The Mega Sg is a

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

manufactured by Analogue, released in 2019. It runs games developed for the

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

Master System The is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series ...

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily ...

and

SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nak ...

, systems released by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in the 1980s and early 1990s during the fourth generation of consoles. Rather than use software emulation the Mega Sg uses

FPGA A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a type of configurable integrated circuit that can be repeatedly programmed after manufacturing. FPGAs are a subset of logic devices referred to as programmable logic devices (PLDs). They consist of a ...

chips to reimplement the original machine's behaviour.

Features

The Mega Sg features 1080p HDMI, digital audio (48 kHz 16-bit), and original Genesis-style controller ports. Kevin Horton engineered Mega Sg to use an Altera Cyclone V to match the Genesis hardware logic with very high accuracy and also provided extra features, such as the option to scale the original 240p video output to different resolutions up to 1080p 60 Hz.

Phil Fish Philippe Poisson (born 1984), better known as Phil Fish, is a French-Canadian former indie game designer best known for the 2012 platformer '' Fez''. He was born and raised in Quebec, where his experiences with Nintendo games in his youth wo ...

, the designer of '' Fez'', designed the user interface, and Arca composed the startup audio. It includes an unreleased Genesis game from 1994, ''Hardcore'', renamed ''Ultracore'' due to licensing problems.

Limited edition

Record label

Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British electronic music record label and former webzine based in London, founded by Kode9, Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the l ...

collaborated with Analogue on a limited edition Mega Sg with a

music cartridge called ''Konsolation'' featuring unreleased music from artists such as

Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

Scratcha DVA Scratcha DVA also known as DJ Scratcha, DVA i; Emotions Scratchclart and DVA is a British electronic musician, producer and DJ often associated with DVA Music, Hyperdub and Rinse FM. His debut album, ''Pretty Ugly (Scratcha DVA album), Prett ...

, and

Ikonika Sara Abdel-Hamid (born 28 November 1989), better known as Ikonika, is an electronic musician, producer, DJ and singer often associated with Hyperdub Records and London's Rinse FM. Their debut 12", "Please/Simulacrum" was released in 2008 on Hy ...

. ''Konsolation'' was created in an edition of 1,000 units as part of Hyperdub's 15th anniversary celebration.

Track listing

Reception

The ''Guardian'' gave the Mega Sg four out of five, writing: "Playing ''

Streets of Rage 2 ''Streets of Rage 2'', known as ''Bare Knuckle II'' in Japan, is a 1992 beat 'em up game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. The sequel to ''Streets of Rage'' (1991), the characters Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding return while the ga ...

'' or ''

Comix Zone ''Comix Zone'' is a 1995 beat 'em up game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Set within the panels of a comic book, it follows the Comics writer/artist, comic writer/artist Sketch Turner as he attemp ...

'' on this thing is like experiencing a remastered recording of a favourite album, or a digitally restored version of a classic movie ... the Mega Sg makes ''Sonic'' and all the other games I have tried feel fresh and contemporary." The Mega Sg was named the ''Time'' best inventions of 2019 award, an Editor's Choice Award from ''Wired'', an Editor's Choice Award from

Tom's Guide ''Tom's Hardware'' is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It was founded in 1996 by Thomas Pabst. It provides articles, news, price comparisons, videos and reviews on computer hardware and high technology. The s ...

, an Editor's Choice Award from ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' and an Editor's Choice Award from ''

PCMag ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magaz ...

''.

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

gave the console an 86/100, with one of the only complaints being a lack of

32X The 32X is an video game accessory, add-on for the Sega Genesis video game console. Codenamed "Project Mars", it was designed to expand the power of the Genesis and serve as a transitional console into the History of video game consoles (fifth ...

compatibility.

References

External links

*
Official website for ''Konsolation''
{{Homebrew 2010s toys 2019 in video gaming Products introduced in 2019 Home video game consoles Hyperdub albums Sega Genesis Analogue (company) products FPGA-based video game consoles Unlicensed Sega hardware Retro-oriented video game consoles