Listen to the latest episode of the Junkyard's TitanCast!

Need a Sega-stuffed podcast in your life? Join us for the latest episode of the Saturn Junkyard's TitanCast! Listen to it on iTunes, Google Play, Buzzsprout, and wherever else...

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-saturn-junkyards-titancast/id1320249250?mt=2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Irnjy5iegkh5pfj6cdx3gjqnxle

Buzzsprout: http://thesaturnjunkyard.buzzsprout.com

PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/series-2287282

Announcing the N64 Junkyard!

After months of thoughtful discussion and debate, myself, the Southern Sega Gentleman (Sam), Nebachadnezzar (Nuno), The Virtua Schlub (Brian) and Arugulaz (Jesse) have decided that we'd like to take the Junkyard ion a new direction... a Nintendo based direction.

Although all of us love the Saturn, it is really the second system in all of our hearts... it was always playing second fiddle to our true love, our true passion... the Nintendo 64. Possessing twice the juice of  the 32bit Saturn, Nintendo's powerhouse vastly exceeds Sega's effort in all areas... Let's take a look...

Power: As already mentioned, the N64 has a 64 bit system (Duh! It's in the name...) whereas Sega's effort only had 32 bits at it's disposal. Consequently, graphics, framerates, polygons and sprites (whatever they are) were all superior on the N64... The machine is just better. And it's made by Nintendo after all... the company that bought us the Virtual Boy and the Wii U. No Nintendo system has ever failed commercially. The N64 vastly outsold all other consoles of it's generation. especially in Japan.

Style: Just looking at these controllers tells you everything you need to know. The Saturn's controllers are small and can easily slip out of the hand whilst playing. Most people think these controllers produced by Sega, are amongst the worst ever made for a video-game system. The N64 controllers are ergonomically designed to stay in the hand. They also have an analogue stick...something NO Saturn controller has ever had. Plus, they come in funky colours.

 

Games: Whilst the Saturn had a lot of games that were good, the N64's library was vastly better. This is due to the fact that as everyone knows, the newer the system, the better the games. Plus a 64 bit system has more... erm... bits. Take Mario 64 for example... it's in 3D whereas Sonic's first 3D outing, "Sonic Adventure 2" didn't even appear on the Saturn. It was on the Dreamcast. Sega took a full console generation to catch up. In fact no Sonic game ever appeared on the system, which has irked all of us for a while. The N64 also pioneered First Person Shooters... Golden Eye being the best FPS ever made. There are no FPS games on the Saturn. RPGs are also missing from the library, whereas the N64 has both Zelda games... Ocarina of Time AND Majora's Mask.

Fan Demand: We're not the only ones that have had these thoughts... Many of the posters on the SJY Facebook page have called for the switch too. It seems many of us have harboured the desire to convert the Yard, to a shrine to Nintendo. So we've finally bowed to the pressure. From now on, we look forward to bringing you news, reviews and opinion on the best 64 Bit console ever!

Also check out the new video on our favorite N64 games on our YouTube channel:

Saturn Junkyard '11th Anniversary Competition' Entries And Prize Winners!

Last year, in the month of December, we not only celebrated Christmas, we celebrated 11 years of the Saturn Junkyard, the very blog you are reading now! Whilst not always fully operational, the site has managed to reach a grand old age, which in internet terms is ancient! I set a competition for our members to design a graphic for a Junkyard  that represented and celebrated those eleven glorious years. 

I would like to thank all of the entrants for the excellent work submitted! Thank you so much for your hard work and efforts! Congratulations if you were a place winner! I hope you are not too disappointed if you were a runner up! I'm sure you will be happy with your runner up rewards...

As I know some of the entrants for the competition, it was long ago decided that we would have to have judges from outside of the Saturn Junkyard community. I chose two people who have a knowledge of the Saturn, it's games and it's reference points, such as iconic images, game characters and packaging. They have both played and enjoyed Saturn games and one of the judges has a media degree. They both wish to remain anonymous for their own reasons, and we're going to respect their wishes.

As it's the Saturn Junkyard, everyone wins a prize. The runners up will receive a Club Saturn CD (and perhaps even a mystery bonus!) 

Ben Boyd - First Prize!

Wins A Japanese Sega Saturn Controller 

David Lee - Second Prize!

Wins Custom Made 'Policenauts' Repro Packaging (we're throwing in the discs too!)

Our Very Own Samuel Myles - Third Prize!

Wins a copy of Official Sega Saturn Magazine.

Mark Richardson Fourth Prize! Wins a Saturn Game! (depending on tastes,to be discussed...)

Gaz Cormack: Runner Up - Wins a Club Saturn CD!

Simon Gale: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Sam Finston: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Jason Luxton: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Simon Gale: Runner Up  - Wins Another Club Saturn CD!

Daniel Ripley: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Andrew Rosa: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Daniel Turner: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

Daniel Mark: Runner Up  - Wins A Club Saturn CD!

In the Inaugural Junk Club, We are All Burning Rangers!

It's like a book club but with fewer white whales and more futuristic firefighters*! Over the next couple of weeks, keep an eye out for various threads around the Junkyard Facebook community where members will be asked a series of questions and share their memories, experiences, and perspectives surrounding Sega and Sonic Team's late Saturn classic, Burning Rangers! Whether you're a longtime fan (or critic), have just recently discovered it, or plan on burning and playing it soon, you're welcome to participate! All you have to to do is join our Facebook group if you haven't already.

Along the way, we may drop some Burning Rangers-related content, including videos on the SJY YouTube channel and -- later on -- maybe even an episode of the TitanCast where we'll share some members' musings about the game from our Junk Club threads.

* Though for Simon, maybe level 3 of Burning Rangers is his Moby Dick.

Competition Time! Design a new graphic for the main page...

As a little bonus to celebrate the Saturn Junkyard's 11th Birthday, we thought we might set a competition. It's going to be something different to the weekly challenge on the Facebook page, something that utilises the creative skills of the members!

The brief is simple... To design a graphic or pictorial image for the Saturn Junkyard's 11th Birthday.
This rather lovely graphic (pictured below) was made on our 1st anniversary, way back in 2007. So it's high time we had a new one.

Use modern technology or good old fashioned crafting skills to create a captioned picture that celebrates us as a community!

The closing date for entries will be January the 1st 2018. So you've got around two weeks to knock something up. I reckon that's enough time!

Prize! Every competition needs a prize and we've got three!

First prize: A white 3D Saturn Controller with beautiful coloured buttons, that would enhance both the gameplay and aesthetics of any Saturn console, but particularly a Japanese Saturn...

Second Prize: A copy of Official Saturn Magazine. Thumb through the pages of this 1996 journal devoted to our favourite console and you'll be transported back to the days when the Saturn was king...

Third Prize: A copy of Sega Rally. (Are you beginning to wonder where all this crap is coming from? 😜) So you've already got one? Well come third and you'll have a spare!

Post your entries on the Facebook page and we'll announce the winners in the New Year!

Happy Birthday Saturn Junkyard!

The tenth birthday of the Saturn Junkyard, a huge milestone in website lifespans, was something that should have been celebrated with pomp and fanfare. But at the time, the blog was barely alive. Think ET lying in the stream, cold, pale and barely breathing on the day after Halloween... Or 'Flynn's Arcade' when Flynn Jr, turns up on his superbike at the start of 'Tron 2'... Or Star Fleet's finest pointy-eared Vulcan, floating through space in a state of suspended animation in 'Search For Spock'... I'm sure you get the picture. In short, it was knackered.

But earlier this year, in a crazy scheme cooked up by two slightly unhinged middle aged chaps with a penchant for gaming, the rusty old gates of the 'Yard were swung open, like Wonka's factory on the day specified on the golden ticket. Machinery was heard coughing and spluttering, cogs, once well oiled, but now rusted and seized together, began to turn once more and before you knew it, the old place was living and breathing again!

But in just one day's time we'll be cracking open a huge bottle of bubbly, to celebrate the 11th birthday of our little blog. It's back, it's primed and it's ready to run and run...

Read more...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Saturn Junkyard!