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fuzzbuzz · Jun 9, 2006

One variation of the Genesis deserves special mention, and that is the Sega TeraDrive. This was an ordinary AMD 386SX-25 PC clone with 1MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard drive, but it also included a built-in MegaDrive as a 16-bit ISA card. The original Japanese TeraDrive was black in color and vended by Sega in conjunction with a now-unknown Japanese company for use by MegaDrive developers. It shipped with a software development kit (SDK) which made it possible to develop your MegaDrive and Mega CD games (the Mega CD accessory appears to have been an option). The Teradrive eventually found its way outside of Japan in late 1993 under the sponsorship of Amstrad, the noted computer system vendor. They changed the case color to cream, beefed up the memory to 2 MB, and made the MegaDRive SDK optional. The unit wasn't very successful regardless of market, and this was largely due to its high price (about US$3000). A souped-up version called the MegaPlus was later offered based on a 486DX-33 CPU machine with 4 MB of RAM, but very few seem to have made it out the door. The TeraDrive and its successor have all but disappeared with the passage of time.
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I had no idea that the TeraDrive included a SDK. I did some research and apparently it's the same SDK that was given to developers. I wish I had known before, I found a teradrive on ebay forever ago, and I was like "Man, who'd want to own something like that"

Rika Chou · Jun 9, 2006

I've been on the lookout for a Teradrive for this very reason.

I remember Nemesis was going to buy the sound card from a Teradrive, and was going to buy the whole thing. Dunno what happened with that.

They occasionally appear on Rinkya, but good luck getting them to ship outside Japan.

fuzzbuzz · Jun 9, 2006

Even still, do those TeraDrives actually include the SDK? I know that in some models it was an option and wasn't always bundled with the system.

EDIT: And what do you mean good luck on getting them to ship it? Rinkya says that they would ship it from japan to where you want and stuff like that. That's what Rinkya is for, I thought.

Rika Chou · Jun 9, 2006

fuzzbuzz said:

EDIT: And what do you mean good luck on getting them to ship it? Rinkya says that they would ship it from japan to where you want and stuff like that. That's what Rinkya is for, I thought.
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Most sellers choose not to ship outside japan. Actually, I think all the auctions say this by default.

You could always try to email the seller, but the language barrier could be a problem.

fuzzbuzz · Jun 9, 2006

Rinkya has them shipped to a place in japan, and then shipped to the states. The people in the auctions send to a place in japan so it's all cool for them.

Check the FAQs and see if I'm wrong.

Rika Chou · Jun 9, 2006

X_X

Wow, now I can say goodbye to all my money. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

fuzzbuzz · Jun 9, 2006

lol PLEASE tell me if you see a teraDrive. I will pay anything for one if it has an SDK

drx · Jun 11, 2006

I'll ask some guys with teradrives when I come back from the states... thanks for telling me this

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