Does the Sega Nomad have any lockout? [Archive]

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TazVag

10-10-2009, 01:45 AM

I'm considering getting a portable Genesis and wondering if I should look at the Nomad first before considering one of the newer "pirate" portables. A lot of my carts are pirates so I'd like to know if I will be able to play them on it. Cartridge size aside, I know that trying some of my carts on a Genesis 2 requires a cart swap as the system is running to bypass the TMSS lockout. I know the Nomad is region free, so can I assume it works with anything?

Jorpho

10-10-2009, 01:58 AM

You do realize that one of those newer pirate portables would likely have much, much better battery life, right?

TazVag

10-10-2009, 02:14 AM

I don't really care about battery life, I'd just use the AC adapter anyways.

Jorpho

10-10-2009, 02:19 AM

That would seem to defeat the purpose of getting a portable system.

Icarus Moonsight

10-10-2009, 02:39 AM

As far as I know, the Nomad will run MD carts that do not have lock-outs on the cart itself. Don't know about pirate carts, though I assume that they would run. Pirates using lock-out chips seems ironic to me. LOL

TazVag

10-10-2009, 02:41 AM

lol. Well the thing is I want the portable because I don't have a TV. Recently moved out on my own, and I barely watch TV anymore the past few years to feel like spending the money on one. A portable would be cheaper for me if I just want to play my carts.

Maybe I should just buy a Tv tuner for the gamegear and get a $1 Genesis off eBay. Kind of a funny looking setup but it might be cheaper...

Icarus Moonsight

10-10-2009, 02:50 AM

Garage/Yard Sale TVs man. I've bought 19 inch sets for as little as $5.

Also, might want to check into VGA converter boxes. Make a computer monitor run your games. Get sound through your PC speakers. I been doing something similar for years now. I've found big monitors for cheap at resale shops. My 22 inch CRT was $20 and also had BNC5 connections on the back. I haven't looked up what freq the signal runs, but I been thinking about getting a scart to BNC adapter and a couple scart cables and see if I can get RGB running on it.

TazVag

10-10-2009, 02:54 AM

I considered the VGA box, but I have a laptop and from what I understand the VGA box only would display the game, no sound. Also they sound a little expensive as well. I've also heard of USB converters for displaying games on a laptop but the video signal lags a couple seconds apparently.

Peonpiate

10-10-2009, 03:45 AM

Having used both a Nomad in the past and one of the newer 'pirate' models recently I can tell you a few things you might be overlooking.

I know you said battery life doesnt matter to you, but the battery life on the pirate models are way better. Id guestimate they last 3x longer at least. Its a perk you may not use but its there nontheless.

The LCD screens - The pirate Nomad beats it by a wide margin.The first difference I noticed was the blurring on fast games like Sonic on the Nomad. Its gone on the Pirate nomads. Thats the difference of 13+ years in LCD technology showing its face.

I think pirate carts would work on both. Certainly if there are issues the Sega unit would be more picky with pirate carts...since its official.

Build quality on the unit I tried was good, Sega nomad is sturdier but the pirate model was not horrible, just a tab behind it in plastic quality. Overall I would grab the pirate model unless you want to collect the Sega version. It has the advantage of a more modern LCD atleast and on most games you will notice that right away.

Icarus Moonsight

10-10-2009, 03:57 AM

The USB things are more for capturing video rather than playing. If you don't have a monitor to run on then a converter may not be your best solution. They can be had fairly cheap though. My box wasn't all that expensive, ~$60. It only accepts composite and svid signals but, it resamples and displays at 600x800 or 440x620(? I always forget this one). Component can be a little fuzzy, but svid looks pretty darn good. Not as good as 480p native res or better, but it's close enough and was cheap enough (5 years ago) for me not to care too much. I'd assume a similar solution is even cheaper now. If you know where to look locally, VGA CRTs can be had easier and cheaper than SDTVs. Considering the box will work with any/all VGA stuff, you can start with the best available and upgrade screen size on the cheap. Maybe we are too far into the LCD/HD cycle for them to be as plentiful as they were a few years ago... IDK.

They have other boxes that accept RF, composite, SVid and component sometimes even scart and those usually run fairly high, but they have a lot more features, output in more resolutions and have better resampling. You get what you pay for, at least sometimes.

Another neat thing about the boxes is it makes your gaming/movies rig modular. And, yes, movies look good through them as well. I have an older PC gaming speaker system hooked up to my rig and it puts out great stereo sound with good bass. Only cost me nothing. LOL A guy I know was upgrading the cpus in his office and was throwing them out. He offered them and I brought them home. Maybe that's why I'm not so impressed about resampled PS1 games through a PS3... I been doing that before the PS3 was released, on a PS1. :)

They open up the avenue of VGA projectors too. Something to keep in mind since those get recycled often enough. You might have to replace a burnt bulb, but that little bit can be totally worth the effort of a huge screen that has decent resolution and is also cheap.

Keep looking, you'll find something.

Game Freak

10-10-2009, 06:21 AM

i Second the idea of purchasing a cheap TV. Man, they're only 5 to 10 dollars. In fact, i got a 22" or so for only a buck. Drive around today, follow the signs, you might find one!

mobiusclimber

10-10-2009, 10:03 AM

I can tell you right now that certain MD carts that are region locked WON'T work on a US Nomad. I tried it with Legend of Heroes I & II (Dragon Slayer or whatever it's called) and got the old "This cart is only for such and such region" message.

Also, as far as TVs go, check local Craigslist free section. Why pay $5 even when you can get a working TV for FREE!

Gameguy

10-10-2009, 12:57 PM

I know the Nomad is region free, so can I assume it works with anything?
Where did you hear that? It has the lockout chip just like the Model 2 Genesis, if any of your games don't work on a Genesis 2 they won't work on a Nomad. The Nomad doesn't have a reset switch, just a power switch. The screen on a Nomad is way better than the screen on a Game Gear though, just thought I'd mention that.

Fakeplastcball

10-10-2009, 04:49 PM

You do realize that one of those newer pirate portables would likely have much, much better battery life, right?

To inform everyone. The new pirate portable may not be good. :shameful:

AtGames are the people who have been making these mini Genesis/Megadrives. SuperDan88 of Youtube got a hold of one, reviewed it and it lacks compatibility with some popular titles and the sound is off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AE5d5YwqNc (to save time skip to 5:06)
He's got good videos.

AtGames has a good idea but I hope they can master that system (lol) before they stop putting out iterations.

Fakeplastcball

10-10-2009, 05:06 PM

Is there a thread about region lockout?

I'm interested in a portable genesis but i also have european megadive games.

TazVag

10-10-2009, 08:06 PM

To inform everyone. The new pirate portable may not be good. :shameful:

AtGames are the people who have been making these mini Genesis/Megadrives. SuperDan88 of Youtube got a hold of one, reviewed it and it lacks compatibility with some popular titles and the sound is off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AE5d5YwqNc (to save time skip to 5:06)
He's got good videos.

AtGames has a good idea but I hope they can master that system (lol) before they stop putting out iterations.

Thanks for the info, but we're talking about handheld consoles here, not mini consoles like in that video.

Sounds like the pirate handheld is the way to go for me. I could look for a free TV but I don't drive so getting it here would be a hassle. I also hate to think of dealing with the thing whenever it is I move out. I just want something small and out of the way. :)

Also I heard the Nomad was region free through a random Google search.

davepesc

10-10-2009, 10:48 PM

TazVag

10-10-2009, 11:08 PM

Remember there is no more analog television, although I'd love to see a pic of a digital converter box connected to a TV Tuner!

Yeah which is why I think the price has gone down so much for the TV tuner on eBay(well at least some people are selling it cheap now). I would only have used it for connecting a console to though. Look on Youtube and you can find someone playing a Wii on it. LOL

Ze_ro

10-11-2009, 05:38 PM

The USB things are more for capturing video rather than playing.
It depends on how it works. I have a video capture card in my computer, and it encodes the video straight into MPEG in hardware, so all my computer gets is an MPEG stream that it then has to decode in order to show on-screen. All this results in about 2 seconds of lag, which is completely unacceptable for gaming.

I think some older cards are simple frame buffer devices with no hardware encoding... those might work better for such a purpose, but I wouldn't bet on it (Keep in mind that the card I bought was damn cheap, and even it has hardware encoding, so I'm not sure if anyone even makes frame buffer cards anymore).

Maybe I should just buy a Tv tuner for the gamegear and get a $1 Genesis off eBay. Kind of a funny looking setup but it might be cheaper...
Not only would this be incredibly silly and impractical, but a Game Gear TV Tuner would likely cost more than any CRT TV you would find these days anyways.

--Zero