List of Sega Genesis games
The Sega Genesis, known as the in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit video game console that was developed and sold by Sega. First released in Japan in 1988, in North America in 1989 and in PAL regions in 1990, the Genesis is Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. The system supports a library of more than 700 games created both by Sega and a wide array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM cartridges. It can also play the complete library of Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is installed. The Sega Genesis also benefited from numerous peripherals, including the Sega CD and Sega 32X, several network services, and multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focused on extending its functionality. The console and its games continue to be popular among fans, collectors, video game music fans, and emulation enthusiasts. Licensed third party re-releases of the console are still being produced, and several indie game developers continue to produce games for it. Many games have also been re-released in compilations for newer consoles and offered for download on various digital distribution services, such as Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam.
History of Sega
In what has been called "a brief moment of remarkable creativity", in 2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into nine semi-autonomous studios headed by the company's top designers. Studios included United Game Artists, Hitmaker, Smilebit, Overworks, Sega AM2, Sonic Team, WOW Entertainment, Amusement Vision, and Sega Rosso. Sega's design houses were encouraged to experiment and benefited from a relatively lax approval process. This resulted in games such as "Rez","The Typing of the Dead", "Seaman", and "Segagaga". Sega also revived franchises from the Genesis era, such as "". AM2 developed what Sega hoped would be the Dreamcast's killer app, "Shenmue", a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema." Incorporating a simulated day/night cycle with variable weather, non-player characters with regular schedules, and the ability to pick up and examine detailed objects (also introducing the Quick-time event in its modern form), "Shenmue" went over budget and was rumored to have cost Sega over $50 million. As the first fully 3D platforming game starring Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Team's "Sonic Adventure" was considered "the centerpiece of the [Dreamcast] launch". "Adventure" garnered criticism for technical problems including erratic camera angles and glitches, but was praised for its "luscious" visuals, "vast, twisting environments" and iconic set pieces. It has been described as the "Sonic" series' creative apex. However, it failed "to catch on with players in nearly the way that [Nintendo's] "Mario 64" had done", perhaps due to a perceived lack of gameplay depth. In sports, Visual Concepts' "NFL 2K" football series and its "NBA 2K" basketball series were critically acclaimed. Additionally, with the release of Sega's NAOMI arcade system board, the focus of the arcade divisions shifted to produce titles that could easily be ported to the Dreamcast.