New to the Sega Saturn and have a few questions

[gbpxl]

I just bought an NTSC Saturn. I am really confused about how saving works. I replaced the 2032 so it seems like the date and time retains now but how exactly do I save my progress in these games? Is it saving to a hard drive inside the console itself? SRAM supported by the 2032? Really confused by that.

My system came with the smallest of the 3 black controllers. Not the analog one or the bulkier one sans the analog. Is that controller standard with the May 1995 console? My console was made in June 1996.

Can I play Japanese games on this? Or PAL?

[jperryss]

The consoles are region-locked. An easy way around this is to pick up an Action Replay cart with Pseudo Saturn loaded on it.

1st gen consoles have oval buttons and the controllers are kind of angled. 2nd gen consoles have round buttons and the controllers are smoother. The analog 3D controller can be used for some games including NiGHTS.

[Az]

And you're right, the SRAM is powered by the battery. Battery dies = save games wiped.

3rd party memory cards like those in the Action Replay models don't let you save directly to them, just shuffle files between the internal memory and theirs. To save directly to a memory card you'd need to use one of the official Sega memory carts.

Buying one of the newer 4-in-1 Action Replays is a must. It'll let you play imports from any region along with those that require the RAM expansion, save game files for when the battery dies, and most of the newer ones let you do a disc swap to play CD-Rs.

[gbpxl]

One of the reasons I dont play on the Xbox much is because games save to internal storage. Inevitably, the system will crash or malfunction somehow and I won't be able to access my saves. I dont see that happening if I can save to a memory card so I might look into that

[Gameguy]

I would like official memory cards for the Saturn and Sega CD but they're pretty expensive and hard to find. The internal saves will basically last long enough to play through a game but you can't really archive them, they only work as long as the batteries do.

It's the same problem with the Turbo Duo, only there's no battery but a capacitor powering the saves. I can't remember how the 3DO or CDi handled saves. Early CD systems weren't great at saving games. Sony got it right with the PS1.

[gbpxl]

I would like official memory cards for the Saturn and Sega CD but they're pretty expensive and hard to find. The internal saves will basically last long enough to play through a game but you can't really archive them, they only work as long as the batteries do.

It's the same problem with the Turbo Duo, only there's no battery but a capacitor powering the saves. I can't remember how the 3DO or CDi handled saves. Early CD systems weren't great at saving games. Sony got it right with the PS1.

right. I mostly just wanna be able to hold onto my save files for the next several decades

[YoshiM]

One of the reasons I dont play on the Xbox much is because games save to internal storage. Inevitably, the system will crash or malfunction somehow and I won't be able to access my saves. I dont see that happening if I can save to a memory card so I might look into that

The original Xbox and the 360 both have memory cards. Depending on the game you could transfer saves. In regards to more control, you can easily softmod an OG Xbox and yank your saves. If you wanted to go even further, you can pop in an SSD drive, clone that puppy and you should be good for years. At least until the main hardware dies.

[Tron 2.0]

I just bought an NTSC Saturn. I am really confused about how saving works. I replaced the 2032 so it seems like the date and time retains now but how exactly do I save my progress in these games? Is it saving to a hard drive inside the console itself? SRAM supported by the 2032? Really confused by that.

My system came with the smallest of the 3 black controllers. Not the analog one or the bulkier one sans the analog. Is that controller standard with the May 1995 console? My console was made in June 1996.

Can I play Japanese games on this? Or PAL?
Battery for the saturn saves date and time plus for game saves.The console is region locked but using a converter such as a action replay plus can bypass it beside backing up game save files.Not to mention a par can play games that use the 1&4 meg ram cartridge.Still it's not the best time buying for the consoles,prices for it's games have really shot up unless you stick to japanese releases.The other option buying a optical drive emulator such as the mode or even the recent the satiator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XeKPRCl3NE

[Az]

The original Xbox and the 360 both have memory cards.

Also, 360 saves can be backed up to any old USB flash drive. You can do the same to the original Xbox too, with a cheap $1 cable and no mods to the system.

[Edmond Dantes]

Just saying you guys have had way worse luck with internal saves than I had.

When I first got my Saturn and a Sega CD, I had to replace the battery... and they've worked since. This was years ago.

Nobody properly answered OP's question, so I will: Most Saturn games have a command you have to perform to save, such as talking to a certain NPC, resting at an inn, or there may even just be a "Save game" option in a menu somewhere.

Incidentally does anyone have a fully-functioning copy of D they're willing to part with? My Saturn copy will play fine up until this one area with a rotating room, then it locks up. On a similar vein I need replacement copies of Dune and Revenge of the Ninja for the Sega CD.

[Koa Zo]

right. I mostly just wanna be able to hold onto my save files for the next several decades

This is what you need: Saturn FRAM IC - 256kbit battery-free built in save RAM (https://console5.com/store/sega-saturn-fram-ic-256kbit-battery-free-built-in-save-ram-soic-memory-ic-upgrade.html)
details (https://www.retrorgb.com/sega-saturn-internal-memory-mod-with-fram-no-battery-required.html)

[Baloo]

If you want to play the Saturn, most cost-effective method is basically a system and the Satiator these days.

[Tron 2.0]

If you want to play the Saturn, most cost-effective method is basically a system and the Satiator these days.
I second that collectors really have driven up it's prices for it's games.

[gbpxl]

I second that collectors really have driven up it's prices for it's games.

Saturn games have been rare and expensive for as long as I can remember. They were probably cheap in the late 90s and early 2000s but I'd say since eBay took off, so have prices

[mailman187666]

I've been a big Saturn collector for years. To put this into perspective about the rising prices of Saturn and Sega CD games. I paid the going rate for Panzer Dragoon Saga back around 2006 for $160. Around 07'-08' I paid $50 each for Saturn Bomberman and Magic Knight Rayearth. Also around the same time frame was Burning Rangers for $35. All of these were ebay purchases and gaming store purchases around those time periods. Back then, these were the going rates, and a lot of collectors scoffed at the idea of paying over $100 for any game. I think it was early 2010s when prices started going up, but Saturn was definitely one of the consoles that saw a bigger increase over their original values.

[Tron 2.0]

Saturn games have been rare and expensive for as long as I can remember. They were probably cheap in the late 90s and early 2000s but I'd say since eBay took off, so have prices
Pretty much,after it's death in 98 i bought allot of it's games second hand and imported for it before the 2000's.Which is a good thing with the current market value.

[gbpxl]

Pretty much,after it's death in 98 i bought allot of it's games second hand and imported for it before the 2000's.Which is a good thing with the current market value.
I honestly feel like if you didn't get into collecting prior to 2002/2003, you missed the boat period. after that, rare and good games went up in value and 10 years later, they skyrocketed. I wasnt working until 2006 and I didnt really have disposable income until 2010 so I was way late to the party either way

[Baloo]

I didn't make it to these boards until 2009 and I found plenty of Saturn games for fairly good prices, but that was right around the time they started to rise. Panzer Dragoon Saga back then was about $300. The rise of the smartphone is really what caused the demise of pricing, which allowed anyone with a data plan to check out the price of anything at a flea market. After 2014, deals really dried up.

[gbpxl]

I remember my mom buying a CIB Chrono Trigger in like 2003 for $60 and at the time thinking "god that's insane what old games are going for now! must be because it's an RPG!" and in 2021 people would kill to get it for that price

[Greg2600]

Prices did not go nutso until the YouTube review craze, which was the last 6-8 years. You can still collect fairly well for Saturn if you get Japanese imports. The NA games are tough aside from a dozen or two common ones. They just didn't sell, and many got pulled from shelves when SEGA bailed on it.

[Tron 2.0]

I honestly feel like if you didn't get into collecting prior to 2002/2003, you missed the boat period. after that, rare and good games went up in value and 10 years later, they skyrocketed. I wasnt working until 2006 and I didnt really have disposable income until 2010 so I was way late to the party either way
I was just fortune enough to be a early adopter after the genesis run ended and i got a saturn asap.Since i was expecting sega to carry on like they did before which of course didn't happen.Even towards those late releases i was able to get panzer dragoon saga&magic knight rayearth from babbages,before the boom happen for selling retro video games on ebay.For me it was deja vu just like with the turbografx 16 and saturn both consoles had better support in japan then the u.s.

[gbpxl]

I was just fortune enough to be a early adopter after the genesis run ended and i got a saturn asap.Since i was expecting sega to carry on like they did before which of course didn't happen.Even towards those late releases i was able to get panzer dragoon saga&magic knight rayearth from babbages,before the boom happen for selling retro video games on ebay.For me it was deja vu just like with the turbografx 16 and saturn both consoles had better support in japan then the u.s.
my friend told me that there was an eBay commercial in 2003 that was very well known at the time and he said that it was at that point that game prices and collecting in general really took off. like at that point people realized "woah there's people out there with money who are willing to pay for this old stuff!" I remember in the 90s going to FuncoLand and the old games were considered garbage, just absolutely worthless, unless it was something like Mega Man, Dragon Warrior, any of the good RPGs. There was never anything about "rarity" because it wasnt widely known at the time that some of those games were very limited in production

[Gameguy]

Collecting was still reasonable until around 2008-2010. It was already rising in price by then but it was still possible to find well priced games. It was much easier prior to 2005 as it was all worth much less at that time, but even after that you could find bargains regularly. The best finds I can remember finding were from around 2008 personally.

[gbpxl]

really loving the 2D animation in Street Fighter Alpha. There are many other 2D games on the Saturn that I want to get as well. I feel like 2D gaming peaked during this time period, at least in terms of art style. Of course everyone loves the 16 bit titles, as do I, but they really perfected the look during the 5th gen. Too bad 2D games were looked down upon at the time otherwise there would've been a lot more out there. would rather look at that than Bubsy or Earthworm Jim in 3D. blecch!!

[mailman187666]

Prices did not go nutso until the YouTube review craze, which was the last 6-8 years. You can still collect fairly well for Saturn if you get Japanese imports. The NA games are tough aside from a dozen or two common ones. They just didn't sell, and many got pulled from shelves when SEGA bailed on it.

Do you have any examples of ones that were pulled from shelves? I'm guessing it's ones like Panzer Saga and Magic knight rayearth, but there are a few others like MK Trilogy that same to be oddly rare.

[Greg2600]

Do you have any examples of ones that were pulled from shelves? I'm guessing it's ones like Panzer Saga and Magic knight rayearth, but there are a few others like MK Trilogy that same to be oddly rare.

The company SEGA bailed on it less than two years in, and beyond that, with so much competition, Saturn only got so much shelf space. Beyond Toys R Us, which had the most space, most stores still carried and sold 16-bit over 32-bit through 1997. Playstation was dominating, and then the N64 came through, not to mention Gameboy's ongoing presence.

Here's what they were advertising I think by Christmas 95, mostly sports/fighting, and Saturn did not get extra shelving for obscure stuff. There's a reason Die Hard Arcade or Super Puzzle Fighter go for near $100, nobody had them. I also just go by what's in a person's teen/childhood Saturn collection when they sell it online as a lot. It's very repetitive, people had the same games, very little variety.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d8/d2/f6/d8d2f6df0e3009e45c8f8b6f46e107b7.jpg?epik=dj0yJnU9 c3c2eVFuOG9uVGxQTXNoVHNjY2d0YzFBWEdoYzhLZTAmcD0wJm 49alBoWnMxX2d3Tkw2YmVrZnFVVGQ4dyZ0PUFBQUFBR0FZUVhv

[mailman187666]

I remember getting my copy of guardian heroes from Sears when I was a kid. My father would also bring us to funcoland a lot, and I remember seeing much more of the obscure stuff there. I bring up Mortal Kombat Trilogy again because that is a game that I do not remember even getting released. I remember hearing about it, but it seemed like my only choices were PS1 and N64 back then. I also rented games, like Die Hard Arcade, from blockbuster. I did move on to the N64 when that was released, and likely didn't pay attention to much of what came out on Saturn after that.

[Gameguy]

Here's what they were advertising I think by Christmas 95...
Are you sure that's not 1996? There's an expiry date on that ad for December 31st 1996, I don't think that promotion would have been kept going for over a year.

[mailman187666]

Are you sure that's not 1996? There's an expiry date on that ad for December 31st 1996, I don't think that promotion would have been kept going for over a year.

Looks like a simple typo. It's gotta be 96 of they are selling NFL 97 on there.