In a remarkable turn of events for retro gaming enthusiasts, the mid-1990s Pioneer LaserActive console has recently become playable through emulation, thanks to the launch of Ares v146. This groundbreaking development marks the first time that Mega LD titles designed for the LaserActive are accessible to the public.
The LaserActive was a high-priced LaserDisc player released in 1994 that allowed users to swap hardware modules for compatibility with Sega Genesis and NEC TurboGrafx-16 games. This unique console not only read standard game data, but also played select titles specifically created for the LaserActive format, integrating game graphics with up to 60 minutes of full-screen standard-definition video on each side.
The titles known as Mega-LD games, which were compatible with Genesis, generally extended classic gaming experiences from the era, featuring a mix of edutainment, interactive animation akin to Dragon’s Lair, and rail shooters. These games uniquely overlaid Genesis or TG-16 graphics onto enriched animated backgrounds, sometimes including live-action footage.
Taito’s quirky Mega LD space shooter Pyramid Patrol, captured directly from the Ares emulator.
Despite its innovative features, the LaserActive struggled with a hefty price tag—$970 for the basic unit, $600 for add-on modules, and $120 for games—contributing to its limited appeal. Total sales are estimated to have reached just around 10,000 units across Japan and the U.S. Nevertheless, the console has garnered a small but dedicated following of collectors who appreciate the challenge of sourcing rare hardware and software from the 1990s.
“I really don’t think it would be very hard to do”
The newly released emulator is the culmination of over 15 years of work by a developer known as Nemesis, who has long been passionate about retro gaming and emulation. An in-depth interview elucidates how Nemesis endeavored to decode the complexities of the LaserActive to create a functioning emulator.
A Sega fan and collector since childhood, Nemesis acquired his first LaserActive unit for $200 in 2004. By 2009, he expressed optimism on forums about the feasibility of emulating this obscure system: “I really don’t think it would be very hard to do,” he remarked, a statement that would soon prove to be a significant understatement.
While parts of the process, like monitoring memory registers, were manageable, extracting the necessary game and video data from Mega-LD discs presented formidable challenges. Nemesis described the intricate work involving soldering wires to his Sega PAC-S10 module and utilizing a Saleae logic analyzer to capture the essential “table of contents” data.
Moreover, capturing the substantial quantities of analog video from LaserActive discs in a lossless format suitable for emulation proved to be a significant endeavor, as typical analog capture cards often failed to accommodate the unique data structures of the games.
“Rarely is the [LaserActive] player just playing back a video normally,” Nemesis detailed. “Games will often have completely different video footage per field, with only one shown, or skip over every second frame to mix multiple video streams.” This design allowed for a seamless gaming experience, enhancing the interactivity of the titles.
By 2016, Nemesis embarked on creating a custom video capture setup, tapping directly into his LaserActive device to obtain the raw video feed. It was only after collaborative advancements in the community, specifically through projects like the Domesday Duplicator, that he could finally decode this footage into a usable format, albeit one requiring substantial storage space.
Once successful in ripping the Mega-LD discs, Nemesis found the emulation process to be surprisingly straightforward. “Space Berserker was quickly running, and after that, most other games worked on the first try,” he noted, affirming that his goal was to emulate the entire hardware with all its idiosyncrasies, resulting in reliable performance.
Critics may dismiss these efforts towards emulating a console that Wired’s Chris Kohler described as “quite possibly the most poorly conceived and spectacularly useless game console ever created.” However, for preservationists and even casual retro gaming fans, the new emulator offers an invaluable opportunity to explore these unique gaming experiences without the challenges of sourcing aging physical media.
Ultimately, the access to the Mega LD library allows players to envision an alternate reality of the 1990s, where LaserDiscs, instead of CD-ROMs, had redefined the gaming landscape through full-motion video.