Lost Sega Channel exclusive Genesis/Mega-Drive games “The Chessmaster” and “Klondike Solitaire” discovered and dumped online

We got more long lost Sega Channel material for ya. Thanks to the hacking community on our very own sister website Sonic Retro, a new data disc of Sega Channel material has been found and uploaded to the internet. This was an archive of the game selection made available on the service in September, 1996, which includes a variety of Genesis/Mega-Drive games many of us are already familiar with, but most importantly, it includes two exclusive games that were never released anywhere else: The Chessmaster and Klondike Solitaire. News of this discovery was brought to our attention by famed romhacker and Sega Channel enthusiast Billy Time Games, who had very recently preserved someone else’s video tapes of the Sega Channel experience.

This is a great time for lost Sega Channel media returning for the first time in decades, so if you’re as excited as we are, log in through the break and find out more about these discoveries.

Several VHS recordings of never before seen Sega Channel footage found and preserved online

The Sega Channel, a long dormant online games-on-demand service for the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive, has long been an enigma in the years since its official sunset in 1998. Very little material from the service has been preserved or documented, and there is still so much that only those who subscribed to the service and have vivid memories of it would know for sure. Thankfully, @Ghostsencore and prolific Genesis romhacker Billy Time Games have come across a smorgasbord of archived VHS tapes containing recordings of someone, presumably the person who recorded the footage in the first place, perusing the menus of Sega Channel during a few months where the service was still alive and well.

Login to get through the break and see all the videos.

Garfield: Caught In The Act The Lost Levels finally found and shown off publically

In a fantastic moment of lost Sega history now found (As well as on a Monday, much to Garfield’s dismay), the “Lost Levels” ROM for Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995) has finally resurfaced after 29 years (give or take). It was set up for the public to play at Portland Retro Gaming Expo this past September 27th-29th 2024.

A long video of the game was uploaded onto YouTube by PZTunleaded, who stresses in the video description that they are not the one to have found the ROM, despite what the above tweet from Lost Media Busters claims. PZTunleaded was only a guest at the expo and wanted to show everyone the game in action. They also promise in the description that the game ROM will eventually be shared with the public online and to not “be a nuisance and/or a menace pls”, so kindly cool your jets and be patient. No need to kick anyone off of any tables. You can see the video beyond the break.

SEGA Talk Podcast #52: SEGA Channel (1994)

SEGA Talk is taking a break from games to talk about one of the earliest digital rental services ever to launch, the Sega Channel. How did SEGA get games beamed from you cable provider on to your Sega Genesis/Mega Drive? What was reception like and how did it work? Let’s explore on this episode of SEGA Talk!

Support us on Patreon! Get early access, tell us what games to cover, and have your SEGA memories read at the end and more!

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If you want to give us feedback, suggest a topic for the next podcast or want to ask a question for us to answer on the next episode you can add  them as a comment below or send theme directly to our email. Make sure you use subject line ‘SEGA Talk’ and as always, thanks for listening!

SEGA is partnering up with existing subscription services, not launching their own

GameDaily.Biz had a big interview with people from SEGA Europe including Anna Downing, Vice President of Marketing and John Clark, Executive Vice President.

One of the big questions asked to John Clark was the big focus this year on streaming services from publishers. If you didn’t know, SEGA used to be in the forefront of the ‘Netflix style’ streaming service way back in the early 90s with the launch of SEGA Channel.

“From our point of view, we work with partners, and we’re not considering our own platform or our own subscription service, at this stage we don’t know really what subscription means for the gaming audience. We’ve talked to all the partners that you mentioned. We are part of the plans for Game Pass. And that’ll give us a lot of knowledge. We’ve announced Football Manager as part of that. When it launches, we’ll be able to understand how the gaming subscription audience interacts with the title and if subscription is a viable way forward for the games industry. We prefer, at this stage, to be working with channel partners who are investing their time and money to try and understand the audience what the audience wants.” John Clark, SEGA Europe Excutive Vice President.

What are your thoughts on SEGA Europe focusing more on partnering up with existing services like Game Pass instead of launching their own service like EA, Ubisoft?

Multiplayer Showcase Faces Sudden Death in Saturn Bomberman

Its the final minutes until the big 25h anniversary party for our good buddy, Sonic, but wait! Those aren’t rings falling from the sky, its a bunch of weights and a myriad of bombs which means its the last few rounds of Saturn Bomberman before we share our verdict on the game. In the last part of the episode, the group talks about the sudden death mode, discovers a connection with Bomberman and wrestling and share our strategies of playing the game. Also how did people play the game in the mid to late nineties? The round table discussion features my friends Chance, Krys, Randy and Chelsea.

Did you play Saturn Bomberman back in the day? How did you set up the game to play with friends? Do you think other Bomberman games do the job better? Be sure to sound off in the comments!

Multiplayer Showcase Sets the Stage with Saturn Bomberman

Wondering what to look for in a SEGA Saturn game now that Saturn game encryption has finally been cracked? Why not one of the biggest multiplayer experiences on the console? Multiplayer Showcase continues to take a look at Saturn Bomberman by covering our favorite stages, gimmicks, exploit the dinosaurs and try to figure out what the kick power up looks like. The round table discussion features my friends Chance, Krys, Randy and Chelsea. (Who didn’t play with us but has actually played the game before!) We talk about the simple wide stage. What are your favorite levels or gimmicks from the game? Do the dinosaurs break the game for you or your friends? Sound off in the comments section.

Multiplayer Showcase Lights the Fuse with Saturn Bomberman

Why stick to fireworks when you can use bombs? A new Multiplayer Showcase installment is out featuring one of the most popular SEGA Saturn multiplayer experiences, Saturn Bomberman starring Hudson Soft’s all-star lineup in a massive free-for-all. We’ll be taking a look at the different stages and examine the differences in the eight and ten player modes, the Saturn’s six player adapter, and how the title holds up to the rest of the Bomberman lineup.

This episode is going to be released in smaller chunks which allows the episode to come out faster. Be sure to subscribe to the channel to keep up with new installments and more multiplayer matches.