[Naoki-S]

Forgive me for if this is the wrong forum, I'm new but I guessed that just talking about the Saturn it's self would class as general gaming.

I may be able to borrow a Sega Saturn from a friend soon. I've read about it on Wiki as being a failure in some aspects, but I find it an interesting console, and has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on. One thing that my friend told me tat I never read on Wiki was that the back-up RAM/Modem port actually functions as a Mega Drive port for playing the Mega Drive carts. I didn't believe this, but he said it's true and he's done it before. Is this actually possible?

Also, not knowing what games he owns for it, short of opening the console, is there anyway to run backup CD-Rs?

Thanks for your time. Again, appologese if this is the wrong forum.

NKS

[Polygon Jim]

No on the Genesis/Megadrive part.

Yes on the burned games. Google the swap-trick for the Saturn.

[Naoki-S]

He swears blind that they work... Hm.

[dsrb]

Well, that settles it!

Also, what do you mean by "has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on"?

[Watkins]

Well, that settles it!

Also, what do you mean by "has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on"?

He means he thinks that the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast has the best music in the series, I believe.

[Shadow Hog]

Well, that settles it!

Also, what do you mean by "has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on"?

He means he thinks that the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast has the best music in the series, I believe.

And he'd be right.

The swap trick will eventually wear down your Saturn's laser, to the point that it won't read discs anymore (kind of like my Dreamcast, actually). Get a modchip instead, especially if it's Model 2 (circular power button, no CD light), for which the swap trick is much, much harder.

Also, go to that site and get an Action Replay 4-in-1. You'll be wanting to play imports for this baby (this is not up for argument: you will want to import games for this console, plain and simple). Ordered one from him, shipment was incredibly prompt and the price is right.

Lastly, although this has been hammered in pretty hard: no, the cartridge slot cannot play Genesis games. Don't even try it! The slot is very fragile (the contacts aren't particularly sound, see), so swapping cartridges in and out of it is a bad idea. Just get the aforementioned AR4-in-1 and leave it in there.

Then start focusing on the Saturn's very underrated library. The Panzer Dragoon series is a good choice. Clockwork Knight 2 as well (you can get the first as well, it's not bad - just pathetically easy).

[Naoki-S]

Well, that settles it!

Also, what do you mean by "has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on"?

He means he thinks that the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast has the best music in the series, I believe.

By far the best I heard, especially with Sonic 3D and Sonic R. Shame my PC discs are missing/broken.

Well, that settles it!

Also, what do you mean by "has to be one of the best for Sonic's music on"?

He means he thinks that the Sega Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast has the best music in the series, I believe.

And he'd be right.

The swap trick will eventually wear down your Saturn's laser, to the point that it won't read discs anymore (kind of like my Dreamcast, actually). Get a modchip instead, especially if it's Model 2 (circular power button, no CD light), for which the swap trick is much, much harder.

I'll repeat, this is NOT my own Saturn, this is one I will be borrowing.

Also, go to that site and get an Action Replay 4-in-1. You'll be wanting to play imports for this baby (this is not up for argument: you will want to import games for this console, plain and simple). Ordered one from him, shipment was incredibly prompt and the price is right.

While I may or may not want to play imports, with my currents funds and how long I'll have to borrow it for, I can't.

Lastly, although this has been hammered in pretty hard: no, the cartridge slot cannot play Genesis games. Don't even try it! The slot is very fragile (the contacts aren't particularly sound, see), so swapping cartridges in and out of it is a bad idea. Just get the aforementioned AR4-in-1 and leave it in there.

I'll speak to him about how he says he got them to work. And again, there's no neeed for the AR.

Then start focusing on the Saturn's very underrated library. The Panzer Dragoon series is a good choice. Clockwork Knight 2 as well (you can get the first as well, it's not bad - just pathetically easy).

I've never played a Saturn game in my life, I've only played the Windows ports of Sonic 3D and Sonic R, never looked at any other series for Saturn, altough I want to try NiGHTS at some point.

[doc eggfan]

The Saturn was planned at one stage to be backwards compatible with Mega Drive and possibly 32X titles, which is why the cartridge port was there to begin with, but when they redesigned the architecture in response to the 3D capabilities of the Playstation, they lost backwards compatibility.

[dsrb]

I didn't realise that was confirmed. That was recently suggested here as one possible reason for the use of a 68k compatible, though I think it was stated that it's not 'compatible' enough.

The swap trick will eventually wear down your Saturn's laser

This may be a silly question, but how so? I see how it could damage the spindle, but not so much the laser.

As an aside, I believe there's a dev CD that stops the motor and disables reset-on-lid-open, allowing developers to use burnt discs. Almost as grailworthy as those security-ringed boot CDs!

[Naoki-S]

I didn't realise that was confirmed. That was recently suggested here as one possible reason for the use of a 68k compatible, though I think it was stated that it's not 'compatible' enough.

I talked to him just now, and he says he's 100% percent sure as when he was selling somethings, he used his Saturn's Cartridge slot to test games. He says thet you plug a cartridge in, turn on, not sure if it boots automaticly or not, but he said it works.

The swap trick will eventually wear down your Saturn's laser

This may be a silly question, but how so? I see how it could damage the spindle, but not so much the laser.

Because the laser will try to increase power to the laser to try read the disc properly. This also wears the laser down due to it sometimes being overpowered.

As an aside, I believe there's a dev CD that stops the motor and disables reset-on-lid-open, allowing developers to use burnt discs. Almost as grailworthy as those security-ringed boot CDs!

Maybe so, but I'll try my luck with disc-swapping. It worked for MGS1 on my PS1..... till it eventually broke my Spyro 3 disc.

[W.A.C.]

By far the best I heard, especially with Sonic 3D and Sonic R.

Wait, what? The PC version of Sonic 3D Blast had really great music, but the music on Sonic R was terrible.

[sonicblur]

The swap trick will eventually wear down your Saturn's laser

This may be a silly question, but how so? I see how it could damage the spindle, but not so much the laser.

I think you're exactly right. The drive was designed to read CD-ROM's in the first place, and that's what CD-R's are supposed to be replicating. I think someone's just confusing the Saturn with something like the Gamecube or Dreamcast where the optimal wavelengths for actual discs differ from the range found in recordables.

You'll kill the drive motor with the swap trick long before the laser will die. That's how I killed my Saturn, the motor just got to the point where it couldn't spin fast enough to even play CDDA without skipping. I regret it now, but it doesn't matter because it lasted me until the Dreamcast came out.

Because the laser will try to increase power to the laser to try read the disc properly. This also wears the laser down due to it sometimes being overpowered.

That depends entirely on the readability of the data. You'd have the same experience with any damaged disc, burned or not. As long as the media is good, the data should be readable normally at least until the disc starts to degrade.

This post has been edited by sonicblur: 02 May 2010 - 05:50 PM

[dsrb]

I talked to him just now, and he says he's 100% percent sure as when he was selling somethings, he used his Saturn's Cartridge slot to test games. He says thet you plug a cartridge in, turn on, not sure if it boots automaticly or not, but he said it works.

I was replying to doc eggfan. Anyway, no, regardless of what your friend says, that isn't possible. What, do you think that everyone else in the world just never thought of trying it out? How about the fact that it isn't mentioned in any description/documentation of the Saturn? Conspiracy!

[Naoki-S]

By far the best I heard, especially with Sonic 3D and Sonic R.

Wait, what? The PC version of Sonic 3D Blast had really great music, but the music on Sonic R was terrible.

IMO Sonic R's music was great.

I talked to him just now, and he says he's 100% percent sure as when he was selling somethings, he used his Saturn's Cartridge slot to test games. He says thet you plug a cartridge in, turn on, not sure if it boots automaticly or not, but he said it works.

I was replying to doc eggfan. Anyway, no, regardless of what your friend says, that isn't possible. What, do you think that everyone else in the world just never thought of trying it out? How about the fact that it isn't mentioned in any description/documentation of the Saturn? Conspiracy!

I don't know. He said it was on the first Saturn he had, probably an original model, but he swears it did work.

[doc eggfan]

Perhaps your friend has some kind of strange Saturn/Jupiter Prototype that has never been seen before, in which case I'd be very interested.