I have access to an import gaming store, and on impulse bought Panzer Dragoon RPG (Saga) for $30, because I've made it my mission to experience quality JRPGs, I'm not squeamish about playing imports, and I don't want to spend $250 for a US copy.
First some basics about the console/accessories,
*What is a good price for a US saturn loose? What about with packaging (but still used)?
*Are all US saturn models effectively the same?
*Is Action Replay Plus the recommended solution for imports, memory storage safety (ie:will it erase my save data?), and the required 1MB or 4MB add on required for certain games? If Action Replay Plus isn't recommended, what is?
*I know about the required CR2032 battery, are there any other unusual hardware quirks to look out for?
*Are there any peripherals or cables you recommend?
*Is there any other advice/info you have to share?
I've spent the past several days researching the Saturn's full library (US, PAL, and japanese) pretty exhaustively, and these are the games and prices I've found to be of interest to me (some games are prohibitivley expensive, like Dungeons & Dragon Collection, so they've been excluded). I'm interested in JRPGs primarily, but really I seek the best of a consoles library or games that are personally interesting to me.
Game---US price---Japanese price
*NiGHTS into dreams---$12---$10
*Christmas NiGHTS---$35---$10
*Panzer Dragoon---$15---$15
*Panzer Dragoon II Zwei---$20---$15
*Guardian Heroes---$55---$35
*Burning Rangers---$75---$30
*Dragon Force---$60---$20 or less
*Shining Force III---$80---$15
*Shining the Holy Ark---$40---$15
*Virtual On---$10---$10
*Astal---$35---$40
Import only,
*Dragon Force II---none---$35
*Wachenroder---none---$25
*Shining Force III scenario 2---none---$35
*Shining Force III scenario 3---none---$30
*Devil Summoner---none---$10 (and Soul Hackers is being localized in a few months, so I'll just buy the US 3DS release of it)
*Snatcher---none---$25
What else would you recommend? I'm not interested in sports or racing games at all, and I'm not interested in spending more than $70 on any individual game.
Are there any translation solutions you suggest (ie:websites with full translations)? I'm thinking about learning basic japanese in response to so many import games. I've played games in japanese before, but such a large number of games probably demands some greater commitment on my part.
And lastly, is there anything I've missed, any topic you can advise me on?
Thank you very much for your time.