How popular is the Genesis these days?

[treismac]

I wonder what kind of market there is for the Genesis these days, as I never see the system selling for much. Just today at the same pawn shop that had a NES selling for $100 and a SNES for $85, there sat a [model 1] Genesis for $19.99. I'm fairly certain that I've seen the Genesis selling for $20 elsewhere too, although those prices for the first two Nintendo systems are probably the highest I've run across. While I'm sure the hardcore Sega fans will never forsake Sega's most popular and successful system, is the rest of the retro community "done" with the system? From what I hear the SNES is kind of in vogue at the moment. Shouldn't that spike some sort of interest in its rival? According to this article the Genesis sold 29 million units to the SNES' 49.1 million. While not quite neck and neck, the Genesis didn't do too shabby. You'd think that the respective interest in the systems would come close to mirroring the sales.

Any thoughts on the matter?

[sloan]

False perceptions and radical fanboyism have driven SNES through the roof while Genesis has been frowned upon by many hipster collectors. I like it though, as it generally means that Genesis games can be had at cheaper prices. Of course, there are exceptions with more rare titles, but most Genesis games can be had for lesser prices than comparable SNES games.

[The Adventurer]

Doesn't Sega actually license an official clone console? Not to mention is pretty good about compilation rereleases. Maybe the original hardware and software just isn't in demand for those reasons?

[Koa Zo]

The Genesis is roughly 62.4% less popular these days than it should be.

[treismac]

... Genesis has been frowned upon by many hipster collectors.

I know that no member of a subculture or adherent of an ideology is 100% consistent with their creed/beliefs, but I thought eschewing mainstream stuff was a big part of the hipster bag. Shouldn't the Genesis be right up their alley?

[The Adventurer]

Hipsters liked Turbographx 16 before it was cool.

[Tupin]

Aren't there only a few truly rare Genesis games? I know of only a few. That might cause a lack of discussion about games.

[Greg2600]

I don't think it's a hipster thing at all. More to do with the fact that Nintendo was massive before the SNES and afterwards, with franchises continuing to this day. SEGA is basically dead as of 2001, in terms of new content. Everything since is derivative. SEGA's CD, 32x, Saturn, and Dreamcast were retail failures. But it's really all about the system you grew up with. By 1994, most kids were getting a SNES not a Genesis, so those who are now grown up are going to want the SNES. In terms of demand, the SNES franchises are more well known because many saw subsequent titles. The SNES has a stronger library, of both highly-acclaimed and collector-sought after games. There are SEGA fanboys for sure, but they're all old enough to have dived back into collecting already. There won't be anyone new, just the die-hards who collect most anything. Like me, I never had a Colecovision, though I played it back in the day a couple times. Yet I have one and many games and accessories.

[IrishNinja]

False perceptions and radical fanboyism have driven SNES through the roof while Genesis has been frowned upon by many hipster collectors. I like it though, as it generally means that Genesis games can be had at cheaper prices. Of course, there are exceptions with more rare titles, but most Genesis games can be had for lesser prices than comparable SNES games.

The Genesis is roughly 62.4% less popular these days than it should be.

i really liked these posts!

Aren't there only a few truly rare Genesis games? I know of only a few. That might cause a lack of discussion about games.

ehh on the very high end you have stuff like MUSHA, Crusader of Centy, Mega Man: Wily Wars, Snatcher, etc but while these guys were right - Saturn aside, the sega scenes are largely not seeing the terrible retro bubble SNES stuff is, thankfully - a few titles have in fact jumped up a bit. finding good condition loose copies of Moonwalker, Ghostbusters, Contra: Hard Corps, Castlevania Bloodlines etc for less than $40 was tricky last year when replacing those titles, and godforbid you want CIB it could be a bit higher. fortunately, the clamshells caused more kids like myself to take care of said titles so they're not nearly as hard off as CIB SNES stuff right now.

[Koa Zo]

The clamshell cases are one of the points which win the Genesis and Mega Drive favor in my view as a collector.
Particularly, the artwork on some of the Mega Drive clamshells is fantastic.

[wiggyx]

I don't think it's a hipster thing at all. More to do with the fact that Nintendo was massive before the SNES and afterwards, with franchises continuing to this day. SEGA is basically dead as of 2001, in terms of new content. Everything since is derivative. SEGA's CD, 32x, Saturn, and Dreamcast were retail failures. But it's really all about the system you grew up with. By 1994, most kids were getting a SNES not a Genesis, so those who are now grown up are going to want the SNES. In terms of demand, the SNES franchises are more well known because many saw subsequent titles. The SNES has a stronger library, of both highly-acclaimed and collector-sought after games. There are SEGA fanboys for sure, but they're all old enough to have dived back into collecting already. There won't be anyone new, just the die-hards who collect most anything. Like me, I never had a Colecovision, though I played it back in the day a couple times. Yet I have one and many games and accessories.

I'm with this guy.

From my standpoint, I've always been more of a Nintendo guy. I've been collecting since the mid-80's and I've always favored SNES over Genesis. I just like the games for SNES far more than the Genesis, and clearly I'm not the only one, based on the market value of classic games.

[MidnightRider]

For starters, that article in the first post is off by 11 million. The Genesis sold roughly 40 million worldwide. Taking that into account, 14 of Nintendo's 49 million was from Japan alone.

They were equally popular during the time, otherwise this would never have been, or continue to be, an argument in the first place.

There's a lot on the Genesis that would appeal to people, if they would open their minds and look into it, but if people want to be suckers for brand loyalty, it's not my concern.

[StealthLurker]

Western SEGA Genesis games may not be valuable, but a lot more people seem to be on the import JPN Megadrive bandwagon. Lots of titles that used to only go for $200 seemed to have jumped up and consistently sold for $400-$500 now.


.

[Graham Mitchell]

False perceptions and radical fanboyism have driven SNES through the roof while Genesis has been frowned upon by many hipster collectors. I like it though, as it generally means that Genesis games can be had at cheaper prices. Of course, there are exceptions with more rare titles, but most Genesis games can be had for lesser prices than comparable SNES games.

While it may not be the ONLY reason, I do agree that this is true and I see it a lot, especially living in L.A. Sega stuff in general doesn't get the same amount of love. That's fine. It makes the more rare titles easier to get.

[Tanooki]

It's popular, just a shadow of Nintendo in popularity is all, but it's their own fault entirely. eBay has always been the great barometer of popularity I have seen with games, just see what they sell for. Sega back in the 90s had a huge one hit wonder with the Genesis, but they burned many fans and a lot of bridges with the 32X, SCD and even the Saturn. High priced items, little quality or little output(32X) for it and people got screwed. Peoples memories even if they're not sharp, they remember feelings easier and I think that plays well into popularity and less people just care for Sega. Compound the issue the existing company does a lot of dumb stuff and is a sad shell of itself that also produces no hardware, and the situation just is what it is. If you stayed a Sega fan or found you do like their stuff you buy it, but far fewer do and the prices reflect it versus Nintendo stuff. It is a good thing though, you can get a lot of nice stuff and not pay that much because you don't have resellers in mass trying to rape your wallet.

[The Adventurer]

Sega back in the 90s had a huge one hit wonder with the Genesis,

I think a lot of people forget this fact. The Genesis, while a solid system with a great library, was so successful because it was released during the life span of the NES. The graphics bump was enough to put it on the map in terms of sales. The SNES, which came a few years latter would be a technically more impressive machine, and Sega would never again lead in console dominance.

The Genesis's success is almost entirely tied to its timing of release.

[sloan]

While it may not be the ONLY reason, I do agree that this is true and I see it a lot, especially living in L.A. Sega stuff in general doesn't get the same amount of love. That's fine. It makes the more rare titles easier to get.

I back it up with personal experience. My niece and her boyfriend are both in their twenties and look and identify with the hipster scene. I had them over to my home for Christmas. He was amazed at the size of my collection, but primarily was fascinated with my NES and SNES stuff. I asked him about any interest in Genesis and his countenance immediately changed. No way, no day. His hipster gaming friends were all into retro, but it was solely the big 'N' and nothing else as far as they were concerned. Their loss.

[bigbacon]

Plus Nintendo stuff is in the spot light with NWC showing up on pawn stars and Stadium events making the evening news and print news. This draws everyone and their grandmother to because either they think it will be worth something OR it is the cool thing to get into (hipsters)

Least in the states, I also always assume Sega wasn't as big because of the near monopoly of Nintendo during the NES days.

Is Sega sort of regional in the states as well? Growing up, I didn't know a single person who had a sega product other than one kid who had a game gear. Everyone was nintendo. Those later on that got a Genesis, never went past the core system and ended up with a SNES afterwards anyway.

I didn't even knew the Saturn existed until a few years ago.

[Bojay1997]

I think a lot of people forget this fact. The Genesis, while a solid system with a great library, was so successful because it was released during the life span of the NES. The graphics bump was enough to put it on the map in terms of sales. The SNES, which came a few years latter would be a technically more impressive machine, and Sega would never again lead in console dominance.

The Genesis's success is almost entirely tied to its timing of release.

This just isn't accurate at all. You don't sell tens of millions of consoles based solely on a graphics bump and timing. The Genesis also had an outstanding library of games with many arcade ports and sports titles early on which is why a lot of us bought one at the time. The NES also didn't sell particularly well in Europe and frankly, the Megadrive outsold the SNES there despite its technical edge. At the end of the day, the SNES ended up with a more impressive overall library IMHO, but the Genesis has a pretty outstanding library as well.

[Koa Zo]

Lots of titles that used to only go for $200 seemed to have jumped up and consistently sold for $400-$500 now.

What games are those? I can think of maybe two or three that command over the $200 range. Battle Mania 2, and Eliminate Down, and maybe Rockman Mega World.