The 1994 Victor V-Saturn Console + Fenrir Optical Drive Emulator
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Date: 2022-07-29
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Comments and reviews: 14
Domenic
Would be cool to have the MicroSD (or any card really) for other optical consoles. They probably exist and I just don't know.
I had a PS2 most of my life and currently have an official Network adapter + softmod which allows me to load games off an IDE drive. This would be a cool way to bypass the need for some probably now expensive addon and still see some speedups for those who can't grab one. Especially with the fact the console only has USB 1. 1 or FireWire. Or that Slim PS2's just can't use it period and the ethernet is limited to 12. 5MBs (probably fast enough for most optical, but I imagine there is still some sort of overhead on top of it.
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Would be cool to have the MicroSD (or any card really) for other optical consoles. They probably exist and I just don't know.
I had a PS2 most of my life and currently have an official Network adapter + softmod which allows me to load games off an IDE drive. This would be a cool way to bypass the need for some probably now expensive addon and still see some speedups for those who can't grab one. Especially with the fact the console only has USB 1. 1 or FireWire. Or that Slim PS2's just can't use it period and the ethernet is limited to 12. 5MBs (probably fast enough for most optical, but I imagine there is still some sort of overhead on top of it.
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CBXweb
I think know why the Saturn variants exist.
The components were very expensive at the time, so to help mitigate costs, SEGA licensed the Saturn's architecture to the makers of the CPU and CD Drives, Hitachi and Victor Company (Now known as JVC worldwide. This was suppose to be a win-win for SEGA, they get a sweetheart deal on the components, a lil licensing fee, and they get more Saturn consoles out there to sell more games.
Hitachi were able to show off their latest GPS technology, and Victor got to show off their multimedia capabilities. Also I think they were looking at the 3D0's licensing deal as something appealing.
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I think know why the Saturn variants exist.
The components were very expensive at the time, so to help mitigate costs, SEGA licensed the Saturn's architecture to the makers of the CPU and CD Drives, Hitachi and Victor Company (Now known as JVC worldwide. This was suppose to be a win-win for SEGA, they get a sweetheart deal on the components, a lil licensing fee, and they get more Saturn consoles out there to sell more games.
Hitachi were able to show off their latest GPS technology, and Victor got to show off their multimedia capabilities. Also I think they were looking at the 3D0's licensing deal as something appealing.
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Gareth
The Saturn is an example of a console late-bloomer. Largely ignored by the masses when it was released but now getting more attention and respect as a retro console. Now if only it didn't require a second mortgage and the GDP of a small country to be able to purchase a single game for it. I got Panzer Dragoon Saga for a not inconsiderate price in 2020 as a last chance while I can thing and the asking price now if I were to sell it (I won't) is for more than double what I paid on eBay. It's crying out for Sega to release a mini system but that will depend on consumer demand and pressure as to whether it is viable to do.
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The Saturn is an example of a console late-bloomer. Largely ignored by the masses when it was released but now getting more attention and respect as a retro console. Now if only it didn't require a second mortgage and the GDP of a small country to be able to purchase a single game for it. I got Panzer Dragoon Saga for a not inconsiderate price in 2020 as a last chance while I can thing and the asking price now if I were to sell it (I won't) is for more than double what I paid on eBay. It's crying out for Sega to release a mini system but that will depend on consumer demand and pressure as to whether it is viable to do.
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fanjoy
Fun fact: Sega Genesis (megadrive) was a fail in Japan, meanwhile Sega Saturn was successful, thanks to games like Sakura Wars (there is an English fan translation only released not long ago) Grandia 1 (much better than ps1 version) playstation become a success in japan after ff7/dq7 released.
I think hardwarewise: Sega Saturn is better for 2D games (astale in this quality would be impossible in PS1) playstation is better in 3D games (tekken3/quake 2 quality 3D games would be impossible on saturn) sadly at that time, nobody cares about high quality 2D games, everyone rather played low poly 3D games.
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Fun fact: Sega Genesis (megadrive) was a fail in Japan, meanwhile Sega Saturn was successful, thanks to games like Sakura Wars (there is an English fan translation only released not long ago) Grandia 1 (much better than ps1 version) playstation become a success in japan after ff7/dq7 released.
I think hardwarewise: Sega Saturn is better for 2D games (astale in this quality would be impossible in PS1) playstation is better in 3D games (tekken3/quake 2 quality 3D games would be impossible on saturn) sadly at that time, nobody cares about high quality 2D games, everyone rather played low poly 3D games.
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Vinny
I was a big Sega guy until the Saturn hit. My dad didn t want to spend so much on a whole new system and opted to go the cheaper route of buying a Sega CD and a 32x. Sega had said they would be supporting both but because of the Saturn they basically split their customer base instead of expanding it and then the rest is pretty much history. We ended up going the PlayStation route after that and have been on that track ever since when it comes to current Gen consoles, at least until I bought my Switch.
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I was a big Sega guy until the Saturn hit. My dad didn t want to spend so much on a whole new system and opted to go the cheaper route of buying a Sega CD and a 32x. Sega had said they would be supporting both but because of the Saturn they basically split their customer base instead of expanding it and then the rest is pretty much history. We ended up going the PlayStation route after that and have been on that track ever since when it comes to current Gen consoles, at least until I bought my Switch.
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TrimeshSZ
JVC also designed the CD subsystem on the Saturn. Hitachi supplied the CPUs and also designed some other parts of the system - that's why there are different versions on the Saturn from JVC, Hitachi and (obviously) Sega. In fact, it was cracked (at least to the point you could boot pirate CDs on it) quite early on - about 6 months after the Japanese release, although the modchips were quite complicated and consisted of several chips on a PCB you had to connect in-line with the CD drive cable.
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JVC also designed the CD subsystem on the Saturn. Hitachi supplied the CPUs and also designed some other parts of the system - that's why there are different versions on the Saturn from JVC, Hitachi and (obviously) Sega. In fact, it was cracked (at least to the point you could boot pirate CDs on it) quite early on - about 6 months after the Japanese release, although the modchips were quite complicated and consisted of several chips on a PCB you had to connect in-line with the CD drive cable.
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Horo
Damn, I have a skeleton translucent green Saturn from Brazil, but I'd do anything to have a V-saturn back in the day.
Fenrir and other Saturn ODE's are still to expensive for casual gaming, and for me burning a CD with the games I want is still a more viable option (until the disc reader eventually stop working.
But hey, its always nice to see Clint doing videogame videos, I miss the old days of 360 lazy game reviews hehe.
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Damn, I have a skeleton translucent green Saturn from Brazil, but I'd do anything to have a V-saturn back in the day.
Fenrir and other Saturn ODE's are still to expensive for casual gaming, and for me burning a CD with the games I want is still a more viable option (until the disc reader eventually stop working.
But hey, its always nice to see Clint doing videogame videos, I miss the old days of 360 lazy game reviews hehe.
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jomeyqmalone
Wow! Those ODEs have gotten expensive in the last couple of months. Looks like they've doubled in price since I bought mine in January, and even then seem to be sold out with no ETA on a restock. At that price I'd definitely look into the Satiator for anyone thinking of doing this. It doesn't require any disassembly, and you can keep the optical drive installed.
Guess FPGAs are tough to come by these days.
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Wow! Those ODEs have gotten expensive in the last couple of months. Looks like they've doubled in price since I bought mine in January, and even then seem to be sold out with no ETA on a restock. At that price I'd definitely look into the Satiator for anyone thinking of doing this. It doesn't require any disassembly, and you can keep the optical drive installed.
Guess FPGAs are tough to come by these days.
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Gourd
One nice thing about the Fenrir ODE that doesn't come up much is it supports using the excellent homebrew Pseudo Saturn Kai as an alternative front-end for the device (Fenrir Menu Kai, shipped with the main PSKai release) and that allows for cheat support among other things. Also PSKai looks like a 90's DOS Shareware utility in an extremely glorious way. XD
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One nice thing about the Fenrir ODE that doesn't come up much is it supports using the excellent homebrew Pseudo Saturn Kai as an alternative front-end for the device (Fenrir Menu Kai, shipped with the main PSKai release) and that allows for cheat support among other things. Also PSKai looks like a 90's DOS Shareware utility in an extremely glorious way. XD
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The
I actually had a Saturn back in the day. It was when I was still a Sega die-hard fan. Heck the only thing up to that point I opted out of was the 32x. In hindsight I should have asked for a PlayStation but hindsight is 20/20. Though to be fair the games I do remember playing I liked for the most part, games like X-Men Children of the Atom and Road Rash.
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I actually had a Saturn back in the day. It was when I was still a Sega die-hard fan. Heck the only thing up to that point I opted out of was the 32x. In hindsight I should have asked for a PlayStation but hindsight is 20/20. Though to be fair the games I do remember playing I liked for the most part, games like X-Men Children of the Atom and Road Rash.
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George
Hearing Clint say that he recalls seeing KB Toys selling the Saturn & its games is kind of bizarre, as KB was the store that notoriously said that it would never sell anything made by Sega ever again, as it was not one of the store included in the surprise launch during E3 1995. Maybe KB still gave the Saturn a go & just stopped with the Dreamcast?
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Hearing Clint say that he recalls seeing KB Toys selling the Saturn & its games is kind of bizarre, as KB was the store that notoriously said that it would never sell anything made by Sega ever again, as it was not one of the store included in the surprise launch during E3 1995. Maybe KB still gave the Saturn a go & just stopped with the Dreamcast?
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BuckTwenty
Oh man I love the Saturn so much, and love my ODE as well. There's been some great fantranslation work recently as well - Grandia is in English on Saturn now, and Dragonforce 2 came out a while back. I love Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force III as well, and the last two parts of SF3 have been fantranslated as well!
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Oh man I love the Saturn so much, and love my ODE as well. There's been some great fantranslation work recently as well - Grandia is in English on Saturn now, and Dragonforce 2 came out a while back. I love Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force III as well, and the last two parts of SF3 have been fantranslated as well!
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JonManProductions
The first game console my family did have was indeed a Sega Saturn with I think the demo for Nights into Dreams. and I don't know where it went because by the time I was in elementary school-ish, we had a Playstation 2, no memory card, and kept playing through Stitch! Experiment 626 and SSX Tricky.
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The first game console my family did have was indeed a Sega Saturn with I think the demo for Nights into Dreams. and I don't know where it went because by the time I was in elementary school-ish, we had a Playstation 2, no memory card, and kept playing through Stitch! Experiment 626 and SSX Tricky.
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fanjoy
nice! i was always intrigued by the Sega Saturn after seeing a print ad for Panzer Dragoon when I was a young gun. around that time a friend of mine got a Saturn (when everybody else had N64) with Panzer Dragoon and I was blown away, very much took you to another time and place. very fond rainy day memories
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nice! i was always intrigued by the Sega Saturn after seeing a print ad for Panzer Dragoon when I was a young gun. around that time a friend of mine got a Saturn (when everybody else had N64) with Panzer Dragoon and I was blown away, very much took you to another time and place. very fond rainy day memories
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