Since it’s the 25th anniversary for the release of Sega Mega Drive in Japan today (29th of October 1988) I thought I would make a post about one of the variations of the Sega Mega Drive that’s a little bit less known, namely the Sega Mega Jet! Which I have just recently acquired ^_^
The Sega Mega Jet was only released in Japan and it’s basically a semi-portable Mega Drive. It’s small enough to bring along and works as a controller, but it also requires an AC adaptor and an external screen to work, so it’s not really that portable like the pictures on the back suggest:
He forgot to put the big fat AC adaptor and the other cords in
his purple man-purse!
Oh yeah, and if you’re friend is gonna play with you don’t forget to bring an extra controller with your portable console!
Later you can just store it with your diary in the drawer, unless you can’t fit your diary there because of the fat AC adaptor!!
Yeah.. well looking at the back of the box explains it all:
But I’m still happy to have one ^___^
The Sega Mega Jet was originally used for in-flight entertainment on Japanese Airlines. Later a consumer version was released in Japan as well, in 1994. The Mega Jet began the technology behind the Sega Nomad, which was only released in North America.
I found a fun fact on the Sega Wiki: The July 2006 issue (issue 27) of the British publication Retro Gamer stated that the majority of Mega Jets that are owned by private collectors come from an initial shipment hijacked by Indonesian sea-pirates. However, as no supporting information is available, this statement could potentially be an urban myth.
How cool wouldn’t it be if the one I have in my possession was stolen by sea-pirates?! :D I wish to believe it was so ^___^
Retro Video Gaming 
Blaaaah! I’m STILL kicking myself for NOT getting a few of these at $40 new, the $30 from a closeout place many years back. Yes, they DROPPED in price because no one was buying them! I saw some on ebay a few years later for a bit more and passed up on those too! Hell, I think we even had two at the game shop I worked at and I STILL didn’t buy one! C-R-A-Z-Y!
Oh well. I think that pirate story may be a bit true, as I can recall a lot of these turning up on ebay around the same time over a few months and I wondered where the heck all of them were coming from… Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of stolen rum!
Haha, watch out for those sea-pirates snatching up your game systems!
Man, I had a friend who owned a NOMAD back in the day. I thought it was the bees nee’s. Never worked up the money to get one myself. Although, I was tempted to try and tape a couple of Game Gears together.
Haha cool ^^ I still don’t have a Nomad, but I want one!! Hmm.. I do have a couple of Game Gears though, I might just try your idea out ;D
That pirate story is crazy :) But a cool story.
How big is the Mega Jet? It looks to be about half the size of a Mega Drive? Do you know how much it sold for when it was new? Was it much cheaper than a full Mega Drive? I get the Mega Jet is a full Mega Drive.
Definitely a very cool collectible.
It seems that a Mega Jet cost about $125, so I’m kicking myself AGAIN because I recall we had two or three at the indie shop I worked at sitting around for $100 and back then I thought that was too expensive for a “portable” system with no screen. D’oh!
The funny thing is had Sega stuck a screen in the center where the MD and Mega Jet logos were, they probably wouldn’t have had to make the Nomad. Although, the MJ is longer than the Nomad so everyone who wanted to carry one around would need a purple man-purse! Well, a Sega logo on it would make that purse a must, correct?
Haha indeed, I suppose you never had a purple man-purse to carry one around in? ;D
I’m happy I bumped into this one, had never heard of it before and it sure does feel a bit exotic :D
Hey! My own “man purse” was black back in the day. I had to have SOME dignity back then!
Here’s a picture of the size, compared to a Game Gear https://stopxwhispering.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/megajet-vs-game-gear.jpg
^___^
I think it launched for 15000 yen, which is approximately 150 USD.
A man with purple purse LOL ))) This man looks like he has problems )
That is really interesting, I`ve never seen one of these in game shops in Japan, but I will be keeping an eye out from now on. The pirate story makes it all the more interesting…
Wow! That must mean it’s pretty uncommon if even you haven’t bumped into one! Then, perhaps all the indonesian sea-pirates took all the ones that were meant for Japan and shipped them over to Europe ;D It must be true!!! :D hahaha
That is a great pickup and a cool addition to any collection! How does it feel to use as a controller?