The Original Saturn/Project Jupiter ( plus blackbelt , mars)

Oh yes it is and thanks alot for saying what needed to be said Vitamen!!This has always been a board for serious collectors and people in the development community,if you want to fill it with endless rumours and misinformation then please go elsewhere.Nothing is wrong with speculation....it just gets annoying and unenjoyable when the people are talking about it as if it is fact and they got it from someone at Sega or a dev company.This is the point Vitamen is making.

 

Who is R420? :smt017

 

http://www.teamsega.co.uk/saturn/features/sgl302/sgl302.htm

Check this. Character models from Sonic Xtreme.

 

Just because he says they are doesn't mean it's true. Read the old board for more opinions on that particular site.

 

Early Saturn Prototype

There was a specification list for the prototype Saturn hardware, though I don't have it to access at the moment. However, I remember someone adding a note at the end of this document suggesting that the system DID feature a dual-CPU setup (contrary to what is printed) and that such a mistake was probably a printing error on Sega's behalf. I'm not sure if Sega intended for the Saturn to originally utilise dual processing, and I've never heard Jupiter mentioned under the SA-2 codename before. This really is all new to me, and I'm definitely interested in finding out more...

The site www.teamsega.co.uk/saturn is now discontinued, though I am currenty working on another similar project. I do accept that some of the information was inaccurate, but sadly someone didn't seem to tell the fools over at Sonic Cult - they only recently "discovered" those models from the SGL OS 3.02 sample files, and they're still convinced that they are from Sonic X-Treme and Saturn VF3. Thanks to someone here on Assembler, a lot of rumours and speculation were ended when the tech demos were finally compiled, only to reveal a model of Akira (as predicted, though not from VF3) and a basic fighting engine.

P.S. Yakumo, I really hate to ask too much, but has there been any progress finding your video copy of that Saturn VF3 televised footage? I've managed to find a some images from the similar Last Bronx tech demo (with characters shown over a wireframe background), but the VF3 clip remains elusive. Like most people, I just want to know why AM2 spent so long on this game (even passing the Dreamcast port to Genki, who effectively ruined it), only to have it cancelled without even the slightest public appearance - that video might be our only chance to see this title in action, as Sega don't often have their unreleased software leaked...

 

Re: Early Saturn Prototype

To be honest I haven't looked for it. It's probably up in the loft with the video that features an un-texturemapped Daytona USA for Saturn, a very very eary Panzer Dragoon demo that maynot be running on Saturn Hardware and loads of other very early footage of games. The problem is that these tapes have no lables on them. All I remember is that the game footage is located at the end of some anime. What anime that is I don't know. There are about 130 tapes in the loft so I'll have to spend a whole day dedicated to finding them out.

Yakumo

 

Un-textured Daytona?

I've heard about the high resolution version of Daytona USA running on early Saturn hardware, but never an "untextured" version before - this is more news for me!! As for the Panzer Dragoon video you mentioned, I definitely remember from a magazine (possibly official UK Sega Magazine) that early footage of the game was actually running from a Silicon Graphics workstation.

I definitely know what it's like to lose important videos, as I have (somewhere in the collection remaining at my parents' house) a tape containing all the televised Sega Saturn commercials shown in the UK between the console's launch and the Winter '96 campaign. I've still yet to find a place where I can download the "demonstration" series of adverts for NiGHTS, Daytona CCE, Worldwide Soccer, Fighting Vipers and Virtua Cop 2. This same video also had a television show in which viewers could phone and control an early single-level demo of Clockwork Knight - this was a few months before the Saturn's release, and I really don't remember if there were any differences between this version and the final game. There was also a programme which featured a competition to win the first copy of NiGHTS in the UK (this was in August '96 - the game was actually released on September 5th), and I definitely do remember that the box art was slightly different, not to mention the fact that the video footage shown lacked any score display counters (I've seen beta clips that look similar).

 

Re: Un-textured Daytona?

I have something similar, Sega used to show the Saturn ads during the late night Anime showings on Channel 4. I have loads of tapes with those adverts on, if I had a proper VHS player I could capture them... I used to have the Mega CD "Pirate TV" ads as well, but someone taped over them years ago... :snipe:

 

In Spain, as in other countries, magazines gave away many videos with interesting images of unfinished games. For example, "Streets of Rage 2 / Bare Kunckle 2". I 've noticed that many of that videos hasn't anything to do with the final versions, wherever they come from (PAL, NTSC or NTSC-J territory) I think it's completely normal that a game suffer hundreds and hundreds of that kind of changes, so the list of "curious" videos could grow and grow up to the infinite.

Now that you've mentioned all this, I think I'm gonna check some videos about Saturn and 32X to be able to find some facts that maybe I didn't noticed when I watched them for first time. Salutes .

 

man, id love to see Yakumo's lost tape...

look through a few tapes each evening or somthing...

)

 

I went back to my old EGM magazines, looking for the first times where Sega's GigaDrive got mentioned. the very first time was in EGM Number 15, October 1990, page 24 (Gaming Gossip) obviously printed around August or September 1990....

then the very next EGM (Number 16, November 1990) had more, in Letters to the Editor, page 14.

[ b&w picture of System 32 board shown]


then skipping a few months, in EGM Number 19, Feb 1991, page 10
Letters to the Editor:

so Giga Drive was first mentioned in EGM in late summer or early fall 1990 (keeping in mind that magazines are written a few months before they hit newstands or arrive in mailboxes) that's more than 4 years before the Saturn came out in Japan (Nov 1994) and about 3 years before unofficial and official Saturn info came out which was in mid 1993.

 

I was re-reading this topic again. So, the machine uses a 9-pint Atari-style connector like the Mega Drive. But the joystick connector really looks like a ordinary Saturn pad connector, doesn't it? Just try to zoom it.

BTW, I found the following text on google, about the Saturn and Jupiter:

Code:

* SATURN & 3DO NEWS/INFO
Typed By: 2TUFF/CRYSTAL
    Date: 01/MARCH/1994

Sega Saturn Specifications
 --------------------------

       Format: CD-ROM (300K/S) and Cartridge
          CPU: Two Hitachi SH2 32bit RISC chips running at 27Mhz/50MIPS
Co-Processing: Hitachi SH1, 24bit DSP, Motorola 68000, Video processor
       Memory: Work RAM - 16 Megabits
               Video RAM - 12 Megabits
               Sound RAM - 4 Megabits
               CD Buffer RAM - 4 Megabits
      Colours: 16,277,216
        Video: Alpha Channel, MPEG
    Scrolling: Five hardware planes:  Enlargement, Reduction, Rotation,
               Horizontal scrolling in two planes
  3D Graphics: 900,000 polygons/sec, Gouraud shading, Texture mapping
      Sprites: Four hardware sprite planes, plus two hardware sprite
               rotation/scaling planes
        Sound: 16bit 68EC000, PCM 32 channels, FM eight channels
        Price: Yen 50,000
     Released: November 1994 [Japan]

SEGA JUPITER SPECIFICATIONS
 ---------------------------

The specifications of Jupiter are virtually the same as Saturn, but
with around half the internal RAM

       Format: Cartridge
       Memory: 16 Megabits RAM - the internal memory allocation has
               not yet been confirmed
        Price: Yen 30,000
     Released: November 1994 [Japan]

SATURN & JUPITER (SEGA'S BRAVE NEW WORLD)
 -----------------------------------------

The fever pitch surrounding Sega's new 32bit system has just tapped
another dimension.  Following detailed reports in Edge five and six,
we can now reveal that not one, but two consoles will be released by
Sega in November this year.

The Saturn project was expected to be a CD-ROM based system with the
possibility of a cartridge port.  Not only have Sega decided to
include the port, but a second, cartridge only, machine codenamed
`Jupiter' will also appear.

Only in the last weeks have Sega released details about Saturn to the
Japanese press, but at the time of writing, project Jupiter has still
not been offically announced.  Complete compatibility between the two
systems will be possible with the release of a low-cost add-on for
Jupiter which will provide the same double-speed CD ROM drive, MPEG
chips and extra RAM.

But why have Sega gone for this approach instead of the fully fledged
CD machine?  A beefed-up spec could be one reason - Sega are reputed
to have increased the polygon rendering abilities of Saturn to try
and match the power of Sony's more powerful PS-X.

A cartridge based system allows them to bring out a more affordable
machine - yen 30,000 ( 185) as opposed to Saturn's price of yen
50,000 (  310) - while still retaining the same power.  Both systems
will rely on the same seven-processor architecture, including two
ultra-fast Hitachi SH2s plus 24bit digital signal processing.

Rumours of an American launch just before Christmas have already
started circulating in the US, although that will mostly likely depend
on the strength of the Genesis market and the quality and number of
32bit games ready for release.  Also, Microsoft's involvement with
Saturn's operating system has delayed the arrival of non-Japanese
development kits for another two months.

Still, Sega reckon 40 titles are currently in development in Japan and
this month they will be announcing ten games to the Japanese press.

Currently, the only official announced titles are Virtua Fighters,
Virtual Soccer, a `2D shooting agme', and an `action game', but
conversions of Daytona and the Sonic coin-op are also under-way.

The first proper public viewing of Sega's 32bit hardware is likely to
be at the Tokyo Toy Show which takes place in June, but check out
next month's report from the AOU Show which in case Sega decide to
spring any surprises.  Whatever happens, count on Edge for the most
detailed and accurate news on this hot new system...

OTHER SATURN RUMOURS
 --------------------

A couple of choice ones: Game Arts are developing a new 3D shoot 'em up
for Saturn (a realtime Slipheed 2 perhaps?) as well as an RPG...

Egde has heard that it takes just two weeks to transfer code from Sega's
Model 1 coin-op board (Virtua Fighters, Virtual Racing) to work on Saturn

Finally think of Saturn's biggest moon and you have Sega's next generation
64bit arcade hardware - Titan.

The 64 bit Titan above looks like just the ST-V (SEGA Titan Video) arcade board.

What do you think?

I was looking for the original Saturn specs on Google but all I've found is a reference for NEC cpu...



PD

 

That was a very interesting read I must say!

Sonic coin-op? What could he be referring to? Segasonic the Hedgehog (but that was only released in Japan right?) or Sonic The Fighters maybe?

 

Sonic Arcade for System32, it was released in JP and US at least.
Sonic Fighters came later, on ST-V.


PD

 

I'm pretty sure Sonic Fighters came on Model 2... otherwise it would've been much easier to convert to Saturn (and I would immediately have bought the cart, of course :-D )

 

Yep. Sonic Fighters is Model 2. MODEL 2B CRX HARDWARE more precisely

http://www.system16.com/sega/hrdw_model2b.html

 

Sonic The Fighters

Sonic The Fighters is one of the three games AM2 completed for Saturn and never released, with the other two being the separate 'revisions' of Virtua Fighter 3 (the latter was supposedly improved over the earlier complete version).

The official release calendar at Sega of Japan's website once had Sonic The Fighters scheduled for May 5th 1998, but it quickly disappeared. Still, extracts from both of these particular games would appear in Fighters Megamix and we did manage to get VF3tb on the Dreamcast (even if Genki did ruin the conversion - AM2 were ironically too busy tidying up the Saturn edition and also working on Shenmue).

I don't really have any more details on Sonic The Fighters in its Saturn guise, though I'm guessing from the dates mentioned that it was probably a very faithful conversion, possibly even up to the same standards as VF3 (since AM2 were using SGL 3 by this point). Although nothing of Sonic The Fighters or Saturn VF3 has been publically seen that can be confirmed as genuine Saturn footage/screenshots, just a quick look at the Shenmue video or the quality of visuals in AM2's Digital Dance Mix shows just how powerful the system was in the right hands...

 

The release date of both sonic the fighters and virtua fighter 3 are clearly listed on sega's release schedule for the saturn.

You can see segas relese schedule for part of 1998 here it shows both virtua fighter 3 and Sonic the Fighters for the saturn but has no release dates for either.

http://web.archive.org/web/20001006212211/www.sega.co.jp/sega_e/saturn/main/schedule/0698.html