Not Nomad News: The ebay Stars Aligned!

Have you ever found an ebay auction that seemed tailored specifically to you? Last week I was looking for an affordable Dreamcast to replace my current one. While my current Dreamcast works great, I've noticed that three of the thirty-something games I have refuse to play (those being Super Magnetic Neo, Hydro Thunder and Ecco: Defender of the Future). Another game I've been looking for is Rez, which sadly has never seen a US release. While I do have the PS2 version, I would much rather play the game on its true home. Having lost in a number of auctions for these two items, I was about to give up when I found this posting: "BOXED Sega Dreamcast Yukawa System & 3 Games REZ JAPAN"

The auction began at a doller with $15 shipping and included an early production run Japanese Dreamcast in a orange box covered in photos of Sega's Executive Director Eiichi Yukawa. Also included were three Japanese games: Rez, Virtua Fighter 3tb and King of Fighters '99 Dream Match. Placing a max bid of $60 I was excited for a day and then forgot about the auction. Then, just an hour ago, I was notified that I had won the auction for $56!

What!? So I got a Japanese Dreamcast and three games, one of which sells for $60-70 alone, for the mere price of $56 plus $15 shipping??? I feel like a winner! Because I am a winner.

So why am I gloating on my blog? Because I intend to give back by scanning and photographing every angle and insert of the Yukawa Dreamcast for all to enjoy! Expect the posting in a week and a half. Until then, I promise to post more Nomad related articles.

Long Lost Game Review: Ghostbusters (Genesis)

God bless Archive.org! If there is one thing the government can do right is keep all our dirty internet secrets alive and well. Back in 2001, I was hooked on the now defunct segadojo.com. The dojo was THE spot for a majority of my Sega news updates, contests and reviews. I made two contributions to the site in its lifespan. In mid 2001 they held a Sonic Adventure 2 contest in which readers were asked to create commercials for the game without using any official clips or music. I dressed up in my 5 sizes too small Sonic Halloween costume and gave a speedy Sonic message of why gamers needed Sonic Adventure 2. Sadly this video is lost (and I lost the contest), but my other contribution has just been found! A reader review of Ghostbusters for the Genesis/Mega Drive! Check out the original posting here or read on for this classic retro review of a retro classic.

Ghostbusters (genesis)
Written on 02.26.2001

Remember the early 90's? Remember Ghostbusters? Remember the little kids running around in jumpsuits and plastic proton packs messing around in the summer? I sure do! Ghostbusters for Genesis brings back so many childhood memories for me. Although I never completed the game when I was little, I finally finished it last month. (I'm 16 now)
Based on the movie (not the cartoon) Ghostbusters was one of the many liscensed Genesis games that truly shined. With a mix of platforming and RPG, Ghostbusters proved to be a great game.

Visuals:: The characters looked funny, big heads and little bodies. They didn't look ugly, but playing as midget versions of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis was a treat. Enemys were very detailed and looked very unique. There aren't any common white ghosts in this game, instead it's killer snowmen, fire dragons, marshmellow men and hedgehogs made of flames. Environments looked good, some looked mediocre while others looked very cool.

Audio:: Very good music thats takes full advantage of the power Genesis had. Nice tunes in the levels, funny victory tunes, and the main title is better than perfect. Weapons sounds were good. The guns made funny "Blat" and "Bloop" sounds. Minimal character and enemy sounds, but when they DID make sound it was good.

Gameplay/Control:: Choose your favorite Ghostbuster, then the game begins with the choice of four buildings on a map. A hotel, a house, a building on fire, and a building frozen in ice. You have the choice to play any level you wanted inany order (an RPG element). Differant weapons and items can be bought in shops (another RPG element). You earned money by killing ghosts in the buildings (RPG again). Common ghosts died easily and sometimes hard, but 2-3 very hard bosses appear each level. The final boss's are tough, and when beaten you completed the building. After the four buildings you play a castle level, this is followed by the final level which I won't give away. With all of this gameplay you'd think you could save, SORRY! This is what made my review drop from 10 to 9. I played through it for 3 hours nonstop, and it never got old and always stayed fun. But isn't 3 hours of gameplay without saving a lot of work?? YES! In all very very fun, but no saving is a big minus.

Extras:: You can play as three differant characters, and theres a soundtest. Plus, each experience is differant with differant weapons and characters.

Overall:: In all it's one of my favorite Genesis games, and should be experienced by all. I mean look, it's a Ghostbuster RPG that is amazingly good!!! What else can you say!

Score:: 9/10

Nomadstein or Frankenomad (your pick)

I came across a mutated Sega Nomad on my journeys through "the google". Meet the Microwaved Mutant Sega Nomad, a bizarre creation that combines the necronomicon of Evil Dead with our beloved Sega Nomad. It's really quite impressive, especially the way its creator gave it a wet slimy look. You can also video a youtube video of it in action. Ignore the comments of those thinking it legitimately was microwaved. Because of course, when you microwave a Nomad it functions perfectly and grows eyes.

Nomad Nod in Sonic Retrospective

If you haven't seen Gametap's amazing Sonic retrospective, check it out now! While not as comprehensive as I would hope, the early years from 1988 to 1991 are very well detailed and include a lot of unknown facts (Sonic's girlfriend Madonna?? Now princess Elise doesn't sound so bad). What caught my attention, and warrants a posting to the Nomad Junkyard, is this image from the documentary:


A cartridgeless Nomad running a game!? Oh yeah, and Mario is holding it. While an odd choice for an image, it was nice to see the Nomad make an appearance. Bonus points for not depicting a Game Gear running a Genesis game.

Speaking of playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Nomad, have a watch of this video:

Not Nomad News: Had the Dreamcast lived on...

...would we still have had Sonic Heroes? This was a question I asked at the Sonic Stadium. I think its an interesting question, just as "In Back to the Future, what would happen had Marty knocked up his own mother?" Food for thought.

I received some interesting replies. Some thought that Heroes would have come out on Dreamcast (exclusively, of course) and the rest of the games we have now would have followed suit. As Sonic Riders Zero Gravity would have been the last Sonic game to appear on the Dreamcast, and we would have been treated to a much better Sonic '06 as a launch game for the Dreamcast 2 or Sega Cyclone or Sega Infinity (basically Sega's next step after the Dreamcast).

Others believed that we would have been treated to a Sonic Adventure 3 with a plot similar to Sonic Heroes and gameplay that was more in line with Sonic Adventure 2. This led to a bit of complaining over how some Sonic fans believe that Sonic Adventure 3 is just a fanboys answer to the perfect Sonic game that never happened. Those who think a third entry in the Adventure series would have saved us from "the dark times" are complete loons who are better off wishing Sonic & Mario would team up (wait, nevermind that last part).

This discussion inspired me to design boxart for Dreamcast games that might have been, had the console and Sonic series lived on together. Enjoy!

Five Excellent Car Trip Games

Of course, the Nomad can play any Genesis game. And 99.9% of those games are completely playable just as they are on the home screen, with the exception of eye-straining super detailed games, e.g. Lemmings. My favorite games back in the day were the Sonic series and Disney Interactive releases, and my choice favorites of those would come along on any road trip (those being Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Disney's Aladdin). But what of those other five spots I had in my carrying case? What follows are five excellent games that received little love at home, and so I brought them on the road for some much needed attention.

Jeopardy!
"This *pew-pew-pew* is Jeopardy!" What was once a boring game at home became one of my favorite car games. Complete with a digital old school mustached Alex Trebek, 1 or 2 players can play through the popular TV game show! While some of the questions are now a bit dated, the game has aged well. The game featured what was the first real dialog I had heard on the Genesis, I'll never forget Trebek's "Sorry." given at each wrong answer. An added bonus of playing in the car, I had access to my parents for help with any question I was stumped on (and I got a lot of those).

Risk
Another extremely boring at home game was my number two pick for travel play. Like Jeopardy!, Risk is best played with 2 players. What I remember most of this game is the kickin' revolutionary war music. Check it out in this intro movie. How can you NOT want to rule to work with that music in the background? One major problem is the inability to save. While at home a real life game would sit on a card table in the basement, Nomad Risk must be kept on and played through to the end. Of course, that's why I chose this game as a great road trip companion. You're stuck in the car for hours anyway, so why not see world domination through to the end?

The Lost Vikings
This frustrating nightmare in cartridge form saw little play outside the first level at home, but in the car I would usually make it to the fourth or fifth level. The game centers around three vikings who are abducted by aliens to become the latest additions to an inter-galactic zoo, of course the vikings would have none of that so they break loose and become lost in time and space. In a unique form of platformer gameplay that has most recently been seen in Sonic Heroes, you control all three characters each focusing on different strengths; speed, gliding & punching and the ability to reach out of reach places. Sound familiar to another trio? The game was quite difficult, but when you have the time to spare The Lost Vikings was a real gem of a game.


Sword of Vermilion
Sword of Vermilion was the one role playing game I owned for the Genesis during the time of the systems production, I had found it used at a Gamestop in mint condition with the mini hint book for a sweet $10. Being a youth raised on all things Sonic, I had little patience for the game but, like all the other games mentioned so far, when stuck in a car you learn patience. Having not played an RPG prior to Sword of Vermilion, I didn't have any other game to compare to. I loved the real time combat, and upon dying I'll never forget "Arise brave warrior! Our world needs you! But half your money goes to the poor." Playing the game now, it wouldn't be my favorite Genesis RPG, but Yu Suzuki made it and I love him like a second father.

Ghostbusters
Unlike the other games mentioned, I played Ghostbusters at home as much, if not more, than I did on the Nomad. While at the time I didn't know the game's design team background, it had a heavy Japanese influence in the gameplay and design. Bosses were crazy as fuck, easily putting Stay Puft to shame, and the music was so damn good that I cranked the Nomad to eleven. The game was very difficult to complete, and to remedy this I often brought along my Game Genie for the invincible code with the occasional infinite bombs code for fun. I loved this game so much that it was the first game review I posted on Segadojo back in 2000. Sadly, along with most of the site that review is long gone. :^(

Of course there are many other excellent games to play on the go with a Nomad, and had this been a top ten I wouldn't have been hard pressed to fill another five spots. This is where you, the reader, comes in!

Nomad Needs t'No: What is your favorite Genesis game to play on the go? And if you don't own a Nomad, what Genesis game would you love to have on the go?

The History of the Nomad

What better way to kick off a blog devoted to Sega's black sheep (no, not the 32X) than to give a bit of historical background. Enjoy! (Photos courtesy of that wonderful resource "the internet")

Before the Nomad there was the Sega Mega Jet. And before making its way to homes and the backseats of cars, Sega took to the skies.

In late 1993 Sega released a semi-portable version of the Mega Drive for use as in-flight entertainment on Japan Airlines. Resembling a cheap AM/FM boom box that would have been the top ticket prize at Circus Pizza, the Mega Jet had everything one would expect from a portable system with one major exception: an LCD screen. Of course, on a Japan Airlines flight this wasn't an issue. Customers simply plugged into the video screen in front of them and instantly became members of the Sega mile high club.

On March 10, 1994 Sega of Japan released essentially the same Mega Jet to consumers but the system still lacked a screen. In October 1995 Sega of America released a reworked Mega Jet which became known as the Sega Nomad. The Nomad added a 3.25 inch LCD screen and a battery pack, making it a truly portable system. (Note: The Nomad was only released in North America) Another excellent improvement included A/V output and one controller input. This allowed for what was essentially a fully working Genesis-only home machine.

I say Genesis-only because while the Nomad was an awesome portable, it could not do everything that a home machine could do. While the hardware inside was capable of utilizing the 32X and Sega Mega CD (Sega CD in the States), the body of the Nomad was incapable of fitting together with either. It's like it you tried to mate a horse and a turtle. Or maybe not. Bad analogy, sorry.

So how did Americans respond? Not so well. While like most Sega products, the Nomad was ahead of its time. Two major problems the system had were portability (taking a Nomad on the go was like carrying a Disney VHS case around with you) and battery life. I personally had no problem with the former and the latter could easily be remedied with a car adapter or an extra four batteries on hand. But, despite what I thought, the masses preferred the smaller and longer battery life to what the Nomad had to offer. In a last ditch attempt to gain users, Sega dropped the price of the Nomad from $179 to $79.99. Unfortunately the price drop wasn't effective and the Nomad was discontinued.

As we approach the Nomad's 14th anniversary, the system is still quite impressive in comparison to what portables have to offer. Emulations of Genesis games found on the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are still not as good as the real thing. In terms or screen size, the Nomad still has Nintendo beat by .25 inches. As for system size, the PSP is larger than pocket sized and is still a major player in the portable world. Of course, the Nomad would never make a comeback and defeat what we have now, but it is much more worthy of a dusting off for portable enjoyment than many portables of the past.

So I call on all Nomad owners* to dust off your Nomad, take it out of storage and give your favorite Genesis game a go. The Nomad deserves your love.
*if you don't have one get on ebay pronto!

What Is This All About?

In the same vein as the Master System, Saturn and Dreamcast Junkyards comes The Nomad Junkyard! The Nomad was a wonderful portable by Sega that played Nomad games. Unfortunately there has never been a Nomad game published, but the system does play Genesis games. Consider this blog to be the first Junkyard to cover all that is and was Sega Genesis.

Edit: Upon further research I've discovered that the Genesis IS the Mega Drive in Europe ( I also learned that they spell "License" with a "c" in place of the "s")! And that means that the Genesis/Mega Drive Junkyard is already covered!! Shit.*

So while the Nomad is a very small faction of the SEGA family, or the SEGAverse as I call it, that doesn't mean there can't still be things to be said! So what can you expect from The Nomad Junkyard? Nomad hardware reviews, Nomad hacks, Genesis tidbits, recommendations of games that make perfect on-the-go Nomad games, historical lessons and random non-Nomad but still SEGA related posts.

Welcome fellow Nomads.

*I've actually always known this, I was just being funny.

Welcome to The Nomad Junkyard!