Yesterday I attended Game Core 2009, a current and classic gaming convention in Pennsylvania which had a Dreamcast oriented day of contests and competitions. My report of the event can be found at SEGA Nerds, but it's not the FULL report. Consider this the "Saturn Edition" of my day.When I entered the dealer section of the convention, I had Dreamcast on the brain. However, after flicking through row after row of so-so Dreamcast games that I wouldn't mind owning but would be better off NOT owning, I found myself shifting to the Saturn sections. Maybe it's the fact that the past year has been so Dreamcast heavy, or that I've bought a good fifty Dreamcast games over the past eight months. In any case, the Saturn was a much more exciting library for me to browse and so a good portion of my convention budget went towards SEGA's big white, gray or black box that could.
Three dealers in particular had a HUGE selection of Saturn games, one of which had an excellent import selection. The photo above was of the dealer with the best deals, many games going for $4 to $15 dollars. I picked up Sonic 3D Blast for $8 after a bit of haggling.
That same dealer also had the holy grail of Saturn games, Panzer Dragoon Saga for $190. This is actually a fair price for the game. Another dealer across the hall had been asking $300!
The bin with the hand browsing through it was full of mint Japanese Saturn games and the bin to the right was full of mint Japanese Dreamcast games. Before I spotted my final purchase, I was very close to buying Napple Tale for $50.
As you see, my final purchase was a white Japanese Saturn (joy!), Sonic 3D Blast, an Action Replay Plus, MSR and a Dreamcast vinyl sticker (a prize for those who competed in one of the Dreamcast tournaments). Now that I think of it, both Sonic 3D Blast and MSR were composed by Richard Jacques. UK:RESISTANCE would be proud.
And here she is unboxed. As the Dreamcast anniversary has passed, I think it's time for me to focus much more on feeding games to this white beauty. For those curious, the console and Action Replay Plus came out to $90. Goddamn am I happy to finally have one of these!
You found some nice stuff. I got lucky on eBay of all places the other day and won Panzer Dragoon Saga complete for 130. It was a great deal.
ReplyDeleteNice one Barry I'm thrilled for you! The white Saturn is beautiful! (I have one too!)
ReplyDeleteA just reward for the sterling work you're doing here at the 'Yard!
130! Sweet deal! My cap is 150. I'm not in the market for PDS yet, but I'm thinking of using a bit of my Christmas money towards it. Yes, I'm 25 years old and still get Christmas money. lol
ReplyDeleteOh cool! That looks like a lot of fun browsing all those games and having them actually in your hands. Saturn games in real life are virtually non existant in germany these days. :(
ReplyDeleteI really want a Panzer Dragoon Saga now. Yet I am a bit afraid, that I am not good enough for it, since I am not quite used to RPGs and all that leveling stuff. :(
From what I understand, PDS is an action rpg (thankfully) so those who are afraid of traditional RPGs need not worry.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, it's really awesome to have the games right there. But you really have to control yourself. I was very close to buying the JP version of NiGHTS and a 3D controller, when I had to remind myself that I already owned it (albeit the US version).
What a beauty you have there! I'd love a white Japanese Saturn... Heck, I'd love to find MY Saturn... (somewhere at the parents house... doh!)
ReplyDeleteWin! :D I'm actually glad that there are no conventions like that over here, I would probably go bankrupt...
ReplyDeleteBTW, is there any chance that my couple of posts revived interest in PDS? :D
Elend, fear not, for it's one of the most accessible RPG's I've ever played. The hardest part are some boss battles, but even those can be beaten with some trial and error. I mean, just look at me, I suck at jrpg's and still managed to finish it.
Holy crap! I forgot to point out: in the bin photo you can see a SEGA CDX aka Multi-Mega. That was $210. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteHow does one find out about conventions like this? Is there anything like it in the south?
ReplyDeleteI found out last minute on SEGA Nerds. Your best bet would be to scour Google.
ReplyDeleteWow, sort of wish I had known about this con. I live in the Harrisburg area and would've gladly taken a trip down the turnpike for something like this.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, nice score, Barry. I paid around $100 for my near mint M1 V-Saturn, but I still would probably like to get my mints on a 1st-party M1 gray or maybe even an M2 white.
Try that again...
ReplyDeleteGet my "mitts" on... There we go!
Yeah, the grey Saturn was my second choice (thanks to its cameo in Shenmue). I have the black US version with oval buttons, but the white one is just so much more fun to look at. My black Saturn is nearly invisible in my TV cabinet, blending in with the shadows like a fat ninja.
ReplyDeleteMy first Saturn was a black M1 that I got for Christmas in '95. That, along with all my games, got passed down to my brother. They all eventually made their way down to the basement where flooding did 'em in.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years passed before I finally got an itch to play NiGHTS again, so I bought another black M1. It has some pretty awful issues that I think are associated with the system memory. Replacement batteries don't fix anything.
For my third Saturn, I decided on a Japanese model, so I could finally play some of the great games I've only been able to play on emulators. I ended up with the M1 V-Saturn, which is pretty sweet in its own right, but I'd still really like to have a gray M1.
I've actually considered getting the gray M1, and replacing the top of my V-Saturn with the top of the gray M1 to get a two-tone gray M1 Saturn running V-Saturn bios.