Retro Gaming in Japan: Pikachu N64 & New Sega Saturn

As I said in my earlier post on the subject, I acquired a Japanese Sega Saturn last year. I'd subsequently acquired both a Japanese Nintendo 64 (as a birthday present from American ALT Kayla Alberedo), and a Japanese PS2 (from departing Scottish ALT Richard Kinsella). Things were seemed to be going fairly well on the retro gaming front... until both the Sega Saturn and N64 had suffered system failures.

After a long time tinkering with both consoles, trying to exchange the power supplies and replacing internal batteries and such, I conceded defeat. Something had gone wrong with both of them, and I wasn't technically minded enough to work out what. Although I take good care of my consoles, the Sega Saturn is sadly notorious for system failures, while the N64 had never worked at all since I'd acquired it. Working out where console repairs could be carried out in Japan for these (pretty old) systems seemed fairly beyond me. The only solution, then, was to pick up replacements.

The Pikachu console!

The new N64 sits by the old Sega Saturn.

I left it for a while as it wasn't an immediate purchase priority, but with the start of the new year I headed along to Hard Off; a huge second-hand retailer near my house which I was introduced to last year by Rainer Wessels (you can watch my reaction to our first trip there below):

I came back home not just with replacements to both consoles, but an amazing prize I couldn't believe I'd stumbled upon; a rare Pikachu-edition Nintendo 64.

The console was buried under a number of other N64 units. I was flicking through them all to find the best-looking model when I stumbled upon it, complete with most of it's original packaging. I was aghast when I saw it; especially as it was only around ¥3000 (!). It was instantly added to my list of purchases, and I carried both consoles home - hoping that neither of them were damaged or worn down. Luckily, both booted up perfectly.

I was thrilled to finally be playing Mario Kart 64 and all of my old Saturn games again, and to own a pretty rare and funky piece of Pokemon memorabilia. I spent the following evening doing much else except playing classic video-games.

Super Mario 64 in action.

However, I'm still trying to work out how I can repair my older consoles (if it's at all possible), as I'd love to restore them back to their original form rather than let them simply gather dust. If anyone could point me in the right direction of any restoration or repair services for them in Japan, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Retro Gaming in Japan: Japanese Sega Saturn

In my formative years during the mid-90s, I was the only kid I knew who had sided with Sega in the console wars. When everyone else had jumped ship to the Sony Playstation, I remained loyal to Sega - getting a second-hand Sega Saturn for my birthday (notably; the store owner had seemed confused and insisted on selling us a Sony Playstation instead when my family tried to buy it). I'd first played a Saturn at my neighbour's house (the only other one I'm aware of being owned in Kirkcaldy), and continued to pick up the Official Sega Saturn magazine. To me, it was pure joy, and it's a choice I've never regretted.

The Japanese (white) Sega Saturn.

While I later moved on to PlayStation when production of Saturn games ceased in 1997 (making way for the Sega Dreamcast, which I - again - got instead of a PS2), I was always aware of a wealth of Japanese Sega Saturn games which had never made it to European shores (which were always reviewed as "import" releases in the magazine). When I knew I was coming to Japan, I was determined that I would finally get myself a Japanese Sega Saturn and go back for some of those classics.

The iconic "Segata Sanshiro" (セガサターンシロ).

A legendary Japanese only mascot for the system.

Finding the console initially seemed a little difficult, as my early attempts of asking around at a lot of local second-hand game stores were completely fruitless. Finally, I searched the Japanese Amazon retailer pages, and found a wealth of supplies. I ordered myself the console and several games, and when it arrived, I had finally accomplished one of my childhood dreams.

The controller.

My initial set consisted of many games I'd already owned back in the UK, and a few already available on those shores but that I'd never picked up; Virtua Fighter 2, Burning Rangers, NiGHTS into Dreams, Sonic 3D, Panzer Dragoon 2 and Sonic R. I'd also picked up two noted Japanese RPG classics; Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force 3 (Part One), the latter is famous for only having the first part released in English. I figured both would be an excellent way to do some Japanese reading practice.

Radiant Silvergun!

In addition to these, I picked up a long-desired iconic classic; Radiant Silvergun. The game was never released outside of Japan on the Sega Saturn, and has only recently become available for download on systems like X-Box Live for the first time. Regarded as one of the best "shmups" on the system, I paid more for this one game than any other in my collection, but it was well worth it. Playing it for the first time was an incredible experience.

The Sega Saturn really is a magnificent and underrated console. While I of course eventually picked up the Sony competitors as well, I simply can't rate games such as NiGHTs, Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter 2 highly enough. If you want to try out a whole side of gaming history you may have missed out on, the Sega Saturn may just be worth looking into!

Up and running.

Sonic R time!

Here's a wee video of my set;