Last July, I went to Brazil to discover the country, meet friends, and have a great time. It gave me a great opportunity to learn about a different culture, different people, etc. But, as a video game collector, I HAD to check what's special about the Brazilian market. I first searched online and I found out that the main video game company in Brazil is Tec Toy.
In the past, Tec Toy distributed Sega products in Brazil with slight differences. For example, they had the Mega Drive from Tec Toy, but instead of being just a cartridge game system, there was also games included in the memory of the unit, mostly Master System games, but also a few Mega Drive/Genesis. So, seeing that, I searched for info about the company. I found out that they are located in Manaus.
What's important to know about Manaus is that it's a Free Zone, meaning that it's a zone where many regular laws don't apply. All over the world, these zones exist, and they are especially made to encourage the arrival of companies, industries, etc. Normally, these companies don't have to pay as many taxes as in non-free zones and they don't have to comply to the same rules.
All of this explains that even if companies are located in Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo, they frequently have a warehouse or a plant in Manaus. This also explains how so many copies and clones of various consoles, including Atari, Nintendo, and Sega were made in Brazil. It was legal to make them because there were no laws against it in Manaus.
Today, the zone still exists, but I wasn't looking at copies (ok I bought some too, but that's not my point). So I concentrated my effort on finding and buying original video game systems, accessories, and/or games. My results: the Mega Drive 4 and the Tec Toy Zeebo (with various accessories).
First, the Mega Drive 4. Yes, it does exist. It wasn't limited to 3, but you're right to think that it wasn't planned by Sega at all. The Mega Drive 4 comes in a bundle with 2 controllers and a guitar. The only existing package for the Mega Drive 4 is the "Mega Drive 4 with Guitar Idol". So technically, you can't just buy the system, unless you find a store selling used/opened products, which I did, but I simply bought the official package.
This Mega Drive 4 is a plug & play system. You plug it to your TV and you can play the various games included in the system's memory. For the game titles, you have various Master System titles like Alex Kidd and Golden Axe, a few Mega Drive titles like Sonic 3, Guitar Idol (not Hero, Idol), which is a kinda 8-bit guitar Hero with poor graphics but good music quality and finally, many downgraded to 8-bit versions of recent games like The Sims 3 (Yeah, The Sims, in 8 bit, looks like Cannon Fodder for PC, without the violence. Or maybe it's the cellphone version lol). The controllers are similar to the Sega Mega Drive and the guitar is pretty nice. Because electricity, socket types, voltage and all this stuff is pretty different from a region to another, they generally have sockets for both american and european devices, normally for 110V but sometimes for 220V. For the Mega Drive 4, it's a european plug with 110V. Strange, I know. Even if Brazil support both Pal-M and NTSC, the system works with Pal-M. Price: 200 R$, or about $110 US.
For more information, check the database for Mega Drive 4, I added it and added pictures.
For the Tec Toy Zeebo, that's something different. It's not a plug & play, not a clone. It's a brand new video game system made for Brazil, Mexico and other non-occidental countries. It was a way to give them game system without having to pay a fortune. (By example, a PlayStation 2 in Brazil is generally sold for 500-600 R$ ($300-400 US), because the market is smaller). The system doesn't work with cartridges, CDs or DVDs. The only way to get games is to download them. What's interesting is that you don't need Internet. There's an included 3G wireless adapter connecting to a cell phone carrier, letting you download games.
To pay for the games, it's like Microsoft Points, but Z-Tokens for Zeebo. Most games are sold for about $9-10 US, but are really poor quality and frequently downgraded versions of recent games (Crash Bandicoot, Prey Evil (yeah, it's Prey), Need for Speed Carbon, etc.). The systems works with Pal-M but have an American plug, still with 110V. The system comes with a Z-Pad, the regular controller. There is another pad called the Boomerang. It's more or less like a cheap version of the Wii remote. You move, the sensor picks it up and shows it on screen. About $50-60 US for the controller, a rip-off.
For more information, check the database for Tec Toy Zeebo, Z-pad, Boomerang, etc. I added the products with pictures.
So what can I say about Mega Drive 4 or Tec Toy Zeebo? It's like if I have in my hands a Nintendo Virtual Boy in 1995 and I know it's going to be a train wreck. I can't help myself but I knew that I had to buy these systems, just for the value when it's going to fail, and it probably will. But, as a collector, I love the fact that I had the opportunity to buy these systems. They probably will never be available in North America. If you're interested in buying these systems, you probably won't find them online or if you do, they will be at outrageous prices. If you want them, go to Brazil, or find someone in Brazil who can buy them and send them. Still, be cautious, the Brazilian postal system is not known to be the most cheap and the most honest in the world, sadly. Nevertheless, Brazil is a great country, it was great to be there and an addition to my general culture (and my video game culture).
