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Earlier today I bought a stack of old gaming mags, and while paging through an issue of GamePro I came across this:
It appears SEGA's Pods was made in partnership with Tiger, however I own Pods new in box and nowhere is Tiger mentioned. Either the deal changed and SEGA took over distribution and rights, or it was a 100% SEGA made product and GamePro goofed. Another interesting bit, and the subject of this topic, is SEGA's Wonderbook. I have never heard of this before! The magazine describes it as a portable Pico, however I checked online and the one source that exists clarifies that it was more like an electronic storybook, it was not a portable Pico and did not use Pico tech. Still, it had a similar concept and color scheme.
http://faberp.tripod.com/sgwb.htm
I looked into RKS and it appears that they worked with SEGA in the mid 90s on product design, designing products like Tiger's Pocket Arcade - which they won an award for in 1995: http://old.rksdesign...dex.php/awards/
Despite everything lining up - SEGA working with RKS on other products and Wonderbook being a real thing - nowhere can I find proof that this thing was released to the public outside of a forum post where a guy says his little brother owned it: http://www.assembler...ll=1#post276345
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I noted that SEGA Retro does not list this, and as mentioned I'm not even sure if it ever released. Does anybody have any info on this item? I know the Pods and IR-7000 Communicator are obscure products, so I would not be surprised if the SEGA Wonderbook fell through the cracks and was released but forgotten.
It appears SEGA's Pods was made in partnership with Tiger, however I own Pods new in box and nowhere is Tiger mentioned. Either the deal changed and SEGA took over distribution and rights, or it was a 100% SEGA made product and GamePro goofed. Another interesting bit, and the subject of this topic, is SEGA's Wonderbook. I have never heard of this before! The magazine describes it as a portable Pico, however I checked online and the one source that exists clarifies that it was more like an electronic storybook, it was not a portable Pico and did not use Pico tech. Still, it had a similar concept and color scheme.
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This is not a videogame system but an educational toys made by Sega. Similar in conception to the better known Pico system, this is an electronic learning aid that (but I am not completely sure) wasn't linkable to a TV set. It was a stand alone system with no graphics but with sounds.
This was obviously targeted to kids. It seems that a similar products was also produced under the name of Electronic Comic Book and that it was targeted to older kids.
Wonderbook was produced by Sega together with a US company called RKS.
This was obviously targeted to kids. It seems that a similar products was also produced under the name of Electronic Comic Book and that it was targeted to older kids.
Wonderbook was produced by Sega together with a US company called RKS.
http://faberp.tripod.com/sgwb.htm
I looked into RKS and it appears that they worked with SEGA in the mid 90s on product design, designing products like Tiger's Pocket Arcade - which they won an award for in 1995: http://old.rksdesign...dex.php/awards/
Despite everything lining up - SEGA working with RKS on other products and Wonderbook being a real thing - nowhere can I find proof that this thing was released to the public outside of a forum post where a guy says his little brother owned it: http://www.assembler...ll=1#post276345
---
I noted that SEGA Retro does not list this, and as mentioned I'm not even sure if it ever released. Does anybody have any info on this item? I know the Pods and IR-7000 Communicator are obscure products, so I would not be surprised if the SEGA Wonderbook fell through the cracks and was released but forgotten.
This post has been edited by Barry the Nomad: 18 October 2014 - 02:49 PM
