You might wonder why
Gnome has allowed me to indulge my
Master System obsession on his [
gnome edit: ours] wonderful site devoted to hand held gaming. The tenuous connection comes from the fact that
Master System games can be played on
Sega's wonderful hand held system the
Gamegear.
(Look here.) I've already discovered that The
Master System/Gamegear lives on as
The Play Pal in 2007.
However, I didn't know that the
Master System was alive and well, in fact thriving in Brazil, courtesy of
The Tec Toy corporation. The picture above is of a rather beautiful pink wireless incarnation of the
Master System.
Tec Toy, like
Sony and
Nintendo, have realised that in order to attract women and girls into the world of gaming, they would have to rethink their marketing strategies. Thus they made some of their consoles pink. Genius.
In case you're wondering, the reason the
Master System, Megadrive and other 'dead' consoles are still flourishing in Brazil, its due to the high taxation that gamers have to pay on purchase of consoles. The newer the consoles, the higher the tax. Thus a
Wii would set back a Brazilian gamer £1000!!!! So, in order to be able to play videogames without bankrupting themselves, Brazilian gamers have continued to play 'older' systems. Enforced Retro-gaming due to economic necessity. A system of which I thoroughly approve....
Genius!
Related posts: Master System Monday 3,
MSM 2 &
MSM 1,
MB Microvision
Remember Ankh, the pretty funny and very cartoony PC adventure? No? Well, this review should help then. Feeling more enlightened? Good. Now, on to the news bit: Ankh is coming to the Nintendo DS. Huzzah! It's another adventure and the first of the almost forgotten Lucasarts school of though for Nintendo's pop portable. Learn the details by following this link.
