A Happy Story for all u Happy People

Hello, Good People,

Kind, Generous, Internet People,

After the demise of quality game magazines into outdated reams of advertising filler, I developed the habit of checking online websites for the latest video game news. I soon discovered the joys of PC emulation of older game consoles. I never developed a liking for the 3D fashions of Playstation gaming and would always prefer playing SNES games on my PC.

My favorite games were the space shooters. I loved the challenge of dodging an insane amount of bullets while my friends would gasp at how far my luck would extend through extended ecstasies of unblinking concentration.

One day, while browsing through the "Best Shooters" section of videogames.com, the editors were raving about this Japanese import called "Radiant Silvergun".

'What's this? A game that produces more slobbery editorials than the mighty Einhander? And it's only available on the ... Saturn? What is that?'

I did some more research online, and it seemed like everyone got their panties wet whenever their lips gleefully mouthed out the elegant title. I got infected with their fervor and decided to go on a mission to hunt down this rare game. Where's the only place that I would have a reasonable chance of getting it? Ebay!

My first foray into the world of online auctions turned out quite successfully. Not only did I get the game for a mere $75, but I got a whole Saturn system thrown in with it! [Now, looking back in hindsight, I got a kick-ass deal! Witness this and weep: 1 model-1 Saturn with country switch already installed, 1 Game Genie, 1 Action Replay, 1 Light Gun, 1 House of the Dead, 1 analog controller, 2 normal controllers, and a bunch of weak games! [i.e., the likes of Virtua Fighter, Christmas Nights, a dumb sega rally game or some old sh*t like that ...]

So, the following months were spent in joyful quest of ever-longer chains in R. Silvergun. I did some more research online, and it seemed that this console that I never really heard about had some amazing games on it that most Americans would never experience! I became an eBay slut and won auctions for a six-player adapter, a bunch of controllers, Saturn Bomberman [the online reviews said this was the best version of Bomberman on any platform], Dracula X [which had extra features over the Playstation version! kick ass!], Bubble Symphony [very rare and has cool music], and the most holy of all holies: Panzer Dragoon Saga. duh-duh-da-daaaah!

At first, it seemed that this $120 purchase was a complete loser of a deal. My Saturn wouldn't allow me to play the game! My game genie had in the past let me play all sorts of British and Japanese games, so why wasn't it working now? So my dream game just sat there, an ebay fantasy unfulfilled.

Then, one of my more teenager-ish friends came over one day and was doing a bunch of fiddling around. It's good to have friends of all ages, as they will teach you things outside your limited realm of knowledge. That was the case with my superteen, who tried out an exhausting set of switch combinations and catridge settings. He finally discovered that the game genie had to be *unplugged* and the switch in the back had to be in a certain position in order for the game to work! [I didn't know it was a country switch at the time, and only now have I read about the lock-out codes in the game]. Yes!!! My orgy with P_D_Saga would finally be fulfilled!

Well, I think it took a couple of months for me to finish 3 discs. I wasn't in a hurry, due to college schedules and all of that good stuff.

But when I reached the 4th disc, I encountered another showstopper: the disc would never load! Hah? I've gotten this far in the game and am denied a decent orgasm? So I took out the disc and examined it. Oh my freaking lord! There's a HUGE-ASS crack in it that seeps many rays of light through! I didn't inspect all of the discs when I first bought the game, and it was very late now to complain to the original owner!

So for half a year, I was denied the glorious victories that awaited me in finishing the quest.

---

I don't remember how I learned about this, but it seemed that someone online mentioned that you could play burned games on the Saturn, just like you could on the Playstation. I was very piqued at this prospect, because it would allow me to possibly finish the long quest that is P-D-S!

After much digging around on Google, I encountered this very site, and it was a complete joy to find so many Saturn freaks who congregated here to share their knowledge! Unfortunately, the information archived here is quite obscure. Maybe it is intentionally like this to order to ward off attacks from corporate enemies, but the info in the Miscellaneous section is really out-of-date and narrow in its advice.

I kept downloading "EZ CD Pro" and installing it. I would have huge troubles because I had a Windows 2000 and later an XP system that would die a horrible death on boot-up. It was a blue screen of eternity; nothing would overcome it, not a safeboot, not boot floppies, not anything! I ended up having to re-format my system several times. It was only later that I realized that the blue screen of inescape happened right after I installed EZ CD Pro and followed its suggestion to re-boot. It seems that EZ CD Pro is totally, completely, most heinously incompatible with all versions of Windows 2000 and above!

This was an obstacle that I didn't overcome for over four months. But reading through all the many posts in the message board, I gained more knowledge of what I was doing wrong. No, Roxio Easy CD Creator is not the same thing as EZ CD Pro. No, Easy CD Creator cannot burn mixed-mode CDs, I was only burning the data portion of games. No, I wasn't NOT doing the swap trick correctly, but I had downloaded a corrupted version of Alien vs. Predator so that the swap trick would NEVER work on this first candidate for swap experimentation. Yes, you can use Nero Burning ROM with .cue files, although it never mentions in its documentation. Yes, you have to learn a more complicated swap method in order to use the Action Replay cartridge. No, Marvel vs. Street Figher wasn't a bad burn, but it needs a memory cart, which I think my Action Replay will address the needs of but didn't know the thing actually worked until recently when I found out you can't seat it fully in the back of my Saturn, only partially shove it in there and then the Saturn will recognize it.

So after many months of struggle, I finally mastered the swap trick and got a successful burn for the last disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga! Although I was quite dissappointed that all of the cool enemy characters died off in the fourth disc and yjsy the main enemy was now a boring, long-ass tower, I was finally able to finish the broken game, with all of the collective wisdom on this website!

Isn't that a cool story? After legitimating buying the game on ebay and getting screwed over, the wonders of the Internet actually saved my gaming purchase.

How cool is that??? :)

Thank you, thank you, kind segaxtreme freaks. Although the help documentation is in sorely need of a massive update, you have helped breath new life into my awesome Saturn, which has entertained many of my incredulous friends and will continue to do so for many years!

-tek-
 
There's no moral victory in buying anything on ebay. In fact, EVERYTHING I've ever gotten on ebay has literally fallen apart. But anyway, willkommen. Concerning Radiant Silvergun, I was trying to buy it when I first bought my Saturn, but I couldn't find it. One CDR later, and I realise I utterly hate the game, and the only reason why I haven't sent it to the #### of being cut to pieces is because someone else might want it.
 
I forget what the #### -I- was looking for when I found this site, but it was indeed found by Google, and it was the message board first. Oh, now I remember. 20 pin mod board for Sega Saturn Model 1.
 
Gee, what a trial. :) Here is mine.

Goto mall --> Walk in store --> Guy at counter --> "Hey, we got a brand new game called Radiant Silvergun. New Japanese release. If you don't like it, look in the book. We have many games, or can order some special for you. All disk $5 each."

A guy walks in --> "The game shop in the lower level dosn't have Metal Slug, do you carry this disk?"

Guy at desk --> "Excuse me miss, any questions just ask!"

Guy at desk --> "Yes, we have many in stock, $5 each. Same with VCDs"

ect ect ect...
 
I hate it less than I hate Einhander, if that helps, but not by much. Board full of Bullets + One Hit Wonder = TEH SUXX0R.
 
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