Portable SEGA Saturn?

[Zentron]

Whilst searching for some Saturn stuff on Google, a few items kept on popping up from time-to-time, one in particular, were custom portable SEGA Dreamcast's. Some by manufacturers like PachimonTV and others, by private individuals, but it got me thinking... can't the same be done with the SEGA Saturn? My answer got answered quite quickly, after another Google search and that was a yes, though the result by Evil Nod was... well, not all that great looking... at all....... in the slightest, but it was an answer non-the-less.

My modding skills are not that great (50/60Hz switch, and few other things), but I can design well enough and I'm sure I can improve on the said portable Saturn mod.

If I was to try to create a portable Saturn, how do you think I should handle it, also, what problems should I expect to come across?

[Zentron]

Just a quick piece, nothing fancy, just something I came up with before I went to sleep last night, heh, available in Saturn grey, Saturn black, Saturn black and grey or whatever I colours I can think of

[bogard07]

Very nice concept art! I would love to see it made in black.

[mick_aka]

That would be pretty sweet, really nice design, not sure how well the cd mechanism would do though...

[prabmire]

There was a portable DC i recall made using a psone screen and had the disc spinning on the back upside down, and without a cover, will try digging up some pics!

[mick_aka]

The main issue with the Saturn is the motherboard size, it's going to make a handheld truly massive.

[zyrobs]

A portable Saturn would not work for the simple reason that we don't have a small enough Saturn board that could be fit in a small case.

(and the cd-rom unit has no anti-skip protection either, so most games wouldn't even properly load)

Oct 28, 2012 14:57:26 GMT prabmire said:

There was a portable DC i recall made using a psone screen and had the disc spinning on the back upside down, and without a cover, will try digging up some pics!

The Treamcast.

[spaceflea]

It would be cool indeed. But I'd personally prefer the disc be inserted on the front. I wouldn't feel comfortable with it spinning upside down on the back. Also, you'd be able to watch it spin as you play the game which would be kind of neat.

Or is it possible to replace it with a new loading mechanism as opposed to recycling the existing Saturn one. I mean, you always see people use the stock top-loading mechanisms when they make these amalgamation machines, but can you use a slot loader instead? I think that would be the ultimate design for all of these portable creations if possible.

[mick_aka]

Good points, however if you went with a bigger screen you could almost go for a tablet sized device! ;D

Also worth trying the mechanical anto-shock methods like they used in the early in-car cd players (springs and rubbers)

[prabmire]

Oct 28, 2012 15:09:51 GMT zyrobs said:

A portable Saturn would not work for the simple reason that we don't have a small enough Saturn board that could be fit in a small case.

(and the cd-rom unit has no anti-skip protection either, so most games wouldn't even properly load)

Oct 28, 2012 14:57:26 GMT prabmire said:

There was a portable DC i recall made using a psone screen and had the disc spinning on the back upside down, and without a cover, will try digging up some pics!

The Treamcast.

No mate it wasn't a treamcast, this was battery operated and looked like an oversized DC controller, will have a look for it on ben heck a bit later when i get home

[Zentron]

Oct 28, 2012 15:14:04 GMT spaceflea said:

but can you use a slot loader instead? I think that would be the ultimate design for all of these portable creations if possible.

The slot loader was what I went with on this design, if you look at the top view (underneath the right-hand back view), you'll see a line going along the middle of the bottom bit, that's the slot for the CD... which would have anti-skip zyrobs, I'd make sure of it

Must remember all, this is just a quick design sketch, it's not to exact size, once I decide upon a final design (which might be this one, even though it was a quickie... I kinda like it too ), I'll get myself a duff Saturn, along with a controller and see about getting all the measurements right

The above design is designed around comfort, user friendliness and to be as compact as the Saturn motherboard could let us be, with built-in keys, LCD screen, CD slot-loader, memory card slot, battery pack, as well as an adaptor port. If it does turn out to be the design I go for, I'll be able to find out how to fit it all together.

Also, as soon as I can find myself some decent styrofoam, I'll mock up a model version, so everyone can see what it would look like if made real.

[spaceflea]

I don't know if the eject button on the back is a good idea. What happens if you set it on your lap in the middle of play and pop the game out? And you'd probably want the pause button closer to one side or the other so you can hit it using a natural swiping motion without needing to remove your hand from the device entirely (which would make it difficult to hold up with one hand while trying to pause). Or, if you want to maintain symmetry, you could always put a start button on both sides so it could be pressed easily with either thumb.

[Zentron]

The pause is there so that it cannot be accidentally pressed during play, also, the eject button is actually protected by the raised surfaces of the CD slot and battery pack. I had thought about putting it next to the 'pause' button, but that brought the problem of accidentally being pressed by mistake

I think I may have found the screen to use: LCD Screen

[planktonwarrior]

I really like the design mate,
Looks really neat

Sent from my GT-I9100 using ProBoards

[Zentron]

Thanks planktonwarrior. I've already started getting together pieces I will need for a mock-up of the above design, such as a clear CD case, which I am going to cut it up for use as the screen, on the back of that, I have some Astral Blue fusible film which I will fuse to it, with the SEGA Saturn logo in-between.

Though on the more actual production front, I have my eye on a slot load CD player over on eBay, which I hope to get cheap so I can take it apart and see about attaching it to the Saturn board