Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 47

Thread: Seen those mini Genesis consoles with 80 games built in for $40? Yeah, don't bother, they suck.

  1. #1
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Custom rank graphic
    joshnickerson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Athens
    Posts
    2,919
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    3DS Friend
    0473-8317-6182

    Default Seen those mini Genesis consoles with 80 games built in for $40? Yeah, don't bother, they suck.

    I picked up one of these because it seemed like a good deal... 40 mostly good Genesis games (and 40 crappy flash games, but whatever) in one unit, PLUS the ability to plug in your original Genesis controllers and game carts? Sign me up! But it wasn't until I got it home and started up Sonic the Hedgehog I discovered the fatal flaw...

    The sound chip SUCKS!

    The Sonic theme was unrecognizable, it literally sounded like a completely different tune. Sound effects were even worse. I tried several games and they were all horribly off. Seriously, you'd have to TRY really hard to screw up the Genesis sound chip. I've got fami-clones that have more faithful sound emulation.

    Plus, I'm not sure if it was my unit or not, but to get back to the game select menu, you press the menu button... except in my case, it would take me back to the menu and then freeze up, forcing me to flip the power switch off and on again to be able to select a new game.

    So yeah. It sucks. Maybe if you're deaf, or just don't care about the sound quality, but otherwise, STAY AWAY.

    DP Feedback | Game Blog of Awesomeness! | Seeking out these GCN kiosk discs: Jan 2002, 21, 25, & 29

  2. #2
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Emperor Megas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    The Dark World
    Posts
    2,272
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    6
    Thanked in
    5 Posts

    Default

    I haven't even seen them before. I wonder who clones are so notoriously bad? Seriously, I don't understand it. Especially in the cases when many have cheap DIY fixes that make far more serviceable.

  3. #3
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Custom rank graphic
    joshnickerson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Athens
    Posts
    2,919
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    3DS Friend
    0473-8317-6182

    Default


    Behold the beast. Stay away!

    DP Feedback | Game Blog of Awesomeness! | Seeking out these GCN kiosk discs: Jan 2002, 21, 25, & 29

  4. #4
    Great Puma (Level 12) Custom rank graphic
    Tupin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    4,469
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    10
    Thanked in
    10 Posts

    Default

    Yeah, I really don't know how you mess up the sound so badly.

    We're kind of leaving the age of the clone system in general, anyway. The systems that came out between the point where you could put everything on one chip to the ones that just run Linux and emulate didn't exactly create the best clones. The early Famiclones were so good, they either based themselves off of a legit system, or just stole board designs direct from the original. Either way, it made it so it was more accurate.

  5. #5
    Pear (Level 6) Oldskool's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,262
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Would you say it is the same or worse than other AtGames Genesis clones?

    Sometimes I wonder when people say "Oh Genesis sound sucks" it's because they listened/played the game on a clone or a cheap tv set. I really start to wonder how many people are left in this world that have their original Genesis hooked up to a really nice stereo system with a good sub. The difference is astounding.

  6. #6
    Strawberry (Level 2) phreak97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Adelaide, South Australia
    Posts
    592
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    phreak97

    Default

    Ive played the @games clone at a couple of partys, admittedly with loud music playing, but it seemed pretty good. I do have low expectations from clones though

  7. #7
    Insert Coin (Level 0) Custom rank graphic
    ArcadiaExeter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    11
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    ArcadiaExeter
    PSN
    ArcadiaExeter
    Steam
    ArcadiaExeter

    Default

    i would never buy anything that has games "built in".

  8. #8
    Pretzel (Level 4) MASTERWEEDO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    871
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    2
    Thanked in
    2 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ArcadiaExeter View Post
    i would never buy anything that has games "built in".
    Sega Master System?

  9. #9
    Pear (Level 6) Oldskool's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,262
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    What's ironic about it is that the original game consoles did all have their games built in - it wasn't until years later that a cartridge slot was added.

  10. #10
    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
    Gameguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Richmond Hill, Ontario (Canada)
    Posts
    7,918
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    78
    Thanked in
    70 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by joshnickerson View Post

    Behold the beast. Stay away!
    Isn't that the Sega Firecore? It's supposed to be region free with a NTSC/PAL switch from what I've heard. It originally came with 20 built in games but it looks like they added a bunch, it otherwise looks exactly like the Firecore and it's also by ATGames. It's officially licensed by Sega.

  11. #11
    Cherry (Level 1) Jack_Burton_BYOAC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    279
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Isn't it sort of dubious to call this a clone if it is officially licensed by Sega? Since Sega approves it, and it has the Genesis name it should count as a variant of the system rather than a clone. It may have radically different hardware from the Megadrive, but so have other revisions of systems that are counted as "real" versions.
    Last edited by Jack_Burton_BYOAC; 11-24-2012 at 11:29 PM.

  12. #12
    Peach (Level 3) hbkprm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    newport news va
    Posts
    784
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    PaleSonicakuma

    Default

    might get that for family for xmas
    read sonic doom everyday on my myspace profile

  13. #13
    Cherry (Level 1) CelticJobber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    394
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I bought an AtGames Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player for $25 on Thanksgiving. It works pretty good on most games, with a few exceptions. They used the Japanese version of Super Street Fighter 2 as one of the built-in games, for some reason.

    When adding games with an SD card it has to be formatted as FAT32 and you can only use ROMs that are formatted as .gens and renamed to .bin (.smd files won't work). Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 work fine, but MK3 and UMK3 have wonky controls and you can't perform special moves.

    Revolution X won't work at all, neither will Back To The Future 3, Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, or Ms. Pac-Man. Fatal Fury 2 gets to the title screen but crashes when you try to start and have a match.

    WWF Super Wrestlemania seems to run alot faster than normal (the other WWF games seem to work fine, aside from lack of 6-button support for Royal Rumble and Raw, and muffled/garbled speech in Wrestlemania Arcade).

    The Sonic and Streets of Rage games which are built in all seem to work fine with little to no audio or other issues. Sonic 3 and Sonic 3D Blast also work great (but they're not built-in, so you have to add them).

    Last edited by CelticJobber; 11-25-2012 at 12:28 AM.

  14. #14
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    139
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Cool yea...

    I saw that clone system at my local department store and had to look at it. I noticed on the back of the box, they messed up one of the game images. Basically there's a duplicate image of one of the games. I knew right then and there that it was a piece...

    Hey does your's have that flaw on the back of the box?

  15. #15
    Cherry (Level 1) djshok's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    391
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Anything made by AT Games is complete garbage, not worth the value of the cardboard box it comes in. I love how their whole schtick to trying to sell this one is that it comes with some Capcom games built into it... Meanwhile the thing has an SD card slot for you to put whatever roms you want in there. In any case this thing is just a crappy emulator that plugs into your tv and costs money.

    If you're gonna go the emulation route, buy yourself a USB controller and play roms in Kega Fusion on your computer. The emulation is way better and you can use the controller for other things too. Plus you won't be giving any money to AT Games thus encouraging them to make more shitty products. They wouldn't keep making these things if people didn't keep buying them.
    Ready to print game covers and cart labels: http://www.mediafire.com/?5gm45wyxr3xvv

  16. #16
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Norwalk, CT
    Posts
    140
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I think it's fair to say that these devices may not be for us, but paying attention to where these things are being sold and you can see where the market is. And I'm even going to go out on a limb and say that despite their obvious flaws, they are not actually abominations to man and nature.

    When I decided to satisfy my curiosity about Genesis collecting, I actually started with the AT Games Sonic-head thing, which had a bunch of built in games and a cartridge slot. It was tiny, and did pretty much what it said on the box -played Genesis games. After that, I decided to delve a bit deeper and got myself a proper real Genesis, a Sega CD, and a Retron3 for S-video output. If these little cheap clones serve the purpose of re-introducing people to the Genesis library, then maybe that's alright.

    I decided to plug in that Sonic-head last night out of curiosity. I tried the built-in copy of Sonic & Knuckles -the opening theme is so messed up its actually kinda amusing. I popped in my copy of Valis III, adjusted my TV settings to reduce the brightness (I didn't remember this thing putting out such a strong signal), and played that for a good long bit. It was pretty fine. Not awesome, not perfect, but fine.

    I definitely think there is room for improvement even for these inexpensive devices when it comes to emulation, but again, the target audience for these things is definitely not us. It's the ToysRUs and WalMart crowd. I think that's perfectly alright, and for those who get hooked, the opportunity to get a more authentic Genesis experience is out there and available.

  17. #17
    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Posts
    5,964
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    2
    Thanked in
    2 Posts

    Default

    All the ATgames systems use the FireCore setup. I had last years version of the new one now in blue that has SF2, and it had 20 games and the SD card slot thing. I pulled a couple hundred games at random that looked somewhat interesting to me. Over just firing them up for a minute or two each I found it worked as playable fully for around 80% of the games is all. If those ignorant bastard would have allowed SAVING to the SD card then all those ActionRPGs and real RPGS like Phantasy Star 2-4 would have bumped up the playability score a heap, but as is they're impossible to finish without saving in a reasonable setting. The firecore setup does have problems with screen and scrolling priorities in some titles, the worst offender is Contra, while all games to a varying degree do have some audio problems with pitch and tone, but no music is just dropped. For the price they're not terrible, but you could do a lot better. It's a shame the new one with the cart port isn't improved, despicable really, as now it claims to run whatever and I bet it won't. Perhaps their stupidity was too much to fix the saving problem so adding a game cart slot bypasses that since you can save to a real cart you buy.

    Personally I'm more interested in NeoGeoX and how that plays out, someone review that in a few weeks k? The NG uses a beefier version of the 68000 and z80 cpu of the Genesis, I fear it's some firecore like clone crap, but I'm hoping it's not as ATGames isn't involved supposedly. IT also has a SD card slot too, but they look to be using it to sell addon arcade games at $20 a pop so I hope it's open and not locked down.

  18. #18
    Pear (Level 6) wingzrow's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    1,285
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    The model 2 sega genesis, and late model 1 sega genesis had messed up chips that sounded like static when you turned up the volume.

    Even the official emulator the wii used for sega genesis games had inaccurate sound.

    Maybe it's just much harder to mimic the sega genesis's sound chip than we realize?

  19. #19
    ServBot (Level 11)
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    3,028
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    I bought both of the recent re-releases (standalone and portable) because I'm a fan of clones. What really caught my eye is that, inside the Ultimate Portable box, was a brochure that showed a Genesis cartridge that accepted an SD card, and it said to go to www.atgames.com to purchase it. It hasn't shown up on that site yet, but it's only a matter of time before it will be available for sale. I'm hoping it will be soon. Right now, they only sell power cords for the standalone and portable systems.
    Currently catching up on PSN, WiiWare, Wii U E-Shop and Xbox Live Arcade exclusives I missed.

  20. #20
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Blitzwing256's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    las vegas
    Posts
    2,038
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    blitzwing256
    PSN
    blitzwing256

    Default

    I was going to do a review on my blog of this, but life has once again got in the way.

    the one good thing it does is you cam play megadrive and genesis games without an adaptor, better still you can play locked out games such as shining force 2 (jap) just fine.
    The only downside is ,if you have the Japanese version of games such as bare knuckle 1 or 2, it will always boot in english mode.

Similar Threads

  1. FS: NES/Genesis/2600/Intellivision/etc games and consoles
    By NES-Luke in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 08-26-2006, 08:11 AM
  2. Rare Turbo GrafX 16 Games, Genesis Games, Mini SNES-Cheap pr
    By 64squares in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 04-20-2006, 02:14 PM
  3. FS: Genesis/SNES/NES Consoles/Games
    By crucifyed4us in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 05-16-2005, 06:24 PM
  4. Rare Brazilian Sega Consoles w/built in games?
    By OldSchoolGamer in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 11-04-2004, 08:54 AM
  5. Genesis pirates and Megadrive 2 - do I bother?
    By ianoid in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 09-14-2004, 08:40 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •