Sega Saturn Import Advice?
 

This forum is more about video games than the hardware, I know, but I'm hoping one or two people must have imported consoles from time to time.

I've been planning to buy a Japanese Sega Saturn. As I live in the UK, the input voltage is 230V but in Japan it's 110V. I'm not sure if the Sega Saturn had a buildin PSU so I'm far from sure about the type of transformer I'd need, or if it's even going to play through my TV without any difficulties.

If anyone has experience with this, I'd love to hear your advice.

Thanks!

It will play on your TV unless you have an ancient one. For the Saturn you will need a step-down transformer like this one. If you want to use UK and American games as well as Japanese you'll need an Action Replay cartridge.

Ace!

Just one or two other questions...

- Are the pins on Japanese plugs the same as US ones?
- Is 100W enough for most consoles? How much Watts did the Saturn need?
- Will outputting more Watt than required be damaging? (Am I better to get one as close to the console requirement as possible?)
- Does it matter if the outputted voltage is 120V rather than 110V? (Some seem to say this: seems minor, but want to be certian)

Thanks again! I'm happy to finally know what I'll be needing :D Apologies for the mass of questions too, but while this is something I've always wanted to do, I worry about getting it wrong and damaging the console. It wouldn't be ideal ;)

The plug won't be a problem, they are similar enough between America and Japan. The wattage is plenty unless you plan on powering anything more recent than a Gamecube. Too much wattage isn't a problem, the console will draw what it needs. As for the voltage I'm honestly not sure what to tell you except that I use the same step-down for all my imported consoles, no problem.

Fantastic, many thanks! Time for me to go order a few things at long last :D

I don't think 110V versus 120V is a big deal. I remember reading somewheres there's a 10% tolerance on what they'll run on, so either way you're fine.

Based on the sound advice of you both, I felt confident enough to finally go ahead and buy myself that Japanese Saturn I've been hoping to get for awhile. Many thanks! It is something I have put off doing for years simply out of not knowing about the compatibility and power issues. I look forward to getting back to playing those classics I loved so much that the laser of my last Saturn started to burn out :D