Radica vs Genesis 3?

Includes but not limited to: SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Gear and I guess the Virtual Boy.

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neverused
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Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by neverused » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:36 am

I was was wondering what the dimensions are for the Radica pcb and the Genesis 3 pcb. I know the Radica is smaller, but it does not have perfect compatibility with a cart slot, whereas the Genesis 3 seems to be quite a bit larger, but would not have compatibility issues...

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by banditpaw1 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:59 am

actually there ar pretty equal because the genesis 3 lacks compatibility. you are better of with a radica.and the genesis 3 is getting quite rare.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by DK » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:59 am

The Genesis 3 has total compatibility once it is modded slightly to run with the 32X and SMS Converter.
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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by banditpaw1 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:17 am

DK wrote:The Genesis 3 has total compatibility once it is modded slightly to run with the 32X and SMS Converter.
I didnt mention modding it now did I?You could also mod the radica not for 32x/sms convertar(as far as I know)but it will play all games but virtu racicing.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by eagle5953 » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:17 am

The radica would use less power and is smaller, but adding the cart slot is very difficult. It seems only a handful of people have pulled it off.

The radica PCB is about 2 by 3.5 inches. There's a secondary PCB that you can probably do away with (just has the power and reset buttons, I think).

The Genesis 3 systems are not all that uncommon - I see them more often than mini SNES systems! The board is around 5 inches square, I think, but could be trimmed down more.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by Tibia » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:20 pm

Well, if you plan on relocating the cart slot on the G3, it is a more straightforward mod than adding one to the Radica, but your soldering time ends up being about equal. As for compatibility, there is a mod for certain Radicas that make it compatible with Sonic and Knuckles. I don't know how much that mod improves the compatibility, though.
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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by neverused » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:32 pm

eagle5953 wrote:The radica would use less power and is smaller, but adding the cart slot is very difficult. It seems only a handful of people have pulled it off.

The radica PCB is about 2 by 3.5 inches. There's a secondary PCB that you can probably do away with (just has the power and reset buttons, I think).

The Genesis 3 systems are not all that uncommon - I see them more often than mini SNES systems! The board is around 5 inches square, I think, but could be trimmed down more.
Thank you, that was what I was wondering.

Also, for future reference, I am referring to Genesis carts only for compatibility questions. Anything beyond that is just gravy.

Another question:

Can the Radica accept a 6 button controller or only the original 3 button? It may be a stupid question, but the thought occurred to me and I'd rather ask than learn the hard way.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by eagle5953 » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:33 am

The Radica cannot "accept" a standard controller per se - it uses 3.3v for its controllers, whereas the Genesis controllers demand 5v. You could, however, supply 5v to use a standard controller.

As far as 6 button controllers, one version of the Radica, the Street Fighter 2 edition, has two 6-button controllers. I don't recall if it contains extra wires (keeping a 1:1 button-to-wire ratio), or if it uses multiplexing (which the game would be expecting). I would suspect that it uses mulitplexing, but I can't say definitively. Additionally, the built-in controllers (obviously) do not have a button for switching between 3-button and 6-button setups, which means some games would not work.

As such, if you want to use a 6 button controller, I'd look to using the a standard Sega Genesis 6-button controller on the Radica - while a bit more difficult initially, it will give you much better results in the long run.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by Zeturi » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:50 am

I was just working with a genesis 3, it was a 12x12cm square. You can probably trim, about about a half a centimeter off each side for an 11 x 11 square. Any more than that, and yours will end up like mine! :cry:
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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by Tibia » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:27 am

DevSter has a decent page of Radica info. It's not complete, but it does have a lot of good info.

There is a mod that involves lifting a few pins and rewiring them to play Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Street Fighter. Supposedly, this also improves the Radica's overall compatibility. The version 1 (blue) Radica does not support 2-player gameplay at all. He also states that you need to get a 5V power source going to your cartridges, as the Radica has a 3.3V regulator and runs off that. It's a site definitely worth checking out.
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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by tom61 » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:27 pm

There are also GOACs with cart slots now.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by hackmodford » Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:45 pm

I stuck with the Genesis3... only game it can't play is virtua racing and I dron't really care about that game anyways.

it's about as big as the psone lcd mobo.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by neverused » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:12 pm

Are there many games that require a 6 button controller? The only Street Fighter II version pf the Radica that I can find is ~$45 and I'm not going to pay that much for something I'll probably fry right away.

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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by Tibia » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:55 am

Mortal Kombat uses the X,Y, and Z for extra attacks. The Lost Vikings uses a few of them, but they can be replicated on a three-button controller. It's the only way to block on Cutthroat Island. Those are the ones I remember the best off the top of my head.
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Re: Radica vs Genesis 3?

Post by hackmodford » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:28 am

Honestly I've never come across a game that used them. They're typically only in fighting games so if your not a fighting game person you could probably make do without them...

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