The upcoming Mega SD -- genesis/megadrive flash cart with onboard megacd recreation

[FAST6191]

Seems there is a new flash cart for the megadrive/genesis coming, except this has an onboard FPGA to handle megacd emulation.

Preview video from Modern Vintage Gamer (and he knows his stuff)


Also rocking "MD+" which is apparently a mode to allow CD style audio in mainly megadrive/genesis titles, though obviously things will need to be hacked to do it. Example in the video @ 5:40 but in principle it is similar to the MSU-1 that various people are playing with on the SNES, and to a lesser extent some of the MBC hacks for the gameboy (color) and mapper changes for the NES (though perhaps a better comparison there would be for people doing fun things with the FDS).

Bit pricey ($100 more than the already tippy top everdrive) but compared to getting and maintaining a megacd at this point in time...

Note no onboard 32x so you will still need the hardware if you go that way, though it still functions as a flash cart for it if you do.

 

[fille]

I ordered 1,seems to be fantastic.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Saw this last week. It's a bit too pricy for what it is. The Mega Sg is cheaper and also uses a FPGA but has a lot more going on than the Mega SD does. Albeit the jailbreak firmware doesn't run Sega CD games (at the moment, but could be added in the future) so if you really need that, I guess you don't have much choice.

 

[fille]

I think you can wait long for sega cd fpga implemented in mega sg,its not that simple,terraonion worked for 2 years on it,its not even on MISTer.
I say its years away,wat terraonion did is a fantastic job,i own also ssds3 and neo sd aes and mvs,i spend a lot of money on it,but buy the top games on it,you spending a lot more.
Its also on dc-ss and psx,i also buyed gdemu-rhea and psio,but they are fantastic devices and deserves to be supported,only it costs money,nothing is free.
Its a hefty price for sure,but they worth it.

 

[Daggot]

This is cheaper than purchasing a sega CD and a flashcart. It's compatible with the Mega SG too. I like it, maybe I'll pick one up one of these days.

 

[kuwanger]

As much as I'm all for original hardware, I'd still go for a Raspberry Pi over this. I'd probably feel different if I were a big Sega CD. Being a large GBA fan, I really cherish my GB Player + EZ IV/Omega even though emulation would be a cheaper option, so I can totally see why some would go for it. Having said that, for the price I'd hope it'd be an AIW solution (basically with the equivalent of a Mega SD built-in). It's the same mentality that has me still holding out on buying a Carby for the Gamecube; sure, I'd like to have crisper video, but throwing $75 at just that seems a bit much. *shrug*

 

[subcon959]

I think I would prefer something more like a traditional ODE where you could replace the drive inside the MegaCD.

Also, I can't help feeling that a company like Terraonion is gonna struggle to stick around with the advent of the mini consoles. Two out of their three products will be competing with a much cheaper official solution soon, and the only reason it isn't three out of three is because SNK went a weird direction with the mini Neo Geo.

 

[FAST6191]

I think I would prefer something more like a traditional ODE where you could replace the drive inside the MegaCD.

Also, I can't help feeling that a company like Terraonion is gonna struggle to stick around with the advent of the mini consoles. Two out of their three products will be competing with a much cheaper official solution soon, and the only reason it isn't three out of three is because SNK went a weird direction with the mini Neo Geo.

Advent? We have had mini consoles of various forms around for years now. https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2004/07-09/487406_today_s_hottest_games__start_th.html

Similarly I would imagine it is a rather different market they are both aiming at -- the mini emulation boxes are mostly for the clueless, fans of gadgets and terminally lazy.

That said an ODE that taps into the megacd itself would have been sweet.

 

[fille]

Its impossible to get a traditional ode for sega cd,its not like saturn or dc where all is on the laser deck pcb,its a different beast.
Then they must create something like psio where you have to solder,and most people can't solder proper.
https://forums.terraonion.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1005

 

[FAST6191]

I didn't know there was a traditional style of ODE -- depending upon what system they are on depends where they tap into it and what they emulate of it, and things may vary between devices on a given system as well. When it comes to anything that old as well I expect to have to solder too.

That said looking at that thread I would almost be tempted to come the other way and make a clone megacd instead.

 

[subcon959]

Similarly I would imagine it is a rather different market they are both aiming at -- the mini emulation boxes are mostly for the clueless, fans of gadgets and terminally lazy.

It's just as lazy to get one of these and put a bunch of roms on there instead of learning how to restore and maintain an original MegaCD. I just think they've priced themselves out of relevance. I feel they should've either been more competitive with the everdrives OR added HDMI functionality to boost perceived value. I know FPGA is the new God, but at the end of the day this is just another way to play roms.

 

[FAST6191]

It's just as lazy to get one of these and put a bunch of roms on there instead of learning how to restore and maintain an original MegaCD. I just think they've priced themselves out of relevance. I feel they should've either been more competitive with the everdrives OR added HDMI functionality to boost perceived value. I know FPGA is the new God, but at the end of the day this is just another way to play roms.

As far as laziness goes I was thinking compared to getting an already established emulation machine or chucking an old laptop behind the TV. Here I am assuming this is aimed at the hardware is best crowd.

A few hundred now (had a quite scan and the megacd sold listings on ebay rarely drop below £100 at this point) and gaining a flash cart vs having to source parts (potentially quite variable at that if the link above is anything to go by), deal with increasing ageing issues (most of the megacd failures are not going to be basic capacitor swaps or something you can buy off the shelf), deal with the fun burning regime and the rest.

 

[subcon959]

As far as laziness goes I was thinking compared to getting an already established emulation machine or chucking an old laptop behind the TV. Here I am assuming this is aimed at the hardware is best crowd.

A few hundred now (had a quite scan and the megacd sold listings on ebay rarely drop below £100 at this point) and gaining a flash cart vs having to source parts (potentially quite variable at that if the link above is anything to go by), deal with increasing ageing issues (most of the megacd failures are not going to be basic capacitor swaps or something you can buy off the shelf), deal with the fun burning regime and the rest.

I get it, I really do. I'm not trying to run it down just because I'm not the target audience.. I just think the price point is high. If you know about the technology involved it's not particularly overpriced, it's just outright expensive. Funnily enough, their Neo Geo carts are something like 500 quid and I've never thought of them as too much so I'm not sure why I feel this way about the Megadrive cart.

 

[fille]

Neo geo is another beast,the games are so expensive,for metal slugs you can afford a neo sd pro.
Mega cd have a few expensive games,but those prizes are also uprising.
Luckily i have 2 mega cd 2 full working and 2 mega cd 1 wich are fully restored,both new lasers-all caps redone ect...
But i'm happy the mega sd is there,now all can in the box and play every game on mega sd,its a lot easyer,no cds-no tear and wearing your actual mega cds.
Just megadrive,but for maintenance its easy.
Most people find all this stuff expensive,its have its price,but now its just micro sd,pop it in and your playing games,simple and easy.

 

[FAST6191]

I shall be watching what goes here quite carefully -- I am not the best electrical engineer but know enough to do some fairly interesting things and as far as metal and plastic shaping, something that is far more in my wheelhouse, I have far more options. Every time I think about turning my hand to games though then I think how much hassle it is vs just doing all the same stuff but for a vehicle or whatever.

As for why the megacd I am guessing because the neo geo is a hidden gem factory where the megacd... I guess sonic cd is kind of nice and something of the "true" Sonic fan's choice (all the filthy casuals going with S3&K, and utter heretics adventure 2), Snatcher is a nice example of gaming history and so is night trap but to a far lesser extent (do wish I had picked it up when I saw it the other month though). If you ignore the Saturn efforts then I guess there is also Shining force. So less than 5, and one of those is incredibly dubious along with a few since surpassed ports, a few marginally enhanced versions of things, some second tier 16 era Japanese RPGs (all of which for me pale before Phantasy Star 4) and a couple of quite nice shooters (though nothing compared to more recent stuff, the amiga, the PCE/TG16 and even some of the more mainline efforts).

 

[fille]

There are more good sega cd games,but its also about personal taste for games.
But there are many good sega cd games out there.
For me its again a nice time to explore the sega cd more easyer now,like gdemu-rhea-psio-ssds3,without them you have to burn them and hope they work,and for how long.
I can't force anyone to buy terraonion their products,but there good.

 

[GooseWerks]

I get it, I really do. I'm not trying to run it down just because I'm not the target audience.. I just think the price point is high. If you know about the technology involved it's not particularly overpriced, it's just outright expensive. Funnily enough, their Neo Geo carts are something like 500 quid and I've never thought of them as too much so I'm not sure why I feel this way about the Megadrive cart.

Probably because the Neo Geo market is just stupid expensive and the MegaDrive / Genesis market was super cheap. BlockBuster had Genesis games to rent up until the 2000's but I never saw a Neo Geo game in person until decades later at a specialty retro shop. Funny that we think that way about things.

 

[Daggot]

It's just as lazy to get one of these and put a bunch of roms on there instead of learning how to restore and maintain an original MegaCD. I just think they've priced themselves out of relevance. I feel they should've either been more competitive with the everdrives OR added HDMI functionality to boost perceived value. I know FPGA is the new God, but at the end of the day this is just another way to play roms.

Mega CDs have laser and capacitor problems all the damn time and if you have a model 1 well say no more lmao. You actually save money when you take into account that this has the features of expensive flashcarts like the Mega Everdrive X7(FM synth support ftw) along with the Sega CD FPGA.