Arcade Portable

From Sega Retro

Pmd step 00.jpg
Arcade Portable
Manufacturer: AtGames
Distributor: Innex (US), Blaze Europe (UK), Millennium 2000 (France, Germany, Spain), Tectoy (Brazil), Digital Media Cartridge (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Replay Interactive (Malaysia, Singapore)
Built-in games: 20
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US
Sega Mega Drive
EU
Sega Mega Drive
DE
Sega Mega Drive
FR
Sega Mega Drive
NL
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		£29.9929.99[1]
Sega Mega Drive
UK
(Streets of Rage Edition) 		£34.9934.99[3]
Sega Mega Drive
BR
Sega Mega Drive
CN
Sega Mega Drive
HK
Sega Mega Drive
RU
Sega Mega Drive
TW

The Arcade Portable is a handheld Sega Mega Drive console on a chip manufactured by AtGames. It was the second handheld to be produced by AtGames, following the Arcade Gamer Portable, and was bettered by the Arcade Ultimate.

Like many of AtGames' products, the true name for this handheld is not known. AtGames' website[4] calls it the Arcade Portable, but the device was renamed by various distributors. Packaging calls it the Mega Drive Portable Video Game Player. The system was manufactured by AtGames who distributed across Asia. Blaze Europe distributed across Europe and Tectoy brought it to Brazil as the Mega Drive Portátil.

The device has a built in 2.4-inch LCD screen, with the option for TV output, and comes bundled with a number of built-in games, which differ between distributors. The system is incompatible with traditional Mega Drive cartridges and runs on three AAA batteries.

Problems with the Unit

PSG sound

It seems that the PSG chip in the unit is tuned incorrectly, and all sound produced by the PSG is 7 semitones too low. While this isn't noticeable on most music in games, it does occasionally become obvious, such as Knuckles' theme in Sonic and Knuckles.

TV Output

While TV output for the Hong Kong device works fine, on the UK device they made a fatal error. It has been adjusted to run at 50 Hz, but it still outputs an NTSC composite signal, causing it to be black and white on UK TVs that do not support the hybrid NTSC-50 standard.

List of games

Tectoy and AtGames versions

Blaze version

Disassembly Guide

Qjimbo put together this short guide on how to take the device apart, to get a look at the components inside.

  • Step 1: Remove the batteries and every screw on the back. 5 screws in total, the battery panel screw and a screw on each corner.

  • Step 2: Prize open the the case. I found that around the volume control is a good place.

  • Step 3: Work your way around the edges. There are 2 clips on each side.

  • Step 4: Once you have undone all the clips, pull apart the case. The area around the battery compatment is stuck with sticky pads, but it is fairly easy to still pull it apart.

  • Step 5: Remove the 2 small screws each side of the main circuit board. There are actually 4 screw holes so some people may have 4 screws to remove.

  • Step 6: This part is fiddly, but carefully pull the circuit board out of the case. Again, around the volume control seems a good place.

  • Step 7: You're done!

Inside there are two chips. The large one with a separate PCB is the ROM chip, and the one under the black blob is the CPU.

Gallery

  • AtGames model (white)

  • AtGames model (black)

  • Blaze model

  • Tectoy model

  • Millennium model

Magazine articles

Main article: Arcade Portable/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Mega Drive, US

Mega Drive, UK
Sega MegaDrive Portable Video Game Player.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, UK (Streets of Rage Edition)
ArcadePortable MD UK Box Back SoR.jpgNospine-small.pngArcadePortable MD UK Box Front SoR.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, FR
ArcadePortable MD FR Box Front Millennium.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, DE
ArcadePortable Millenium Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngArcadePortable Millenium Box Front.png
Cover
Mega Drive, ES

Mega Drive, NL
ArcadePortable MD NL Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngArcadePortable MD NL Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR

Mega Drive, ??
Mega Drive Portable Video Game Player.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, ?? (black)

Mega Drive, CN/HK/TW
ArcadePortable AtGames Box Front.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, MY/SG

Mega Drive, ??

Mega Drive, ??

Mega Drive, ??
ArcadePortable MD Box Back White Tall.jpgNospine.pngArcadePortable MD Box Front White Tall.jpg
Cover

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/handheld-console-with-20-sega-megadrive-games/prod_3.html (Wayback Machine: 2011-03-11 10:08)
  2. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sega-Megadrive-Handheld-games-built/dp/B003ZJ2R18 (Wayback Machine: 2010-11-27 15:13)
  3. ↑ http://www.blazeeurope.com/sega/sega-megadrive-handheld-streets-of-rage-special-edition/prod_134.html (Wayback Machine: 2011-07-08 01:33)
  4. ↑ http://www.atgames.net/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=GP2024MD&Category=100719 (Wayback Machine: 2014-08-04 01:13)


Sega consoles created by AtGames
"Plug and play" systems
PlayPal Plug & Play (2006) | Arcade Gamer (200x) | Brain Games Colour (2008) | Mega Drive Twin Pads (2008) | Arcade Gamer Classic (20xx) | Arcade Master (20xx) | Reactor (20xx) | Arcade Motion Dual (2010) | Arcade Nano (2010) | Arcade Blast (2011)
Systems with a cartridge slot
Arcade Motion Classic (2008) | Arcade Classic (2009) | Genesis Gencore (2009) | Sega Mega Drive Flashback (2017)
Handhelds
Arcade Gamer Portable (200x) | Arcade Portable (200x) | Arcade Ultimate (20xx) | GenMobile (20xx)


Sega Mega Drive
Topics Technical specifications (Hardware comparison) | History | List of games | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise | Cartridges | TradeMark Security System
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New Mega Drive | Tianli VCD/DVD Players | "Consoles on a chip" | Licensed clones (Magic 2 | Mega Game II | Power Pegasus | Super Bitman)
Unlicensed clones
Add-ons Game Box | Power Base Converter | Mega-CD | 32X (Mega-CD 32X) | Mega Modem | Demo System DS-16
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Network services Sega Channel | Sega Game Toshokan | Mega Anser | Mega Net | TeleBradesco Residência | XB∀ND
Development tools ERX 308P | ERX 318P | Sprobe | SNASM68K | SNASM2 (Mega Drive) | SNASM2 (32X) | PSY-Q Development System (Mega Drive) | PSY-Q Development System (32X) | 32X CartDev | Sega Mars Development Aid System | Sega 32X Development Target
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