Mega Drive Mini

[Team Andromeda]

This is so very much like the old days...

SEGA copying Nintendo, Japan getting the better stuff. It's like the 90's all over again. Can't wait for my unit and like how SEGA's gone the extra mile with the cartridge port able to be opened and shut

Hopefully, we'll get Mega CD, Saturn and a DC mini down the line. It would also be nice if SEGA did a Mega Lo mini with a collection of its Arcade games too

[briareos_kerensky]

I would love to see a Saturn and DC mini, but I think those two consoles are too resource intensive to be emulated on low-cost devices.

[_SD_]

https://www.segashop.eu/products/sega-mega-drive-mini-with-free-keyring

GOFAST15 will get you a 15% discount.

[Leon Retro]

I would love to see a Saturn and DC mini, but I think those two consoles are too resource intensive to be emulated on low-cost devices.

Sega would certainly have to get a developer to create solid Saturn & Dreamcast emulators. If they paid professionals to do the job, I think you could probably have them running well on Raspberry Pi sort of tech.

The problem is -- I can't imagine the Saturn & Dreamcast brands having broad appeal in the West. The Mega Drive/Genesis brand is very much like the NES when it comes to status, so a true classic that really resonates with gamers of all ages.

Of course, enthusiast retro gamers would love Saturn & Dreamcast minis. A Saturn Mini would certainly be a big thing in Japan. I just can't imagine them being a big thing in Western markets.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Yeah, count me in the camp that is highly sceptical about DC and Saturn ever getting the Classic Mini microconsole treatment.

AFAIK, Saturn emulation is a notoriously tough nut to crack that has only just been accomplished recently and nowhere near 100% faithful. I understand that DC emulation is better but even that isn’t spot-on (correct me if I’m wrong - can’t be arsed to look it up).

Personally, I think that the cartridge-based legacy consoles are as good as it gets for Classic Mini microconsoles and the failure of the PS Classic only serves to reinforce that imo.

[Dogg Thang]

Haven't Sega themselves said pretty much the same thing? I thought I read that recently - that a Saturn mini would simply be too difficult.

[importaku]

There's an interview on ign japan that said that it would take 10 years for the chips needed to come down in price make a saturn mini doable. Can't remember the link it was on neogaf in their md mini thread.

Besides nights and baku baku animal never really played any of the saturn library, as for DC hell no. While people seem to be in love with that console i find the library really weak which is why i have very little love for it outside of samba de amigo and space channel 5 oh and jet set radio. Samba is pretty much the main reason i still have a DC. Not saying the libary of games is crap but they are games i have pretty much zero interest in.

Least with the megadrive there's a good handful of stuff i still love with magical hat sat right at the top, i secretly judge peoples collection on that game alone. Have it in your collection then you get an automatic awesome from me, you could have a pile of vampire killers and uber rare tetris games and you'd get a meh till you own that game LOOL

What i really would love is for sega to make a mini mark III console, that white beauty is still awesome, hated the angular lump of black plastic the uk got and don't get me started on those uk boxes lol. Would be nice to have a HD way to play master system games besides emulation, although it's mainly the wonderboy games i have played.

In it's ultimate form, just look at the retro beauty in this thing, it sits along awith the pc engine & famicom as designs i absolutely love

[J0e Musashi]

The Mini isn’t even out yet, and people are talking about a Saturn and DC? Lol

An MD and MCD combo Mini would have been a better option I reckon. Sonic CD and Final Fight would have been great to have available. Plus the thing would have looked incredible.

[Leon Retro]

There's an interview on ign japan that said that it would take 10 years for the chips needed to come down in price make a saturn mini doable. Can't remember the link it was on neogaf in their md mini thread.

PlayStation emulation has been perfectly fine for many years, so I think bad Saturn emulation is simply down to the emulators not being coded properly. The architecture is more complicated, so it's been difficult for coders to get to grips with. Sega would need to pay a developer to deliver solid Saturn emulation.

I see no reason why a really well programmed Saturn emulator couldn't run on a Raspberry Pi 3 sort of board. The tech in the SNES Mini is probably good enough if the emulator was coded really well.

. Not saying the libary of games is crap but they are games i have pretty much zero interest in.

The Dreamcast had some big hitter games that were something special back in the day. But it didn't receive loads of great games. The library is severely lacking when it comes to top quality unique titles that are still worth playing.

hated the angular lump of black plastic the uk got and don't get me started on those uk boxes lol.

I'm really fond of the Master System design. And the box it came in looks really cool. The game boxes look basic(and maybe a bit too uninspiring) but there's something attractive about them. The Master System II design is disgusting.

[importaku]

It's the uk game boxes mainly from the first wave of master system releases i find truly repulsive. People seem to love them but i find it totally off putting that so little effort was made to represent the game inside. It borders on offensive to my boxart tastes, like looking at a no frills budget value bargain bin game.

Trash like this


compared to this


I don't find it charming or nostalgic, it's the reason i never got a uk master system and went for the nes instead. Even the pixel art boxes of the 1st gen nes games are way better than those, but going back to my previous post it's that reason i never got to play much of the master system library as i was put off. So been able to visit it in a mini would be nice.

[_SD_]

I didn’t like the design of the original Master System at the time, but over the years it’s grown on me, like original Star Trek…

The trouble with Saturn is that other than a handful of fantastic native games like Burning Rangers and NiGHTS, it’s all ports of arcade games.

[Leon Retro]

Trash like this

Bloody hell... that is terrible! Looks like a little kid drew it on graph paper at school.

I don't find it charming or nostalgic, it's the reason i never got a uk master system and went for the nes instead.

I have a lot of nostalgia for the original Master System design, but it's certainly not up there with the PC Engine when it comes to being truly special and ultra cool.

The design of the cover art is mostly really weak, but the 'graph paper' effect at least delivers a clear recognisable image. I can see why some people really like it.

I much prefer the detailed cover art found on Famicom boxes -- and the cartridges that come in all sorts of colours. Having a collection of Famicom games is beautiful thing. Even having a bunch of cartridges together is appealing and inviting.

[importaku]

I hope sega appreciates i have bought two of their md minis, now please give me a small MK III lol

[Leon Retro]

I hope sega appreciates i have bought two of their md minis, now please give me a small MK III lol

I think they want to forget about the AtGames plug-n-play Mega Drives. They're hoping gamers also forget.

Was the MK III popular in Japan?

[importaku]

Well i trust them enough to cough up for a uk & japanese one, i can see they are making a lot of effort this time. Not sure how popular sega stuff is in japan compared to nintendo i have a feeling the famicom obliterated everything in the 8 bit timeframe. Would be interesting to know how it did hold up against it though.