The “Terraonion MODE” resurrects your old SEGA Saturn & Dreamcast consoles

This new SSD breathes new life into long dead consoles.

This new SSD breathes new life into long dead consoles.

Terraonion have announced their new project; an FPGA based optical disk emulator for use with both SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast they have called MODE.

The MODE is fully compatible with both systems and requires no soldering in order to install. Both systems use the same firmware making the process if installing the MODE into either system almosy as easy as plug and play.

Terraonion have detailed many points of interest around the MODE:

  • Compatible with both 20 pin and 21 pin Saturn consoles.
  • Compatible with both 5v (VA0) and 3,3v (VA1) Dreamcast (proper voltage level conversion)
  • Auto region patching (loads games from different regions without patching games)
  • Auto detects the console it’s plugged into. No jumpers to configure.
  • SATA 2.5 HDD compatible with exfat (works with both hard drives and SSD drives)
  • MicroSD
  • USB for USB thumbdrives and powered USB hard drives

Along with compatible with both consoles, the MODE is also:

  • 100% compatible with all Saturn and Dreamcast games!
  • Compatible with Redump and Tosec images (for both Dreamcast/Saturn)
  • Compatible with CDI, GDI, CCD, MDF, bin/iso+cue images
  • 2 User interfaces: Simple list view and Advanced Cover Art
  • Supports multiple Disc games
  • Zero seek times providing faster load times
  • Supports Mpeg card, ActionReplay / PseudoSaturnKai, Saturn RAM cart compatible
  • DC Digital, DreamPSU and PicoPSU compatible

Terraonion have also provided a list of tech data for the MODE:

  • 32-bit MCU at 168MHz with 192KB RAM
  • High performance FPGA for accurate data transfer speeds
  • USB 2.0 High Speed PHY for high transfer speed from SATA & USB
  • Full speed Memory card interface supporting up to 12MB/s
  • SATA to USB 2.0 bridge for high speed SATA hard disk access
  • Level translators to properly convert signal levels, and support Dreamcast VA0
  • Saturn 20pin and 21pin interface with mainboard autodetection
  • User IO connector for expansion, and support custom interface boards
  • Reset generation and Region selection for Saturn
Coverage for MODE starts at 3:25.

So, there we have it, an easy, plug and play that allows the use of two consoles without any complicated hardware work in the systems.

You can purchase the MODE from Terraonion’s web store [HERE], it is available for €182.00 / $198.00 / £161.00. Terraonion’s [WEBSITE] states that preorders are currently estimated to ship in late-June/early-July.