The History of the Sega Channel + Christmas Sega Channel Demo Hack with 5 working games.

In this video I talk about the history of the Sega Channel and also demonstrate a 5 in 1 multi-rom hack for the Christmas Edition Demo of the Sega Channel. Sega Channel Demo Test (Aug 22, 1995 prototype) 1294DEMO. Also featured in this video is a custom made Mini Sega Channel Adapter that is functional with my Sega Genesis Mini console.

Known issues: I noticed Retrobit wireless controllers have issues with the multi-rom menu. Emulator compatibility will vary, I use Retroarch + Gen Plus Gx and have good results with my PC and Sega Genesis Mini.

The Sega Channel is a discontinued online game service developed by Sega for the Genesis (Sega Mega Drive) video game console, serving as a content delivery system. Launched in December 14, 1994, the Sega Channel was provided to the public by TCI and Time Warner Cable through cable television services by way of coaxial cable. It was a pay to play service, through which customers could access Genesis games online, play game demos, and get cheat codes. Lasting until July 31, 1998, the Sega Channel operated three years after the release of Sega's next generation console, the Sega Saturn.

For a monthly subscription fee (usually $14.95 depending on location), along with a $25 activation fee, the subscriber would get an adapter, which plugged into the Genesis cartridge slot, and was connected to their cable television connection. The service would provide them with unlimited access to 50 games, selectable through an on-screen menu, with new games appearing every month. In its later years, this was changed to a selection of 35 games which rotated every two weeks. The games would be downloaded in about one minute and play just like the retail versions. These games were organized by genre, such as Action, Fighting, Adventure, and Family. Text-based instruction manuals for each game could also be accessed through a separate help menu download. Each month, there was a special theme with originally composed music, artwork and game categories.

Some unique content was released through the service:

Special "test drives" for up-and-coming titles were provided. In some, after a certain time limit (15 minutes), gameplay was terminated, and the player was returned to the menu. Other games had limited content; for example Primal Rage had only two characters playable.
Some games had to be altered due to transmission limits; such as Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition only having six playable fighters and Sonic 3D Blast being split into two halves where the player had to enter a code they had received by finishing Part 1 to download and start Part 2.
Special modifications of existing retail games were made for SEGA Channel, the most popular of which was a special version of Earthworm Jim by Shiny Entertainment.
Some games not released in the United States were featured as "SEGA Channel Exclusives", such as Pulseman, Alien Soldier, Golden Axe III and Mega Man: The Wily Wars, among several others.
Cheats and tips could be accessed on the service and appeared while the games were downloading.
Throughout the service's life, contests were held, where players could win arcade machines, projection TVs, BMX bikes, etc.

The service was also available in Canada through Shaw Cable, in some parts of the United Kingdom on certain cable services, in Chile on the defunct Metropolis Intercom cable company, in Argentina on a national TCI branch, Cablevisión TCI, and in Australia on Austar and the now defunct Galaxy.

To provide SEGA Channel, a cable company would need to install new equipment into their headend, integrate service authorization into their sales center, and purchase the game adapters. Game adapters were manufactured by Scientific-Atlanta and General Instrument, with a cost to the cable operators of approximately $100 per unit. Additionally, many cable operators had to clean their broadcast signal in the head-end and all the way to "the pole" to ensure that the signal could be received. SEGA, a gaming company, thus played a major role in improving infrastructure for future digital cable services, as well as broadband Internet access and digital telephone services. At its peak, SEGA Channel was available to one-third of the United States and had 250,000 subscribers.

[Solsta]

I had the Sega Channel. My grandparents have got it for me for several months, and I thought it was the best thing ever. I remember on the loading screen where the Sega logo was you could push some of the buttons and it would change the color of the logo. Simple times and I miss them. Great video!

[rwdplz]

Our cable company had a Sega Channel launch event back in the day, with Genesis consoles you could try it out on, and a guy in a Sonic costume for photo ops, still have the picture. Still have the Sega Channel adapter too.

[legendsflashback]

Didn't know Sega CD mini lights up

[Evercade_Effect]

So glad you're back after a long break. I remember hearing about the Sega Channel back in the day. Always wanted to know what it was about. Ahead of its time. 🔥👍🥳

[BillyTime]

Quite a lot of good stuff for me to unpack here so this post may be a bit long.

To start, I want to thank you for the shout out! I was kind of having a rough day before I stumbled onto this video and even now I'm smiling from ear to ear. :D

Secondly, I've very interested in seeing a hardware based solution for Multicart roms. Hopefully Krikzz has an update for the Mega Everdrive Pro in the near future.
It would be an absolute blast to have working demos working at conventions or even exhibits at places like The National Video Game Museum or The Strong National Museum of Play.

Third, I'm amazed you got the 94 demos to play nice! I hope you don't mind if I take a look at the code. I assume the entry points for the other demos follow a similar pattern. I'll make it a goal for 2022 that every demo gets modified!

Thank you for reading this, excellent work and I hope you have yourself an Awesome Holiday! <3

[brazilmugenteam]

That mini Sega Channel adaptar is pretty cool.
About the service itself, I think it was a cool idea. Maybe Sega should had made it earlier and it would have a bit more success.
Here in Brazil we had something like that from TecToy, but the menu was way more simple. We had even some bank access for it.

[jasonkramer]

I had this for a period of time when I was a kid, courtesy of my mom. My memories of it are vague, but I do remember that I loved it dearly and played it regularly. Looking back, she really did do a lot to enrich my childhood.

[jonj]

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this. This really deserves more views!

[callmemarc]

I had Sega Channel for a brief period. By that point it was just too late as I had moved on to Sega CD and SNES games mostly.

[reagandow]

This is some amazing work!!! Seriously so cool.

[TheJeremyHolloway]

It would be pretty cool to have a homebrew hardware version of the adapter but updated with, say, FujiNet hardware. Then it could connect to the net…

[legendsflashback]

250, 000 x $15+ that's almost 4 million a month !

[JohnnyProctor]

I had this back in the day...this was the world's first streaming game service, wasn't it? The only downside was that you could only save one game at a time on the SRAM, so you had to take turns beating one RPG at a time...

[legendsflashback]

2:18 what did they cut out (4mb instead of 5mb)

[toridas]

what should I use to run the .bin file in the download?

[legendsflashback]

5:23 proof TMNT in time could been on Genesis 👣 soldier scaling