Rating

A

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Play all your Genny games on the go
  • Rechargeable battery pak
  • Extra Controller port for 2 players on 1 handheld
  • A/V ports for at-home use
Cons
  • Battery life

Sega Nomad (Genesis)

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Summary

Genesis on the go!

Images

Description

The Sega Nomad is a handheld Sega Genesis, released in October 1995 for US$180 . The idea was really good because of the already huge library of Genesis games that could be played on the console. But it was fairly bulky with a short battery life (6 AA batteries last 3-5 hours) and its high price meant that it wouldn't sell well. Being released so late also meant that people wouldn't buy it because of the new 32-bit consoles of that time.

The Nomad comes with a frontlit/backlit color screen, AV output jacks so it can be connected to a television via AV cables, a jack for an AC adaptor, and a controller port for a second controller. No games were made specifically for the Nomad, all were just Genesis games.

A great buy at today's prices on Ebay, etc.


Sega Nomad Technical Specifications


CPU: 16-bit Motorola 68000 running at 7.61 MHz

Co-processor: Zilog Z80 running at 4 MHz, controls PSG (Programmable Sound Generator) & FM Chips

RAM: 64 Kbytes

ROM: 1 Mbytes (8-Mbit)

VRAM: 64 Kbytes (Video Ram)

Graphics: VDP (Video Display Processor) dedicated video display processor for playfield and sprite control, 3 Planes, 2 scrolling playfields, 1 sprite plane

Colours Available: 512

Max. Colours on screen: 64

CRAM: 64 x 9-kbit (Colour RAM)

Pixel Resolution: 320 x 224, 40 x 28 text display mode

Sound: Texas Instruments PSG (Programmable Sound Generator) TI 76489 chip, Yamaha YM 2612 FM chip

Signal/Noise Ratio: 14dB

Sound Channels: 6 stereo sound channels

Sound RAM: 8 Kbytes

1 cartridge port

Extra controller port

AV port




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