Producer of Genesis Flashback consoles claims review units have early, buggy firmware

Nintendo recently flared the microconsole craze with NES Classic Edition. This spurred nostalgia amongst gamers of the 8-bit era and with that, Nintendo has another console coming preloaded with more games this September. But, they aren’t the only game in town, there’s another preloaded console on the way from AtGames, the Sega Genesis Flashback.

However, early reviews haven’t exactly been kind to the console, coming preloaded with 85 games. With the name “Sega Genesis Flashback,” you’d think that the system would come preloaded with 85 Genesis games. But, that is a misnomer, the console itself comes with a mixture of Master System, Game Gear, Genesis and 28 unrelated Sega games akin to shovelware.

While many like myself wouldn’t mind the non-Genesis content, the extra 28 games just add a the “ugh” factor already surrounding the poor reviews coming several outlets. Many reviewers haven’t been kind to machine, saying that it’s interface is clunky and disjointed. Even worse: that the emulation (which the system uses to play cartridge games) of Genesis games is poor. AtGames claims that most of these issues are do to review units containing outdated system software, but are working to resend newer units with an updated version.

Kotaku writes:

“A batch of our review units were accidentally shipped out with early software builds that do not represent the final version,” AtGames said. “We are working to get updated and correct final products in the hands of reviewers in the coming weeks.”

Systems like these get gamers who grew up in the 1990s a sense of remembrance and a reason to revisit those consoles and games with ease. Many might not care for minor bugs or glitches, but enthusiasts will certainly avoid it if they can’t play it the way they remember it.

AtGames is no stranger to producing Sega Hardware, they’ve been doing it for a long time now, producing a considerable number of Sega and Atari microconsoles. So, it’s a surprise to see something like this happen just before its release in late September.

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Super Famicom left on for 20 years to keep save data

Cartridges from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of consoles had a battery to maintain the save data. Aside from passwords, this was pretty much the only way to keep your progress. But, like all batteries, they eventually loose power and can no longer retain the memory of the RAM.

Batteries on a chipset can be replaced in some cases, but once the console is turned off, the data would be lost without a viable way to save it internally. Twitter user Wanikun found the option of losing the save data to Umihara Kawase unacceptable and left the Super Famicom powered on for 20 years to do so.

Even after moving, it seems that the Famicom is again plugged in, the save data still intact.

The NES in a Station Wagon

While popular auto manufacturer, Oldsmobile, is no longer innovating with cars, they were however willing to experiment with video technology in cars. Having a TV set in minivans is and was somewhat popular in many models, but in 1990 they weren’t as prevalent.

Oldsmobile planned to have a Nintendo Entertainment System in the Expression station wagon, installed in the back door of the car.

If this car ever made it out of the concept phase, it would’ve been way ahead of its time.