Closing out the month, we have a leak from Sega which reveals that Sega's bitterly disappointing portable Genesis, the Nomad, was codenamed "Venus" (in keeping with the celestial bodies theme for its other consoles of the 1990s) and that it was planned for release in Japan. And here's how that looks, courtesy of Sega City.
Looks like a first model Nintendo DS knocked boots (and bytes) with a Nomad, or maybe a Game Gear. I wonder if Sega made any attempt to deal with the easily dislodged cartridges and low visibility screen of the American version of this system. Maybe these faults are why the Venus never left the prototype stage. My understanding is that Sega took such a bath on this boondoggle of a portable that they probably wished they hadn't released it anywhere.
Nintendo had the good sense to keep its own advanced handheld, codenamed Project Atlantis, in R&D until they could whittle down its size and power consumption. What we eventually got was the successful Game Boy Advance, proving that good things come to those who wait... and the Sega Nomad is the booby prize for those who won't.
By the way, Retro-Bit... you promised us a Nomad that actually works at least a year and a half ago. Where is that...?
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