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Sega Saturn is difficult to turn into a mini console, says Sega boss
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- Business Hardware
cash_longfellow
Member
That makes one us
.But more seriously the reason I’m so in love with Dreamcast is because of Skies of Arcadia. Aside from that, I don’t remember a whole lot about either system. I’m just mini trolling based on my love for that game. Panzer Dragon was cool at my local Blockbuster kiosk, but nothing really stands out to me outside of that and Skies on either system. I really just want an updated version of SoA.
Walter Matthau
Member
4 of the 6 games I mentioned were made directly by Sega. Xmen vs SF clearly wouldn’t make it, but I don’t think there’s too much preventing Bomberman.
I’m not sure ebay prices translate very well to what Sega is or isn’t capable of putting on a Saturn mini console.
Crew511A
Member
Why would ebay costs affect what goes on the system? Obviously anything translated by Working Designs would be a problem, unless Sega did their own translation, which they won't, because they're lazy. Sega Rally would be out because of licensing, ditto Daytona, probably.
Putting NiGHTS on there would be an issue, because then they'd have to pack it with a 3D controller.
The Saturn gives me nightmares. I remember buying it and waiting and waiting and waiting for games to come out. It really did feel like the beginning of the end for Sega. I played it for a while and finally traded it in for the PS1 and never looked back.
As a gamer, I did buy the dreamcast, and it was better... but at that point it was too little too late.
As a gamer, I did buy the dreamcast, and it was better... but at that point it was too little too late.
cireza
Member
As far as I am concerned, I remember selling 18 MegaDrive games to buy my Saturn with Sega Rally, Fighters Megamix and Tomb Raider. One of the happiest day of my gamer life.
Following years were nothing but pure awesomeness. This console was the stuff of dreams. Everything sounded possible on it.
Following years were nothing but pure awesomeness. This console was the stuff of dreams. Everything sounded possible on it.
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Sorcerer
Member
I played Panzer Dragoon Saga off the real discs on SSF about 15-20 years ago it seems, and it ran perfectly. Well as perfect as it would run on an actual Saturn, warts and all.
Sorcerer
Member
Have you played Skies on the Gamecube? That's the version I played.That makes one us
But more seriously the reason I’m so in love with Dreamcast is because of Skies of Arcadia. Aside from that, I don’t remember a whole lot about either system. I’m just mini trolling based on my love for that game. Panzer Dragon was cool at my local Blockbuster kiosk, but nothing really stands out to me outside of that and Skies on either system. I really just want an updated version of SoA.
Grechy34
Member
Awesome. I've got a Japanese Saturn with Fenrir I paid AU500 for. Was hella expensive. I've also got a PAL saturn with the disc drive intact that I just want to keep around for collectors sake.
Looks like Saturn on Mister is getting better and better every month also.
cartman414
Member
Other reasons.
Tomeru
Member
justiceiro
Marlboro: Other M
At least, sounds like is matter of time then.
fart town usa
Member
Nice! Having access to the full library is so awesome. I wish more people could experience the Saturn in all it's glory.
tkscz
Member
But not on weaker/cheaper hardware. To run Saturn emulation well you need an equivalent to a snapdragon 888, which isn't as cheap as something from ROCKCHIP like the RK3588.
Team Andromeda
Member
The best console ever made. It's such a shame we get people posting in these threads, talking utter crap like none of the good games came out in the USA or the Saturn never had any good games. No doubt all coming from people who never had a Saturn or gave it a chance.
cash_longfellow
Member
No, I only had a GameCube for a little while. Mostly played Zelda the short time I had it. I didn’t even know it released on GameCube!
Stuart360
Member
I dont really get the problem as a tiny cell phone could run Saturn games. They just need to make some small hardware then just run the games through emulation.
Anyway i also think the Saturn is a little underated, although its also def overated judging from some of the posts in this thread.
I wouldnt say no to a mini though.
Anyway i also think the Saturn is a little underated, although its also def overated judging from some of the posts in this thread.
I wouldnt say no to a mini though.
ProgenitorCastle
Banned
Yo mamma is difficult to turn into a mini console
Sorcerer
Member
Here are some differences I found quickly looking it up on Gamefaq's really quick (user posts)
Gamecube version has:
Less Random Encounters (big plus)
Bounties Added (fun optional boss battles)
Pinto's Minigame taken out (never heard anything good about it)
Lower quality music (obvious negative, but whatever, it's still amazing)
Also, the graphics are slightly better on the Gamecube and there's an extra sidequest and more discoveries. And probably some more stuff. Most (if not all) people on this board agree that the Gamecube version is better
cireza
Member
Textures suffer more compression. The main gain really is the loading time, much much shorter when transitioning into battle.
Both versions are must play anyway. Hopefully some project at SEGA happen around remastering this game, it would be a great homage to Rieko Kodama as well.
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cash_longfellow
Member
Yea the amount of random encounters in the Dreamcast was asinine. That’s literally the only thing that would stop me from giving the game as close to a perfect, if not a perfect score.
Bernardougf
Member
I blame Sony ..
Fatal Chuck Yeager
Member
Sega no longer has an excuse for this now that the Jaguar has become almost 100% fully emulated with the ability to adjust hardware settings and potentially bypass bugs, which is a more difficult consoles to make games for than than the Saturn. So optimizing and making a Saturn mini consoles with emulated games shouldn't still be looked at as a giant gate blocking you from entrance.
cartman414
Member
A smartphone chip that's still more powerful than the potato cpus they've been using on minis so far.
SkylineRKR
Member
The lower quality music is a huge bummer though. SoA has one of the best OST out there, and GC was already bad on my CRT speakers. Other than that I can imagine the GC being better though I didn't play it that far (I did beat it on DC prior).
StereoVsn
Member
Doesn't MiSTer have a Saturn core now days? That's pretty much as close to real Saturn output as you can get.
Grechy34
Member
It's getting there but not near 100%. There's also a lot of different results based on people's ram configurations as well.
StereoVsn
Member
That's cool. Been eyeing MiSTer for years but never pulled the trigger. And now it's like $400, lol.
Hastelander
Banned
First of all, feck all emulation boxes, yet another scam people fall for rather easily. If having a console is all about authenticity, then an emubox, well it's in the name.
Second, Saturn is just difficult.
Second, Saturn is just difficult.
Not so much with the N64.
Remakes and Remaster are a blight on gaming, even if they turn out well, they're just there to renew copyrights and profit on nostalgia without much effort, but Sega in general has a catalog of good REclones (and LOTS of other ips) that they can do more with.
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PanzerCute
Member
Yeah, and lose money.
I am a huge Sega fan and I love the Saturn, I absolutely adore it, but no one gives a shit about it.
And yes that makes me sad.
Mr Hyde
Member
Nah, a proper Saturn collection with some of the best games on the system, would be greatly appreciated by fans and non-fans alike. It wouldn't make bank but it would recover the costs and then some for Sega.
PanzerCute
Member
I would not be as optimistic as you, tbh. And "recover costs and then some" is not what a company achieves for.
But hey, if such a collection ever happens, I would buy it day one and even double dip on it!
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Moreso with N64 actually. N64 emulation arrived first but was only really possible because the emulators took a lot of shortcuts that seriously compromised accuracy and compatibility, and those methods are still the basis for most N64 emulation, especially the low spec sort you see on, say Raspberry Pi set ups. These emulators are, by modern standards, quite bad. A lot of games have bugs or don't run or need patches and settings tweaks.
It's only in the last few years that we've gotten more accurate N64 emulators like ParaLLEl or Ares or Simple64, and it's no coincidence that these emulators are a lot more demanding of system resources.
Crew511A
Member
I think the Saturn, and even more, Dreamcast, have experienced a renewal in interest over the past few years because people are discovering they did have great libraries that were overlooked at times.
I joked earlier in the thread about Sega releasing a Genesis Mini 3, but truthfully, that wouldn't surprise anyone who follows this company. They're been the kings of milking their 16-Bit franchises, but I'd have to think that gravy train will end eventually.
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Team Andromeda
Member
It be nothing more than a niche item. If people really want to play Saturn games there are better alternatives out there. This would be a novelty product, let's face it
I rather see SEGA make something different than a Mini console and use the Virtual Stick Pro shell and put on it a collection of ST-V and System 32 games on it. A bit like the Capcom Arcade stick or the SNK Arcade joystick
Crew511A
Member
I'd settle for ports of different games like Revenge of Death Adder and arcade Shadow Dancer released as a collection on modern systems.
Team Andromeda
Member
That too, but I SEGA to look to something different other than just another mini system.
JMarcell
Member
Sega President and COO Yukio Sugino has said that the Sega Saturn is proving difficult to adapt into a miniature console.
Speaking to Famitsu (translated by VGC), the Sega boss said: “The Sega Saturn is surprisingly high performance, so the difficulty of miniaturisation is also high.
“I don’t think it’s a case of saying ‘let’s make another one because it sells well’, it looks like it’s going to be a little longer.
“I’d like to think about it when we’re in a situation where we can openly develop it together with people who have always loved the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast.”
Performance-wise, while not a perfect comparison, the Sega Saturn was released in the same console generation as the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64.
While Sony has released a classic PlayStation console, Nintendo has yet to continue the trend it popularised of releasing miniature consoles. If it was to do so, the Nintendo 64 would presumably be next.
In June of last year, Sega’s classic hardware producer Yosuke Okunari said that he had considered producing mini versions of the classic consoles, but claimed that the cost of producing parts for either a Dreamcast or Saturn would be prohibitively expensive.
Announcing the company’s Mega Drive Mini 2 console, Okunari said: “Some of you may say ‘This isn’t a Sega Saturn Mini’ or ‘I wanted a Dreamcast mini’, it’s not that we didn’t think about that direction.”
More details in the VGC article below:
Sega Saturn is difficult to turn into a mini console, says Sega boss | VGC
Sega President and CEO Yukio Sugino has said that the Sega Saturn is proving difficult to adapt into a miniature console.www.videogameschronicle.com
No, it's not because of the high performance, it's because the complexity of the hardware. Performance-wise the Saturn was worse than the first Playstation,, and Sony easily did a PS1 Mini using third-party emulators, because the architecture of the PS1 is way more easy to emulate than Saturn.
Madserb2023
Member
Hopefully the Switch 2 will have Sega Saturn and Dreamcast emulation added
cartman414
Member
Did that stop the TG16 mini from being a thing?
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Hastelander
Banned
As long as the game is playable without game breaking bugs/errors/etc, I can't give a damn about accuracy.
I've been playing different N64 games on different, mostly low-end devices with different emulators, most games are playable. Saturn emulation on any low end device? single digit frames.
Geometric-Crusher
"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
There are other reasons. Sega is a company that has full capacity to make a Saturn, they created the Saturn, So there are other reasons.
cartman414
Member
I want it, but unless they could replicate its instruction set with die shrunk/existing/commodity hardware at low cost, it's a non-starter.
Best we can hope for is FPGA (either MiSTer or the new MARS). Or the S-Tribute series getting better.
Dr.D00p
Member
I think the man is confusing high performance with incredibly inefficient (at 3D)
That's the only aspect of a Saturn causing them problems, everything else can be emulated by a mobile phone CPU thesedays.
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Esppiral
Member
You can already emulate them on a hacked Switch.
Gambit2483
Member
A Dreamcast mini with a solid lineup would sell out instantly, even @ $250.
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