Rumor: Saturn games coming to the VC?
by David Hinkle 
{ Mar 16th 2007 at 2:55PM }
And really, why wouldn't it be able to happen? Nintendo doesn't have a size limit on their downloads like their competitors, so this latest rumor, which comes from an employee at DigiPen, isn't an entire impossibility. Also, considering Sega's support of the Wii, whether it be on the Virtual Console or not, also lends some credibility to this rumor, bringing more excitement to us here at Wii Fanboy HQ.
So, what do you guys think? How soon could we expect Sega Saturn games to pop up on the VC, or are we merely just dreaming?
[via digg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Almadi @ Mar 16th 2007 3:05PM
I'd say not earlier then October. A large percentage of Saturn games were good, I think they want to release the bad 8/16-bit games for every penny they can make out of them before moving to the better systems. And that would also make the Wii a more likely candidate for a holiday gift in 2007.
Crono @ Mar 16th 2007 3:12PM
Give me Panzer Dragoon and I'll be happy.
Gozan @ Mar 16th 2007 5:35PM
How big (in MB) were the Saturn games? Can't see more than one fitting onto the flash mem. What they could do, is release freely downloadable ISOs, which contain the game in encrypted form, that you can download onto your PC and burn. Then they can just offer a small program on the VC which will decode the CD and let you play.
blakepro @ Mar 16th 2007 3:32PM
Didint the saturn use disks?
Just one disk can wipe out the entire 512MB of memory the Wii has... Unless nintendo offers a USB external hard drive, or game storage that you can actually play off of a SD memory card... I cant see this happening.
Abscissa @ Mar 16th 2007 4:23PM
"Nintendo doesn't have a size limit on their downloads like their competitors"
Wii internal storage max: 512MB
CD storage max: 640MB+
512 < 640
Of course, this can be mitigated by choosing games that don't use the full space, compressing CDA tracks, requiring an SD card, etc. But bottom line:
It's not likely.
KilgoreTrout XL @ Mar 16th 2007 3:35PM
Give me Sega Rally Championship and I'll be happier.
derfreddy @ Mar 16th 2007 3:55PM
ive always been curious about nights into dreams
Andrew @ Mar 16th 2007 4:31PM
nothing happening until we get an external HDD attachment, or at least support.
Jackson Pritt @ Mar 16th 2007 4:31PM
You're dreaming.
Dolla Dolla @ Mar 16th 2007 4:12PM
Panzer Dragoon, Nights, Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Guardian Heroes, Primal Rage, Virtua Cop, Virtual On, and X-Men Vs Street-Fighter.
That's all I ask :D
James @ Mar 16th 2007 4:42PM
There are two things they need to do before this can happen. Allow external storage is a must, and a way to manage downloads so you can pause the download or play a game while you download.
Mr Khan @ Mar 16th 2007 5:14PM
Remember, in 10 years compression technology has advanced astronomically, especially considering those CD games had mostly uncompressed sound
If you cut out the FMV's and compressed the sound, there's no way a game like NiGHTS is any bigger than Super Mario 64
And remember, there's always the option of streaming...
Venom @ Mar 16th 2007 5:19PM
Actually with the recent posting over at Gonintendo.com, there seems to be more proof that SEGA Saturn is coming to VC. And how is this possible...I don't know...NIGHTS only happens to becoming to the WII (Unless someone is playing a horrible April fools joke that is)
theLoneYoshi @ Mar 16th 2007 5:45PM
So... can I FINALLY try out NiGHTS and see what everybody is talking about? That's all that matters to me for the Saturn.
Stevo @ Mar 18th 2007 10:22PM
Most of those older games never took up all the space available on a cd. And when they did, it likely due to lack of compression (either on audio FMV or other content). I've got a few Dreamcast games that were no bigger than 100MB. Alot of times they would also place all the game data on the outer portion of the disc to speed up loading times.
IntelligentIdiot @ Mar 16th 2007 6:42PM
NiGHTS NiGHTS NiGHTS NiGHTS NiGHTS NiGHTS NiGHTS OMG PLEASE
Steve 3.2 @ Mar 16th 2007 7:30PM
Did the Saturn have enough quality titles to make creating an emulator for it worth the effort? And I'll second many other people's comments that some games may be too big to fit well on the Wii's 512MB of internal memory.
Now where is that Master System emulator?
Howard Pendleton @ Mar 16th 2007 7:42PM
I've said it before...I'll say it again... The Nintendo Wii stand should be changed into a hard drive. It'd be a simple, non-evasive maneuver, and it'd probaby be able to house a few hundred gigs within a reasonable price.
I hope one of their reps is reading this right now and planning on stealing this idea right out from under me. I'm too lazy to get the patent done.
Just think of all the games and entertainment we could play without worrying about storage space!
In two years they could have a terabyte Wii stand and people devoted to their Nintendo collection for years.
I'm rambling
but passionate
have a good day
hvnlysoldr @ Mar 16th 2007 7:54PM
Nintendo maybe planning this and other CD based systems for their next console that will probably have larger storage and higher specs.
Peter S. @ Mar 16th 2007 8:30PM
Protip:
Audio/video compression is cruise control for cool.
Redbook audio (CD wav) takes up an AMAZINGLY huge amount of space. Turn those into OGG music files = win.
walscobry @ Mar 18th 2007 4:55PM
Is this a good time for me to mention my US and Japanese SATURN consoles and my Japanese Nights with analog controller box set and my all so sweet RADIANT SILVERGUN import.
Cheese @ Mar 16th 2007 11:17PM
VC can always use more games =)
John @ Mar 17th 2007 2:28PM
Saturn I could do without.. The NES never really did it for me, and I was a huge SEGA Master System fan. Lots of good games that outshine the NES in my opinion:
Outrun
Alex Kidd series
WonderBoy (Ahem, Adventure Island is a rip-off) and the great WonderBoy III:The Dragon's Trap
Shinobi
Tennis Ace
Good times.
ChaOS @ Mar 17th 2007 3:38PM
Nights would be great, Shining Force III, and Lunar III would be even better!
I realy hope they release a HD, but I have a 2GB SD card, so either way I'm fine :-)
hibiscusroto @ Mar 17th 2007 9:09PM
I got two words for you...SATURN BOMBERMAN
Rob @ Mar 18th 2007 3:42PM
No chance.
In the decade+ since the Saturn has been released, there have been *no* workable Saturn emulators released... it's simply too difficult. The Saturn had a notorious dual-CPU (SH2) architecture which was not only hard to develop for, but has also proven very difficult to emulate.
Consider that there are good emulators for the PSX, the N64, even the Dreamcast, but not the Saturn. It's not for no reason.
And before anyone mentions the version of Sonic R on Sonic Gems Collection, that's not being emulated... it's a port of the PC version of Sonic R to the GameCube.
Saturn emulation isn't going to happen, period. The technical difficulties are too great, and the demand just isn't there, at least in the States.
BONK @ May 2nd 2007 10:04PM
Meh I don't know about you guys but I collect for the saturn and alos make back-ups. Do you know how big shining force 3 would turn out on the saturn? Mine for all 3 discs together is over 1 gig there. Even a small game like Space harrier/fantasy zone, the arcade ports for saturn are over 100 MB. not all games are super hugh just the good ones WII needs more to pull off saturn games. Plus did NEO ever make it to the saturn? Just wondering I recently bought a AES and well i Could never see myself useing a WII controler for a game like Fatal fury that would suck!