Sega Genesis fans will soon be able to enjoy their games in HD. On Tuesday, retro game vendor Analogue unveiled the Mega SG, which can play old Genesis cartridges on modern TVs.
The upcoming product promises to render your favorite titles in 1080p with zero lag. It's compatible with all Genesis games, in addition to titles released for the Mega Drive, which is what the Genesis was called outside North America.
With the provided adaptor, you can also play old Sega Master System games on the console, while a port connects to the original Sega CD accessory.
The Mega SG also works with old controllers from the Sega Genesis console. So if you have them still around, simply plug them in. But to address modern gaming trends, Analogue built the console to work with special wireless controllers from 8BitDo, which will be sold separately for $24.99 each.
You can check out what the 1080p action looks like in the video above, which features the classic game Gunstar Heroes. The $190 product will start shipping in April, but pre-orders are available today. (Analogue's website crashed following the announcement, so you may have trouble accessing it.)
Analogue has also released revamped versions of Nintendo's classic consoles, the NES and SNES. The systems are pricey, and don't feature built-in games, so you actually have to buy the physical copies of your favorite titles. Despite those drawbacks, PCMag gave the Analogue's previous consoles high marks for faithfully bringing the old-school Nintendo gaming experience to modern TVs.
The Minigen HD, which costs only $40, can also play old Genesis games on HD screens in 1080p. But Analogue founder Christopher Taber told Gizmodo that other products on the market have been "complete and utter garbage" for their low manufacturing quality, which can ruin the game's audio and poorly translate the gaming experience.
Analogue's Mega SG was actually designed to read the game's hardware cartridges and then reproduce the graphics at 1080p, without any need for software emulation. "This is the real deal," Analogue tweeted.