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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Sega nomad was Nintendo Switch in the 90's

Doctor_MG on 17 March 2021
SKMBlake said:
Doctor_MG said:

The Sega Nomad wasn't the Switch in 1995. There are some concepts that are similar (being able to play on the TV) it was a previous generation system in its entirety. The Genesis had already been established and it's hardware old. Suggesting that this makes it like the Switch is like saying the PSOne with the LCD screen attachment was also the Switch in the early 2000's.

The Switch isn't a home console that was converted for portable play, nor is it a portable console that was converted to the big screen. The Switch is it's own system in it's entirety.

Well you clearly didn't understand what the Nomad is. It's a Genesis put in a portable format, but can connect to the TV and have controllers attached to it.

Pretty much what the Switch do.

How do I "clearly" not understand when I said the Sega Nomad could "play on the TV" and suggested it was a Sega Genesis? Read my post again. 

My whole point is that the Switch is a completely unique system. It isn't a "home console that was converted for portable play" (like the Nomad) or vice versa. The nomad was literally a portable Genesis. The Switch is not a portable Wii U, Wii, GC, or anything of the sort. 



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Soundwave on 17 March 2021
Bofferbrauer2 said:

I'd say the Game Gear or the PC Engine GT would be better fits than the Nomad for a Switch predecessor

No I think the OP is correct. I think the PC Engine GT had to use wall power, no? 

The Nomad is more like the Switch, but back in the 90s, you'd have to carry around like 6 batteries to constantly power this thing and the cartridges were full size Genesis carts, so it was laughably bulky to walk around with. 

Also Sega gave this no marketing push or anything at all, they just kinda quietly released it, I don't remember even seeing 1 TV commercial for it ever, even Nintendo pushed the Virtual Boy harder than that. 

And of course unlike Switch the Nomad had no new games, just old existing Genesis titles. 



Soundwave on 17 March 2021
JWeinCom said:

Sega had a lot of ideas that were good, but the technology wasn't there yet. The Sega Channel was a primative version of Gamepass, Sonic and Knuckles was kind of the first version of DLC, they had the first online system (except maybe Nintendo with Satellaview or something), they had a dual screened system (Dreamcast/VMU), and so on. A lot of neat ideas, but the technology wasn't right to implement them.

Yup they had a lot of neat ideas, but they wouldn't commit or support any of them fully, that's kind of a neat analogy too, Sonic and Knuckles was like 90s DLC, lol. 



Bofferbrauer2 on 18 March 2021
Soundwave said:
Bofferbrauer2 said:

I'd say the Game Gear or the PC Engine GT would be better fits than the Nomad for a Switch predecessor

No I think the OP is correct. I think the PC Engine GT had to use wall power, no? 

The Nomad is more like the Switch, but back in the 90s, you'd have to carry around like 6 batteries to constantly power this thing and the cartridges were full size Genesis carts, so it was laughably bulky to walk around with. 

Also Sega gave this no marketing push or anything at all, they just kinda quietly released it, I don't remember even seeing 1 TV commercial for it ever, even Nintendo pushed the Virtual Boy harder than that. 

And of course unlike Switch the Nomad had no new games, just old existing Genesis titles. 

No, the PC Engine GT didn't need wall power - though it drained batteries like a pro due to it's power, that's true.

And the Game Gear had almost the same internal hardware as the Sega Master system, just with a couple upgrades, which allowed the system later on to play Master System games via an adapter. Remasters weren't yet a thing back then...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1C57a8w3PE

Last edited by Bofferbrauer2 - on 18 March 2021

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mjk45 on 18 March 2021

to embed just right click on the video you want to imbed select copy video url and then use insert image and right click on the part labeled source and paste.

V-r0cK said:
SKMBlake said:

We can also say that the PS Vita/PS TV is also the Switch

If we're including those then I'd suggest the PSP/PSP Go was more in line with the Switch (PSP Go also had a docked then used a DS3 controller to play on TV)


I don't know how to embed vids, but here's an informative comparison between the PSP Go and Switch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOx16EvJ8jA

Last edited by mjk45 - on 18 March 2021

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Cerebralbore101 on 18 March 2021

The difference here is that Switch was launched and supported as it's own console. Meanwhile the Nomad was a variant of the dying Genesis. Six AA batteries required to power it was not cheap in 1995. Hell, a four pack was friggin $10 back then. For many games you'd wind up spending more on batteries than the game itself. Just look at how long Phantasy Star IV is.



burninmylight on 18 March 2021
Soundwave said:
Bofferbrauer2 said:

I'd say the Game Gear or the PC Engine GT would be better fits than the Nomad for a Switch predecessor

No I think the OP is correct. I think the PC Engine GT had to use wall power, no? 

The Nomad is more like the Switch, but back in the 90s, you'd have to carry around like 6 batteries to constantly power this thing and the cartridges were full size Genesis carts, so it was laughably bulky to walk around with. 

Also Sega gave this no marketing push or anything at all, they just kinda quietly released it, I don't remember even seeing 1 TV commercial for it ever, even Nintendo pushed the Virtual Boy harder than that. 

And of course unlike Switch the Nomad had no new games, just old existing Genesis titles. 

There was a period in the late 90's/early 2000s where I wondered if the Nomad and Sega Channel were weird fever dreams I made up in my head because I couldn't find anyone else that ever heard about them. If it wasn't for the ubiquity of the Internet, I'd be there now with the Wii U.



hinch on 18 March 2021

It was the OG. Shame it didn't take off or Nintendo didn't implement it until a few years ago. I still remember my PSP fondly as it was the perfect emulation console and also had AV out.

Last edited by hinch - on 18 March 2021

LudicrousSpeed on 18 March 2021

Per usual, Sega was way ahead of its time.



V-r0cK on 18 March 2021
mjk45 said:

to embed just right click on the video you want to imbed select copy video url and then use insert image and right click on the part labeled source and paste.

Thanks! Will definitely keep that in mind next time :)