25th anniversary of SEGA Saturn

[Warmsignal]

Some of my most fond memories are with SEGA's 32-bit powerhouse Saturn!

Without re-hashing previous posts replies on the subject..

I would defend reputation of bringing sub-par ports of software back in the day recommending the awesome exclusive games that were available on the system instead. It was the first system I was hyped-up for after playing plenty of SEGA arcade games growing up and reading previews in magazines. Despite my local rental store only offering a handful of Saturn games, I enjoyed using the system to play Audio-CD around the house.

Eventually would own a PlayStation in 1997 - It would be a few years later 2002 I would start modding, ripping, burning Saturn games (preferably imports) re-igniting my passion for the system again. The only other time I was as hyped for a release was SEGA's Dreamcast North American launch on September 9, 1999.

I always have to challenge with the notion that third party Saturn ports were on the whole sub-par. Yeah, I can think of a few instances where the PS version was significantly better, but the reverse is also true depending on the game. A lot of detailed version comparisons have been made, and I think the majority of the time it comes down to preference. There are usually trade-offs as a consequence of different hardware. I believe the majority of third party Saturn ports were fine, I think they're often written off for being harder to get a hold of than on other platforms like PS.

I've never been too sure of why people are quite down on the western library of games. For a console that was only active for the better part of three years, I'm pleased with the selection of games it has to offer. The only unforgivable sin that I find is the cancellation of Sonic X-treme. Having a deluge of software to collect and play through is well and good, just not always a necessity (N64, Dreamcast, PS Vita, 3DS).

[sworddude]

Some of my most fond memories are with SEGA's 32-bit powerhouse Saturn!

Without re-hashing previous posts replies on the subject..

I would defend reputation of bringing sub-par ports of software back in the day recommending the awesome exclusive games that were available on the system instead. It was the first system I was hyped-up for after playing plenty of SEGA arcade games growing up and reading previews in magazines. Despite my local rental store only offering a handful of Saturn games, I enjoyed using the system to play Audio-CD around the house.

Eventually would own a PlayStation in 1997 - It would be a few years later 2002 I would start modding, ripping, burning Saturn games (preferably imports) re-igniting my passion for the system again. The only other time I was as hyped for a release was SEGA's Dreamcast North American launch on September 9, 1999.

I always have to challenge with the notion that third party Saturn ports were on the whole sub-par. Yeah, I can think of a few instances where the PS version was significantly better, but the reverse is also true depending on the game. A lot of detailed version comparisons have been made, and I think the majority of the time it comes down to preference. There are usually trade-offs as a consequence of different hardware. I believe the majority of third party Saturn ports were fine, I think they're often written off for being harder to get a hold of than on other platforms like PS.

I've never been too sure of why people are quite down on the western library of games. For a console that was only active for the better part of three years, I'm pleased with the selection of games it has to offer. The only unforgivable sin that I find is the cancellation of Sonic X-treme. Having a deluge of software to collect and play through is well and good, just not always a necessity (N64, Dreamcast, PS Vita, 3DS).

a ton of 2d games such as 2d fighting games where superior on saturn compared to ps1

galaxy fight looks far worse on ps1 lacking details, or titles like xmen vs street fighter removing the tag feature like really.

at the end of the day sega saturn is a 2d power house while ps1 is not

2d titles like in the hunt or megaman x3 being better on ps1 are more the exception than the rule. 3d is obviously a different story.

It's just kinda sad that the western library is like maybe 60 good titles while the japanese is hundreds of good titles and that's excluding rpg's wich are unplayable in japanese.

ps1 was far more kind to the west. pretty much all 2d fighting games got ports on ps1 while for the saturn so many games got shafter to japan only it's bad,

western saturn got only a fraction of the 2d fighting games while actually it had eveything in japan with superior versions wich was logicial as the 2d powerhouse that was saturn.

[undertakerprime]

Some of my most fond memories are with SEGA's 32-bit powerhouse Saturn!

Without re-hashing previous posts replies on the subject..

I would defend reputation of bringing sub-par ports of software back in the day recommending the awesome exclusive games that were available on the system instead. It was the first system I was hyped-up for after playing plenty of SEGA arcade games growing up and reading previews in magazines. Despite my local rental store only offering a handful of Saturn games, I enjoyed using the system to play Audio-CD around the house.

Eventually would own a PlayStation in 1997 - It would be a few years later 2002 I would start modding, ripping, burning Saturn games (preferably imports) re-igniting my passion for the system again. The only other time I was as hyped for a release was SEGA's Dreamcast North American launch on September 9, 1999.

I always have to challenge with the notion that third party Saturn ports were on the whole sub-par. Yeah, I can think of a few instances where the PS version was significantly better, but the reverse is also true depending on the game. A lot of detailed version comparisons have been made, and I think the majority of the time it comes down to preference. There are usually trade-offs as a consequence of different hardware. I believe the majority of third party Saturn ports were fine, I think they're often written off for being harder to get a hold of than on other platforms like PS.

I've never been too sure of why people are quite down on the western library of games. For a console that was only active for the better part of three years, I'm pleased with the selection of games it has to offer. The only unforgivable sin that I find is the cancellation of Sonic X-treme. Having a deluge of software to collect and play through is well and good, just not always a necessity (N64, Dreamcast, PS Vita, 3DS).

a ton of 2d games such as 2d fighting games where superior on saturn compared to ps1

galaxy fight looks far worse on ps1 lacking details, or titles like xmen vs street fighter removing the tag feature like really.

at the end of the day sega saturn is a 2d power house while ps1 is not

2d titles like in the hunt or megaman x3 being better on ps1 are more the exception than the rule. 3d is obviously a different story.

It's just kinda sad that the western library is like maybe 60 good titles while the japanese is hundreds of good titles and that's excluding rpg's wich are unplayable in japanese.

ps1 was far more kind to the west. pretty much all 2d fighting games got ports on ps1 while for the saturn so many games got shafter to japan only it's bad,

western saturn got only a fraction of the 2d fighting games while actually it had eveything in japan with superior versions wich was logicial as the 2d powerhouse that was saturn.

Yeah, the whole 2D/3D thing, IMO, had a major hand in the Saturn’s failure in the West.
I remember seeing the PS1 port of X-Men vs SF at a friend’s house, and it looked like ASS. The Saturn import (with 4-meg cart) looked arcade-perfect, as did a number of other popular arcade fighters.

The problem was, the west at the time was infatuated with 3D. It was the new thing, and if games were 2D, they were criticized for being old or outdated. PS1 could do the 3D thing better than Saturn, so it was embraced while Saturn was ignored. A real shame.

[ronchichio]

I bought a round button Saturn from a Marine Exchange back in January 1997.  This was during the promo when Sega included 3 free games.  I tried to return it and keep the games but the cashier knew there were supposed to be 3 games so I played dumb and said I forgot it in the car.  Got the games from the car and got a refund.  Ended up going to Electronics Boutique and got an oval button Saturn that was bundled with Virtua Fighter.  I also got the 3 free games from Sega (Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2).

[wartoy]

I bought my saturn after sega announced it would no longer support the system.I found one at a Child World I think? It was wraped in plastic with no box and very discounted I forget for how much but I know it was cheep and the last one they had.I almost passed on it but im glad I didn't it came with 3 games Virtua Fighter,Virtua Cop and Daytona USA but I mostly wanted it for Shining Force III.Even though it's not my Favorite sega system it's a close 2nd.

[bikingjahuty]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

[Warmsignal]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

[sworddude]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

i disagree cib snes and nes have multiple games being over a 1000$ you'll  need far bigger pockets for those systems than saturn.

the holy grails on saturn are like 400 - 800 $ with panzer dragoon and burning rangers being one of those few and that one racing game being over 1000$. saturn is a small library and the holy grails are not in the same price range of cib snes and nes being several K and having multiple games in that 500$ or more range not to mention those few games like stadium events or nwc carts.

the combination of the holy grails not being as high as with other old consoles and the smaller library results in needing way less money to complete a set than cib.

as far as working designs goes though. the rpg's are apparently pretty good and they have quite a fanbase so it's that hard to imagine people talking about those with especially the lunar series making those games popular.

havent played burning rangers yet but it looks pretty interesting gameplay wise just the insane price tag that makes it pretty unattractive for what it is. I've got to say though the last bronx might look pretty cool like a soul calibur like on dreamcast.


There arent that many people that collect saturn so those classic non rarity fans might be far and few inbetween since a ton of people just give up before even getting into saturn collecting. even a lose console is pretty pricy and even the most basic good games like panzer dragoon 1 and knights are again decently pricy. also at least in my parts for saturn the market is bone dry mostly your generic stuff like daytona sega rally you name it very mediocre games on the market. there is not much motivation for people to collect if mostly the common trash non playable games are on the market. Saturn sales where bad and you'll have mostly trash games as a result. and again even the common good games are pricy as a result.

Shinobi X and them darius games are imo some of the best games on the system

[bikingjahuty]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

Here's something that'll really piss you off. A friend of mine who is also a collector answered a response to an ad he had on Craigslist that he was interested in buying retro games from people. He gets a call from some guy who says he has a bunch of super rare games, but doesn't at any point say he's looking to sell them, but my friend assumes this so he follows up by arranging to meet the guy at his house. My friend gets there and the guy literally has a basement full of boxes filled with thousands of games, many of which are still brand new. The guy was a manager for EB Games back in the day and he used to purchase games from the late 16-bit era all the way up to PS2 and Gamecube for pennies on the dollar when the store wasn't able to sell them. As a result of the Saturn being a complete failure in the US, he had hundreds of sealed Saturn games, all of which were desirable titles. According to my friend this guy had 5 sealed copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga, around 10 sealed copies of Magic Knight Rayearth, and a bunch of other duplicates sealed Saturn games ranging from stuff like Virtua Fighter all the way up to your rare heavy hitters.


My friend was freaking out thinking this guy was just wanting to unload all this stuff for cheap, but then when he went to talk how much the guy wanted, he essentially said none of it was for sale unless my friend wanted to pay pretty much double ebay for it. My friend asked the guy why he invited him over if he didn't really have any intention of selling it, and the guy literally told him he loves seeing the reaction on collector's faces when they see what he has. My friend left there with nothing, totally blue balled, and pretty annoyed. I've met several other collectors since who've seen this guys stuff, as late as a couple years ago and says he still does this shit.


Think about that though; this random dude who just happened to be a hoarder at the right place at the right time has tons of never opened copies of these games that you rarely ever see anywhere. And no, he's not alone; I'm sure there are many other people that did this, as well as your run of the mill collector who has a fetish for Working Design or 5th Gen JRPGs and has several copies of these games. I know a few personally that do this. It really does jack the prices up on this stuff and it's beyond annoying. And for the record, I'm a gamer first and a collector second; every game I buy is bought with the intention of playing the game and seeing what it's like. In fact, I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga around this time last year, and immediately when it arrived in the mail I began playing it and beat it that same week. It's a slightly above average JRPG, but it's about half as good as most retro Final Fantasy games I've played, and is certainly not good enough to be held in the same conversation as the greatest JRPGs of all time. But I'd be surprised if even half the people that currently own it have actually played it.

[sworddude]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

Here's something that'll really piss you off. A friend of mine who is also a collector answered a response to an ad he had on Craigslist that he was interested in buying retro games from people. He gets a call from some guy who says he has a bunch of super rare games, but doesn't at any point say he's looking to sell them, but my friend assumes this so he follows up by arranging to meet the guy at his house. My friend gets there and the guy literally has a basement full of boxes filled with thousands of games, many of which are still brand new. The guy was a manager for EB Games back in the day and he used to purchase games from the late 16-bit era all the way up to PS2 and Gamecube for pennies on the dollar when the store wasn't able to sell them. As a result of the Saturn being a complete failure in the US, he had hundreds of sealed Saturn games, all of which were desirable titles. According to my friend this guy had 5 sealed copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga, around 10 sealed copies of Magic Knight Rayearth, and a bunch of other duplicates sealed Saturn games ranging from stuff like Virtua Fighter all the way up to your rare heavy hitters.


My friend was freaking out thinking this guy was just wanting to unload all this stuff for cheap, but then when he went to talk how much the guy wanted, he essentially said none of it was for sale unless my friend wanted to pay pretty much double ebay for it. My friend asked the guy why he invited him over if he didn't really have any intention of selling it, and the guy literally told him he loves seeing the reaction on collector's faces when they see what he has. My friend left there with nothing, totally blue balled, and pretty annoyed. I've met several other collectors since who've seen this guys stuff, as late as a couple years ago and says he still does this shit.


Think about that though; this random dude who just happened to be a hoarder at the right place at the right time has tons of never opened copies of these games that you rarely ever see anywhere. And no, he's not alone; I'm sure there are many other people that did this, as well as your run of the mill collector who has a fetish for Working Design or 5th Gen JRPGs and has several copies of these games. I know a few personally that do this. It really does jack the prices up on this stuff and it's beyond annoying. And for the record, I'm a gamer first and a collector second; every game I buy is bought with the intention of playing the game and seeing what it's like. In fact, I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga around this time last year, and immediately when it arrived in the mail I began playing it and beat it that same week. It's a slightly above average JRPG, but it's about half as good as most retro Final Fantasy games I've played, and is certainly not good enough to be held in the same conversation as the greatest JRPGs of all time. But I'd be surprised if even half the people that currently own it have actually played it.

adds asking to buy retro games do get allot of troll offers though that guy in your example just went overboard. than again though in those odd cases it can work so I can't blame people for trying.

also the balls to invite people over to just show stuff off what if one of those guys was a criminal who would steal stuff afterwards that guy really must have got a some big balls.

that guy ain't a hoarder though, maybe some people did actually buy some stuff from him at double the price because they can see it with their own eyes

Also he probably is hoping for prices to skyrocket that is why he keeps the stuff around, opened stuff will not skyrocket but sealed is in another ball park that might happen different lvl of collectors with retro stuff at least and saturn definitely fits that category.

Those people exist I've seen a few of em over here in europe aswell having 10+ copies of ultra rare nes or snes games and all other retro console. there are definitely some that are hidden to this day but there aren't many of them probably a a few dozen tops really maybe as few as only 10 hard to tell really. some did pop up to make a buck with pictures of them showing that they have stacks of those rare games promotional materials etc etc. probably a store manages aswell back in the day. still though being a store manages and being one of the few that actually had that as an idea to sell the games later on for sure some hidden stuff but it's not as much as one might expect.

also titles like panzer dragoon saga they are so pricy that most of the actual playerbase will never buy that game. your mostly left with collectors who do spend the big $

I have had panzer dragoon saga for years and havent played it yet only a little but I'm not the biggest rpg nut plus I never really appreciated having this game since I got it since I never planned of ever adding this game to the collection I didnt care about it and it was never high on my list to play compared to other stuff as a result so that doesnt really help in my case the regular panzer dragoon series though that's more like my cup of tea. not to mention that a pretty common game that I got at a comparable time literally didnt make me look back at panzer dragoon saga so yea it was forgotten pretty fast.

[Warmsignal]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

Here's something that'll really piss you off. A friend of mine who is also a collector answered a response to an ad he had on Craigslist that he was interested in buying retro games from people. He gets a call from some guy who says he has a bunch of super rare games, but doesn't at any point say he's looking to sell them, but my friend assumes this so he follows up by arranging to meet the guy at his house. My friend gets there and the guy literally has a basement full of boxes filled with thousands of games, many of which are still brand new. The guy was a manager for EB Games back in the day and he used to purchase games from the late 16-bit era all the way up to PS2 and Gamecube for pennies on the dollar when the store wasn't able to sell them. As a result of the Saturn being a complete failure in the US, he had hundreds of sealed Saturn games, all of which were desirable titles. According to my friend this guy had 5 sealed copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga, around 10 sealed copies of Magic Knight Rayearth, and a bunch of other duplicates sealed Saturn games ranging from stuff like Virtua Fighter all the way up to your rare heavy hitters.


My friend was freaking out thinking this guy was just wanting to unload all this stuff for cheap, but then when he went to talk how much the guy wanted, he essentially said none of it was for sale unless my friend wanted to pay pretty much double ebay for it. My friend asked the guy why he invited him over if he didn't really have any intention of selling it, and the guy literally told him he loves seeing the reaction on collector's faces when they see what he has. My friend left there with nothing, totally blue balled, and pretty annoyed. I've met several other collectors since who've seen this guys stuff, as late as a couple years ago and says he still does this shit.


Think about that though; this random dude who just happened to be a hoarder at the right place at the right time has tons of never opened copies of these games that you rarely ever see anywhere. And no, he's not alone; I'm sure there are many other people that did this, as well as your run of the mill collector who has a fetish for Working Design or 5th Gen JRPGs and has several copies of these games. I know a few personally that do this. It really does jack the prices up on this stuff and it's beyond annoying. And for the record, I'm a gamer first and a collector second; every game I buy is bought with the intention of playing the game and seeing what it's like. In fact, I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga around this time last year, and immediately when it arrived in the mail I began playing it and beat it that same week. It's a slightly above average JRPG, but it's about half as good as most retro Final Fantasy games I've played, and is certainly not good enough to be held in the same conversation as the greatest JRPGs of all time. But I'd be surprised if even half the people that currently own it have actually played it.

Seems like a common trend among those obsessed with Saturn collecting. I've seen more than a few videos on YT where collectors have between 2 - 4 copies of PDS on their shelf. They don't even try to offer an explanation for it, it's basically the reputation of the game. Owning multiple copies of the same exact game is something you tend to see more often I with Saturn collections. I think some of them like you say, have acquired multiples years ago when it was cheap and now just hold on to the extras. Some collectors enjoy owning what they know everyone else wishes they could have, I suppose.

Although, the most oddly irksome thing I've ever seen on YT, was this "mass unboxing" video where a guy showed off his PS4 collection and it was literally 5 - 6 copies of every single game still sealed. The guy was obviously a multi-millionaire, or else has been robbing some stores blind. He claimed he owned so many copies because he owns many PS4s and wanted to be able to play multiplayer with his friends... except his entirely library was sealed when he did the video. So either no friends, a huge thief, or a ridiculously wealthy hoarder. The most nuts thing I've ever seen.

[sworddude]

Sadly, it's become one of the most "collectible" consoles of all time in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more collected than actually played. Many people seem to collect full-sets for the system, despite not being Saturn diehard fans. The cost of admission has become far too high for many at this point, which is a shame.

I knew a guy who did this several years ago, and what baffled me is he didn't even care for the system that much. I think he just wanted bragging rights to say he had a complete set. He did end up getting it too, along with the really rare stuff like Netlink Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Winning Post, and a bunch of other super rare stuff. To add insult to injury he sold the entire set about a year later. I guess he realized people didn't think he was as cool as he though they would.


But yeah, I've noticed a lot of people that collect for it don't really play it, or they used to play it a long time ago, and now it's just a collection that looks cool on a shelf. To be fair though, it seems like this describes most collectors, but the Saturn seems to attract this sort of collecting even more. At least from my observations.

I do think the Saturn has some of the best looking box design of any console, but just as I feel with any platform, when you muddy up a collection full of all the junk that comes with a full-set, it just starts to look kinda bad in all honesty. There's nothing impressive about a slew of football and basketball games that you know are not there to ever be played, or to express any sentimental value for... or a set of redundant copies of the same rare game just because it has different disc art inside. I've also personally ran into another collector who was attempting a Saturn full-set as well.

The fact that so many people do this, is partially the reason why the games are so expensive. How many copies of PDS are in the possession of collectors who don't even care for the game play? For that matter, how many Saturn collectors have you seen who actually own multiple copies of it? Same thing with SNES and NES to an extent, but you've got to have really deep pockets to do something like that with the Saturn. To each their own, but full-set collecting is not for me and is not the type of collecting that I find interesting.

Nobody actually talks about any of the Saturn games unless they're super rare, or published by Working Designs and that's what kind of bums me out. I believe a lot a good games on Saturn are not even the super rare ones. Where are all the Panzer Dragoon 1 fans? The Nights fans? Are Last Bronx fans a thing? Am I the only one who's actually played High Velocity Mountain Racing Challenge? Sometimes I feel like the only one who knows Burning Rangers is borderline a bad game, while the only thing you hear about it is how rare and collectible it is. I just get the impression people don't play Saturn much, but they collect it a lot.

Here's something that'll really piss you off. A friend of mine who is also a collector answered a response to an ad he had on Craigslist that he was interested in buying retro games from people. He gets a call from some guy who says he has a bunch of super rare games, but doesn't at any point say he's looking to sell them, but my friend assumes this so he follows up by arranging to meet the guy at his house. My friend gets there and the guy literally has a basement full of boxes filled with thousands of games, many of which are still brand new. The guy was a manager for EB Games back in the day and he used to purchase games from the late 16-bit era all the way up to PS2 and Gamecube for pennies on the dollar when the store wasn't able to sell them. As a result of the Saturn being a complete failure in the US, he had hundreds of sealed Saturn games, all of which were desirable titles. According to my friend this guy had 5 sealed copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga, around 10 sealed copies of Magic Knight Rayearth, and a bunch of other duplicates sealed Saturn games ranging from stuff like Virtua Fighter all the way up to your rare heavy hitters.


My friend was freaking out thinking this guy was just wanting to unload all this stuff for cheap, but then when he went to talk how much the guy wanted, he essentially said none of it was for sale unless my friend wanted to pay pretty much double ebay for it. My friend asked the guy why he invited him over if he didn't really have any intention of selling it, and the guy literally told him he loves seeing the reaction on collector's faces when they see what he has. My friend left there with nothing, totally blue balled, and pretty annoyed. I've met several other collectors since who've seen this guys stuff, as late as a couple years ago and says he still does this shit.


Think about that though; this random dude who just happened to be a hoarder at the right place at the right time has tons of never opened copies of these games that you rarely ever see anywhere. And no, he's not alone; I'm sure there are many other people that did this, as well as your run of the mill collector who has a fetish for Working Design or 5th Gen JRPGs and has several copies of these games. I know a few personally that do this. It really does jack the prices up on this stuff and it's beyond annoying. And for the record, I'm a gamer first and a collector second; every game I buy is bought with the intention of playing the game and seeing what it's like. In fact, I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga around this time last year, and immediately when it arrived in the mail I began playing it and beat it that same week. It's a slightly above average JRPG, but it's about half as good as most retro Final Fantasy games I've played, and is certainly not good enough to be held in the same conversation as the greatest JRPGs of all time. But I'd be surprised if even half the people that currently own it have actually played it.

Seems like a common trend among those obsessed with Saturn collecting. I've seen more than a few videos on YT where collectors have between 2 - 4 copies of PDS on their shelf. They don't even try to offer an explanation for it, it's basically the reputation of the game. Owning multiple copies of the same exact game is something you tend to see more often I with Saturn collections. I think some of them like you say, have acquired multiples years ago when it was cheap and now just hold on to the extras. Some collectors enjoy owning what they know everyone else wishes they could have, I suppose.

Although, the most oddly irksome thing I've ever seen on YT, was this "mass unboxing" video where a guy showed off his PS4 collection and it was literally 5 - 6 copies of every single game still sealed. The guy was obviously a multi-millionaire, or else has been robbing some stores blind. He claimed he owned so many copies because he owns many PS4s and wanted to be able to play multiplayer with his friends... except his entirely library was sealed when he did the video. So either no friends, a huge thief, or a ridiculously wealthy hoarder. The most nuts thing I've ever seen.

what about people who spend 50% of their income on games?

you dont need to be rich to have an insane collection. some people just spend a sizable chunk of their income. could you imagine if you just spend 1000 or 2000 $ on games a month it's not that hard if you have less priorities after paying the monthly bills.

[oldgamerz]

what about people who spend 50% of their income on games?

you dont need to be rich to have an insane collection. some people just spend a sizable chunk of their income. could you imagine if you just spend 1000 or 2000 $ on games a month it's not that hard if you have less priorities after paying the monthly bills.

it depends on where you live, and what you can find, I've noticed prices change vary often online.

As for the man and others with 1000's of sealed games, and shows his collection only to brag there is nothing any of us can do about people like that. My biggest fear is having someone attempt to buy every single game in my local area, then we got a few people who destroy the games, again nothing anyone can do about that.

Sometimes we need to be thankfull for what we have already, even if all we have is 1 game in our collection

[hoshichiri]

These guys doing the hoarding are idiots. Don't they remember the Atari bubble? When I was in middle school, Atari nostalgia was a big deal- you could get all sorts of branded merch at Hot Topic & whatnot. Then it aged out of popularity & now hardly anyone gives a crap. Even the rarest of rare Atari games, like Pepsi Invaders, can't pull more than a 3 digit price.

These guys are just assuming the market will hold- but they're running on borrowed time. Eventually the kids of today will grow up, & they won't want most of our junk. You see it in the displays we show off in stores & magazines... minimalist trappings. Don't collect stuff. Just download/stream all your media & hide the boxes & cords that store & move your data. Eventually no one will come to see their piles of sealed games, even when they do intend to sell- and they'll be left alone, looking at their horde, & realizing all the potential gains they could have had & passed on for the sole purpose of being jerks to the only people who cared.

[sworddude]

These guys doing the hoarding are idiots. Don't they remember the Atari bubble? When I was in middle school, Atari nostalgia was a big deal- you could get all sorts of branded merch at Hot Topic & whatnot. Then it aged out of popularity & now hardly anyone gives a crap. Even the rarest of rare Atari games, like Pepsi Invaders, can't pull more than a 3 digit price.

These guys are just assuming the market will hold- but they're running on borrowed time. Eventually the kids of today will grow up, & they won't want most of our junk. You see it in the displays we show off in stores & magazines... minimalist trappings. Don't collect stuff. Just download/stream all your media & hide the boxes & cords that store & move your data. Eventually no one will come to see their piles of sealed games, even when they do intend to sell- and they'll be left alone, looking at their horde, & realizing all the potential gains they could have had & passed on for the sole purpose of being jerks to the only people who cared.

I'm pretty sure the market wont crash in the next 10 to 20 years they'll probably have sold it by than these people are getting old after all retirement. they won't hold on to those games for long. i have seen such people already making bank.

Besides if it was actually like atari that crash should have already happened years ago. atari was minimalistic yet nowadays we have brand new indi games in sprite game form and even in the case of atari the rare stuff still sells for big money. old ip's coming back such as megaman, metroidvania making a comeback. 2d action platformers. can we like not forget that in the nes saved the gaming industry.

even back in the day atari was getting old and was considered very meh at the beginning stages of the nes era. atari is literally a few lines and simplistic sound effects. yet nowadays a games actually have 2d throwbacks aswell.

it will end for sure but i highly doubt that those hoarders will mis anything unless they are stupid enough to never sell it at all, aside from the fact that if the market actually crashes i highly doubt anyone would sell their panzer dragoon saga for 20 or 50$ or even less when they paid 500 600 + unless they are in a very unfavourable position in life.

funkopops now that is a beanie babies fad that will die out some time soon if your holding pricy stuff for that. shelf candy trinkets for a popular series..

we all hope for that retrogame crash sometime soon since you can buy all the games for dirt cheap than. I highly doubt it will happen in our life time maybe at the end of our life time if I had to guess. would love to be proven wrong btw.

moderns games have 2d throwbacks where getting excellent 2d indi games like bloodstained curse of the moon. classic disney throwbacks like cuphead. capcom bringing ip's such  as megaman back. unlike atari wich just had a small homebrew scene. atari games was almost purely nostalgia while 2d games actually attracts a new audience aswell not to mention nintendo ip's modern games implementing 2d because people want it.

zelda kirby mario pokemon those are pretty popular atm so kinda hard to see those classic games die anytime soon unless nintendo goes bankrupped and makes all them ip's forgotten. and wich people drove the pokemon prices up. cant be veterans who already own the games after the pokemon go craze. pokemon prices never fully recovered to those lower prices after pokemon go hype died down to name one example.

also say esports mortal kombat street fighter king of fighters they all have their classic roots to keep them older games alive so unless those series go bankrupped again.

where are all the references to atari to keep it fresh all those ip's are so simplistic and boring. a ton of retro games have awesome  visuals, soundtracks or iconic characters that make people go back to play the older games. atari has nothing aside from pacman wich isnt that fantastic really.