Sega Pico

[samsonlonghair]

I thought I might start a thread on this childrens' console, because the forum search found Pico mentioned only in passing. I just found my little sister's old Pico in the basement. it still works. I guess that's a testament to Sega's long-lasting hardware. For instance, I've never found an old genesis that didn't work after a little cleaning. I'm looking for a good use for this big green and purple box. My little sister's Pico has three storyware cartridges, and they all look pretty awful. 1) Pocahontas 2) Richard Scary 3) 101 Dalmations

Can anyone think of any notable cartridges for this system? Was there ever any homebrew for the Pico? Has anyone ever seen any cool hacks? Can I connect the touchpad to a PC?

[Dub5279]

I've never heard of it before, but here is the Pico's complete library according to Wikipedia:
A Year at Pooh Corner
Adventures in Letterland With Jack and Jill
The Berenstain Bears: A School Day
Crayola: Create a World
Disney's 101 Dalmatians
Disney's Pocahontas
Disney's The Lion King: Adventures at Pride Rock
Denji Sentai Megaranger
Ecco Jr. and the Great Ocean Treasure Hunt!
The Great Counting Caper With the 3 Blind Mice
Magic Crayons
Math Antics with Disney's 101 Dalmatians
Mickey's Blast Into the Past
Mini Moni Eigo de Asobu n da pyon!
Mini Moni Shōgakkō e Iku n da pyon!
Mini Moni Terebi ni Deru n da pyon!
Muppets on the Go
Musical Zoo
Peppy's Puzzles
Pink Panther's Magic Island
Pink Panther's Shapes and Colors
Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever
Scholastic's The Magic School Bus
Sesame Street
Smart Alex and Smart Alice: Curious Kids
Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Tails and the Music Maker
Three Sailor Moon games -- Sailor Moon SuperS, Sailor Moon S, and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars

Doesn't look like anything worth playing for an older gamer.

[Dakinggamer87]

I remember Sega Pico.. It was definitely an interesting kids toy

[samsonlonghair]

According to the technical specs, it's very similar to the Genesis.
* CPU: 16/32-bit Motorola 68000
* RAM: 64 KB of Main RAM
* Video RAM: 64 KB
* ROM: "Storyware" cartridges of various sizes
* Video: 315-5313 VDP
* Sound: Texas Instruments SN76489 PSG and custom PCM chip
* Input: pen and buttons

It seems like the CPU is exactly the same; the Video processor is exactly the same; They have the same amount of RAM and vRAM. The audio is a little different though. They both have a Texas Instruments SN76489 PSG, but the Pico lacks Genesis's Yamaha YM2612 FM chip.Do you think that Pico could be modified to run a Genesis cart that didn't require the Yamaha FM chip, like Columns?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I've never heard of it before, but here is the Pico's complete library according to Wikipedia:
Ecco Jr. and the Great Ocean Treasure Hunt!
Magic Crayons
Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
Tails and the Music Maker
Three Sailor Moon games -- Sailor Moon SuperS, Sailor Moon S, and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars

Hell Yeah!

Fire that thing up, I wants me some Magic Crayons!

[samsonlonghair]

I read that the Japanese library is much larger. Supposedly, they kept on making Pico cartridges for a decade over there. Maybe somewhere in that time they released one good game.

[milkmanv1]

Hmm, how does one even play this thing? I mean I've seen pictures and things, but damn...My friend even had one and told me about it. although it took him a month to figure out what he was trying to tell me. I just laughed at him and told him he's making stuff up untill he found it.

[samsonlonghair]

The main control is through the pen pad. You use the pen kind of like a wacom tablet. There are also four directional buttons and one fire button. The screen changes when you turn the page on the cartridge.

[executioner]

First time I've seen it also. Wanna get it for my niece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIE1mUY77nw

[Barry the Nomad]

I have a SEGA Pico, my aunt gave it to me after I had been eyeing it in their basement everytime I visited. The sad thing was , I was 17 at the time. lol

It came with the Richard Scarry game and I picked up Sonic's Gameworld off of ebay the same week. Problem is the stylus doesn't work. I could buy a new stylus, but I really wouldn't use it anyway.