Console clones such as Mega SG
4 years ago
Portland, OR, USA

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 ^_^

United States

Yes, the MegaSG might get counted as emulation in a lot of communities, but there's nothing wrong with emulation!

Especially when it's as accurate as the MegaSG. The important part is if it allows you to play the game more comfortably. FPGA hardware has some unique advantages over traditional hardware and emulation in terms of input latency and compatibility with modern TVs. If there's no real difference to you in terms of real hardware versus emulation, you're really good at adjusting to latency, or the considerable cost is too high knowing all of this, then perhaps the MegaSG doesn't make sense to buy.

Edited by the author 4 years ago
TheLetterTen likes this
Antarctica

I also want to toss in that the Genesis can output Component natively similarly to a SNES (I think? Forgive me if I’m mistaken), which means that if you want to use an OSSC, you shouldn’t need to do any console modification since the OSSC can take a Component input.

Granted that doesn’t alleviate the other OSSC issues you listed, but it should alleviate one.

Edited by the author 4 years ago
Krayzar, TheLetterTen, and Lonne like this
Portland, OR, USA

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

Krayzar likes this