The Mega Sg, by Analogue, is a jack-of-all-trades FPGA Sega console when it comes to the 80’s and 90’s. While it can play Genesis/Mega Drive and the Master System out of the box (as well as including an edge connector for the Sega/Mega CD), additional adapters can also be obtained so Game Gear, Mark III, Sega MyCard, SG-1000 and SC-3000 games can be played through the Sg. But you’ll notice something distinctly missing: yes, there’s no mention of the 32X. Why is that?
Well, it turns out hardware support for the 32X is problematic since it does its own thing when it comes to sending the analogue video signal to the Genesis. However, Kevtis (real name, Kevin Horton) who is the programmer for the Sg’s FPGA chip, the Altera Cyclone V, has just announced that 32X support is finally on the way.
It won’t be simple to implement, however. As reported by writer and YouTuber, SmokeMonster (via RetroRGB) the official Analogue DAC and a “custom mixing cable” is required to make it all happen. “Woah, woah wooooah”, you might be exclaiming, however – “slow down, what in the heck is the DAC?”
Well, it turns out that is a story entirely by itself. Seen as a golden goose by those in the know since last year, the DAC (digital analogue converter) is planned to be an official product by Analogue for plugging the Mega Sg and the Super Nt into analogue monitors such as CRT’s and PVM’s. Earlier this month, Analogue finally sent out prototype review samples of the DAC, including to SmothMonster himself.
[wpdevart_youtube width=”640″ height=”385″ autoplay=”0″ theme=”light” loop_video=”0″ enable_fullscreen=”1″ show_related=”1″ show_popup=”0″ thumb_popup_width=”213″ thumb_popup_height=”128″ show_title=”1″ show_youtube_icon=”1″ show_annotations=”1″ show_progress_bar_color=”red” autohide_parameters=”1″ set_initial_volume=”false” initial_volume=”100″ disable_keyboard=”0″]zXG2YbsxQZs[/wpdevart_youtube]
Now that it’s a product we’ve seen in the flesh, 32X owners will be happy to know that support is on the way (the Sg also recently received a firmware update with the updated code). Watch this space for further news of the DAC and the “custom mixing cable” to bring this idea to completion.
Well, which one is it? SmokeMonster or SmothMonster?