Sega Saturn questions

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
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Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
Ah, wow, didn't know there was a mouse. I had one for the PSX back in the day and knew about the Saturn keyboard, guess I should've figured they'd have a mouse as well.
 

fremen

Hardened Shock Trooper
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Posts
433
Hi mates,

If you're going to mod it for playing backups, you should consider getting a Rhea and save yourself from burning CD's. It replaces the optical drive with an SD reader so you can boot games off a SD card. It's more reliable, region free, is slightly faster at loading.
Currently supports CDI, CCD+IMG+SUB, MDS+MDF, and ISO images.

+1 :buttrock:

Un saludo
 

city41

Gal Ageise's Demon
10 Year Member
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Dec 27, 2010
Posts
2,065
The Rhea/Phoebe are really hard to get, and have a poor interface. You have to put your images in numbered folders and press a button on the device to cycle through the images.

I plan to get a Rhea, but only to stick in a spare Saturn I have. I still think CDs are going to be a better experience.

The Dreamcast version, gdemu, now has a nice UI and is more friendly.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
I picked up a combo from someone a while back that had a Saturn Mouse and a copy of Command and Conquer, which should have been awesome. Except, the game doesn't use the mouse. Oops.
 

opt2not

Genam's Azami Sharpener
10 Year Member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Posts
1,518
The Rhea/Phoebe are really hard to get, and have a poor interface. You have to put your images in numbered folders and press a button on the device to cycle through the images.

I plan to get a Rhea, but only to stick in a spare Saturn I have. I still think CDs are going to be a better experience.

The Dreamcast version, gdemu, now has a nice UI and is more friendly.

I used to be like you and thought CD's were the way to go, but after getting Rhea, I've changed my tune. Having multiple SD cards for different games and genres is the right way to go with this set-up, takes less time than burning CD's (CDR's are getting harder to source for cheap these days anyway). And the concerns of pressing a small button to change games is still better than having to swap out discs. Besides a UI like the gdemu will eventually happen, the creator has stated this in the past.
 

Yagyu Jubei

Dodgeball Yakuza
Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Posts
641
I really want to order a Rhea and try it out but orders are closed until February. Guess I will have to wait a bit. I'm really eager to see what it can do.
 

city41

Gal Ageise's Demon
10 Year Member
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Dec 27, 2010
Posts
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I used to be like you and thought CD's were the way to go, but after getting Rhea, I've changed my tune. Having multiple SD cards for different games and genres is the right way to go with this set-up, takes less time than burning CD's (CDR's are getting harder to source for cheap these days anyway). And the concerns of pressing a small button to change games is still better than having to swap out discs. Besides a UI like the gdemu will eventually happen, the creator has stated this in the past.

That's good to hear. I understood the creator said making a UI interface for the Rhea would be very difficult, but crossing my fingers he figures it out.
 

leonk

Marked Wolf
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Posts
211
I guess it boils down to how many games you plan to play. Most Saturn games are cheap so worth buying. The rare ones can be burned. The SD device is so expensive installed that for most people that want to just play a dozen good Saturn games it doesn't make so much sense. Unlike the PS-IO that still allows you to play PS1 games, these solutions remove the systems ability from playing CDs. Not a good thing for me personally. To each their own. :)
 

Electric Grave

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
15 Year Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2004
Posts
20,259
Yeah that Rhea is still a wonky setup, forget it. I'm happy with the mod chip, however over time I've gotten all the games I really want, I do have way more booties than real copies but the truth is that there's only a few more games I may get but the price tag on them is awful, mind as well keep playing the booties...
 

city41

Gal Ageise's Demon
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I can't imagine only having a Rhea Saturn. If Rhea interests you, Saturns are really cheap. Especially ones with dead/dying CD drives.

I think I'll always want the option of playing my real CDs.
 

SmokeMonster

Morden's Lackey
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Posts
365
The Rhea GUI/menu is out: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/official-rhea-discussion.57377/page-7#post-847473

34p116h.jpg
 

kyosuke75

Mr. Big's Thug
Joined
May 7, 2002
Posts
196
Psuedo saturn for AR is getting update where Panzer dragoon saga will work with it. Currently, PDS doesn't work with psuedo saturn unless you update it. Other than that, pretty much every game I have works with AR. The rhea sounds nice but i'm waiting until that matures a little bit and easier to come by but I need a spare saturn to install it. I don't want to ruin my minty fresh White Sega Saturn.
 

FilthyRear

Neo-Geo.com's, Top Rated Bully.,
15 Year Member
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Jan 24, 2007
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This is a good thing to have when the CD drive finally goes on my Saturn. The money made from the sale of the games would pay for this, I'm sure.
 

leonk

Marked Wolf
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Feb 24, 2011
Posts
211
The CD drive in a Saturn uses a common pickup that is still sold today. Only $20 new from eBay. These things will be around forever. ;)
 

SmokeMonster

Morden's Lackey
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Jan 25, 2014
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The CD drive in a Saturn uses a common pickup that is still sold today. Only $20 new from eBay. These things will be around forever. ;)
But will high-quality CD-Rs? I actually don't think that most people get a Rhea to future-proof the Saturn, although that is a big side benefit of having it.
 

city41

Gal Ageise's Demon
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The CD drive in a Saturn uses a common pickup that is still sold today. Only $20 new from eBay. These things will be around forever. ;)

If you have an American Saturn with a JVC drive. Japanese Saturns with Sanyo drives are unfixable as far as I know (would love to be wrong).
 
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