Sega Portable- whats the catch..?

Gonzor

I did a search and only found two mentions of this. So I just want to ask:

Im thinking of buying this (Sega Megadrive Portable)

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3906534/c_1/1|category_root|Toys+and+games|14417629/c_2/3|19747020|Games+and+puzzles|14417785/c_3/4|cat_14417785|Electronic+games|14417794.htm

The person Im buying it for isnt really what you might call a "gamer", just a woman with a lot of free time (and boredom) on her hands. The reason Im considering it is simply because back in the day she had a regular sega megadrive and enjoyed it.

But heres the thing.

Its €35 brand new.... and I just cant help but wonder- why is it so cheap? Is it some sort of gimmick.... or is it actually something you could sit down and enjoy..?? Or will it break after a week or two.... Surely at €35 there has to be a catch?

Nollog

It's so cheap because the megadrive is more than 20 years old.
35 euro isn't that cheap though for one of those things.

You can't put your own games on it obviously is a drawback, but most games from the megadrive are probably in the public domain now, if memory serves so I doubt the maker had much trouble with what games to put on it.

deathrider

This looks formiliar. Did they stock them in HMV a year or two ago? I supposed the catch, if my understanding of it is correct, would be that you can't insert other games, and that everything is twenty years old. Not really a catch, but it couldn't be sold at the same price as a DS, for example, because of this.

johnny_ultimate

Could always get a Nomad instead - a megadrive in portable form!

Be prepared to spend hundreds on batteries if you intend portably playing it, though :pac:

Paparazzo

The catch is, it's not a snes

Gonzor

/\/ollog wrote: »

35 euro isn't that cheap though for one of those things.

Really..?? I know that they make playstations and x-boxes (and electronics in general) for cheap enough, but are they making them *that* cheap, that at 35 euro they are still making a profit..?

denballs

most phones run emulaters with all these games...nowadays

ShadowHearth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Toy89QDh0

there is a list of games in that video description. it can be hooked to TV which is very nice touch.


at 35eu it is really a good little yoke to be honest...

as for catch - lads are right, you can play only stuff that is on it.

i wonder, after looking at this yoke, does that mean we will have some little portable thing with 20-30 xbox or ps3 games in argoes for 40eu in the next 20 years?

deathrider

Looks quite good. I think I might have o get me one of this little badboys. You can never have too many copies of the likes of Altered Beast or Alien Storm. The only problem would be a) the batteries as someone already mentioned, and b) the button layout looks a bit off. Differently different from the Mega Drive layout.

GreenWolfe

The catch with these that the hardware inside these doesn't quite emulate the Mega Drive properly.

http://segaretro.org/Mega_Drive_Portable_Video_Game_Player

PSG sound

It seems that the PSG chip in the unit is tuned incorrectly, and all sound produced by the PSG is 7 semitones too low. While this isn't noticeable on most music in games, it does occasionally become obvious, such as Knuckles' theme in Sonic and Knuckles.
TV Output

While TV output for the Hong Kong device works fine, on the UK device they made a fatal error. It has been adjusted to run at 50 Hz, but it still outputs an NTSC composite signal, causing it to be black and white on UK TVs that do not support the hybrid NTSC-50 standard.

There is a non-portable version available too that accepts carts - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Megadrive-Player-Console-Games-built-/dp/B003ZJ28HQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326549609&sr=8-2

Gonzor

I think I might get this afterall since nobody has anything "bad" to say about it. I know a few people said it cant accept new games but really, my budget is like 40-50euro so I reckon its a deal (lets just hope it doesnt break after a week).

And as I said, shes not a "gamer" so even if it did take new games I dont think she'd buy too many.... especially since (OK Im assuming here ) the only place to get Sega games would be ebay.

ScumLord

The most expensive part of making electronics is designing them, once that's done though it's extremely cheap to manufacture.

denballs

Gonzor wrote: »

I think I might get this afterall since nobody has anything "bad" to say about it. I know a few people said it cant accept new games but really, my budget is like 40-50euro so I reckon its a deal (lets just hope it doesnt break after a week).

And as I said, shes not a "gamer" so even if it did take new games I dont think she'd buy too many.... especially since (OK Im assuming here ) the only place to get Sega games would be ebay.

you could get an emulater for vall consoles up until ps1...to play on most phones.....you can get games like gameboy pokemon on old phones even....for free

Nollog

ShadowHearth wrote: »

i wonder, after looking at this yoke, does that mean we will have some little portable thing with 20-30 xbox or ps3 games in argoes for 40eu in the next 20 years?

Nope.
Copyright has changed to make it way too expensive after the ps1 era.
It used to be after 25 years the code was public domain, now it's 25 years after the creators die, I think.

calex71

As said most android phones run emulators , the xperia play is especially great given its built in game pad, but you can also connect a wii mote and classic controller to them via bluetooth which is excellent

Mr Trade In

I bought one of these in Argos 2 years ago for €20, the sound is good but the games are crappy roms, its very small and is very fragile, the screen went after 2 months.

Mr Trade In

If you have a PSP buy the megadrive collection for €10 it is the samething with extras,videos and interviews.

Chris_Heilong

or get this one and put your games on the SD card
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/SEGA-Mega-Drive-Arcade-Ultimate-Portable-Console-Super-Street-Fighter-II-Special-/140672209145?pt=UK_Controllers_Attachments&hash=item20c0b790f9#ht_4455wt_1163

It also has 6 buttons for street fighter, ranger x...ect

K.O.Kiki

/\/ollog wrote: »

You can't put your own games on it obviously is a drawback, but most games from the megadrive are probably in the public domain now, if memory serves so I doubt the maker had much trouble with what games to put on it.

Nope.

o1s1n

Buy a Sega Nomad.

Have the LCD screen mod done.

Have the 50/60hz mod done.

Have the battery pack mod done.

Buy an Everdrive.

Load it with games.

You now have the greatest handheld console on earth.