Ways to aquire Sega Mega Drive Games (more or less legally)

[thatgui]

As I was only a "Nintendo boy" I only own games for SNES, NES , GB and such. But back in the days when it was all about SNES VS.Mega Drive I often threw some jealaous looks on some of the SMD games of my best friend.

As I want to expand my collection into this new area I wondered if there is another way of aquiring games for the SMD, than buying used modules and ripping them.

Currently there is some sort of sale going on on dotemu. But as I had to learn the hard way, the rom images that come packaged up with the emulator, aren't in an "open" format, so using them with picodrive isn't possible (.

There are other collections available for PC, but as far as I could find any informations about them, the roms on them seem also to be protected.

So are there other places where SMD Games are sold, that I can play on my Pandora

Just for clarification:

I don't want/need any links to rom sites ! I used the phrase "more or less legally" as ripping the games from the module is deemed illegal in some countries (as nintendo declares the distribution on a cartridge as a form of copy protection).

 

[Wally]

Why not grab a Retrode then dump your own carts? ED sells them and they work nicely.

They work great and by default you can rip Mega Drive and SNES games with saves straight to your pandora =) What more you can just plug a controller into the port and BOOM away you go!

There's some other plugin adapters too. N64, SMS and GBX which just started shipping and i've ordered all 3.

 

[moxie]

...which of course falls under the original posters "buying used modules and ripping them"

I agree with the advice, though. And at the same time I feel the irritation of thatgui  - There ought to be possible to buy these games in a proper, legal way - It is not as if it is rocket science. Especially as  I guess most of us know ways of acquiring any game we'd ever want, quickly, easily and completely free of charge (although illegal). Why, oh why, are the copyright holders so intent on making it extremely difficult to be illegal?

Ah, such is lifes more intricate mysteries. 

 

[thatgui]

Why not grab a Retrode then dump your own carts? ED sells them and they work nicely.

I already have two big cardboard boxes full of games that I have to "defend" on a regular basis, as my wife has an urge to throw things, that aren't touched for quite a while, in the trashcan.I would simply like to spare me the needed storage space and the discussion about it (and also the costs to aquire a retrode).

 

[Neelix]

If you get a retrode then you can play the games straight from the cart... then your wife could no longer claim them as 'untouched'   *GDR*

(I recommend connecting the retrode through an OTG adapter, if only because its somewhat less bulky than a hub)

- Neelix

 

[Wally]

I think Neelix collects the prize here

 

[thatgui]

If you get a retrode then you can play the games straight from the cart... then your wife could no longer claim them as 'untouched'   *GDR*

(I recommend connecting the retrode through an OTG adapter, if only because its somewhat less bulky than a hub)

- Neelix

I'm using my Pandora 95% of the time on the road, so this is no option for me

 

[TrashyMG]

If you get a retrode then you can play the games straight from the cart... then your wife could no longer claim them as 'untouched'   *GDR*


(I recommend connecting the retrode through an OTG adapter, if only because its somewhat less bulky than a hub)


- Neelix

I'm using my Pandora 95% of the time on the road, so this is no option for me

Couldn't you just copy the ROMs off the Retrode before you go on the road?

 

[Fzero]

Not sure if this is even an option... but purchasing from Blaze?

Like with their Game Gadget device, they sell Megadrive games for about £1.99 each. See http://www.gamegadget.net/gamegadgetgames/cat_53.html

I think that console run the Picodrive emu didn't it? So would those run?

They may be modified dumps that only play on that device, I'm not sure

 

[thatgui]

Couldn't you just copy the ROMs off the Retrode before you go on the road?

Sure the retrode is an alternative, but as mentioned in the first post, that would not be my most favourable choice. I would like to go down the digital road to save space and to avoid the additional costs of the retrode. The retrode would have no other use for me then ripping the roms - I'm not interested at all in the additional features it provides.

Not sure if this is even an option... but purchasing from Blaze?

Like with their Game Gadget device, they sell Megadrive games for about £1.99 each. See http://www.gamegadget.net/gamegadgetgames/cat_53.html

I think that console run the Picodrive emu didn't it? So would those run?

They may be modified dumps that only play on that device, I'm not sure

This could be in fact another option - at least in theory: Made a quick search, and its hard to find anything positive about the gamegadget or Blaze itself.I didn't find anything about the game roms beeing altered or protected only that the game gadget supports some kind of drm. But I don't want to throw away 1.99 bps just.

sigh..

 

[dsleaf67]

Not sure if this is even an option... but purchasing from Blaze?

Like with their Game Gadget device, they sell Megadrive games for about £1.99 each. See http://www.gamegadget.net/gamegadgetgames/cat_53.html

I think that console run the Picodrive emu didn't it? So would those run?

They may be modified dumps that only play on that device, I'm not sure

There are bundles on dotemu.com of those same games.  Unfortunately these are only the sega games (a small subset of great games on the system)

 

[kirkanoss]

see i just don't get why for old systems that they do not make like nes atari snes and sms dumps forsale to dl for a buck or 2 like gog's does with a lot of my fav pc games. idk maybe it's just me.