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Classic Games (Games) Entertainment Games

New Sega Master System Hardware Debuts In Brazil 31

Posted by simoniker from the never-forget dept.
jagripino writes "Brazilian SEGA licensee Tec Toy has announced a new edition of the Sega Master System hardware, the Master System Handy (Google Translation), another one in their series of portable SMS, following the SMS Compact and the pink SMS Girl. The system sports a new design, resembling a Dreamcast controller, comes with 27 built-in games and Composite Video Out (the previous compact systems had RF output only). No details yet on whether or not it has a cartridge port. Note to would-be importers: the system runs in PAL-M, it will work on NTSC TV sets in black & white. It's probably a trivial mod to make its output pure NTSC, but I won't know until I can get my hands on one." Definitely interesting to note that TecToy is a legitimate Sega licensee, unlike most third-party console hardware.
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New Sega Master System Hardware Debuts In Brazil More

New Sega Master System Hardware Debuts In Brazil

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  • Seems like that would be the most important bit of info.

    Rob (Gotta have Phantasy Star; don't see how it would be worth it otherwise)

    • Re:So, uh, what's on it? (Score:3, Informative)

      by simoniker ( 40 ) *
      Seems like there's a list of Master System games [tectoy.com.br] on the site, but it's not clear which of those is included, unfortunately.
      • Hmm. Nice to see that they have Alex Kidd in High-Tech World listed. That game was very unusual; there wasn't much action in it, but you had to walk around a school and solve puzzles so you could go to the arcade. Kind of like a computer adventure, I suppose, but it looked and acted like a platformer. I also owned Ghostbusters (much better than the NES version) and Monopoly (which had great graphics for the time).

        Then there was Missile Defense 3D on the ROM built into the console itself. I was always
    • Rob (Gotta have Phantasy Star; don't see how it would be worth it otherwise)

      Phantasy Star was a classic and WAY ahead of its time I tought. There were other just kick-butt games for that system that never got the exposure they diserved, except for Shinobi.

      Shinobi - Rocked
      Double Dragon - FAR superior to the Nintendo version in graphics and it was 2 player!!!
      Wonderboy in Monsterland - Awesome side-scroller w/ some basic RPG elements
      ??Some Zelda-ripoff game. It was really well done, the graphics were sw
    • I doubt it will have Phantasy Star, as I don't think they'll be putting battery backup in it. But a Portuguese version of Phantasy Star was made for the Brazilian market.
    • As someone else commented on the thread, the new system is unlikely to have Phantasy Star on it. And, if it had it, it would be in Portuguese, since an official translation was released here.

  • SEGA == LOVE (Score:2, Interesting)

    by tyoob ( 195338 )
    So despite their previous announcements to the contrary, Sega's not REALLY out of the hardware business. They're just sneaky bastards!

    I, for one, still have my original SMS. I only have one game anymore, though, and that's Psycho Fox. But it's still good. The system's aged a bit better than the NES, despite having fewer titles.

    They should really see about making an NTSC one. It's bound to be a pretty trivial conversion for the manufacturers.

  • I'll pass (Score:4, Informative)

    by lightspawn ( 155347 ) on Saturday July 03, 2004 @01:11AM (#9598214) Homepage
    since the Dreamcast is backward compatible [pascalorama.com] with the SMS.

    P.S. source code is included, and the original developer needs somebody to maintain it. What are you waiting for?
    • While I don't have the time to do anything with the code, I sure will send him a postcard now! I've gotten a huge amount of use out of that program.
    • "Backwards compatible" isn't the same as some guy writing an emulator.

      On the other hand, the Genesis is hardware compatible with the SMS, as it has the Z80 and a compatible video mode. All you need is a cartridge interface and the SMS BIOS, which is provided by the Power Base converter.

  • NTSC (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ColaMan ( 37550 ) on Saturday July 03, 2004 @01:24AM (#9598255) Journal
    You'll find that "most" tv's are multi-format compatible, being able to automatically detect and display PAL,NTSC and all of their variants without any hassles.

    (Blessed is the One-Chip-Multi-Format TV decoder, for it makes it's manufacturer a crapload of money, even in 10,000-unit quantities.)

    • Re:NTSC (Score:2, Interesting)

      by jagripino ( 314506 )
      I doubt they can read PAL-M though. The Brazilian version of PAL is different from all the European ones in that it runs on 60Hz, just like NTSC. But the color information is encoded differently, as in the European PALs (there are many variations, B, D, G, etc).

      Of course, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

  • I haven't kept up on the emulation scene lately, so I don't know the legality of possessing ROMs these days. This looks like a really cool product, but is it legal to have the ROMs that'd be included? I guess there's some confusion on which 20-something ROMs is on the thing, but I'd be interested in a more general answer too. Thanks.
    • Tectoy [tectoy.com.br] is the official licencee for Sega in Brazil, so it's perfectly legal. They've been publishing Sega's games there for years, up to and including the Dreamcast. They also produced a number of Brazil only Master System games, mostly ported from the Game Gear (eg, Gunstar Heroes and Sonic Blast), but they also released a quite respectable port of Street Fighter II. They were still releasing Master System up to 1998.

      I believe the Dreamcast is still being manufactured there under licence too.

      Later.

  • but does it come with the SMS's original on-board Snail Maze game? Cause, w/o that, what's the point...I mean, that's all anyone really needs in life right?
    • I doubt it, that was only ever on models without built in games, and I don't think any without built in games were made after the Master System 1. Even then, all the Master System 1's I've seen in the UK[1] have had built in games (Safari Hunt and Hang On IIRC), although SMS1's still have the nice startup animation, not the crappy still Sega logo on SMS2's.

      [1] One thing I love is the way Sonic Jam's museum lists all the Master System versions as Latin America only, which is strange as those games were all
      • The Sonic 10th Aniversary pack that came with Sonic Adventure 2 lists that misinformation as well. It's kind of disappointing when a company doesn't know it's own history.
  • That is great news for Tec Toy...
    Tec Toy last great vg was a version of the Dreamcast, but since that console wasn't that successful, the company was nowhere to be seen.
    They were also responsible for a Mega Drive (Genesis in the US) version of Duke Nukem, and it was quite good. But probably their biggest accomplishment was a modem for the Mega Drive called Mega Net that allowed its users to read email and even play games online (Mortal Kombat, Fifa'94, and a few others). And the accessory was launched w
    • Is that the same as the Xband modem? If not there's at least one other competing product. I used to have a genesis xband modem but I gave it away with the rest of my genesis stuff in a trade.
      • There were two versions of the Mega Drive/Genesis modem here in Brazil, the first one was a solution engineered by Tec Toy *I don't think if would allow online games, though) and the second one is a Xband clone, which would allow "online" (direct dial-up) games.

        There was also a third version which was released by a bank for online banking with the Mega Drive!
        • Wow... how wrong was I. The first version of MegaNet didn't support online games, and the second version was indeed based on Xband.
          from http://ssdc.ucsd.edu/news/mexico/h96/mexico.19960 4 04.html :
          Catapult Entertainment of Cupertino, CA, will sell its XBAND unit for the Sega Mega Drive in Brazil through Tec Toy Industria de Brinquedos. Tec Toy has a 75% share of the video game market and was the first company outside Japan to manufacture Sega products. XBAND is the only real-time online video game ne

  • I loved my SMS I, unfortunately it has basically died of natural causes it's so old. This has lead me to the legal use of some ROMS (which is more than most people say ;-) I hope that I'll be able to get my grubby little hands on this device!

  • I have a friend in Brazil and this seems PERFECT for him! Where can I buy one?
    • You mean importing it from Brazil, then sending it back to Brazil? It'd be cheaper (and a much getter gift) to get him a Dreamcast, and a CD with a ton of SMS ROMs+emulator! Obligatory link... DC Emulation [dcemulation.com]

      Or just send him the money and tell him to get an used Dreamcast, they're pretty cheap 'round here.
      • You mean importing it from Brazil, then sending it back to Brazil?

        Yeah, I do mean that. More expensive, yeah. But it's so much better as a present than cash or a modified dreamcast which he won't understand (unfortunately).

        • > Yeah, I do mean that. More expensive, yeah.
          > But it's so much better as a present than cash
          > or a modified dreamcast which he won't
          > understand (unfortunately).

          First of all, you do not need a modded Dreamcast to run burned CDs; the only mod available, as far as I know, is a region chip. But they are not relevant, as you can use a boot disk to play. Burning the emulator CDs may be tricky, but you can find detailed tutorials at:

          [ www.dcemulation.com ]

          Now, I must insist: a Master System would
  • Last time I checked, the portable Master System came out almost a decade ago; it's called a GAME GEAR! :)

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