The Saturn Appreciation Thread

[Goemon]

11 hours ago, StoooTube said:

I’ve finally taken the plunge and bought a Japanese White Saturn 

I’ve been lusting after one for over 20 years. I plan on keeping it stock for playing  my Japanese games, keeping my chipped & switched PAL model for everything else. 
 

What kind of RGB Scart cable do I need to use it with UK CRT (early 2000s Sony Trinitron)? Can anyone recommend one?

 

If you want the Rolls Royce of cables you can go for a Retro Gaming Cables scart lead.

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sega/saturn/SEGA-SATURN-RGB-SCART-PACKAPUNCH-PRO-CABLE

 

These guys do great work and are a recognised brand in retro cables.

[PikaStu]

1 minute ago, Goemon said:

If you want the Rolls Royce of cables you can go for a Retro Gaming Cables scart lead.

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sega/saturn/SEGA-SATURN-RGB-SCART-PACKAPUNCH-PRO-CABLE

 

These guys do great work and are a recognised brand in retro cables.

Awesome thanks, I’ve got a couple of official UK leads I’ll try first but I may get one of these... I assume I tick the check box for “sync on luma ntsc pal”?

[Dudley]

Now we can Sega Rally properly.

[Down by Law]

Great design that, you can sit on it so you don't need a desk or anything. I love Daytona on the Dreamcast with the official wheel, but everytime I get to the final corner on Dinosaur Canyon I nearly yeet it out the window 

[ScouserInExile]

I sold one of those not that long ago. Virtually couldn't give it away for a good while. I think I had it up for sale for something like a tenner for months.

[klargon]

That was my experience too. Long shot, but I don’t suppose anyone could possibly lend me one of those retrogamingcables RGB scart leads? Trying to figure out if the noise on my Saturn signal is down to the cable or something else.

[ulala]

2 hours ago, klargon said:

That was my experience too. Long shot, but I don’t suppose anyone could possibly lend me one of those retrogamingcables RGB scart leads? Trying to figure out if the noise on my Saturn signal is down to the cable or something else.

ive had terrible trouble with Saturn rgb  leads, they are usually the problem with noise / buzzing 

[watusi]

4 hours ago, klargon said:

That was my experience too. Long shot, but I don’t suppose anyone could possibly lend me one of those retrogamingcables RGB scart leads? Trying to figure out if the noise on my Saturn signal is down to the cable or something else.

I have a spare saturn rgb scart lead if you wanted to borrow it, not a RGC one though.

[Klatrymadon]

I'm after an extension cable for Saturn controllers, since the RJ45-to-Saturn cable I got from Arcade Shock is really short. This extension looks exactly like the cable I'm using (sans RJ45 bit), which I've had no other problems with - any reason I shouldn't grab it?

 

Cheers!

[grungekid]

I'd like to get better image quality out of my Saturn but don't really have £150-200 lying around for anything too fancy. Does anyone have any recommendations for anything that can do this fairly cheaply?

[ucci]

If you've got space a 14inch Sony PVM or Philips Amiga monitor is decent. 

 

If you want to tinker than a GBS 8200 scaler.

 

Otherwise a decent s-video cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-Bit-RB-SS-2098-Retro-Bit-SS-2098-Saturn-Cable/dp/B00FEO58G8 would be a fairly accessible upgrade. 

 

 

[klargon]

9 hours ago, watusi said:

I have a spare saturn rgb scart lead if you wanted to borrow it, not a RGC one though.

Cheers for the offer, but I wanted to test out something that was regarded as superior quality, just without spending the £30 to find out it's actually the Saturn!

[grungekid]

1 hour ago, ucci said:

If you've got space a 14inch Sony PVM or Philips Amiga monitor is decent. 

 

If you want to tinker than a GBS 8200 scaler.

 

Otherwise a decent s-video cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-Bit-RB-SS-2098-Retro-Bit-SS-2098-Saturn-Cable/dp/B00FEO58G8 would be a fairly accessible upgrade. 

 

 

Ah the GBS 8200 looks interesting... thanks I'll take a look at that!

[Dudley]

Admittedly I'm piped through an OSSC but it probably is your Saturn in some form.  I can post a capture or 2 if it'd help. I've got lots of Sega Rally and "Time Warner Interactive's VR Virtua Racing"*  captured.

 

 

* Yes, this is apparently the correct name for that release.

[ucci]

Generic guide for the GBS board here https://medium.com/rgb-inside/gbs-8200-gbs-control-hands-on-with-the-downscale-feature-f65d3b6907be

 

Look on ebay auctions as can be had very cheaply indeed sometimes.

[ulala]

1 hour ago, klargon said:

Cheers for the offer, but I wanted to test out something that was regarded as superior quality, just without spending the £30 to find out it's actually the Saturn!

 

what are the symptoms of your saturn problem?

 

 

[Dudley]

Here's a question, how much better is original Daytona USA to play than CCE? I already have CCE but it's not super expensive to get the first one.

[ulala]

3 minutes ago, Dudley said:

Here's a question, how much better is original Daytona USA to play than CCE? I already have CCE but it's not super expensive to get the first one.

 

The original is ok, but it has a lot of pop-up - definitely could have done with more development time.

 

It's so cheap to buy that there is no excuse not to have the original Daytona in a saturn collection.

[klargon]

5 hours ago, ulala said:

what are the symptoms of your saturn problem?

Having just fired it up, I think I have bigger problems than just the video signal! Random freezes on boot up and I can’t actually get a game to fully load. Maybe it’s done for. Would be a shame, as it’s chipped and has both region and 60hz switches.

[ulala]

1 hour ago, klargon said:

Having just fired it up, I think I have bigger problems than just the video signal! Random freezes on boot up and I can’t actually get a game to fully load. Maybe it’s done for. Would be a shame, as it’s chipped and has both region and 60hz switches.

open it up and reflow the connections?

[klargon]

I don’t even know what that means. I didn’t do the modding.

[ulala]

29 minutes ago, klargon said:

I don’t even know what that means. I didn’t do the modding.

open it up and check all the wires for the two mods look ok, and are still connected 

 

 

[mash]

8 hours ago, ulala said:

 

The original is ok, but it has a lot of pop-up - definitely could have done with more development time.

 

It's so cheap to buy that there is no excuse not to have the original Daytona in a saturn collection.

Granted, i probably haven't played the original in decades, it looked bad then so i'd hate to think what it looks like now.

 

it did nail the feel of the arcade though and even though the controls were digital they were fantastic. 

 

it's worth having in your collection, but if you want to play it by go for the 360/ps3 release

[Droo]

See PVM’s...  

 

Stupid question: how do you connect in RGB/COMPOSITE to those jacks in the back?

[MikeJ]

22 minutes ago, Droo said:

See PVM’s...  

 

Stupid question: how do you connect in RGB/COMPOSITE to those jacks in the back?

There doesn’t seem to be RGB in on there, just s-video and composite (will need BNC-phono adapter for latter). 

[jamesy]

On 09/10/2020 at 09:54, Dudley said:

Here's a question, how much better is original Daytona USA to play than CCE? I already have CCE but it's not super expensive to get the first one.

Much better. That is once you get accustomed to the 20 frames per second. Playability and music are great. No saving those graphics though.

 

[Kevvy Metal]

6 hours ago, mikejenkins said:

There doesn’t seem to be RGB in on there, just s-video and composite (will need BNC-phono adapter for latter). 

Worth noting that S-video on a PVM will still look really, really good! 
I run everything RGB, but S-video is a good connection for SD content. 
 

 

[Dudley]

Thanks all, it's not expensive and there's one in several CEX near me so next time I'm in one with one I'll just pick it up.

[Gabe]

How do I set the Saturn up in Launchbox (via Retroarch)? I've downloaded the core (I gather the Mednafen core is best) in Retroarch, but when I go in to Launchbox and edit platform, the Saturn doesn't appear in the list of emulators. I'm guessing I have to do something different compared to the other platforms it lists?

[Popo]

I wasn’t able to get it to work through Retroarch, @Gabe, just ran Mednafen using the command line. It