Under the picodrive core

Under controls

There is a button called "pen state". I can't find any documentation on the picodrive site, in the picodrive readme file, or anywhere else on what this button does. Any pointers?

Does anyone know a site (English or Japanese) that details which Beena games use which peripherals?

A few games are 2p, but I'm not sure which ones require 2 pens or which ones use the mic, SD card reader, etc.

eg: Cooking Beena: o-Ryouri Dekichatta! uses the cooking peripheral (thats kind of obvious though)

How do you guys keep your lighting from hitting the page sensors and turning the page without your input?

I'm trying to record myself playing a game but the lighting in my room is making it impossible, the game will swap pages frantically and I've tried everything I could think of to keep the light out. It seems the only thing that works is me physically holding the pages flat with my hand, but I can't do that while recording, my arms will be in the way of the webcam.

Is there anything I can do?

Edit: So I've discovered that it might be the port that connects the playset to the cartridge, it might be loose or dirty.

Since the Pico is region free, I've been thinking about getting one in order to better preserve the Japanese games that don't have any booklet scans, as well as recording in depth gameplay of the games that come with playsets or accessories. (As well as just having something cool to show my friends, I mean, come on.)

However, I don't want to invest a lot of money into this project without having the necessary knowledge, and I'm still comparing prices of the main unit so I haven't actually bought one yet. My main concern is where/how exactly those playsets will hook up to the console, if it requires a Japanese console to use them or if I'll be fine with an American console. But there aren't a lot of images or videos that clearly show the playsets in use or even just a full look at the unit from all sides.

If Sega thought it would be successful in America, then it's possible that the American console has that functionality, but I want to be sure.

Anyone know how to disassemble this without breaking anything?
Its in serious need of cleaning so I want to take it apart.

As an aside, pretty neat little system. I've just played around with it a little bit. Probably going to get an extra pen and maybe a mic.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to track down the OST of a Pico game

Slightly out of nowhere but if anybody sees this I’m desperately attached to some of the melodies from this game

Will the NTSC-U Pico play the NTSC-J Storyware?

I see that most if not all Picos only have A/V out, and I don't see any hardware mods available that can upgrade that, so I assume that wouldn't be an option. Obviously the next closest thing would be emulation, but ideally I'd want to play these games with a pretty close-to-authentic experience, so would that mean I'd have to emulate, record the main screen, use something like a tablet to simulate the pages on top and the touchpad at the bottom, and record that screen too?

I've been a mod for quite a few of the retrogaming (and other adjacent) subs here for a long time -- even if kind of dormant recently. I love these topics, and how our digital "ancestors" solved hard problems, and how we've build a continuum of interest with their work. I started and even took over a few dormant subs and worked with /u/zadocpaet to help build a broad community here, even appealing to niche systems.

The mod teams are doing a great job, especially /u/Derf_Jagged. I feel like now is a good time to step down. I'm going to continue to lurk, and be a regular user and I wish the subs, the mods, and the users the best!

Hi fellow collectors, we are currently in the process of building a price guide and collection tracker for retro games. Our goal is to achieve high data quality and completeness. Could you check if this list is complete and report any errors , thx!

https://retrogamepriceguide.com/checklist/sega-pico-games/

It looks extremely similar, and literally has Pico in the name. I can't find info online if it is or isn't, so I figured someone here knows.

Trying to diagnose a pico that doesn't detect the pen and neither the top or bottom pads work. I would HOPE that if the pads themselves are broken that some part of it would work, either top or bottom, since neither do anything I'm leaning toward a broken pen.

I opened it up and the wires have continuity, the switch is now cleaned and working, but the position still gets nothing. I notice a small potentiometer on the pen, but don't want to blindly turn stuff without knowing what it does.

Thanks!

Title says it all. I was a bit old for the pico when we got it, but it was a fun system regardless. I had at least 5 games in my childhood but I'm afraid the childhood pico and games are long gone so I'll be restarting the collection. I just a second hand pico on ebay as well as three games. with only 20-21 games, and none crazy expensive, I figure it's the only one I could feasibly get a complete U.S. set for.

I plan to RGB mod the pico, as it has the same schematics as a genesis in that regard and I've messed with RGB on a few of those. Should be pretty easy.

I'm also hoping to cobble together one of those flash cartridges that work with a mega drive cartridge, but I'm waiting to get a hold of the "teameurope" or whoever makes them and then I need to find scans of the books.

EDIT: I got ahold of of "teameurope" by messaging them through their thingiverse account to purchase a pico board. I don't want to post their email here, but can PM anyone interested. It doesn't seem like it's on their site.