Why did SEGA create the Genesis? [Archive]

veronica_marsfan

10-22-2007, 12:45 PM

I would be surprised. None of those platforms was exactly setting the world on fire. ???

Don't know about that. In 1988 the Macs and Amigas and STs of the world looked very impressive next to the "sterile" IBM PC that went "beep" and had just 16 colors.

I'm just questioning if Sega really was trying to copy Macs or Amigas or STs.
It sorta/kinda makes sense, since the Genesis looks, plays, and sounds
like an Amiga (minus the keyboard).

fishsandwich

10-22-2007, 12:47 PM

I think it was a match for the Atari ST but the Amiga had custom chips that made it more powerful than the Genny.

Vectorman0

10-22-2007, 01:10 PM

I'm not quite sure what exactly it is you are asking. Although, the answer your original question is quite simple.

Why did SEGA create the Genesis?

To make money.

playgeneration

10-22-2007, 01:17 PM

I'm sure Sega looked at their competition before deciding what to put in their console, it just makes sense to. Amiga was a big success in Europe, which at the time was very much Sega's best region for sales.
The 68k CPU was an obvious choice though, powerful yet cheap - the fact mass produced computers used it helped on that front. Plus Sega has used it for years in their Arcade hardware, and sega made a point of using very similar hardware in consoles as arcade machines, as it makes porting games much easier.

Bratwurst

10-22-2007, 01:24 PM

Plus Sega has used it for years in their Arcade hardware, and sega made a point of using very similar hardware in consoles as arcade machines, as it makes porting games much easier.

That's pretty much what I thought, their software division was already familiar with the arcade hardware and they had a catalogue of titles to bring into the home. Golden Axe, Altered Beast. Plus it's less R&D in hardware development.

Zebbe

10-22-2007, 01:49 PM

The Master System had failed in Japan and USA and they knew they wouldn't get anywhere with it. So they made a 16-bit console to lead the market with new, more powerful technology that would take more interest from the customers than the aging competitors and still be before their successors.

Zing

10-22-2007, 01:50 PM

A better question is: why is SEGA in all capital letters?

Sweater Fish Deluxe

10-22-2007, 02:12 PM

wikipedia claims: "Sega set about creating a new videogame console that would be at least as powerful as the then most impressive home computer hardware on the market - Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh."

Any truth to that?

Any articles that support that view?

Withi wikipedia it's hard to know what to believe and not believe.
If you understand the quote to mean that Sega specifically set out to create a system that would be like the Amiga, ST and Macs, then I'm sure it's false.

I doubt any of those computers were even in the backs of the minds of the people at Sega who designed the Mega Drive since none of them was very popular in Japan at all. The Sharp X68000 was popular over there, but even then I'm sure that like playgeneration said, the hardware design of the Mega Drive was based more on Sega's own popular arcade machines--which had mostly all been 68k based for a few years by then--than any computer architecture.

...word is bondage...

mnbren05

10-22-2007, 02:23 PM

Sega in reality is a business. The very nature of business is to seek out a target audience and provide a product that the target audience desires. Sega simply made a system that was competitive to others available and set about marketing to their target audience. Did they try to copy their predecessors? In a very basic sense yes, but I feel they were targeting a different audience with a different product. Inevitably some over lap occurs, but when does this not happen.

Jorpho

10-22-2007, 02:24 PM

While much might be said about the quality of the software and the operating system, the common Macintoshes of that era weren't particularly impressive technologically, were they?

segagamer

10-22-2007, 02:31 PM

A better question is: why is SEGA in all capital letters?

SEGA = SErvice GAmes

InsaneDavid

10-22-2007, 02:55 PM

SEGA = SErvice GAmes

Yes, we all know that, but it shouldn't be capitalized. If you're saying it should be capitalized because it's an abbreviation then it woud be SeGa. This isn't SNK (Shin Nihon Kikaku) here, it's Sega.

Flack

10-22-2007, 03:00 PM

Why did SEGA create the Genesis?

Because arcades were dying. With 16-bit sound and graphics, the Sega Genesis could deliver decent home versions of their arcade games like Altered Beast and After Burner. Even if arcades completely failed (which they essentially did), Sega would still have a source of income through home gaming systems.

idrougge

10-22-2007, 03:10 PM

I would be surprised. None of those platforms was exactly setting the world on fire.

I beg your pardon?

idrougge

10-22-2007, 03:11 PM

I'm just questioning if Sega really was trying to copy Macs or Amigas or STs.

Not copy � compete. It wouldn't have made sense to put out something which wasn't at least on equal footing with those systems.

Kevincal

10-22-2007, 03:12 PM

LOL. Isn't it obvious Sega created the Genesis because Sega's Master system was getting its ass handed to them by the NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM... ;) And Sega did an awesome job with the Genesis... I was a Nintendo kid, but when it came time to buy a 16 bit system, I chose the Genesis. And was VERY happy. Sonic just ruled hardcore. The original Sonic on the Genesis was just as great as the original Mario Bros. on the NES. I guess that's not news though huh LOL.

veronica_marsfan

10-22-2007, 03:51 PM

I capitalized it because I felt like it. It reminded me of the "sega scream". BTW I've never played Genesis (5 hours playing Populous on an emulator doesn't count). Should I go out and buy one?

Do Segas have the RGB output? Component output? S-video output?

If you understand the quote to mean that Sega specifically set out to create a system that would be like the Amiga, ST and Macs, then I'm sure it's false. I doubt any of those computers were even in the backs of the minds of the people at Sega who designed the Mega Drive since none of them was very popular in Japan at all. The Sharp X68000 was popular over there, but even then I'm sure that like playgeneration said, the hardware design of the Mega Drive was based more on Sega's own popular arcade machines--

That makes a lot of sense. Japanese designers probably were unaware of the U.S.-based Apple, Commodore, or Atari machines.

Thanks.

segagamer

10-22-2007, 04:33 PM

Yes, we all know that, but it shouldn't be capitalized. If you're saying it should be capitalized because it's an abbreviation then it woud be SeGa. This isn't SNK (Shin Nihon Kikaku) here, it's Sega.

Well, Zing did not know that and I was merely responding to his question. So don't get on my case about something I was only responding to.

idrougge

10-22-2007, 05:00 PM

MrRoboto19XX

10-22-2007, 05:09 PM

A better question is: why is SEGA in all capital letters?

I've always thought it was for aesthetic reasons regarding the logo, just brand identity of a sort. SONY is also always capitalized as well (and the letters are always the same color).

Kid Ice

10-22-2007, 05:56 PM

???

Don't know about that. In 1988 the Macs and Amigas and STs of the world looked very impressive next to the "sterile" IBM PC that went "beep" and had just 16 colors.

Did they look good or did they make money? Did their owners love them or did everyone love them? Why would they copy something that wasn't selling?

Rob2600

10-22-2007, 09:05 PM

Because arcades were dying.

Arcades were dying back in 1988?

That was before the peak of the beat-'em-up craze (Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, Golden Axe, TMNT, The Simpsons, Captain Commando, etc.), the one-on-one fighting game craze (Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, etc.), the light gun game craze (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Area 51, Virtua Cop, The House of the Dead, etc.), and the rhythm game craze (Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania, Pump It Up, etc.).

Bratwurst

10-22-2007, 11:11 PM

Arcades were dying back in 1988?

Catering to a hardcore crowd that played beat-em-ups and then Street Fighter clones does not equate to the national phenomenon of the late 70's and early 80's where everyone and their mother played Pong and Pac-Man.

Push Upstairs

10-23-2007, 12:34 AM

Because they could.

Seems like "veronica_marsfan" should be changed to "Heroes_Fan".

tom

10-23-2007, 03:04 AM

>>>>>Why did SEGA create the Genesis?<<<<<

SEGA was GOD

veronica_marsfan

10-23-2007, 07:08 AM

Catering to a hardcore crowd that played beat-em-ups and then Street Fighter clones does not equate to the national phenomenon of the late 70's and early 80's where everyone and their mother played Pong and Pac-Man. Well said. The arcades of circa 1990 were just a poor shadow of what they were circa 1980. In fact my local mall arcade went backrupt in 1991 due to lack of money.

When people acquired the hardware like Commodore 64s, Amigas, Nintendos, and Segas for playing at home, which could create games almost as good as the arcade, that took-away any need to go visit an arcade. (It also saved a lot of quarters to play at home.)
Did they look good or did they make money? Did their owners love them or did everyone love them? Why would they copy something that wasn't selling? The Atari STs didn't do well, but the Commodore Amiga 500/2000 models sold almost 10 million units (the world record for "best selling computer" is 25 million, so 10 mil is damn good). The Amiga 2000s were used for creating the CGI for various television shows like seaQuest, Space Above and Beyond, and Babylon 5.

And of course Macintoshes sold well (which is why they are still here).

To say these machines were "not selling" is not accurate imho.

boatofcar

10-23-2007, 07:36 AM

Lots of good points here. I'm going to try to throw in my two cents.

wikipedia claims: "Sega set about creating a new videogame console that would be at least as powerful as the then most impressive home computer hardware on the market - Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh."

Any truth to that?

Probably not. As one other person already suggested, none of those computers made any impact in Japan. Sega was most likely trying to emulate their arcade system hardware to the best of their ability.

I would be surprised. None of those platforms was exactly setting the world on fire.

I beg your pardon?

Remember, markets are not the same everywhere in the world :) Atari computers especially had a much different life in Europe.

???

Don't know about that. In 1988 the Macs and Amigas and STs of the world looked very impressive next to the "sterile" IBM PC that went "beep" and had just 16 colors.

I'm just questioning if Sega really was trying to copy Macs or Amigas or STs.
It sorta/kinda makes sense, since the Genesis looks, plays, and sounds
like an Amiga (minus the keyboard).

I thought you said you'd never played a Genesis, aside from Populous on an emulator?

While much might be said about the quality of the software and the operating system, the common Macintoshes of that era weren't particularly impressive technologically, were they?

Not really. Compared to the STs and Amigas at the time, the Macs of that period (Mac II, the first Mac SE) were similarly equipped, though often overpriced. How times change, huh? :wink:

Because arcades were dying. With 16-bit sound and graphics, the Sega Genesis could deliver decent home versions of their arcade games like Altered Beast and After Burner. Even if arcades completely failed (which they essentially did), Sega would still have a source of income through home gaming systems.

I dunno...I think the official first death of the arcade was in 1992, not 1988.

Not copy � compete. It wouldn't have made sense to put out something which wasn't at least on equal footing with those systems.

Again, I'm almost positive the Amiga and ST had nothing to do with the power of the Genesis. Sega was trying their best to emulate their arcade systems in a home console.

blue lander

10-23-2007, 11:43 AM

The Genesis is basically all off-the-shelf parts, rights? I seriously doubt they had the ST or Amiga in mind when they created it. Their top concerns were probably having a system they could easily port their arcade games to, and one that could outperform the NES.

CosmicMonkey

10-23-2007, 12:58 PM

Kevincal

10-23-2007, 05:45 PM

Yeah, that sound about spot on. ;)

Rob2600

10-23-2007, 05:59 PM

Well said. The arcades of circa 1990 were just a poor shadow of what they were circa 1980.

Really? To my friends and me, arcades were just hitting their stride in the late 1980s. Being born in the late 1970s probably has something to do with our perspective though.

Don't get me wrong, we enjoy and appreciate the old classics, but at the time, we were very excited by the advanced graphics in games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, and Aliens and always looked forward to going to local arcades.

I'd say arcades really started dying in the mid/late 1990s.

xplics

10-23-2007, 06:41 PM

I think the genesis was built to compete with them and most of all the most obvious the nes which at the time seemed unstoppable.

Sweater Fish Deluxe

10-23-2007, 08:47 PM

Really? To my friends and me, arcades were just hitting their stride in the late 1980s. Being born in the late 1970s probably has something to do with our perspective though.

Don't get me wrong, we enjoy and appreciate the old classics, but at the time, we were very excited by the advanced graphics in games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, and Aliens and always looked forward to going to local arcades.
He was talking about the popularity of arcades, not anything about the actual games in the arcades. Whether you prefer the arcade games of the early '80s or the late '80s and early '90s may be a matter of perspective as you say, but the fact that arcades were far far more popular in the early '80s than they have been any time since is not really debatable. At least that was the case in the U.S.

I don't think popularity of arcades in the U.S. had much to do with Sega's decision to release the Mega Drive, though. The arcade scene in Japan were still rising in popularity during the late '80s from what I can tell. They never seem to have been as popular over there as they were here in the early '80s, but I don't think they've ever been as dead over there as they have been here at their lowest moments, either. Except maybe right now.

...word is bondage...

Melf

10-23-2007, 10:07 PM

Sega was most likely trying to emulate their arcade system hardware to the best of their ability.

This is exactly it. The Genesis is based on system-16 hardware, which Sega used to give as accurate ports of its arcade titles as possible. Sega was short on time, and it knew that the NES was long enough in the tooth that a more powerful console would make it look ancient. Since the SNES was essentially already in development, the company had to act quickly. System-16 hardware was quick and easy to adapt, and it had a proven track record in arcades.

The Genesis is basically all off-the-shelf parts, rights? I seriously doubt they had the ST or Amiga in mind when they created it. Their top concerns were probably having a system they could easily port their arcade games to, and one that could outperform the NES.

Bingo. Bringing the arcade experience home was central to the Genesis during its first year. It was made to bring arcade hits home quickly and easily, and Sega made this fact the emphasis of its marketing under Michael Katz. It wasn't until 1991, when the arcade theme was proven to be less successful than Sega wanted (Japan wanted a million Genesis units sold in America in its first year; SOA only sold 500k), that the strategy was changed under Tom Kalinske.

wizkid007

10-23-2007, 10:16 PM

It was to deliver an arcade experience. There first game was altered beast. By promoting arcade games on both fronts they strenghten there own products and their brand at the same time. It just makes sense.

From a psychological standpoint. SEGA in caps stood out, it was a way to differentiate itself from nintendo at the time, and it backed the notion that we are here to play, almost like a subliminal message.

grolt

10-23-2007, 10:20 PM

Bringing the arcade experience home was central to the Genesis during its first year.
Hasn't that always been Sega's mandate? The Master System was all about bringing home ports of OutRun, After Burner and Space Harrier, and the Saturn launched on the strength of Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA. Once the arcade mileage ran out they'd obviously have to switch to original home franchises to keep sales fresh (Wonder Boy, Sonic, NiGHTS) but first and foremost, they were tied to their arcade division (and still remain so today).

Melf

10-23-2007, 10:55 PM

The arcade steam ran out pretty quick, which is one of the main reasons why Kalinske recommended that Sega beef up its original properties and American-made games. Once Sonic took off, it became clear to Japan that original IPs were the way to go.

Sweater Fish Deluxe

10-23-2007, 11:22 PM

Well, since Sega is also a major arcade games company unlike Nintendo, they're bound to play up the arcade-at-home aspect of their home systems. That's definitely been a major recurring theme in their marketing, but they try all sorts of stuff.

For instance, around 1989-1990, the Master System was marketed as "the RPG console" (though the actual term RPG wasn't really used much, if at all, back then) since most of the best-selling games on the system were RPGs of one sort or another and that was something the NES didn't have much of at the time.

...word is bondage...

boatofcar

10-24-2007, 02:31 AM

For instance, around 1989-1990, the Master System was marketed as "the RPG console" (though the actual term RPG wasn't really used much, if at all, back then) since most of the best-selling games on the system were RPGs of one sort or another and that was something the NES didn't have much of at the time.

Do you have any evidence of this in the form of ads? Not doubting you, I'd just like to see how it was done.

veronica_marsfan

10-24-2007, 10:15 AM

I thought you said you'd never played a Genesis, aside from Populous on an emulator?
True. Also Sonic 1/2. I probably shouldn't base my "Genesis is like an Amiga" comparison on just three games.

I dunno...I think the official first death of the arcade was in 1992, not 1988. It never truly died. Arcades are still out there, but vastly inferior to how they were pre-1983 crash.

veronica_marsfan

10-24-2007, 10:19 AM

Don't get me wrong, we enjoy and appreciate the old classics, but at the time, we were very excited by the advanced graphics in games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Final Fight, Ninja Gaiden, and Aliens and always looked forward to going to local arcades. It was the same for me, but once I acquired a computer (mid-80s) capable of recreating Arcade-quality graphics, there was no longer any reason to go.

Rob2600

10-24-2007, 02:46 PM

It was the same for me, but once I acquired a computer (mid-80s) capable of recreating Arcade-quality graphics, there was no longer any reason to go.

I don't know...I grew up with the Atari 2600 and later the NES and for me, computer games never felt quite right.

idrougge

10-24-2007, 03:10 PM

suppafly

10-24-2007, 04:25 PM

`cause they wanted to kick Nintendo�s ass..and they did :D

blue lander

10-24-2007, 04:44 PM

You can't make a competitive console using off-the-shelf parts, becaue there basically are none.

What parts in the Genesis aren't off the shelf? The CPU's bog standard, the VDP is standard Texas Instruments stuff. Not sure about the sound chip, though. Were any of the chips designed specifically for the Genesis?

tritium

10-24-2007, 04:56 PM

What parts in the Genesis aren't off the shelf? The CPU's bog standard, the VDP is standard Texas Instruments stuff. Not sure about the sound chip, though. Were any of the chips designed specifically for the Genesis?

likely the mainboard, the lockout system, and stuff like that was customized to prevent the atari issue of clone wars. patent the mainboard and boom you're clear. (at least in my ignorant little opinion)

Jorpho

10-24-2007, 07:11 PM

Not sure about the sound chip, though.

The sound chip was the equally bog-standard Z80, no?

...Wait, no it wasn't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Genesis#Audio

blue lander

10-24-2007, 07:11 PM

The lockout system is all software, not hardware. I don't think any of the chips in the Genesis are proprietary to Sega or were specially created for them.

Ed Oscuro

10-24-2007, 09:34 PM

Why did SEGA create the Genesis?

Because Nintendon't.

(The only possible answer.)

Seriously...wuut

zektor

10-24-2007, 10:11 PM

I think for a slew of reasons, and here are some that come to mind:

1. Sega was not too happy with what had happened in regards to the whole Sega Master System ordeal. They lost to Nintendo there...and it was because of licensing strangleholds in the USA. They had a desire to get even.

2. Sega knew that people were thirsty for more at that point. Something more powerful, something new. Something that can really handle arcade games of the time. I remember playing Altered Beast in the arcade before the Genesis was released, loving it, and loving it more hearing that this would be the system pack-in. It was literally sold to me before it was even released.

3. Nintendo had stated many times back then (from what I recall) that the NES was "powerful enough" and that they did not need to upgrade just yet. I remember reading that in a Nintendo Power around that time if memory serves me right. Bad move on their part, and Sega took advantage of their reluctance to move forward at just the right time.

It's always about money really, and it was Sega's time to take a piece of the pie. They knew it, they did it, and they succeeded.

ccovell

10-24-2007, 10:47 PM

idrougge

10-25-2007, 06:39 PM

What parts in the Genesis aren't off the shelf? The CPU's bog standard, the VDP is standard Texas Instruments stuff. Not sure about the sound chip, though. Were any of the chips designed specifically for the Genesis?

I have never heard of TI developing any VDPs* after they cancelled TI-99 production in 1983-84. AFAIK, both Yamaha and Sega had to take over VDP development themselves for the MSX2 and Mark III, and the Megadrive VDP is very far removed from the original TI chips.

But you're right about the soundchip, that's more or less a standard Yamaha part, with a TI chip thrown in for good measure.

They did make very advanced GPUs for workstations in the late eighties, but those were never used in consumer equipment.

Jorpho

10-25-2007, 06:47 PM

There were several arcade machines that used TI chips, weren't there? Battletoads is the first one that comes to mind.

diskoboy

10-25-2007, 09:51 PM

The reason why Sega made the Genesis.... They were the undisputed king of the arcade between 1986-1991. Nintendo had a stranglehold on the American home market, and Sega was in a distant second, NEC was a newcomer with no name recognition, and Nintendo had relaxed their monopolistic practices. Sega saw the chink in the armor, and decided to use this as an oppritunity to finally gain ground in the market.

There had already been 3 generations of 8-bit machines. Sega decided to go for the gusto, and use a chip similar to what they were using in the arcades and more powerful home PC's at the time.

The only thing i find odd about Sega's choice in hardware is it was meant for doing strictly 2-D games. Most of Sega's arcade hits, at the time, pretty much depended on scaling and rotation features, but surprisingly, they left those features out. To this day, I still question that decision.

Rob2600

10-25-2007, 11:35 PM

The reason why Sega made the Genesis.... They were the undisputed king of the arcade between 1986-1991.

Is that a definite fact? I remember seeing a lot of Sega arcade games back then, but I also remember seeing a lot of Capcom, Taito, Konami, and Data East arcade games back then, too.

Keep in mind, I'm not an arcade expert; I'm just making an observation.

Sweater Fish Deluxe

10-26-2007, 02:22 PM

Is that a definite fact? I remember seeing a lot of Sega arcade games back then, but I also remember seeing a lot of Capcom, Taito, Konami, and Data East arcade games back then, too.

Keep in mind, I'm not an arcade expert; I'm just making an observation.
I've never seen any sales or manufacturing data to prove it, but I've always heard that not only was Sega the number one arcade company from 1986-1991, but they have in fact been the number one arcade company from 1986-2007. I don't know if that's sales or profits or what, but it doesn't seem totally unreasonable to me.

For instance, around 1989-1990, the Master System was marketed as "the RPG console" (though the actual term RPG wasn't really used much, if at all, back then) since most of the best-selling games on the system were RPGs of one sort or another and that was something the NES didn't have much of at the time.
Do you have any evidence of this in the form of ads? Not doubting you, I'd just like to see how it was done.
Yeah, I've definitely got some ads that play up this angle of the Master System from some of my old game mags. I'll see if I can dig something up and surreptitiously scan it using the scanner at work.

...word is bondage...

diskoboy

10-26-2007, 02:29 PM

Is that a definite fact? I remember seeing a lot of Sega arcade games back then, but I also remember seeing a lot of Capcom, Taito, Konami, and Data East arcade games back then, too.

Keep in mind, I'm not an arcade expert; I'm just making an observation.

If you look at old RePlay magazines from back then, Sega had alot of top grossing machines, between this time. Most any game Sega made between 87-90 would be on the top of the charts for months..

It started with Hang-On and basically ended when Street Fighter 2 came out, then Capcom dominated the arcade. But Namco, Taito, Capcom, and Konami were all still very strong contenders. I think Taito was not too far behind Sega, with their string of successful games. Namco was liscensing alot of games through Atari, Konami - really al they had around this time was Gradius, TMNT, and The Simpsons games.

Rob2600

10-26-2007, 03:43 PM

The only thing i find odd about Sega's choice in hardware is it was meant for doing strictly 2-D games. Most of Sega's arcade hits, at the time, pretty much depended on scaling and rotation features, but surprisingly, they left those features out.

I've always wondered the same thing. Why did Sega omit scaling and rotation capabilities from the Genesis hardware when many of its arcade machines at the time used them? Would scaling and rotation capabilities have increased the price of the Genesis?

If you look at old RePlay magazines from back then, Sega had alot of top grossing machines, between this time. Most any game Sega made between 87-90 would be on the top of the charts for months..

It started with Hang-On and basically ended when Street Fighter 2 came out, then Capcom dominated the arcade. But Namco, Taito, Capcom, and Konami were all still very strong contenders. I think Taito was not too far behind Sega, with their string of successful games. Namco was liscensing alot of games through Atari, Konami - really al they had around this time was Gradius, TMNT, and The Simpsons games.

Thanks for the info. I remember Konami also had Contra, Super Contra, Jackal, Boot Camp, Blades of Steel, Sunset Riders, Aliens, Bottom of the Ninth, The Main Event, Double Dribble, Crime Fighters, etc. Konami had a big arcade presence, though I admit its games weren't always the most original.

Sweater Fish Deluxe

10-26-2007, 04:06 PM

It started with Hang-On and basically ended when Street Fighter 2 came out, then Capcom dominated the arcade.
What about the Model 2? I think Daytona USA alone was enough to keep Sega in the number one position through the mid-90s. I'm sure Capcom may have taken the top spot for six months or so when Street Fighter 2 was at its hottest, but even then Sega had some pretty strong contenders on the Model 1 and many of either older games were still popular.

...word is bondage...

diskoboy

10-26-2007, 05:54 PM

What about the Model 2? I think Daytona USA alone was enough to keep Sega in the number one position through the mid-90s. I'm sure Capcom may have taken the top spot for six months or so when Street Fighter 2 was at its hottest, but even then Sega had some pretty strong contenders on the Model 1 and many of either older games were still popular.

...word is bondage...

That's actually true.... Sega still Had Virtua Fighter, Virtual On, Virtual Racing, HotD... Sega had a good run in the 90's. The only problem is, the arcade was dead again in America, beginning 1998.

I'm actually still surprised Sega got out of the home hardware biz, yet stayed in the dead-as-a-doornail arcade biz.

Ed Oscuro

10-26-2007, 08:28 PM

The Blast Processor, surely?
A joke, for me? Aww, you shouldn't have :D

veronica_marsfan

10-27-2007, 07:49 AM

Ye made some excellent points.

While the Commodore Amiga had a bunch of custom chips (Agnus video, Paula sound) the Genesis used standard video and sound chips from TI and Yamaha. Cheaper. Didn't look or sound as good as the Amiga's Jay Miner-designed chips, but they were "close enough" and cheap enough to squeeze into a console.
The Blast Processor, surely? No such thing exists in the Genesis. It's just a plain-jane 68000 like you'd find inside a Macintosh or Amiga or Atari ST.

It was the same for me, but once I acquired a computer (mid-80s) capable of recreating Arcade-quality graphics, there was no longer any reason to go. I don't know...I grew up with the Atari 2600 and later the NES and for me, computer games never felt quite right. I had a Commodore 64 which has the same "feel" as any console. The C64 is basically a console with a keyboard. Even has joystick ports, a plug for your TV, and a slot for cartridges. You can literally play it straight from the box like a console.

While you were playing the NES I was playing better-quality games on the C64. I later acquired an Amiga which feels a lot like a Sega Genesis with a keyboard, and I was playing 16-bit-quality games (Populous, Marble Madness, Pacmania) in 1988.

Having these Commodore/Amiga machines meant I had no reason to go to the arcade; there was nothing there better than what was at home. (IMHO that's still true today; why drive to an arcade when you can play at home.)

ccovell

10-27-2007, 12:00 PM

No such thing exists in the Genesis. It's just a plain-jane 68000 like you'd find inside a Macintosh or Amiga or Atari ST.

It was a joke, of course. I hope by now nobody believes that Blast Processing was anything other than a marketing smokescreen.

While you were playing the NES I was playing better-quality games on the C64. I later acquired an Amiga which feels a lot like a Sega Genesis with a keyboard, and I was playing 16-bit-quality games (Populous, Marble Madness, Pacmania) in 1988.

Having these Commodore/Amiga machines meant I had no reason to go to the arcade; there was nothing there better than what was at home.

Oh, dear. I spot a zealot!

I love the C64 and Amiga (indeed, I have 2 of each!) but seriously, I think it's stretching things a lot to say C64 games were as high-quality as the NES, which thrived on solid, polished titles; and to say the Amiga outshone anything in the arcade. Arcade conversions, especially, were a bit disappointing to me on the Amiga because many were designed with the limitations of the Atari ST in mind (huge fancy borders on all sides, hello!) and then lazily ported to the Amiga. But anyway, that's enough arguing for now.

Ed Oscuro

10-27-2007, 02:31 PM

No such thing [the Blast Processor] exists in the Genesis. It's just a plain-jane 68000 like you'd find inside a Macintosh or Amiga or Atari ST.
I'm sure this is a stunning revelation for Chris, myself, and everybody else who goes to these Forums. Without this important information we would've been fated to mindlessly drone on about the glories of the Blast Processor until the end of our days.

Welcome to my mode of posting, c. 2002!