However, I have my lovely six week summer holiday starting on the 20th of July, so hopefully my posting output will be back to its best!
For now though, I'm going to share with you, a whole page of Saturn information, from the wonderful Games TM magazine. If you've never read this wonderful publication, I suggest you give it a go! Over recent months, they've produced loads of top quality Saturn related articles, and its great to see our beloved console getting the attention it deserves!
The article in question takes a look at the range of Saturns available and their relative costs!
I take no credit for the words below, and unfortunately I can't credit the author either, as his/her name is not given. So I'll use a different a different font and colour for their words, OK?
Good, lets proceed!
"The world of retro gaming can be very confusing for the uninitiated and some consoles and computers can be more confounding than others, thanks to their many models and varations. With that in mind we will occasionally hijack the magazines Buyer's Guide to bring you a round up of a particular series of a classic games machine. This month we take a look at the weird and wonderfulvariations of the Sega's Saturn hardware.
Black Saturn: Estimated Price £10: Manufacturer Sega. Released in the UK and the US, the standard black console is the one variation that the majority of readers will be familiar with. But did you know that two different black Saturns were released? The differences between them were minor: the first featured oval buttons while the second had round ones. the joypads, however, were quite different: the first console came withlarge pads that weren't too comfortable, while the second featured smaller pads which were modelled on the Japanese ones.
Grey Saturn: Estimated price £25 Manufacturer: Sega The Japanese never received the black Saturn. Instead, in the East they were treated to a much more interesting grey console with blue buttons and a joypad to match. Its unclear why Sega decided to recolour the Saturn for the West - perhaps they thought black was more suitable for a piece of entertainment technology. Games TM happens to prefer the grey model, possibly because we're elitist snobs, who knows?
White Saturn: Estimated Price: £30 Manufacturer: Sega Japanese production of the grey Saturn ended soon after its launch, in favour of a much 'jazzier' white model. Featuring a similar hue to the Dreamcast, the white Saturn also came with a matching pad withmulticoloured buttons and is the model you will find in the homes of most importers. Interestingly, Sega also redesigned all its peripherals - memory card, Virtual On sticks, steering wheel and so on - to match.
Derby Stallion Saturn: Esimated Price: £200 Manufacturer: Sega The Derby Stallion Saturn is definitely the most desirable of the regular Saturn variations, this translucent blue console was released in 1999 and came bundled with ASCII's horse racing game, Derby Stallion and some exclusive memory card stickers. Aesthetically the console looks very similar to the earlier 'This Is Cool' branded Saturn but is much harder to come by. Only 20,000 units have been produced to date making it one of the rarest Saturns in existence.Hi - Saturn: Estimated Price: £80 Manufacturer: Hitachi One of the first Saturn models to be licensed out to an external manufacturer, Hitachi's Hi Saturn was produced to support the burgeoning Asian Video CD industry of the time and came fitted with an M-Peg decoder specifically for the task of playing such CDs. Apart from that, the only differences were the black coloured casing and a new start up screen, featuring a revolving Hitachi logo. With video CDs now more or less defunct, the Hi Saturn is for collectors only.
Samsung Saturn: Estimated Price : £100 Manufacturer: Samsung Essentially, the Samsung Saturn is the same as the Hi Saturn, but the Samsung model was released exclusively in Korea and is relatively unknown among Saturn collectors. As another Video-CD player, the console is of little interest aside form its low buildquality. A space for a power light exists, for example, but there is no actual LED built into the motherboard. The Samsung Saturn is also the only Saturn not to feature a reset button. See, were full of useful information at Games TM.
Hotel Saturn: Estimated Price: £500 Manufacturer: SunSeibu Japanese hotels often feature special versions of games consoles for guests to play on. and the Saturn was no exception. This particular model featured a seven CD changer inside in order to offer players a wide choice of games. It was coin operated to allow for the system to be played for a pre-defined number of minutes. That the timing mechanism can be switched off, and that the console is compatible with all the official peripherals, makes it ideal for collectors. Hi Saturn Navi: Estimated Price: £900 Manufacturer: Hitachi
Basically a regular Hi Saturn with a mini screen attached, the Navi was intended as a portable games console to be used in cars. As well as the standardgame and VCD playback, the Navi also includes support for karaoke discs, has audio and video-in so that the monitor can be used with other devices, has input for a TV tuner and supports GBS devices. Rather uselessly however, the Navi connected to its car's handbrake and would shut down most of its features unless the car was stationary."So there you go peeps! A potted history of the entire Saturn range! And just look at all of those gorgeous Saturns! Jesus! When I win the lottery, all of them will be mine! In my mansion will be a special Saturn room, with each of them connected up to a high-res TV. I'll be there, serving you all cocktails while you enjoy House Of The Dead, Sega Rally, NiGHTS and Virtua Cop.
I hope I'll be a bit more pro-active in giving you all a bit more to read in the upcoming weeks!
Until then, its a Resident Evil obsessed Father Krishna, saying "Goodnight children, wherever you are... " :)
