Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Mega Drive was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, and in North America as the Sega Genesis in 1989. The European release followed the year later in November 1990, and was priced in the UK at £189.99. The Mega Drive was backwards compatible with Sega's previous console, the Sega Master System (SMS), in conjunction with the Power Base Converter, a separate device that sat between the Mega Drive's cartridge slot and an SMS cartridge.

When the Mega Drive was released in Japan, its competition was the first of the fourth generation machines to be released - the PC Engine. The new console soon eclipsed the earlier machine in popularity, but lost ground after the release of the PC-Engine CD add-on and the Nintendo Super Famicom.

In North America, the Genesis (named as such due to trademark issues) initially competed against the 8-bit NES, which already had a huge library of titles to tempt buyers. In response to this, Sega decided to market the console at slightly older users, particularly those in their late teens and early 20s who would have more disposable income and who were anxious for titles with more in-depth game play and more mature content. They thus released titles such as Altered Beast and the Phantasy Star series. When the 16-bit Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was released in 1991, the Genesis had gathered a good head start in terms of numbers of titles and user base, and continued to hold on to a healthy fan base composed significantly of RPG and sports games fans. The release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 (the Genesis's top-selling game) further eroded Nintendo's stranglehold on the number one console position in the USA, and provided them with the 'killer app' that they needed. By late 1992, Sega was enjoying a strong hold on the market, holding a 65% market share in North America.

In 1992, Sega released an add-on device called the Sega Mega-CD, which allowed the user to play games, audio CDs and CD+G discs. However the peripheral was not a success: it was over-priced (costing £270 in the UK), and the games that ran on it were slow to load; often stopping in the middle of play to load data from the CD.

In 1994, another add-on was released: the 32X, which plugged into the Mega drive's cartridge bay. The peripheral featured two 32-bit processors; however the games released for the 32X often did not take full advantage of 32 bit processing, with many games produced in 2D. Many were just slightly-enhanced ports of Genesis or old arcade games such as Space Harrier and Mortal Kombat II.

The failures of the Sega CD and 32X and a lack of effective advertising soon their toll on the system, and by mid 1994, Sega's market share had dropped from 65% to 46%. With the prospect of newer, more powerful consoles, such as the Sony Playstation, N64 and Sega Saturn, interest in the Genesis suffered, compounding its already falling sales. In 1996, Sega discontinued production of the Genesis and its associated accessories in the US. However, the console is still manufactured in Brazil, with many games built into the console, and as a whole, over 29 million Mega Drive / Genesis units have been sold worldwide.

Games

Some of the most popular games found on the Sega Mega Drive included: