Sega Nomad

[Falco Girgis]

So I was cleaning out the closet yesterday to get ready for a huge back-to-school garage sale that Kendall and I are having. Now, I am an avid video game collector, and pretty much every console/piece of gaming hardware that I have is proudly on display... except this time.

I found my Sega Gamegear, which I somehow COMPLETELY forgot about, and I found a SEGA NOMAD that I seriously don't even remember having. I remember that when I was a child my father owned a Sega Nomad. It was his "big boy handheld," and my brothers and I (who had mere Gameboy Colors) weren't really allowed to play it much. I remember thinking it was the most amazing thing ever...

And so now I *own one*. I dusted the thing off, and actually have the battery pack too. I put it in, and popped in Sonic 3 (WITH Sonic & Knuckles attachment) and strolled straight down memory lane. I am convinced that the Sega Nomad is one of the greatest handhelds of all-time.

I understand that it didn't really catch on due to it being rather clunky and a battery hog--but sweet effing Jesus. Sega was doing things *BEFORE* Gameboy color that wouldn't happen until after Gameboy Advance. Not only that, but the Nomad has an additional controller port (I made Kendall play as Tails) AND it can be connected to the TV to serve as a complete Sega Genesis handheld. If only the Sega CD, Sega32X, and Saturn hadn't put Sega into such a shitty position--I really feel like Sega would have been onto something.

Think about the idea. Sega releases the Sega Saturn as their current gen console. But there are still people playing the Genesis and there are still several new games coming out for the Genesis. It was a perfect machine to be the next generation of handhelds (16-bit), and by transforming the Genesis into their *new* handheld, they brought a gigantic gaming library with them--and also assured that their home console will survive for much longer.

Imagine if Sony had made the PSP a handheld PS2 complete with the entire PS2 gaming library.

I am actually about to go play my Sega Nomad right now. If you don't own one (or know what one is), I pity you. Sega made several fuck-ups as a hardware company (Sega 32X, Sega CD, Sega Saturn), but the Nomad (Gamegear too) and Dreamcast are tragically overlooked gems that Sega contributed to gaming.

[trufun202]

Helllllll, yes.

I don't own a Nomad, but I've seriously wanted one since they came out. I remember seeing it for the first time at Toys R Us. It was on display running Mortal Kombat 3 (Genesis version, obviously) - and a swear, it looked just like a portal version of the arcade. The Nomad's screen clarity is amazing for it's time! It came out 3 years before Gameboy Color, and was a far superior piece of hardware.

In the early to mid 90's, the console wars were in full force, and there were two sides: Nintendo and Sega. I have to admit, I was a total Nintendo fanboy, but Sega really stepped up their game with the later generation titles for the Genesis, the release of the Nomad, and the offering of arcade hits on the 32X. (The first time I played Virtua Fighter on the 32X, I came. Hard. Getting to play a 3D fighting game AT HOME was unheard of at the time. Holy piss.)

The Nomad was actually the second home console that they made into a portable. The GameGear runs on the same hardware as the Sega Master System. In fact, alot of the GameGear games released in the states were released on the SMS in other countries. (like all of the Sonic titles)

All in all, I'm still a Nintendo fan, but I've really grown to love and appreciate Sega. I have my wife to thank for that.

[Falco Girgis]

See, it's interesting. All of my friends either had a Genesis or a SNES. I grew up with a NES, SNES, and Genesis.

While I generally favor Nintendo (overall) during the 16-bit era, there was always a certain magic that Sega and Genesis had. My father was also fairly into gaming. He wouldn't have any of that Nintendo stuff. The Genesis was almost like "a man's console." He had Mortal Kombat, Space Harrier, Altered Beast, and all of those classics while we "kids" had Mario and the like on Super NES. Looking back, those games are soooo much more adult than anything Nintendo had to offer.

I do definitely remember growing up around that time, though. The peak was probably when Sonic 3 and Donkey Kong Country came out within a few months of each other. Oh my dear god, I owned both of them--so I was the biggest badass ever. To this day I still have a hard time deciding which I prefer.

And on the topic of the screen--OH MY GOD YES. The screen looks amazing. It has none of that weird angle stuff that the Gamegear had. It's a completely solid screen--looks better than any TV I had around that time.

[Bludklok]

I grew up with a NES, SNES, and Genesis.

Heh I grew up with the ol' Playstation1 and Nintendo 64.

Anyways I think my cousin had one of these with a huge collection of games for it.

[dandymcgee]

I grew up with a NES, SNES, and Genesis.

Heh I grew up with the ol' Playstation1 and Nintendo 64.)

Damn, you missed out on a lot of classics.

I'm in almost the same generation as Falco, I grew up with NES and Genesis. But I definitely remember the PS1 being released (I think i was like 9 or 10 by the time we got one), and I spent a fair amount of time playing those games as well. I didn't have the advantage of being an only child with all of the latest and greatest to choose from and all the time in the world to play them (with 4 siblings there was a lot of "sharing" going on), which is probably the main reason I'm not as into gaming now.

[hurstshifter]

I grew up with a NES, SNES, and Genesis.

Same here. My parents were always awesome about getting my brothers and I the latest systems (either that or they just wanted a means to get us out of their faces). I favored SNES overall back in the early 90's but I also had it for about a year or two before getting a genesis. The genesis was definitely the 'adult' console of those times (almost like wii compared to 360 these days, although its hard to replace Sega with Microsoft).

Awesome that you found your nomad though. I have a VirtualBoy and two Gamegears lying around somewhere.