ASIAN PAL Mega CD2

[ChaoticBiker]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone got any idea about them Sega MegaCD ASIAN PAL systems.
There appears to be very little information about them online, all I found was some pictures of a box on Sega Retro https://segaretro.org/File:MCD2_PAL_AS_Box_Front.jpg
and recently and auction with quite the price stuck on it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274748036207 (and yes, don't rub your eyes, it is really priced like that)

And that's about it. The info is - they exists.

Reason I am asking is as I seem to have one of those systems. It is MK-4102-07 model, which is matching both what's on the box and in that auction. It works perfectly fine with a PAL system, but only plays asian/Japan region games (with PAL video output). It refuses to play USA or EU region games only seeing the CD's as sudio tracks (will work if you run a region-free BIOS via everdrive).

Just trying to find out as much information about this as I possibly can - who, when, why, what was the point. And possibly how did they make their way into UK as this is where I got mine.

Here's my observations so far, for anyone else looking out for these things in the future,
when comparing to a standard Mega CD2 - the body is two tone. Bottom half is lighter blue-ish tone rather than black. Stickers also are placed differently (notably it's missing the "Class 1 Laser Product" yellow sticker.



The metal support for MD2 from a PAL megaCD does not fit here as the ASIAN PAL does not have the holes underneath the slot where it would normally go. Does not prevent one form plugging any megadrive and using it without it.


When plugged into a NTSC system it will display a message stating
"ERROR!
THIS IS A PAL-COMPATIBLE MEGA-CD
FOR EXCLUSIVE USE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA."

[ChaoticBiker]

Adding more photos, as for whatever reason wasn't able to edit my post here -admin feel free to merge:
Screen showing the message, when connected to an NTSC system


And here it is running Night Striker, connected with a PAL system