Difference between revisions of "Saturn region converter cartridges"
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Revision as of 20:39, 19 July 2017
The Sega Saturn is region-locked, meaning that games can only be played on hardware from the same region. Various factors led to the Saturn being under-supported in the West. Thus, in order to play the plethora of Japanese releases, to play American games in Europe, or vice-versa of either scenario, one requires a region converter.
Saturn region converters are cartridges which plug into the Saturn's cartridge slot. The majority of converters start working as soon as the console is swiched on, i.e. there is no need to swap cartridges and discs to play games (unlike later consoles such as the Sega Dreamcast). Converters come in all shapes and sizes, most notably the Action Replay Plus, which bypasses region locking as well as offering storage space and cheat facilities. But before the Action Replay Plus became the de facto accessory for Saturn collectors, consumers had to make do with a basic region converter, which offered no additional features.
Unlike Mega Drive region converters, it is usually easier for Saturn region converters to enable playing of games from all regions at once, rather than unlocking one specific region. They are, however, similar in the sense that they cannot solve all regional issues. A game programmed for 60 Hz display on NTSC televisions will run slower, at 83.3% of its correct speed, on the 50 Hz televisions used (at least then) in PAL territories, due to the difference in refresh rate. Conversely, a European game running on an NTSC TV will run too fast – that is, if it was correctly adjusted for 50 Hz display during localisation for Europe, which many were not. Finally, and for obvious reasons that do not constitute a flaw in the region converter, games cannot be automatically translated; a converter may enable you to play a Japanese game on your Western Saturn, or vice-versa, but it will not guarantee that you can understand any of its text.
| Box | Name | Brand | Date & Price | Images | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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CD+Plus | Super UFO | (>=1995) | 
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CD+Plus | Blaze | (>=1995) | 
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| Pro Universal Adapter | Datel | (>=1995) |  
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Pro Universal Adapter | Datel | (>=1995) | 
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| Game Adapter | ? | (>=1995) |
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Multi-Game Adaptor | Trend Master | (>=1995) |  SS-239  SS-239
|
 Manual |
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Sega Satellite | EMS | (>=1995) |  
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S-S Key | ?? | KR: (>=1995) | 
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ST-Key | ?? | (>=1995) |  
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| ST-Key | ?? | (>=1995) | 
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Ultra Madness ST-Key | Madness | (>=1995) |  
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| Ultra Madness 4M Turbo Key (region converter+1MB/4MB RAM) | Madness | ? (>=1995) |  
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| ST-Key+4MB RAM (region converter+1MB/4MB RAM) | Madness | ? (>=1995) |  SCK2-9768
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8 Meg Direct Access Memory Card (region converter+1MB memory) | Innovation | (1997) |  
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8 Meg Memory Card (region converter+1MB memory) | Joytech | (>=1995) | 
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Memory Card Plus (region converter+1MB memory) | Performance | (1997) |  P-465A  P-465A
|
 manual |
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Memory Card Plus alt (region converter+1MB memory) | Performance | (1997) | P-465A P-465A
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manual |
| Ultimate Game Memory Card (region converter+memory card) | ? | (>=1995) |   
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Magic Card V2 (swap trick enabler+region converter) | ? | ? (>=1995) |    disc
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| Mega Converter (only packaged with Samsung Saturn consoles) | Samsung | ? (>=1995) |  
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