Saturn owner since 1995. Still my favourite console.

[Kolba]

Hello, Forum!

I suppose Christmas 1995 still ranks as the best as it was the one where 10-year old me was given a Sega Saturn with Virtua Fighter and Bug!

At school, I and a circle of about 3 Saturn owning friends were embattled defenders of the system and its fantastic library in the face of the philistine Playstation owning hordes. I even stuck by the system after it was officially dead in the west, importing games (and later downloading them).

Then about 2006 was my darkest moment. Disillusioned with gaming, and in need of funds for a move abroad, I put up for auction my entire game collection across all systems, including 50+ Saturn games, among them PDS, SF3, Guardian Heroes, and other valuable, much loved titles. 

 

But there was a foreshadowing of hope to this story, because spared the auction was my Saturn system itself, the same I'd had since 1995, and later modded with 50/60hz and region switches.

Fast forward to last year. I had recently moved to Japan and discovered the local retro stores with their soundtracks of video game music on constant repeat were some of the coolest places to stroll around on a lazy Sunday. The sections I gravitated to - naturally - the Saturn shelves. And there I bought once more my favourite Saturn games Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force III. Sure they're in Japanese, but I'm learning! (And I've played them so many times I almost know the stories by heart anyway).

Today I'm in a position where I'm rediscovering and embracing my nostalgia for old gaming times, and this handful of jewel cases I hope will be the seed for the growth of a new collection, and reconnection with my greatest ever gaming love.

Thank you for reading my life story!

[sych]

Awesome story mate. Welcome to the forum.

[Kolba]

Thanks!

[sych]

Pleasure is all mine. Sounds like you're into RPG's. Saturn is a beast when it comes to the genre. If you're looking for others to try, pick up Princess Crown and Black Matrix. Black Matrix is awesome!

[Kolba]

Black Matrix does look fantastic, but text heavy. I might wait until I know Japanese a bit better before playing it!

[lanhilb89]

Welcome so here's something I always wondered, but have only heard of. What is Japan like? Are there lots of stores with goods or is it mainly modern stuff with 1 or 2 stores that carry retro? Are the prices there really almost the same as on the internet or are they much cheaper.

[Kolba]

I was fortunate enough to live in Osaka which has a big 'otaku' district called Nipponbashi. Like a smaller version of Tokyo's Akihabara. There you could find about 4 big shops which carried retro games, 2 of them being retro only.

So it's definitely still a niche thing, and I guess outside of these big cities there wouldn't be much on offer. The shops themselves are well stocked, with good movement of traffic of games coming and going week by week.

Prices are actually pretty much equivalent to online, perhaps a little cheaper when accounting for postage costs from Japan. However the major advantage is being able to see the game, the quality of the disc and case, how faded the cover is, how creased the spine card is, etc. before you hand over your cash. I turned over plenty of Shining Force IIIs in my hands before I found the ones of mint condition that I really wanted.

[lanhilb89]

Sounds like an awesome place to live besides that most speak English or very few?

[Kolba]

Not many, but there are big expat circles, and some good websites for making friends with Japanese people learning English.

[xDerekRx]

Great to hear. Ive traveled alot in my life, hit every continent at least once. But Japan has eluded me despite always being #1 on my list.

I was planning to go last month but stuff go in the way, I plan to visit next year.

Hopefully by then I can still find Saturn stuff but it sounds like from you it can still be found.

[Kolba]

Yes the Saturn shelves are well stocked, with some choice rare titles always behind the glass cabinets. Stacks and stacks of hardware up for grabs as well.

[alf]

Hey are u still in Japan ? I need X-Men vs StreetFighter

[Kolba]

I'm afraid I moved away in January! But I definitely fell in love with the place, and hope to make plenty more visits in the future.

[alf]

Yeah my friend who was in Japan last year told me that he can't wait to visit it once again