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

[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.

[kedawa]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.