NeoMD Flash Cart Released - Genesis Flash Cart

[directive0]

^Totally agree, I am here to learn about homebrew applications. And in this instance a device that allows me to run downloaded roms on my old genesis is not what is getting me excited.

What excites me is that there is a world of genesis homebrew I NEVER even knew about! Someone wanna fill this noobatron in?

[pibs]

so what does the parallel port do? does it allow to view the console on the pc? if so it would save me in looking for a tv connection cuz id rather have it hooked up to my flat screen.

[SpooForBrains]

Pibster, no, it allows you to "flash" content to the cartridge, and basically take a game ROM and play it on a real live megadrive/genesis.

As for viewing it on your PC, you could get one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEGA-MEGADRIVE...em320096811744

and plug it either into a capture card on your PC, or into a display that supports RCA video in.

[robocelot]

And to the one bitiching about parrelel ports..

1- I just bought a brand new HP Desktop pc and it has a prrrellel port on it.... Its what some priniters and umm.. other system resources use

Fine, show me a printer or scanner currently sold in stores that uses a parallel port.

Why not a SCSI port while you are at it?

Give it a few more years and you'd be hard pressed to find anything but USB, even Firewire is being crushed under USB's massive heel.

2. If you really want this and your pc doesnt have on, then you can get over it and instal one or just wait till a smarter then you person comes around and makes an adapter for USB

Not really the point. It's a lazy excuse for under-engineering a product and trying to pass it off as something new, when there has been a similar modern product out for years. Not to mention that flash memory and SRAM are so cheap these days that charging $80-100 for such a product is way out of line (unless you are expecting to sell only 5 of them, which I suspect will be the case).

Someone else mentioned the Cuttle Cart (Atari 2600), the Intellicart, and VecRam/VecFlash. I own these as well, and yes they use serial and parallel ports but that's like comparing apples to oranges here. These interfaces are made by hobbyists, not mass produced in some Chinese factory and sold for a huge markup. I can excuse a non-USB interface for these because onboard USB slave hardware is expensive in small quantities and as of a few months ago is only starting to drop in price where it's realistic for a hobbyist to use it in a project. For what it's worth, the designer of the VecFlash (Richard Hutchinson) has recently released a USB version. I expect more from so-called 'professionals', not a rehash of the Gameboy flash carts that Bung Enterprises was selling 7 years ago.

As someone else has pointed out in this thread, who is this product supposed to appeal to?

Is it:

a) The pirate who wants to play free copied games?

-- not really, since they will likely use a more convenient emulator anyway. I also won't bring up the P-word again.


b) The purist who refuses to play their backed up ROM's on an emulator, and only wants to play the "real thing"?

-- well, except for the fact that you are playing from a binary ROM, which defeats the original intent anyway.


c) The homebrewer who wants to be able to test code on the real hardware versus an emulator?

--I can accept this but as someone pointed out is there a really huge Genesis/Megadrive hombrew scene that demands such a product? Especially considering that *such a product exists and has existed for years*.


Lastly, waiting for 'someone smarter than you' to cobble together a USB solution for this is like dumping your money down a hole and burying it. The Asian companies that produce flash copiers are notorious for not supporting their products, changing their company names and trying to resell the same old crap under a different brand, and disappearing off the face of the earth at a moments notice. Lots of promises of firmware upgrades and hardware solutions on slick web pages and very little actual advancements.

It makes them more money to sell products to new customers than it is to keep their existing customers happy. There are a few exceptions to this (notably M3) but for the last 15 years that I've been dealing with such companies it's been my experience to expect nothing above and beyond the product as you have it in your hands now.

[Chameleon]

this is kinda sweet....

[logicbomb.de]

What's the big deal about the parallel port interface, anyway?

unless you bought your PC prefab (dell, compaq, etc) changes are you have a parallel port unless you have a SFF pc.

Take a look at New Egg's mobo selection, you'll see that 90% of ALL motherboards still have a parallel port onboard. Even the Core2 boards and quad core exteme, AthlonX2, blah blah blah, they all have LPT ports.

As far as MD homebrew goes, lol, I wouldn't bet on much more than a few intros, demos, PD versions of Tetris and maybe some Sonic/Alex kidd hacks.

personally I'll stick to the neogenesis on the xbox w/ my Saturn controller.

[wiredforpower]

nice....but if I really wanted to use the original Genesis controller I would just look for a converter and play it on the PC.

[Game_Collector]

I will be buying this and the SFC one, although there is already 64M versions for both systems available.

As for the question of piracy, some people, like me, prize their game collections and want to keep them safe and in perfect condition. This type of thing is perfect for me. I can keep my mint copies of games like Yu Yu Hakusho, Panarama Cotton, Pulse Man, Vampire Killer, Snow Bros, Ristar etc in their boxes and not touch them while using the ROM via the flash cart instead. It is also perfect for being able to play my old PAL games that will not work on my JP MD and Wondermega because my original Alterred Beast pack MD is packed away and is not touched. Much easier than going through the hassle of getting my JP MD switched.

What about BETA ROMS? People would like to be able to play those BETA games on a real MD system, not to mention translated versions of JP games they may have. Someone may own a Dragon Quest VI cart but want to play it in English, if they have a flascart, they can play it on a REAL system which to people who grew up with these systems, is much preferred over playing on an emulator. There are many good reasons for people to want a flashcart for the MD and SFC, it doesn't always have to be about piracy...

[M Dash]

What the hell men???

Why is everyone speaking of PARALLEL PORT IF THE CARTRIDGE USES A PRINTING PORT!

geez...

I don't get it... Anyways... I WANT ONE OF THESE CARTRIDGES! :P