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= Sega_Genesis =
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Introduction
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The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit
fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega.
It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System.
Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in 1989 in
North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega
Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and
Tectoy in Brazil. In South Korea, it was distributed by Samsung
Electronics as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Designed by an R&D team supervised by Hideki Sato and Masami
Ishikawa, the Genesis was adapted from Sega's System 16 arcade board,
centered on a Motorola 68000 processor as the CPU, a Zilog Z80 as a
sound controller, and a video system supporting hardware sprites,
tiles, and scrolling. It plays a library of more than 900 games on
ROM-based cartridges. Several add-ons were released, including a Power
Base Converter to play Master System games. It was released in several
different versions, some created by third parties. Sega created two
network services to support the Genesis: Sega Meganet and Sega
Channel.
In Japan, the Mega Drive fared poorly against its two main
competitors, Nintendo's Super Famicom and NEC's PC Engine, but it
achieved considerable success in North America, Brazil, Australia and
Europe. Contributing to its success were its library of arcade game
ports, the popularity of Sega's 'Sonic the Hedgehog' series, several
popular sports franchises, and aggressive youth marketing that
positioned it as the cool console for adolescents. The 1991 North
American release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System triggered
a fierce battle for market share in the United States and Europe known
as the "console war". This drew attention to the video game industry,
and the Genesis and several of its games attracted legal scrutiny on
matters involving reverse engineering and video game violence.
Controversy surrounding violent games such as 'Night Trap' and 'Mortal
Kombat' led Sega to create the Videogame Rating Council, a predecessor
to the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Sega released Mega Drive add-ons including the Sega CD ('Mega-CD'
outside North America), which played games on compact disc; the 32X, a
peripheral with 32-bit processing power; and the LaserActive,
developed by Pioneer, which ran Mega-LD games on LaserDisc. None were
commercially successful, and the resulting hardware fragmentation
created consumer confusion.
30.75 million first-party Genesis units were sold worldwide. In
addition, Tectoy sold an estimated 3 million licensed variants in
Brazil, Majesco projected it would sell 1.5 million licensed variants
of the system in the United States and smaller numbers were sold by
Samsung in South Korea. By the mid-2010s, licensed third-party Genesis
rereleases were still being sold by AtGames in North America and
Europe. Many games have been re-released in compilations or on online
services such as the Nintendo Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade,
PlayStation Network, and Steam. The Genesis was succeeded in 1994 by
the Sega Saturn.
Development
=============
In the early 1980s, Sega Enterprises, Inc. - then a subsidiary of
Gulf+Western - was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers
active in the United States, as company revenues surpassed $200
million between July 1981 and June 1982. A downturn in the arcade
business starting in 1982 seriously hurt the company, leading
Gulf+Western to sell its North American arcade manufacturing
organization and the licensing rights for its arcade games to Bally
Manufacturing. The company retained Sega's North American R&D
operation, as well as its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
With its arcade business in decline, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. president
Hayao Nakayama advocated that the company leverage its hardware
expertise to move into the home console market in Japan, which was in
its infancy at the time.
Nakayama received permission to proceed with this project, leading to
the release of Sega's first home video game system, the SG-1000, in
July 1983. While it had sold 160,000 units in Japan, far exceeding
Sega's expectations, sales at stores were dominated by Nintendo's
Famicom which had been released the same day. Sega estimated that the
Famicom outsold the SG-1000 by a 10-to-1 margin. The SG-1000 was
replaced by the Sega Mark III within two years. In the meantime,
Gulf+Western began to divest itself of its non-core businesses after
the death of company founder Charles Bluhdorn, so Nakayama and former
Sega CEO David Rosen arranged a management buyout of the Japanese
subsidiary in 1984 with financial backing from CSK Corporation, a
prominent Japanese software company. Nakayama was then installed as
CEO of Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
In 1986, Sega redesigned the Mark III for release in North America as
the Master System. This was followed by a European release the next
year. Although the Master System was a success in Europe, and later in
Brazil, it failed to ignite significant interest in the Japanese or
North American markets, which, by the mid-to-late 1980s, were both
dominated by Nintendo. With Sega continuing to have difficulty
penetrating the home market, Sega's console R&D team, led by
Masami Ishikawa and supervised by Hideki Sato, began work on a
successor to the Master System almost immediately after that console
launched.
In 1987, Sega faced another threat to its console business when
Japanese computer giant NEC released the PC Engine amid great
publicity. To remain competitive against the two more established
consumer electronics companies, Ishikawa and his team decided they
needed to incorporate a 16-bit microprocessor into their new system to
make an impact in the marketplace and once again turned to Sega's
strengths in the arcade industry to adapt the successful Sega System
16 arcade board into architecture for a home console. The decision to
use a Motorola 68000 as the main CPU was made late in development,
while a Zilog Z80 was used as a secondary CPU for sound due to fears
that the load to the main CPU would be too great if it handled both
the visuals and the audio. The 68000 chip was expensive and would have
driven the retail price of the console up greatly, but Sega negotiated
with a distributor for a tenth of its price on an up-front volume
order with the promise of more orders pending the console's future
success.
The appearance of the Mega Drive was designed by a team led by
Mitsushige Shiraiwa that drew inspiration from audiophile equipment
and automobiles. Shiraiwa said this more mature look helped to target
the Mega Drive to all ages, unlike the Famicom, which was aimed
primarily at children. According to Sato, the Japanese design for the
Mega Drive was based on the appearance of an audio player, with
"16-bit" embossed in a golden metallic veneer to create an impression
of power.
Sega announced the console in the June 1988 issue of the Japanese
gaming magazine 'Beep!' as the Mark V, but Sega management wanted a
stronger name. After reviewing more than 300 proposals, they settled
on "Mega Drive". In North America, the name was changed to "Genesis".
Rosen said he insisted on the name as he disliked "Mega Drive" and
wanted to represent "a new beginning" for Sega. Sato said some design
elements changed, such as the gold "16-bit" wording, in case it was
mistaken for yellow. He believed the changes represented different
Japanese and American cultural values.
Launch
========
Sega released the Mega Drive in Japan on October 29, 1988, though the
launch was overshadowed by Nintendo's release of 'Super Mario Bros. 3'
a week earlier. Positive coverage from magazines 'Famitsu' and 'Beep!'
helped to establish a following. Within two days of release, the
console's initial production run sold out. However, Sega only managed
to ship 400,000 units in the first year. In order to increase sales,
Sega released various peripherals and games, including an online
banking system and answering machine called the Sega Mega Anser.(Sic!)
Nevertheless, the Mega Drive was unable to overtake the venerable
Famicom and remained a distant third in Japan behind Nintendo's Super
Famicom and NEC's PC Engine throughout the 16-bit era.
At the time, Sega did not possess a North American sales and marketing
organization and was distributing its Master System through Tonka.
Dissatisfied with Tonka's performance, Sega looked for a new partner
to market the Genesis in North America and offered the rights to Atari
Corporation, which did not yet have a 16-bit system. David Rosen made
the proposal to Atari CEO Jack Tramiel and the president of Atari's
Entertainment Electronics Division, Michael Katz. Tramiel declined to
acquire the new console, deeming it too expensive, and instead opted
to focus on the Atari ST. Sega decided to launch the console through
its own Sega of America subsidiary. It officially launched in
September 1989, though a handful of units reached retailer shelves in
New York and Los Angeles in late August.
The European version of the Mega Drive was released in September 1990,
at a price of , i.e. . The release was handled by Virgin Mastertronic,
which was later purchased by Sega in 1991 and became Sega of Europe.
Games like 'Space Harrier II', 'Ghouls 'n Ghosts', 'Golden Axe',
'Super Thunder Blade', and 'The Revenge of Shinobi' were available in
stores at launch. The console was also bundled with 'Altered Beast'.
The Mega Drive and its first batch of games were shown at the 1990
European Computer Entertainment Show (ECES) in Earl's Court. Between
July and August 1990, Virgin initially placed their order for 20,000
Mega Drive units. However, the company increased the order by 10,000
units when advanced orders had exceeded expectations, and another
10,000 units was later added following the console's success at the
ECES event. The projected number of units to be sold between September
and December 1990 had eventually increased to 40,000 units in the
United Kingdom alone.
Other companies assisted in distributing the console to various
countries worldwide. Ozisoft handled the Mega Drive's launch and
marketing in Australia, as it had done before with the Master System.
In Brazil, the Mega Drive was released by Tectoy in 1990, only a year
after the Brazilian release of the Master System. Tectoy produced
games exclusively for the Brazilian market and brought the Sega
Meganet online service there in 1995. Samsung handled sales and
distribution in Korea, where it was named Super Gam*Boy and retained
the Mega Drive logo alongside the Samsung name. It was later renamed
Super Aladdin Boy. In India, Sega entered a distribution deal with
Shaw Wallace in April 1994 in order to circumvent an 80% import
tariff, with each unit selling for INR₹18,000.
In Russia, Sega officially licensed the console to local distributor
Forrus in 1994, replaced in 1996 by Bitman. That year, the video game
console market generated between and in Russia, with Sega accounting
for half of all console sales in the country. However, only about 15%
of the sales were official Sega units distributed by Bitman, while the
rest were unofficial counterfeit clones.
North American sales and marketing
====================================
For the North American market, former Atari Corporation Entertainment
Electronics Division president and new Sega of America CEO Michael
Katz instituted a two-part approach to build sales. The first part
involved a marketing campaign to challenge Nintendo head-on and
emphasize the more arcade-like experience available on the Genesis,
with slogans including "Genesis does what Nintendon't". Since Nintendo
owned the console rights to most arcade games of the time, the second
part involved creating a library of recognizable games which used the
names and likenesses of celebrities and athletes, such as 'Pat Riley
Basketball', 'Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf', 'James 'Buster' Douglas
Knockout Boxing', 'Joe Montana Football', 'Tommy Lasorda Baseball',
'Mario Lemieux Hockey', and 'Michael Jackson's Moonwalker'.
Nonetheless, Sega struggled to overcome Nintendo's presence in
consumers' homes. Tasked by Nakayama to sell one million units within
the first year, Katz and Sega of America sold only 500,000. At the
Winter Consumer Electronics Show (Winter CES) in January 1990, the
Sega Genesis demonstrated a strong line-up of games which received a
positive reception for approaching arcade-quality graphics and
gameplay as well as for providing non-arcade experiences such as
'Phantasy Star II'.
In mid-1990, Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske to replace Katz as CEO of
Sega of America. Although Kalinske knew little about the video game
market, he surrounded himself with industry-savvy advisors. A believer
in the razor and blades model, he developed a four-point plan: cut the
price of the console, create an American team to develop games
targeted at the American market, expand the aggressive advertising
campaigns, and replace the bundled game 'Altered Beast' with a new
game, 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. The Japanese board of directors initially
disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by
Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for
Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it."
Critics praised 'Sonic' as one of the greatest games yet made, and
Genesis sales increased as customers who had been waiting for the
release of the international version of Nintendo's Super Famicom, the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), decided to purchase a
Genesis instead. The SNES debuted against an established competitor,
while NEC's TurboGrafx-16 failed to gain traction, and NEC soon pulled
out of the market. In large part due to the popularity of 'Sonic the
Hedgehog', the Genesis outsold the SNES in the United States nearly
two to one during the 1991 holiday season. Sega controlled 65% of the
16-bit console market in January 1992, the first time Nintendo had not
been the console leader since 1985.
The Genesis outsold the SNES for four consecutive Christmas seasons
due to its two-year lead, lower price point, and larger game library
compared to the SNES at its release. Sega had ten games for every game
on SNES, and while the SNES had an exclusive version of 'Final Fight',
one of Sega's internal development teams created 'Streets of Rage',
which had bigger levels, tougher enemies, and a well-regarded
soundtrack. ASCII Entertainment reported in early 1993 that Genesis
had 250 games versus 75 for the SNES, but limited shelf space meant
that stores typically offered 100 Genesis and 50 SNES games. The NES
was still the leader, with 300 games and 100 on shelves.
Sega's advertising positioned the Genesis as the cooler console, and
coined the term 'blast processing', an obscure and unused graphics
programming method, to suggest that its processing capabilities were
far greater than those of the SNES. A Sony focus group found that
teenage boys would not admit to owning an SNES rather than a Genesis.
With the Genesis often outselling the SNES at a ratio of 2:1, Nintendo
and Sega focused heavily on impression management of the market, even
going to the point of deception; Nintendo claimed it had sold more
consoles in 1991 than it actually had, and forecasted it would sell 6
million consoles by the end of 1992, while its actual U.S. install
base at the end of 1992 was only just more than 4 million units. Due
to these tactics, it was difficult to ascertain a clear leader in
market share for several years at a time, with Nintendo's dollar share
of the U.S. 16-bit market dipping down from 60% at the end of 1992 to
37% at the end of 1993, Sega claiming 55% of all 16-bit hardware sales
during 1994, and 'Donkey Kong Country' helping the SNES to outsell the
Genesis from 1995 through 1997. According to a 2004 study of NPD sales
data, the Genesis maintained its lead over the Super NES in the
American 16-bit console market. However, according to a 2014 Wedbush
Securities report based on revised NPD sales data, the SNES outsold
the Sega Genesis in the U.S. market by units.
Electronic Arts
=================
To compete with Nintendo, Sega was more open to new types of games,
but still tightly controlled the approval process for third-party
games and charged high prices for cartridge manufacturing. The
American publisher Electronic Arts (EA) sought a better deal, but met
resistance from Sega. They decided to reverse-engineer the Genesis,
using a clean-room method similar to the method Phoenix Technologies
had used to reverse-engineer the IBM Personal Computer BIOS around
1984.
The process began in 1989, led by Steve Hayes and Jim Nitchals. They
created a controlled room in EA headquarters nicknamed "Chernobyl", to
which only one person was allowed access, Mike Schwartz. Schwartz
reviewed Sega's copyrighted development manuals and tools, studied the
Genesis hardware and games, and wrote original documentation that
summarized his findings. The process took him about a month. His work
was reviewed by EA's lawyers before being disseminated to Hayes and
Nitchals to verify its originality, and subsequently to the rest of
the developers to let them build games. After a few months, EA began
developing for the Genesis in earnest. The EA founder, Trip Hawkins,
confronted Nakayama the day before the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show
(CES), informing him that EA had the ability to run its own licensing
program if Sega refused to meet its demands. Sega relented, and the
next day EA's upcoming Genesis games were showcased at CES.
EA signed what Hawkins described as "a very unusual and much more
enlightened license agreement" with Sega in June 1990: "Among other
things, we had the right to make as many titles as we wanted. We could
approve our own titles ... the royalty rates were a lot more
reasonable. We also had more direct control over manufacturing." After
the deal was in place, EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon learned
that "we hadn't figured out all the workarounds" and "Sega still had
the ability to lock us out ... It just would have been a public
relations fiasco." EA released its first Genesis games, 'Populous' and
'Budokan: The Martial Spirit', within the month. The first Genesis
version of EA's 'John Madden Football' arrived before the end of 1990,
and became what Gordon called a "killer app". Taking advantage of the
licensing agreement, Gordon and EA's vice president of marketing
services, Nancy Fong, created a visual identifier for EA's Genesis
cartridges: a yellow tab molded into the casing.
Sonic the Hedgehog
====================
Sega held a company-wide contest to create a mascot character to
compete with Nintendo's 'Mario' series. The winning submission was a
blue hedgehog with red shoes, Sonic, created by Naoto Ohshima,
spawning one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. The
gameplay of 'Sonic the Hedgehog' originated with a tech demo created
by Yuji Naka, who had developed a prototype platform game that
involved a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a long
winding tube. This concept was developed with Ohshima's character
design and levels conceived by designer Hirokazu Yasuhara.
Although Katz and Sega of America's marketing experts disliked
'Sonic', certain that it would not catch on with American children,
Kalinske's strategy to place 'Sonic the Hedgehog' as the pack-in game
paid off. 'Sonic the Hedgehog' greatly increased the popularity of the
Genesis in North America, and the bundle is credited with helping Sega
gain 65% of the market share against Nintendo. Similarly, in Europe,
Sega captured a 65% share of the European console market, where the
Mega Drive maintained its lead over the SNES through 1994. 'Sonic the
Hedgehog 2' set records for the fastest-selling game, selling copies
worldwide within two weeks, and 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' and 'Sonic
& Knuckles' sold a combined copies worldwide.
Trademark Security System and ''Sega v. Accolade''
====================================================
After the release of the Genesis in 1989, video game publisher
Accolade began exploring options to release some of their PC games on
the console. At the time, Sega had a licensing deal in place for
third-party developers that increased the costs to the developer.
According to Accolade co-founder Alan Miller, "One pays them between
$10 and $15 per cartridge on top of the real hardware manufacturing
costs, so it about doubles the cost of goods to the independent
publisher." To get around licensing, Accolade chose to seek an
alternative way to bring their games to the Genesis. It did so by
purchasing one in order to decompile the executable code of three
Genesis games. Such information was used to program their new Genesis
cartridges in a way that would allow them to disable the security
lockouts on the Genesis that prevented unlicensed games from being
played. This strategy was used successfully to bring 'Ishido: The Way
of Stones' to the Genesis in 1990. To do so, Accolade had copied
Sega's copyrighted game code multiple times in order to reverse
engineer the software of Sega's licensed Genesis games.
As a result of piracy in some countries and unlicensed development
issues, Sega incorporated a technical protection mechanism into a new
edition of the Genesis released in 1991, referred to as the Genesis
III. This new variation of the Genesis included a code known as the
Trademark Security System (TMSS), which, when a game cartridge was
inserted, would check for the presence of the string "SEGA" at a
particular point in the memory contained in the cartridge. If the
string was present, the console would run the game, and would briefly
display the message: "" This system had a twofold effect: it added
extra protection against unlicensed developers and software piracy and
forced the Sega trademark to display when the game was powered up,
making a lawsuit for trademark infringement possible if unlicensed
software were to be developed. Accolade learned of this development at
the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1991, where Sega
showed the new Genesis III and demonstrated it screening and rejecting
an 'Ishido' game cartridge. With more games planned for the following
year, Accolade successfully identified the TMSS file. It later added
this file to the games 'HardBall!', 'Star Control', 'Mike Ditka Power
Football', and 'Turrican'.
In response to the creation of these unlicensed games, Sega filed suit
against Accolade in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California, on charges of trademark infringement, unfair
competition, and copyright infringement. In response, Accolade filed a
counterclaim for falsifying the source of its games by displaying the
Sega trademark when the game was powered up. Although the district
court initially ruled for Sega and issued an injunction preventing
Accolade from continuing to reverse engineer the Genesis, Accolade
appealed the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit.
As a result of the appeal, the Ninth Circuit overturned the district
court's verdict and ruled that Accolade's decompilation of the Sega
software constituted fair use. The court's written opinion followed on
October 20, 1992, and noted that the use of the software was
non-exploitative, although commercial. Further, the court found that
the trademark infringement, being required by the TMSS for a Genesis
game to run on the system, had been inadvertently triggered by a fair
use act and was the fault of Sega for having caused false labeling.
Ultimately, Sega and Accolade settled the case on April 30, 1993. As a
part of this settlement, Accolade became an official licensee of Sega,
and later developed and released 'Barkley Shut Up and Jam!' while
under license. The terms of the licensing, including whether or not
any special arrangements or discounts were made to Accolade, were not
released to the public. The financial terms of the settlement were
also not disclosed, although both companies agreed to pay their own
legal costs.
Congressional hearings on video game violence
===============================================
In 1993, the American media began to focus on the mature content of
certain video games. Games such as 'Night Trap' for the Sega CD, an
add-on, received unprecedented scrutiny. Issues about 'Night Trap'
were brought up in the United Kingdom, with former Sega of Europe
development director Mike Brogan noting that "'Night Trap' got Sega an
awful lot of publicity ... it was also cited in UK Parliament for
being classified as '15' due to its use of real actors." This came at
a time when Sega was capitalizing on its image as an edgy company with
attitude, and this only reinforced that image. By far the year's most
controversial game was Midway's 'Mortal Kombat', ported to the Genesis
and SNES by Acclaim Entertainment. In response to public outcry over
the game's graphic violence, Nintendo decided to replace the blood in
the game with "sweat" and the arcade's gruesome "fatalities" with less
violent finishing moves. Sega took a different approach, instituting
America's first video game ratings system, the Videogame Rating
Council (VRC), for all its current systems. Ratings ranged from the
family-friendly GA rating to the more mature rating of MA-13, and the
adults-only rating of MA-17. With the rating system in place, Sega
released its version of 'Mortal Kombat', appearing to have removed all
the blood and sweat effects and toning down the finishing moves even
more than in the SNES version. However, all the arcade's blood and
uncensored finishing moves could be enabled by entering a "Blood
Code". This technicality allowed Sega to release the game with a
relatively low MA-13 rating. Meanwhile, the tamer SNES version shipped
without a rating.
The Genesis version of 'Mortal Kombat' was well-received by gaming
press, as well as fans, outselling the SNES version three- or
four-to-one, while Nintendo was criticized for censoring the SNES
version. Executive vice president of Nintendo of America Howard
Lincoln was quick to point out at the hearings that 'Night Trap' had
no such rating, saying to Senator Joe Lieberman:
In response, Sega of America vice president Bill White showed a
videotape of violent video games on the SNES and stressed the
importance of rating video games. At the end of the hearing, Lieberman
called for another hearing in February 1994 to check on progress
toward a rating system for video game violence.
As a result of the congressional hearings, 'Night Trap' started to
generate more sales and released ports to the PC, Sega 32X, and 3DO.
According to Digital Pictures founder Tom Zito, "You know, I sold
50,000 units of 'Night Trap' a week after those hearings." Although
experiencing increased sales, Sega decided to recall 'Night Trap' and
re-release it with revisions in 1994 due to the congressional
hearings. After the close of these hearings, video game manufacturers
came together to establish the rating system that Lieberman had called
for. Initially, Sega proposed the universal adoption of its system,
but after objections by Nintendo and others, Sega took a role in
forming a new one. This became the Entertainment Software Rating
Board, an independent organization that received praise from
Lieberman. With this new rating system in place for the 1994 holiday
season, Nintendo decided its censorship policies were no longer
needed, and the SNES port of 'Mortal Kombat II' was released
uncensored.
32-bit era and beyond
=======================
Sega released two add-ons to increase the Genesis capabilities: a CD
peripheral, the Sega CD (Mega-CD outside North America and Brazil),
and a 32-bit peripheral, the Sega 32X. Worldwide, Sega sold 2.24
million Sega CD units and 800,000 32X units.
Following the launch of the next-generation 32-bit Sony PlayStation
and Sega Saturn, sales of 16-bit hardware and software continued to
account for 64% of the video game market in 1995. Sega underestimated
the continued popularity of the Genesis and did not have the inventory
to meet demand. Sega captured 43% of the dollar share of the U.S.
video game market and claimed to have sold more than two million
Genesis units in 1995, while Genesis software such as 'Vectorman'
remained successful, but Kalinske estimated that "we could have sold
another 300,000 Genesis systems in the November/December timeframe".
Nakayama's decision to focus on the Saturn, based on the systems'
relative performance in Japan, has been cited as the major
contributing factor in this miscalculation. By contrast, Nintendo
concentrated on the 16-bit home console market, as well as its
successful handheld, the Game Boy, and took in 42% of the video game
market dollar share without launching a 32-bit console. Following
tensions with Sega Enterprises, Ltd. over its focus on the Saturn,
Kalinske, who oversaw the rise of the Genesis in 1991, lost interest
in the business and resigned in mid-1996.
Sega sold 30.75 million Genesis units worldwide. Of these, 3.58
million were sold in Japan, and sales in Europe and the U.S. are
roughly estimated at 8 million and 18-18.5 million as of June 1997 (at
which time Sega was no longer manufacturing the system) respectively.
rowspan="2" | Japanese FY colspan="4" | Shipping
Japan !! America !! Europe !! World
FY3/1989 0.40 - - 0.40
FY3/1990 0.60 0.40 - 1.00
FY3/1991 0.90 0.90 0.60 2.40
FY3/1992 0.70 1.70 1.20 3.60
FY3/1993 0.40 3.80 3.30 7.50
FY3/1994 0.45 5.05 2.15 7.65
FY3/1995 0.10 colspan="2" | 3.81 3.91
FY3/1996 0.03 colspan="2" | 2.05 2.08
Total !! 3.58 !! colspan="2" | 24.96 !! 28.54
In 1998, Sega licensed the Genesis to Majesco Entertainment to
rerelease it in North America. Majesco began reselling millions of
unsold cartridges at a budget price, together with 150,000 units of
the second model of the Genesis. It released the Genesis 3, projecting
to sell 1.5 million units of the console by the end of 1998. As of
2012, Tectoy had sold an estimated 3 million Genesis units.
However, some sources claim that the console sold 40 million units
during its lengthy lifespan without specifying whether third-party
variants are being considered.
Technical specifications
======================================================================
The main microprocessor is a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU clocked at
7.6 MHz. An 8-bit Zilog Z80 processor controls the sound hardware and
provides backward compatibility with the Master System. The Genesis
has 64 KB of RAM, 64 KB of video RAM and 8 KB of audio RAM. It can
display up to 61 colors at once from a palette of 512. The games are
in ROM cartridge format and inserted in the top.
The Genesis produces sound using a Texas Instruments SN76489
programmable sound generator, integrated with the Video Display
Processor (VDP), and a Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesizer chip. The Z80
processor is primarily used to control both sound chips to produce
stereo music and sound effects. Most revisions of the original Genesis
contain a discrete YM2612 and a separate YM7101 VDP; in a later
revision, the chips were integrated into a single custom ASIC
(FC1004).
The back of the Model 1 console provides an RF output port (designed
for use with antenna and cable systems) and a specialized 8-pin DIN
port, which both provide video and audio output. Both outputs produce
monophonic sound; a headphone jack on the front of the console
produces stereo sound. On the Model 2, the DIN port, RF output port,
and headphone jack are replaced by a 9-pin mini-DIN port on the back
for composite video, RGB and stereo sound, and the standard RF switch.
Earlier Model 1 consoles have a 9-pin extension port. An edge
connector on the bottom right of the console can be connected to a
peripheral.
Peripherals
=============
The standard controller features a rounded shape, a directional pad,
three main buttons, and a start button. In 1993, Sega released a
slightly smaller pad with three additional face buttons, similar to
the design of buttons on arcade fighting games such as 'Street Fighter
II'. Sega also released a wireless revision of the six-button
controller, the Remote Arcade Pad.
The system is backward compatible with the Master System. The first
peripheral is the Power Base Converter (Mega Adaptor in Japan and
Master System Converter in Europe), which allows Master System games
to be played. It is designed for the Model 1 revisions and will work
with the Model 2 revisions, however the shell blocks the power and AC
ports of the Model 2 revision, meaning that the converter must have
its shell modified or by using a pass-through adaptor. A second model
known as the Master System Converter II was released only in Europe
for use with the Mega Drive II, which works with other region Genesis
consoles and revisions but lacks the ability to use Master System
cards. Both the original Power Base Converter and the Master System
Converter II do not work with the Nomad or the Genesis 3.
Other peripherals were released to add functionality. The Menacer is a
wireless infrared light gun used with compatible games. Other third
parties created light gun peripherals, such as American Laser Games
and Konami. Released for art creation software, the Sega Mega Mouse
features three buttons and is only compatible with a few games, such
as 'Eye of the Beholder'. A foam-covered bat called the BatterUP and
the TeeVGolf golf club were released for both the Genesis and SNES.
In November 1993, Sega released the Sega Activator, an octagonal
device that lies flat on the floor and was designed to translate the
player's physical movements into game inputs. It was first shown at
the January 1993 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where it was
demonstrated with 'Streets of Rage 2'. Several high-profile games,
including 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Street Fighter II: Special Champion
Edition', were adapted to support the peripheral. The device was a
commercial failure, due mainly to its inaccuracy and its high price
point. 'IGN' editor Craig Harris ranked the Sega Activator the
third-worst video game controller ever made.
Both EA and Sega released multitaps to allow more than two players to
play at once. Initially, EA's version, the 4 Way Play, and Sega's
adapter, the Team Player, only supported each publisher's games. In
response to complaints, Sega said a new Team Player, which would work
with all Genesis multitap games, would be released. Later games were
created to work on both the 4 Way Play and Team Player. Codemasters
also developed the J-Cart system, providing two extra ports on the
cartridge itself, although the technology came late in the console's
life and is only featured on a few games. Sega planned to release a
steering wheel peripheral in 1994, and the Genesis version of 'Virtua
Racing' was advertised as "steering wheel compatible", but the
peripheral was cancelled.
Network services
==================
In its first foray into online gaming, Sega created Sega Meganet,
which debuted in Japan on November 3, 1990. Operating through a
cartridge and a peripheral called the "Mega Modem", this allowed Mega
Drive players to play a total of seventeen games online. A North
American version, dubbed "Tele-Genesis", was announced at the Winter
Consumer Electronics Show (Winter CES) in January 1990 but never
released, though a version was operated in Brazil starting in 1995.
Another phone-based system, the Mega Anser, turned the Japanese Mega
Drive into an online banking terminal.
In 1994, Sega started the Sega Channel, a game distribution system
using cable television services Time Warner Cable and TCI. Using a
special peripheral, Genesis players could download a game from a
library of fifty each month and demos for upcoming releases. Games
were downloaded to internal memory and deleted when the console was
powered off. The Sega Channel reached 250,000 subscribers at its peak
and ran until July 31, 1998, well past the release of the Sega Saturn.
In an effort to compete with Sega, third-party developer Catapult
Entertainment created the XBAND, a peripheral which allowed Genesis
players to engage in online competitive gaming. Using telephone
services to share data, XBAND was initially offered in five U.S.
cities in November 1994. The following year, the service was extended
to the SNES, and Catapult teamed up with Blockbuster Video to market
the service, but as interest in the service waned, it was discontinued
in April 1997.
Library
======================================================================
The Genesis library was initially modest, but eventually grew to
contain games to appeal to all types of players. The initial pack-in
game was 'Altered Beast', which was replaced with 'Sonic the Hedgehog'
in 1991. Top sellers included 'Sonic the Hedgehog', 'Sonic the
Hedgehog 2' and 'Disney's Aladdin'. Sega Enterprises focused on
developing action games, while Sega of America was tasked with
developing sports games. A large part of the appeal of the Genesis
library was the arcade-based experience of its games, as well as more
difficult entries such as 'Ecco the Dolphin', and sports games such as
'Joe Montana Football'. Compared to its competition, Sega advertised
to an older audience by hosting more mature games, including the
uncensored version of 'Mortal Kombat'.
The arcade hit 'Street Fighter II' by Capcom was initially released on
the SNES. As the Genesis continued to grow in popularity, Capcom
released a Genesis version, 'Street Fighter II: Champion Edition',
which sold more than a million copies. One of the biggest third-party
companies to support the Genesis early on was Electronic Arts. Trip
Hawkins, founder and then president of EA, believed the faster drawing
speed of the Genesis made it more suitable for sport games than the
SNES, and credits EA's success on the Genesis for helping catapult the
EA Sports brand. Another third-party blockbuster for the system was
the port of 'Mortal Kombat'. Although the arcade game was released on
the SNES and Genesis simultaneously, the two ports were not identical.
The SNES version looked closer to the arcade game, but the Genesis
version allowed players to bypass censorship, helping make it more
popular. In 1997, Sega of America claimed the Genesis had a software
attach rate of 16 games sold per console, double that of the SNES.
Sega Virtua Processor
=======================
The Super NES supports the inclusion of enhancement chips inside each
cartridge to produce more advanced graphics; for example, the launch
game 'Pilotwings' (1990) contains a digital signal processor. Later,
the Super FX chip was designed to offload complex rendering tasks from
the main CPU. It was first used in 'Star Fox' (1993) for real-time 3D
polygons, and 'Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island' (1995)
demonstrates rotation, scaling, and stretching of individual sprites
and manipulates large areas of the screen.
Sega had produced such effects on its arcade platforms, and adapted
some to the home console by developing the Sega Virtua Processor
(SVP). Based on a digital signal processor core by Samsung
Electronics, this chip enables the Genesis to render polygons in real
time and provides an "Axis Transformation" unit that handles scaling
and rotation. 'Virtua Racing' (1994) is the only game released with
this chip and the only Genesis cartridge with any enhancement chip,
running at a significantly higher and more stable frame rate than
filled polygon games on the SNES. The chip drastically increased the
cost of the cartridge, and at , 'Virtua Racing' is the most expensive
Genesis cartridge ever produced. Two other games, 'Virtua Fighter' and
'Daytona USA', were planned for the SVP chip, but were instead moved
into the Saturn's launch line-up. Sega planned to sell the SVP chip as
a separate upgrade module for the Genesis, but it was canceled, in
order to focus its efforts on the more powerful 32X add-on.
Add-ons
======================================================================
In addition to accessories such as the Power Base Converter, the
Genesis supports two add-ons that each support their own game
libraries. The first is the Sega CD (known as the Mega-CD in all
regions except for North America), a compact disc-based peripheral
that can play its library of games in CD-ROM format. The second is the
Sega 32X, a 32-bit peripheral which uses ROM cartridges and serves as
a pass-through for Genesis games. Sega produced a custom power strip
to fit the peripherals' large AC adapters. Both add-ons were
officially discontinued in 1996.
Sega CD
=========
By 1991, compact discs had gained in popularity as a data storage
device for music and software. PCs and video game companies had
started to make use of this technology. NEC had been the first to
include CD technology in a game console with the release of the
TurboGrafx-CD add-on, and Nintendo was making plans to develop its own
CD peripheral as well. Seeing the opportunity to gain an advantage
over its rivals, Sega partnered with JVC to develop a CD-ROM add-on
for the Genesis. Sega launched the Mega-CD in Japan on December 1,
1991, initially retailing at JP¥49,800. The CD add-on was launched in
North America on October 15, 1992, as the Sega CD, with a retail price
of US$299; it was released in Europe as the Mega-CD in 1993. In
addition to greatly expanding the potential size of its games, this
add-on unit upgraded the graphics and sound capabilities by adding a
second, more powerful processor, more system memory, and
hardware-based scaling and rotation similar to that found in Sega's
arcade games. It provided battery-backed storage RAM to allow games to
save high scores, configuration data, and game progress.
Shortly after its launch in North America, Sega began shipping the
Sega CD with the pack-in game 'Sewer Shark', a full motion video (FMV)
game developed by Digital Pictures, a company that became an important
partner for Sega. Touting the benefits of the CD's comparatively vast
storage space, Sega and its third-party developers produced a number
of games for the add-on that include digital video in their gameplay
or as bonus content, as well as re-releasing several cartridge-based
games with high-fidelity audio tracks. In 1993, Sega released the Sega
CD 2, a smaller and lighter version of the add-on designed for the
Genesis II, at a reduced price compared to the original. A limited
number of games were later developed that use both the Sega CD and the
Sega 32X add-ons.
The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan,
falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed its
high launch price, it also suffered from a tiny software library; only
two games were available at launch. This was due in part to the long
delay before Sega made its software development kit available to
third-party developers. Sales were higher in North America and Europe,
although the novelty of FMV and CD-enhanced games quickly wore off, as
many later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews. In 1995,
Sega announced a shift in focus to its new console, the Saturn, and
discontinued advertising for Genesis hardware. The Sega CD sold 2.24
million units worldwide.
Sega 32X
==========
With the release of the Saturn scheduled for 1995, Sega began
developing a stopgap to bridge the gap between the Genesis and Saturn
and serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era. At the Winter
Consumer Electronics Show in January 1994, Sega of America research
and development head Joe Miller took a phone call from Nakayama, in
which Nakayama stressed the importance of a quick response to the
Atari Jaguar. One idea came from a concept from Sega Enterprises,
referred to by former Sega of America producer Michael Latham as
"Genesis 2", which was a new standalone console. The concept was
initially planned as a new version of the Genesis, with an upgraded
color palette and a lower cost than the Saturn, and limited 3D
capabilities thanks to integration of ideas from the development of
the Sega Virtua Processor chip. Miller suggested an alternative
strategy, citing concerns with releasing a new console with no
previous design specifications within six to nine months. At the
suggestion from Miller and his team, Sega designed the 32X as a
peripheral for the existing Genesis, expanding its power with two
32-bit SuperH-2 processors. The SH-2 had been developed in 1993 as a
joint venture between Sega and Japanese electronics company Hitachi.
At the end of the Consumer Electronics show, with the basic design of
the 32X in place, Sega Enterprises invited Sega of America to assist
in development of the new add-on.
Although the new unit was a stronger console than originally proposed,
it was not compatible with Saturn games. Before the 32X could be
launched, the release date of the Saturn was announced for November
1994 in Japan, coinciding with the 32X's target launch date in North
America. Sega of America now was faced with trying to market the 32X
with the Saturn's Japan release occurring simultaneously. Their answer
was to call the 32X a "transitional device" between the Genesis and
the Saturn. This was justified by Sega's statement that both platforms
would run at the same time and that the 32X would be aimed at players
who could not afford the more expensive Saturn.
The 32X was released in November 1994, in time for the holiday season.
Demand among retailers was high, and Sega could not keep up orders for
the system. More than 1,000,000 orders had been placed for 32X units,
but Sega had only managed to ship 600,000 units by January 1995.
Launching at about the same price as a Genesis console, the price of
the 32X was less than half of what the Saturn's price would be at
launch. Though positioning the console as an inexpensive entry into
32-bit gaming, Sega had a difficult time convincing third-party
developers to create games for the new system. After an early run on
the peripheral, news soon spread to the public of the upcoming release
of the Sega Saturn, which would not support the 32X's games. The
Saturn was released on May 11, 1995, four months earlier than its
originally intended release date of September 2, 1995. The Saturn, in
turn, caused developers to further shy away from the console and
created doubt about the library for the 32X, even with Sega's
assurances that there would be a large number of games developed for
the system. In early 1996, Sega conceded that it had promised too much
out of the 32X and decided to stop producing the system in order to
focus on the Saturn. Prices for the 32X dropped to and cleared out of
stores at .
Variations
======================================================================
More than a dozen licensed variations of the Genesis/Mega Drive have
been released. In addition to models made by Sega, alternate models
were made by other companies, such as Majesco Entertainment, AtGames,
JVC, Pioneer Corporation, Amstrad, and Aiwa. A number of bootleg
clones were created during its lifespan.
First-party models{{anchor | #First-party variations}}
========================================================
Genesis II Sega CDX
Genesis Nomad TeraDrive
In 1993, Sega introduced a smaller, lighter version of the console,
known as the Mega Drive II in Japan, Europe, and Australia and sold as
Genesis (without the Sega prefix) in North America. This version omits
the headphone jack, replaces the A/V-Out connector with a smaller
version that supports stereo sound, and provides a simpler, less
expensive mainboard that requires less power.
Sega released a combined, semi-portable Genesis/Sega CD unit, the
Genesis CDX (marketed as the Multi-Mega in Europe). This unit retailed
at ; this was roughly more than the individual Genesis and Sega CD
units put together, as the Sega CD had been reduced to half a year
before. The CDX was bundled with 'Sonic CD', 'Sega Classics Arcade
Collection', and the Sega CD version of 'Ecco the Dolphin'. The CDX
features a small LCD screen that, when the unit is used to play audio
CDs, displays the current track being played. With this feature and
the system's lightweight build (weighing two pounds), Sega marketed it
in part as a portable CD player.
Late in the 16-bit era, Sega released a handheld version of the
Genesis, the Genesis Nomad. Its design was based on the Mega Jet, a
Mega Drive portable unit featured on airplane flights in Japan. As the
only successor to the Game Gear, the Nomad operates on 6 AA batteries,
displaying its graphics on a 3.25-inch (8.25-mm) LCD screen. The Nomad
supports the entire Genesis library (save for one game that requires
the use of the reset button, which the Nomad lacks), but cannot be
used with the Sega 32X, the Sega CD, or the Power Base Converter.
Exclusive to the Japanese market was the TeraDrive, a Mega Drive
combined with an IBM PC compatible computer. Sega also produced three
arcade system boards based on the Mega Drive: the System C-2, the
MegaTech, and the MegaPlay, which support approximately 80 games
combined.
Third-party models
====================
Wondermega Wondermega 2 Amstrad Mega PC
|width="90"| width="90"| width="90"|
Majesco's Genesis 3 AtGames's Sega Firecore Pioneer LaserActive
|width="90"| width="90"| width="90"|
Working with Sega Enterprises, JVC released the Wondermega on April 1,
1992, in Japan. The system was later redesigned by JVC and released as
the X'Eye in North America in September 1994. Designed by JVC to be a
Genesis and Sega CD combination with high quality audio, the
Wondermega's high price ($500 at launch) kept it out of the hands of
average consumers. The same was true of the Pioneer LaserActive, which
requires an add-on known as the Mega-LD pack, developed by Sega, in
order to play Genesis and Sega CD games. Although the LaserActive was
lined up to compete with the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the combined
price of the system and the Mega-LD pack made it a prohibitively
expensive option for Sega players. Aiwa released the CSD-GM1, a
combination Genesis/Sega CD unit built into a boombox. Several
companies added the Mega Drive to personal computers, mimicking the
design of Sega's TeraDrive; these include the MSX models AX-330 and
AX-990, distributed in Kuwait and Yemen, and the Amstrad Mega PC,
distributed in Europe and Australia.
After the Genesis was discontinued, Majesco Entertainment released the
Genesis 3 as a budget version in 1998. This version is even smaller in
comparison to earlier models, but it can only play standard cartridges
as it omitted support for the Sega CD and the 32X. A similar thing
happened in Portugal, where Ecofilmes, Sega's distributor in the
country, obtained a license to sell the Mega Game II. This version was
more akin to the second first-party model, being noteworthy the
inclusion of six-button controllers and a switch to alternate between
different game regions, enabling this version to play all games
without the need for any device or modification to bypass region
locking.
Re-releases and emulation
===========================
A number of Genesis and Mega Drive emulators have been produced,
including GenEM, KGen, Genecyst, VGen, Gens, and Kega Fusion. The
GameTap subscription gaming service included a Genesis emulator and
had several dozen licensed Genesis games in its catalog. The Console
Classix subscription gaming service includes an emulator and has
several hundred Genesis games in its catalog.
Compilations of Genesis games have been released for other consoles.
These include 'Sonic Mega Collection' and 'Sonic Gems Collection' for
PS2, Xbox, and GameCube; 'Sega Genesis Collection' for PS2 and PSP;
and 'Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection' (known as the 'Sega Mega
Drive Ultimate Collection' in PAL territories) for PlayStation 3 and
Xbox 360.
During his keynote speech at the 2006 Game Developers Conference,
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that Sega would make a
number of Genesis/Mega Drive games available to download on the Wii's
Virtual Console. There are select Genesis games available on the Xbox
360 through Xbox Live Arcade, such as 'Sonic the Hedgehog' and 'Sonic
2', as well as games available via the PlayStation Network and Steam.
Companies such as Radica Games have also released various compilations
of Genesis and Mega Drive games in "plug-and-play" packages resembling
the system's controller.
Later releases
================
On May 22, 2006, North American company Super Fighter Team released
'Beggar Prince', a game translated from a 1996 Chinese original. It
was released worldwide and was the first commercial Genesis game
release in North America since 1998. Super Fighter Team would later go
on to release two more games for the system, 'Legend of Wukong' and
'Star Odyssey'. In December 2010, WaterMelon, an American company,
released 'Pier Solar and the Great Architects', the first commercial
role-playing video game specifically developed for the console since
1996, and was the biggest 16-bit game ever produced for the console at
the time at 64 Mb (roughly 8 Megabytes). 'Pier Solar' is the only
cartridge-based game which can optionally use the Sega CD to play an
enhanced soundtrack and sound effects disc. In 2013, independent
programmer Future Driver, inspired by the Disney film 'Wreck-It
Ralph', developed 'Fix-It Felix Jr.' for the Genesis. In 2017,
American company Mega Cat Games released 'Coffee Crisis', a Beat 'em
up, for the Sega Genesis.
On December 5, 2007, Tectoy released a portable version of the
Genesis/Mega Drive with twenty built-in games. Another version called
"Mega Drive Guitar Idol" comes with two six-button joypads and a
guitar controller with five fret buttons. The 'Guitar Idol' game
contains a mix of Brazilian and international songs. The console has
87 built-in games, including some from Electronic Arts based on the
mobile phone versions. In 2016, Tectoy announced that they had
developed a new Genesis console that not only looks almost identical
to the original model of the Genesis, but also has a traditional
cartridge slot and SD card reader, which was released in June 2017.
In 2009, Chinese company AtGames produced a Genesis/Mega
Drive-compatible console, the Firecore. It features a top-loading
cartridge slot and includes two controllers similar to the six-button
controller for the original Genesis. The console has 15 games built-in
and is region-free, allowing cartridge games to run regardless of
their region. AtGames also produced a handheld version of the console
preloaded with 20 games. Both machines have been released in Europe by
distributing company Blaze Europe.
In 2018, Sega announced a dedicated console, the Genesis/Mega Drive
Mini. The console includes 40 games, including 'Gunstar Heroes' and
'Castlevania: Bloodlines', with different games for different regions
and a save-anywhere function. 'Streets of Rage' composer Yuzo Koshiro
provided the menu music. The console was released worldwide on
September 19, 2019.
Crowdfunded Sega Genesis games have been released in recent years,
with 'Tanglewood', a puzzle platformer being released on August 14,
2018, and 'Xeno Crisis' released on October 28, 2019. Both games were
created by indie-game developers using actual Sega development
hardware to ensure compatibility with the Genesis. On December 16,
2020, 'Paprium', WaterMelon's follow up game to 'Pier Solar', was
released after nearly a decade in development.
Reception
======================================================================
At the time of its release, the Genesis received positive reviews.
Andy Storer of 'New Computer Express' praised the console's responsive
controls and graphics, and said the Genesis was "straight out of the
future". Similarly, 'Electronic Gaming Monthly' ('EGM') in a 1989
preview of the console spoke highly of the system's hardware but
questioned Sega's ability to support the console given their
difficulties with the Master System. 'New Computer Express' called the
Genesis "the [console] to have" in 1990, rating it 5 out of 5 stars
while predicting the console would lead the market. In the same year,
'EGM' complimented how well the Genesis' games took advantage of the
console's hardware, but expressed concern about the slow pace of new
releases of games, with four reviewers scoring the console 9, 8, 8,
and 10 out of 10.
Reviewing the Genesis in 1995, 'Game Players' noted that its rivalry
with the Super NES was skewed by genre, with the Genesis having
superior sports games and the Super NES superior RPGs. Commenting that
the Genesis hardware was aging and the new software drying up, they
recommended consumers buy a next-generation system or a Genesis Nomad
instead, but also advised those who already owned a Genesis to not
sell it. In a 1997 year-end review, a team of five 'EGM' editors gave
the Genesis scores of 4.5, 5.0, 4.0, 4.5, and 7.5 - for all five
editors, the lowest score they gave to any of the five consoles
reviewed in the issue. While their chief criticisms were the lack of
upcoming game releases and dated hardware, they also concurred that
the Genesis was clearly inferior to the Super NES in terms of graphics
capabilities, sound chip, and games library. John Ricciardi, in
particular, considered the Genesis overrated, saying he had
consistently found more enjoyment in both the Super NES and
TurboGrafx-16, while Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer recommended it based on
its selection of classic titles and the high value-for-money of the
six pack-in games Sega was offering at the time.
Legacy
======================================================================
The Genesis has often ranked among the best video game consoles. In
2009, IGN named it the fifth best video game console, citing its edge
in sports games and better home version of 'Mortal Kombat', and
lauding "what some consider to be the greatest controller ever
created: the six button". In 2007, GameTrailers named the Genesis as
the sixth best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles
that "left their mark on the history of gaming", noting its great
games and solid controller, and writing of the "glory days" of 'Sonic
the Hedgehog'. In January 2008, technology columnist Don Reisinger
proclaimed that the Genesis "created the industry's best console war
to date", citing 'Sonic the Hedgehog', superior sports games, and
backward compatibility with the Sega Master System. In 2008,
GamingExcellence ranked it sixth of the 10 best consoles, declaring,
"one can truly see the Genesis for the gaming milestone it was." At
the same time, GameDaily rated it ninth of ten for its memorable
games.
In 2014, USgamer's Jeremy Parish wrote, "If the Atari generation
introduced video games as a short-lived '70s fad ... and the NES
generation established it into an enduring obsession for the young,
Sega's Genesis began pushing the medium toward something resembling
its contemporary form", expounding that the system served as "the key
incubator for modern sports franchises", made "consoles truly
international" by providing Western third-parties previously put at a
disadvantage by Nintendo's restrictive licensing policies with a more
profitable alternative, created "an online subscription service" that
foreshadowed "PlayStation Plus more than 15 years early" with the Sega
Channel, and "played a key role in ensuring the vitality and future of
the games industry by breaking Nintendo's near-monopolistic hold on
the U.S. and awakening the U.K. to the merits of television gaming".
For his part, Kalinske highlighted Sega's role in developing games for
an older demographic and pioneering "the concept of the 'street date
with the simultaneous North American and European release of 'Sonic
the Hedgehog 2'. John Sczepaniak of 'Retro Gamer' noted, "It was a
system where the allure was born not only of the hardware and games,
but the magazines, playground arguments, climate, and politics of the
time." Sega of America's marketing campaign for the Genesis was widely
emulated, influencing marketing in the subsequent generation of
consoles.
See also
======================================================================
* List of best-selling Sega Genesis games
* Neo Geo
* Philips CD-i
License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Genesis
