Saturn Memory Cartridge advice needed

[Leaf]

Afternoon all,

I'm hoping to get my Saturn delivered tomorrow and need to get an idea about how to save my game data (I'll have about 13 games with it). Apparently the seller has placed a new battery in the console, so I can play on that for a while, but I'll eventually need a Memory Cartridge, correct?

So a few questions...

I won't be able to get a Memory Cartridge before tomorrow, in which case I'll have to save to the console. Could I then buy a Cartridge after doing this, and then transfer the data directly to it?

How much games saves am I looking at? The cartridge I have my eye on holds 8mb.

I'm reluctant to pay a large amount for one, so I may opt for an unofficial Memory Cartridge. Is this something you wouldn't recommend? The one I want is made by Blaze. Here's a shot:



Thanks for your help guys, much appreciated.

[marurun]

The Saturn's internal battery actually lasts a decent while. A new battery will get you a year or two if you use the system semi-regularly.

As for save cartridges, there are a couple things you need to know about them. There are two primary varieties. There are save cards and direct-save carts. The direct-save carts let you save directly to the cartridge in games that support it. The ones that aren't direct-save require you to copy saved games over in the Saturn memory manager. The only direct-save carts I would trust would be Sega branded ones. They don't so much use a battery as static memory, I think, though they can lose their charge and their saves if they aren't plugged in and used frequently enough. The non-direct cartridges are the 3rd party ones and they often used compression routines. Sometimes this is just fine, but occasionally saves can be corrupted. Also, some games have huge save files that take up almost all of the Saturn's internal save memory. If you have a non-direct cart you'll have to copy all your current saves over to the cartridge and use the Saturn's internal memory almost exclusively for the game with the massive save needs.

I have a couple Sega branded carts, but they need use to charge them up again as they've been fallow for a while. I might be willing to let one go, but sadly, it won't go cheaply. I bought the thing in Japan and I'm awfully fond of it. If a reasonable price on ebay is also reasonable to me for said cart I might let one go.

[GagaMan]

I had one of those Blaze one's once, but mine didn't work. It was second hand, so it could just of been in poor condition, but I think you'd still be better off with an official one.

[Pullmyfinger]

I got one of these, but I have yet to find a use for it, I haven't ran out of memory, this is a not-direct save cart right?

[marurun]

I think that one is a direct-save. I'm not sure Sega manufactured any that weren't direct-save, but I'd be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

[The Apprentice]

I've never dealt with blaze carts before but tell you that you should stay away from the carts made by Performance. Memory Card Pluses are terribly cheaply built and not only do they corrupt game saves almost constantly, and they cause the system to freeze if you use certain games. Mine freezes every time a play Nights with the cartridge in.

[Gamerforlife]

Hmm, question. Did Sega ever produce white memory cartridges with Sakura Wars labels on them. I thought they were third party, but I've heard conflicting stories. Apparently, Sega had a store in Japan that sold all kinds of Sakura Wars items. I got one off ebay maybe a year ago, and I think the sticker does show a tiny bit of text that says Sega at the bottom. It just looks like something that a third party company would make though.

I'm concerned if it even still works since I haven't used my Saturn in like a year.

Oh, and does that 4 in 1 action replay cart make a good memory cartridge. I bought it mainly so I could play import only games that require 4MB RAM, but I am curious about how reliable it is as a memory cartridge

I want reliable save devices, since I would never want to rely on just the system's internal battery

[marurun]

My AR4M+ has been reliable with saves. In fact, my 2 Sega direct save carts have been the least reliable, if only because I rarely put them in the system so they are constantly losing charge and thus the saves. If you use a direct save cart you want it to be in the Saturn often to keep the charge on the memory up.

[Gamerforlife]

Are they any problems with using memory cartridges with back-up games? Do they just recognize them like they would the originals?

[marurun]

Not that I've noticed, no, no problems.