Why is a Sega Saturn so expensive?
Why is a Sega Saturn so expensive?
And why can't I find it anywhere? I know it wasn't very popular when it was out, but is there really a huge demand for it now? I remember 7 years so, I could walk into a retro game store and see a console for $45.
The Sega Saturn did a lot worse than the PlayStation outside of Japan, even compared to the Nintendo 64 - only about 2 million Saturns are thought to have been sold in the United States. And over time the disc drives have been failing on them from age. Doesn't help that Sega stopped making Saturns back in early 1998, long before the Nintendo 64 (2002) and original PlayStation (2006) were discontinued.
Combine that with the ever-growing retro gaming hobby/bubble, and now a lot of the working ones are, by this point, in the hands of enthusiasts of the system who don't really intend to sell, or collectors who would want a lot of money for them.
I'm guessing that its rarity is boosting pricing. Have you considered emulation for gaming, or is it that you wanted the physical console?
I think Saturn emulation is one of the more difficult ones to get working right. I would go emulation, but a lot of the games I want to play are multiplayer and multiplayer on a PC just isn't as fun.
They're kinda rare. They didn't make a lot. SEGA of America's CEO even complained to the president of the company in Japan about this before he was shitcanned, according to some recently released company reports from that period.
Yeah, Nintendo stuff might actually be cheaper because it was more in demand and common, whereas that's just less of the Sega units around in people's basements etc
Tbh with something like the Saturn, I'd recommend just grabbing a japanese one. They're typically found much cheaper and are also often in better condition (and come in more colours!)
Wouldn't the Japanese model also have a much larger library of games available and be able to use the RAM carts to boost performance?
i've only used the RAM cart in my US Saturn.
I have at least two carts for it, actually.
One is the 4 MB RAM upgrade, and one is 4 MB RAM plus memory card for saving games.
Then again, I don't know if a mod chip was required, which I do have installed.
I also have the Japanese Symphony of the Night for the system, as well.
The mod chip required connecting one wire.
It flopped. It adds mystique to the system, since so many did not play it when it was actively supported. You see this a lot with game systems that crashed and burned... the Turbografx-16, the 3DO, the Nuon, and one of Sony's rare bombs, the Playstation TV.
Like NBC used to say, "if you haven't seen it, it's new to you!" That's doubly true for game systems. People want to know what they missed.