At least the Nomad had one friend in the crowd of competitors, Game Gear. If only it had went to market maybe a year or two earlier, it might have had an impact.
 The Sega Genesis becomes a portable!




I Released in US by Sega October 13, 1995.
Sega Nomad Review
      I can still recall that SEGA scream from the commercials, it is still alive in my memory. It represented attitude, the dawn of a new age, the battle cry of 16-bit gaming. The Sega Genesis was the first 16 bit home console that I purchased. My first game for it was Hellfire, love that game. The Genesis gave us a good time with a lot of nice gaming memories. For those of us that are still playing those games, we are still having those memories. The Genesis had a great lifespan; toward the end it seemed chaotic. There was the Sega CD, then the 32X, and on top of that, Saturn. We all thought that the 32X was it, but after our purchase there was talk of the Saturn looming. The 32X was $160 USD, it had weak 1st and 3rd party support and was overall very disappointing, never living up to the promises. It was abandoned by 3rd parties in a matter of months, after its launch, for the Saturn. The Saturn was $400 USD which was out of reach of the average gamer. In the minds of gamers was, have we wasted our money? What is the deal? What, another system? Which are they going to support? I feel it was a time of confusion.


   This is the official Nomad Case, you had to have something like this if you were going to carry it around. Including the pocket in the back, and the front pocket shown above, you could store three games, battery pack, and TV out cable. The Nomad fit in the middle pocket and was snug as a bug in a rug.
         I think that the leaders inside of Sega had lost their way and really didn't know where they were going. Some gamers felt angered by the indecisiveness that was coming from their beloved Sega. They had the Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, and the Saturn to support, too much for one company? A new player was in the console war by the name of Sony and the industry was fixing to change fast. The next generation was rolling in and 16 bit was fading rather quickly and in the middle of this Sega brought out the Nomad at $180 USD. What I am trying to convey here is the atmosphere in which the Nomad was launched. It was wrong timing and it was sad.
     By the time that I had scratched enough money together for one, the price had dropped. Sega had cut the price by $100 USD to the sum of $79 USD. It did not sell well at all. Wikipedia states that only a total 934,000 units were sold compared to 8.56 million Game Gears.
     Holding it in your hands the first thought that may cross your mind is where was the design department? It is like holding an oblong box. Maybe it was designed that way because of all of the features that are incorporated into the overall package. I just wished that it had more of a shapely roundedness to it like the Game gear. But the appearance does not effect its performance. The good thing about its size is that you hold it in you hands and that feels very comfortable. There are recesses in the back where your fingers go, giving you a since of gripping the unit. Most portables today you hold in your fingers. This was, next to the last one that you actually held in your hands.
     What you must get in your head is that you are holding a completely portable Genesis/Mega Drive in your hands! This is 16 bit Sega gaming in you hands. That is like the icing on the cake, the cream filling, or a banana split. I started playing all of my Genesis games on this when I first got it. The unit feels solid and of a quality build just like the Game Gear. It looks smaller in dimensions next to the Game Gear, but it is almost double in thickness. Without batteries they seem to weigh about the same. The screens are almost the same size with the Game Gear being only slightly larger, and the Nomad's being of a much higher resolution. There is a cartridge input door at the top with the springiness to hold it in place just like the home Genesis/Mega Drive console. Even though this is a Genesis in your hand, none of the peripherals that attached to the Genesis, like Sega CD, 32X, Master system adapter, will attach to the Nomad.








Pros:
Very nice screen resolution.
Sega Genesis games on the go!!
TV out!!
Second controller input for two player games!!

Cons:
Very short battery life, 2 hours with alkaline.
Ghosting and blur.
The large lump of batteries on the back.
The game cart sticking out the top.
Virtual Racing doesn't work.
Portability may be questioned by some.


.
The Nomad takes the Genesis/Mega Drive Game cart. Not being as portable, as the competition, made you very selective on the game, or games, you was going to pack around.


On the left is the pack that you place the six AA batteries inside. On the right is the rechargeable battery pack. Both are like growths when you attach them to the back of the Nomad.
 Games:
        You get to play the Genesis/Mega Drive games on the go in your hand! Around 600 titles! We are talking about the Original Gunstar Heroes here or should I mention titles like Vector Man, Landstalker, Thunder force, Outrun, Son of Chuck Rock, Comic Zone, Kid Chameleon, Ristar, Snow Brothers, Sonic 1 or 2 or 3, Lotus 2, or Panorama Cotton. If you have ever been, or like me still am, a Genesis owner, then maybe your favorite game comes to mind. The Genesis library is very deep and large. Something for every gamer. You can still find used game carts everywhere. Only one game that I know of doesn't work on the system, and that is the Virtual Racing game. It used a special chip in the game cart that is not compatible with the Nomad internal hardware. It is my understanding that it was not compatible with the Genesis 3 either. I have used both Genesis and Mega Drive games on my Nomad with no problems.
     When you talk about using the Nomad as a portable, then the size of the carts start to be a problem. You can't carry that many with you before it reaches a stopping point. Also the game cart sticks out past the system. When you add that to the battery pack sticking out the back, you have a very lumpy awkward portable.

TV-Out:
    Using a cord, sold separately, you can hook it up to your audio video RCA jacks of your TV for an instant Genesis system. You can still see the Nomad screen when hooked to the TV. Why would we want that still going, I don't know. But to me it is a drain on the batteries if you are doing a two player thing on the TV. There is a controller port on the bottom of the unit to plug in a second controller for those two player games. This makes the Nomad a very portable Genesis. The cord I have only has a yellow and white plug, meaning no stereo. I also take it that it is NTSC only, which would limit this feature.



Another Castlevania screen shot.
Controls:
           The controls are nicely laid out as your grip the unit in your hands. Everything is within "thumbs" reach. Nice disc shaped cross directional button and six buttons for fighters! You have your A, B, C, X, Y, Z, plus mode and start buttons. Has a headphone jack beside the analog volume control on the bottom left hand side. You also have a game pad controller port and a screen brightness control  on the bottom. It handles like a very thick Sega game pad.
 
 Power:
  Here is the bad part, 6 AA batteries for a total of 2 hours of play time. This unit is more power hungry than the Game Gear. The batteries are put in what is sort-of a pack which is snapped in place to the back of the unit, which makes the system a bit unusual and at the same time unique. Rechargeable Ni-Cd AA batteries, which was all that was available at the time, was not recommended due to the voltage problems. Sega made available at the time a rechargeable battery pack which snapped in place where the AA pack would be. Interestingly as I now look in the fine print on the back of mine, it says that it is a 1600mAh Ni-MH rechargeable battery. Modern day 2500mAh Ni-MH AA would be a good investment for anyone interested in the system. But whether you use batteries or the rechargeable battery pack you are still left with a very large lump on the back whenever you snap it into place and the weight is very noticeable, especially with the rechargeable pack. Giving you a clumsy feel if you move around much. You have on the top of the left hand corner, right beside the power switch, an AC adapter input jack. You are able to use the same AC adapter that was used for the Genesis/Mega Drive model 2 and Game Gear.
   

  

The Nomad can play both US and most Japanese games without an adapter.









My pictures don't do this screen justice. It is actually much better in person. The RPGs on the Genesis are great to play on this screen. If using batteries save often, or hook up to AC.
 Screen:
      The screen looks very good. A beautiful 3.25 inch backlit color LCD, 320x224 pixels. The colors may look a little washed out by todays standard TFT backlit display, but the screen is sharp with a bit of ghosting and blurring during fast action. Sort-of reminds you of the Game Gear screen. The viewing angle, as with all early color LCDs of that period, is limited. The screen is not recessed causing it to be easily scratched, as mine is. There is a handy brightness analog control on the bottom right hand of the unit.


      The Nomad fully loaded with rechargeable battery pack, game, and ready for play. Even though it seems awkward and a little weighty, I love playing my favorites on it.
Final Thoughts: Kicking back in the family room and the kids are watching some big blue bear on the TV? Itching for some retro Sega fun? The Nomad will meet that need. I am so glad I got my hands on one of these babies. To me, this was a nice present to the fans that picked one up, a fitting end to the 16-bit era. Today it is one of the best ways to enjoy some of those Sega classics. It is not something that I would want to pack out of the house, but it is great for kicking back in a good chair for some good old fashion Sega goodness. A "big thumbs up" if you're a Sega fan. Go stand on top of your car in the driveway and scream, "SEGA." You know you want to.

 


Redesigned by Retro Junkie