Sega Channel

From Sega Retro

File:Segchannel.jpg
Sega Channel logo
Sega Genesis with the Sega Channel Adaptor
Initial Sega Channel adaptor made by Scientific Atlanta
Later model Sega Channel adaptor made by General Instrument

Sega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the Sega Genesis gaming system. For a monthly subscription, the gamer would get an adapter which, once connected to their cable television connection would provide them with unlimited access to over 50 games, with new games appearing every 2 weeks. The games would be downloaded in about a minute and play just like the normal versions.

Sega also ran several promotions through the service. Special previews for up-and-coming titles were provided; some import games not found in the United States were exclusive to the service; cheats and tips were handed out.

In 1996, Sega introduced a "Wireless" version of the Sega Channel. This wireless service lasted about a year.

Within the first two years, the Sega Channel was distributed in over 20 million homes. Although fairly successful, the service ended up failing; more up to date consoles were making the Genesis obsolete.

International

The service was also available in some parts of the United Kingdom, Canada, South America, and Japan on certain cable services.

In Japan, the Sega Channel had a unique BIOs screen featuring Sonic the Hedgehog graphics, and some exclusive content made for that region, including "Dyna Brothers 2 Special". This game was eventually released on the Wii Virtual Console. Another game that is seemingly connected to the Sega Chanel, "Game no Kanzume Otokuyou", was discovered in the Dreamcast "Dream Passport 3".

Demo Cartridges

In 2009, demo cartridges of the Sega Channel started to appear for sale on eBay. The first seen of such carts was "Sega Channel Demo Cartridge #6".

Later on, another cartridge was up, "Sega Channel Demo Cartridge #4". This cartridge was purchased by a resident of Lost Levels, who generously lent the cartridge to LocalH to ROM dump. The ROM can now be obtained here.

The demo cartridge appears to be a prototype with in-progress Sega Channel work, featuring an intro sequence, graphics that would be used in the early days of it's broadcasting, a simulated downloading sequence, and a background/sound test. Looking into the ROM in a hex editor also shows various "SEGATV" error messages, as well as strange code snippets.

In the menus of the Sega Channel Demo's "Test Drive" section, you can see a listing for "The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, Capcom". The original Magical Quest game was not released on the Sega Genesis.

List of Games

(Note: List is preliminary. As little has survived from the days of Sega Channel and no official list has been released, games may be missing.)

External links

  • Archive.org - Archive of the Sega Channel official homepage
  • Business Wire - Sega Channel Cited by "Popular Science" as Among 1994's Outstanding Products and Technological Achievements
  • Sega Channel - Technical details on Sega Channel and its game delivery method.
  • [1] - Gamesniped lists Sega Channel Demo 6.
  • [2] - "Dyna Brothers 2 Special" on Wii Virtual Console.
  • [3] - Japanese Blog entry which shows the boxart, cartridge and AC Adapter for Japanese Sega Channel
  • [4] - Japanese blog entry which shows some screenshots for the Japanese Sega Channel.


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