Classic Collateral: Sega Handhelds

Does anyone remember any of the consoles put out by Sega? What about the handheld systems they created? Say what you will about Sega, but they were ahead of their time. When Nintendo released the original Game Boy: big, brick-like and with a small, monochromatic yellow screen, Sega was releasing the Sega Game Gear: also big and brick-like; but with a larger, full color screen. Granted, the Game Gear had its shortcomings: the very short battery life (despite running on 6 AA batteries) was just one of them. But, honestly, how cool was it to be able to play Sonic the Hedgehog in full color while you were in the car? To me, it was amazing.Awesome system.
Just as awesome, but for different reasons.

Then, there was the Sega Nomad: a handheld system which could play Sega Genesis and Sega Master System Games in full color. This was just another reason that Sega was way ahead of the times. Nobody had thought to make a handheld system that could play console games. It was really an incredibly smart move on Sega’s part. They didn’t need to worry about creating a whole new game library for the Nomad, because they already had all the games from the Genesis and Master System. That alone was a great reason to get a Nomad.

Great game library, and look at all those buttons!

I’ve always found it rather sad that Sega dropped out of the console and handheld business and started just focusing on games. They had some really awesome systems in their day. But, they also had a couple of systems that flopped. (Sega CD, anyone?) There have been rumors that Sega had planned to release a Dreamcast 2, but most of those rumors are unfounded, as cool as it would be.

The Dreamcast 2, a dream crushed.

There is some news in the Sega front though. Later this month (July, 2009) a new Nomad system is going to be released. It will still be able to play Genesis and Master System games, but it will also have an SD card slot that you can download games onto. I haven’t been able to find out if the new Nomad is licensed by Sega or is a 3rd party system, but as soon as I can, I’ll let you know which it is. I can’t begin to say how cool it would be if the new Nomad was actually released by Sega. The new Nomad is going to be sold for $50.00 (US). It’s going to be slimmer than the original with a bigger screen. Hopefully, they will add in a lithium ion battery so that we can play for longer than 45 minutes without plugging into the wall.

Sleek, slim and SD capable.

If you’re wondering where you can buy Genesis and Master System games for your new Nomad, there are several places that still sell them. Stores like GameStop and Game Crazy no longer carry the older system’s games. But, if you can find a Play N Trade nearby your house, they should still be selling them, and they won’t be too expensive. If you can’t find a store to buy them, you can always try Amazon.com or Ebay, though you’ll have to pay for shipping from them. But online stores will usually have a bigger selection of the old games.

My Scores:

Old School Sega Systems: 5 out of 5.

New Sega Nomad System: 4.5 out of 5. (Could go up if the system works as well as it’s supposed to and is actually sanctioned by Sega.)