snega2usb (SNES/Genesis cart to USB)

[understatement]

http://www.snega2usb.com/wordpress/about/


* you like playing legacy video games on your PC, and doing so legally
* you want to preserve your investment in these games, even after all hardware has expired
* you want to back up your game progress, e.g. before replacing the cartridge battery
* you like emulator cheats, but prefer to finish the boss on the real console
* you simply think it’s cool to plug huge game cartridges into a PDA or cell phone


This thing is going on my to buy list.

[Baloo]

Wow, that's a pretty awesome invention, especially for prototype dumpers and people who want to back-up their saved games.

[Ed Oscuro]

So this is basically a modern game copier that exports proper game files? It'd be nice to finally not need to buy a ROM dumper and bust carts open, if this is indeed capable of that. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

[understatement]

Wow, that's a pretty awesome invention, especially for prototype dumpers and people who want to back-up their saved games.

Never even thought about a prototype dump.


So this is basically a modern game copier that exports proper game files? It'd be nice to finally not need to buy a ROM dumper and bust carts open, if this is indeed capable of that. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.


From the FAQ section:


Q: What does it do?

The snega2usb is a reader for *Super Nintendo / *Super Famicom and *SEGA Mega Drive / *Genesis games. It has connectors for game cartridges, and a USB-B port. When you connect a game cartridge with a PC through USB, the game data appears as if it were a USB drive with a ROM file on it. Yes, the snega2usb can do battery-buffered savegames too. No, you cannot put new games on a non-writable cartridge.

So yes it has that capability.

[Ed Oscuro]

Basically, my question is if this thing lacks any functionality (besides the ability to read any ROM) that would put its value to SNES / Genesis dumpers in question. Obviously you can't configure it to read just any ol' ROM...but you also don't have to unsocket anything which is great. I guess we'll find out later...doesn't sound like it's crippled though.

[Blitzwing256]

i've got a bunch of prototypes i'd love to dump with that, definately will be following it :-)

[badinsults]

I bought a Mash Mods USB programmer (to go along with my SNES flash cart), and if the snega2usb works as well, then it certainly is a worthwhile investment. I probably won't get one as there are no benefits of this over the Mash Mods programmer (aside from the fact that it mounts the cart as a mass storage device), and I don't have any Genesis games.

[understatement]

I just got finished checking in on this and what I saw was something vary unexpected. Apparently, there is work being done on an adapter were 2600 games will work with the Retrode (that's the new name) and if it works it might lead to other adapters for other systems!

[ShinobiMan]

This is awesome. Does it have it's own built in emulator or will you merely play the ROM files with existing emulators on your computer?

[understatement]

This is awesome. Does it have it's own built in emulator or will you merely play the ROM files with existing emulators on your computer?

You will use an existing emulator, all this does is show the ROM on the cart as a mass storage device would but, its not only for computers it will work on anything that can access a file from a usb connection and has an emulator installed on it. Here it is on the Wii (http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/2010/01/here-wii-come/)