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The Sega Genesis Is Officially Back In Production (dailydot.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Daily Dot: Sega may be done making the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside of the U.S.), but that doesn't mean people aren't still buying them. In Brazil, the 16-bit system is still hugely popular, and now it's being brought back into production. TecToy, which produces all manner of gadgets and toys, has launched preorders for all-new Sega Mega Drive stock, complete with support for the original game library and controllers. But what's even more astounding about the announcement is that it's all being done with Sega's blessing, making these official, brand new, Sega-branded consoles. The new consoles are spitting images of the originals, aside from the addition of an SD card slot, which makes it great for emulation. They're even complete with support for A/V cables, though there's no HDMI or other bells or whistles. That might seem like a bad move, but for the Brazilian market, it's a perfect fit, not to mention that you can easily pick up an A/V-to-HDMI converter for fairly cheap. The system costs roughly $125 (BRL399) and includes a SD card with 22 games.

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great by OrangeTide · · Score: 3, Informative

    The NES Classic Edition is in stores right now for $60. It has the games built-in but it does have an HDMI output.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. Re:$125 seems like a lot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Due to Brazilian import tariffs on electronics, a Pi might cost $100-$150.

    Brazil might be able to manufacture its own version of the the Pi, but then it's a question of scale and market viability.

  3. Re: $125 seems like a lot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    You have to think about the distorted/inflated prices found in anything electronic in Brazil.

    A RPi3 or Odroid c2 plus controllers is about US$ 125 here. Even then they are better alternatives of course but I understand the Genesys appeal for the layman.

  4. Re:Complete? by TuringTest · · Score: 3, Informative

    It would have been easier to convert the output to RGB than to convert it to composite, and you would have way better clarity on today's televisions.

    Why would you want better clarity? The art in those games was designed to be shown in blurry screens. Showing them with increased clarity distorts the original game looks, as if they were processed by a sharpen filter.

    --
    Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
  5. Re:Complete? by geekmux · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is a $125 decades old 16-bit games console being sold in a market of $50 Android TV boxes. I think the lack of HDMI is just about the least strange thing about it.

    This is a $125 product being touted as "new" when we all know that Genesis consoles (along with Atari 2600 consoles) have been sold for years now, and one can easily find them at less than half this advertised price, and with three times as many built in games.

    The largest unexplained oddity is why the retro-game-loving people of Brazil are completely unaware of this.

  6. Re: The truth about the 9/11 attacks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Everybody mods down crazy.