Tectoy is trying to bank on the NES Classic craze

Psycho Punch · 10/31/2016, 06:29 PM

And it's pretty much guaranteed to suck.

First of all, here's the preorder page for their new Merda Drive (Genesissy in the US): http://www.tectoy.com.br/pre-venda-mega-drive-edicao-limitada/p/995040461825?utm_source=base-ll&utm_campaign=lancamento_mega&utm_medium=email-31_10

It looks pretty neat until you realize it's just a on-a-chip console repackaged. They pretty much admit such in their FAQ page:

QuoteQ: Are the components in the Mega Drive the same as the original console?
A: No, because the original components aren't being manufactured anymore.
Q: Is the Mega Drive an emulator? (...)
A: (...) the console has a circuit which integrates components similar to the originals.(...)
Q: Many solutions have problems reproducing sound (...)
A: The Mega Drive reproduces the audio via similar components, therefore the results aren't 100% like the original.
Q: Does the Mega Drive work with games with special chips like Virtua Racing?
A: No. (note: yes they didn't elaborate lol)

Talk about an effortless cash grab. Pretty sure they aren't going to sell any of their units. And just LOL at the retards on their facebook page asking day after day for a Dreamcast re-release (???)

I'm going to dig into my junk at mom's house to find my non-functioning japanese Model 1 MD, just so I can put my Raspberry PI inside it and get relieved from this massive disappointment.

note: now that I think about it, the pictures in the product page feel weird, not sure if it's just because of their wrong aspect ratio or something. Imagine if the actual console was like that to save space though

esadajr · 10/31/2016, 06:47 PM

They've been pulling this since quite some time IIRC. Too expensive for what it is. The ATGames machine at least is not that expensive and can make for a nice (toy) gift for a 5 yr old or something.

CrackTiger · 11/01/2016, 02:18 PM

It's a much better deal than the NES clone Nintendo's dumping this holiday season.

xcrement5x · 11/01/2016, 02:18 PM

Aww, that's too bad they're not putting more effort into it. If they did they could have the enthusiast market quite happy.

SignOfZeta · 11/01/2016, 04:18 PM

Hasn't this company been doing this for ages? I think this thread is trying to capitalize on the NES Classic.

Psycho Punch · 11/01/2016, 04:34 PM

Err no?

They don't sell a normal looking Genesis for decades now guys. There was a goddamn mailing List and countdown for the reveal of that console. Most of what they sold were AT Games like consoles, without even cartridge slots.

SignOfZeta · 11/01/2016, 07:15 PM

Isn't Tektoy basically Sega of Brazil? They can't really "cash in" on a new reboot of a system they haven't stopped selling since it was current. Have they ever stopped selling it? I don't know, honestly.

Making it look more like the actual system is somewhat "NES classic"-ey...I guess, but when you consider that Tektoy actively bread that look (the original look) out of their consoles for decades to make them seem fresh (so the kids wouldn't be sad that they are playing the same systems their parents did). It comes from a completely different place.

There is a company in Iran called Saipa that sells domestically produced licensed copies of Kia Rio, 1970s Datsun pickups, and even what Americans knew as a 1989 Ford Festiva. They aren't doing it to be cool or retro. That's just what they do. If the rest of the world became obsessed with bad old Korean cars I couldn't fault Saipa for ramping up production for export. There's nothing cynical about it when it's already the main revenue generator.

According to the Wiki these guys actually translated the first three Phantasy Star games into Portuguese. They've earned the right to make this as much as anyone.

Of course it will be a POS, but that's unrelated. Clearly BT agrees.

Psycho Punch · 11/01/2016, 10:16 PM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 11/01/2016, 07:15 PMIsn't Tektoy basically Sega of Brazil? They can't really "cash in" on a new reboot of a system they haven't stopped selling since it was current. Have they ever stopped selling it? I don't know, honestly.

They did. Last Genesis they sold was one without a cartridge slot as I said before.

QuoteMaking it look more like the actual system is somewhat "NES classic"-ey...I guess, but when you consider that Tektoy actively bread that look (the original look) out of their consoles for decades to make them seem fresh (so the kids wouldn't be sad that they are playing the same systems their parents did). It comes from a completely different place.

You have a very good point on that but that's not it, as I said the main motivator for it was the NES Classic release (which was very well received in Brazil even though we had the toaster NES only for one year officially here, which failed real bad because by the point they released it here everyone had cheaper clones with better quality, remember, this was before the On-A-Chip era).

QuoteThere is a company in Iran called Saipa that sells domestically produced licensed copies of Kia Rio, 1970s Datsun pickups, and even what Americans knew as a 1989 Ford Festiva. They aren't doing it to be cool or retro. That's just what they do. If the rest of the world became obsessed with bad old Korean cars I couldn't fault Saipa for ramping up production for export. There's nothing cynical about it when it's already the main revenue generator.

I want a Fairlady! You made a good point but it's not directly related because in Tectoy's case they are selling what they used to sell with a new coat of paint and at least double the price, for the love of it!

QuoteAccording to the Wiki these guys actually translated the first three Phantasy Star games into Portuguese. They've earned the right to make this as much as anyone.

There's a good amount of time between Phantasy Star 3 and 2016. They certainly earned the rights to do what they're doing now but it's kinda cheap because they haven't done much since the Dreamcast.

QuoteOf course it will be a POS, but that's unrelated. Clearly BT agrees.

It is certainly related! This is probably a sign that I failed to convey my message (as always) but let me elaborate:

Tectoy began their success as a toy company by selling Zillion guns, and that's how they started their very close relationship with Sega. They later released the Master System, proved themselves again and finally got a go-ahead to produce Genesis units and games. They also brought the Saturn and the Dreamcast to Brazil.

In the mid 2000s to 2016 people would keep pestering Tectoy to re-release the Dreamcast and maybe even Mega Drive games, and this includes consumers and the press, but they always responded with "The parts aren't being manufactured anymore, licensing issues, ...". They basically had no interest in doing what they're doing now because it would have had required effort from their part.

Well that's until the NES Classic, that is. After the nintendo console was announced people were very excited, even with all the import taxes piled up (which made the price ridiculous). Then they suddenly decided to make an announcement last month with a countdown timer page and a mailing list for something special, and the link I posted is what I've received in my mailbox last week. They still took the effortless route like they always did post-Dreamcast (they basically just sold Genesis clones all these years, only notable thing was the Zeebo which they merely marketed), now reselling their cheapo mega drives repackaged into a pretty shell, with a considerable markup compared to their previous consoles. The timing was too much of a coincidence to not be related and they could have done a better job with it if they didn't want to milk their fans dry just one more time, and that's the whole point of this stupid thread. They obviously saw the potential from the collector/ard crowd and went to bank on the NES Classic craze.

SignOfZeta · 11/02/2016, 02:26 AM

The NES Classic doesn't have a cartridge slot either.

I see what you're saying though. Per their own admission its clearly nowhere near Nintendo's level of detail. This is clearly a...whatever you call the MD version of a Famiclone. I had just assumed that they had been making this things all along in some form or another.

Corredor X · 11/02/2016, 02:59 PM

Yeah, it will suck a lot

I was hoping they would at least make something that could almost match the original in terms of hardware, like the penultimate or so batch of the original MDIII, that still could handle Sega CD, Power Base Adapter, Virtua Racing and RGB out, despite their innards were heavily modified from early models. I would love a NES Classic-like console with HDMI and even wireless controllers (they even put a cordless pad in one of the ads, turns out it was just bad photoshoping). But like Punch said, the thing is they really got the effortless way in this: just composite out, incompatibilities, a "mystery" hardware that they told several times in the FAQ that will not work like the usual because of parts, a SD card solution for ROMs that will not save games (not talking about savestates, actual game saves, like in the included Sonic 3) and that may not accept all games. All that for a high price (Yuji Naka himself commented that on twitter

) and on pre-sale for june 2017. I love classic Tec Toy, but this is just another of their crazy stunts that they've doing since the company shrunk in the early 2000's.

Quote from: Psycho Punch on 10/31/2016, 06:29 PMnote: now that I think about it, the pictures in the product page feel weird, not sure if it's just because of their wrong aspect ratio or something. Imagine if the actual console was like that to save space though

Take a look on the last photo, the back part of the console: the mockup was so rushed that they forgot to put the square rubber part that holds the power cable inside the console

TheClash603 · 11/03/2016, 12:24 AM

I have a few Brazilian Saturn games, which are in boxes that are somehow worse than the frail plastic cases of the U.S. games. TecToy still makes me happy for some reason.

Corredor X · 11/03/2016, 11:40 AM

Quote from: TheClash603 on 11/03/2016, 12:24 AMI have a few Brazilian Saturn games, which are in boxes that are somehow worse than the frail plastic cases of the U.S. games. TecToy still makes me happy for some reason.

Our first batch of Master System and Mega Drive games also came in boxes like that. They are way fragile, but they are very nostalgic to those that were kids in those days - for me at least, I'll complete the full set someday.

Sarumaru · 11/03/2016, 02:20 PM

Too much money for a clone console that doesn't even play everything. Also, composite AND PAL? pppfffftrppptftrttftrttt~ Time to play some Sonic the SLOWhog. I just posted yesterday on the NG forums about this clone that you could just buy an MD (or a Geni for way cheaper) for that kind of monies. I don't care how many cool things they did in the past, this is pointless IMO.

Psycho Punch · 11/03/2016, 10:18 PM

Quote from: Sarumaru on 11/03/2016, 02:20 PMToo much money for a clone console that doesn't even play everything. Also, composite AND PAL? pppfffftrppptftrttftrttt~ Time to play some Sonic the SLOWhog.

Pal-M is basically NTSC with the PAL color carrier. 60Hz.
You might say cool but Brazil is the only place using it so everything runs through converters anyway so why bother.

TheClash603 · 11/04/2016, 08:25 AM

Quote from: Corredor X on 11/03/2016, 11:40 AM
Quote from: TheClash603 on 11/03/2016, 12:24 AMI have a few Brazilian Saturn games, which are in boxes that are somehow worse than the frail plastic cases of the U.S. games. TecToy still makes me happy for some reason.
Our first batch of Master System and Mega Drive games also came in boxes like that. They are way fragile, but they are very nostalgic to those that were kids in those days - for me at least, I'll complete the full set someday.

I take it you are from Brazil? What's the availability like in country for Brazilian Saturn games? I have a few of them more for the novelty aspect, because I thought they looked cool and they were reasonably priced. These games don't turn up in the U.S. very often.

Gypsy · 11/04/2016, 09:38 AM

Quote from: Sarumaru on 11/03/2016, 02:20 PMToo much money for a clone console that doesn't even play everything. Also, composite AND PAL? pppfffftrppptftrttftrttt~ Time to play some Sonic the SLOWhog. I just posted yesterday on the NG forums about this clone that you could just buy an MD (or a Geni for way cheaper) for that kind of monies. I don't care how many cool things they did in the past, this is pointless IMO.

You can buy an everdrive (admittedly not the newest one) and an actual Genesis for less. Honestly probably a scart cable as well.

Oh and I legit laughed at mocking Tobias, well played Punch.