SEGA Genesis Games on Vinyl? One Maker Actually Tried It

June 1, 2026 - 01:19

Throaty Mumbo keeps finding new ways to bridge old video game hardware with even older storage formats. His latest experiment asked a strange question: could you actually load a SEGA Genesis game from a vinyl record? The short answer lands somewhere between yes and no. The whole thing shows just how far you can push a basic audio signal when it comes to running classic game code.

He used a special cartridge called the Mega Everdrive Pro, which plugs into the Genesis just like any normal game. What makes this one different is that it has a USB port. That port lets it read data from outside sources, including audio signals. The idea was to turn game data into sound, press that sound onto vinyl, then play it back through the cartridge. If the signal was clean enough, the Genesis would treat it like a normal ROM.

It mostly worked. The vinyl could load parts of the game, but not perfectly. The needle picked up noise, scratches, and surface imperfections that corrupted some of the data. Still, the fact that any of it ran at all surprised even him. It is not a practical way to play games, but it proves the concept. A SEGA Genesis can indeed read a game off a record, as long as you do not mind a few glitches.