Taken from: kotaku.com/gaming/sega/brazil-gets-this-wonderful-portable-mega-drive-322425.php

Well, it seems that the brazillian folks out there can already buy a brand new portable console:



Yes, it's a portable Sega Mega Drive with 20 built-in games and a tv-out feature that allows to connect it to a standard TV set; You can actually find this thing on play-asia for less than 40$ (About 30 Euros)

If this TecToy has been able to license from Sega the rights for making a portable device, from a vintage console that IMHO has more horsepower than a standard MSX2; if they have successfully managed to pack that device with a wide selection of good games in a tiny case, and sell it for less than 40$... why can't we get a similar gadget, a portable MSX with... let's say... 20-30 old MSX1 / MSX2 games for the same price. Actually the only alternative is to spend more than 200$ for a OCM machine, that for sure can do a lot more than this toy... but are we sure that every MSX nostalgic does really wants to spend that all that money to play some vintage games?

Let's just imagine for a moment a similar device, reinvented as a toy for nostalgic people like me; something with a chip inside that is programmed to emulate a MSX computer, along with the C-Bios (so I guess nobody would have to pay royalty fees to ASCII) some homebrew games and some classic titles (I guess that Konami would be more than happy to sell the rights to include their old games in a similar device)


What do you think about this? You would still prefer to buy a one chip MSX or something less powerful and non-expandable, but sold for less than a quarter of that price?

To put it mildly, I'm not the world's greatest economic/sales genious.

But as far as I can think/dream, some kind of portable MSX 2 which is also compatible with monitors/t.v. screens and even comes with some games would totally boost popularity, thus relevance of development for the MSX system as a whole.

Its a neat idea, but the only reason why they can get it produced at such price is because of the volume they can sell due to the popularity of the original system... not sure MSX fits that mold but who knows.

There is a similar system emulating other consoles available at dealextreme called the "one station"

http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.606

Pretty cheap system too

I went the Altera DE1 board way... bought a generic board to run MSX games from SD cards.
It was about 130 euros. No taxes, because it is delivered from Europe.

Positives: I have Amiga running on this board as well... and C64, Vic20, TRS-80, PacMan arcade... and others.
Cons: Can't think about any for myself. For general consumer, it is not a acceptable solution however. Let them with nothing!

I've got a similar portable (playpal portable) that does master system/gamegear games.
Megadrive's nicer, though!

*edit*
there's a similar device on play-asia:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8y-49-en-70-2f9m.html

It appears to be slightly buggy, though, according to the reader reviews.

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Let's just imagine for a moment a similar device, reinvented as a toy for nostalgic people like me; something with a chip inside that is programmed to emulate a MSX computer, along with the C-Bios (so I guess nobody would have to pay royalty fees to ASCII) some homebrew games and some classic titles (I guess that Konami would be more than happy to sell the rights to include their old games in a similar device) What do you think about this? You would still prefer to buy a one chip MSX or something less powerful and non-expandable, but sold for less than a quarter of that price?

I'd get one, also if it were a device like the C64DTV (basically the same idea, but without a built-in screen).

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Taken from: kotaku.com/gaming/sega/brazil-gets-this-wonderful-portable-mega-drive-322425.php Well, it seems that the brazillian folks out there can already buy a brand new portable console: Yes, it's a portable Sega Mega Drive with 20 built-in games and a tv-out feature that allows to connect it to a standard TV set; You can actually find this thing on play-asia for less than 40$ (About 30 Euros)

Yup, this is available for quite some time already. Bad side to this, you cant connect a real MD cart, only play the pre-built games.

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If this TecToy has been able to license from Sega the rights for making a portable device, from a vintage console that IMHO has more horsepower

They have the rights from Sega since the 80's and they still sell brand new Master Systems and Mega Drives here (although a little too expensive considering how old the hardware is)

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What do you think about this? You would still prefer to buy a one chip MSX or something less powerful and non-expandable, but sold for less than a quarter of that price?

Remember that joke about the "MSX joystick" (which would be the same as the Atari Joystick, a complete MSX inside a joystick, which you could plug into the TV and play)? A lot of people was excited about that... and I do believe that would be a great success... even if only MSX1 filled with Konami games, and have a slot connector - being something cheap (less than $100) would sell like water...

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Remember that joke about the "MSX joystick" (which would be the same as the Atari Joystick, a complete MSX inside a joystick, which you could plug into the TV and play)? A lot of people was excited about that... and I do believe that would be a great success... even if only MSX1 filled with Konami games, and have a slot connector - being something cheap (less than $100) would sell like water...

IMHO with a built-in 2" screen it would be even better... I could play Magical Tree and Zanac while sitting on the toilet

@samor: yes, probably a joystick with a built-in MSX emulator could be also fun, but think about a portable MSX and these words: PLAYING IN THE BATHROOM

( Don't understimate the toilet power )

A built in screen would only increase costs... and if you want to play MSX games in the bathroom, you can already do it using some cell phones, PSP, Nintendo DS or even a GBA...

But for me MSX in the bathroom is a bad idea, wouldnt be very happy if it falls in the bathtub, or worse, in the toilet

I'm resurrecting this old thread just to inform you that the portable megadrive is finally available here in Europe, thanks to Blaze (the same factory that makes console peripherals). If you want to pay a visit to the official website, the address is www.segaretro.net

It makes me sad thinking that this TecToy has been able to make a handheld megadrive AND a TV Game joypad with some built-in MD games, and nobody has still made at least a MSX TV Game

I think that Mr. Nishii and the other guys would make money with a MSX TV Game... a lot more than trying to sell the (extremely expensive) OCM

That site stinks. The menu doesn't even work.

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That site stinks. The menu doesn't even work.

Try now... I mispelled the website... it's segaretro.net and not segaretro.com

Hey, that looks a lot better

Thanks

Take a trip in Shlecker stores, too ;-)
It's not a joke... It's named MegaDrive Portable or Millennium.
Same design, different color case.
39.9 euro with 20 games.
Next month goes for this:
http://www4.schlecker.com/htdocs/Detail.aspx?artikelnummer=1138563001&rubriknummer=1461

Mkay, boys and girls. While R&D cost may not be expensive due to ESE MSX Factory doing all the VHDL code for OCM project, the only way to make a unit cheaper them OCM is to replace FPGA chip with ASIC. ASIC is basically a frozen snapshot of FPGA firmware, and if produced in hundreeds of thousands of units, it's much cheaper then even the cheapest FPGA.

However, getting one of the Taiwan factories to make a run of ASIC chips will cost about many times more then the cost of all OCM units ever produced (5000). So good luck and please keep dreaming about impossible cheap MSX consoles

Plus there is the cost of plastic case mold design, FCC approval etc. etc. etc.