The SATELLAVIEW is BACK in 2024!

I'm so excited about this mostly lost and forgotten piece of Nintendo history being revived by some really smart members of the community! Ever since I heard about the Satellaview, I've always wanted to see what it was like back when it was originally released. Hopefully some day, this project could let owners of the hardware get some use out of this awesome peripheral.
Satellaview Plus Website: satellaviewplu...
Discord: / discord
Satellaview Plus Channel: ‪@SatellaviewPlus‬
RandNet Plus Website: randnetplus.com/
If you enjoy my videos and would like to help support my channel, consider leaving a like, comment, and subscription, as well as checking me out on other platforms:
Discord Server: / discord
Instagram: / ytzer0

[@Taneuma_563]

Servers are now open, and will be open daily from 8am-11pm.

[@SatellaviewPlus]

Thanks for checking us out! I hope everyone enjoys the project!

[@RetroZero64]

Thanks for making it! I've been wanting something like this forever :)

[@IoIxD]

How do you plan on getting this working on original hardware? Obviously you don't own a satellite radio station (I imagine the emulator is connecting via a server), so are you gonna require additional hardware?

[@asra-5180]

​​@@IoIxD I highly doubt they'll answer back lol.

[@IoIxD]

@@asra-5180 Yeah what sucks about this project is whoever has made it has chosen to keep their identity, as well as the source code or any documentation for how this works, a complete mystery.

[@billyyank1916]

I wish you guys the best of luck!

[@thenintendoshitcube]

I've been waiting for something like this for years! Early online functionality has always fascinated me, especially early Nintendo stuff, thanks for showing this off, and thank you to the Satellaview Plus team!

[@RetroZero64]

Me too! I hope some of the other early online services get a similar treatment some day

[@megamanfan3]

*Cough, cough* Sega Channel *cough, cough*

[@acupuncturekid]

Wish someone could officially do a fully functional xband that works on emulators

[@RetroZero64]

As of me writing this comment (7/14/24) the open beta is currently over so the servers won't be working until the next one. The lead developer said they're planning to do another beta starting August 1st so make sure you join the Discord to get notified when it's back up!

[@Peppe0212]

The fact that real hardware support is planned makes me feel so excited for this, i can't wait to be able to use this cool add-on

[@RetroZero64]

Me too!

[@wolfetteplays8894]

Same!

[@joeldabest638]

Oh man that's neat! Hopefully we can get the Sega Channel revival next!

[@RetroZero64]

That would be awesome!

[@samusx2175]

It's already been done by fans, for RetroArch.

[@promaster424]

I'm glad I can help this project. And maybe even make some cool events for all of you ;)

[@Ev3rm00n]

This is actually pretty cool. Would be a little something to be excited about at the end of the day, see what is being broadcasted, even the japanese magazines can be enjoyed nowadays with google lens and stuff. Such a great project.

[@Taneuma_563]

Magazines have been broadcast along with several Satellaview games/retail demos. Original custom magazines are also being considered as well in the future.

[@idkdkak]

I never thought I'd see the Satellaview live. I always wanted to experience randnet too, but we could never get a 64DD before the closure. Always nice to see stuff like this, it makes these consoles seem new again :)

[@costelinha1867]

I think people are trying to emulate randnet as well.

[@betatalk64]

Hey hey, glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@RetroZero64]

Yeah its pretty awesome :)

[@scoutkirby1764]

This is SO cool! There's so much potential with this too. I'd love to see a BS Zelda timed broadcast done through this, even better if they go the extra mile with custom time events and a live "radio broadcast" (Though realistically I'd use twitch foe that part) to announce the stuff in the game and maybe do their own lore. As for the potential for real hardware, I imagine the next step after having a stable emulator is getting it connected through the SD2SNES/FXPak since you can connect that to a computer via USB and do some neat stuff, including connecting it on the internet that way.

[@RetroZero64]

I'm so excited for what they could do in the future. Hopefully the devs stick with it and really make something awesome out of this

[@warhero82]

This is great! I love seeing projects like these that let myself and others experience things we might have never tried before.

[@RetroZero64]

@@warhero82 Yeah! Theres a ton of other things that I hope get the same treatment someday. The Taito X-Data Net Station is one that comes to mind

[@lpfan4491]

Fans are genuine heroes...AGAIN. Like, I have no problem supporting official releases(like NSO) when I have the cash left over, but reviving the satellaview and N64DD? Nintendo would never, you guys. This is so beautiful. At this stage, it would not surprise me if the japanese version of Pokemon Crystal gets its online restored too.(Which btw yes, people have called out the release for not adding enough and that's a localization change. Its biggest addition is supposed to be online!)

[@Ivegotsomewater81]

Now that is absolutely incredible

[@IaconDawnshire]

Let's hope Nintendo doesn't DMCA this

[@doublecontralto818]

They will

[@Zawmbbeh]

If they have no money to lose from it, it should probably be fine.

[@costelinha1867]

@@Zawmbbeh Since when does nintendo care about this. They literally send DMCA to people hosting games that THEY THEMSELVES, REFUSE TO SELL!

[@SonicMaster519]

@@ZawmbbehNintendo killing fan-games and music uploads:

[@spike007980]

if this is already live on a youtube recording, they already know. it'll be doomed soon.

[@LoveatFirstHike]

I hope for their success! I really could see this evolving into something like Atari Fuji Net, a WiFi modem for Atari 8 bit computer and Coleco ADAM that allow you to connect to BBS and download games/ programs! Super cool. I would 1000% buy an Satella+ cart for my SNES if it emulated Satellaview hardware/ BSX software and allowed WiFi connectivity

[@JancoGT2]

thank you very much this works perfect i now this is weird but one of my dream consoles is satellaview and now i have one on pc! :)

[@JamesTDG]

It would be cool to see community run satellaview servers that have cool bonus stuff

[@costelinha1867]

Know what would be a cool potential of this when it gets up and running? Maybe give people the ability to develop custom short games that can be broadcast via the Satellaview, or to make custom articles for you to download.

[@stevenedwards8353]

Yeah it would. Maybe have SOME sort of quality control, so that junk half-assed stuff isn't clogging the system, but I can see great opportunities for indie developers to try their hand at SNES development here

[@yawg691]

Beyond cool! I'd stake my savings on it that the Ape guys had their hands in the graphic design.

[@hoonami139]

I don't know what it is but I love that St.Giga screen at 5:40. Been trying to find that building on google maps

[@RetroZero64]

Maybe that geoguesser guy on tiktok would be able to find it

[@inceptional]

OK, this is rather cool. Another little bit of aftermarket support for the SNES there. Hopefully they keep developing it. :)

[@djksfhakhaks]

That would be AMAZING if they could make an mmo out of the platform! It seems like that basics are there already if you can see NPCs, assuming they are controlled server side.

[@Taneuma_563]

The public beta is unfortunately over now, but will return on August 1st with more features.

[@dj9volt]

Dezaemon was a shmup maker on the super famicom and this was a special version of the game made for satellaview

[@Wobuffet3]

not sure about the rest of the dev team, but the guy who did earthbound music do indeed do music for this too

[@renasdulcek1334]

Great as soon as im back home i will set it all up on my PC.i want mario paint a lot so i must wait until its broadcasted.

[@kitestar]

Dazaemon is a very old shmup game maker that was on NES/SNES/PSX/Saturn.

[@RetroZero64]

That's cool. Definitely something I gotta keep an eye out for

[@ZipplyZane]

I was literally about to ask if the hubworld was Earthbound, and then you said it.

[@RetroZero64]

Yeah I assume they had some people from Ape Inc. work on it because it feels way too similar

[@mrnuage]

I hope this project goes further to the point of how it was during the broadcast. You had F-Zero 2 but with audio CD quality music and commentaries from the radio broadcast at the same time. I know that nowadays we've got MSU1 allowing us to get audio CD quality music in games and even FMVs and I know that someone doing the radio broadcast in real time would be hard to do but I hope they can do even better than what they did.

[@RetroZero64]

I believe the lead developer said That's something he's working on. It would be awesome

[@unclerukmer]

It would be great to see this up and running on Linux / SteamOS.

[@RetroZero64]

@@unclerukmer it is! I actually daily drive arch Linux which is what steamos is built off and it works fine

[@unclerukmer]

@@RetroZero64 Wonderful!

[@kabbusses]

Huh, I just caught wind of this in one of my searches! Give me a bit to check it out.

[@japangamejunk]

Hopefully my bookshelf item can become used for joy

[@ls190v2]

Superb Satellaview saviors!

[@jess648]

dezaemon was a snes game ghat gave you the basic tools to make your own shmup

[@RetroZero64]

I'm definitely gonna have to keep an eye out for this one

[@firstname7071]

very interesting, it's like earthbound meets animal crossing!

[@cosmicplays4580]

Oh wow, i didnt know this existed and now im on the hunt for one😂

[@jess648]

the hub program probably was designed by HAL, Creatures Inc. or APE. just has that vibe to it

[@RetroZero64]

All the weird buildings and characters, the sound effects, the music, it just screams Earthbound in the coolest way

[@TheSavageBountyHunter]

Nentindo Bs and Snes BS-X never got much attention.. sucks because they were so ahead of its time..

[@freakmil1537]

I hope the data will be able to communicate with the original hardware, such as wi-fi, blue tooth or any compatible transmitter that may fool the system it is trying to transmit with satellite dish, communicate with cables, or third party modified cassette that would communicate with the plus server via cable or wireless such as wi-fi and blue tooth from the PC.

[@Mr_Ultimate]

that shmup game might have been made by capcom, the sound font sounds exactly like a megaman x sound font or megaman 7 potentially

[@mariotaz]

So awesome

[@MrMariosonicman]

Honestly, even if it would be japanese only, im surprised Nintendo hasnt tried adding these to their own online game service. what better time to try out a "can only be played at these times of day" games then on a system you pay online for like a TV service?

[@ZipplyZane]

Do they do the broadcasts--the extra audio that would work at specific times? I wonder if those girls singing was supposed to have been accompanied by actual singing, or if it's some sort of Karaoke game using the built in sound chips. I hope that the text can get translated, and let you choose to use the EN version when you sign in. And I hope there would be some way to do it on teh actual console, mimicking the satellite signal to the peripheral.

[@RetroZero64]

I believe those audio broadcasts are a work in progress currently. I hope they some day get it working on original hardware too. I really want to see it up and running on my super Famicom

[@happinson]

that's pretty cool unfortunately the beta ended so i can't test it on my own

[@unRealityFPV]

very cool

[@kami_in_the_skye]

Neat!

[@SilvercattoOsom]

If we resurrect lost media BS-X games somehow, I'm going to be so estatic.

[@RetroZero64]

That's something people have slowly been doing for a few years now. Thankfully, BS-X games were stored on a memory card so some people buy tons of those memory cards and dump them all hoping to find something new

[@kindythecyborg]

Don’t get me wrong, this is really cool. But does anyone even own a Satellaview today? I didn’t even know it existed till I found this o.o

[@RetroZero64]

Well the good thing about this project is that it runs completely in an emulator so the original hardware isn't needed. I assume if they get to the point where original hardware is supported, you'll still have the option to emulate if you want to

[@kindythecyborg]

@@RetroZero64 ah ok!

[@costelinha1867]

@@RetroZero64 Not to mention, someone may be able to find a way to get it working on real hardware without the Satellaview. I mean, people managed to get N64DD games running on real hardware trough just a flashcart these days. You don't even need the N64DD anymore.

[@Ness_and_Sonic]

It will have to plug into the cartridge slot exclusively if they want to bring it to original hardware. the SNES 101/SNES Jr. model consoles don't have that port on the bottom, so an expansion port addon like that isn't the best option. I know this because I bought one of those from Walmart years ago to replace my old SNES after the power port broke. I'm also not sure about the Super Analogue consoles.

[@RetroZero64]

@@Ness_and_Sonic most likely the next step would be getting it to work through an everdrive or something which I believe has the ability to connect to the Internet or a computer in some way

[@Ness_and_Sonic]

@@RetroZero64 That's kind of what I'm thinking of, but it might be a cartridge with an ethernet port or wifi capabilities if not both and set up for use with that.

[@renasdulcek1334]

i cant set it up please a guide?the guide on website doesnt help.i did everything i setup client i placed BIOS in emulation folder,i launched satellaview+ and after downloading some .bin files it says everything is up to date but what then?nothing happens.i tried to install BSNES on windows.

[@MadShmupper82]

I'd love to see this work on Linux handhelds running Arkos and other operating systems. As I haven't a standalone snes9x on these, resorting to retroarch snes9x simply doesn't work unfortunately. Lol. I tried but no cigar😊

[@Someone69769]

LETS GOOOO!!!!!!!

[@BurritoKingdom]

Now if someone would bring back the Sega channel

[@RetroZero64]

That would be awesome but I feel like that might be a bit harder since there was no memory card or anything

[@sierrakobold6896]

So just to confirm this hubworld is original sattela-view software devloped by Nintendo, regardless of who specifically, but all of what you showed is original software from the program?It looks identical to the hub world with nothing added, i know for a fact there was a function with the robot building, you could enter to find some program of function? it would be awesome to be able to play the super famicom remake of Famicom detective club, though wouldn't be translated of course

[@RetroZero64]

This hubworld, the magazine, and all the games i played were originally created and released by Nintendo through the Satellaview. As of now, the developers of the project haven't gotten homebrew games running on the service yet.

[@sierrakobold6896]

@Zer064 that's what it seemed like, since you mentioned the people emulating this were going to create software for it was curious. Great video and leading me to your channel I subbed, thanks!

[@RetroZero64]

@@sierrakobold6896 thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed

[@nickolaswilcox425]

this is cool and all, but im just not as interested if i cant run it on my actual satellaview. also unfortunate that the audio streaming files were never recoverable, but there are enough vhs recordings to somewhat accurately recreate them at least

[@RetroZero64]

Hopefully that becomes a reality soon. The creator of this project also made randnet+ which works on original hardware afaik so it's definitely a possibility

[@Saturn2888]

How did they do this? Where did the data come from? Is it actually stuff from back then?

[@RetroZero64]

Thankfully you were able to save things you downloaded from the satellaview onto memory cards, so a lot of things have been dumped and preserved. Everything I played was originally broadcast on the service

[@The_Laser_Channel]

I remember downloading SNES ROMs back in the late 90s and ran across some games like BS Zelda and BS F-Zero. I honestly thought they were fan hacks of games and the BS was "Bull Shit"..LOL

[@SteamFi]

Finally

[@thejamestube]

I can't get this to run -- I made sure to make my directory structure identical to the one in the video (as seen at 3:12), but when I run Satellaview+.exe, it shows "Error: End of Central Directory record could not be found." Anyone run into this?

[@DavidAshta]

me too... :( probably because the public beta is over...

[@thejamestube]

@@DavidAshta ah maybe that's it. I found their Discord and posted the question there, so I'll update if I get a solution.

[@thejamestube]

@@DavidAshta That's it -- I posted the error in their Discord and confirmed that is indeed the case.

[@DavidAshta]

@@thejamestube aw man.. I just saw this today.. that's sad i want experience this..

[@RetroZero64]

Unfortunately the public beta is over until early August. I wish it kept going on but it should be back In a couple weeks I hope

[@PaulBadman]

first insignia, then the PlayStation and GameCube and now the SNES is getting online services restored

[@RetroZero64]

@@PaulBadman don't forget randnet too!

[@costelinha1867]

@@RetroZero64 Cof Cof, XBAND, cof cof.

[@careottjuice]

Noooo waaaay

[@EvilEmperorKmuz]

yo

[@kojimayoshiyuki2728]

This is so awesome. is there a way to run it on original hardware?

[@RetroZero64]

Not yet but hopefully that will happen some time soon

[@kojimayoshiyuki2728]

@@RetroZero64 still cool to be able to experience it.

[@alexgee365]

Will it work on retroarch?

[@RetroZero64]

I'm not entirely sure. I'm assuming if the sat-data folder is somewhere it should

[@ianmathews]

Does this work on real hardware? Like superfamicom + satellaview with modded rom?

[@RetroZero64]

Not currently but it's apparently something they're working on

[@Chrisezo]

Yeah, I'm happy that something like the Satellaview can still be experienced some way, because I feel that Nintendo's history is just full of FOMO, they have always been doing a lot of limited time stuff, in order to manipulate people to open their wallets with the thought that its going to be a once in a lifetime event of sorts, and then once Nintendo gets their money they rarely ever do events like that again, but you can see how they want you to feel left out, in the ways that in future content they sort of make easter eggs or whatever, of those events or even products they had released in the past, just basically to rub salt on the wound if you had not experienced it, while those that did get nostalgia baited to keep their loyalty towards Nintendo, because they lie to you and make you feel that you are "special", and people actually keep falling for this, even though its obvious Nintendo is still doing a lot of shady and messed up stuff, but they cover it up and pretend to be a family friendly game company. The only ones that keep Nintendo relevant are the fans, but instead of Nintendo appreciating this fact, they go after their fans with DMCAs or even copyright claims, or for those that make fan projects of sorts they go down hard with cease and desists, and then they call this protecting their IPs, when in many cases these fans aren't even making money off of it, but Nintendo on the other hand with all their lawsuits and stuff, are indeed profiting off of their fans, and nowadays they aren't even trying to impress people anymore, as they just release low quality and low durability products, because they know their fans will still buy their crap, and even as some people try to go after them just like the several joy con drift lawsuits, they know how to play the court system and will delay those cases as much as they can, until all of them eventually get dismissed just like what happened with all of those drift cases.

[@lpfan4491]

Satellaview really was Fomo incarnate because they were actually broadcasting real voiceclips like radio through it and it could range from random discussions to actual parts of the games. Of course, most of these are largely lost forever and have to be fan-recreated according to what we know about them.

[@stopmotionadventures4812]

22 hours ago, coolio

[@pabloguardia18]

does it work on the Wii?

[@RetroZero64]

@@pabloguardia18 that I'm not entirely sure about. You would have to ask the developers in the discord about that

[@904funny]

Barely anyone is talking about this or Randnet +. I hope GVG does a video.

[@RetroZero64]

Once I get a 64dd it's definitely something I want to check out. It's just pretty niche since most people don't have one especially outside of Japan

[@costelinha1867]

@@RetroZero64 Actually, there's a flashcart that can run 64DD games without the need of the actual thing. It can even run stuff like the F-Zero X expansion kit. Now of course for randnet, you may need the actual 64DD indeed.... or maybe try emulating if possible? I dunno... There are emulators that can run 64DD stuff.

[@polocatfan]

working on the steam deck using lutris.

[@RetroZero64]

@@polocatfan Awesome

[@damian9303]

Didn’t this channel use to be Beta64?

[@RetroZero64]

@@damian9303 Beta64 is a completely different channel. We're just both fans of the N64 😂

[@Bibvock]

Looks like it's already not working. The exe file is flagged as bad and doesn't work as described here in vid

[@RetroZero64]

The beta period is over for it. I believe they're doing some updates and restarting it some time early next month

[@hewasnotjoggin9943]

nintendo suing in 3 days

[@Taneuma_563]

The Satellaview service itself is too much of a legal nightmare for Nintendo to want to sue over. Hopefully...

[@DQweezy]

Really dumb how Nintendo made certain add-ons exclusive to Japan. If they released this and the 64dd in America they both would've taken off

[@RetroZero64]

I think this would have but idk about the DD. It was pretty expensive and didn't have a whole lot of support

[@rainbowspongebob]

@@RetroZero64honestly, if it hadn’t been released so closely to the GameCubes launch it could’ve been a hit

[@ViviSectia]

It was a commercial failure in Japan even with a large playerbase so I doubt that. Also, they did make an attempt to bring it here. They partnered with Microsoft but nothing ever came of it, probably because of legal issues which plagued the Japanese version at the beginning too.

[@polocatfan]

they absolutely would not have.

[@Taneuma_563]

Satellite radio didn't take off until after the Satellaview was discontinued, so I think that may be why the Satellaview never came outside of Japan. They could have used modem and dial-up connections, but it wouldn't have been fast enough to send the data through.

[@strangefishman7635]

Insert overdone and unfunny joke about Nintendo DMCAing fan projects here.

[@igorgiuseppe1862]

12:00 this minigame is anoying as hell, its a bad demo for the game, like geting the worst part of an game...

[@RetroZero64]

@@igorgiuseppe1862 yeah I wonder if that turned anyone off from playing Chrono Trigger in japan

[@RainbowShatterMusic]

this url has a part that say "R0TEMons"