Difference between revisions of "Sega Channel"
From Sega Retro
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===Germany=== | ===Germany=== | ||
In Germany the service was provided by Deutsche Telekom, also owned by TCI. | In Germany the service was provided by Deutsche Telekom, also owned by TCI. | ||
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+ | Customers were charged a DM80 set-up fee and a DM28 monthly cost. | ||
===France=== | ===France=== |
Revision as of 15:18, 29 March 2015
Sega Channel | |||||
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Made for: Sega Mega Drive | |||||
Manufacturer: Sega, Scientific Atlanta, General Instrument | |||||
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Sega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive video game console. Completely revolutionary at the time of release (bar a failed attempt with the earlier Intellivision console), it was a method capable of streaming digital content to Mega Drive owners through cable television.
Sega Channel services were offered across the globe by various providers, though the most notable and well-remembered was the service provided for North American consumers. Traditionally in order to gain access to a Sega Channel, customers would pay for a monthly subscription, and in return be given unlimited access to a specified amount of video games. Network providers would be able to change the details of the service at any given point, meaning the Sega Channel was constantly evolving, with new games appearing throughout the weeks and months. A number of games were even made Sega Channel exclusives.
Today, services such as these tend to be provided by the internet, however back then, games on demand was a far less common occurence. Success of the Sega Channel varies between countries - in North America the Sega Channel was broadcast for a full four years, whereas in others it lasted merely months.
Due to the nature of how the Sega Channel service operated, it is extremely difficult to document - downloaded games would be erased upon turning off the console, and adequate methods of saving and recording Sega Channel content were not readily available. As such, large parts of the service to this day remain a mystery - it cannot be emulated like standard Mega Drive cartridges, and as it largely pre-dates the internet, details are very hard to come by.
Contents
System Details
To access the Sega Channel, customers needed a Sega Channel adaptor. Though aesthetically different between regions, all adaptors have the same basic design - they are to be placed within the Mega Drive's cartridge slot and then linked to the cable television box via an RF connector. Adaptors also require their own external power supply, and depending on the model, come with plastic spacers to make sure the unit can fit comfortably in both the original Mega Drive and Mega Drive II consoles.
Unlike other add-ons for the system, such as the Sega Mega-CD, Sega 32X or even the earlier Sega Mega Modem, the Sega Channel adaptor does not need to be plugged in to any of the ports at the back of the console, meaning (theoretically) the Sega Channel adaptor is compatible with any device with a Mega Drive cartridge slot.
Despite its claims, the Sega Channel was not technically an on-demand service. Digital data was broadcast through the cable provider and recieved by the Sega Channel adaptor which would attempt to convert it into program code. There were actually several signals involved - one to broadcast menus (which was on continously) and another to broadcast individual games and content. This second signal would cycle through content individually, meaning that the adaptor would have to wait (up to about thirty seconds) until the correct piece of content was being broadcasted.
If the broadcast matched with the request from the adaptor, the program would be downloaded and stored in the unit's RAM. Nothing was saved permanently - if the user turned off the device all saved data would be lost. Reseting the console was still a possiblity, however.
As a radically different system to a standard cable channel, extra precautions would need to be taken by the cable operators before broadcasting. At the time, all cable services were analogue and would therefore pick up noise, potentially distrupting transmissions. The signal would therefore need to be cleaned by the providers as much as possible. Sega's assistence in these matters meant that despite being a gaming company, they had a major influence in the cable television infrastructure across the world.
Distortion, however, was unavoidable in many cases and so downloads would often fail (bearing in mind that some games were 4MB in size). The solution was simply to reset the console and try again.
Some accessories are said to have caused trouble with the Sega Channel adaptor, namely the Konami Justifier.
History
United States
- See also: Sega Channel US schedule.
By far the biggest success story of the Sega Channel was in the US, where at its peak, the Sega Channel service was available to one third of the US population and had 250,000 subscribers. The US variant tends to overshadow other releases as it is the only version of the service that is well remembered by the gaming public.
The US service was the biggest and most actively maintained, debuting in late 1994 and being taken offline on the 31st of July, 1998. A "wireless" version of the service appeared around 1996. The US Sega Channel was delivered as a joint venture between Time Warner Cable and Tele-Communications Inc. and was a relatively expensive service, with monthly subscription fees of roughly $14.95 and a $25 activation fee. Adaptors were manufactured by Scientific-Atlanta and General Instrument and were meant to be returned to the cable distributor upon cancellation of the service.
Initially over fifty games were available at any one time, with the contents changing on a weekly basis. Later this was reduced to fortnightly changes and only 35 games up at once. As well as games, Sega also ran several promotions through the service. Special previews for up-and-coming titles were provided; some import games not found in the United States were exclusive to the service and cheats and tips were handed out.
The music used across the US Sega Channel service was composed by John Baker, who had supplied the music for ToeJam & Earl. Much of the Sega Channel's graphical style is similar to that game, also.
The US is the only region thought to have had a purely automated service. From a central office, the channel was transmitted to the Galaxy 7 satellite, and then relayed back down to cable operators across the country. Other regions saw Sega physically send out compact discs to operators. Following a series of failures starting in June 1998, the Galaxy 7 satellite spun out of geostationary orbit in November 2000, and is now drifting across space.
List of Games
(Note: Lists are preliminary. As little has survived from the days of Sega Channel and no official list has been released, games may be missing.)
- 688 Attack Sub
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
- Abrams Battle Tank
- The Adventures of Batman and Robin
- Aerobiz Supersonic
- Disney's Aladdin
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Alien Soldier
- Alien Storm
- Altered Beast
- Arcus Odyssey
- Ariel the Little Mermaid
- Arrow Flash
- Art Alive!
- Asterix and the Great Rescue
- ATP Tour Championship Tennis
- Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!
- Ballz
- Barkley: Shut Up and Jam!
- Bass Masters Classic: Pro Edition
- Batman Returns
- BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat
- Berenstain Bears: Camping Adventure
- Best of the Best: Championship Karate
- Beyond Oasis
- Blades of Vengeance
- B.O.B.
- Body Count
- Bonanza Bros
- Bonkers
- Boxing Legends of the Ring
- Brutal: Paws of Fury
- Bubba 'n' Stix
- Bubsy
- Bubsy II
- Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble
- Castlevania Bloodlines
- California Games
- Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
- Chakan
- Championship Pool
- Chase H.Q.
- Chessmaster
- ClayFighter
- Clue (Cluedo)
- College Football's National Championship
- College Football's National Championship II
- Columns
- Combat Cars
- Comix Zone
- Contra: Hard Corps
- Crystal's Pony Tale
- Cyborg Justice
- David Crane's Amazing Tennis
- Decap Attack
- Desert Demolition Starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
- Desert Strike
- Dick Tracy
- Dino Land
- Dinosaurs for Hire
- Doom Troopers
- Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
- Dyna Brothers 2
- Dynamite Headdy
- Earthworm Jim
- Earthworm Jim 2
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Ecco: The Tides of Time
- Ecco Jr
- El Viento
- ESWAT: City Under Siege
- Eternal Champions
- Exile
- Ex-Mutants
- Exo Squad (Test Drive only?)
- F-15 Strike Eagle II
- Fatal Labyrinth
- FIFA Soccer '95
- Flashback: The Quest for Identity
- Flicky
- The Flintstones
- Forgotten Worlds
- Galaxy Force II
- Garfield: Caught in the Act
- Garfield: The Lost Levels
- Gargoyles
- General Chaos
- Generations Lost
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts
- G-Loc: Air Battle
- Golden Axe
- Golden Axe II
- Golden Axe III
- Greendog
- Growl
- Gotron
- Gunstar Heroes
- Head-On Soccer
- Heavy Nova
- Humans
- IMG International Tour Tennis
- The Immortal
- The Incredible Hulk
- International Rugby
- James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing
- Jeopardy! Deluxe Edition
- Jeopardy! Sports Edition
- Jewel Master
- Jungle Strike
- Jurassic Park
- Kawasaki Superbike Challenge
- Kid Chameleon
- Klax
- Klondike
- Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
- Last Battle
- Lethal Enforcers
- Light Crusader
- Mario Lemieux Hockey
- Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow
- Mega Bomberman
- Mega Man The Wily Wars
- Monopoly
- Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Mr. Nutz
- MTV's Beavis and Butt-head
- Mutant League Football
- Mutant League Hockey
- NCAA Final Four Basketball
- NCAA Football
- NHL All-Star Hockey '95
- Nightmare Circus
- Normy's Beach Babe-o-Rama
- Olympic Summer Games
- The Ooze (Test Drive only?)
- OutRun
- OutRun 2019
- OutRunners
- Paperboy 2
- Pele!
- Pele II: World Tournament Soccer
- PGA European Tour
- PGA Tour Golf
- PGA Tour Golf II
- PGA Tour Golf III
- Phantasy Star II
- Phantasy Star III
- Phantasy Star IV
- Pinocchio
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
- Power Drive
- Primal Rage
- Pulseman
- The Punisher
- Quackshot
- Race Drivin'
- Ranger-X
- Rastan Saga II
- Red Zone
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Richard Scarry's Busytown
- Rings of Power
- Ristar
- Road Rash II
- Road Rash 3
- Rolo to the Rescue
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms III
- Rugby World Cup '95
- Saint Sword
- SeaQuest DSV
- Sesame Street Counting Cafe
- Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
- Shadowrun
- Shining Force
- Shining Force II
- Shining in the Darkness
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Skitchin'
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Sonic 3D Blast
- Sonic Spinball
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Space Harrier II
- Sparkster
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Test Drive only?)
- Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition
- Streets of Rage 2
- Strider Returns
- Sunset Riders
- Super League
- Super Monaco GP
- Sword of Vermilion
- Super Street Fighter II
- TaleSpin
- TechnoClash
- Theme Park
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure
- Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars
- ToeJam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron
- Traysia
- Ultimate Qix
- Unnecessary Roughness '95
- Urban Strike
- Valis: The Fantasm Soldier
- Vectorman
- Vectorman 2
- Virtua Fighter 2
- VR Troopers
- Wacky Worlds
- Warrior of Rome II
- Wimbledon Championship Tennis
- World Championship Soccer
- World Championship Soccer II
- World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
- World Series Baseball '96 L.E.
- X-Men
- X-Men 2: Clone Wars
- Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Japan
As with most other variants, the Japanese Sega Channel is largely undocumented. Tele-Communications Inc. handled this version too. Only one adaptor was created with stylings similar to the Japanese Mega Drive 2. The Japanese Sega Channel had a bird as a mascot.
In Japan, the Sega Channel had a unique BIOS screen featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, and some exclusive content made for that region, including Dyna Brothers 2 Special. This game was eventually released on the Wii's Virtual Console. Another game that is seemingly connected to the Sega Chanel, Game no Kanzume Otokuyou, was discovered in the Sega Dreamcast online disc, Dream Passport 3.
List of Games
- Bare Knuckle II
- Bare Knuckle III
- Battle Mania
- Bonanza Bros.
- Chelnov
- Columns III
- Dyna Brothers 2
- Dyna Brothers 2: Sega Channel Special
- Earthworm Jim ([1]*)
- Earthworm Jim 2 ([2]**)
- Ecco Jr. ([3]**)
- Ex-Ranza
- Gain Ground
- Gambler Jiko Chuushinha
- Game no Kanzume Otokuyou
- Gunstar Heroes
- Kyuukai Douchuuki
- Langrisser
- OutRun
- Party Quiz Mega Q
- Phantasy Star III
- Phantasy Star IV
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure ([4]*)
- Puyo Puyo
- Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
- Shining Force
- Side Pocket
- Sonic Spinball
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Space Harrier II
- Super Fantasy Zone
- Super Hang-On
- Super Monaco GP
- The Super Shinobi II
- Super Volleyball
- Wimbledon
* Link is to Sega of Japan's Virtual Console page for the game, which says "本作はメガドライブ版でのパッケージ販売は日本ではされておりませんでしたが、ケーブルテレビ・ゲーム配信サービス「セガチャンネル」で楽しむことができました。" (The Megadrive package for the original game wasn't sold in Japan, but it could be played on the cable TV game broadcast service "Sega Channel")
** Same as *, but without "Mega Drive version" (本作は日本でのパッケージ販売はされておりませんでしたが、ケーブルテレビ・ゲーム配信サービス「セガチャンネル」で楽しむことができました。)
Canada
Canada received the Sega Channel in January 1996, where it was offered by Shaw Cable in the cities of Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria. Later in the year Winnipeg was added, and in June the service debuted in the Ontario province, with Scarborough, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Markham, Vaughan receiving coverage, as well as homes in the Toronto area. Prior to this the concept was demonstrated in Ontario shopping centres and offered as free one week trials.
The service was offered at a rate of $19.95 a month, and was extremely similar to the US variant.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the Sega Channel service was provided by Flextech Plc, part owned by Tele-Communications International. This was the first region of Europe to receive the channel, where it saw a staggered release across the Telewest cable network during 1996.
Sega Channel was officially "launched" in London on the 19th of June 1996, though it is not thought to have come into service until July, where it debuted in the "South East" (Essex and Kent). The channel then launched in the North East (1st of September), and North West (1st October). The subscription fee was £10 a month., however only 25 games were available at any given time - roughly half of the US offering.
Cable infrustructure in the UK continues to be patchy, and so the Sega Channel was likely only available in the small regions Telewest operated in, generally around cities. Nevertheless the company was "happy" with its performance in 1996. Flextech reportedly invested £1 million into the project as the UK market was seen to be the biggest in Europe (with one million Mega Drive consoles purchased at the time).
Sega Europe chose to use NTSC versions of games, and even used the North American ESRB system to rate them. There were technical issues which distrupted the service in late 1997 and early 1998, and the Channel was scrapped around this period.
List of Games
- Aerobiz Supersonic
- Alien Soldier
- Alien Storm
- Arcade Classics (Test Drive)
- ATP Tour Championship Tennis (NTSC)
- Barney's Hide & Seek Game (NTSC)
- Batman Returns
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure
- Boogerman
- Brutal: Paws of Fury
- California Games
- Chuck Rock
- Crystal's Pony Tale (NTSC)
- Dinosaurs for Hire (NTSC)
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (NTSC)
- Ecco Jr (NTSC)
- Flicky
- Forgotten Worlds
- Garfield: Caught in the Act
- G-LOC
- Gemfire
- Ghouls and Ghosts
- Golden Axe II
- Golden Axe III
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
- The Incredible Hulk
- International Rugby
- Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings
- MiG-29 Fighter Pilot (NTSC)
- Olympic Summer Games (NTSC) (Test Drive)
- Outrun 2019 (NTSC)
- Power Drive (NTSC)
- Pulseman
- Ranger-X
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny
- Shadowrun
- Shining Force 2 (NTSC)
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Space Harrier
- The Story of Thor: A Successor of the Light
- Striker
- Streets of Rage
- Super Thunderblade
- Super Shinobi
- World Cup USA '94
- X-Men
Argentina
Cablevisión TCI
Chile
Metropolis Intercom
Australia
Austar/Galaxy
The Netherlands
Sega Channel in the Netherlands began broadcasting in late 1996. The service was provided by Enico, beginning in the Rotterdam area, with Dordrecht and Schiedam being added in early 1997.
Enico estimated that 20,000 Mega Drive owners would be covered by the service, but only 50 signed up in the first month, starting a trend of poor sales. Despite this, there was no plans to close the channel as long as Sega Europe provided the operator with CDs, and so it continued througout 1997, closing around the same time other European Sega Channel services were axed.
Customers had to deposit ƒ399 to cover modem and set-up fees, and were charged ƒ20 to use the service.
Germany
In Germany the service was provided by Deutsche Telekom, also owned by TCI.
Customers were charged a DM80 set-up fee and a DM28 monthly cost.
France
Multithematiques S.A.
Demo Cartridges
In addition to retail Sega Channel units, a number of prototype "demo cartridges" have also been spotted. As the name suggests, the demo cartridges exist to demonstrate what the Sega Channel service was intending to offer, though none physically connect to the Sega Channel network to download games, and contain little more than menus - no playable content.
As of 2011 four demo cartridges have been identified, three of them have been dumped. The first to be spotted, "Sega Channel Demo Cartridge #6", appeared for sale on eBay in 2009. Later that year, "Sega Channel Demo Cartridge #4" was spotted and purchased by a resident of Lost Levels, who generously lent the cartridge to LocalH to ROM dump. In 2011 two more prototypes were identified, labeled #1 and #2.
The earlier cartridges show a work in-progress Sega Channel in various stages of production, featuring intro sequences, graphics that would be used in the early days of its broadcasting, a simulated downloading sequence, and in the case of cartridge #4, a background/sound test. Looking into the #4 ROM in a hex editor also shows various "SEGATV" error messages, as well as strange code snippets.
In the menus of the Sega Channel Demo #4's "Test Drive" section, you can see a listing for "The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, Capcom". The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse was not released on the Sega Mega Drive in any region, though did appear on the Super Nintendo.
Gallery
Promotional Material
- SegaChannel MD US PrintAdvert.jpg
US print advert
- SegaChannel MD US PrintAdvert 2.jpg
US print advert 2
- SegaChannel MD US PrintAdvert 3.jpg
US print advert 3
Physical Scans
External links
- Archive.org - Archive of the Sega Channel official homepage
- Business Wire - Sega Channel Cited by "Popular Science" as Among 1994's Outstanding Products and Technological Achievements
- Sega Channel - Technical details on Sega Channel and its game delivery method.
- [5] - Gamesniped lists Sega Channel Demo 6.
- [6] - "Dyna Brothers 2 Special" on Wii Virtual Console.
- [7] - Japanese Blog entry which shows the boxart, cartridge and AC Adapter for Japanese Sega Channel
- [8] - Japanese blog entry which shows some screenshots for the Japanese Sega Channel.