Everdrive-MD Flash Cart

[Yoder]

Ok, I see. I was never aware of the FM chip issue. Just learned about it on this forum recently. That would make a big difference for these games for someone who wanted FM support... I was never a "SMS guy" so for me it may not be a big deal. I guess I need to watch (and listen to) some videos of games with FM synthesis to see what the fuss is all about.

[Lastcallhall]

The difference is like night and day.

[sasuke]

Great Job. Looking forward to the Game Gear cart.

...and looking forward to getting the MD Everdrive in my mail.

[Greg2600]

Don't get me wrong, the FM sound is much better than the standard SMS sound. But it's not practical for Krikzz to go that route. First and foremost, nobody seems to know even where to get compatible Yamaha chips anymore. The SMS-Power guy seems like he might still be making the expansion boards, though he's in Australia. Second, it wouldn't even work because the SMS cart slot has no audio input in the way the Genesis does. The FM on the cart only was feasible with the Genesis. The best thing would be to get the modification to the console, but like I said, they don't seem to be available anymore.

One question is whether you could play Game Gear games with the SMS "Master EverDrive" on a Game Gear, via the Master Gear? Obviously we don't know, since Krikzz doesn't have a master gear.

Lastly, one other reason to get a SMS ED cart is that you could play SG-1000 games. Those were not possible on the Genesis due to the lack of all the SMS video modes.

[Chilly Willy]

First and foremost, nobody seems to know even where to get compatible Yamaha chips anymore.

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showpos...6&postcount=11

[Tom M.]

FM sound is much better than the standard SMS sound.

not quite true... there are many Genesis games that sound terrible and that's because of the FM chip... actually all top-notch tracks are using SMS sound to significantly improve the overall songs (Streets Of Rage)... any Commodore 64 user will tell you that its SID sounds better than those FM chips introduced later after SID... Sega would be better with the solution which was chosen for Turbografx - in other words - yes I think Turbografx has better sounding hardware

[Anonymouse]

stickie this thread please :-)

[Yoder]

Weird. I personally loved the fact that there was a Yamaha synth chip in the Genesis, and it made a big difference in the music, especially when trying to emulate a drum set (like when the game is over in Altered Beast). For me it was a nice change from the "boop-de-boop" sound of the NES. I think the TG-16 sounds very "8-bit" too.

I thought the Phantasy Star vid Lastcallhall sounded great with the FM sound...much more "mature" sounding music...

Yes, this thread should be sticked :-)

Edit: OT: I just got my TG-16 flash card and I'm excited since I really haven't gotten to play the thing :-) Now to do some Genesis vs TG-16 comparisons :-)

[aka DaBigKahuna]

If you were in the market for an Everdrive now would you get one from retrogate or wait until the end of the month to get version 2.3 from stoneage? And would you get the standard or deluxe?

I was advised of the following on what's different for version 2.3:

* SD card slot is lower, this allows the use of an RS-MMC memory card without shell modification
* SMS pause button is back
* PCB has also been slightly modified to fit better in donor shells

Price will be $79.99 (Board Only) and $114.99 for Deluxe. Deluxe includes:

* EverDrive board assembled into a pre-cut shell with a high quality die-cut color label. We actually got some stock of brand new Genesis shells, so for now the shells will be brand new instead of used.
* 2GB SD card with custom EverDrive color label
* Genesis-like case with high quality color insert
* 2 coupons for free Firmware/OS upgrades
* Also comes with an EverDrive sticker and SAG sticker for fun
* Deluxe version is also serial numbered

[Joe Redifer]

Why would you need a coupon for an OS or firmware upgrade?

[Yoder]

The only way to upgrade the firmware is by buying a $30 cable...

[Chilly Willy]

The only way to upgrade the firmware is by buying a $30 cable...

About $30 shipped for the parallel port ByteBlaster. About $15 shipped for the USB Blaster ($13 to $16 shipped on ebay).

[Yoder]

Oh, that's not bad. That's better than shipping back to stoneage gamer and risking it getting lost, damaged, having to wait for it, etc.

[Chilly Willy]

Yeah, it's not that tough to update the Everdrive. If you're all thumbs, you might consider getting someone else to do it for you, but it's mainly just having the cable.

I never had a problem, but then I'm not the best example of the "average" person.

[Greg2600]

You need the connector for the card, too, to connect to the byte blaster. I'm not big on the smaller MMC card idea. To add roms, you then have to unscrew the cart.