Sega Meganet - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

Toshokan, Sega Game Library or Sega Meganet was a network service in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

for people using the Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...

. Debuting in 1990, this was the first time online multiplayer

Multiplayer online game

A Multiplayer Online Game is a multiplayer video game which can be played via a game server over the internet, with other players around the world...

console gaming was possible. However, the service was not very successful and was eventually discontinued. Plans for this service were considered in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, with the device being renamed the Tele-Genesis, and was in fact advertised in several early product and accessory line-ups for the console, but these plans were also cancelled.

Players attached a Mega Modem (modem

Modem

A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...

, with a speed of 1,600 to 2,400 bit/s) to the "EXT" DE-9 port on the back of the Mega Drive, and used it to dial up other players to play games. Later versions of the North American Genesis (with the Genesis logo printed in a single shade of gray and without the "High Definition Graphics" legend) and all units of the Genesis 2 omit the rear DE-9 connector altogether, though the provisions for it on the circuit board remained.

Games could be downloaded to the console. Among the available titles were: Phantasy Star II Text Adventures
Phantasy Star II Text Adventures
Phantasy Star II Text Adventures were a series of eight text adventure videogames available to users of Sega Meganet, a modem for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan, and later released as part of two compilations on the Sega Mega-CD...

, Flicky
Flicky
Flicky is an arcade game made by Sega. First released in arcades in 1984, Flicky was also released at the time for the SG-1000, and then ported to the MSX and Japanese computers Sharp X1, Fujitsu FM-7 and NEC PC-8801. It was later ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991...

, Fatal Labyrinth
Fatal Labyrinth
Fatal Labyrinth is a role-playing video game produced by Sega. Originally available exclusively on the Sega Meganet multiplayer gaming service in 1990, it was later remade for the Sega Mega Drive in . The game appears in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3...

, Sonic Eraser
Sonic Eraser
Sonic Eraser was a puzzle video game that was available to owners of the Sega Meganet, a modem for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan. Other than his sprite, there is little that relates the game with the rest of the Sonic franchise....

(a Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...

/Columns

Columns (video game)

is a puzzle video game, first created in 1989 by Jay Geertsen. Early versions of the game were made and ported among early computer platforms, and then the Atari ST, until 1990, when Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, where it was ported to several Sega consoles.-Description:The game takes...

crossover puzzle game), Teddy Boy Blues, Penguin Land

Penguin Land

Penguin Land, known as in Japan, is a Sega Master System game and the second game in the Doki Doki Penguin Land series. In this game you play as a Penguin going through a puzzle platformer stage and try to guide your egg around the polar bears, rocks and other hazards to the end of the stage...

, and others.

See also