As I mentioned previously, the Genesis Mini has no official carrying case, but there are plenty of unofficial solutions online. I picked one up from Amazon on account of it looking fairly close in style to the official cases of Nintendo’s Mini cases. Indeed, it does look the part, and it (mostly) gets its job done, but once you see it in person it becomes obvious that it lacks that certain level of quality that you get with licensed products of this nature.
First off, here is what it looks like:
The basic shape, as well as the look of the material is highly reminiscent of the NES Classic case. We get a bit of artwork here that is clearly meant to look like the Japanese Mega Drive, complete with gibberish text around the cartridge slot:
The artwork is a nice touch, but it was very clearly applied at a slight angle. This is the first sign we are not dealing with professional quality work.
Inside the case, we get a nice surprise: a pair of USB extension cords for the controllers. This is a simple but thoughtful bonus that the Genesis Mini desperately needs. Beyond this bonus, you have a space that is clearly meant to hold the Genesis Mini itself, as well as a small pouch next to it, which is presumably meant to house wires and cords.
Looking at the top half of the case, we get a large compartment for controllers and more wires. You cannot see it in this photo, but there is another small pouch inside:
The first thing I noticed about this case is that the inside is not lined up with squishy foam like the official Nintendo cases are. This means it is actually rather hard to get the Genesis Mini out of this case, as there is nowhere for your hands to reach into to grab hold.
The biggest problem, however, is the lack of space. This case is roughly the size of the one for the NES Classic, but the controllers on the Genesis are quite a bit larger. That means it fits much less comfortably into the case.
How much less comfortably, you might ask? This what it looked like after stuffing in the console, two controllers, the USB extenders, the provided HDMI able, and the USB power cable without the AC adapter:
I was eventually able to get it fully closed, but at the cost of some of stitching ripping open:
At this point I removed the USB extenders. The fit was still wildly tight, but not “bursting at the seams” tight. The only other way I can “lighten the load”, so to speak, would be to swap in a shorter HDMI cable, or ditch a controller. I might do the latter now, and the former eventually, but it stinks to have to resort to such compromises.
Then again, what can you expect from an unofficial solution that shipped direct from China? Having this case is better than nothing I suppose, but only just barely so. One failure of the zipper or the fabric and you can kiss goodbye any semblance of “protection”. I suppose it will have to do for now.