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Thread: SEGA Mega Drive turns 25 years old this month

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    Default SEGA Mega Drive turns 25 years old this month

    On October 29th, the Sega Mega Drive will be 25 years old. That's a quarter of a freaking century. I cannot even believe it, yet it's true.






    You know something, I was not even aware that a 16-Bit Sega console existed in late 1988, even though that was only in Japan at the time. All I owned then was an already-outdated Atari 7800. I didn't get the Master System until early 1989. It wasn't until June of 1989 that I heard of Genesis, thanks to a recorded message left on 1-800 USA-SEGA. Wow you know? Heh, the following month, in July, I discovered Electronic Gaming Monthly--It was EGM #2 with their 16-Bit system preview that I found out what Genesis was all about as well as what the new Sega console looked like. My father bought my brother and I the console around the middle of April 1990, right around the time Phantasy Star II and Herzog Zwei reached U.S. stores.

    Anyway, even though it's not the 29th yet, use this thread to celebrate a quarter century of memories

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    Man, I like the Japanese/PAL models a lot more than the ones we got in the states. That big "16-bit" looks sweet, and the PAL Mega Drive model 2 had the red power and reset buttons. (I'm a sucker for red, lol)

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    I really hope this gets celebrated. I've been digging deeper into the Genesis' library lately. A lot of really cool stuff that was released, but unfortunately went overlooked.

    I don't think the Genesis looks different enough to be worse looking than the Mega Drive, honestly.

    I've seen different looking default pads, I had one with red arrows(coming from the D-pad cross) and button lettering. Eventually got a 6 button. Still the best pad for fighters(before you say it, really they just added triggers for the Saturn, it's still a Genesis 6-button otherwise).

    Somewhat off topic:
    I've been looking at various forum discussions of the console wars, and videos on Youtube, and it seems like there's more ignorant SNES fanboys nowadays than there were back then. Even the SNES deserves better than to have that for a class of fans, but the lack of respect they give the Genesis really gets on my nerves...

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    HBD to one of my favorite consoles.On my 2nd one now after buying one again back in 2012,after i missed having the console.At least in price the used market for it is fair compared to the snes Not to mention i still think the genesis 6 button controller,is for more comfortable to use compared to the snes controller.
    Last edited by Tron 2.0; 10-03-2013 at 05:07 AM.

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    It was my first console. So much nostalgia. In my teen years I gave it away (stupid me), but now I bought one again, and I've got 150+ games and growing. Great console, great times. Happy Birthday!
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    It was my first console as well. I got it bundled with Sonic 1. I never knew it before but my original system was one of the worse revisions of the Genesis 1 sound-wise. Still growing up I didn't think that model was bad at all but now I see why my Genesis 3 made the video look much clearer through RF. I had one of the later Sonic 1 bundles so the controller had the white markings instead of red, but the extra controller I got from my ex stepdad the next Christmas had the red markings. To this day I like Sonic 1 better than Sonic 2 for its level design and graphical direction.
    [quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
    I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
    Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]


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    I never had one growing up, but i do remember it being displayed in 1990. Of course it was overshadowed by everything Nintendo. I thought it looked great but was never a fan of the controller. I was programmed with the NES controller for any gaming.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PizzaKat View Post
    Of course it was overshadowed by everything Nintendo.
    Ironically that only happened with time. At the time, it was actually the more popular of the 2 consoles(except in Japan).

    In fact, I've found a couple sources that suggest Sega took the U.S. market. The problem is that people focus on the final numbers, without understanding what happened at the time.

    In '95, Sega stopped production of the Genesis right away, to focus on the Saturn, while the SNES had about 2-3 years of non-competitive sales, to more than catch up.

    This is just guessing on my part here:
    I think the issue was that Sega just had no experience with a successful console, while Nintendo knew, from the NES, to keep the older console on the market longer, as people aren't just ready to afford a new console right away. Sega kept making that mistake, they pulled the Saturn for the Dreamcast, just as development for the Saturn was hitting it's stride.

    Now, years later, collecting seems to have put more importance on Nintendo's older consoles/handhelds than anything else. The same thing seems to happen with all sorts of classic collecting. One thing gets seen as more important than another, for whatever reason, and here we are with Nintendo and Sega dicussions.

    Edit:
    *unrolls old controller* Did I have some freak of nature controller or what? Thing has a 5 foot long cord. There was a video about the console wars and the guys at Retro Liberty were complaining about the length of Genesis pad cords, and then I see the picture at Wikpedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_genesis
    Last edited by MidnightRider; 10-03-2013 at 07:14 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MidnightRider View Post
    I think the issue was that Sega just had no experience with a successful console, while Nintendo knew, from the NES, to keep the older console on the market longer, as people aren't just ready to afford a new console right away. Sega kept making that mistake, they pulled the Saturn for the Dreamcast, just as development for the Saturn was hitting it's stride.
    Maybe in Japan it was hitting its stride, but in North America, Saturn sales were a trainwreck.
    It is said that one of the reasons Dreamcast failed was because third-parties were upset Sega was pushing the DC ahead because of a poor performance outside their native market. (and too many American gamers felt Sega hit too many strikes already?)

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    Quote Originally Posted by MidnightRider View Post
    Ironically that only happened with time. At the time, it was actually the more popular of the 2 consoles(except in Japan).

    In fact, I've found a couple sources that suggest Sega took the U.S. market. The problem is that people focus on the final numbers, without understanding what happened at the time.

    In '95, Sega stopped production of the Genesis right away, to focus on the Saturn, while the SNES had about 2-3 years of non-competitive sales, to more than catch up.

    This is just guessing on my part here:
    I think the issue was that Sega just had no experience with a successful console, while Nintendo knew, from the NES, to keep the older console on the market longer, as people aren't just ready to afford a new console right away. Sega kept making that mistake, they pulled the Saturn for the Dreamcast, just as development for the Saturn was hitting it's stride.

    Now, years later, collecting seems to have put more importance on Nintendo's older consoles/handhelds than anything else. The same thing seems to happen with all sorts of classic collecting. One thing gets seen as more important than another, for whatever reason, and here we are with Nintendo and Sega dicussions.

    Edit:
    *unrolls old controller* Did I have some freak of nature controller or what? Thing has a 5 foot long cord. There was a video about the console wars and the guys at Retro Liberty were complaining about the length of Genesis pad cords, and then I see the picture at Wikpedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_genesis
    Some Genesis systems were bundled with controllers with short cords, as did my original. Others were bundled with controllers with much longer cords. I wish I could pinpoint which revisions of which complete boxed systems came with which types of cords. The RF switches and AC Adapters had variants as well.

    You know how people complain about Genesis 2 adapters not fitting in certain consoles well, sometimes being loose? That's often because they mismatched the AC Adapter and console revisions. One has thicker plastic around the tip while the other is thin. If you count the Genesis 3, I have seen 4 different shaped Genesis 2 compatible adapters and 2 different shaped Genesis 1 compatible adapters.
    [quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
    I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
    Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]


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    Mine was still a model 1, "high definition graphics" and all, came with Sonic(end of '91), and the pad has red arrows and button lettering.

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    Genesis was my third console: 7800 > SMS > Genesis.

    Got the original version of model 1 with Altered Beast. Also got the later model 1 with Sonic in 1991. Never owned a model 2 or 3.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MidnightRider View Post
    In fact, I've found a couple sources that suggest Sega took the U.S. market. The problem is that people focus on the final numbers, without understanding what happened at the time.
    It did take the market. Sega outsold Nintendo for several holiday seasons in a row and had the lead in the American 16-bit market for most of it. It wasn't until it abandoned the Genesis for the Saturn that Nintendo caught up.

    Have you seen the Retro Liberty "Why We Retro" documentary? It's very one-sided. They should have called it "Why We Nintendo" because that's all it included (except for some comments by Gamester81 and Metal Jesus Rocks). I understand that they all grew up with Nintendo, so they're speaking about what they know, but if you're going to call it a documentary, then you may want to include fans of other consoles. There were more than a few mistakes and inaccuracies. There was also practically no mention of the TG-16 at all.

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    Hmm, well according to Spiffyone at GameFAQs, when Majesco brought out the Model 2 and 3, the Genesis went back to outselling the SNES.

    Gamester81 put this one up, once again, very 1 sided toward the SNES, except for the same 2 individuals, and Chargebackforward:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJVizqsy1o

    The video being biased toward Nintendo doesn't bother me half as much as the stupid comments you'll see if you dig into the comments section.

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    Even though Nintendo did sell more Super Famicom / SNES consoles than Sega sold Mega Drive / Genesis consoles, Sega outsold Nintendo holiday 1991 and again in 1992 and 1993.

    I'm pretty certain that Nintendo pulled away by the end of 1994 with Donkey Kong Country.

    So while Nintendo did outsell Sega in the 16-bit era, Sega effectively split marketshare with Nintendo worldwide, thus ending Nintendo's iron-grip stranglehold monopoly on the console market. That was an incredible feat since Nintendo had more or less, 90% of the 8-bit market.

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    "brought out the model 2"? Do you mean a rerelease because I'm sure Model 2 was originally Sega.

    I guess it's not too surprising if the Genesis 3 sold more. As I recall it was only like $30.
    Didn't the SNES Jr. run at least $50? (I can only remember later kicking myself when I didn't pick up one when I saw them on clearance for like $25 with a Yoshi's Island pack-in in like 1999.)

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    The Genesis/Mega Drive is the only console I own from three different regions (US, Japanese, and PAL European). So, yeah, I do love me some 16-bit Sega! God, I can't believe it's been 25 years since its debut. One of the best gaming machines ever made, easily. To celebrate, let's all chant together: "SEGA DOES WHAT NINTENDON'T!"
    Death to Videodrome! Long live the new flesh!

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    It really did too. I mean let's look at the RPG's. That's one area the argument will give the SNES, but look at them all. The same kind of random battle gameplay, or fantasy setting type amongst all the localized SNES RPG games. Now look at what little the Genesis had localized. Phantasy Star, a random battle series, but with a sci-fi setting. Warsong, to be fair the SNES did have Ogre Battle. It also had a Langrisser game that didn't get localized, which is exactly what Warsong was for the Genesis. The SNES had, I believe, 3 Fire Emblems. Not a game in that series got localized until the GBA, after Smash Bros. Melee introduced the west to Ike. The Genesis had 2 Shining Force games, both localized. The only rogue-like the SNES had, Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Fuurai no Shiren, never left Japan. The Genesis had Fatal Labyrinth. Sega really did what Nintendidn't.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MidnightRider View Post
    It really did too. I mean let's look at the RPG's. That's one area the argument will give the SNES, but look at them all. The same kind of random battle gameplay, or fantasy setting type amongst all the localized SNES RPG games. Now look at what little the Genesis had localized. Phantasy Star, a random battle series, but with a sci-fi setting. Warsong, to be fair the SNES did have Ogre Battle. It also had a Langrisser game that didn't get localized, which is exactly what Warsong was for the Genesis. The SNES had, I believe, 3 Fire Emblems. Not a game in that series got localized until the GBA, after Smash Bros. Melee introduced the west to Ike. The Genesis had 2 Shining Force games, both localized. The only rogue-like the SNES had, Fushigi no Dungeon 2: Fuurai no Shiren, never left Japan. The Genesis had Fatal Labyrinth. Sega really did what Nintendidn't.
    No sci-fi? SNES had EarthBound (too bad it was a victim of its own ads, released during a time when NoA's marketing thought barf-inducing ads were cool). Chrono Trigger. Robotrek (you play as a nerd that creates robots to fight for him. Random turn-based battles but you do get some direct control of the robots).
    Okay, Genesis had Fatal Labyrinth, but I want to guess companies just didn't think Rougelikes were in demand (SFC actually had at least four I can immediately think of: Fushigi no Dungeon 1: Torneko's Adventure, Milandra, and Dunquest (by Technos, after they mostly stuck to Kunio and Double Dragon).
    I do agree there was a missed opportunity by not localizing a single TRPG on SNES (Ogre Battle is RTS), and they had a boatload to choose from, including Shining Force's cousin FEDA - The Emblem of Justice. (Enix announced Tactics Ogre but their American branch closed before releasing it, and it was probably too late in the SNES life cycle for anyone else to want it)

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    Its interesting that here in the semi rural midwest Sega had little to no presence when I was younger. The only person I knew who had one was an only child who got everything. Even at a high school reunion a couple years ago I was talking to a group of people who knew I collected, I was surprised how little people knew or were interested in the genesis. (It was seriously crickets chirping.)

    Its a cool system though. A different experience for sure. I finally picked up one a few years back an now have +150 games. Great system to collect for.

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