Thank you both for answering. I guess I have a lot to consider and I feel a bit more informed than I did before.

So I have been trying to speedrun from Genesis games via Genesis Plus GX and I have been thinking for a long time to move onto actual hardware. I looked into doing it with either my Model 1 or 2.. but sadly there doesn't seem to be any agreement on zero lag/best video capture.. a lot of people have told me either go the OSSC route or get something like the Mega SG.

The big question and largest concern for me if I go for the clone route, like the Mega SG, is this still considered in the same category for speed runs if I continued to do it via Genesis Plus GX emulation?

Another reason why I have been sort of hesitant to go the OSSC route is because 1) they seem to always be out of stock, 2) shipping to the US and 3).. I don't quite trust myself in attempting to mod one of my two consoles (which don't really work very well in the first place).

Now, I know I can go and ask the "communities" for the specific games I want to run, but if it's emulation.. then what's the point?

I just want to be able to stream and capture these retro games as legit as possible but also have the best quality.

https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/

https://www.analogue.co/mega-sg/

Thank you for my putting up with my dumb concerns ^_^