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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Yes Boss!

Member
I know Taromaru has a low print run, therfore the price. But is the Hyper Duel situation the same? I get the impression there are plent out there, just that it is very well liked. Some games are generally hard to find but there are always Hyper Duels up for sale.
 
Can we have a secret handshake and a cool hat for the club? (I am thinking like the one in the Flintstones).

I actually didn't many anything by that. I just thought it sounded ominous.

but.. We should have a t-shirt with a cool graphic on the front and the names of GAF members who have copies of Hyper Duel on the back. In the same style as a concert shirt.
 

Flock

Member
I know Taromaru has a low print run, therfore the price. But is the Hyper Duel situation the same? I get the impression there are plent out there, just that it is very well liked. Some games are generally hard to find but there are always Hyper Duels up for sale.

I'm pretty sure Hyper Duel had a fairly low print run actually. It didn't really pick up popularity until past the Saturns prime.
 
I know Taromaru has a low print run, therfore the price. But is the Hyper Duel situation the same? I get the impression there are plent out there, just that it is very well liked. Some games are generally hard to find but there are always Hyper Duels up for sale.

Hard to tell. Think there are fewer Taromarus based on fleabay but I think Hyper Duel had to have been a small print run. Released so late by a small company. Who knows.
 

reson8or

Member
I read there were only 7,500 Taromarus ever printed. Hyper Duel couldn't be that low, could it?

From what I recall, the general consensus is thet Taro's print at 7,500 is lower than HD. Though a quick search produced no known quantity of HD, so while thought of as higher, its uncertain how much higher.
 

Teknoman

Member
Against better judgement, im gonna track down Guardian Heroes. MS and their DLC policies + the possibility of the digital copy vanishing makes me want to have physical. Kinda the same thing that started me on the retro revival path in the first place.



But damn...then i'd need Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Virtual On OT.
 
Against better judgement, im gonna track down Guardian Heroes. MS and their DLC policies + the possibility of the digital copy vanishing makes me want to have physical. Kinda the same thing that started me on the retro revival path in the first place.



But damn...then i'd need Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Virtual On OT.

Do it. It's a fantastic game and worth the price it commands on the Saturn, IMO. LOL, chances are your Saturn and copy of Guardian Heroes will still work long after the servers hosting GH HD have been shut down or after the last 360 has stopped working. Which ever comes first.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
Against better judgement, im gonna track down Guardian Heroes. MS and their DLC policies + the possibility of the digital copy vanishing makes me want to have physical. Kinda the same thing that started me on the retro revival path in the first place.



But damn...then i'd need Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Virtual On OT.
What are you even taking about
 

Teknoman

Member
Do it. It's a fantastic game and worth the price it commands on the Saturn, IMO. LOL, chances are your Saturn and copy of Guardian Heroes will still work long after the servers hosting GH HD have been shut down or after the last 360 has stopped working. Which ever comes first.

Yeah it was the one reason I missed my Saturn (well that and Nights), and the game that made me a fan of all things Treasure. Funny I first found the game through my mom buying it along with Dark Savior during some Toys R Us clearance sale of Saturn games. The first game I bugged Chris Paladino about (along with Virtual On) when he asked what games you'd like to see on XBLA back in the early 360 days on the Gamerscore blog.

What are you even taking about


Guardian Heroes HD is only available on XBLA and its pretty cheap / well made port of the game. However...with MS download policies and their hardware, there could be a time when there would be no way to redownload the game or even have some strange expiration of the license. Because of that, i'm going to just start looking for the physical NA version of Guardian Heroes at a good price, so at least the condition/availability of the game is in my hands alone.
 
Tekno, you might like to know that Dungeons & Dragons collection is coming out on a PS3 retail disc in Japan for about $35. That should beat the Saturn price handsomely!
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
However...with MS download policies and their hardware, there could be a time when there would be no way to redownload the game or even have some strange expiration of the license.
Look... I know things have been pretty crazy this week. But this is stupid. You can get a Saturn copy if you want, you don't need to justify it.
 
If so, we can safely predict a slew of Saturn D&D Collections up for grabs on ebay in the coming months...

How difficult is it to mod a PS3? Any difference between the three models?
 

Teknoman

Member
Look... I know things have been pretty crazy this week. But this is stupid. You can get a Saturn copy if you want, you don't need to justify it.

I know, its just been something I had in the back of my mind for awhile now, posted just to see if anyone might have had the same line of thought.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
I know, its just been something I had in the back of my mind for awhile now, posted just to see if anyone might have had the same line of thought.
Guardian Heroes XBLA requires no online authentication. Buy it, back the file up on a thumb drive, enjoy.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Guardian Heroes XBLA requires no online authentication. Buy it, back the file up on a thumb drive, enjoy.

i'm long overdue for finally picking this one up, but...how do you back up a game to a thumbdrive? if you go playing it on another 360, even under your login, won't you just have the demo? i forget how it works.
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
i'm long overdue for finally picking this one up, but...how do you back up a game to a thumbdrive? if you go playing it on another 360, even under your login, won't you just have the demo? i forget how it works.
You can copy the file from your hard drive to the thumb drive from system -> storage. No fuss, no muss
 

IrishNinja

Member
right, but how do you go about playing it? ive had troubles in the past when trying to access games on a different system/hard drive than i originally bought them, especially offline
 

oneida

Cock Strain, Lifetime Warranty
right, but how do you go about playing it? ive had troubles in the past when trying to access games on a different system/hard drive than i originally bought them, especially offline
I've never had difficulty with it, idk. All my XBLA titles are on a thumb drive, but I don't jump from xbox to xbox and I don't lose my internet  ¯_(ツ)_/¯

The point of the thumb drive was "what if I lose the file and can't redownload it"

/edit/ come to think of it in the four or five years that I've had my Xbox, I've only lost internet when I lose power. At which point even if my Xbox worked somehow, my tv wouldn't.
 

Mikhal

Member
right, but how do you go about playing it? ive had troubles in the past when trying to access games on a different system/hard drive than i originally bought them, especially offline

XBLA games are tied to two things:

1) The console license (first console console it was first downloaded to)

Any console with the console license (tied to the serial number) will be able to play the game offline. Any gamertag on this console will also be able to play the game fully instead of being reverted to a demo.


2) The Gamertag license (gamertag of whomever purchased the game)

If you downloaded the game to a console that does not have the original console license, you can play the game as long as you are logged into XBOX Live with the original account that purchased the game.

In your case, since you are trying to play on a console that's different from the one you originally bought it from, you have no choice but to be logged into XBL to play. You do have the option to migrate all your console licenses to a different console once per year or something like that using the migration tool on xbox.com though if you don't have the original console anymore.
 

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, see...couple all that with unreliable hardware, and it doesn't instill a lotta faith that i'll be able to play my copy of it 10+ years from now
 

Slermy

Member
www.eStarland.com is pretty good. They sell both new and used games, both domestic and imported. Their stuff is always in amazing shape. Prices can be a bit on the higher side, but the quality is always well worth it. They have a physical shop too if you're in northern Virginia.
 
www.eStarland.com is pretty good. They sell both new and used games, both domestic and imported. Their stuff is always in amazing shape. Prices can be a bit on the higher side, but the quality is always well worth it. They have a physical shop too if you're in northern Virginia.

Fun story about them. Live near them and use to go to their store all the time when it was just starland. When I moved back to the area and they were gone I thought they went out of business. Then a few weeks ago I found out about estarland and visited their newer loacation. Turns out just a week or so prior they had a major sale to clear out their case full of expensive and old games. Even joked around with the cashier about how their price on Valkyrie Profile must be super high since it was one of the few things they still had left in the case so I assumed it was left over. His response was "oh no, we had a stack of them".

Did I say fun story? What I meant to say was, oh god I want to kill someone.
 

Mikhal

Member
That's a good question. If it's like the PSN/XBLA Iron Galaxy ports, it should change based your system language settings, but I don't know for sure.

I got the retail JP Vampire Resurrection today for PS3. Popped the disc in and it defaults to English for me. So that is probably how it works. Amiami has Chronicles of Mystara up for preorder, so I ordered from them.

Can anyone recommend a good Saturn Web Store? I have no problem with imports if the game is cheaper.

eStarland, as mentioned before is a good choice. Other than that there isn't much besides ebay and ordering from Japan.

I've used Rakuten online marketplace to order some games from Japan.. Not a lot of the gaming stores ship to the US so you'll mainly deal with the Surugaya-a-too shop unless you use a proxy. My experience with them is that they usually take a week or so to get your order ready. When they do, they'll send out an invoice with the shipping price (they only do EMS shipping so that can get pricey) and you will have to respond to that e-mail with a confirmation or they'll end up canceling it. It's a hassle and the waiting can get to ya, but the stuff I've gotten there has been in great condition. The prices are pretty decent too. Especially with the exchange rate being about close to 1:1 right now.
 

Xbudz

Member
i'm long overdue for finally picking this one up, but...how do you back up a game to a thumbdrive? if you go playing it on another 360, even under your login, won't you just have the demo? i forget how it works.

yeah, see...couple all that with unreliable hardware, and it doesn't instill a lotta faith that i'll be able to play my copy of it 10+ years from now

Get a USB stick, backup Profile & Games as many times as you like.
If your Xbox died, get another one... this is no different than a Sega Saturn or any other console except your games are now backed up digitally.

Stop assuming the Xbox 360 is an Xbone because it's not.
 
If my 360 died tomorrow and Sega pulled Guardian Heroes off XBLA immediately afterwards, I STILL wouldn't go back to the Saturn version.

The XBLA version is just too good. Remixed mode, 12 combatant support, etc etc.

Didn't have much luck getting rid of my Saturn collection (needed between-job money) so eh..figured I'd post a picture of it.

i7Bl2kkbcONVc.jpg


Yeah it's random as hell and maybe a 1/10th of what it was.
 

kunonabi

Member
If my 360 died tomorrow and Sega pulled Guardian Heroes off XBLA immediately afterwards, I STILL wouldn't go back to the Saturn version.

The XBLA version is just too good. Remixed mode, 12 combatant support, etc etc.

Didn't have much luck getting rid of my Saturn collection (needed between-job money) so eh..figured I'd post a picture of it.

i7Bl2kkbcONVc.jpg


Yeah it's random as hell and maybe a 1/10th of what it was.

Do you need to sell the whole thing at once or can we pick? I'd be interested in Last Bronx and maybe Twinkle Star Sprites.
 

Mikhal

Member
If my 360 died tomorrow and Sega pulled Guardian Heroes off XBLA immediately afterwards, I STILL wouldn't go back to the Saturn version.

The XBLA version is just too good. Remixed mode, 12 combatant support, etc etc.

Didn't have much luck getting rid of my Saturn collection (needed between-job money) so eh..figured I'd post a picture of it.

i7Bl2kkbcONVc.jpg


Yeah it's random as hell and maybe a 1/10th of what it was.

How's Vatlva? I liked Car Battler Joe for GBA and was sorta interested in this.
 
How's Vatlva? I liked Car Battler Joe for GBA and was sorta interested in this.

I haven't spent too much time with it, but it has promise.
It was developed by Ancient and they usually do good work.

Still kinda want to try Fusion Frenzy 2. It's the only game of theirs (outside of the IOS stuff) that I haven't played.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
I got the retail JP Vampire Resurrection today for PS3. Popped the disc in and it defaults to English for me. So that is probably how it works. Amiami has Chronicles of Mystara up for preorder, so I ordered from them.

Wow, I seriously had no idea that D&D was getting a physical in Japan. I'm so on that. Preordered.

Also, added Vampire Resurrection to my Amiami order shipping next week. Thanks for sharing.
 
Alright spent some time with Vatlva. It's pretty swell

Basically it's an overhead car-battle game. There are multiple controller settings like using L/R to turn or up/down to accelerate/reverse. Each vehicle has six commands. There's regular ammo and rockets but they're both limited. Then you've got ramming weapons that recharge after a short while. To shake off pursuers there are land mines and other similar weapons. There's also a shield that can be put up at any time but it has to recharge as well.

There's also maybe some special weapons or secret moves I haven't figured out.
Story mode is a bit blah as it's just 1v1. The Battle mode offers up to six players. The action is pretty chaotic. Each stage has objects to blow up, walls to crash into, and elements such as water and fire to make things more troublesome. When a car is taken out the crew can run around and...get run over by others.

There's also a customization mode for tweaking your favorite car. It's a nice touch but not really useful if your JPN understanding is nil.

Music is pretty good as well. It's Yuzo Kushiro/Motohiro Kawashima, so expect a diverse soundtrack that isn't for everyone (akin to Streets of Rage 3/BK3).

Altogether this is a game best played with friends. If you know a few people that are cool with playing obscure Saturn games, then give this a look. Otherwise...well it's still fun, just don't expect it to last for a long time. In terms of mechanics, design, and fun, I think Ancient did a solid job.

---------

I've been playing around with SSF. I'm getting good performance but hmm..something seems off.

iGW7w9UpHRxDQ.bmp


Whoo boy look at dat interlacing.

ibhghh9yeIGIwZ.bmp


Ick.

iltLo9LcD1Tvm.bmp


Golly
 

Ms. Tea

Member
That's not dithering, that's interlacing. Interlaced games (e.g. 480i) draw the even/odd scanlines separately, and yeah, it looks ugly on a progressive scan screen. There's a "deinterlace" option you can turn on to improve the appearance.
 
That's not dithering, that's interlacing. Interlaced games (e.g. 480i) draw the even/odd scanlines separately, and yeah, it looks ugly on a progressive scan screen. There's a "deinterlace" option you can turn on to improve the appearance.

Oh I see. Thanks.

iiPAVh5HKaViB.bmp

Yep. Looks better.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Get a USB stick, backup Profile & Games as many times as you like.
If your Xbox died, get another one... this is no different than a Sega Saturn or any other console except your games are now backed up digitally.

Stop assuming the Xbox 360 is an Xbone because it's not.

i'm not assuming here, i've literally purchased games from my account on others' systems and not been able to play them offline, they boot into a demo. i like backing stuff up, i'm just iffy about access to servers/checks that might not be up there later.
 
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