Sega Saturn

[Dark Knight Kain]

Not really emulation related but I guess this is as good of place as any. I can buy a Saturn and an assload of games for a very reasonable price, but there's really only one game I'm worried about playing. Two questions, first assuming I actually buy this game (Which is Japanese) how will I bypass the region protection (Does the Saturn even have region protection?) Second, how would I modify the console to play burned games?

[Ugly Joe]

I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that Japanese games will not work on a non-Japanese Saturn. I know that when you burn *ahem* backups, you have to use some tools to change the region settings of the ISO in order for it work with a swap trick.

Regarding the swap trick, there are FAQs for them at http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/saturn/game/916393.htmlGamefaqs</a>. I know for my roommates Saturn, all we had to do was take off the case and duct tape two contacts together (the contacts that tell it that the door is closed).

I'm also fairly certain that there are carts you can buy for its cartridge slot that make regions a non-issue.

[MegaManJuno]

The Saturn is the easiest system to "chip", but finding the mod boards may be more difficult these days. Basically it's a little circuit board that plugs in between the system board and the CD unit. The ribbon cable is unplugged from the CD unit, plugged into the mod board, and then the mod board is plugged in via ribbon cable to the CD unit. There's also a single wire that you insert into one of the slots on the power connector (+5V if I recall correctly..? Could be wrong since it's been quite a while since I modded mine).

As for region lockout, as Ugly Joe mentioned, you can change the country code in the ISO for burns, which may be needed for a few games (more on this in a minute). There are carts referred to as 5-in-1 (I've seen them referred to as 4-in-1 also sometimes) carts that include a Pro Action Replay support, SNK compatible 1MB expansion, Capcom 4MB expansion, country code bypass, and an extra backup save memory. In most cases, the 5-in-1 will be all you need, and you won't have to worry about changing the country code on the game itself. There may be a few games that refuse to run if a cart is detected in the expansion slot (Panzer Dragoon Saga for one). You'll have to change the country code by ripping/changing the code/burning a new CD-R, if you want to play an import that does this check.

[neozeed]

I just got a chip from racketboy.You need to get a Saturn with round buttons for the easiest mod.
A gameshark will also let you play imports.

[JCE3000GT]

Don't modchip your Saturn!!! Get one of these and you're Import playing is solved...haven't tested it for copies but I will test it.

http://www.zophar.net/wwwthreads/attachment.php?Cat=&Board=general&Post=276052<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by JCE3000GT on 11/20/05 04:00 PM.</FONT></P>

C:Serverxampphtdocszopharoldwwwthreadsattachments2 0-11-05_1453.jpg

[MegaManJuno]

> Don't modchip your Saturn!!! Get one of these and you're
> Import playing is solved...haven't tested it for copies but
> I will test it.
>
Does the ST-Key contain the 1MB (SNK compatible) and 4MB (Capcom compatible) RAM expansions? If not, a 5-in-1 cart will be a better find if he can land one. It includes PAR, both RAM expansions, backup Save RAM, and allows playing of imports. Even with this, you'd still need the mod board to play burns, so I assume it's the same with the ST-Key..?

[MegaManJuno]

>
> I just got a chip from racketboy.You need to get a Saturn
> with round buttons for the easiest mod.
> A gameshark will also let you play imports.
>

The only difference is that you need one of 2 different versions of mod boards depending on the model of the Saturn. Even the "round buttons" isn't a 100% way to tell the version if I recall correctly, as there's some overlap. The ribbon cable that connects to the CD laser unit is the way to tell for certain. One model is (if I recall correctly) a 20-pin cable, while the other is a 21-pin cable.

[IndeX]

> Don't modchip your Saturn!!! Get one of these and you're
> Import playing is solved...haven't tested it for copies but
> I will test it.
>

Just FYI , a Saturn mod-chip (well mod-board really) won't bypass region lockout. You'd need a region switch for that. The STKey is a good buy.

I reccomend staying AWAY from any of the 5-in-1 or 4-in-1 carts. Those have been known to blow the cartridge slot on the Saturns.

The best way to bypass region lockout is to:

A. Install a region switch
B. Get a mod-board, install it and use SatConv.exe to burn a copy of your game and change the country code for it.

[neozeed]

> A. Install a region switch
> B. Get a mod-board, install it and use SatConv.exe to burn
> a copy of your game and change the country code for it.
> I agrre with those solutions but if you want to play certain games you still need the extra ram.I will probably pick up a 5 in 1 one of these days for the ram.As far as blowing out the cart port I think the problem is that diofferent carts use different thickness curcuit boards. So if you use a thicker one and go back to a sega brand mem bakup cart the contacts are stretched and it gives problems.The best advice I've read concerning that is to pick one cart and stick with it.In that case the 5 in 1 is the best cause it does everything .Although I have read that its not 100% compatyible with all games.

[IndeX]

.Although I have read that
> its not 100% compatyible with all games.
>

True. Some games that require you to change discs ( Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc) crap out with it.