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Edge 16 is an unreleased Sega Mega Drive modem created as a joint venture between PF Magic and AT&T.

Hardware

The Edge 16 was a device to be inserted into the cartridge slot of a Mega Drive console, allowing two players to compete with Mega Drive games through the internet - control pad signals would be sent through the phone line, as would sounds from a microphone to allow players to communicate. A card slot at the front of the device would have been used to save game data to memory cards.[1] A keyboard attachment was also shown, though few details are known about it.

History

Announced in July 1993 at Summer CES 1993, the device was originally set to launch in the US in the summer of 1994, with software support from Electronic Arts, Tengen, GameTek and Microprose[2]. It appeared at Winter CES 1994 in January 1994, in which players could fight each other with specifically adapted versions of Ballz 3D, but was not shown again afterwards.

Reportedly the system was finished and ready to go by September 1994, but AT&T changed their mind about entering the games industry and the product was left to collapse. Had it been released, it would have been priced somewhere between $100 and $150 USD[3]. Brutal: Paws of Fury planned to support the device during development[4].

The concept of the Edge 16 would be revived with the XBAND some months later. It is unlikely the Edge 16 was ever set to be sold outside of North America.

Magazine articles

Promotional material

US print advert

Photo gallery

Promotional photograph from Summer CES 1993 (?)

References



