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[BlackTron]

They needed these 2.. Sonic 2 is my fav of the lineup they have on it.

How did you know exactly which 2 titles I thought were missing??

For that matter, Sonic 2 is both my favorite Sonic and favorite title in this lineup lol.

 

[EightBit Man]

One thing is for certain: nobody would miss Virtua Fighter 2!

Aladdin, Ristar, The Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Rocket Knight Adventures...almost ANYTHING but that please!

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Here are the games on the MD Mini that I own. I do have Sonic's 1, 2, 3 and K but I think they are lost (I did have 1 but no idea where I put that one).

My brother had Altered Beast but no idea where that has gone either.

I also had Monster World but I sold it on.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Prob won't even be able to order mines until tomorrow, so guess it'll be next weekend before I can even play it xD. Still tho, this gon b lit!

 

[FranXico]

I have this. Works for me.

Oh but you could have so much better.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Am gutted it’s not on the Europe megadrive.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Starlight Lotice]

I hope that means Sonic CD is a super secret game now. XD Edit: Nvm that is the Tower of Terror thing isn't it? Still cool though.

Oh, but let me let you guys know just how much my Mini from Japan and the Case cost me.....£130!!!! The power of Brexit! I am guessing this includes shipping and Custom Fees Pre-Paid because it is Amazon.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

You should try to reenact the console wars by making them argue about whether the SNES Classic Mini or the Mega Drive Mini is better.

Lol they don't care nearly so much as we used to in the heyday of the consoles.

 

[RAIDEN1]

It just defies belief though why on earth put in Virtua Fighter 2 when there are soooo many better games that could have gone in, like Rocket Knight Adventures...or even Sonic 3, do what you have to Sega in order to get it in there...such a pointless addition to the collection (VF2..) as if it was the last great hit of the genesis/megadrive..

 

[petran79]

It's disapointing that the emulation isn't once again as good as a homebrew emulator you can get on PC or even android. Genesis Plus GX emulator in RetroArch is practically perfect even on lower tier devices with perfect sound emulation without sound lag. Pretty sure even Fusion is better than the mini, and it's final update was in 2010. I don't know why these companies can't make a good emulator for their own systems that they designed. Neither Nintendo or Sony have made a good emulator in their mini devices or services.

Minis still look pretty awesome on your shelf though.

Probably because the homebrew emulators took a longer time to develop with feedback of hundreds of users and are also under different licensing agreements compared to commercial emulators. Here we have a team of few people pressured to make a working emulator in a few months and for only a few games.
After the FBA fiasco with Capcom mini arcade, I don't want homebrew emulators ever to get mixed with commercial hardware and software licenses.

 

[Vitacat]

Mine is coming tomorrow. But, honestly, I might end up not opening it and returning it.

I used to have a very nice, pristine Genesis collection (Nomad in perfect condition and about 38 top tier, complete in box, mint games I bought back in the day), but I sold it for very little about 10 years ago and I regret it. So, I think I pre-ordered the mini to emotionally kinda makeup for that feeling of loss and regret. But, the more I think about it, the more I feel like it will just be another emulation device at the end of the day, and I don't really need it.

I don't know. Maybe when I see the box I'll want to keep it.

 

[TLZ]

I hope that means Sonic CD is a super secret game now. XD Edit: Nvm that is the Tower of Terror thing isn't it? Still cool though.

Oh, but let me let you guys know just how much my Mini from Japan and the Case cost me.....£130!!!! The power of Brexit! I am guessing this includes shipping and Custom Fees Pre-Paid because it is Amazon.

Did you order directly from Amazon jp? When I try that it doesn't allow me and says they wouldn't deliver. Something to do with having to use our own Amazon au and checking the international stuff on there.

Only Amazon US works for me out of them all.

 

[Kazza]

The launch party in Japan:




Can anybody name all of these people without using Google?




I didn't really recognise him with the beard either!




It reminds me of a video I re-watched just yesterday:




It's amazing how much responsibility and creative freedom the Sega of the day gave, what were in effect, inexperienced graduates. "Make us a ninja/beat'em up game. See you in a few months" It sounds like it would have been an amazing place to work. Nowadays you would probably just be given the job of touching up the fire extinguishers in an FPS level or making sure a horses testicles expanded and shrank in sync with the changing temperature.

 

[Kazza]

Lol they don't care nearly so much as we used to in the heyday of the consoles.

Talking about the console wars of our youth reminded me of a song I wrote with a friend when I was at primary school (so probably around 9/10 years old). The 16-bit console wars were heating up, and I decided to make my contribution to the fight in the form of a pro-Sega propaganda song. We had to perform it in school assembly in front of the whole school. Unfortunately, the rest of the lyrics are now lost to time, and these fragments are all that I can remember:

Chorus:
Se-ga are the best
They beat all the rest
And you know it's truuuuueeee

Verse 1:
With Shinobi and Sonic too
Plus Toe Jam and Earl
Those crazy two
.......

I can still hum the tune, but can't identify where I got it from, or describe it in words. I'm sure there was a verse trashing Nintendo and Mario in there somewhere, plus a couple more verses praising various Sega games (probably Streets of Rage etc). I never did have a career as a singer/song writer (but I'm still fairly young, maybe it's still not too late!). If anyone here has any musical talent, then feel free to finish re-write the missing lyrics.

 

[Kazza]

Is it just me, or does the Sega CEO look super-young? Is it a family thing, or is he just super smart?




Maybe he's 50+ years old and it's just those Japanese genes doing their thing.

 

[Kagero]

Buy it at launch, or wait to see if it flops and pick it up at 39.99$?

 

[nkarafo]

Probably because the homebrew emulators took a longer time to develop with feedback of hundreds of users and are also under different licensing agreements compared to commercial emulators. Here we have a team of few people pressured to make a working emulator in a few months and for only a few games.

I was under the impression that one of the reasons homebrew emulators take such long time to develop is that the authors don't have the "schematics" of the consoles they want to emulate. They don't know how the console works, it's ins and outs. They have to figure everything out themselves as they go. I'm sure that Sega, Sony and Nintendo don't have this issue. They created these consoles, i assume they have all the information they need?

Also, homebrew authors have another major problem that slows them down. It's called "real life". How many times have you seen development slowing down or being halted for a long time because of that? And how much time per day or days per week can a hobbyist dedicate for such project anyway? Unless they are unemployed i don't see how they can compete with the programmers at Sega, Nintendo and Sony. Because the latter don't have that problem either. Since they are employed to make these emulators it means said emulators are their real 9/5 job or, in other words, their real life.

I understand that a homebrew emulator is a passion project and authors may care more about them compared to someone who is just doing his job and gets paid. But it's up to Nintendo, Sony or Sega to make sure the job is done as it should. Didn't they notice the sound lag? Or the bad sound emulation in Comix Zone that they are selling? Didn't Sony noticed all the glaring issues of their mini console? Ofc they did. But they make these for the average joe, not enthusiasts. And they know the average joe won't care that much so they don't care either. They want to keep the price low as well so no need to pay the programmers an extra day or two to fix something subtle. That's the issue IMO, it's not about time. And that's why i never support these official offers. I mean, even the services they had before the minis were bad enough. Nintendo's VC clearly shows they don't care, they just want to have a quick buck from all this Retro/Nostalgia thing.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Beyond Oasis 10/10

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Talking about the console wars of our youth reminded me of a song I wrote with a friend when I was at primary school (so probably around 9/10 years old). The 16-bit console wars were heating up, and I decided to make my contribution to the fight in the form of a pro-Sega propaganda song. We had to perform it in school assembly in front of the whole school. Unfortunately, the rest of the lyrics are now lost to time, and these fragments are all that I can remember:

Chorus:
Se-ga are the best
They beat all the rest
And you know it's truuuuueeee

Verse 1:
With Shinobi and Sonic too
Plus Toe Jam and Earl
Those crazy two
.......

I can still hum the tune, but can't identify where I got it from, or describe it in words. I'm sure there was a verse trashing Nintendo and Mario in there somewhere, plus a couple more verses praising various Sega games (probably Streets of Rage etc). I never did have a career as a singer/song writer (but I'm still fairly young, maybe it's still not too late!). If anyone here has any musical talent, then feel free to finish re-write the missing lyrics.

Dude, stories like these remind me that videogames really are magical. There's something intensely fun about a good videogame that makes you want to root for it and nerd out over it like few entertainment mediums can elicit. Whether it's the characters that really stick with you or the music, it's fun to be a fanboy sometimes. I remember pausing games and trying to draw pictures of videogame characters, which sounds weird but we're talking the early days of internet where you didn't have Google to give you a picture of any conceivable image. Clean fan-art websites were a thing and that almost sounds naively innocent when you think back on that. Gaming isn't like that anymore. People are more reserved with their freak-flags (fanboy-flags?), not letting them fly as high.

You GAFers are a bunch of nerds.

 

[FranXico]

Buy it at launch, or wait to see if it flops and pick it up at 39.99$?

Hehehe. This is not a PlayStationMini. This one is not going to flop.

 

[ReBurn]

Leaving out Revenge of Shinobi is a crime.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Update us if anybody that played the OG Genesis gets it and you it passes as one. I was playing SMB3 earlier on my nes mini and I felt NOSTAGIA that or I'm getting the stomach flu.

 

[Komatsu]

Just got mine. The fact that there are paid reviewers who wrote that somehow the Genesis Mini's build is less sturdy/lower quality than the SNES Classic makes me realize that Nintendo Derangement syndrome is really a thing, isn't it? This console is pure, pure class. Haven't played it yet, though.

 

[TLZ]

Just saw a good number of them at our local Big W (Australia) at 10.30am and I didn't see people lined up like they did for the NES since 6am. Maybe they got bigger quantities? Or maybe the hype isn't the same. I'll go with the latter. More so because Sega had a ton of Sega minis before this from atgames. If this was their first I'm sure there would've been great hype for it.

Edit: I would've bought one but I'm waiting for my mega drive from Japan.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Just picked mine up.
I'm really happy with the game selection. Some real classics here, and Alisia Dragoon is a great unusual pick which was one of my favorite games on the platform.

The only thing that I wish they'd done to make it even better was include a few more SHMUPS as the MegaDrive was a beast for great ones.
Sure, Thunderforce III is awesome and one of my favorite SHMUPS, but what about Gynoug/Wings Of Wor, Hellfire, Truxton, Zero Wing?

 

[Scopa]

Just got mine.

Only played around with it for about 5-10 minutes. Intitial thoughts:

- Feels ever so slightly cheaper than the Nintendo/Sony minis in build quality. Especially the controller. Although, I never owned a Mega Drive, so not sure if that cheap feel is authentic or not.

- The CRT filter is absolute shit. It’s like the default one that came with many early emulators. It darkens a game significantly too (only tried it on Sonic so far).

- I noticed that the dpad was doing a double tap in the menu unintentionally. It seems very sensitive. A bit worrying.

Other than that, I’m happy with it. Better than the PSX mini anyway.


EDIT:

Just got mine. The fact that there are paid reviewers who wrote that somehow the Genesis Mini's build is less sturdy/lower quality than the SNES Classic makes me realize that Nintendo Derangement syndrome is really a thing, isn't it? This console is pure, pure class. Haven't played it yet, though.

Just read this. As you can see above, it’s true. Stop being such a fanboy ffs.

“Haven’t played it yet though” fucking lol.

 

[TLZ]

Just got mine.

Only played around with it for about 5-10 minutes. Intitial thoughts:

- Feels ever so slightly cheaper than the Nintendo/Sony minis in build quality. Especially the controller. Although, I never owned a Mega Drive, so not sure if that cheap feel is authentic or not.

- The CRT filter is absolute shit. It’s like the default one that came with many early emulators. It darkens a game significantly too (only tried it on Sonic so far).

- I noticed that the dpad was doing a double tap in the menu unintentionally. It seems very sensitive. A bit worrying.

Other than that, I’m happy with it. Better than the PSX mini anyway.


EDIT:


Just read this. As you can see above, it’s true. Stop being such a fanboy ffs.

“Haven’t played it yet though” fucking lol.

There are others who I've watched on youtube saying it's actually a better build quality than Nintendo's mini. So I don't know who's right.

But honestly I couldn't care less. To me it just means they're on par, and I have both the NES and SNES and love them. So to me that's good news. And it's not being around the atgames quality.

 

[Scopa]

There are others who I've watched on youtube saying it's actually a better build quality than Nintendo's mini. So I don't know who's right.

But honestly I couldn't care less. To me it just means they're on par, and I have both the NES and SNES and love them. So to me that's good news. And it's not being around the atgames quality.

Like I said, it’s only slightly cheaper feel. It’s not a deal breaker. The controller is a bit disappointing with the sensitivity in menus and cheap feel, but I haven’t really noticed it in games yet. It does the job.

The overall package is miles better than the PSX mini and the menu music is less annoying than the Nintendo minis, lol.

If you are into minis, buy it. No hesitation.

I’m just being honest (no agenda) about what I noticed.

I own all the minis btw. Except TurboGrafx (you will be mine, oh yes).

 

[petran79]

I was under the impression that one of the reasons homebrew emulators take such long time to develop is that the authors don't have the "schematics" of the consoles they want to emulate. They don't know how the console works, it's ins and outs. They have to figure everything out themselves as they go. I'm sure that Sega, Sony and Nintendo don't have this issue. They created these consoles, i assume they have all the information they need?

Also, homebrew authors have another major problem that slows them down. It's called "real life". How many times have you seen development slowing down or being halted for a long time because of that? And how much time per day or days per week can a hobbyist dedicate for such project anyway? Unless they are unemployed i don't see how they can compete with the programmers at Sega, Nintendo and Sony. Because the latter don't have that problem either. Since they are employed to make these emulators it means said emulators are their real 9/5 job or, in other words, their real life.

I understand that a homebrew emulator is a passion project and authors may care more about them compared to someone who is just doing his job and gets paid. But it's up to Nintendo, Sony or Sega to make sure the job is done as it should. Didn't they notice the sound lag? Or the bad sound emulation in Comix Zone that they are selling? Didn't Sony noticed all the glaring issues of their mini console? Ofc they did. But they make these for the average joe, not enthusiasts. And they know the average joe won't care that much so they don't care either. They want to keep the price low as well so no need to pay the programmers an extra day or two to fix something subtle. That's the issue IMO, it's not about time. And that's why i never support these official offers. I mean, even the services they had before the minis were bad enough. Nintendo's VC clearly shows they don't care, they just want to have a quick buck from all this Retro/Nostalgia thing.

I am no expert but another issue is that open source homebrew emulators use already existing engines, including the ones from the emulator authors. Eg Megadrive emulators used a separate z80 engine, a separate sound chip engine etc Not everything is made from scratch. Transferring those tested engines that took years to reach that state to commercial license would be a legal hassle. Maybe I'll ask the question at reddit emulation where many authors frequent the thread.

 

[Komatsu]

Just read this. As you can see above, it’s true. Stop being such a fanboy ffs.

“Haven’t played it yet though” fucking lol.

I have a Mega SG so I'm not a rush to connect it to the TV.

The build does not feel cheap at all, the finish is great, all moving parts work. We'll just have to agree to disagree. Can't speak of the controller itself as I haven't used it yet. Same goes for the input lag, though I will run it through the paces on Saturday to see if it's really only 3-4 frames.

 

[TLZ]

I own all the minis btw. Except TurboGrafx (you will be mine, oh yes).

Where are you getting it from? Amazon US?

 

[Scopa]

Where are you getting it from? Amazon US?

Haven’t looked into it yet, but I saw a few Aussies saying it’s orderable from somewhere.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Does the unit move? I heard it has no rubber stoppers/legs/stubs.

 

[Scopa]

Does the unit move? I heard it has no rubber stoppers/legs/stubs.

I had it on the carpet, so couldn’t tell ya.

 

[Komatsu]

Does the unit move? I heard it has no rubber stoppers/legs/stubs.

It has no rubber stoppers and it’s pretty light. But then again I dropped my SNES classic twice from tugging the controllers so it’s a miniconsole thing.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It has no rubber stoppers and it’s pretty light. But then again I dropped my SNES classic twice from tugging the controllers so it’s a miniconsole thing.

I think I can just make it weigh more when I add bullets to the expansion slot .

 

[Komatsu]

I think I can just make it weigh more when I add bullets to the expansion slot .

The Hyperkin Mega Retron had small chinese weights attached to the bottom. No idea why they didn’t do this here.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

They've done very well, but no Streets of Rage 3 and no Shining Force 2 really gets stuck in my craw

 

[TLZ]

Haven’t looked into it yet, but I saw a few Aussies saying it’s orderable from somewhere.

Pre-ordered from Amazon US myself because I couldn't find a better shop to buy from, but I'm keeping an eye out on others here just in case. Maybe gamesmen or eb in the near future. Or even Amazon au.

 

[JohannCK]

Yesterday's Megadrive Mini stream (Japanese) was really cool.

 

[Scopa]

Pre-ordered from Amazon US myself because I couldn't find a better shop to buy from, but I'm keeping an eye out on others here just in case. Maybe gamesmen or eb in the near future. Or even Amazon au.

I keep hearing it’s an Amazon exclusive, so who knows.

 

[TLZ]

Nin-nin-games just posted my Japanese mini! Hopefully I get it in a few days

 

[Kazza]

 

[JohannCK]

Now that I think about it I never actually played a single sports game on the console.

 

[Kazza]

Dude, stories like these remind me that videogames really are magical. There's something intensely fun about a good videogame that makes you want to root for it and nerd out over it like few entertainment mediums can elicit. Whether it's the characters that really stick with you or the music, it's fun to be a fanboy sometimes. I remember pausing games and trying to draw pictures of videogame characters, which sounds weird but we're talking the early days of internet where you didn't have Google to give you a picture of any conceivable image. Clean fan-art websites were a thing and that almost sounds naively innocent when you think back on that. Gaming isn't like that anymore. People are more reserved with their freak-flags (fanboy-flags?), not letting them fly as high.

You GAFers are a bunch of nerds.

I think I would have been much more of a nerd when I was younger, but for the fact that my circle of 8 or so close friends (we all went to the same school and lived down the same street) weren't as into it as I was. Sure, they all liked playing games, and I have lots of fun memories of taking our computers and consoles around to each others houses when our parents were out of the house and playing some couch multi-player, but none of them were quite into it as much as I was (I was definitely the main singer-song writer in that little Sega song duo). Sometimes I think it's a shame that I didn't have an equally nerdy friend, but maybe it's for the best, as I ended up having a more rounded childhood with my friends always dragging me out to go outside and play football etc.

I think the lack of media back then (not just games, but the limited access to books, music, movies etc) meant that you ended up re-watching/playing endlessly, leaving a really strong impression. I remember watching the Blackadder and Young Ones (old UK comedies) so many times that I had pretty much memorised every single line. If you were to play the first 5 mintues and then turn the sound off, I'm pretty sure I could still say many of the lines even today.

I really liked drawing as well. I remember drawing the Simpsons, Sonic, and the Wipeout cars. The first Sonic really left a big impression, as I was super hyped for the game, but never actually saw it in action until the first time I stuck the cartridge into my Megadrive (as was normal in the magazine era). That first level, just wow! I spent a lot of time after completing the game sketching out the levels on A3 paper (turned to landscape) and also creating my own levels. I even designed my own point and click adventure game (on paper anyway) after having completed Monkey Island. That reminds me, I sometimes regret throwing all my old magazines away, but then I remember that I used to cut out the screenshots and use them to create my own magazine, complete with reviews of the games I had played, tips etc. Good times!

I sometimes wonder whether or not kids have the same experience today. With a pretty much unlimited supply of games and TV available at the click of the button, do they ever get the chance to get obsessed with one single movie/game/book, or do they just keep moving on to the newest thing? Sometimes boredom can really spark creativity.

 

[Kazza]

Now that I think about it I never actually played a single sports game on the console.

At least give one of the NHL games a try. I'm not even Canadian, I know nothing about ice hockey, but it's a really fun game, even for me. I think the complete lack of any sports games is a glaring omission from an otherwise great library.

 

[TLZ]

I think I would have been much more of a nerd when I was younger, but for the fact that my circle of 8 or so close friends (we all went to the same school and lived down the same street) weren't as into it as I was. Sure, they all liked playing games, and I have lots of fun memories of taking our computers and consoles around to each others houses when our parents were out of the house and playing some couch multi-player, but none of them were quite into it as much as I was (I was definitely the main singer-song writer in that little Sega song duo). Sometimes I think it's a shame that I didn't have an equally nerdy friend, but maybe it's for the best, as I ended up having a more rounded childhood with my friends always dragging me out to go outside and play football etc.

I think the lack of media back then (not just games, but the limited access to books, music, movies etc) meant that you ended up re-watching/playing endlessly, leaving a really strong impression. I remember watching the Blackadder and Young Ones (old UK comedies) so many times that I had pretty much memorised every single line. If you were to play the first 5 mintues and then turn the sound off, I'm pretty sure I could still say many of the lines even today.

I really liked drawing as well. I remember drawing the Simpsons, Sonic, and the Wipeout cars. The first Sonic really left a big impression, as I was super hyped for the game, but never actually saw it in action until the first time I stuck the cartridge into my Megadrive (as was normal in the magazine era). That first level, just wow! I spent a lot of time after completing the game sketching out the levels on A3 paper (turned to landscape) and also creating my own levels. I even designed my own point and click adventure game (on paper anyway) after having completed Monkey Island. That reminds me, I sometimes regret throwing all my old magazines away, but then I remember that I used to cut out the screenshots and use them to create my own magazine, complete with reviews of the games I had played, tips etc. Good times!

I sometimes wonder whether or not kids have the same experience today. With a pretty much unlimited supply of games and TV available at the click of the button, do they ever get the chance to get obsessed with one single movie/game/book, or do they just keep moving on to the newest thing? Sometimes boredom can really spark creativity.

Dude. No exaggeration, but you honestly, weirdly, just described my childhood... Everything you said, from being the bit on the nerdy side among your group, them the ones dragging you out causing a rounded childhood, replaying and rewatching media, drawing. All of it.

 

[Kazza]

Dude. No exaggeration, but you honestly, weirdly, just described my childhood... Everything you said, from being the bit on the nerdy side among your group, them the ones dragging you out causing a rounded childhood, replaying and rewatching media, drawing. All of it.

 

[Shagger]

This is by far the best selection of games on these mini consoles that I've seen. Hopefully they won't do a Nintendo and ship it I'd ludicrously small numbers.