyongyang

Thanks everyone for all the great info. Still can't find one for a good price though. Wasn't really fussed about finding a boxed one, just thought if it's boxed it will have a good sell-on value.

o1s1n

I really wouldn't look into sell on value when it comes to disc based systems that you're going to play. Just get an unboxed one and enjoy it. If you want to get a boxed one to appreciate in value or whatever, then you can't really be playing it as they dont last nearly as long as cart systems.

If you're searching for anything Japanese, go into the advanced ebay search setting and change the 'located in' section to Japan. Like so -

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=sega+saturn+console&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_okw=sega+saturn+console&_oexkw=&_adv=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_ftrt=901&_ftrv=1&_sabdlo=&_sabdhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=Postcode&LH_SubLocation=1&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D0&_fsradio2=%26LH_LocatedIn%3D1&_salic=104&_saact=3&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50

A lot of the auctions will have more expensive postage as they're coming from a farther away...but if you keep searching like this you'll find one with cheaper postage eventually. I did!

Pyongyang

I emailed the lad selling Saturn chips, he said the chip he sells doesn't work with white Saturn consoles.

By the way, are the Jap console menus in English? Is there a menu mod if not or is it easy to navigate?

Thanks for all your help everyone. Much appreciated.

o1s1n

Is there even a boot menu? When I put a normal cd in it starts up like a CD player. When I put a game in it just boots the game.

I always have that action replay 4 in 1 cart installed which has it's own boot menu.

Retr0gamer

If you don't have a CD or 4 in 1 in the machine you get a boot menu.

o1s1n

I also remember it plays a little jingle if it can't read a disc.

When I got my Saturn the spindle was too low and wouldn't turn. Spent about three hours raising and dropping it until it was at the exact right height for the laser to read. The problem is the spindle doesnt move up and down with ease - you put force on it, it won't move, and then when you hit a certain amount of pressure it moves very very suddenly and quickly. Making any small moves next to impossible. One time the metal rod in the middle went all the way in under my nail and the results were pretty damn bloody. Anyway, I persisted and eventually I managed to stop it at the exact right point.

But yeah, every time I did it wrong and booted it up, that damn jingle would play. After hundreds of attempts it felt like it was taunting me. Almost went out the window

Retr0gamer

Sera just read that and is getting excited because her saturn has the EXACT same problem. I'll have to try and fix it for it.
Also she says

o1s1n

Cool! Just keep your damn finger nails away from that metal rod in the middle! :eek:

Pyongyang

OK so I've found a possible bargain PAL Saturn. Saves hassle with a step-down and also comes with an Action Replay cart.

Looks like a bargain price but am wondering if it's worth buying and then adding a mod chip?

Also, do any of you know of someone who can do this for me in Dublin? Looks easy enough to do I'm just useless with a soldering iron so don't want to do that part.

End of the day though, is the PAL Saturn even worth considering with the above taken in to consideration?

edit: Forgot to ask, where can I get the 50hz/60hz switching done on a PAL (or NTSC for that matter) Saturn?

o1s1n

How much is a bargain PAL saturn as a matter of interest?

If you're going to install a mod chip and do a 50/60hz switch mod then it doesn't really matter what region your console is. So if it's a good price buy away.

an_turtar

I have a V-Saturn myself here in Japan, they're just the same as the normal Saturns. I've read though that the original release of Out Run (Japanese version) won't work with newer models or something, so watch out for that. I have an older release and it works fine. Saturns in Japan aren't expensive, unless you want one of the rarer models. The steering wheels aren't too expensive either, what is expensive is the arcade-style monster controllers - they're over 100 euro.

I'm going to be clearing out a lot of my stuff, if there's any interest I might post it on here, it depends mostly on the value of the euro though, which is awful at the moment.

Retr0gamer

If you are getting a PAL saturn definitely get a 50/60Hz switch and get it chipped. The best japanese games are usually all very expensive and if you don't have the 50/60Hz switch then the US and Japanese games will be running in slowmotion. The PAL release list is really crappy so those two things are pretty much essential.

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you are getting a PAL saturn definitely get a 50/60Hz switch and get it chipped. The best japanese games are usually all very expensive and if you don't have the 50/60Hz switch then the US and Japanese games will be running in slowmotion. The PAL release list is really crappy so those two things are pretty much essential.

That's essentiall it...if your not getting a 'themed' JAP Saturn (like the skeleton one, there's a few more)...then don't trouble yourself with the extra postage etc...go PAL, have it adapted for 60hz & chipped, purchase the AR cart...& you truly have a universal Saturn.

o1s1n

Function wise, you're spot on.

Style wise...the PAL Saturn looks like ass plain console is plain.