So, I was running a search for Sega CMs for a project I'm trying to work on, and I found this video. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DzctUahM2Q[/media] There is, obviously enough, one major problem with the title of this upload. It's quite obvious if you pay attention to the commercial that it's advertising Sega Game Toshokan for the Meganet, NOT the Sega Channel. It seems confusion over the various Sega "connection" services goes back a while on the internet, as in older Sega ROM dats, Sega Game Toshokan was mislabelled as a Japanese XBand BIOs. (And now, to this date, as far as I know, no Sega-related XBand BIOs are dumped, even amongst the XBox fanboys who try to "revive" the XBand via ZSNES emulation... ugh.) Unfortunately the way I learned this was being sent on a wild goose chase for said BIOs based on the misinformation being spread by someone with actual reputation. This shows how serious this issue can be in regard to factual accuracy and preservation. I know in regards to the site and specific sections pertaining to this, there's good attempts at keeping info accurate. Yet for some reason misinformation is spreading. I think something needs to be done, even if I'm not sure what. If there was more content to work with, I'd consider a front-page article series or somesuch, but I wouldn't be happy with an article like that if there's no XBand dumps or a Japanese Sega Channel BIOs dump... Any suggestions?
There was once a time when Wikipedia didn't bother with references, so lies and misconceptions were all the rage ten years ago[citation needed] In a sense, Sega Retro has already done its bit (Sega Channel, Sega Meganet), it's just a case of waiting for the world to take note. Of course one of the real issues behind all of this is there's still so much we don't know about these things (like the Japanese Sega Channel and the attempts across Europe) - we don't really have a complete story so I still wouldn't put much confidence on our take being the best possible description of these devices. All I can say is our attempts are "better". This sort of thing is a constant battle. When I started swimming in the depths of Sega history I found tons of factural errors, mislabelings and just general garbage in regards to both hardware and software. And that's Sega - a reasonably well-documented topic with legions of fans. Take a dive into Nintendo waters and you'd find just as many problems - it's a mess.
Haha, I remember Wikipedia's Satellaview article from 2007 compared to today... It's like a night-and-day difference. It's fascinating. The unfortunate thing for me is that I simply find it a lot easier to properly research a Nintendo subject than a Sega one for whatever reason. Perhaps it's simply because 16-bit Sega wasn't as popular in Japan? Yet in spite of any popularity, I managed to dig up a hell of a lot more about the Satellaview than the Japanese version of Sega Channel. Huh... There's notably XBand Super Famicom and Sega Saturn footage, but little on Mega Drive. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmkkVmYoHrY[/media] It's kinda disheartening. Still, I run searches on YJA hoping to find something sometime.
I'm guessing Nintendo has a big presence online because of the early internet demographics. Your average joe didn't really bother with the internet in 1999 - it was the playground (primarily) of computer savvy "nerds" mostly from the US (because the internet was more widely available there at the time). If they were playing around with this stuff in high school or college or something, the maths suggest they're were probably part of the NES generation, so any video game contributions (based on experiences) are going to be centred around Nintendo. it gets deep when you start thinking about it. The plus side is the internet is commonplace now so it should be getting a lot better in this regard Nintendo and Sega have got it pretty good (the fact we're even able to discuss the Sega Channel is a testament to this). I could throw a bunch of systems out there which have no documentation to speak of at all - the Tatung Einstein! The Jupiter Ace! The APF Imagination Machine! Even the ultra popular market leading computers of Japan have virtually nothing written about them (in English).
Considering how the dumb goose chase I was sent through was started by me asking that very question, I can't say. I've tried googling Japan-only results, but in regard to XBand it seems the only Megadrive-related references are to the US version. We do, however, know with absolute certainty that a Japanese Sega Channel existed. Pictures of it's box, cart, some menus, and a list of games available for play on it go around... but it seems like the BIOs are in the hands of hoarding collectors. I've waited for YEARS on Yahoo Japan Auctions for one to come up, but to no avail. Unfortunately the "From the US" part really screwed over solid information about the Japanese side of Nintendo at times, which is why information abot the Satellaview still needs clearing up 10 years later, and there's still basically NOTHING on what was programmed for "Family Basic" outside of NicoNicoDouga, something which I've been trying to fix. (Also that people can't seem to fathom that Mother 3 and Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu are considered black sheep game entries in Japan, rather than the masterpieces the English fanbase made them out to be.) Interestingly enough, I've been digging up Retro-PC stuff on NicoNicoDouga and uploading it to Youtube. There's apparently a good amount of Store Demo versions of PC-88, Sharp X1, and X68000 software. It'd be great if someone could help in that regard. And certainly someone should eventually. After all, the PC-88's got several notable games, including Super Mario Bros. Special which is approaching internet-meme levels of popularity thanks to people seeing it on Youtube (And Super Mario Bros. Crossover).
By the way, here's another hardly-documented setup... The Terebikko. Probably unpopular because it's basically just a psuedo-phone adapter for your VHS, but it has a Mario anime, c'mon otaku! Is "Atsumare! Goku World" REALLY The only thing you can dig up?
I don't think Japan got the XBAND service for the Mega Drive, but the technology was certainly recycled for the Sega Saturn Modem. The Mega Drive service (I believe) was exclusive to the US and Brazil. Don't know if there were trial runs anywhere else but it certainly wasn't widespread.
