Wireless Controllers From the 90s - Sega’s Remote Arcade System

You may think of wireless controllers as a feature of modern systems, but did you know Sega released their own wireless controllers over 30 years ago? The Remote Arcade System is one of the earliest first-party wireless controllers - in this video, I'll dive into the history, technology, and user experience of these peripherals and let you know how they fare for a modern audience.

00:00 Intro
02:11 Historical context
03:11 Overview of IR
03:20 Why infrared? Comparison with Atari CX42
04:38 Advantages & drawbacks of IR
05:48 Differences with other Sega controllers
07:16 The 1P switch soap opera
08:44 Gameplay
12:46 Post-game report
15:38 Closing thoughts & outro

Tracks in this video are courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library:
"One Time" by Jeremy Black
"Across The Pier" by VYEN

Sources used for this video:
The History Of RC Cars

Remote Arcade System

GUIDE: A complete overview of the many Sega Genesis/MegaDrive models

ATARI VCS/2600 Controllers

2600 Wireless Controllers?

Linear Visible Spectrum graph by David Eccles

[kaylaoliviaify]

This came out great and it was fun to film!

[wettuga]

Thanks for the review. I was wondering about how well they work on latency and angles, you certainly covered that. I saw a pair of controllers and receiver for sale and I'll try to buy them.
Another advantage of the retro-bit ones is that they work with USB (PC/PS3/Switch), Genesis/Mega Drive and Sega Saturn, but you have to buy the Saturn dongle separately. I only wish they would also use AA or AAA batteries because the internal battery will eventually die and finding a replacement will probably not be easy.

[MrSquareart]

Great looking video. First person to give you a comment from the Reddit post

[xxXStylusXx]

I know this video is 2 years old but thought I would just let you know, i happen to have a boxed set of these including the manual you wanted a scan of, which can be arranged if you care. Anyway I had a quick look regarding the 1p receiver setting and all it has to say is "1 Player/2Player Mode Switch ( on the infra Red Control Pad II): Use this switch to select either the one player or two player mode." So not really a lot of help there... but it does have some other random stuff about the controllers e.g. it only recommends a maximum 3m distance.

[johnnyt]

Very helpful thanks. I was going to get these but I'll wait for the retro bit wireless big 6 any time now.

[BeanpotPubParlour]

You know, I have owned the Genesis wireless controllers (remote arcade system) since it was a new item in 1993 and I never noticed the switch on the side of the receiver all this time...

I keep emailing 8BitDo to make a DIY conversation kit for these to bring them up to modern Bluetooth technology...

[StRoRo]

I had a 3rd party ( Quickshot ) IR controller which worked on both master system and NES. The problem was certain combination of button presses would change the TV channel.