Tag: Saturn

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Radiant Silvergun on Steam with an 8BitDo M30 gamepad

Last summer I posted a video on my YouTube and Odysee channels of testing out this LE Earthion Saturn-style gamepad by 8BitDo on Steam via Linux Mint as well as RetroPie. I recently bought Radiant Silvergun on Steam and it works great on Bazzite (I couldn’t get it to work on my Mint desktop). My desktop computer does not have built-in Bluetooth, so I bought a USB Bluetooth dongle. The results were a bit crappy. The controller works fine using the USB cable, but I have had many problems with my install of Steam on my desktop ever since I upgraded to a bigger HD. After a while, Steam forgets that the controller is connected and I have to reboot. When using the Bluetooth, the controls are floaty and is not very responsive. Fortunately with my Optiplex minicomputer with Bazzite as its OS. I am relieved, because I thought that the controller had some compatibility issue with Linux. The problem is either with the USB dongle or (most likely) the bad install of Steam I have on the Mint desktop.

RSG on Steam features English subtitles! I was not expecting this. Mayu-chan bought this game for my Saturn back in 1997 for only 3,000 yen, when she was still my pen-pal! (Or was that in 1999?) It’s one of my most-prized Saturn games in my collection.

However, the game is too awkward playing on a Playstation-style controller (I have a Logitech F310), but if you’ve played the game on the Saturn then an 8BitDo M30 Saturn-style retro gamepad works exactly as you’d expect. After nearly 3 decades of playing RSG, I know the buttons by heart and I was expecting that I’d have to configure the buttons to get it to feel normal to me. It turns out that it wasn’t necessary at all!

I’ve tried this M30 controller out on many games and even when Steam says that the controller may not work, it actually works fine most of the time. So this is great news as it works on nearly all of the shmups I’ve played it on so far, as well as Saturn games I own that I’ve repurchased on Steam. King of Fighters, Metal Slug, Time Gal, Gunbird, Twinkle Star Sprites, Gradius Origins and many other games.

Unfortunately, not all of the Saturn Tribute (“S-Tribute”) games by City Connection do not automatically support the M30, which is a real shame. Elevator Action Returns, Layer Section and Cotton Boomerang work with this controller, but unfortunately Cleopatra Fortune and Metal Black do not. I haven’t tried reconfiguring the Steam Input on such games yet.

I bought several discounted games on Steam’s summer sale, which is unfortunately now over. (Although it’s probably for the best as I already have so many games as it is.) I mostly bought a lot of shmups and other retro games.

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A trip to Mandai in Takasaki, May 2026

This is the building with Gunma Leisure Land game center and Mandai Shoten in Takasaki. We went down to Takasaki last Saturday. Mandai doesn’t open until 10, so I spent some time at the game center where I played some shmups like Senjin Aleste, which I wrote about in an earlier post. Then later I checked out Mandai.

Plenty of Macross model kits, old and new.

The Nautilus double set from Nadia. I have the regular submarine Nautilus, but not the nu-Nautilus starship.

The flag of Zeon was hanging overhead. Nice touch.

Several of these kits are pictured in the last post I made about going to Mandai.

I didn’t notice these Eggplane Girl resin kits the last time I was here.

The high prices of Saturn games (and all retro games in general) is sad. I really need to sell a bunch of games now hat Ulan is getting braces. It’ll be a tough decision to make which ones I want to keep. I really can’t play any retro games anymore since my new TV has no S-Video inputs. I’d have to see if I have the regular composite inputs, but it looks like ass on a high-def TV. Rats.

There’s a new Neo Geo console coming out that features HDMI output. Neat stuff, but I won’t be buying one. I also found a boxed Sakura Taisen Dreamcast. I bought mine when I first lived in Japan, in December 2000, IIRC. Unfortunately, the plastic has yellowed and the pretty pink color has been ruined. Rats.

Oh yes, and when I was at the game center in the basement level, I got to play Cotton: Rock with You for the first time. You can play as Izuna, the unemployed ninja! I played those two games like crazy on the DS. Her shots are shuriken, and you can slash your sword for up-close damage and to swat enemy bullets away.

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1996: the summer I discovered 32-bit Atlus import games

Gunbird
Power Instinct 2

In 1996, the video game scene in the USA was heavily focused on 3D-rendered graphics and I was disappointed. I was not opposed to 3D, but I much preferred 2D pixel graphics. I had finally bought a SNES with my high school graduation money in the summer of ’94. But now it was two years later, and by then nearly everything seemed to be 3D.

I went to a place called Laser Quest with my friend Nathan, which is a Laser Tag type of place. In the lobby were several arcade machines. Two that stood out to me was Gunbird and Power Instinct 2. I was fearing that shmups were a dead genre, as everything on the dominant Playstation seemed to be focused on 3D gameplay. Power Instinct 2 was a Street Fighter-style fighting game, but with quirky characters and a Sailor Moon-style girl character that transforms into a chick on rollerblades.

Gunbird’s publisher was Jaleco and Power Instinct 2’s publisher was Atlus. I managed to track down an email for Jaleco and asked them if they could release the game on a home console. A Jaleco rep responded to me, who happened to be an import gamer. He told me that Gunbird did get a home port on the Sega Saturn, although it was through Atlus. This Jaleco rep was the first to tell me about how incredibly awesome the Saturn was for 2D gaming, and how there is a treasure trove of such games that was not being released for the domestic US Saturn, particularly 2D shmups. It was then that I knew I had to get a Saturn.

Atlus released both Gunbird and Power Instinct 2 in Japan for home consoles, however the latter was released for the Playstation rather than the Saturn. This is disappointing, because the Playstation could not handle the game like I am sure the Saturn could. Load times are atrocious for this game’s home port. Power Instinct 3, aka Groove on Fight, was released for the Saturn, but it just didn’t have the same charm, I thought.

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Sega pajamas at Shimamura

Since I’ve shown lots of cool Sega swag from Shimamura stores, I thought I’d share these images I found on my Flickr account. I bought the Saturn pajamas, but I wish I had gone into debt and bought the Megadrive and Dreamcast pajamas too. Drat.

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Princess Crown for the Sega Saturn is getting an English translation patch!

Oh my freaking gosh. CD Romance has released an ENGLISH-PATCHED image of Princess Crown for the Sega Saturn! I bought this game nearly 20 years ago. About 10 years ago I played up to the point where I slayed the dragon, but didn’t get further than that as I lost track of it. Now it is in ENGLISH! With my Japanese level, I was able to make sense of the game, but I didn’t catch the part of how Gradriel’s older sister is ill (which would explain why she was crowned queen instead of her sister).I don’t care for the font choice, but this is super-duper neat-o!

This game is the predecessor to Vanillaware’s Odin Sphere. I like how you can have the little girl pick up the kitty instead of the book.

I don’t care for the font choice, but this is super-duper neat-o!

It’s not a proper 1.0 version yet. Some text is still in Japanese, such as the labels to the doors. This will make it difficult for those who can’t read the moon runes. Plus it has some wonky text issues. Still, this is GREAT!

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My new Sega towels from Shimamura

I went back to Shimamura a few days later and found Sega towels on sale! They were all discounted from their regular price. For each of the Megadrive, Saturn and Dreamcast, I bought hand towels, face towels, and bath towels. The hand and face towels are a two towel set.

Here are the hand towels:

Here are the face towels:

And here are the bath towels:

BONUS! Here is a set of Urusei Yatsura’s Lum-chan face towels I also bought:

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My new Sega cushions from Shimamura

Shimamura has come through again, this time with block cushions. This time I was late, as these were released in September. I learned about these by doing a web search. Like those Sega pillows I bought last year, these are detailed on the underside and since these are block cushions, the sides are detailed too.

Neat stuff.

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My new Sega pillows from Shimamura

It’s been a while since I’ve found Sega merchandise at discount clothing store Shimamura. Several years ago, I bought two Sega jumper jackets: a black Dreamcast one and a gray one with Megadrive, Saturn, and Dreamcast prints. I also bought some Saturn pajamas (which I happen to be wearing tonight as I type this. At the time, Shimamura had plenty of great retro gaming stuff, like the Neo Geo hoodie shirt and some other stuff. I passed on getting a Sakura Taisen T-shirt, but got a Mega Man/Rock Man sweatshirt for my friend Brian.

This week, Sega pillows went on sale. The Japanese man I teach English with at my elementary school showed me the Shimamura ad in the newspaper on Wednesday. tonight I bought all six pillows! Here they are. The two Dreamcast ones are for my friend Lou, who will arrive in Japan this weekend. There is printed detail on the backs of these pillows as well. Very cool!

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My new Sega arcade stick arrived this evening!

Oh yeah! A month or so ago I was outbid on one of these on Yahoo Auctions Japan, but this month I scored. It’s a Virtua Stick for the Sega Saturn. Over 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to get the double-sized (2 players) version for about 8000 yen, but declined. I couldn’t afford it at the time, and plus it was just too big. This Virtua Stick gives you the feel of playing on an Astro City or Blast City cab at home. It has autofire switches and a slide to set its rate of fire. It was sold as “junk” because it hadn’t been confirmed, but so far it seems to work just fine. It was a bit filthy, but I cleaned it up. FYI: Zippo lighter oil works well to remove price tag residue.


Oh, and what’s that next to it? That’s my Mayflash Saturn to USB converter. It works in Linux and this evening I played some Pac-Man on my new Virtua Stick in Final Burn via RetroPie.