Saturn consoles in South Korea

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.

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
	Samsung Saturn 삼성새턴	Samsung	KR: ₩550,000550,000 (1995-11-10) KR: ₩418,000418,000 (1996-05)	SPC-SATURN		Control Pad
	Samsung Saturn 삼성새턴	Samsung	KR: ₩595,000595,000 (1995-11-10) KR: ₩451,000451,000 (1996-05)	SPC-SATURN II		Control Pad	Virtua Fighter Remix
	Samsung Saturn 삼성새턴	Samsung	KR: ₩359,000359,000 (1996-08)	SPC-ST		Control Pad Converter
	Samsung Saturn 삼성새턴	Samsung	KR: ₩389,000389,000 (1996-08)	SPC-ST2		Control Pad Converter

Sega Saturn

From September 1997, Kama Entertainment (카마 엔터테인먼트) and Korea Data Systems (코리아데이타시스템스) 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
	Sega Saturn 세가새턴	Kama Entertainment/Korea Data Systems	KR: ₩349,000349,000 (1997-09)	MK-80226-08		Control Pad
	Sega Saturn +1 Virtua Cop 2 세가새턴 +1 버쳐캅2	Kama Entertainment/Korea Data Systems	KR: (≥ 1997)	MK-80226-08		Control Pad	Virtua Cop 2
	Sega Saturn +1 Sega Rally 세가새턴 +1 세가 랠리	Kama Entertainment/Korea Data Systems	KR: (≥ 1997)	MK-80226-08		Control Pad	Sega Rally Championship