swlovinist
03-12-2004, 11:48 PM
Of all the luck I’ve had making wise choices on games and systems, it was bound to happen; my hard earned money was to be wasted on a peripheral that was just plain bad. Yes, I was one of the many gamers that rushed out to get the 32X, only to be greatly disappointed. I am still a Sega fan, but I look at this ‘unique’ add-on and to this very day I can only imagine what wonderful chemicals they must have been smoking, to come up with an add-on that, if anything, lowered my opinion of Sega’s R&D team.
During my Sega phase of the early nineties, I had enjoyed many games and products proffered by Sega. Being that Sega and Nintendo were going head-to-head, it was evident to me that with the exorbitant amount of advertising Sega was doing, it was trying not to leave its loyal Genesis fans behind. By the end of 1994, my Sega was starting to lose its luster…no longer did I spend hours playing Dark Wizard on the Sega CD, no longer did the Genesis hold that same thrill I used to get every time I saw it.
Hope gleamed from the pages of EGM, my favorite rag at the time, in the form of Sega’s new attempt at capturing my valuable interest. They were promoting a new add-on for the Genesis that would bridge the gap between the previous 16-bit systems and the next gen 32-bit systems that were either out, or soon to be out. This new device would pop into the top of your Genesis and double, freaking DOUBLE the Genesis’ already amazing processing power!
I was a college student at the time so I didn’t have a lot of money to burn, and I knew the next generation systems were going to put the serious hurt on whatever funds I could muster. If I could spend a little bit of cash and get something that could be played on my current Sega set-up, it would save me a lot of money and it would float me ‘til I could afford a newer system; it seemed the perfect solution. I decided that after the Christmas rush, in January of ’95, I would break down and finally choose which next gen system I would own.
Being that I was a Star Wars fan, I was excited about the resurgence of products to do with the movies, and noticed that one of the titles that was advertised heavily for the 32X was Star Wars Arcade. I eagerly went to Toys R Us, cash in hand, ready to buy. I noticed already that the 32X had been reduced to $99. Score one for me! What should have been a red flag was skipped over by my subconscious and all I could see was that I was getting out of this cheaper than I thought. I rushed down the aisle and grabbed Star Wars and Virtua Racing. I thought I was getting a stellar deal because the Genesis cart of Virtua Racing had a special SVP chip that, while greatly enhanced the polygonal power of the Genesi s, also greatly enhanced the price to one hundred dollars. I figured if I got it for the 32X for sixty, that’s a savings of over forty dollars. It seemed like that 32X was the best thing for my pocketbook since the invention of Ramen noodles.
At first, I was content with my 200+ dollar investment at Toys R Us. Star Wars seemed to play fine, although I didn’t play it like I did my Genesis and Sega CD. I felt that Virtua Racing was just okay and that sixty dollars could have been better spent on something else.
While my ardor for this brand new system cooled a bit after playing some run-of-the-mill games, I was still hot to see what it could do, only to have Sega tear my heart out and heel-stomp it month, after month, after month with no new games appealing to me in the slightest. After having my fill of RPG heaven from both my SNES and Sega CD, I wanted more than primitive, polygonal poo; or slightly upgraded Genesis games that still didn’t hold a candle to the graphical power of the SNES. I continued to try to support the system even though it started to disappoint me. I bought other games like Cosmic Carnage and Afterburner, only to realize that I may have made a huge mistake.
By the end of summer in ’95 I had about given up on Sega and its failed attempt to capture my devotion, and successful attempt to waste my money. As mentioned before, it is unclear to me how I got rid of my Sega CD and entire Sega set up, however, I can say with some degree of certainty that the 32X must have pissed me off so bad that I scrapped the whole lot in a defiant rage at the company that once held my gamers heart in its hand...and crushed it like a grape.
Not until years later, when Sega released its Dreamcast console, did the fire of my righteous anger diminish; and my interest was once again renewed. A good friend, John Slavin, knew I was collecting heavily again, and donated his entire 32X collection to me. Luckily, John is as anal as I am and kept the games in pristine condition. With the addition of John’s collection to mine, I was only a few games away from a complete 32X library. I can say now that the 32X is the first system I owned a complete set of; and it sits now as a reminder of what was.
I am an adolescent, raging at the system for what has happened to Sega, viewing the 32X as the catalyst for its downfall; but at the same time I am a patient and loving parent-figure, shaking my head in resignation at what Sega has done to itself.
During my Sega phase of the early nineties, I had enjoyed many games and products proffered by Sega. Being that Sega and Nintendo were going head-to-head, it was evident to me that with the exorbitant amount of advertising Sega was doing, it was trying not to leave its loyal Genesis fans behind. By the end of 1994, my Sega was starting to lose its luster…no longer did I spend hours playing Dark Wizard on the Sega CD, no longer did the Genesis hold that same thrill I used to get every time I saw it.
Hope gleamed from the pages of EGM, my favorite rag at the time, in the form of Sega’s new attempt at capturing my valuable interest. They were promoting a new add-on for the Genesis that would bridge the gap between the previous 16-bit systems and the next gen 32-bit systems that were either out, or soon to be out. This new device would pop into the top of your Genesis and double, freaking DOUBLE the Genesis’ already amazing processing power!
I was a college student at the time so I didn’t have a lot of money to burn, and I knew the next generation systems were going to put the serious hurt on whatever funds I could muster. If I could spend a little bit of cash and get something that could be played on my current Sega set-up, it would save me a lot of money and it would float me ‘til I could afford a newer system; it seemed the perfect solution. I decided that after the Christmas rush, in January of ’95, I would break down and finally choose which next gen system I would own.
Being that I was a Star Wars fan, I was excited about the resurgence of products to do with the movies, and noticed that one of the titles that was advertised heavily for the 32X was Star Wars Arcade. I eagerly went to Toys R Us, cash in hand, ready to buy. I noticed already that the 32X had been reduced to $99. Score one for me! What should have been a red flag was skipped over by my subconscious and all I could see was that I was getting out of this cheaper than I thought. I rushed down the aisle and grabbed Star Wars and Virtua Racing. I thought I was getting a stellar deal because the Genesis cart of Virtua Racing had a special SVP chip that, while greatly enhanced the polygonal power of the Genesi s, also greatly enhanced the price to one hundred dollars. I figured if I got it for the 32X for sixty, that’s a savings of over forty dollars. It seemed like that 32X was the best thing for my pocketbook since the invention of Ramen noodles.
At first, I was content with my 200+ dollar investment at Toys R Us. Star Wars seemed to play fine, although I didn’t play it like I did my Genesis and Sega CD. I felt that Virtua Racing was just okay and that sixty dollars could have been better spent on something else.
While my ardor for this brand new system cooled a bit after playing some run-of-the-mill games, I was still hot to see what it could do, only to have Sega tear my heart out and heel-stomp it month, after month, after month with no new games appealing to me in the slightest. After having my fill of RPG heaven from both my SNES and Sega CD, I wanted more than primitive, polygonal poo; or slightly upgraded Genesis games that still didn’t hold a candle to the graphical power of the SNES. I continued to try to support the system even though it started to disappoint me. I bought other games like Cosmic Carnage and Afterburner, only to realize that I may have made a huge mistake.
By the end of summer in ’95 I had about given up on Sega and its failed attempt to capture my devotion, and successful attempt to waste my money. As mentioned before, it is unclear to me how I got rid of my Sega CD and entire Sega set up, however, I can say with some degree of certainty that the 32X must have pissed me off so bad that I scrapped the whole lot in a defiant rage at the company that once held my gamers heart in its hand...and crushed it like a grape.
Not until years later, when Sega released its Dreamcast console, did the fire of my righteous anger diminish; and my interest was once again renewed. A good friend, John Slavin, knew I was collecting heavily again, and donated his entire 32X collection to me. Luckily, John is as anal as I am and kept the games in pristine condition. With the addition of John’s collection to mine, I was only a few games away from a complete 32X library. I can say now that the 32X is the first system I owned a complete set of; and it sits now as a reminder of what was.
I am an adolescent, raging at the system for what has happened to Sega, viewing the 32X as the catalyst for its downfall; but at the same time I am a patient and loving parent-figure, shaking my head in resignation at what Sega has done to itself.