Devices like the TerraOnion MODE plug into the Saturn’s motherboard. The big problem I’ve had with optical drive emulators, especially for the Saturn, is that they’re designed to replace the optical drive entirely. It’s definitely not something that MOS Technology could’ve fabricated, but a Commodore 64 with one inside will still act, respond, display video, and play games indistinguishably from a Commodore 64 with an original. For example, above is a replacement Commodore 64 PLA. The concept of replacing parts of old machines with new hardware to replace it isn’t really a problem to me. Therefore, if we could replace the drive mechanism with modern electronics that imitate a CD-ROM drive, then we could use the working hardware of the console, and benefit from modern media such as SD cards. Essentially, the concept is that early model CD-ROM drives are failure-prone, with moving parts, lasers, and other things that will wear out well before the rest of the consoles do. The concept of an Optical Drive Emulator is not new, but it’s really only in the past few years that I’ve noticed them becoming popular in the retro gaming scene. So why do I want an optical drive emulator? Motivation: Optical Drive Emulators A North American Model 1 Sega Saturn it has no internal mods, and generally, no real problems other than a tendency to eat batteries. So there are many Saturns like it, but this is mine. (It seems to have also done decently well in PAL territories, but I don’t have any PAL titles) This is especially true if you’re willing to play Japanese-only titles, as the console did far better in Japan than North America. In any case, the Sega Saturn’s actually a pretty good console, with a large library of interesting games. I suspect but can’t confirm that this is because it’s using hardware originally designed for rectanglar sprites. Unlike those two, it was hastily enhanced to become a 3D machine as well its polygons, uniquely among consoles, are based upon quadrilaterals rather than triangles. There is an explanation for this– like the Neo Geo CD and the PC-FX, the Sega Saturn was a machine designed to be a 2D powerhouse in the era of 3D. VDP1, which handles sprites and polygons.System Control Unit co-processor (built into one of the SH-2s) to control the buses.1x SH-1 CPU to control the 2x CD-ROM drive.At the time, this was also motivated by the fact that it was notoriously difficult to emulate this may be because it was at the height of Sega’s fascination with throwing as many processors as they could into their hardware. The Sega Saturn’s never appeared on this blog before, but it’s actually one of the first consoles I bought after its discontinuation. No one could stand up to Sony’s consoles in those days. And that’s not surprising the Saturn in North America was basically an infamous flop– but it’s hard to blame them too much. Of course the big name was PlayStation, but I knew more people with a Game Gear than I did a Saturn. Have you heard of the Sega Saturn? When I was a kid in the 90’s with a Nintendo 64, I hadn’t, really. The Sega Saturnįeel free to skip this section, it’s not crucial for the review. That’s what one product, the Sega Saturn Satiator, hopes to deliver. Nevertheless, people are increasingly abandoning the old optical disc CD sales are down (and may even fall behind vinyl), streaming massively outdoes Blu-ray, Nintendo abandoned discs with the Switch, and now, even classic 90’s consoles can get rid of their optical drives! But what if you want the best of both worlds: the ability to use discs when you want, and flash memory otherwise. Optical disc? More like flop-tical disc, am I right? No, wait, I’m wrong, that’s something else.
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