How to Build Your Own SEGA Neptune
Last Updated on November 25, 2023
The SEGA Neptune was abandoned in the 1990s, but Macho Nacho Productions demonstrate how to build one with other SEGA parts.
The history of game consoles is littered with failed and abandoned consoles. One of the most notorious is the SEGA Neptune, a promising console that was previewed in various magazines, had a price set, but was never released.
The reasons behind its abandonment may never be fully accepted (no doubt it was pulled to funnel SEGA-philes to the upcoming Saturn). But don’t worry; tech savvy YouTuber Macho Nacho Productions has built a new, working console based on existing components and modern substitutes.
The video description states:
Back in 1995 Sega announced Project Neptune which was slated to be released that same year. Neptune was a new console that combined a Genesis and 32X into a single sleek package. But due to the impending release of the company’s next generation console, the Saturn, Sega decided to cancel Neptune. So 27 years later, due to a lot of hard work from the retro modding community, we now have a way to make our very own Sega Neptune!
If you haven’t already, I recommend you click play and check this out. The video offers a downloadable bill of materials, installation instructions, and other useful links to make this project yourself (using existing SEGA hardware).
But beware: if you’re planning to build your own, be prepared for some expense, soldering, and plenty of time in your workshop.
What is a SEGA Neptune?
Planned for release in 1994/95, the SEGA Neptune was a planned combination of the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis with the Mega CD. Thanks to the inclusion of the 32X expansion (available as an add-on for Mega Drive/Genesis), it would also have been capable of playing 32X games.
All in all, the SEGA Neptune (which almost certainly would not have been its actual name) was intended as an all-in-one affordable bridge between Mega Drive/Genesis ownership and the upcoming SEGA Saturn. Only a few prototypes were built, which makes this project particularly intriguing.
Will you build a SEGA Neptune following this guide? Do you perhaps already own one of the original consoles? Or do you think the console is best left as a footnote on SEGA’s long gaming history?
Who knows, they might even release a special edition Mega Drive Mini II with the Neptune label…
Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine, TechRadar.com, and other publications.
