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[Danny Dudekisser]

Wow, that's crazy.

Then again, with the way the Saturn was engineered, I'm kinda not surprised it took this long.

 

[thepenguin55]

Every system is a ticking time bomb... they will all die eventually.

We're all ticking time bombs.

 

[Conezays]

Very cool! Like others have mentioned, the more preservation options the better.

 

[TDLink]

Does this mean the code for panzer dragoon saga will be recovered?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Does this mean the code for panzer dragoon saga will be recovered?

no

 

[Eusis]

I hope this doesn't end up hurting SEGA too much

Yeah this is going to retroactively go back in time and give the console a premature dea-ohhh.

 

[superNESjoe]

Why would it hurt Sega? The damn console is more than 20 years old.

I just want this guy to come back and post. Best post in the thread so far. Fact.

 

[doomquake]

I hope this doesn't end up hurting SEGA too much

haha pretty good

 

[muteki]

interest piqued.

 

[withag]

This is very exciting news. The Saturn was a relatively sturdy machine for its day, but those drives aren't getting any younger.

Is there anything similar in the works for Sega CD or PCE/Turbo? Those are the systems I'm REALLY worried about for preservation.

 

[dock]

The fact that this uses the expansion port is pretty exciting. I really hope that he is able to create a cartridge. I hope that Krikkz or someone are able to produce a cartridge, although I worry that it'll be north of $99.

 

[the androgyne]

Correct me if i'm wrong (hell, i don't understand a single word he said) - but didn't he just bypass the encryption rather than cracking it? Either way, it's awesome stuff. I'd love to sit there with him for months and learn all about how to do that kind of thing.

Hope his device can simulate the 1MB/4MB expansion carts as well, the cartridge slot is more prone to failure than the drive, i've realized after tonight's experience!

 

[grendelrt]

This is very exciting news. The Saturn was a relatively sturdy machine for its day, but those drives aren't getting any younger.

Is there anything similar in the works for Sega CD or PCE/Turbo? Those are the systems I'm REALLY worried about for preservation.

I'm hoping we get a fpga solution with perfectly emulated cores like they are doing with the nes for the turbo eventually.

 

[Orayn]

How an old cartridge system without any moving components in more likely to fail eventually?
Do chips go bad over time? How long will solder joints last?

Leaky capacitors can be a major point of failure.

 

[Moofers]

This is pretty great news. I'll definitely put in for one of these when they're available. Now if only we had one for the Sega CD. When the laser moves around on mine, it sounds like its grinding coffee, despite attempts to disassemble, lubricate, and reassemble.

 

[Lettuce]

Allows loading games from USB via the expansion card port, plans on making boards available for sale. Will open up doors to homebrew communities and preservation of the console's functionality for years beyond the CD drive croaking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOyfZex7B3E

Jesus thats a whole load of bullshit at the start of that video!

 

[Einhandr]

Definitely subscribing to this thread to see if he ends up selling this. Would be very interested in something like this as an alternative to a Phoebe or Rhea.

 

[withag]

I'm hoping we get a fpga solution with perfectly emulated cores like they are doing with the nes for the turbo eventually.

That would be awesome, although I admit I'd be a little sad if that was the only option. The PCE and Duo are such beautifully designed consoles.

 

[djtiesto]

This is some great news, I'm hoping it spurs some more interest in fan translations for the system (*cough*Tengai 4*cough*) since there are plenty of great Japan-only RPGs out for the platform (that are rather cheap, too!)

 

[Teknoman]

The nice thing about the Saturn from what I noticed is without any modification is that it looks great on an hdtv. I couldn't believe how good Nights Into Dreams looked just using s-video or even composite. Of course my monitor is not huge so that might play into it.
The N64 was a horrible mess on my hdtv.

You dont need to mod it for scart cables either, but it looks amazing via RGB.


EDIT: I'd buy one for ease of use playing fan translations or maybe even potential awesome homebrew.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Absolutely amazing news, I can probably do without soldering in my mod chip now which I still haven't got around to doing.

Will be in the lineup day one when boards are available to purchase. Happy days!

 

[The Orz]

Amazing, can't wait to play some panzer saga and shining the holy ark.

This will be nice. My Saturn won't read Saga's first disc for some reason (PC reads it just fine and even ripped it for SSF without a problem).

Sorry if it was addressed, but will this affect RAM cart games at all (ie: will we still need to switch various RAM carts around to play certain games)?

 

[MrCunningham]

This is very exciting news. The Saturn was a relatively sturdy machine for its day, but those drives aren't getting any younger.

Is there anything similar in the works for Sega CD or PCE/Turbo? Those are the systems I'm REALLY worried about for preservation.

The Sega CD has no copy protection, it was released in the early '90s when CD burners on peoples computers weren't a thing. You can put a burnt CD into the Sega CD and it will play without any prerequisites. At least that is how it is for the NA model 1 and 2. Though I don't think the EU or JP systems would be any different either.

I don't think the PCE CD ROM has any copy protection either. I mean, it was released in 1988.

 

[Ruprit]

The fact that this uses the expansion port is pretty exciting. I really hope that he is able to create a cartridge. I hope that Krikkz or someone are able to produce a cartridge, although I worry that it'll be north of $99.

The SD2SNES is $199 and I consider that a bargain. When I consider the cost of a lot of the JP Saturn arcade ports, I wouldn't bat an eye if the price was more than the SD2SNES. The Saturn might be a poor man's arcade, but it's still crazy expensive if you're after a complete shmups collection.

 

[Moofers]

The Sega CD has no copy protection, it was released in the early '90s when CD burners on peoples computers weren't a thing. You can put a burnt CD into the Sega CD and it will play without any prerequisites. At least that is how it is for the NA model 1 and 2. Though I don't think the EU or JP systems would be any different either.

I don't think the PCE CD ROM has any copy protection either. I mean, it was released in 1988.

Yup, but while that's cool, there is still no way to get around using discs. That's what I'm after. I want the Everdrive solution where my coffee-grinder laser isn't even required anymore.

 

[MrCunningham]

Yup, but while that's cool, there is still no way to get around using discs. That's what I'm after. I want the Everdrive solution where my coffee-grinder laser isn't even required anymore.

yeah I get what you're saying with that, and it would be kinda nice.

 

[KojiKnight]

Exciting to see, my Saturn's drive died years ago.

 

[Psxphile]

This will be nice. My Saturn won't read Saga's first disc for some reason (PC reads it just fine and even ripped it for SSF without a problem).

Sorry if it was addressed, but will this affect RAM cart games at all (ie: will we still need to switch various RAM carts around to play certain games)?

I don't think it has (although a few have raised questions) but my speculation is that even if you could produce a card for the slot with the onboard RAM necessary to run those games, you'd probably need to patch each individual game to not go looking for a ram cart in the cartridge slot and instead look for it somewhere else (VCD card slot). My limited understanding of how this all works notwithstanding, I feel like that won't be the easiest thing in the world to do.

I saw the video, and at no point was this possibility addressed... but the guy mentioned upgradability for the module is something he's looking into, so even if it's not possible now the future isn't set in stone.

 

[BocoDragon]

This sounds great. It always annoyed me that the go-to solution for imports was still "get a mod chip"

 

[Conezays]

This sounds great. It always annoyed me that the go-to solution for imports was still "get a mod chip"

Action Replay carts have existed for quite awhile and do just that.

 

[InfiniteNine]

This sounds great. It always annoyed me that the go-to solution for imports was still "get a mod chip"

I thought it was buy an action replay? I use one of those to play US disks on my white Japanese model.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

It amazes me how one person achieved all of this. Really excited about this news. Hope his invention becomes a product soon, I'd really like to buy one of his cards. Is there a twitter account or anything besides the linked YT channel I can follow?

 

[delume]

Thanks OP for bringing that video into my life, very interesting. Time to dig out the Saturn for some Alpha 2 in celebration. Funny how Sega went from Fort Knox to what seemed like open door with the Dreamcast.

 

[Typicalrik]

So what does this mean for those of us that want to play panzer dragoon saga, who own a Saturn but do not own the game?

 

[BocoDragon]

Action Replay carts have existed for quite awhile and do just that.

I thought it was buy an action replay? I use one of those to play US disks on my white Japanese model.

Oh yeah...

Maybe it was "to play CD-Rs, get a mod chip". Which makes sense

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

So what does this mean for those of us that want to play panzer dragoon saga, who own a Saturn but do not own the game?

You will be able to boot the game via usb

 

[Typicalrik]

You will be able to boot the game via usb

So...how would one go about getting a usb stick with the game on it?

This is all for hypothetical research of course.

 

[BocoDragon]

So...how would one go about getting a usb stick with the game on it?

This is all for hypothetical research of course.

Step 1: Buy it on eBay for several hundred dollars.

This is NeoGAF dude

 

[Ieu]

So...how would one go about getting a usb stick with the game on it?

This is all for hypothetical research of course.

Watch the video. Saturn CDs can be read by your PC without any specialist tools, so all you need is software to copy the contents to a .iso file.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

I keep forgetting this exists. I'll look into down the line but currently I have no problem swapping all my discs.

 

[FLEABttn]

This sounds great. It always annoyed me that the go-to solution for imports was still "get a mod chip"

Oh yeah...

Maybe it was "to play CD-Rs, get a mod chip". Which makes sense

Yes, CD-R's, because the Saturn mod chip doesn't actually make the Saturn region free.

 

[BocoDragon]

I think Sega Saturn was the last retro gaming domino to fall, in terms of being able to rip games to mass storage.

I'm on the insane quest to get all my games systems hooked up at once, changeable with the flick of a button, and all games on demand without swapping media... so this is really happy news.

 

[Fou-Lu]

Lasers in both my saturns are dead, so great news!

 

[AaronMT86]

Does this mean we are one step closer to cycle accurate emulation?

 

[Rich!]

Yes, CD-R's, because the Saturn mod chip doesn't actually make the Saturn region free.

It...kinda does.

I ripped my US and PAL games to my PC, changed the region code,and burnt them to CDs. They play fine on my chipped JP Saturn.

 

[Valonquar]

Right at the end when he's mentioning a possible mod that would use his card in tandem with an HDD that replaces the entire CD drive... so you'd have a Saturn with EVERY SATURN GAME EVER in one box on original hardware.

I can only get so erect.

 

[TimeKillr]

This is awesome. I have a very unique dev Saturn (with a prototype controller!) that was given to me a few years ago, and I was always afraid of the drive dying, so this could be a lifesaver.

It's similar to this -

Except the red pin is much longer on mine.

 

[IrishNinja]

with the absolutely toxic state the scene is in price-wise these days, this timing couldn't be any better. more people discovering classics!

 

[letmetrythisname]

with the absolutely toxic state the scene is in price-wise these days, this timing couldn't be any better. more people discovering classics!

The Japanese games aren't too expensive (I bought a Japanese Saturn to save money on physical games) but it is still a bit much.

 

[chronic_archaic]

Does this mean we are one step closer to cycle accurate emulation?

This is one thing stated in the video, yes.