Magistr Drive

From Sega Retro

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The Magistr (Магистр) Drive series is a selection of clone consoles based on the Sega Mega Drive that were manufactured and distributed in Russia and other parts of former USSR. Most Magistr Drive consoles were made by New Game, a company which specialises in bringing Mega Drive content to former USSR countries.

As is perhaps predictable in these markets, 8-bit Famicom clone consoles (or Dendy clones as they're known in Russia) known as the "Magistr Savia" and "Magistr Sniper" (among possibly others) were also produced by New Game, although these are unrelated to the Mega Drive clones on this page.

Unlike many other clone consoles, Magistr Drives were produced extremely cheaply and thus the contents displayed on the box often do not match the products contained within. The colours of buttons for example range significantly across Magistr Drives and may have been determined by what colours were in stock, not necessarily the type of console. For this reason the true number of Magistr Drives has not been determined.

History

The first clones appeared under the name Mega Drive 2 around 1997/1998. Their publisher was Padis, although the consoles had a sticker from the Mikki store that cooperated with them. At the beginning of 1999, the New Game company was established to deal with the sale of clones. This year, they released clone of Mega Drive 2, Mega Drive 3 and Game VCD and registered trademarks for Mega Drive 3 and Game VCD. Rights to the name Mega Drive were bought by Mezhregional'naya obshchestvennaya organizatsiya sodeystviya proizvodstvu i realizatsii videoigr which began competing with New Game by releasing clones of the Simba's and 'Mega Drive' brand. Seeing that the rights to the Mega Drive name were reserved, New Game began publishing its consoles under the name Magistr Drive around 2000. Over the years, a whole range of clones from this brand has been created and the new models are still sold in Russia and the former USSR to this day.

In 2023, New Game bought trademark for Mega Drive in Russia[1] which mean that new consoles started to be release under this name.

Magazine articles

Main article: Magistr Drive/Magazine articles.

Sega Mega Drive 2 (Mikki)

Released around 1997/1998, before the creation of the Magistr Drive brand. Although they look like the original Mega Drive, they could be distinguished by the fact of having Mega Key and Mikki stickers. Cost around 360 000 RUB.[2]

Sega Mega Drive 2 (New Game)

Released in late 1999, under the name Mega Drive 2. On the surface this Magistr Drive 2 is largely identical to a Japanese Mega Drive 2, but as with all Magistr Drives, the innards are much simpler, being effectively a "console on a chip". Cost around 300 RUB.[3]

Sega Magistr Drive 2 (2 Pads)

First console released as Magistr (still with Sega logo) in early 2000.

Magistr Drive 2 (2 Pads)

Sold from 2005, now without Sega logo.[4]

Magistr Drive 2 (1 Pad)

Sold from mid-2000s.

Magistr Drive 2 (25 games)

One of the more common Magistr Drive 2s is this model - one with 25 built-in games. Released in late 2000s/early 2010s.[6]

Magistr Drive 2 (252 games)

Released in March 2020.[7]

Magistr Drive 2 (mini)

First from "mini" Magistr Drives, released in 2002.[8]

Magistr Drive 2 (mini; 9 games)

Released in mid-2010s.[11]

Magistr Drive 2 (normal; mini; 65 games)

Released in 2012.[12]

Magistr Drive 2 (mini; 160 games)

Released in mid-2010s.

Magistr Drive 2 (mini; 252 games)

Released in 2020.

Magistr Drive 2 (normal; mini; 12 games)

This 12 game version of the Magistr Drive 2 is quite common. Released in late 2000s/early 2010s.[15]Exist two versions: Normal and mini.

Magistr Drive 2 (normal; mini; 25 games)

A 25 game variant was also produced, presumably identical to the larger edition above. Released in late 2000s/early 2010s.[16]Exist two versions: Normal and mini.

Magistr Drive 2 (normal; mini; 132 games)

Released in 2007.[17] Exist two versions: Normal and mini in blue and green variants.

Magistr Drive 2 (normal; mini; 160 games)

Released in late 2000s/early 2010s. Exist two versions: Normal and mini.

Sega Mega Drive 3

Released in early 1999, after the first console in this series with price of 300 RUB[20]. Like the original, it has the name Mega Drive on the console.

Sega Magistr Drive 3

Released in early 2000. Cost around 320 RUB.[21]

Magistr Drive 3

The small shell was recycled with the Magistr Drive 3, though aside from a different color scheme there's not much separating this one from its predecessor. Released in late 2000s/early 2010s.[22]


Magistr Drive 4

Released in 2000/2001.

Magistr Drive 5

The console was redesigned with the Magistr Drive 5 in 2001[23], and although still features Sega branding on the box and console, swapped its controllers to PlayStation 1-esque ones. The awkward button placement that also appeared in the Mega Drive V and Mega Drive X was used here, though the colors are different. The Magistr Drive 5 goes back to using the regular size Mega Drive 2 shell, though this time it's white (although there are some variations for button colours).

Magistr Station

Released in 2001[24].

Magistr Drive X

The Magistr Drive X, released in 2002[25], brings back the Sega Mega Drive six button controllers and paints them white. It also brings back the shell of the Magistr Drive 2 Mini and paints that white too. Something worth noting is that the middle buttons are vertical. There is also a version that includes Sega Saturn-like controllers.


Magistr Drive Z

A departure from previous attempts, the Magistr Drive Z features a Genesis 3 shell and sometimes ships with less awkward PlayStation 1-style controllers. The console comes in a variety of colors including white and blue. Released in 2002.[27]

Magistr Drive One

Uses a PS One style shell and comes with PlayStation style controllers. Announced in 2001[28], released in 2002.[29]

Magistr 16

Main article: Magistr 16.

Magistr Aspirant/Obuchayushchiy Aspirant

Main article: CyberShell.

Magistr Litseist

Main article: CyberSmart.

Sega Magistr X

Model released in September 2017.[31]

Magistr X

Released in February 2019. Very similar to Sega Magistr X.[32]

Magistr Drive 2 (98 games)

Model released in March 2018.[33]

Magistr Mega Drive (250 games)

Released in late 2010s/early 2020s.

Magistr Smart (414 games HDMI)

Released in January 2021. Has built-in games for Mega Drive, Dendy, and M.A.M.E.[34]

Magistr Turbo Drive (222 games)

Released in April 2021.[35]

Mega Drive 252 (252 games)

Released in June 2023[36], now "legally" under the name Mega Drive.

Mega Drive 300 Game (300 games)

Released in November 2023.

Magistr accessories

For many years, New Game has released sets of many accessories for their consoles often modeled on the original from Sega. [37][38]

Documentation

Promotional material

Print advertisements

Magistr advert RU 2000.png
Print advert in 750 igr dlya Dendy (RU) #1 : "" (2000-xx-xx)

also published in:

  • 1600 igr dlya Sega (RU) : "" (2000-xx-xx)
Magistr advert RU 2000.png
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Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #48 (2000-04-15)
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Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #54 (2001-05-01)
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Television advertisements

Unknown

Aside from being Magistr Drives we know nothing about the following systems.

References

  1. http://tmregister.ru/trademarks/74180-c9a0c10300c4c86eb02407c18581ff26
  2. http://www.greatdragon.ru/online/35/1621-358283-tamagochi.html
  3. http://www.greatdragon.ru/online/49/2238-499495-zabor-drakona-lavka-drakona-prodazha-igr-kartridzhey-i-konsoley.html
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20051230180607/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20070603214201/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007110943/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  7. https://newgameural.ru/node/1444
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20020802063304/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20070603214201/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20070126083725/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20160320112533/http://www.newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/?PAGEN_1=2
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20120930201402/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20130816142946/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/Sega+Mega+Drive+2+65/
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20130815122331/http://www.newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007110943/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007110943/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20070126083725/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20131024140935/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  19. http://newgameural.ru/node/1208 (Wayback Machine: 2017-01-06 01:57)
  20. http://www.greatdragon.ru/online/44/1961-445051-lavka-drakona-game-vcd-magistr.html
  21. http://www.greatdragon.ru/online/49/2238-499495-zabor-drakona-lavka-drakona-prodazha-igr-kartridzhey-i-konsoley.html
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007110943/http://newgame.ru/catalog/products/game_consoles_sega_16_bit/
  23. http://www.greatdragon.ru/uploads/posts/2014-03/1395507118_greatdragon54-002.jpg
  24. https://companies.rbc.ru/trademark/224184/magistrstation/
  25. https://web.archive.org/web/20020802063304/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  26. https://web.archive.org/web/20051230180607/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  27. https://web.archive.org/web/20020802063304/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  28. https://web.archive.org/web/20011019030316/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  29. https://web.archive.org/web/20020802063304/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  30. https://web.archive.org/web/20050204051210/http://newgame.ru/16bit/index.htm
  31. http://newgameural.ru/node/1391 (Wayback Machine: 2020-10-21 00:43)
  32. http://newgameural.ru/node/1413 (Wayback Machine: 2019-03-01 15:38)
  33. http://newgameural.ru/node/1399 (Wayback Machine: 2019-08-17 10:15)
  34. https://newgame.ru/index.php?route=information/news/info&news_id=63
  35. https://newgame.ru/index.php?route=information/news/info&news_id=70
  36. https://newgame.ru/index.php?route=information/news/info&news_id=82
  37. https://web.archive.org/web/20020617150217/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/accsega.htm
  38. https://web.archive.org/web/20040603035250/http://www.newgame.ru/16bit/accsega.htm
  39. Featured games: Abrams Battle Tank, Cannon Fodder, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Gauntlet IV, Hook, Micro Machines Military, No Escape
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