====== Sega Saturn (1994) ======
===== Features =====
* CPU: Two Hitachi SH2 7604 32 Bit RISC chips at ~27 MHz (36 MIPS)
* Sound CPU: Motorola 68EC000 at 11.3 MHz
* Sound: 32 Channels, with 16 bit sampling at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz max.
* Resolution: 704 x 512 (horz) 60.00 Hz
* Colors: 32768 (static)
* Main Memory: 1 Megabyte of SDRAM and 1 Megabyte of DRAM
* Internal Memory Card
* Video Hardware: Two VDP (video display processors) chip sets (VRAM: 512Kb each)
* VDP1 Draw Sprites, lines, warped sprites (quads)
* VDP2 controls background graphics.
* CDROM: Max 2x speed - custom interface controlled by Hitachi SH1 processor. (512 Kb Buffer RAM)
===== Known Issues =====
The emulation of this system is Preliminary. See source code for more information.
Partially added CD-ROM Emulation. It still needs work on inputs.
MESS supports different Saturn BIOS revisions: Japan v1.00, Japan v1.01, Overseas v1.00a, Overseas v1.01a. You can switch between them, changing the -bios parameter. At command line,
== saturnjp ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 101" = Japan v1.01 (941228)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 100" = Japan v1.00 (940921)
== saturn / saturneu ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 101a" = Overseas v1.01a (941115)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 100a" = Overseas v1.00a (941115)
===== History and Trivia =====
The Sega Saturn is a 32-bit video game console, first released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America and July 8, 1995 in Europe.
The system was supported in North America and Europe until late 1998, and in Japan until the end of 2000. The last official game for the system, Yukyu Gensokyoku Perpetual Collection, was released by Mediaworks on December 4, 2000.
Sega's 27-member Away Team, comprising employees from every aspect of hardware engineering, product development and marketing, worked exclusively for two years to ensure the Sega Saturn's hardware and design met the precise needs of both the U.S. and Japanese markets. The Saturn was a powerful machine for the time, but its design, with two CPUs and 6 other processors, made harnessing its power extremely difficult. Many of the ancillary chips in the system were "off of the shelf" components. This increased the complexity of the design since less custom hardware was used. Rumours suggest that the original design called for a single central processor (making for
an excellent 2D gaming experience but with very limited 3D capability), but a second processor was added late in development to increase 3D performance.
Third-party development was further hindered by the initial lack of useful software libraries and development tools, requiring developers to write in assembly language to achieve decent performance. Programmers would often utilize only one CPU to simplify development in titles such as Alien Trilogy.
The main disadvantage of the dual CPU architecture was that both processors shared the same bus, and besides 4K of on-chip memory, all data and program code for both CPUs were located in the same shared 2 MiB of main memory. This meant that without very careful division of processing, the second CPU would often have to wait while the first CPU was working, reducing its processing ability.
The hardware also lacked light sourcing and hardware video decompression support. Nevertheless, when properly utilized, the dual processors in the Saturn could produce impressive results such as the 1997 ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D by Lobotomy Software, and later games like Burning Rangers were able to achieve true transparency effects on hardware that used simple polygon stipples as a replacement for transparency effects in the past.
From a market viewpoint, the architectural design problems of the Saturn meant that it quickly lost third party support to the PlayStation. Unlike the Playstation's use of triangles as its basic geometric primitive, the Saturn rendered quadrilaterals.
This proved a hindrance as most industry standard design tools were based around triangles, and multiplatform games were usually developed with triangles and the Playstation's larger market share in mind.
If used correctly the quadrilateral rendering of the Saturn would show less texture distortion than was common on Playstation titles, as demonstrated by several cross-platform titles such as Wipeout and Destruction Derby. The quadrilateral-focussed hardware and a 50% greater amount of video RAM also gave the Saturn an advantage for 2D game engines and attracted many developers of RPGs, arcade games and traditional 2D fighting games. Two different RAM cartridges were released for the system, a 1 MiB RAM cart by SNK for King of Fighters '96 and a 4 MiB RAM cart by Capcom for X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Both companies were known back then for their sprite-based
2D competitive fighting games and many of their subsequent games utilized their respective cartridges.
Tomb Raider was originally designed for the Saturn's quadrilateral-based hardware and as a result was incapable of displaying levels containing any triangular parts. This restriction remained in place for most of the 32-bit sequels. On the other hand, the quadrilateral ability allowed the Saturn to render First-person shooter games better than other consoles at the time, games like Quake, Powerslave, Duke Nukem 3D, HeXen. Also, the extra video RAM allowed larger levels than in PlayStation versions.
A true example of the Saturn's capability is widely considered to be the systems version of Shenmue, Yu Suzuki's multi-million dollar project that would eventually find a new home on the Saturn's successor, the Sega Dreamcast. Work on the title is believed to have been fairly complete, and several technical demos and gameplay footage have since been released to the public. The footage displays a system capable of producing fully rendered, entirely 3D locations and characters.
== Saturn in Japan ==
The Japanese Saturn was rushed to the market in November 1994, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation. The difficulties in programming for the system along with the early release led to very few games being available at launch. Approximately 170,000 machines were sold the first day the console went on sale. Although the Saturn was outsold by the PlayStation in Japan between 1995 and 1997, Saturn software enjoyed higher sales, a fact boosted by their successful Segata Sanshiro advertising campaign, leading to the perception that the Saturn was the platform of choice for more dedicated gamers while the PlayStation had a more casual audience.
Many of the games that made the Saturn popular in Japan, such as the Sakura Taisen series and numerous quirky anime style RPGs, were never released in foreign territories due to policies put in place by then Sega of America president Bernie Stolar who believed
that RPGs (or even most Japanese games in general) were not appealing to the North American audience.
== Saturn in North America ==
By the end of 1994 the 16-bit videogame era was in twilight in North America. Gamers were eagerly anticipating the new 32-bit machines from Japan. In early 1995 Sega president Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would launch in the U.S. on "Saturnday", (Saturday) September 2, 1995. This date was greatly anticipated by gamers and the media. It also allowed Sony to announce that the Playstation release date would be one week later on September 9, 1995.
However, at the first Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 in May 1995, Kalinske announced that the "Saturnday" date was a ruse and that the system was being released nationwide by a few select retailers immediately. This surprise move shocked everyone in attendance (Sony most of all) and it appeared that Sega had a real opportunity to take a commanding lead in the 32-bit race by beating the Playstation to the market.
In reality the "surprise attack" launch backfired for Sega. The Saturn was released at a high price point of $399 (Sony announced a $299 price for the Playstation at E3, as a response to the Saturn's release). Sega set the price high to capitalize on sales from early adopters who were willing to pay a premium to have the first machines available. Traditionally most videogame hardware is sold at a loss to allow for a price point low enough for quick adoption. With Sega having the market all to itself, it saw no reason to sell the system at a loss when demand was high in the marketplace.
The early launch also made the independent software companies angry because most of the third party games were slated to be finished and released around the September 2nd launch date. The early launch of the Saturn prevented them from capitalizing on the momentum inherent in an anticipated, planned release. Essentially the only software available on the shelves at launch was software released by Sega which, to many people within the software industry, appeared to be a move calculated to bring more sales to Sega's software at the expense of its rivals.
In addition, the retailers who were not included in the early launch (most notably Wal-Mart and KB Toys) felt betrayed by Sega allowing their competition to profit on the Saturn at their expense. This resulted in Sega having difficulties with these distributors for the Saturn (and also for its successor, the Dreamcast). As an example: the leadership within KB Toys were so angered by Sega's actions
that they refused to release the Saturn at all and even actually going as far as having some retailers removing anything Sega-related in stores, providing more retail space in many American shopping malls for the Saturn's competition instead.
By the time of the Playstation's release on September 9, 1995, the Saturn had sold approximately 80,000 systems. The Playstation sold over 100,000 units upon release in the U.S., a record at the time for a new system. Sega's dreams of early domination of the new generation of hardware were quickly forgotten as momentum behind the Playstation continued to build.
From 1995-1997 the Saturn became the "other" system, running a distant third behind the Playstation and the Nintendo 64. However, it was the preferred system for many arcade gamers who eagerly anticipated Sega's arcade classic games being ported to the system. Sales of the Saturn would generally spike as new arcade ports were released, then die off shortly thereafter. By the end of 1997 the third party releases for the system had dried up, and Sega's support was slowly fading as focus turned to the Dreamcast.
== Saturn in Europe ==
Although the Sega Saturn launched in Europe in July 1995 - a few months before the PlayStation's release - the momentum for Sony's
console amongst consumers was already building rapidly, stalling Saturn sales in the region. Nintendo's Ultra 64 (renamed Nintendo 64) also stole some of the limelight, despite the fact that it didn't actually hit European shelves until early 1997.
As a result, the Saturn never enjoyed the success it achieved in Japan or even the post-launch hype the machine was awarded in North America, leaving the market almost solely in Sony's hands. The PlayStation took the lead early on, and maintained it with ease throughout the Saturn's life, cementing its dominance in Europe.
== End of Saturn Era ==
As price drops continued throughout the 32-bit era, the system board design of the Saturn was not as easy to condense in a cost-saving
manner, and Sega fell behind after price drops offered by Nintendo and Sony. This forced Sega to "bundle" more software with the system in an attempt to make the more expensive Saturn compete with its rivals. Although the quality of the bundled software was high, gamers preferred to purchase a cheaper system from the competition and purchase game titles of their own choice instead.
By early 1997 the Saturn was trailing the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in both North America and Europe to such an extent that senior management began planning a new platform and, by E3 in 1997, had begun talk of the system that would become known as the Sega Dreamcast. As Sega started aggressively moving forward with that project, a rift developed between Sega and many of their third-party developers and publishers. As the Saturn was popular in the Japanese marketplace, many Japanese developers saw little reason for Sega to rush another platform to market. As Sega began public discussion about their future platform to media barely two years after having launched the Saturn, many gamers decided that the Saturn was already dead. Sales quickly diminished, as the console's life expectancy dropped substantially after Bernie Stolar's public comments that "The Saturn is not our (their) future".
This, combined with Sega's reputation, having pulled out on support rather quickly for both the Sega CD and 32X platforms, led to a large chain reaction that quickly caused the platform's future to collapse. Many Saturn projects were cancelled, in anticipation of the new console, because of the substantial drop in sales after Sega announced that they were working on a new platform and through developers' and publishers' frustration with Sega. In a magazine article involving Will Muscaeli, he summed up the life cycle of the Sega Saturn as being "disappointing". Some major publishers such as Electronic Arts were so dismayed at Sega's early abandonment of the Saturn that they vowed not to support any Sega consoles in the future.
With Sega now publicly saying they were working on a new console, sales for the Saturn substantially tapered off in the second half of 1997. This caused many games that were planned for a western Saturn release to be cancelled, including such highly anticipated titles such as Sonic X-treme, Policenauts and Lunar: Silver Star Story. A chain reaction of cancellations transformed a promising 1998 schedule of releases to a small handful of titles extending little beyond Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, Shining Force III (only part one of the three-part series) and Magic Knight Rayearth - the only third-party title released that year. Eventually the Saturn was discontinued in both Europe and North America in late 1998.
== Variations ==
Asian models: In Japan, Sega licensed the rights to produce Saturns to their hardware partners - Hitachi, who provided the CPUs and several other chips, and JVC who produced the CD drives for most models, although functionally identical Sanyo drives were sometimes used. SunSeibu released a model with a 7-CD changer for use in hotels. The concept of a multi-game player for hotel use is very common in Japan.
* Sega HST-3200 Saturn (Gray case and Blue buttons): The original Japanese Saturn. Production was ended in favour of the White Saturn. This model had a black cartridge flap and came in a box labeled HST-0001. The power cord is un-notched and this machine has a drive access light.
* Sega Saturn (White case and Purple/Gray buttons): Sega switched from purple to gray buttons during the production run. This controller was a matching white with multi-colored buttons similar to a Super Famicom controller with the bottom row buttons colored green, yellow and blue. The 'white' plastic is a very light gray and shares its color with the later Dreamcast. The cartridge flag is visibly gray. Limited models of the Saturn had oval buttons. Some people report faster CD access time with this model.
* Sega Skeleton Saturn (Translucent smoky-gray case): Came with a matching smoky-gray controller. Both controller and system had "This is cool" printed on them. Only around 50,000 were produced. Has some compatibility problems, notably with Metal Slug and Space Harrier.
* Sega Derby Saturn (Translucent blue case): Released on March 25, 1999, this model was only available as part of a promotion with ASCII's popular horse racing sim, Derby Stallion. It came with the same smoky-gray controller as the Skeleton Saturn but did not have "This is cool" printed on the system. After limited supplies of the Skeleton Saturn, the Derby Saturn was quickly bought in bulk by exporters and for a time was easier to find outside Japan than inside. Shares the compatibility problems of the Skeleton Saturn. It uses BIOS 1.01.
* Hitachi Hi-Saturn (Charcoal case and Khaki buttons): This machine appears similar in color to the European and North American Saturn without close inspection. Hi-Saturn is printed on the CD drive lid. Controllers have the same color layout as the unit with pinkish-beige and dark bluish/gray buttons. The Hitachi logo appears on them. The machine was packaged in an almost all-black box with a light-gray/white border. Excepting some limited promotional bundles, the Hi-Saturn came packaged with an MPEG plug-in card allowing Video CD playback. The start-up screen differs slightly from other models - instead of a shower of pieces forming the Saturn logo, the word "Hi-Saturn" shoots out from the middle of the screen and then flips around till it is readable.
* Hitachi Hi-Saturn Navi (MMP-1000NV) (Charcoal case and Khaki buttons): This is the only consumer Saturn to differ in functionality or shape. It is much thinner, and is flat instead of curved on top, in order to accommodate a folding LCD monitor that clips to the rear. It includes GPS capability, and has a standard port on the rear for use with an included antenna. Navi-ken CDs are used for map data. Since Navi-ken was only available in Japan, only Japanese maps are available.
* JVC/Victor V-Saturn RG-JX1 (Light Gray case): Two-tone appearance, gray on top with a black base section. "V-Saturn" is printed on top of the machine. Features a V-Saturn logo in place of the SegaSaturn logo at boot-up.
* JVC/Victor V-Saturn RG-JX2 (Light Gray case): Two-tone appearance, gray on top, dark-gray base section. "V-Saturn" is printed on top of the machine. Besides color and markings, this is completely identical to the Sega model. It features a 1.01 BIOS, and shares the boot-up sequence of the RG-JX1.
* Samsung Saturn (Black case): Intended only for South Korea, this machine combines the older style oval-button shell with the smaller and newer mainboard which normally comes with a round-button shell. The Japanese language option is removed from the setup screen and the system lacks all LEDs.
North American models: All North American models are black in color and were produced by Sega.
* MK-80000: Identical to the Grey Japanese Saturn but for color: the US model is black.
* MK-80000A: Features a notched power cord, no drive access light and a 1.00a BIOS. Internal jumper locations are changed.
* MK-80001: Similar in appearance to the MK-80000A, this machine has some changed internal jumper locations.
European/Australian models: European and Australian Saturns are identical as both regions share the same AC voltage and TV standard.
There is no internal variation between PAL and SECAM machines as all were shipped with SCART leads. All models are black and externally quite similar to the North American variations. PAL and SECAM machines will have "PAL" next to the BIOS revision number on the system settings screen instead of "NTSC".
* MK-80200-50: Version 1.01a BIOS.
* MK-80200A-50: Lacks a drive access LED. Buttons are grey.
//(info from Wikipedia)//
===== Links =====
* Satakore -- http://www.satakore.com/
===== Other Emulators =====
* SSF -- http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~phantasy/ssf/index.html
* Satourne -- http://satourne.consollection.com/
* Saturnin -- http://www.saturnin.consollection.com/
* Yabause -- http://yabause.sourceforge.net/
Generated on Sun Jul 19 10:17:28 2009