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Sega Genesis Latest To Get All-In-One TV Game

Posted by simoniker on from the all-the-rage dept.

Thanks to 1UP for its story discussing Radica's deal to produce a collection of 16-bit Sega classics built into a Genesis controller. According to the piece: "Similar to the JAKKS TV Games, Radica's Genesis controller-shaped Arcade Legends Sega Genesis unit will house seven older Sega games including Sonic the Hedgehog. Radica intends to have it out on the market at a price of $29.99." The story also notes a deal "with Taito for the rights to Space Invaders" in similar all-in-one controller style, mentioning that the unit will also "include four other Taito classics: Phoenix, Lunar Rescue, Colony 7, and Qix."

8 of 29 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by ObviousGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I remember when these consoles took up a whole shelf in the TV cabinet. These days miniaturization is making the same hardware tiny.

    One question, will the snail maze game be included?

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    1. Re:Wow by AndyBusch · · Score: 3, Informative

      That maze game rocked, but it was on the Sega Master System, not the Genesis.

  2. Like the Ique by foidulus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually, I wish they would have made this like the IQue Nintendo released in China, all they would have had to of done is add a little bit of USB storage and a somewhat safe way to add games to it at video stores. The hardware is already there, they could have made a bunch of money selling all the sega genesis games for a slightly larger investment. I for one would love to play genesis games(of my choosing, not some part of a lame collection) for about $5 a piece.

  3. I'm confused by Orien · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There definately seems to be a retro-gaming kick going on right now in the industry. I'm all for it considering how much I use my homemade MAME cabinet, but there is one thing that I don't get at all. Companies like this and Nintendo, Atari, Namco, etc. have all these old titles that they keep releasing on controler packages or collections for Playstation or whatever, but yet they refuse to give people a legal way to use roms to play the games (with the exception of Atari of course who struck a deal with StarRoms). This kind of retro gaming would be a lot more popular if they gave people more choice about it. Imagine if instead of selling a handheld controler with 20 set games in it, instead they have thier whole collection online you bought the thing online (or activated it online) and got to choose 20 of the games that you actually like to be able to play on the unit. I wouldn't even care if they DRM'ed the files like iTunes does with purchased music, just give me a cross-platform app that I can use to flash the games onto the handheld unit. If I had choice about it and could do it without breaking the law, I would be all over it. The problem with those units, and with StarRoms is that 99% of the games are games that I don't like. I would be willing to pay for roms if they gave me ones that I like.

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    1. Re:I'm confused by RdsArts · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you sell a ROM, you get one sale at a pitiance.

      If you sell a controller, you can sell them ANOTHER controller later with 2 more games, a all-in-one collection of two systems' games, GBA ports, PSX ports, PS2 ports of the PSX port, and so on.

      Take a look at the Namco museums. How many times have they sold Rally Race and Pacman now?

    2. Re:I'm confused by torinth · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Dude.

      Although your idea seems "Totally awesome" to you as a consumer, you have to understand how ridiculous the logistics are for something like that.

      The rights for at least 50% of roms you're playing on your MAME cabinet probably belong with the roomate of the nephew of the brother of the guy who started the company that built and sold the original game. However, that doesn't immediately make the rights defunct, and because of that ROM pirating is illegal (though I wouldn't personally hold it against anyone).

      So yeah, an iTunes like thing would be a great way for these ROM pirates to legitimize their usage of these retro games, but building an iTunes like system is completely different. The music collections in iTunes largely belong to five major labels, although smaller proactive indie labels are trying to get their place. But if you were to start iRoms, even once you hit the big names (Atari, Sega, Konami, etc) you still don't have a very big collection and you'll be missing out on a lot of the most memorable games. And until you have a big selection an iRoms service just isn't going to attract many users.

      So it's much easier for all these publishers who are still active (Sega, Atari, Nintendo) to take the titles that they already have the rights to and release them in controlled fashion, like this. And because they *can* do this and there is a market for it, you certainly can't expect all these companies just let the ROMs go into public domain. If they're publicly funded they'd get sued for that kind of fiscal irresponsibility.

      I hope you're less confused now.

  4. Sega Nomad by sofakingl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So basically, this is the Sega Nomad with built in games? With a limited amount of games for it, it might be better to just get a Nomad off of eBay with a bunch of games instead.

  5. I'm hoping for... by _Sexy_Pants_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Networkable bomberman controllers! It's a pretty simple little game so I don't think it would be technically impossible. But I would love to just play it at the drop of a hat, maybe keep it in my car so I could break it out at a friends' house.

    Honestly, these controller systems are one of the best ideas video games have seen in a while

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