The Video Game History Foundation has announced that a massive, multi-year project to recover Sega Channel games from the mid-1990s has been a resounding success. Over 140 previously undumped Sega Genesis game ROMs from this era have been recovered, many exclusives, as well as a functional but unreleased web browser for the 16-bit console. The data was found on a collection of tape backups held by former Sega Channel staffers.
Sega Channel – whassat?
Sega had the foresight to create a digital game distribution service when fewer than 2-3% of U.S. households had internet access. Of course, this was way before Steam and the Xbox Game Pass. And because it effectively predated internet connectivity among the masses, it instead used the widespread U.S. cable TV network to deliver game data.
Launched in 1994, the Sega Channel provided a roughly 50-strong roster of games for subscribers to play. These were rotated on a monthly basis, and over the lifetime of the service, over 140 games were published for the Sega Channel (Genesis, AKA Mega Drive) gaming platform.
From the promo videos in the VGHF video, it looks like the Sega Channel subscription cost about $15. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $33, which seems fair for a pioneering service like this in an era when new game carts cost so much (typical new game price was $50-60 even in the mid-1990s).
Interesting exclusives
Of course, there was ample crossover between retail release Genesis titles and those available digitally through the Cable TV adaptor. However, the Sega Channel did offer a few notable exclusive titles. The VGHF has also preserved channel menu and programming data, embracing content like fan art and gaming tips from much of the service's history.
Exclusive gaming titles that were preserved included:
- Garfield Caught in the Act: The Lost Levels – an exclusive extension or ‘DLC’ for the physically released title,
- The Flintstones (Movie Game), "previously believed to be permanently lost and unrecoverable," according to the VGHF
- Iron Hammer – interesting for being a version of a title designed for an unreleased Sega VR headset,
- Waterworld,
- and Pico Ports.
Some of the ‘exclusives’ have limited real attractions, though. For example, a version of Super Street Fighter II, missing half the characters, is available. That ROM was heavily modified to fit within the Sega Channel’s file size limit. Other large titles, with linear gameplay, were sometimes cut into pieces.
Interestingly, there were also demos of an unreleased Sega Genesis web browser, dubbed Web Blaster, unearthed.
Another video game preservation win
The Sega Channel fizzled out as the real internet began to gain traction on PCs and Macs, and the first-generation 3D-accelerated consoles captured the public interest for pure gaming.
However, the VGHF’s story and recovery of 144 new Sega ROMs from this service is another great win for the video game preservation movement. Sega fans and those who love the kind of easy, quick blast gameplay 16-bit consoles excelled at will be thrilled with these ROMs and the preservation of exclusive titles.
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