Back in the glorious ’90s, Sega was practically spewing out consoles and add-ons, with at least half a dozen more planned. Okay, slight exaggeration—but that’s genuinely how it felt at times. One of the many projects that never saw the light of day was the Neptune: a hybrid of the Mega Drive and 32X, now being resurrected by Brazilian gaming collective GamesCare—a group of passionate enthusiasts.
So, why was the Neptune never released? Simple: the concept was scrapped in favor of focusing on the Saturn, and once Sega realized the 32X market was just too small to be worth the effort.
With their new take on the Neptune, the GamesCare team is aiming to breathe some life back into the 32X legacy. Like many popular retro consoles today, they’re using FPGA technology to recreate the hardware in a modern form. The price hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s expected to be in line with similar FPGA-based retro consoles. The launch is currently set for December.
To their fans, they write:
“Hello everyone, it’s time to show your interest in the GF1 Neptune. The release date is almost here, December 2025, as we announced at Gamecom Latam. We are on a mission to bring the console ready for delivery on this date without any kind of pre-order or collective financing. However, for our best planning, it is super important that everyone who plans to purchase this labor of love subscribes to this newsletter. We will announce the price as soon as possible, but I can already say that it will be on average for similar consoles. The 32-bit generation is coming.”
Did you play the 32X back in the day—and does this new Neptune spark your interest?
