don't click here

Blaze Sega Megadrive

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by VB.NET, Nov 1, 2010.

  1. VB.NET

    VB.NET

    Member
    230
    0
    0
    United States
    Learning C++
    I found one of these in stores the other day: http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/cartridge-...es/prod_68.html

    [​IMG]

    Is it worth purchasing one for $48? I've heard that the sound emulation is quite atrocious when running the 15 built-in games. However, I'm curious to know how this thing plays good old dusty cartridges. Anyone have any experience with this thing?
     
  2. SomeSortOfRobot

    SomeSortOfRobot

    Member
    659
    5
    18
    Mid-Southern US
    http://legendoflucy.com
  3. Spatula

    Spatula

    too cool for old school Member
    I have never heard anything good about them. Why not get an actual MegaDrive? Some are cleaned and in great condition.
     
  4. Rika Chou

    Rika Chou

    Tech Member
    5,276
    169
    43
    It's just one of those megadrive on a chip things, not emulation. The sound will be exactly the same for real carts as it is for the built in games.

    For $48, you can get a real Megadrive and more than 15 game on ebay or wherever.
     
  5. Glisp

    Glisp

    That one weird guy that does stuff. Member
    1,278
    1
    16
    Bloomington, IN
    None at the moment I'm afraid.
    I bet 5 bucks it lacks a YM2612 chip. Regardless of what Rika Chou says.
     
  6. SwissCM

    SwissCM

    Member
    Well, since it's an all-in-one design it would certainly have a YM2612 incorporated into the die along with a Z80 and everything else the original Mega Drive had. What matters is how well they cloned it and judging by reports they didn't do an amazing job.
     
  7. TmEE

    TmEE

    Master of OPL3-SA2/3 Tech Member
    1,726
    2
    18
    Estonia, Rapla City
    T-04YBSC-A !
    Nope.... ARM based MD emulator, with horrific sound... The time of cloned ASIC based clones is over, and those did sound good when you modded them...
     
  8. steveswede

    steveswede

    Member
    5,032
    1
    16
    Ask my hand
    Fighting against the Unitary State of Europe
    So there is no possibility of getting decent sound through modding? Excuse the noob question but this is the first time I've heard of modded Megadrive clones.

    Seeing that you have mentioned modding clones. Have you got any details to show and examples of modded clones with improved features like sound? I was thinking of getting a Retron 3. But the sound, while not bad, makes me cringe with all the inaccuracies it does from the examples I've heard over the net. I would get one of these if it could be modded to fix the sound.
     
  9. TmEE

    TmEE

    Master of OPL3-SA2/3 Tech Member
    1,726
    2
    18
    Estonia, Rapla City
    T-04YBSC-A !
    How you will mod the console depends on the console... each different ASIC requires different kind of external circuitry. The ARM emulator based clones just have badly emulated sound and no amount of modding will fix it, but older ASIC based clones have cloned YM and PSG in them which are accurate to the originals, but the final sound output butchered by the badly designed analog circuitry. Point of modding would be to fix the shortcomings in the analog parts... but the final verdict is still : "get original hardware"
     
  10. Uberham

    Uberham

    King Of Oblivion Member
    no, no, a thousand times no.

    just no.
     
  11. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
    19,218
    965
    93
    Long-term happiness
    Yeah, take it from someone who has a ton of these (I'm such a hardware whore...) - the sound is TERRIBLE. Get a real one off eBay.
     
  12. Impish

    Impish

    Member
    I have a question partially related to this. As the only way of playing megadrive games in my situation (price range, lack of moddable stuffz), how would this do? Its no sega nomad, but I want a portable megadrive, and some of the built in games I don't have.
     
  13. SwissCM

    SwissCM

    Member
    Really? That's really interesting. I wonder if it were possible to run native ARM code on it somehow.
     
  14. TmEE

    TmEE

    Master of OPL3-SA2/3 Tech Member
    1,726
    2
    18
    Estonia, Rapla City
    T-04YBSC-A !
    Yank off the flash chip and reprogram it with your own stuff :P
     
  15. I'll sell you a real genesis with two controllers for $48. Fuck getting one of these awful machines.
     
  16. SwissCM

    SwissCM

    Member
    What's the possibility that the ARM chip has pins for use with SD? It would make sense that they would use a generic ARM all-in-one design which generally have support for such things.
     
  17. LockOnRommy11

    LockOnRommy11

    Member
    2,708
    225
    43
    It's a shame because it looks like a dream. It's a tiny NEW Mega Drive, it plays your old carts, I has games built in, it looks like it uses the same controller ports and everything, and yet the sound is so terrible (I hear).

    It's amazing that the Mega Drive is still going strong so many years later. There are three of these things currently on the market. A small Plug 'n' Play version, the one we're talking about, and a hand held device too. You'd think people with this generation of consoles would just download the games, although I appreciate some games can't be downloaded, in which case, surely if you have the carts, you have the Mega Drive?
     
  18. VB.NET

    VB.NET

    Member
    230
    0
    0
    United States
    Learning C++
    I don't actually own a Sega Megadrive/Genesis. I do however have a couple of carts that a friend from the UK sent me (including PAL Sonic 1, 2, 3, S&K and an American Sonic 2 cartridge).

    I just want the proper retro experience, it just feels wrong playing on an emulator on some clunky computer... :(

    I'm considering the Sega Ultimate (a.k.a. Sega Gopher): http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/sega-ultimate/prod_133.html

    [​IMG]

    Yeah, it emulates games which contradicts what I said earlier but it'd be handy having an SD card with hundreds of roms! Downside is I don't think it saves... Is it possible to make a custom ROM that starts off at a completed save screen state? :specialed:
     
  19. Lobotomy

    Lobotomy

    35% Cognac Banned
    4,394
    1
    0
    Traverse City
    Project: Matter/Energy
  20. Steven M

    Steven M

    Member
    394
    0
    0
    This is why I love my PSP