Difference between revisions of "Arcade Racer"

Revision as of 03:20, 10 July 2017

Arcade Racer

Manufacturer: Sega

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1995-04-01	¥5,8005,800	HSS-0115
JP ("Shin")	1996-07-05	¥5,8005,800	HSS-0141
US	1995	$79.9979.99^[1]^[2]
EU	1995-08^[3]
AU	1995	$129.95129.95^[4]

The Arcade Racer Joystick, called the Racing Controller (レーシングコントローラー) in Japan, is a racing wheel style controller for the Sega Saturn.

Hardware

As opposed to many digital controllers at the time, the Arcade Racer is analog in nature, allowing for smoother control than a standard Sega Saturn D-Pad. Whereas digital controllers rely on values assigned to on/off switches (like light switches, they react in steps), analog controllers respond in a smoother arc (like dimmer switches).

The Arcade Racer was designed primarily for racing games such as Virtua Racing, Daytona USA or Sega Rally Championship. Its height and angle can be adjusted by the user. The seven face buttons are positioned on the face of the wheel, and the and directions are redesigned into paddles on each side of the wheel which resemble semi-automatic transmission paddle shifters (or a "flappy paddle gearbox"). These paddles are digital, not analog, unlike the wheel itself. The Arcade Racer does not have or buttons, so games designed for it cannot use those buttons.

The Arcade Racer is supported by most driving games released for the Sega Saturn (in North America it was mandatory that racing games supported the peripheral^[5]). There are a few, such as Impact Racing or Road Rash, that do not support it, however, perhaps because they need the additional buttons that the Arcade Racer is missing. Most games that do support the Arcade Racer will also work in analog mode on the Sega Mission Stick and 3D Control Pad, but a few, including Virtua Racing and Hang-On GP, require the Arcade Racer for analog play.

From a design perspective, the Arcade Racer Joystick is one of the oldest Saturn controllers, so much so that it originally started life as a Sega Mega Drive wheel. Known as the Sega Wheel it was originally set to debut with Virtua Racing in late 1994^[6], but in the end no official wheels were released for Sega's earlier console.

List of supported games

note: Please expand or fix this list as needed. This list may use Japanese names instead of Western ones.

Gallery

JP model (grey)
JP model (Shin/white)
EU model
Side of unit (grey)
Bottom of unit (grey)
PAL model

Physical scans

Saturn, US
Cover

Saturn, EU
Cover

Saturn, JP (grey)
Cover
Manual

Saturn, JP (white)
Cover

Magazine articles

Main article: Arcade Racer/Magazine articles.

External links

Sega of Japan archived page on the unit

References

Sega Saturn
Topics	Technical Specifications (Hardware Comparison) \| History (Development \| Release \| Decline and legacy) \| List of games (A-M) \| List of games (N-Z) \| Magazine articles \| Promotional material \| Merchandise
Hardware	Japan \| North America \| Western Europe \| Eastern Europe \| South America \| Asia \| South Korea \| Australasia \| Africa HiSaturn Navi \| SunSeibu SGX \| Sega Titan Video
Add-ons	Backup Memory (third-party) \| Sega PriFun \| Video CD Card (third-party) \| Extended RAM Cartridge (third-party) \| Twin Advanced ROM System
Controllers	Control Pad \| Control Pad (Australia) \| 3D Control Pad \| Arcade Racer \| Infrared Control Pad \| Mission Stick \| Shuttle Mouse \| Twin Stick \| Virtua Gun \| Virtua Stick \| Virtua Stick Pro
Online Services/Add-ons	NetLink Internet Modem (NetLink Keyboard \| NetLink Keyboard Adapter \| NetLink Mouse) \| Saturn Modem (Floppy Drive \| Keyboard)
Connector Cables	21 Pin RGB Cable \| Monaural AV Cable \| RF Unit \| Stereo AV Cable \| S-Video Cable \| Taisen Cable
Development Hardware	Programming Box \| Sound Box \| E7000 \| CartDev \| SNASM2 \| Address Checker \| PSY-Q Development System \| MIRAGE Universal CD Emulator
Misc. Hardware	6Player \| SBom Multitap‎ \| Saturn region converter cartridges \| Action Replay \| Pro Action Replay \| Action Replay Plus \| X-Terminator (Version 3) \| S-S Promoter \| Other cartridges

[:File:GamePro_US_074.pdf_p120-1] File:GamePro US 074.pdf, page 120

[Press_release:_1995-10-30:_Sega_unleashes_exclusive_lineup_of_arcade_hits_for_Sega_Saturn-2] Press release: 1995-10-30: Sega unleashes exclusive lineup of arcade hits for Sega Saturn

[:File:CVG_UK_165.pdf_p34-3] File:CVG UK 165.pdf, page 34

[:File:Hyper_AU_022.pdf_p22-4] File:Hyper AU 022.pdf, page 22

[:File:DevelopMental_US_0309.pdf_p4-5] File:DevelopMental US 0309.pdf, page 4

[:File:EGM_US_059.pdf_p16-6] File:EGM US 059.pdf, page 16

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[5]

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@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 The Arcade Racer is supported by most driving games released for the Sega Saturn (in North America it was mandatory that racing games supported the peripheral{{fileref|DevelopMental US 0309.pdf|page=4}}). There are a few, such as ''[[Impact Racing]]'' or ''[[Road Rash]]'', that do not support it, however, perhaps because they need the additional buttons that the Arcade Racer is missing. Most games that do support the Arcade Racer will also work in analog mode on the [[Sega Mission Stick]] and [[3D Control Pad]], but a few, including ''[[Virtua Racing]]'' and ''[[Hang-On GP]]'', require the Arcade Racer for analog play.
-From a design perspective, the Arcade Racer is one of the oldest Saturn controllers, so much so that it originally started life as a [[Sega Mega Drive]] wheel. Known as the '''Sega Wheel''' it was originally set to debut with ''[[Virtua Racing]]'' in late 1994{{fileref|EGM US 059.pdf|page=16}}, but in the end no official wheels were released for Sega's earlier console.
+From a design perspective, the Arcade Racer Joystick is one of the oldest Saturn controllers, so much so that it originally started life as a [[Sega Mega Drive]] wheel. Known as the '''Sega Wheel''' it was originally set to debut with ''[[Virtua Racing]]'' in late 1994{{fileref|EGM US 059.pdf|page=16}}, but in the end no official wheels were released for Sega's earlier console.
 ==List of supported games==