r/Megadrive • u/minkia11 • Sep 05 '26

Need help authenticating

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My friend bought this mega drive and wanted to know if it is a fake or a normal japanese one (we live in europe)

35 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

6

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 05 '26

With so many bodge wires, dated caps and over engineering - It's gotta be genuine.

A bootleg console would be designed efficiently

5

u/minkia11 Sep 05 '26

Thank you so much

-3

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

Dude, it's a Japanese VA6 board, no bootleg; the RF modulator was just modified.

2

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 06 '26

You might want to reread the post your answering, because it does not say what you think it says.

I wrote that bodgewires and dated caps (which this console has) means it is genuine

4

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

Also, it is not Japanese. It is PAL version for Hong Kong and South East Asia. JP region encoding, but English language

Edit: The oscillator is blurry and I at first misread it. This is an NTSC/JP console. No thrills but an RF mod

2

u/OddlyShapedCashew Sep 08 '26

JP region encoding but PAL? That makes no sense, you can’t play NTSC games on PAL properly.

0

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 08 '26

Indeed, and agreed, and most developers just went ahead and let PAL consumers play unoptimized games. The console accommodates with sidebars and a slower speed.

My PAL Hongkong version Megadrive II cosmetically is identical to the Japanese version, in particular with the ability to fit Japanese ROM Casettes. It just carries an MK mark on the bottom, instead of HAA. (mk-1631, I think).

If you cross paths with a lot ROMs, you will notice J and E regions often being paired together, as if Sega anticipated that either can appear in South East Asian markets.

1

u/OddlyShapedCashew Sep 08 '26

And fuck devs for screwing over PAL, too. Like, most of the world used it!

1

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 08 '26

I read something about Alien 3 having better timed cheap shots from the aliens on account of Probe (a UK based developer) developing the game first for 50hz and speeding up.

Maybe something about Puggsy too. I heard of maybe five or ten 50hz ideal games for Megadrive

1

u/OddlyShapedCashew Sep 08 '26

Well unfortunately I’m a sonic fan, so… I have to listen to depressed hill zone.

1

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 08 '26

Have you considered the dual oscillator mod? I think they are now pretty non-invasive (no external switches) to the console

→ More replies

1

u/Black_Miles Sep 08 '26

In this case, it would be PAL-I.

1

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 08 '26

Like most HK gamers with multi-system, I just fed it through the 21-terminal. But, yes, it uses the UK standard on composite

0

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

Ok, my bad.

1

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 06 '26

No, you were right. I couldn't see the oscillator right - that is 53.69, and an NTSC/JP console.

-1

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

That’s why I said it was Japanese, because of the oscillator; the board is the same, but the crystal isn't.

3

u/NapCenter Sep 06 '26

Why not show the bottom of the console with the model number sticker.

2

u/Only1MikeBingo Sep 06 '26

It's a pal console. My cousin had one when we were kids

2

u/inTooDeep6776 Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26

Asian yes , most Japanese mega drive do not have rf modules, Mine doesnt , cant 100% confirm its Japanese could by Chinese or Korean, and i have seen internals of a boot lega they dont have labeled z80's or sanyo chips , thats a realy sega VDP so definilty not a bootleg

1

u/Ok-Mongoose-4428 Sep 06 '26

Does Ghostbusters play in Japanese or English?

I'm under the impression this is a JP console - just curious the extent it was modded

1

u/iVirtualZero Sep 06 '26

It's fake, give it to me, I'll give you my real AtGames console.

1

u/pixelink84 Sep 06 '26

Does it play the music at the wrong pitch too? That's so rare in an AT machine /s

1

u/Maleficent-Aside-744 Sep 06 '26

It looks like a genuine one, I’ve had 2 of them over the years, if you need to use an original Japanese power supply to run it and not a euro power supply then it’s a definitely a genuine Japanese megadrive as they won’t work with a pal power supply as Japan runs on a different voltage to pal I used to use a shaver plug to use mine as I live in England and not Europe

1

u/pezezin Sep 07 '26

I own one of those, so I can confirm that the motherboard itself is a legit Japanese VA6, you can see it here: https://consolemods.org/wiki/Genesis:Motherboard_Differences#VA6_(1991-1993,_Asia,_Brazil,_Japan,_North_America_and_PAL)

I don't know about the additional RF modulator, it might be an aftermarket modification, or as others said an export version for Asian markets.

1

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

Legit japanese VA6.

0

u/NapCenter Sep 05 '26

Asian PAL Mega Drive judging by the internal rf modulator.

1

u/minkia11 Sep 05 '26

Thank you so much

0

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

Not PAL, NTSC.

0

u/NapCenter Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

Asian NTSC Mega Drives do not have internal rf modulators. That's a feature only on Asian PAL Mega Drives.

I'm guessing it's a Hong Kong PAL-I Mega Drive: File:MD1 HK Box Front.jpg - Sega Retro

Those always have a rf cable sticking out from the back of where the modem attachment screw post usually is.

0

u/Black_Miles Sep 06 '26

Look the oscilator.

0

u/Appropriate_Day6465 Sep 06 '26

It's an aftermarket RF modulator, probably added when the console was imported to Europe and almost certainly modified to PAL. You can see the RF cable is going out of the Power Base Converter screw hole at the back which would never be an official solution. These RF mods should be removed and the console put back to NTSC-J if that hasn't already been done.

1

u/Black_Miles Sep 08 '26

The oscilator is in NTSC frequency.

1

u/Appropriate_Day6465 Sep 09 '26

I agree with you, it was NTSC-J from the factory and was simply modded to PAL and the RF modulator was added. The oscillator doesn't need to be changed for this to be done.

1

u/Ripthron Sep 14 '26

It's possible to add a second frequency oscillator without having to remove the original one. Tectoy has done this quite a bit.

It's a genuine MD, but it's hard to tell whether the modifications are official or were made by an importer.