The latest model of the Fenrir optical drive emulator for Saturn appeared on the official webstore yesterday. Dubbed the “Fenrir Lite,” it sports a new purple board and is being sold for €50 (about US$58).
The webstore says the Fenrir Lite is on backorder and orders will ship starting Aug. 1. That’s because Ced, the Fenrir’s creator, said on his Discord server that he’ll be on vacation for about a week, so he won’t be able to program and ship them out until he’s back.
Ced said the Lite is just as capable as its predecessor, the Fenrir Duo, which debuted nearly three years ago at €110.
The Lite’s board appears to be slightly redesigned while still sporting the same feature set as the Duo. Its name doesn’t just reflect its lower cost but also alludes to a new model yet to be revealed.
“A ‘better/faster/stronger’ Fenrir will be released,” Ced said yesterday. “I’ll share more detail when I’ll have a [proof of concept].”
Above is the Fenrir Duo. Below is the new Fenrir Lite.
The Duo was put on a clearance price of €50 in May accompanied by a promise from Ced to release a new revision later in the year. That model sold out within about a month.
The Fenrir is a no-solder optical drive emulator that replaces a Saturn’s CD-ROM drive and runs games off of a micro SD card. It supports games in CCD/IMG, CUE/ISO (for single files) and CUE/BIN (for multiple files) formats. It first went on sale in spring 2020.
In March, beta firmware to enable streaming games over Wi-Fi was released, as SHIRO! reported at the time. It’s a feature that no other Saturn ODE can boast.
For those who want to use a Fenrir without removing the CD-ROM drive from their Saturn, the WUXI Drive Switcher is available from Helder’s Game Tech for $45.
In the last year, the Fenrir has faced competition from other Saturn ODEs, like the SAROO cartridge, which is often sold for less than $100, and the Satiator, which dropped its price late last year from $260 to $200. The Fenrir also has had to compete against unauthorized clones of itself being sold on AliExpress for much less than the Fenrir Duo originally cost.
This story originally appeared on Sega Saturn SHIRO!