26 replies to this topic

[sandmountainslim]

Ok this is probably something everyone knows except me but I was at a thrift today and say a Sega Genesis that was about one fourth the size of the ones I usually see, it was not much bigger than a Sony Discman or similar device, question is is this something I should return and buy? It was ten dollars and most Genesis I see around four or five bucks so is this one worth more? Thanks for any info.

[candiru]

Sounds like it might be a CDX which would be really cool to have. The CDX will also play Sega CD games and is tough to find. If it's just a Genesis III, I wouldn't really bother with it unless you want it for completist collection purposes.

If it really is a CDX, go back soon.

[sandmountainslim]

Ok, thanks I remember seeing a stylised number 3 on top of it so it must be a Genesis 3 so I shall just leave it where it is. Thanks for the help.

[sega saturn x]

Really its a nifty system but yeah unless you have a serious hard on for the genesis i wouldent bother. One thing i always found very anoying is that the 3 has its plugs on its side rather then the back. Its just looks kinda goofyin my opinion.

[xenomorpher]

If I remember correctly the Genesis 3 can't play some games and can't use a Game Genie which would be a downside for me anyways.

[sega saturn x]

I never try's using my genie but it cant use the 32X or sega cd.

[ATARIeric]

plus the sega master converter wont fit on the genesis3 due to it doesnt have the round shape.

[spacecadet]

xenomorpher said:

If I remember correctly the Genesis 3 can't play some games and can't use a Game Genie which would be a downside for me anyways.

On the other hand, it can play other games that an older Genesis can't. At least not without modification. One example:



Can't do that with an unmodified Genesis 1!

I use my Genesis 3 as my primary Genesis for this reason. Sega/Majesco removed all region locks (both physical and electronic). Don't think it'll play PAL MD games, but it'll play Japanese ones.

[JB]

spacecadet said:

xenomorpher said:

If I remember correctly the Genesis 3 can't play some games and can't use a Game Genie which would be a downside for me anyways.

On the other hand, it can play other games that an older Genesis can't. At least not without modification. One example:



Can't do that with an unmodified Genesis 1!

I use my Genesis 3 as my primary Genesis for this reason. Sega/Majesco removed all region locks (both physical and electronic). Don't think it'll play PAL MD games, but it'll play Japanese ones.

That looks nicer than I remember. Scrape the 3 off and it'd be postiively nice looking.
...
Damn, but it's tiny.

[King_Salamon]

I've seen the Genesis 3 around and never realized that it had a region lockout removed from it! Interesting. I was shopping around for a Genesis 2 and was wondering if I'll be able to play my Japanese 2in1 on it when I do buy it? (I found a Rambo III and Tetris - 2 in 1 at a thrift store and would like to give it a try).

The reason I want to go with a system 2 is that it's rather plentiful/easy to find and cheap and I wanna be able to slap on a SMS converter when I manage to find one.

Last but not least - anyone know what the 2 in 1 is like? I've never played Rambo III but I'd assume it's the standard Rambo III Sega game... but what about the Tetris? Is it just columns or is it a Tetris ripoff of some sort?

[ATARIeric]

King_Salamon said:

 

The reason I want to go with a system 2 is that it's rather plentiful/easy to find and cheap and I wanna be able to slap on a SMS converter when I manage to find one.

are you sure the SMS converter will fit on system 2 ? i sold my SMS converter over a year ago and if i remember right it would only fit on the first model

i wish i could answer your question about the games but back then on sega i was strictly playing sports games with it!

GO BLUE BOMBERS! if iwas to ever move to canada, it would be winnipeg, something about sitting at that bridge where the train station is and just watching the trains go by.

[JB]

ATARIeric said:

King_Salamon said:

 

The reason I want to go with a system 2 is that it's rather plentiful/easy to find and cheap and I wanna be able to slap on a SMS converter when I manage to find one.

are you sure the SMS converter will fit on system 2 ? i sold my SMS converter over a year ago and if i remember right it would only fit on the first model

It will IF part of the tab on the back is cut off. And it tilts slightly forward, so I'd be hesitant to leave it in when not in use(though it never broke anything on my Gen2, which came with a modded Power Base Converter).

[ATARIeric]

yikes, im not one for breaking parts, isnt there a pcb cartridge converter that allows you to just insert the SMS cart into it and then put the PCB into the genesis. i thought ive seen something like that unless what i was looking at was for development.


i will haveta do a search on that. i think it was and are sold out of HongKong

[JB]

ATARIeric said:

yikes,  im not one for breaking parts,    

Well, you could take it out of the plastic shell and it'd work. I'm not sure if it'd be stable, though.

I don't actually encourage the modding of PBCs. But it does work.

Quote

isnt there a pcb cartridge converter that allows you to just insert the SMS cart into it and then put the PCB into the genesis.   i thought ive seen something like that unless what i was looking at was for development.


i will haveta do a search on that.  i think it was and are sold out of HongKong

Very likely exists, as it'd be incredibly cheap to make. Just a pair of connectors with an inch or 2 of board between them.

[ApolloBoy]

ATARIeric said:

plus the sega master converter wont fit on the genesis3 due to it doesnt have the round shape.

It won't even work at all since the Genesis 3 doesn't have the Z80 chip.

[sega saturn x]

That import thing really is not to useful since there arnt to many must have genny imports well other then zero wing. And if you dont like size shape or the 3 just get a action replay i think it can play imports as well on the genny model 1 and 2.

[ATARIeric]

you guys really know your sega and on that note, what do you think of what i did in 91 i believe it was, i traded a brand new ps1 i used for about 2 months for a sega genesis ?

[ATARIeric]

ATARIeric said:

you guys really know your sega   and on that note,  what do you think of what i did in 91 i believe it was,  i traded a brand new ps1 i used for about 2 months for a sega genesis ?

thinking now im saying it wasnt 91 ? that was a long time ago, whenever ps1 came out is when i traded for a sega

[sega saturn x]

I sould kknow a wee bit about sega it is in my scrren anme. And i think you made a great choice back in 95. I mean the genesis had a full library full of ****star games and it was cheap how could you lose?

[spacecadet]

sega saturn x said:

That import thing really is not to useful since there arnt to many must have genny imports well other then zero wing.

Are you kidding? Every Sega system has practically required importation to get the most out of it. Moreso than any other company's systems that I know of.

The Saturn was a bit worse in this, the Dreamcast about the same, but there are definitely some good Japanese imports for the Genesis/MegaDrive that weren't available here. SOJ's and SOA's mutual dislike for each other was pretty well-documented over the years.

[ATARIeric]

im ready for a game of 95madden or nba jams its been a long time since i played either or

[jesusc]

Always wondered what the Genesis 3 used for sound (wasn't that what the original Genesis used the Z80 for?)

[ApolloBoy]

jesusc said:

Always wondered what the Genesis 3 used for sound (wasn't that what the original Genesis used the Z80 for?)

The Genesis uses a Yamaha YM2612 and a TI SN76489 for sound. The Z80 is the sound processor and IIRC, some older games won't work right without it.

[JB]

ApolloBoy said:

jesusc said:

Always wondered what the Genesis 3 used for sound (wasn't that what the original Genesis used the Z80 for?)

The Genesis uses a Yamaha YM2612 and a TI SN76489 for sound. The Z80 is the sound processor and IIRC, some older games won't work right without it.

z80 is OFFICIALLY the sound processor.
In practice a lot of games just run everything on the 68k and ignore the z80.

Though there ARE a lot of games that sound odd without it.


As always, I point out that the emulator GENS lets you disable teh z80 to see how it affects games.

[ATARIeric]

is the sega megadrive 2 the same thing as a genesis ?