WTB Genesis stuff

[robm]

I ran across a Genesis 3, and have decided to tear apart my N64p and use the G3 as my portable instead. I am looking for:

32x
SMS adapter
6-button controller or two
PBC

There are allegedly people who have managed to make a 32x work with the G3; if that's the case, I may be able to make an extremely small 32x capable portable Genesis.

 

[epicelite]

32x capable portable Genesis.

Dear god why?

 

[kylechu]

Yeah, all the 32x is going to do is make it bigger so you can play doom.

 

[robm]

I've never opened one up, so I don't know how big they are on the inside - if they are small enough, I don't see any reason why I can't integrate it into a portable. The cases were awfully large.

 

[Tibia]

The "PBC" is the Power Base Convertor, correct? If so, that is the thing that plays the SMS games and cards.

Also, I stumbled across this on e-Bay. It is worth watching. It'd give you a few chances to experiment.

 

[robm]

I'll keep an eye on it - if NO ONE bids, it'll be worth it for the 15.99 shipped. If the auction goes higher than that, so no not worth it.

 

[XCVG]

As far as I know the Genesis 3 is incapable of Master System games, you could try to mod it though.

 

[kylechu]

Here's some pics I took of the innards of the 32x, so you can see how big it is.

 

[robm]

THANK YOU, kylechu - much appreciated. Looks like there's plenty of opportunity to slim the board down, if I'm seeing things right. If it's not too much to ask, can I get a shot of what's on the other side of the board of that hideous cluster of capacitors there on the left side? Any chips or SMT resistors/capacitors, or just "bare" board?

@XCVG: Evidently, someone was able to mod a G3 to accept a 32x. I am uncertain that this mod also means that the SMS adapter would be able to be used, but I intend to find out.

 

[kylechu]

Here's the other side of it. Nothing much is really here.

 

[themadhacker]

From all my research, the genesis 3 did not have the hardware to play sms games like the genesis1 and 2 had.


so in other words, buying a pbc would be a huge waste of your money.

 

[kylechu]

Apparently, this guy found a fix.
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3348.0

 

[XCVG]

I've heard of it, but I've never seen any instructions.

 

[robm]

Kylechu, thanks... that's a big help.

That guy is the only person I've found that has claimed to mate a 32x with a G3, and he has never, ever posted a how-to. I go back and forth between thinking he's horribly depriving us all, or hiding an actual working system behind the TV in the video he shows.

 

[themadhacker]

I bet that it was a hoax. when people wanted pics of the insides, he said that he superglued the case shut so he couldn't open it. Bulls**t.

 

[kylechu]

In a different place, he said that he couldn't because he had put epoxy over the insides, and that he needed another genesis 3 to show it to everyone.
Then on his youtube comments, he said that he was writing a guide and was going to post it on his (nonexistent) website.
I too call bulls**t.

 

[XCVG]

I bet marshallh could make it work, or give us a page-long highly detailed explaination on why it can't possibly work.

 

[Tibia]

There is a second board in the part of the 32X that goes down into the Genesis. If I recall correctly, they also had some good-sized chips on them.

 

[XCVG]

Frankly, I don't see why the G3 shouldn't be compatible. Let's start with the Master System support. Master System support is provided by the sound hardware and the VDP (Video Display Processor). The Z80 was the main processor in the Master System, and is the sound processor in the Genesis. The sound chip is included as well. And the VDP can do Master System Mode 4, although it was never capable of doing any other modes. I fail to see how it would be impossible to remove these elements without breaking compatibility with pretty much every Genesis game. There's two possible explainations here. First, is that the lines to switch the Genesis into Master System mode are simply missing. Second, is that Master System mode is missing from the bios or somehow missing from the hardware (how you could do that, I have no idea). I guess Sega thought nobody cared and dropped support, one way or another.

The lack of 32X support is even more puzzling. After a bit of digging, it seems that it uses some connections that normal games don't. These connections are apparently missing from the Genesis 3, rendering the 32X, PBC, and Virtua Racing useless. I have no idea about the technical aspects here.

Frankly, I don't see why Sega decided to ditch support. It would have added very little cost at very little effort. I suppose they assumed that both products were so hated that nobody would care or even notice.

 

[icarus]

Frankly, I don't see why Sega decided to ditch support. It would have added very little cost at very little effort. I suppose they assumed that both products were so hated that nobody would care or even notice.

It's because Sega didn't make the Genesis 3. Majesco did. I personally don't know how much it would cost, but it was probably more significant than you seem to think for them to leave it out.