Sega Genesis: Difference between revisions
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[[Motorola 68000]] (or equivalent) |
[[32-bit]] [[Motorola 68000]] (or equivalent) |
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* Runs at 7.16 MHz in PAL consoles, 7.67 MHz in NTSC consoles. |
* Runs at 7.16 MHz in PAL consoles, 7.67 MHz in NTSC consoles. |
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* Some systems contained 68000s manufactured by Motorola licensees such as Hitachi and Signetics. |
* Some systems contained 68000s manufactured by Motorola licensees such as Hitachi and Signetics. |
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Revision as of 18:07, 1 October 2007
 | |
| Manufacturer | Sega |
|---|---|
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Fourth |
| Lifespan | |
| Units sold | Worldwide: 29 million[1][2][3] U.S.: 13 million[4] |
| Media | Cartridge |
| CPU | Motorola 68000 |
| Online services | Sega Meganet, Sega Channel, XBAND |
| Best-selling game | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 |
| Predecessor | Sega Master System |
| Successor | Sega Saturn |
The Sega Mega Drive (メガドライブ, Mega Doraibu) is a video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. It was sold under the name Sega Genesis in North America, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region.
The Mega Drive was the first 16-bit console to achieve notable market share in Europe and North America. It was the direct competitor of the Super Famicom (SNES), although the Sega Mega Drive was released two years earlier. Globally the Sega Mega Drive and games began production in Japan in 1988 and ended with the last new game being released in 2002 in Brazil. One game, Beggar Prince, was re-released in 2006 in North America – though it was an unofficial release.
History
Although the Sega Master System had proved a success in Brazil and Europe, it failed to ignite much interest in the North American or Japanese markets, which, by the mid-to-late 1980s, were both dominated by Nintendo with 95% and 92% market shares respectively.[citation needed] Hoping to dramatically increase its share, Sega set about creating a new machine that would be at least as powerful as the then most impressive home computer hardware on the market – the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and the Apple Macintosh II.
Since the Sega System 16 was very popular, Hayao Nakayama, Sega's CEO at the time, decided to make its new home system utilize a 16-bit architecture (although its [[68000] processor is actually 32-bit). The final design was ported to the arcade, and eventually used in the Mega-Tech, Mega-Play and System-C arcade machines. Any game made for the Mega Drive hardware could easily be ported to these systems.[citation needed]
The first name Sega considered for its console was the MK-1601, but it ultimately decided to call it the "Sega Mega Drive". Sega used the name Mega Drive for the Japanese, European, Asian, Australian and Brazilian versions of the console. The North American version went by the name "Genesis" due to a trademark dispute[citation needed], while the South Korean versions were called Super Gam*Boy (수퍼겜보이) and Super Aladdin Boy (transliterated from 수퍼알라딘보이; this was the Korean version of Mega Drive 2). The Korean-market consoles were licensed and distributed by Samsung Electronics.
Launch titles
 |
Japanese Launch
USA Test Launch
August 14, 1989 on in New York City and Los Angeles [5]
USA Official Launch
- Space Harrier II
- Tommy Lasorda Baseball
- Last Battle
- Thunder Force II
- Altered Beast
- World Championship Soccer
- Super Hang-On
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts
- Super Thunder Blade
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
Popularity and Sales Performance
Japan
The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29 1988 for ¥21,000, almost exactly a year after the NEC PC Engine. Although this initially caused slow sales, the Mega Drive soon eclipsed the earlier machine in popularity.
However, after the release of the PC-Engine CD add-on and the Nintendo Super Famicom, the Mega Drive soon lost ground. The Mega Drive was not as popular as the two aforementioned systems in Japan.
North America
In 1987, Sega announced a North American release date for the system (under the name of Sega Genesis) of January 9 1989, making it the second console to feature a 16-bit CPU (the first one being the Mattel Intellivision) and the first to feature single-instruction 32-bit arithmetic. Sega was not able to meet the initial release date and U.S. sales began on August 14, 1989 in New York City and Los Angeles[7] with a suggested retail price of US$200 at launch. The Genesis was released in the rest of North America on September 15 of the same year with the price reduced slightly to $190.
The Sega Genesis initially competed against the 8-bit NES, over which it had superior graphics and sound. Nonetheless, it had a hard time overcoming Nintendo's ubiquitous presence in the consumer's home and the huge catalog of popular games already available for it.
In an attempt to build itself a significant consumer base, Sega decided to focus on slightly older buyers, especially young men in their late teens and early 20s who would have more disposable income and who were eager for more "grown-up" titles with more mature content and/or more in-depth game play. Consequently, Sega released titles such as Altered Beast and the Phantasy Star series.
Sega forced the theoretically competitive TurboGrafx-16 system into relative obscurity, thanks in part to NEC's poor North American marketing campaign.
One of Sega's most famous advertisements in North American media was its slogan "Genesis does what Nintendon't",[8][9] which showcased the graphics that the Genesis had against the aging NES.
To compete with the release of the Super NES in the US, Sega promoted the console with Blast Processing, which was a term coined by Sega because the Genesis' 68000 processor had a higher clock speed than the Super NES's 65c816.
Eventually, the Sega Genesis' main competition became Nintendo's 16-bit SNES, over which it had a head start in terms of user base and number of games, reversing the problem Sega had faced against the NES. The Genesis continued to hold on to a healthy fan base composed significantly of action and sports games fans.
The release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 began to threaten Nintendo's stranglehold on the US console market. Sonic was released to replace former mascot Alex Kidd, and to provide the "killer app" that Sega needed. This sparked what was arguably the greatest console war in video gaming history.
By 1992, Sega was enjoying a strong hold on the market, holding a 55% market share in North America. Faced with a slight recession in sales and a brief loss of market share to the SNES, Sega again looked to Sonic to rejuvenate sales. The release of the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 2, coinciding with an aggressive ad campaign that took shots at Nintendo, fueled Sega Genesis sales a while longer and boosted Sega's market share percentage back up, to an astounding 65%.
Less than a year later, in 1993, Sega released a redesigned version of the console at a newly reduced price. By consolidating the internal chipset onto a smaller, unified motherboard, Sega was able to both physically reduce the system's size and bring down production costs by simplifying the assembly procedure and reducing the number of integrated circuits required for each unit.
Aside from the release of the Mega-CD (Sega CD in North America) and 32X add-ons for the Mega Drive, Sega's last big announcement came in the form of a partnership with Time Warner in the U.S. to offer a subscription-based service called Sega Channel, which would allow subscribers to "download" games on a month-by-month basis.
The poor performances of the Mega-CD and 32X, a lack of effective advertising, and disputes between Sega of America and Sega of Japan had taken their toll on the company. By mid 1994, Sega's market share had dropped from 65% to 46%, and the official announcements of newer, more powerful consoles, such as the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 signaled that the 16-bit era was drawing to a close.
The last commercial licensed release in North America was Frogger, released by Majesco in 1998.
Europe
The European release was on 30 November 1990. In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland it was priced at £189.99. The first UK shipment of 30,000 units was sold at retailers Comet, Dixons, Rumbelows and Toys "R" Us.[10]
Following on from the European success of the Sega Master System, the Mega Drive became a very popular console in Europe. Unlike in other regions where the NES had been the dominant platform, Sega's marketing strategy was not aimed at direct competition with Nintendo's aging machine. In the United Kingdom the most well known of Sega's advertising slogans was "To be this good takes AGES, to be this good takes SEGA". Some of these adverts employed adult humour and innuendo with sentences like "The more you play with it, the harder it gets" displayed with an illustration of the waggling of a joystick.[1] A prominent figure in the European marketing was the "Sega Pirate". This character was a talking one-eyed skull that starred in many TV adverts with a generally aggressive and humorous attitude.
The relatively late release of the Mega Drive in Europe assured a strong launch line-up in comparison with other regions. The arcade ports of classics like Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Ghouls 'n Ghosts, available in stores at launch, provided a strong image of the console's power when compared to other home conversions of these games. The arrival of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 was just as successful as in North America, with the new Sega mascot becoming popular throughout the continent.
The console did not have a major competitor in Europe until the launch of the SNES in 1992. But unlike in North America, Nintendo's 16-bit console would not outsell the Mega Drive, even with the release of the British-made Donkey Kong Country in 1994, which proved to be a huge factor for Nintendo in the North American market. The market share in Europe was always favorable to Sega, which enjoyed a strong position until withdrawing from the 16-bit market.
The Mega Drive was supported until 1996 in Europe. It was discontinued along with its predecessor, the successful and long-lived Sega Master System, to allow Sega to concentrate on their next console, the Saturn. The Mega Drive's add-ons, the Mega CD and 32x, were also both discontinued at this point, having been the same general failures they were in the other regions. The last commercial licensed release in Europe was FIFA '98: Road to World Cup, released by Electronic Arts in November 1997. In the UK the last stocks of the Mega Drive II were sold by the end of 1999, Argos selling it with one controller and Mega Games 6 for £24.99.
Brazil
The Mega Drive was released by Tec Toy in 1990, only a year after the Brazilian release of the Sega Master System.
Tec Toy also released the internet service Mega Net, and made exclusive games including a port of Duke Nukem 3D.[11] The Mega Drive is still manufactured in Brazil, with many games built into the console.[12] The last Brazilian title released was Show do Milhão Volume 2, in 2002.[citation needed]
Technical specifications
 |
CPU
| Processor |
32-bit Motorola 68000 (or equivalent)
|
|---|---|
| Secondary processor |
Zilog Z80 (or equivalent)
|
Memory
| Boot ROM |
|
|---|---|
| Main RAM |
|
| Video RAM |
|
| Secondary RAM |
|
| Audio RAM |
|
| Cartridge memory area (ROM space) |
|
Graphics
The Mega Drive has a dedicated VDP (Video Display Processor) for playfield and sprite control. This is an improved version of the Sega Master System VDP, which in turn is derived from the Texas Instruments TMS9918. It contains both mode 4 (for Master System compatibility) and mode 5 (for native 16-bit games). However, Master System programs can switch the VDP into mode 5 and make use of advanced VDP features. This page only discusses mode 5 capabilities.
| Planes: |
4 (2 scrolling playfields, 1 sprite plane, 1 'window' plane), per-tile priority |
|---|---|
| Sprites: | Up to 64 (32H)/80 (40H) on-screen, 16/20 per line, 256/320 pixels per line, per-sprite priority |
| Palette: | 512 colors (1536 using shadow/highlight mode) |
| On-screen colors: | 64 × 9-bit words of color RAM, 4 lines of 15 colors plus transparent, allowing 61 on-screen colors (up to 1536 via raster effects and shadow/highlight) |
| Screen resolution |
|
| Scroll size |
Width and height independently set to 32, 64, or 128 cells as VRAM allows |
Sound
| Main sound chip |
|
|---|---|
| Secondary sound chip |
Texas Instruments SN76489 compatible device built into VDP.
|
Inputs and outputs
| RF output |
RCA jack connects to TV antenna input
|
|---|---|
| A/V output |
DIN connector with composite video, RGB video, and audio outputs
|
| Power input |
|
| Headphone output |
Amplified 3.5-mm stereo jack on front of console with volume control
|
| "EXT" port |
DE-9F (9-pin female D-connector) on back of console
|
| Control pad inputs |
Two DE-9M (9-pin male D-connectors) on front of console |
| Expansion port |
Edge connector on bottom right hand side of console
|
Official peripherals
Hardware Add Ons
- Sega Multi Tap (allowed up to 4 controllers)
- Sega Mega-CD (allowed CD ROM games and music CDs to be played)
- Sega Mega CD Karaoke Add On (connects to the side of a Mega Drive and Mega-CD for karaoke CDs and parties)
- Sega 32X (allowed games with higher graphical capabilities)
- Power Base Converter to play Sega Master System games on the Mega Drive.
- Amplified Stereo Mini Speakers (Given away by Sega for free for a limited time, they plug directly into the model 1 headphone jack and are 7 watt and have individual volume, bass, and treble controls on each speaker; and ran on four C batteries)
- Demo System DS-16 6-Cart Changer (Cartridge with a wire extending from the top to a black box with 6 cartridge ports and a palm grip button (similar to a detonator switch) that would allow you to cycle through the 6 games at any time)
- Zero Tolerance Link Cable (a system link cable compatible with only Zero Tolerance)
Control
- Wired 3 button controller (standard controller)
- Wired 6 button controller (for games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition)
- Wired Mega Fire controller (features turbo mode for rapid fire)
- Wireless 6 button controller set (comes with 2 wireless 6 button pads and receiver)
- Arcade Power Stick with 3 buttons (joystick)
- Arcade Power Stick II with 6 buttons (improved joystick)
- Sega Mouse and Sega Mega Mouse (For games like Wacky Worlds Creativity Studio)
- Menacer Light Gun (comes with cartridge and receiver)
- Sega Activator
- TV Golf Golf Club Controller (packed with PGA Tour Golf and PGA Tour Golf II)
- Batter Up Baseball Controller (foam covered baseball bat)
- Outback Joey Heartbeat Personal Trainer (this has the ability to measure your heartbeat, bike cycles etc. on an on screen display for several people. Less than 1000 were made and it is one of the rarest peripherals for the system)
Memory
- Mega-CD Backup RAM Cartridge (16 more times storage, offering 1 MB of space instead of the Mega-CD's 64KB)
Online
- Mega Net Modem (attaches to the back DE9 EXT port on early Mega Drive 1 models and goes into a phone connection with a speed of 1,600 to 2,400 bit/s, never released outside of Japan but it was officially called the TeleGenesis in the US, it allowed online play and the access to rare online only games through the MegaNet online service)
- XBAND Modem
- TV Cable games adapter (a cartridge connectable to a TV cable, allowing subscription payers to play demos, enter competitions and get game cheats)
- Mega Anser Set (Includes official Mega Drive number input pad, mini printer, phone with answering machine facility and cartridge. Mega Net Modem required, allowed the Mega Drive to organise bank accounts online and print off the statements. If switched on all the time it would also take messages for you. Japan only.)
Sega Master System Accessories
All of which are compatible with the Mega Drive through the converter, see the Sega Master System page for all of the Master System's Accessories.
Other
- Sega Powerstrip (extension cord for plugs, black with the Sega logo on it)
- 2 Carry cases (one for 15 cartridges and another to carry the Mega Drive 1)
- Video Game Organiser (holds mark 1 console, cables, two controllers, and 25 games with no manuals or boxes)
Unreleased
- Virtual Reality Headset (to compete with Nintendo's virtual boy)
- Graphics tablet (it is believed work on this project was carried over to the Sega Pico)[citation needed]
- Keyboard (Cancelled due to the poor performance of the Mega Net Modem in Japan)[citation needed]
- 3.5 inch Floppy Disc drive (Cancelled due to the poor performance of the Mega Modem in Japan)[citation needed]
- Analogue steering wheel (designed for Virtua Racing, but the game didn't sell well, project carried over to the Saturn)[citation needed]
- SVP Chip Modular Cartridge (The Virtua Racing cartridge included a special type of chip to be played, and if any more games were released that needed this extra chip they would've had to have been made on the cartridge. This was a "pass through" cartridge containing the chip and eliminating costs, but Virtua Racing was the only game to have used this chip)[citation needed]
- Mega Gear (Similar concept design to the Master System Converter, this was a product supposedly in development early into the Sega Game Gear's life that would allow Mega Drive users to play their Sega Game Gear titles on their home console, similar to how the SNES could run Game Boy games using the Super Game Boy cartridge or the GameCube and it's Game Boy Player, this was only rarely talked about in magazines, but there was no official announcement made by Sega, though it was very likely that this was in devolpment).[citation needed]
Significant 3rd party accessories
- Import cartridges (to allow Japanese cartridges to be played on Genesis or European Mega Drives)
- Cheat cartridges (such as the Action Replay by Datel and the Game Genie by Codemasters)
- Analogue control pad (incredibly rare Japan only Mega Drive pad with an analogue stick and triggers)[citation needed]
- Justifer light gun (small revolver style light gun made by Konami)
- Hyperscore Cartridge (uploads your high scores into teletext)
- Miracle Keyboard (full musical keyboard)
- Aura Interactor (An incredibly rare and interesting perphieral like a bullet proof vest, while wearing it you can turn your Mega Drive or SNES on from the other side of the room and has other control functions)
- Simulator II Action Chair (One of the first ever "gamer chairs", it allowed gamers to pivot in eight directions while controlling the game through two stationary sticks located on either side and buttons on the tops and sides of each stick, made by Simulator Technologies Inc.)
Master System compatibility
One of the key design features of the console is its backwards compatibility with Sega's previous console, the Sega Master System (SMS). The 16-bit design was based upon the 8-bit design, albeit enhanced and extended in many areas. In order to achieve backwards compatibility, the original SMS central processor and sound chip (the Z80 and SN76489) were included in the Mega Drive and the Mega Drive's Video Display Processor (VDP) was capable of the SMS VDP's mode 4 (though it cannot run in modes 0, 1, 2, or 3).
As the cartridge slot was of a different shape, Sega released the Power Base Converter, a separate device that sits between an SMS cartridge and the Mega Drive's cartridge slot. The Power Base Converter does not contain any SMS components, instead functioning as a pass-through device. The converter contains a top slot for cartridge-based games along with a front slot for card based games. When an 8-bit game is inserted, the system puts the Z80 in control, leaving the 68000 idle.
Both 2-button SMS pads and standard Mega Drive pads can be used to play SMS games, although due to slight differences in how the pads operate, some SMS games inadvertently cause the wrong set of inputs to be selected in a Mega Drive pad, preventing input from working properly and necessitating the use of an SMS controller. As with the SMS, the PAUSE button is not part of the gamepad connector and instead was implemented as a push-button switch on the device.
In Japan the device is known as the Mega Adaptor. The PAL variant is called the Master System Converter in mainland Europe.
The Power Base Converter is not fully compatible with the redesigned Mega Drive 2. A second version, the Master System Converter II, was released to address this problem. This second version adapter, however, was produced in far fewer quantities and only released in Europe. Today, it is much tougher to find (and more expensive) than the original Power Base Converter.
The only game which does not work with this device is F-16 Fighting Falcon, because it uses all 50 pins across the card edge connector, and the Power Base Converter does not address all of them.
Variations
During its lifespan, the Mega Drive and Genesis quite possibly received more officially licensed variations than any other console. While only one major design revision of the console was created during its lifespan, each region has its own peculiarities and unique items, while other variations were exercises in reducing costs (such as the removal of the little-used 9-pin EXT. port) or expanding the capabilities of the Mega Drive.
Contrary to popular belief, Model MK-1631 (Mega Drive/Genesis 2) does have a Z80 CPU. Depending on the board revision, the system has either a Zilog Z84C00 or a Custom Sega 315-5676 or similar. Because the Z80 is used for sound production by many games it is a necessary component. The idea that the redesigned machine has no Z80 came from reports of incompatibility between those models and the Power Base Converter, which provides Sega Master System compatibility.
Majesco's Genesis 3 (single-chip and dual-chip versions) retains the Mode 4 support but has the Master System compatibility removed from the bus controller logic. This renders the Power Base Converter or any other adapter useless. 68000 software can still enable and use Mode 4, however.
One of the 68000's instructions, TAS, is intended for semaphore communication in multiprocessor machines and locks the 68000 bus during memory access. The Sega hardware did not support this unusual bus cycle and ignored the write-back phase. Two games, Gargoyles from Buena Vista Interactive, and Ex-Mutants from Sega make use of the TAS instructions and expect it not to write to memory. As a result, these games work on original Sega machines but not the Majesco Genesis 3, which has correct support for TAS.
Modifications
It is possible to overclock the Motorola 68000 CPU in some cases in excess of 300% (the current known world record is 25.4 MHz), though it may not be completely stable beyond a certain point on each console.[13] The result of overclocking the CPU doesn't speed up the games any, but actually eliminates slowdown that some games are plagued by (such as Sonic 2 splitscreen). The reason for this is most games do the processing for a video frame, then wait for the vertical blank interrupt. If the processor runs faster, it simply finishes the processing for the video frame earlier, and waits for the vertical blank interrupt for a longer period of time.
Another curious modification is to replace the stock 68000 processor with a 68010. Since the CPU isn't socketed, this requires the removal of the old CPU, and soldering in of the new. The 68010 is a pin-compatible, 'enhanced' version of the 68000, which is a bit more efficient internally and offers some new features. According to modder Robert Ivy, upgrading the CPU to a 68010 does not necessarily make the games run faster, it just reduces how much they slow down in intensive situations (due to reason explained in previous paragraph). Also, the DAC's digital audio output may sound cleaner and less distorted because the 68010 has a "loop mode" to run small loops faster, which may allow the Z80 to receive PCM data faster. However, the 68010 is not 100% object code-compatible with the 68000, so machines modified with a 68010 processor are not able to run certain games properly; such as Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Street Fighter II, Red Zone, and a few others. It is possible to mod the console up to a max of 13.4 MHz.
Other mods have been for the console, such as switches to instantly switch between 50 Hz and 60 Hz, language settings, being able to fit Japanese carts and various paint finishes.
Resurgent popularity
In recent years, there has been something of a revival of interest in the Mega Drive, led largely by the grey market trade in both unlicensed cartridges and dumped ROMs, which are played through emulators such as Kega Fusion, GENS, or Genecyst. There is also a trend towards home programming, using the PC-based SGCC.
In 2004, there came a trend toward plug-and-play TV games, and Radica Games has released licensed, self-contained versions of the Sega Mega Drive in both North America (as the Play TV Legends Sega Genesis)[14] and Europe (as the Sega Mega Drive 6-in-1 Plug 'n' Play), which contain six popular games in a small Genesis-shaped control box, with a permanently connected control pad. It does not have a cartridge slot, and thus is a dedicated console. However, Benjamin Heckendorn, of Atari portablizing fame, has proven that it is possible to connect a cartridge slot with some soldering.
The GameTap subscription gaming service includes a Genesis emulator, and has several dozen licensed Genesis games in its catalog.
On March 23, 2006, it was announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California that Nintendo would offer Sega Mega Drive games to be emulated on the Wii home console. These games are now available along with other systems' titles under the Wii's Virtual Console. The 16-bit Sega selections available on the Virtual Console at launch were Altered Beast, Columns, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Ristar, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Each title costs 800 Wii Points (US$8) except in Japan, where they are 600 Points (¥600).
On May 22, 2006, Super Fighter Team released Beggar Prince, a game translated from a 1996 Taiwanese original. It is the first commercial Sega Mega Drive game since 1998 in the North American market. It was released worldwide.
At Tokyo Game Show on September 21, 2006, Ken Kutaragi, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, announced that Sega Mega Drive game ports would be available on the PlayStation Network (network service for the Playstation 3). No specific titles or price points have been confirmed as of yet, with Kutagari simply stating that these specifics will be discussed with individual publishers. This, however, was later contradicted by SEGA Japan when a short statement was issued stating "that such claims are not correct at this point".[15]
References
- ^ Greg Orlando (2007-05-15). "Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming". Wired News. pp. p. 21. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
{{cite web}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ken Polsson. "Chronology of Sega Video Games". islandnet.com. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ^ Sam Pettus (January 2007). "SegaBase Volume 3 - Mega Drive / Genesis". SegaBase v1.10. Eidolon's Inn. pp. p. 3. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
{{cite web}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "Sega Genesis". A Brief History of Game Console Warfare. BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
- ^ Sam Pettus (2005-07-07). "Genesis: A New Beginning". Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ Greg Gillis (2006-06-07). "Fors Yard - A Chronological Retrospective Of The Sega Genesis". Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games, p. 404.
- ^ Greg Orlando (2007-05-15). "Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming". Wired News. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Fors Yard - A Chronological Retrospective Of The Sega Genesis
- ^ Foulger, C. (2000). Sega Mega Drive Frequently Asked Questions, version 2.2.
- ^ "Moby Game Duke Nukem page". Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ "Tec Toy". Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ guide at Epic Gaming "MegaDrive/Genesis Overclocking". Retrieved 2006-09-24.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Play TV Legends Sega Genesis - Radica Games". Retrieved 2006-09-24.
- ^ "SEGA Denies Genesis support for PS3 - WORTHPLAYING". Retrieved 2006-09-23.
See also
External links
- Template:Gameinfo
- Sega-16 – Reviews, features, and interviews on every aspect of the Genesis era.
- SegaBase – Comprehensive history of this system
- GameSX – A/V, Cartridge and Expansion port pinouts and controller information
- Fors Yard - A Chronological Retrospective Of The Sega Genesis
- Sega Universal Historical Society's Genesis page
- Console Passion Retro Games – Complete listing of every European Mega Drive game with descriptions, cover scans and downloadable checklist.
| Arcade systems | |
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| Video game consoles | |
| Portable devices | |
| Dual systems | |
| Licensed consoles | |
| Online gaming services | |
| Accessories | |
| Amusement venues | |
| Related | |
![[1]](http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1844/segaviz2ug3.jpg){kind=link}