The Sega Saturn NetLink League

after posting to saturn sub forum i found this one here so please take a look at

http://saturnleague.com/mxbb/index.php? ... =viewtopic

sorry for double posting this ; )

Pictures? also I can already see these arent US versions so Ill pass.

so only the the us games are rare right ?

this one is us and also cheap ?

http://cgi.ebay.de/Sega-Saturn-Sega-Ral ... 20b7be85c3

The five US Netlink games (abbreviated names, if it doesn't say "Netlink Edition", it means that all of them included Netlink):

Less than $50 USD, shouldn't be more than $30 TOPS, IMO:
-Sega Rally Championship Netlink Edition (common, usually cheap)
-Duke Nukem 3D (common, usually cheap)
-Virtual On Netlink Edition (pretty common, usually cheap)

Less than or around $100, at least from the few I've seen:
-Bomberman (uncommon, more expensive due to being really fun, people unwilling to part with it)

Expensive (but definitely not worth half a grand or more like some people seem to think it should be worth):
-Daytona USA Netlink Edition (rare, expensive... only could be directly ordered from SEGA with a credit card, somewhat confusing due to very similar packaging with the non-Netlink version)


The time for that game being worth so much has passed. It's time that sellers realized this. But I doubt they ever will. >.>

Yeah, the prices for the five US games are right. That's it, in NetLink gaming for most of users here.

The problem with the japanese games is the need of a japanese (or modded) system. Because the modem use the cartridge slot and an easy solution for region changes - like the Action Replay - is out of the way.

And, browsing here for some time you'll notice that a lot of people are not deep into Saturn imports. I mean, for having a system or a modded system.

I don't even remember reading about success in NetLinking with japanese games here.
People sometimes ask about compatibility in japanese games with US modem or the opposite, US versions with the japanese modem.

The main question is the speed difference in the modem versions:
"Can the US games handle the slower speed of the japanese modem?"
"Is the japanese modem compatible with the US system?"
"Is the dialer configuration of the japanese games easy like the US configuration?"
Or even, "Will the japanese software (browser or games) use the same config file saved by the PlanetWeb or the US games?"
Something like that. =D

These things are not hard to answer, of course. But for most of the users it's needed the system to run the foreign software and other user with the same setup and time to test these things.

I got Virtual On Netlink on ebay for less than $5 shipped brand new factory sealed. Sega Rally I got with a second complete Netlink $20 shipped off ebay. Super Cheap. Duke I got for $14 shipped off amazon complete. Bomberman was an awesome deal I got from Manji..he knocked a couple bucks off because it came out of the case and was a little scuffed up and had problems loading till I resurfaced it. $30 shipped.

All of my estimates were high. I set them high on purpose, as I've seen them selling for far more than I got mine for. I got all of my sub-$50 ones for less than $30 each, far less in some situations. I think my first copy of Sega Rally was for about $6, and my second one came in a dual package with Virtual On for $30, if I remember correctly. Duke I can't really remember, but I think it was for about $20-25. The one or two Bombermans I remember seeing went for around $80. Haven't jumped on one of those, myself.

As for the questions above -

"Can the US games handle the slower speed of the japanese modem?"
Why would you want to use a Japanese modem when the US ones are much easier to find here in the US?

"Is the japanese modem compatible with the US system?"
Yes. The US and Japanese systems are identical, with the exception of the locations of a few jumpers on the mainboard. I don't know if you'd have to change the region for the modem itself to work, but you would if you wanted to play the Japanese games.

"Is the dialer configuration of the japanese games easy like the US configuration?"
Probably. However, as I recall reading, the Japanese version of the NetLink had a different name, and for the most part you paid for connects, just like with the earlier XBAND service. I don't know about direct-dialing. If you could direct-dial, I don't think it'd be an issue. The Japanese POTS should be about the same as the US one, just with different tones for busy signals, ringing, and dialing and such. Many modems were designed to handle multiple regions. I wouldn't be surprised if the Saturn's modem did, too.

Or even, "Will the japanese software (browser or games) use the same config file saved by the PlanetWeb or the US games?"
Probably not. The NetLink games use a different configuration file than the browser software, for one. I don't know if the US and Japanese Netlink config files have the same name or not. If they do, I'm sure there's some error checking in the software. It would assume the file was corrupt, and write over the US one. The Japanese version would be able to save to a US Saturn's memory without any issues.

^^'

I wasn't really making those questions you know.
I was just raising possibilities of questions that I've seen around... XD

But thanks for the answers!

For the prices, yeah, you can find the games more cheaper than that. I often consider factory sealed prices. But for games like Virtual-On, Sega Rally and Duke Nuken 3D, you can get used versions very cheap. There's plenty of them around.

I believe that the most rare NetLink-thing to find from now on will be the NetLinkers themselves. =( Sad but true.

Yeah US versions move around in price but normal Ebay value

Virtual On/Sega Rally 5-15$ each depending on condition. Duke Nukem 10-20$ depending on condition. Bomberman 40-60$ depending on condition and Daytona used to be 200-300$ now sellers are expecting 500$ loose.