New Coleco/Sega handheld

[Charlesaway]

You, I was thinking last night about this thing; it seems to be a liscensed out tec-toy product.

It would make total sense, all these roms, small package. I think that coleco was going more for a feel of convenience than nostalgia due to the fact that here in the states the SMS didnt have much of a following (I would know, I was the kid who had Hang On instead of Rad Racer). I guess they just liscenced out one of those tec-toy 20/50/100 in 1 consoles that are more or less just plug and plays.

Wasnt there news of a supposed SMS dedicated plug and play?

Yes, most likely the company who purchased the rights to Coleco are using it to push an extra few units out the door due to brand association.

There is a whole section of these Coleco branded 'videogames' in the Targets. They include everything from those LCD Poker and Sudoku games, to these little nifty TFT screened color portables, to the TV tabletop tennis and TV Boxing games.

[Charlesaway]

You, I was thinking last night about this thing; it seems to be a liscensed out tec-toy product.

It would make total sense, all these roms, small package. I think that coleco was going more for a feel of convenience than nostalgia due to the fact that here in the states the SMS didnt have much of a following (I would know, I was the kid who had Hang On instead of Rad Racer). I guess they just liscenced out one of those tec-toy 20/50/100 in 1 consoles that are more or less just plug and plays.

Wasnt there news of a supposed SMS dedicated plug and play?

Yes, most likely the company who purchased the rights to Coleco are using it to push an extra few units out the door due to brand association.

There is a whole section of these Coleco branded 'videogames' in the Targets. They include everything from those LCD Poker and Sudoku games, to these little nifty TFT screened color portables, to the TV tabletop tennis and TV Boxing games.

[diskoboy]

I'm boggled as to the fact no one has pointed out that Coleco made a device that plays Sega Master System games - yet they probably could've designed a better ColecoVision handheld that includes every CV game ever made, and still keep it under $50.

I'm still getting one.

[Lady Jaye]

I'm boggled as to the fact no one has pointed out that Coleco made a device that plays Sega Master System games - yet they probably could've designed a better ColecoVision handheld that includes every CV game ever made, and still keep it under $50.

I'm still getting one.

And how would you do that? There's one problem that keeps the CV from getting a retro-revival like all the other consoles: most of the CV library consists in licensed games, and said licenses have all, I'm sure, expired years ago. Definitely feasible hardware-wise, but there wouldn't be much to be, game-wise, unless they'd strike a deal with the publishers/developers of the selected CV games AND the copyright holders of the original game (since many were arcade ports or ports from other systems).

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm boggled as to the fact no one has pointed out that Coleco made a device that plays Sega Master System games - yet they probably could've designed a better ColecoVision handheld that includes every CV game ever made, and still keep it under $50.

But they didn't design it; they rather licensed something made in Asia from well-known specs. It certainly can't be too hard to design a portable Coleco, but then you'd have to pay for not only the hardware redesign but also the PCB layout - and why do that when you can just license something on the cheap? If you play your cards right, you can find some fly-by-night company and give them a pittance for their formerly illegal activities

The gloptop is probably just the SMS-on-a-chip architecture. The games are most likely stored on the chip on the back side of the PCB, i.e. the one that's covered by a sticker in the first two shots and is too blurry to make out a part number in the third shot, but which is almost certainly a flash memory chip.

You can click the pictures to make them bigger - the label says "OP101-COLECO" on the top line, then "-N?? 0608C*" or something. It does look like a flash memory chip, but you'll have a hell of a time desoldering it...

Anyway, to the product in question, I say NO, even if it is well built. *goes to play some Aleste or Alex Kidd in Shinobi World*

[Damaramu]

RISE FWOM YO GWAVE

Just picked one up today. My local area Target has them on clearance for $24.98. If you were on the fence about this little hand held, now's your chance to take the plunge!

So far, so good! It's actually pretty solid. The GBA SP2 feels fragile compared to this handheld. The screen IS pretty impressive. Now if we can just figure out a way to add and subtract games on it.

So again, your local Target may or may not have it on clearance! Go check it out!!

[segagamer4life]

I'm boggled as to the fact no one has pointed out that Coleco made a device that plays Sega Master System games - yet they probably could've designed a better ColecoVision handheld that includes every CV game ever made, and still keep it under $50.

I'm still getting one.

My target got em.. but 50 bucks.. damn... I am waiting till a price drop.. can't swing the 50 bucks right now.

[Bratwurst]

Anyone here who owns one adventurous enough to take it apart and snap some photos? I'd love to get one if the games could be exchanged for something else.

There were better SMS games than 3/4s of the titles on it now, that's for sure.

[GM80]

Anyone here who owns one adventurous enough to take it apart and snap some photos? I'd love to get one if the games could be exchanged for something else.

Found these online. Don't know enough to know if I'm looking at anything useful or not.

[c0ldb33r]

Wow thats awesome! Provided its decent on batteries and has a nice screen I'll happily buy it for $50.00

[c0ldb33r]

Doh! I meant to ask...

Has anyone seen a review of this device? If so, what did it say?

[c0ldb33r]

Uggh, triple post (sorry!)

I answered my own question about the review. There's one at atariage.

Hardware: The build quality of this device is well above average, definitely better than the VGPocket games, and at least on par with the GP2X. The case is glossy black plastic with a subtle marble/sparkle finish. The whole thing looks nice in person, despite the nasty red COLECO logo. It feels substantial in the hand, but definitely smooth and pocketable. It's larger than the GB Micro, about the size and thickness of a largish cell phone, but very light. It doesn't make any noise when you twist it. There are two speakers on the front of the device, probably dual mono output. The screen is large and bright, with excellent color saturation and contrast. The buttons have a nice springy feel to them. The two buttons above the D-pad on the left are volume + and -, which come in handy since the device doesn't remember your volume setting when you switch it off. The buttons over the A and B action buttons on the right are RESET (to the game select menu) and START. There are no shoulder buttons or volume wheels on the device, just a small slot for a wrist strap. A headphone jack on the bottom of the unit is intelligently placed and doesn't get in the way.

Hackability?: The unit takes 3 AAA batteries and you need a small screwdriver to open the battery compartment. The device is held together by 4 small screws so it looks like it would be easy for Ben Heckendorn and friends to get inside easily. I didn't open mine -- I want to play some games for my fifty bucks, first. There's a jack for an external power adapter (DC 5V), as well as a standard mini-AV jack for audio/video output (included) should you want to play on the big screen. I'm happy with the built-in games for now, but it would be neat to expand this device. It almost feels like there's enough room in the case to do something like that.

Software: I don't know if this is a "SMS-on-a-chip," but it feels like the real thing to me, rather than emulation. Sounds are loud and accurate, and video is displayed in the game's original aspect ratio. Since different video systems are present on the software in this device, some games are upscaled to fill the whole screen, while others are displayed in a window. Text is readable in all modes and motion blur is minimal -- on par with GBA Micro and MUCH better than the original Game Gear. It's nice to have Sonic Triple Trouble on the run in my pocket, and having Snail Maze without a TV-based console. The game selection was done by someone who knows the Sega library, as there are no issues like those you sometimes see with pirate multicarts, such as duplicates, unplayable dogs, or titles that need the lightgun or 3D glasses. These are OLD games, but unlike some of the recent "new" games that were created for plug and play devices, most of these have a measure of professional polish. In other words, I'd rather play great games from the late 80s than crappy games from last week.

Game list: (they're displayed in this order in the software menu)
Sonic Drift 2
Sonic Triple Trouble
Alex Kidd in High Tech World
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Altered Beast
Assault City
Astro Warrior
Aztec Adventure
Bomber Raid
Columns
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
Fantasy Zone
Fantasy Zone: The Maze
Global Defense
Kung Fu Kid
The Ninja
Penguin Land
Quartet
Snail Maze
Super Columns

They also have a pic comparing it to the GBMicro found on this page: [link]

[Bratwurst]

Found these online. Don't know enough to know if I'm looking at anything useful or not.

Ugh, a gloptop. Doesn't look very conducive to hacking.

[GizmoGC]

I'll be buying one today and have a full review up as well. Will be posted here, at CAG, and I had a request to post it at Sega Nerrds.

[Schenley]

I'll be buying one today and have a full review up as well. Will be posted here, at CAG, and I had a request to post it at Sega Nerrds.

Did you get a chance to do that review yet?

[Damaramu]

I'm kicking myself for not grabbing one on Black Friday when they were $29. Ah well. I'm sure sooner or later, we'll see a price drop.

[exit]

Alex Kidd in Hightech World? Why on earth would they put that travesty on anything, I hope they changed the Sega ad of an ending.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

The gloptop is probably just the SMS-on-a-chip architecture. The games are most likely stored on the chip on the back side of the PCB, i.e. the one that's covered by a sticker in the first two shots and is too blurry to make out a part number in the third shot, but which is almost certainly a flash memory chip.

This is the same configuration used by the VG Pocket systems mentioned earlier. A gloptop NES-on-a-chip architecture with games stored on a surface-mounted flash chip.

If someone desoldered and dumped the memory chip from one of these sorts of systems, we'd probably be able to figure out how the games are stored. It probably wouldn't just be a bunch of ROMs tossed on there since they all have to be integrated into the menu system (though in the case of the VG pocket systems, JungleTac seems to be able to switch around the game listings on different systems without too much trouble), but creating an image with whichever games you wanted probbaly wouldn't be too hard. Then it would just be a matter of writing that image to a compatible chip and soldering it back to the board. A slot with interchangeable chips doesn't seem like it would be feasible because of static issues and space limitations.

I've also seen people suggesting the idea of adding some sort of SD card interface. I have no idea how or if that could work since it involves all sorts of more complicated stuff like microcontrollers and whatnot, but it would certainly be nice if it were possible.

I recently bought a OneStation system which is from the same people that make the VG Pocket systems, except it takes cartridges and plays not only their original games but also NES games and Genesis games and in the future possibly more because of the way it's designed. However, once you include the shipping, I've now payed about $200 for the system and a collection of 11 carts (which each contain 4 to 99 games), so it really would have made more sense to just buy a GP2X or even just a GP32.


...word is bondage...

[c0ldb33r]

I'll be buying one today and have a full review up as well. Will be posted here, at CAG, and I had a request to post it at Sega Nerrds.

Great, I'm looking forward to it. I'm especially looking forward to hearing about the battery life.

I checked my local Toys R Us and didn't find one there. Any word where they would be outside of a Target store? We don't have Targets here.

[j_factor]

I hope the design is such that the modding community will be able to attach a Game Gear cart slot. I've been wanting a smaller version of the GG with a better screen and a/v output for like 15 years.

I'll probably get one regardless. Sonic Triple Trouble playable on a TV? Sold.

edit: Did anyone else find it highly amusing that Coleco is making this? COLECO makes its triumphant return... with a new Z80 device!