Saturn consoles in South Korea

From Sega Retro

Samsung Saturn

In 1995, while LG was distributing the 3DO in Korea and Nintendo was distributed by Hyundai, Samsung (who previously distributed both the Master System and Mega Drive) distributed the Saturn. It was released as the Samsung Saturn (삼성새턴) in November 10th 1995 and was made only for South Korea.

There are a lot of rumors about what is inside these, but all units that have been seen opened up were all completely stock Japanese VA1 motherboards (171-7006C 837-11613-01), had everything intact, with only the region jumpers and the BIOS rom being different. The region is set to 2 for Korea, and has bios version v1.02a. The bios is unique in that it disables the Japanese language option when the console is set to the default region 2 code (it reappears if the region code is set to anything other than region 2). There was no Korean language option added. The start up screen and interface is identical to the North American/European version. It's power supply is unique in that it is capable of handling 110v-220v, and was made in South Korea. This was due to South Korea converting it's power grid from 110v to 220v, so most South Korean retro game consoles came with a multi-voltage power supply.

There are 4 different model numbers of the Samsung Saturn (SPC-SATURN, SPC-SATURN II, SPC-ST, SPC-ST2), although the consoles themselves are identical other than a few differences on the stickers between the SPC-SATURN/SPC-SATURN II and SPC-ST/SPC-ST2 models. The model number only indicates whether the console was packaged with a game or a region converter cartridge (the only Saturn console release to do so). SPC-SATURN and SPC-SATURN II were the initial released models in 1995, with SPC-SATURN II including Virtua Fighter Remix. SPC-ST and SPC-ST2 were later released models in 1996 and both came with a region converter cartridge (made by HiCom), with SPC-ST2 also including one game (unknown at this time).

Launch games included Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter Remix and Worldwide Soccer: Sega International Victory Goal Edition. From 1996 to 1998, Wooyoung System officially translated some of the titles into Korean[1].

It is compatible with all Samsung Saturn games as well as all South Korean Sega Saturn games (non-Samsung branded). There are also a few Japanese, Asian and North American games that were also coded for region 2, which will play on Samsung Saturn without the need for a region converter cartridge; this can lead to confusion as some believe the console is region-free.

Units produced: unknown, probably ~3,000-4,000, but there might have been a lot more.

Initially retailing for up to ₩595,000 the Samsung Saturn was a commercial failure due to the high price, limited number of available games and the console's incompatibility with Japanese imported games (an issue later addressed by including a region converter cartridge with sale of the console). Most people instead imported the cheaper Japanese consoles.

By February 1997, Samsung completely exited the gaming business due to the failure of the Samsung Saturn and the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Box Name Distributor Date & Price Console Label Hardware Software Documentation Comments
SS KR Samsung Saturn SPC SATURN Box Front.png
 Samsung Saturn (SPC-SATURN)
삼성새턴 (SPC-SATURN) 		Samsung
South Korea KR: ₩550,000550,000[2] (1995-11-10)
South Korea KR: ₩418,000418,000[3] (1996-05)
Sega Saturn Samsung.jpg
SPC-SATURN
Notavailable.svg
 Samsung Saturn (SPC-SATURN II)
삼성새턴 (SPC-SATURN II) 		Samsung
South Korea KR: ₩595,000595,000[2] (1995-11-10)
South Korea KR: ₩451,000451,000[3] (1996-05)
Sega Saturn Samsung.jpg
SPC-SATURN II
Saturn KR Box Front ST.jpg
 Samsung Saturn (SPC-ST)
삼성새턴 (SPC-ST) 		Samsung
South Korea KR: ₩359,000359,000[4] (1996-08)
Sega Saturn Samsung.jpg
SPC-ST
Samsung Saturn Mega Converter Front.jpg
Converter
SamsungSaturn KR Box Top.jpg
SamsungSaturn KR Box Left.jpgSamsungSaturn KR Box Front.jpgSamsungSaturn KR Box Right.jpg
SamsungSaturn KR Box Bottom.jpg
 Samsung Saturn (SPC-ST2)
삼성새턴 (SPC-ST2) 		Samsung
South Korea KR: ₩389,000389,000[4] (1996-08)
Sega Saturn Samsung.jpg
SPC-ST2
Samsung Saturn Mega Converter Front.jpg
Converter
Notavailable.svg

Sega Saturn

From September 1997, Kama Entertainment (카마 엔터테인먼트) and Korea Data Systems (코리아데이타시스템스)[5][6] distributed the model 2 Sega Saturn in South Korea, known unofficially as the Kama Saturn. It looks similar to the North American model 2 console but has the Japanese-style Sega Saturn logo. It has a 220v power supply instead of the 110-220v power supply of the Samsung Saturn (possibly by this point in time all of South Korea had transitioned to 220v). The motherboard is VA13 with Japanese bios v1.01 and the region code set to 1 for Japan. It was released at a cheaper price of ₩349,000. By this time the restrictions on the sale of Japanese products had relaxed, so they were able to distribute it with the Sega branding. The Japanese language option for the system menu was left intact. Some consoles were also bundled with Sega Rally or Virtua Cop 2. It was rumored that Kama Saturns were sold with modchips pre-installed.

Box Name Distributor Date & Price Console Label Hardware Software Documentation Comments
Saturn KR Box Top Kama.jpg
Saturn KR Box Back Kama.jpgSaturn KR Box Left Kama.jpgSaturn KR Box Front Kama.jpgSaturn KR Box Right Kama.jpg
Saturn KR Box Bottom Kama.jpg
 Sega Saturn (MK-80226-08)
세가새턴 (MK-80226-08) 		Kama Entertainment
South Korea KR: ₩349,000349,000 (1997-09)
Saturn KR Kama.jpg
MK-80200A-08
Saturn KR Box Top Kama VC2.jpg
Saturn KR Box Back Kama VC2.jpgSaturn KR Box Left Kama VC2.jpgSaturn KR Box Front Kama VC2.jpgSaturn KR Box Right Kama VC2.jpg
Saturn KR Box Bottom Kama VC2.jpg
 Sega Saturn +1 Virtua Cop 2 (MK-80226-08)
세가새턴 +1 버쳐캅2 (MK-80226-08) 		Kama Entertainment
South Korea KR: (≥ 1997)
Saturn KR Kama.jpg
MK-80200A-08
Saturn KR Box Front Kama SR.jpg
 Sega Saturn +1 Sega Rally (MK-80226-08)
세가새턴 +1 세가 랠리 (MK-80226-08) 		Kama Entertainment
South Korea KR: (≥ 1997)
Saturn KR Kama.jpg
MK-80200A-08

References

  1. ↑ File:GameChamp_KR_1996-10.pdf, page 29
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:GameChamp KR 1996-01.pdf, page 02
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:GameChamp KR 1996-05.pdf, page 02
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:GameChamp KR 1996-08.pdf, page 42
  5. ↑ File:GameChamp_KR_1997-10.pdf, page 11
  6. ↑ File:GameChamp_KR_1997-11.pdf, page 2


Sega Saturn
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