The Sega Saturn NetLink League

this is not a question, it's an answer to those who have been wondering what where to happen if you had internet on the netlink and click netlink zone, and it just so happens that me and Rockman1974 have internet thats compatible with the saturn, and it is dial up required. We both have Bell Internet BTW . The answer to this question is actually nothing, or at least not what you'd think would happen. When you click this feature and have dial up internet in your saturn, instead of directing you to what it would have done back in the day I guess, it actually directs you straight to Sega.com's homepage but in HTML 1.0 or 2.0 idk which one but it's one of the two. Also if you wanna see the saturn online in action go see Rockman1974's sega saturn videos on Youtube, His Channel id ProjectCOE, and he does kickass saturn vids!!!

Thanks for the nod NWA. I believe the original idea was to link players together via a message board portal. Today virtually none of the links within the PlanetWeb work at all, but it's still interesting to take a step back in time and see just how awesome all of this must have been back in 1996 and 1997. The biggest shame is that Sega took too long to get their NetLink games out the gate, and we're even slower with getting third parties tools to add NetLink support to their software. Imagine, Capcom wanted to add online support for their fighters. That really would have been something. Sadly some really foolish mistakes completely destroyed the Saturn in North America. Why Bernie would ever say the future of Sega wasn't the Saturn at E3 1997 is completely beyond me. Talk about a WTF moment.

dude theres also another browser called planetweb 3.0 , but i cant find the download for it but u can find a vid of it youtube

Yeah I'm going to order it and do a quick video to show the differences between the two. Hopefully a few more sites are compatible.

yeah thats what i hope too! i also wanna order it cuz it looks alot more updated!

I'm trying to find out exactly what it added because clearly it did more than a simple face lift.

ya i know what u mean, it must have an updated version of html for it's time

Here's what I found from August 5th, 1997...

"The updated Sega Saturn Net Link Web Browser is completely HTML 2.0 compatible and has improved keyboard functionality, including cursor key movement control and simplified keystroke interface. Other significant upgrade elements allow IRC chat, support for "frames" and the ability to e-mail "saved game" files to other Sega Saturn Net Link owners."

I couldn't find any updates after this one, but who knows.

if this is true, imagine us sending eachother save games???? that would be AWESOME!!

I heard about this feature before, but I'm not sure how this works. If the saved files were sent to a Sega server for storage before being sent off for redownload then it won't work. If the files are attached to the email and then sent it should still work. Either way, very cool stuff. This disc should have Version 3 written on it.

I own version 3, but it's at home. I'm not sure what the differences are. There was a version 4 as well, but as far as I know, it was never pressed onto a disc. You could temporarily upgrade by downloading a patch, but that patch was only stored in RAM and would be lost when you turned off your system. You'd have to redownload it every time. I tried it once or twice, but the site that used to host it doesn't seem to be there anymore. I don't know if there are any other repositories of that patch.

thats pretty damn cool!

Interesting Warp. Do you know how the sharing system worked for saved games, if it was simply attached to an email the file or was it uploaded to the central server and then the other player had to download it?

Found some more info.

The initial web browser, dubbed “Version 2” is what NetLink owners, who fondly refer to themselves as “NetlLinkers”, first saw. The home screen consisted of a virtual city on Planet Oasis designed by Ark Interface dubbed, “NetLink City.” It featured 20 city blocks and over 200 preselected links that led to places like The Smithsonian, Disney Online, and Concentric Networks, Sega’s official ISP.

Then there's the version I mentioned above.

A second official browser was released by mail order in 1997, cleverly titled “Sega Saturn Net Link Custom Web Browser Version 3.0.” This browser marked an important milestone. Not only did NetLinkers no longer have to download updates, but the first two online games that support the NetLink were released simultaneously: Virtual On: Cyber Troopers and Sega Rally Championship.

Finally, here's what Warp was talking about.

Browser development continued until a 4.0 browser was completed, adding features such as 64bit SSL encryption for online shopping. The browser was never released commercially due to the NetLink’s dwindling user base, however it was available for free download. The drawback, however, was that the download would only be valid until the Saturn was reset, so it would have to be re-downloaded at the beginning of every session.

So that one would be impossible to get it appears.

As for the saved game files, here's all I could find.

Playing games online wasn’t the only “online” component that NetLink added to Saturn games. Any game saved file could be sent as an email attachment to another NetLinker. Planetweb stored hundreds of saved game files on their website for download.

I think we'll have to test this out.

Rockman1974 wrote:

Playing games online wasn’t the only “online” component that NetLink added to Saturn games. Any game saved file could be sent as an email attachment to another NetLinker. Planetweb stored hundreds of saved game files on their website for download.

I think we'll have to test this out.

Unfortunately, that makes it sound like there's no way to send a file now without access to the now-missing Sega official NetLink pages. Still, I haven't experimented to find out if any of that functionality still works. I don't know if I have an email account that will work with the 3.0 browser.