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RE: THE SEGA NOMAD


MaximumRD

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RE: SEGA NOMAD. Many questions, interested in anyone's memories / opinions / history / experiences or just general thoughts on the subject. To be clear as well, I don't know a lot about this particular handheld having never owned one, though I could say the same of the Sega Game Gear, simply from observations and peoples accounts I have heard quite a bit about the Game Gear and have known about the original poor screen, eating batteries like mad and the mods people do for the screen and batteries issues as well as capacitor replacements etc. However, with the Sega NOMAD, other then what I obviously could go look up now, I don't really know as much about it and correct me if I am wrong but wasn't it produced quite late in the life of the Sega Genesis? Was this possibly a measure to prolong the life and usefulness of the Sega Genesis and it's library since they shared the same titles?

Unlike the Game Gear or even the Master System previously, they had many crossover titles even if they were not always completely identical but they also had many original titles they did not share with the Genesis whereas the NOMAD simply allowed you to take the same library of Genesis games and play them on the go, so because of this did those games translate well to such a small screen since they were not initially designed for play on a handheld? I suspect for TG-16 fans lucky enough to also own a TurboExpress it was not comparable since that screen, if I recall correctly, was fairly decent even if tiny overall? But how was it playing Genesis games on the NOMAD? Was their similar screen mods (or even battery mods) or capacitor replacements common with the NOMAD? DID any of you guys here own a Sega NOMAD either back in the day or currently? Any real fans of it or did it seem like a needless addition ?

 

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I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd

"For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."

 - M. Bison

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I remember owning a TurboExpress and an Atari Lynx, and after those systems had both run their course seeing the Nomad at Best Buy and thinking it looked big and clunky and the cartridge stuck out like a tombstone. I also already had the Sega CDx so I was good as far as a "portable Genesis" goes. I would hook it up in the car and play anywhere, plus it ran CDs. I also felt a little sad that the Nomad seemed to mean the end of the Game Gear. I'm glad the Nomad existed though, it's a nice way to play Genesis games on the go, and it's something Nintendo never did with the Super Nintendo (unless you want to count the Game Boy Advance, which would be a serious stretch as it never actually played SNES cartridges).

"hurr durrr you can't fit it in your pocket tho!" I'd love to hear the same smug classic gamers complain about the Nomad's size and battery life the way they love to do with the Atari Lynx. Funny how you never see that pointed out 🥴

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18 minutes ago, Justin said:

I remember owning a TurboExpress and an Atari Lynx, and after those systems had both run their course seeing the Nomad at Best Buy and thinking it looked big and clunky and the cartridge stuck out like a tombstone. I also already had the Sega CDx so I was good as far as a "portable Genesis" goes. I would hook it up in the car and play anywhere, plus it ran CDs. I also felt a little sad that the Nomad seemed to mean the end of the Game Gear. I'm glad the Nomad existed though, it's a nice way to play Genesis games on the go, and it's something Nintendo never did with the Super Nintendo (unless you want to count the Game Boy Advance, which would be a serious stretch as it never actually played SNES cartridges).

"hurr durrr you can't fit it in your pocket tho!" I'd love to hear the same smug classic gamers complain about the Nomad's size and battery life the way they love to do with the Atari Lynx. Funny how you never see that pointed out 🥴

I also own and love my Sega CDX what an amazing system even now. Loved my original Genesis with the 16 bit labelling sadly that was one of the casualties I had mentioned during a theft BUT thankfully I still have not only a JVC X'Eye but my RetroTrio by retrobit for playing original Genesis carts. While I have lightened up on and would not be against one day owning a 2nd model Genesis 2 (the one less wide then the original and better suited to the fliptop lid SegaCD) I have absolutely zero interest in the Genesis model 3. Interesting, as I said never owned a Game Gear or NOMAD, the NOMAD seemed more mysterious to me hence the topic, thanks for sharing. Also though a NOMAD  might be pretty cool paired with my EverDriveMD cart to have the entire library on hand. Again I am not actively collecting or seeking out however I DO sometimes ponder the choices I made over the years regarding my collecting and systems I disregarded instead choosing others. 

I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd

"For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."

 - M. Bison

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I own a Sega NOMAD.  I learned of the NOMAD on another forum and I was immediately intrigued, so I got one.  It certainly was cool to play Genesis games on a portable system and, yes, using it with a flashcart is even cooler because you don't have to carry lots of cartridges to be able to play various games.  I did have to upgrade the screen on it, though, with a modern LCD screen and that gave it a new life. 

🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming...

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During the Genesis era I felt that Sega was doing some weird stuff.  It seemed like Sega was determined to keep the Genesis on the market and wanted to prove it could do more.  As much as I appreciate and respect that idea they took a good.console and tried to make it a Frankenstein console.  So by the time NOMAD came out I had moved away from the Genesis.  Not that I didn't like it, I just didn't think it needed all those add-ons.  I'm glad it could do those things though.  

I did get to try one at Game X Change headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.  It was cool but one of the employees there said if I got one I better grab the adapter, too, because battery life was about like the Game Gear.  That made my decision for me.  It's cool and all but not for me.

 

 

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While I've heard of the Nomad and tried it out at PRGE, I have never heard about the CDX until now!  OMG you guys, can you start a thread on that? 

As for the Nomad, I think it was an awesome idea.  But it was available for such a short time that it's hard to find one to collect now.

Imagine if Atari had offered a portable 2600 in say 1983 or 84...It would have been a great way to extend the life of the system..take games with you in the car for road trips or whatever.  Man, I would have loved that back then.  The Nomad is the same idea.  You may have a newer system at home, but hey, you can still take those older games with you on the go. 

 

 

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52 minutes ago, RickR said:

While I've heard of the Nomad and tried it out at PRGE, I have never heard about the CDX until now!  OMG you guys, can you start a thread on that? 

 

Done! It's just a start but hopefully others chime in. 

Edited by MaximumRD

I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd

"For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday."

 - M. Bison

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