This Nomad is fun! I love being able to play Sega games wherever I go, and the graphics are just like I remember them, but small. The Nomad's screen gets very bright and dim (so... better than GameBoy), the sound through the headphones is stereo, and there are ports to plug it into your TV and plug in a second controller for 2 person games. This entire thing is kickass, and my friends are gonna be so jealous! Now for the downsides. Space. The player itself isn't too large (about the dimensions of two stacked VHS tapes), but each game is the size of, well, a Sega game, so you really can't bring too many with you. And the battery consumption! Make sure you buy rechargables, and make sure you buy an A/C adapter along with it. Also, the battery pack, which takes 6 AA batteries, often comes separately and attaches to the back, so don't forget that when buying.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The Sega NOMAD was the holy grail of gaming for many a kid in the mid 90's. As cool as the Game Gear was in all it's backlit,Color Screen having, Battery Sucking glory the Nomad was just THAT much cooler. PLAY YOUR SEGA GAMES ANYWHERE! the commercials said. Now while I wish when I was a kid that Nintendo Had taken a page from Sega and made one of these monstrosities they did not, and Sega reigned supreme as the king of ridiculous handhelds. I don't remember exactly but I believe the MSRP on this brick of Archeotech when it was released was upwards of 499.99. WHOA. In 1994 monies that's close to a grand. WHOA. But this is 2013 and there are many options for portable gaming. Including newer better systems, Third party alternatives (Some even licensed by SEGA) and the more underhanded option of emulation. The nomad it self is solid but upon first picking it up it will feel awkward in your hand and be even more awkward to look at it's left hand side is taller than the right. Yeah it's wedge shaped. Now, while the screen itself maintains a decent sized 4:3 aspect ratio the actual shape of the device will mess with your visual perception of it. I'm not joking here this is a problem I have with it and can usually never make it longer than a 20 min session. This design "Choice" by Sega is still a giant question mark in my mind upwards of 15 years later. The screen itself is washed out and sometimes hard to see what exactly is going on. It also seems like it's slightly slower than a regular TV. The controls are tight and solid with a good tactile feel to them. The sound is tinny and weak and the battery life is worse than a 15 year old Laptop running Bioshock. I can't recommend the Nomad to a newer gamer looking for a cool retro system to play Genesis on. A bonus feature offered by the nomad is it's TV connectivity, which is great and even features a port for a second player!Another nifty thing about this feature is that it uses the same cables as the Genesis Model II which is great if have one of those. This makes the system an excellent travel companion for a long stay in a hotel for say a convention or business trip. The people I WOULD recommend the Nomad too are X and Y genners like myself who dreamed of owning one and playing Sonic three on the bus to school. For the measly 150 they usually go for on eBay it's a cheap childhood want to satiate. If you're looking for a hardcore handheld to play Sega on daily skip this and look into one of the newer Retrofire systems.Read full review
When it comes to consoles, Sega has had a long and interesting history. However, most people will agree that Sega's greatest achievement was creating the Sega Mega-Drive/Genesis in the late eighties. In the early nineties, Sega had also developed the Game Gear which got an admirable market share but eventually lost traction to the far more well received Game Boy. In the mid-nineties, Sega launched a follow-up handheld, the Sega Nomad. This particular handheld was a leap forward as it managed to condense the Mega-Drive into a small unit that could be played on the go. Features: *Plays most Sega Genesis cartridges. *Plays on 6 AA Batteries, one battery pack or with a power adaptor. *Full colour screen. *A/V out. Pros: The Sega Nomad does a respectable job of displaying Sega Genesis games. The unit is quite big and hefty yet still comfortable to hold. The Nomad also sports 6 buttons to allow users to take their fighting game collection on the go. Battery life is often discussed in relation to the Nomad. However, if you pick up a decent set of rechargeable batteries, you will likely get a few solid hours of play out of the unit. Cons: The screen is not the best. The Sega Nomad came out in 1996 and portable screen technology was not all there yet. The colours look very washed out and there is a lot of blur on the faster games. Many users (myself included) have opted to replace the display with more recently designed ones. If you're going to buy a Nomad, I highly recommend performing this surgery on the display. The colours will be better, you'll see no blur and you may just add a couple of precious hours to your battery life. Another problem with this device is the lack of a reset button. For the most part, this is not an issue but there are a few games that require a reset in order to run. It is also important to note that you can not run Sega CD or Sega 32x games on this device (it may be possible to run the 32x but only with a power cable and it will only display on a TV). Final Word: The Sega Nomad is a very well designed unit that came out at a very bad time. I'm sure that, if Sega hadn't created so many consoles prior to the Nomad, fewer people would have been disenfranchised with them and there may have been more sales and a higher production run. The fact remains, however, that Nomads are becoming very scarce and can fetch a high price (up to and over $200). Therefore, unless you are a die-hard Sega or 16-bit collector, or if you need the portability that only a Nomad could provide, I would highly recommend that you pick up a Mega-Drive/Genesis instead. They are much cheaper and still highly reliable after over 20 years.Read full review
I always wanted a Sega Nomad. The screen is great. The mod was placed on the unit to play both JP and US games with no modification to the Sega Nomad shell. It works great and I think it is a great purchase for those that want to go into collecting for the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This console is a great addition to someones collection, though it has a few downsides. Its screen is bad (even for the time it was released it was *bad*). there are people who've modded theirs to use a more modern lcd screen which I hear is alot better. Second, the battery pack you get with it doesn't last long at all. This will absolutely eat through your AA's if all you plan to use is the battery pack. If you weren't, then have fun being tethered to the wall by the charging cord. Now the upsides. Its basically a portable Sega Genesis! You can run any US Genesis game on it (and with some modding, you can also run EU, JP, and Sega Master System games). Its also a pretty novelty to show to your friends. :)
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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