Why are there no generic mass-produced power base converters yet?

[recorderdude]

Okay, this is something I never got.

Companies have gone out of their way to make games playable on other systems they're not supposed to be playable on: The retroport for NES to SNES and the retrogen for Genesis to SNES are so common you can buy one off of WALMART, and someone even shoved a gameboy in a NES cart!

So what's got me confused is...why the heck hasn't anyone made any generic power base converters?

It's literally nothing more than building a connection with a different sized slot; SMS games ARE supposed to be played on a genesis, as the hardware is already there IN the genesis, so costs for manufacturing would be super-low. It's pretty much the same thing as the GameGear Master Gear, except WAY more useful and practical (actually playing SMS games on a TV screen instead of a tiny GG one).

I'm sure there's a lot of people who'd happily plunk down a $20 for a generic version of the PBC to avoid the hassle of using a master system to play SMS games or just save space/hookups as well as enjoy the audio upgrades the genesis hardware gives for a select few titles.

It's also likely there's likely more people who'd buy that than a generic master gear for the same price (more genesis owners than GG owners by far), and WAAAY more people that'd buy a generic one than spend crazy money on a SEGA official one if it worked just as well (and it'd have no reason not to).

So....why hasn't it happened yet?

[Dashopepper]

I think because 98 percent of people have never heard of a Sega Master System.

[The Adventurer]

Actually I was wondering the exact same thing a week ago while pining over the Power Base Converter sitting at the local used game store.

[cholkavich]

why not just buy the PBC? i could be wrong but the last time i checked they went for 25-30 bucks a pop. I could understand if you have a model 2 genesis though.

[The Adventurer]

why not just buy the PBC? i could be wrong but the last time i checked they went for 25-30 bucks a pop. I could understand if you have a model 2 genesis though.

I believe the one I'm looking at comes attached to a Model 1 Genesis, and runs about $60. (they also have an actual Master System for $100. Yeah, they're a little over priced.

I don't think I've seen one on E-Bay for less then $40 or 50.

[wiggyx]

There's simply not enough of a market for something like that, nothing more.

[sloan]

There's simply not enough of a market for something like that, nothing more.

Maybe not in USA, but Europe is another story.

[recorderdude]

There's simply not enough of a market for something like that, nothing more.

Well, there's certainly less of a market for gamegear master gears, and those are still sold. Yes, most of them are old stock, but apparently important enough for people to try to still sell them for what they sold them for ten years ago when the majesco gear was around, and, when they go up for a decent price, they actually do sell.

I can see some kind of retro distributor making a small run of power base clones to see if they sell and deciding whether or not to produce more after that, but I do agree it would be foolish to produce them in higher numbers and expect them to all move.

At this point, I'm wondering more than anything why companies haven't even tested the water, let alone stuck their foot in as far as this incredibly useful attachment goes.

[kedawa]

Europe in the early 90's, maybe.
Is that what you mean?

[Gameguy]

So what's got me confused is...why the heck hasn't anyone made any generic power base converters?
They did.

http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_12&products_id=74

http://www.gameoz.com.au/consoles-retro-and-modern/sega/sega-mega-drive/mega-drive-accessories/master-system-converter-for-sega-mega-drive-consoles.html

[wiggyx]

Maybe not in USA, but Europe is another story.

No offense, but without the US market, nobody is going to develop a piece of hardware like this.


Well, there's certainly less of a market for gamegear master gears, and those are still sold. Yes, most of them are old stock, but apparently important enough for people to try to still sell them for what they sold them for ten years ago when the majesco gear was around, and, when they go up for a decent price, they actually do sell.

I can see some kind of retro distributor making a small run of power base clones to see if they sell and deciding whether or not to produce more after that, but I do agree it would be foolish to produce them in higher numbers and expect them to all move.

At this point, I'm wondering more than anything why companies haven't even tested the water, let alone stuck their foot in as far as this incredibly useful attachment goes.

Keep in mind that the Master Gear and all the clones are essentially pass-through devices. It took very little work to bring them to market. Plus, it's doubtful that anyone is still producing them, and old stock is all that you see (as you pointed out). It may have been worth it at some point, but considering that there's a seemingly endless supply of old stock, it probably wasn't even viable when the GG was still on the market.

I can't. It would take WAY too much R&D to make a product like this to be worthwhile IMO. The problem with a "small run" is that you have to make up R&D, tooling, packaging and distribution, and any other costs incurred.

The thing is, there's no way to test the water by way of releasing a product. At that point, you've already spent the wad to make it happen, which is a pretty high risk game when you consider that this is a device to play games that weren't popular (in the US) on a console other than the one they were designed for. Testing the water in this instance would be lurking on forums, attending retro/classic game conventions, etc. in order to gauge interest. Based on the fact that this is the ONLY time I've ever seen someone bring it up, I'm guessing the market research would point to "DON'T DO IT!"

The reason that SNES and NES clones are on the market is that they are based on incredibly popular consoles. To make any money on a product like this you would have to sell at least 5-figure's worth. I SERIOUSLY doubt anyone could manage to sell 10K+ knock-off Power Base Converters.

[sloan]

They did.

http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_12&products_id=74

http://www.gameoz.com.au/consoles-retro-and-modern/sega/sega-mega-drive/mega-drive-accessories/master-system-converter-for-sega-mega-drive-consoles.html

Wow, if only they weren't sold out...

[kedawa]

Unless PBC are selling for big bucks these days, then it really isn't going to be worth it.

[recorderdude]

Unless PBC are selling for big bucks these days, then it really isn't going to be worth it.

They go for around $30-50 on average now, and they're pretty darned hard to come by in the wild. A good way to look at them is as SEGA's super gameboy, except the super game boy sold so well that it can still be found cheaply and there's no reason to make clones of it.

I'm surprised that those other clones went out of stock, though. Even though compressing the entire thing to a sonic and knuckles style lock-on cartridge is pretty nice, when the rare piece of plastic can cost LESS than the knockoff, I'd think more people would just go with the rare piece of plastic.

[BlastProcessing402]

Keep in mind that the Master Gear and all the clones are essentially pass-through devices.

So is the Power Base Converter. There's next to nothing inside a PBC, and most of that probably has to do with the wonkyness of having a cart slot and a card slot. Leave out the card slot (because seriously, who gives a shit about the cards) and it would be nearly as simple as a Master Gear.

[kedawa]

If it's little more than a pass-through adapter, then that opens up some interesting possibilities.

Is there any technical reason why nobody ever made a 1000in1 SMS game cart for Genesis?

[shoeshot]

I've actually seen some Korean Mega Drive multicarts that are actually just a bunch of master system games.

[Parodius Duh!]

I've actually seen some Korean Mega Drive multicarts that are actually just a bunch of master system games.

Yep, I have a bunch of them. I also have some single Master games ported to MD like Super Boy IV and Toto World 3.

Its actually quite easy to put a master system game on a megadrive/genesis board and make a reproduction that will function on the system without the use of a PBC.

[o.pwuaioc]

I wonder why no one has made the Game Gear equivalent to Super Game Boy.

[Parodius Duh!]

I wonder why no one has made the Game Gear equivalent to Super Game Boy.

For the mega drive it might be possible. Master system no way. Some GG games can be ported to Master System but some can not due to the higher color palette or something....

[BobbyRobby]

yeah, seems like a logical thing to do.

i'm wondering if they'll ever make a turb grafx clone system again too. probably couldn't make clone turbo cd because of bios though.


I wonder why no one has made the Game Gear equivalent to Super Game Boy.

I want this! Both of my Game Gear Screens are bad.

[recorderdude]

I wonder why no one has made the Game Gear equivalent to Super Game Boy.

Pretty much impossible even for the genesis; GameGear has a pallette of 4,096 colors with 32 onscreen. Genesis only has a palette of 512.

SMS would practically be nothing more than putting sega master contacts in an empty genesis cart as a pass-through, though, and of course a little hardware to connect the SMS slot to the genesis one. Nobody gives a shit about the cards, forget them.

[o.pwuaioc]

Pretty much impossible even for the genesis; GameGear has a pallette of 4,096 colors with 32 onscreen. Genesis only has a palette of 512.

SMS would practically be nothing more than putting sega master contacts in an empty genesis cart as a pass-through, though, and of course a little hardware to connect the SMS slot to the genesis one. Nobody gives a shit about the cards, forget them.

I knew that you couldn't go from Game Gear through Master System, but I had no idea that the picture "quality" was so much better on than even the Genesis. What about 32X?

[recorderdude]

I knew that you couldn't go from Game Gear through Master System, but I had no idea that the picture "quality" was so much better on than even the Genesis. What about 32X?

32x has 32,768 different colors, all of which can be on screen at the same time. More than enough, but it seems insanely impractical and unprofitable to make a gamegear-to-32x adaptor.

[xelement5x]

32x has 32,768 different colors, all of which can be on screen at the same time. More than enough, but it seems insanely impractical and unprofitable to make a gamegear-to-32x adaptor.

Yeah, at that point it's more realistic to just consolize a game gear and call it a day.

[o.pwuaioc]

Yeah, at that point it's more realistic to just consolize a game gear and call it a day.

Yeah, but think of the newly added layer to the Tower of Power! Genesis/SegaCD, 32X, Sonic and Knuckles, Mega Game Gear, Game Gear game.

[recorderdude]

Yeah, at that point it's more realistic to just consolize a game gear and call it a day.

Here you go. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGvMESQ8kTc&t=2m46s)

[xelement5x]

Here you go. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGvMESQ8kTc&t=2m46s)

Yeah, the board from viletim that the fellow in that video used is very well done and really the best way to get your GG consolized. His prices on the board are actually really really reasonable considering the amount of time he put into them, and if you've got decent soldering skills you can get the whole thing put together pretty quickly.