How many units of the Sega Genesis were sold?
Sega Genesis
Sega sold 30.75 million Genesis units worldwide. Of these, 3.58 million were sold in Japan, and sales in Europe and the U.S. are roughly estimated at 8 million and 18–18.5 million as of June 1997 (at which time Sega was no longer manufacturing the system) respectively. In 1998, Sega licensed the Genesis to Majesco Entertainment in North America so it could re-release the console. Majesco began reselling millions of formerly unsold cartridges at a budget price, together with 150,000 units of the second model of the Genesis. It released the Sega Genesis 3, projecting to sell 1.5 million units of the console by the end of 1998. An estimated 3 million Genesis units were sold by Tec Toy in Brazil.
OutRunners
In October , Atari Corporation filed a lawsuit against Sega for an alleged infringement of a patent originally created by Atari Corp. in the 1980s, with the former seeking a preliminary injunction to stop manufacturing, usage and sales of hardware and software for both Sega Genesis and Game Gear. On September 28, , both parties reached an settlement in which it involved a cross-licensing agreement to publish up to five titles each year across their systems until . The Genesis version of "OutRunners" was one of the first five titles approved from the deal by Sega in order to be converted for the Atari Jaguar, but it was never released.
Sega Saturn
On October 2, 1995 Sega announced a Saturn price reduction to $299. High-quality Saturn ports of the Sega Model 2 arcade hits "Sega Rally Championship", "Virtua Cop", and "Virtua Fighter 2" (running at 60 frames per second at a high resolution) were available by the end of the year, and were generally regarded as superior to competitors on the PlayStation. Notwithstanding a subsequent increase in Saturn sales during the 1995 holiday season, the games were not enough to reverse the PlayStation's decisive lead. By 1996, the PlayStation had a considerably larger library than the Saturn, although Sega hoped to generate interest with upcoming exclusives such as "Nights into Dreams". An informal survey of retailers showed that the Saturn and PlayStation sold in roughly equal numbers during the first quarter of 1996. Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire U.S. video game market. On the first day of the May 1996 E3 show, Sony announced a PlayStation price reduction to $199, a reaction to the release of the Model 2 Saturn in Japan at a price roughly equivalent to $199. On the second day, Sega announced it would match this price, though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture.
Sega Genesis
For his part, Kalinske highlighted Sega's role in developing games for an older demographic and pioneering "the concept of the 'street date'" with the simultaneous North American and European release of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2". John Sczepaniak of "Retro Gamer" noted, "It was a system where the allure was born not only of the hardware and games, but the magazines, playground arguments, climate, and politics of the time." Sega of America's marketing campaign for the Genesis was widely emulated, influencing marketing in the subsequent generation of consoles.
History of Sega
The Saturn failed to take the lead in the market as its predecessor had. After the launch of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, sales of the Saturn and its games were sharply reduced, while the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by three-to-one in the U.S. in 1997. As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47% of the console market, Nintendo 40%, and Sega only 12%. Neither price cuts nor high-profile game releases proved helpful. Following five years of generally declining profits, in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998 Sega suffered its first parent and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Due to a 54.8% decline in consumer product sales (including a 75.4% decline overseas), the company reported a net loss of ¥43.3 billion (US$327.8 million) and a consolidated net loss of ¥35.6 billion (US$269.8 million). Shortly before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced that it was discontinuing the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor. The Saturn would last longer in Japan and Europe. The decision to abandon the Saturn effectively left the Western market without Sega games for over one year. Sega suffered an additional ¥42.881 billion consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 1999, and announced plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce. With lifetime sales of 9.26 million units, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure, although its install base in Japan surpassed the Nintendo 64's 5.54 million. Lack of distribution has been cited as a significant factor contributing to the Saturn's failure, as the system's surprise launch damaged Sega's reputation with key retailers. Conversely, Nintendo's long delay in releasing a 3D console and damage caused to Sega's reputation by poorly supported add-ons for the Genesis are considered major factors allowing Sony to gain a foothold in the market.
While Sega struggled greatly with its consumer division during the Saturn years, its arcade divisions also faced difficulty in the later 1990s in part due to a market slump from the success of home video game consoles. Entering this period of time, Sega had partnered with GE to develop the Model 2 arcade system board, building onto 3D technology in the arcade industry at the time. This led to several successful arcade titles, including "Daytona USA", "Virtua Cop", and "Virtua Fighter 2". The Model 2 was equipped with better hardware than any home video game consoles at the time. Despite the arcade market difficulties and the company's struggles with the Saturn in its consumer division, Sega's arcade division continued strong.
Sega Genesis
In mid-1990, Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske to replace Katz as CEO of Sega of America. Although Kalinske initially knew little about the video game market, he surrounded himself with industry-savvy advisors. A believer in the razor and blades business model, he developed a four-point plan: cut the price of the console, create a U.S.-based team to develop games targeted at the American market, continue and expand the aggressive advertising campaigns, and replace the bundled game "Altered Beast" with a new game, "Sonic the Hedgehog". The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games yet made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the release of the international version of Nintendo's Super Famicom—the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES—decided to purchase a Genesis instead. Nintendo's console debuted against an established competitor, while NEC's TurboGrafx-16 failed to gain traction, and NEC soon pulled out of the market. In large part due to the popularity of "Sonic the Hedgehog", the Sega Genesis outsold the SNES in the United States nearly two to one during the 1991 holiday season. This success led to Sega having control of 65% of the 16-bit console market in January 1992, making it the first time Nintendo was not the console leader since December 1985.
Sega Saturn
The Saturn was initially successful in Japan, but failed to sell in large numbers in the United States after its surprise May 1995 launch, four months before its scheduled release date. After the debut of the Nintendo 64 in late 1996, the Saturn rapidly lost market share in the U.S., where it was discontinued in 1998. Having sold 9.26 million units worldwide, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure. The failure of Sega's development teams to release a game in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series, known in development as "Sonic X-treme", has been considered a factor in the console's poor performance.
Sega Genesis
Designed by an R&D team supervised by Hideki Sato and Masami Ishikawa, the hardware was adapted from Sega's System 16 arcade board, centered on a Motorola 68000 processor as the CPU, a Zilog Z80 as a sound controller, and a video system supporting hardware sprites, tiles, and scrolling. The system plays a library of more than 900 games created by Sega and a wide array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM-based cartridges. The Genesis has benefited from several add-ons, including a Power Base Converter to play Master System games, as well as multiple first and third party licensed variations of the console. Sega created two network services to support the Genesis: Sega Meganet and Sega Channel.
Joe Montana Football
Following the launch of the Genesis in the United States, Sega of America president and CEO Michael Katz planned to create a library of instantly-recognizable titles for the console by contracting with celebrities and athletes to produce games using their names and likenesses. As part of this, Sega signed a US$1.7 million five-year contract with Joe Montana, despite concerns among the Japanese executives that the game would not earn enough to cover this cost.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game)
Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske wanted reassurance that the character would not fail. The global head of marketing, Al Nilsen, became involved, and playtested the game across the United States with Mario fans: they were shown "Mario" and then played "Sonic the Hedgehog". 80 percent preferred "Sonic the Hedgehog", and the game was shown at the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics Show. It was released in North America on June 23, 1991, and in the PAL regions and Japan the following month. Sega of America packaged it with American Genesis consoles, replacing "Altered Beast". This tactic enabled Sega of America to sell 15 million Genesis units. Genesis owners who bought their consoles before the switch could request free copies of "Sonic the Hedgehog" by mail. Sega of America created a large-scale marketing campaign, promoting Sonic as its mascot.
History of Sega
In response to a downturn in the arcade-game market in the early 1980s, Sega began to develop video game consoles—starting with the SG-1000 and Master System—but struggled against competitors like the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega released its next console, the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside of North America) in 1988. Although it initially struggled, the Genesis became a resounding commercial success after the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog" in 1991 and outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, throughout the first half of the 1990s. However, Sega experienced commercial failures in the second half of the decade such as the 32X, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast. In 2001 Sega stopped manufacturing consoles to become a third-party developer and publisher, and was acquired by Sammy Corporation in 2004. Since the takeover, Sega has also developed smartphone games and reorganized its businesses. The company has since been more profitable than it had been after it exited the console market.
Sega Genesis
Sega released a combined, semi-portable Genesis/Sega CD unit called the Genesis CDX (marketed as the Multi-Mega in Europe). This unit retailed at $399.95 in the U.S. (roughly $100 more than the individual Genesis and Sega CD units put together, since the Sega CD dropped its price to $229 half a year before), and was bundled with "Sonic CD", "Sega Classics Arcade Collection", and the Sega CD version of "Ecco the Dolphin". The CDX features a small LCD screen that, when the unit is used to play audio CDs, displays the current track being played. With this feature and the system's lightweight build (weighing two pounds), Sega marketed it in part as a portable CD player.
Sega Saturn
The Saturn's U.S. launch was accompanied by a reported $50 million advertising campaign that included coverage in publications such as "Wired" and "Playboy". Early advertising for the system was targeted at a more mature, adult audience than the Sega Genesis ads. Because of the early launch, the Saturn had only six games (all published by Sega) available to start as most third-party games were slated to be released around the original launch date. "Virtua Fighter"'s relative lack of popularity in the West, combined with a release schedule of only two games between the surprise launch and September 1995, prevented Sega from capitalizing on the Saturn's early timing. Within two days of its September 9, 1995 launch in North America, the PlayStation (backed by a large marketing campaign) sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch, with almost all of the initial shipment of 100,000 units being sold in advance, and the rest selling out across the U.S.
Console Wars (book)
However, when Kalinske arrives for his first day as CEO, he finds Sega of America to be in complete disarray; his predecessor, Michael Katz, has driven the firm to near-bankruptcy by overspending on games like "James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing", while the Genesis, hampered by poor marketing, has sold only half of the one million units Sega needs to stay solvent. Taking charge, Kalinske decides to adopt the "Gillette model", demanding complete control over marketing for the Genesis, and replacing the console's bundled game, "Altered Beast", with a new, little-known title, "Sonic the Hedgehog". Sega's Japanese executives politely refuse to authorize his plans, but Nakayama overrules them and gives Kalinske the green light. Following a successful demonstration of "Sonic" at the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics Show, the Genesis quickly outsells Nintendo's SNES, marking the first time since 1985 that the company does not dominate the home console market.
History of Sega
To compete with Nintendo, Sega was more open to new types of games than its rival, but still tightly controlled the approval process for third-party games and charged high prices for cartridge manufacturing. Technicians from American third-party video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) reverse engineered the Genesis in 1989, following nearly one year of negotiations with Sega in which EA requested a more liberal licensing agreement than was standard in the industry before releasing its games for the system. As a result, EA signed what founder Trip Hawkins described as "a very unusual and much more enlightened license agreement" with Sega in June 1990: "Among other things, we had the right to make as many titles as we wanted. We could approve our own titles ... the royalty rates were a lot more reasonable. We also had more direct control over manufacturing." The first Genesis version of EA's "John Madden Football" arrived before the end of 1990, and became what EA creative officer Bing Gordon called a "killer app" for the system.
Sega Saturn
Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994, at a price of ¥44,800. "Virtua Fighter", a faithful port of the popular arcade game, sold at a nearly one-to-one ratio with the Saturn console at launch and was crucial to the system's early success in Japan. Though Sega had wanted to launch with "Clockwork Knight" and "Panzer Dragoon," the only other first-party game available at launch was "Wan Chai Connection". Fueled by the popularity of "Virtua Fighter", Sega's initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day. Sega waited until the December 3 launch of the PlayStation to ship more units; when both were sold side-by-side, the Saturn proved more popular.
Mario &amp; Sonic at the Olympic Games
As of December 28, 2008, 594,157 units of the Wii version and as of December 27, 2009, 383,655 copies of the Nintendo DS version has been sold in Japan. The Nintendo DS version is the twenty-seventh best-selling game of Japan for 2008. In the same year for Australia, it is the eighth best-selling game while the Wii version is number four. In July 2008, Simon Jeffrey, president of Sega of America, announced that Sega has sold approximately 10 million units worldwide combined of "Mario & Sonic" and showed interest in again collaborating with Nintendo to produce another game featuring the two companies' mascots. The game is listed in the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2010" book as the "Best-selling gaming character cross-over" with 7.09 million on Wii and 4.22 million copies on DS sold.
Sega CD
As time passed, the releases of new CD-based consoles such as the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer rendered the Sega CD technically obsolete, reducing public interest in the add-on. In late 1993, less than a year after the system's launches in North America and Europe, the gaming media reported that Sega was no longer accepting in-house development proposals for the Mega-CD in Japan. In early 1995, Sega shifted its focus to the Sega Saturn and discontinued all advertising for Genesis hardware, including the Sega CD. Sega officially discontinued the add-on in the first quarter of 1996, saying that it needed to concentrate on fewer platforms and felt the Sega CD could not compete in the current marketplace due to its high price tag and outdated single-speed drive. The last two games scheduled to be released for the Sega CD, "Myst" and "Brain Dead 13", were subsequently cancelled. 2.24 million Sega CD units were sold worldwide, including 400,000 in Japan.
Handheld game console
Following Sega's success with the Game Gear, they began development on a successor during the early 1990s, which was intended to feature a touchscreen interface, many years before the Nintendo DS. However, such a technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have cost around $289 were it to be released. Sega eventually chose to shelve the idea and instead release the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis, as the successor.
History of Sega
Moore stated that the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in the U.S. by the end of 2000 in order to remain a viable platform, but Sega ultimately fell short of this goal with some 3 million units sold. Moreover, Sega's attempts to spur increased Dreamcast sales through lower prices and cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. Instead of an expected profit, for the six months ending September 2000, Sega posted a ¥17.98 billion ($163.11 million) loss, with the company projecting a year-end loss of ¥23.6 billion. This estimate was more than doubled to ¥58.3 billion, and in March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net loss of ¥51.7 billion ($417.5 million). While the PS2's October 26 U.S. launch was marred by shortages, this did not benefit the Dreamcast as much as expected, as many disappointed consumers continued to wait for a PS2—while the PSone, a remodeled version of the original PlayStation, was the best-selling console in the U.S. at the start of the 2000 holiday season. According to Moore, "the PlayStation 2 effect that we were relying upon did not work for us ... people will hang on for as long as possible ... What effectively happened is the PlayStation 2 lack of availability froze the marketplace". Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 35 percent of the US video game market, respectively, while Sega held only 15 percent. According to former Sega of America vice president of communications Charles Bellfield, Dreamcast software sold at an 8-to-1 ratio with the hardware, but this ratio "on a small install base didn't give us the revenue ... to keep this platform viable in the medium to long term."
Sega Genesis
In its first foray into online gaming, Sega created Sega Meganet, which debuted in Japan on November 3, 1990. Operating through a cartridge and a peripheral called the "Mega Modem," this allowed Mega Drive players to play a total of seventeen games online. A North American version, dubbed "Tele-Genesis," was announced but never released. Another phone-based system, the Mega Anser, turned the Japanese Mega Drive into an online banking terminal.
Home video game console
In 1990 Nintendo finally brought their Super Famicom to market and brought it to the US as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) a year later. Its release marginalized the TurboGrafx and the Neo Geo, but came late enough for Sega to sell several million consoles in North America and gain a strong foothold. The same year the SNES was released Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog, which spiked Genesis sales, similar to Space Invaders on the Atari. Also, by 1992 the first fully licensed NFL Football game was released: NFL Sports Talk Football '93, which was available only on the Genesis. This impact on Genesis sales, and the overall interest of realistic sports games, would start the trend of licensed sports games being viewed as necessary for the success of a console in the US.
History of Sega
The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999 at a price of $199—which Sega's marketing dubbed "9/9/99 for $199". Eighteen launch games were available for the Dreamcast in the U.S. Sega set a new sales record by selling more than 225,132 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning the company $98.4 million in what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history". Within two weeks, U.S. Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000. By Christmas, Sega held 31 percent of the North American video game marketshare. On November 4, Sega announced it had sold over one million Dreamcast units. Nevertheless, the launch was marred by a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced defective GD-ROMs. Sega released the Dreamcast in Europe on October 14, 1999, at a price of GB₤200. While Sega sold 500,000 units in Europe by Christmas 1999, sales did not continue at this pace, and by October 2000, Sega had sold only about 1 million units in Europe.
Sega Genesis
Initially, the Genesis suffered from limited third-party support due to its low market share and Nintendo's monopolizing practices. Notably, the arcade hit "Street Fighter II" by Capcom initially skipped the Genesis, instead only being released on the SNES. However, as the Genesis continued to grow in popularity, Capcom eventually ported a version of "Street Fighter II" to the system known as "", that would go on to sell over a million copies. One of the biggest third-party companies to support the Genesis early on was Electronic Arts. Trip Hawkins, founder and then president of EA, believed the Genesis faster drawing speed made it more suitable for sport games than the SNES, and credits EA's success on the Genesis for helping catapult the EA Sports brand. Another third-party blockbuster for the system was the port of the original "Mortal Kombat". Although the arcade game was released on the SNES and Genesis simultaneously, the two ports were not identical. The SNES version looked closer to the arcade game, but the Genesis version allowed players to bypass censorship, helping make it more popular. In 1997, Sega of America claimed the Genesis had a software attach rate of 16 games sold per console, double that of the SNES.
Sonic 3D Blast
"Sonic 3D Blast" received mixed reviews, according to the review aggregator GameRankings. Mike Wallis, an employee of Sega at the time, recalled in an interview that the Genesis version was successful for the company, eventually selling over 700,000 copies. The Saturn version was also a commercial success and was one of the system's better-selling games, according to Wallis.
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by Sega for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation features 48 Sega games (49 counting two versions of "Altered Beast") which were previously released for the Sega Genesis (including most of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" titles released for the system), arcades and the Master System. It is the sequel to the "Sega Genesis Collection" released previously for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, however it is similar to that compilation because it contains 16 (in NTSC regions) more games (including unlockable extras).
Toukiden: The Age of Demons
The retail PlayStation Vita version of Toukiden sold 122,794 units within the first week of release, taking second place for all physical retail videogame sales in Japan, behind "Gundam Breaker" on the PlayStation 3 which debuted within the same week and sold 200,564 units. The same week also saw a spike in PlayStation Vita system sales, with 31,271 consoles sold, a significant increase over the 13,422 consoles sold during the previous week. The PlayStation Portable version of Toukiden sold 66,016 units within the same week. Total game sales were 300,000 units for the month of June 2013. "Toukiden" placed sixth place amongst all digital copy games sold on the Japanese PlayStation Network overall in 2013, and the fourth most-sold digital Vita game behind "Dragon's Crown", "God Eater 2" and "Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus".
List of Sega Genesis games
This is an alphabetical list of released games for the Sega Genesis. Titles listed do not include releases for the Sega CD and Sega 32X add-ons. Included in this list are titles not licensed by Sega, including releases in Taiwan by several developers such as Gamtec, as well as releases by Accolade before being licensed following the events of "Sega v. Accolade". This list also includes titles developed by unlicensed third-party developers after the discontinuation of the Genesis, such as "Pier Solar and the Great Architects".
History of Sega
For the North American market, where the console was renamed "Sega Genesis", former Atari executive and new Sega of America CEO Michael Katz instituted a two-part approach to build sales in the region. The first part involved a marketing campaign to challenge Nintendo head-on and emphasize the more arcade-like experience available on the Genesis, summarized by slogans including "Genesis does what Nintendon't". Since Nintendo owned the console rights to most arcade games of the time, the second part involved creating a library of instantly recognizable games which used the names and likenesses of celebrities and athletes. Nonetheless, it had a hard time overcoming Nintendo's ubiquitous presence in consumers' homes. Tasked by Nakayama to sell one million units within the first year, Katz and Sega of America managed to sell only 500,000 units.
Sega
In 1990, Sega launched the Game Gear, a handheld console, to compete against Nintendo's Game Boy. The console was designed as a portable version of the Master System, and featured more powerful systems than the Game Boy, including a full-color screen, in contrast to the monochrome Game Boy screen. However, due to its short battery life, lack of original games, and weak support from Sega, the Game Gear did not surpass the Game Boy, selling approximately 11 million units. Sega launched the Mega-CD in Japan on December 1, 1991, initially retailing at JP¥49,800. In North America, it was renamed the Sega CD and launched on October 15, 1992, with a retail price of US$299. It was released in Europe as the Mega-CD in 1993. The add-on greatly expanded the potential size of Genesis games and upgraded the graphics and sound capabilities with a second, faster processor, vastly expanded system memory, a graphics chip that performed scaling and rotation similar to Sega's arcade games, and an additional sound chip. The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. However, Sega had success with arcade games; in 1992 and 1993, the new Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased Sega AM2's "Virtua Racing" and "Virtua Fighter" (the first 3D fighting game), which played a crucial role in popularizing 3D polygonal graphics.
Sega
A downturn in the arcade business starting in 1982 seriously hurt Sega, leading Gulf and Western to sell its North American arcade manufacturing organization and the licensing rights for its arcade games to Bally Manufacturing. The company retained Sega's North American R&D operation and its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. With its arcade business in decline, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. president Nakayama advocated that the company leverage its hardware expertise to move into the home console market in Japan, which was in its infancy at the time. This led to Sega's development of a computer, the SC-3000. Upon finding out that Nintendo was developing a games-only console, Sega developed and release its first home video game system, the SG-1000, alongside the SC-3000. Rebranded versions were released in several other markets worldwide. Due in part to the SG-1000's steadier stream of releases, and to a recall on Famicom units by primary competitor Nintendo, the SG-1000 sold 160,000 units in 1983, far exceeding Sega's projection of 50,000 in the first year. However, by 1984 the Famicom began to outpace the SG-1000, in part because Nintendo boosted its games library by courting third-party developers, whereas Sega was hesitant to collaborate with companies they were competing with in arcades.
Sega Genesis
The 32X was released in November 1994, in time for the holiday season. Demand among retailers was high, and Sega could not keep up orders for the system. More than 1,000,000 orders had been placed for 32X units, but Sega had only managed to ship 600,000 units by January 1995. Launching at about the same price as a Genesis console, the price of the 32X was less than half of what the Saturn's price would be at launch. Despite the console's positioning as an inexpensive entry into 32-bit gaming, Sega had a difficult time convincing third-party developers to create games for the new system. After an early run on the peripheral, news soon spread to the public of the upcoming release of the Sega Saturn, which would not support the 32X's games. The Saturn was released on May 11, 1995, four months earlier than its originally intended release date of September 2, 1995. The Saturn, in turn, caused developers to further shy away from the console and created doubt about the library for the 32X, even with Sega's assurances that there would be a large number of games developed for the system. In early 1996, Sega conceded that it had promised too much out of the 32X and decided to stop producing the system in order to focus on the Saturn. Prices for the 32X dropped to $99 and cleared out of stores at $19.95.
Sega Genesis
With the release of the Sega Saturn slated for 1995, Sega began to develop a stop-gap solution that would bridge the gap between the Genesis and the Saturn, and would serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era. At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1994, Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller took a phone call from Nakayama, in which Nakayama stressed the importance of coming up with a quick response to the Atari Jaguar. One potential idea for this came from a concept from Sega Enterprises, later known as "Project Jupiter," an entirely new independent console. Project Jupiter was initially slated to be a new version of the Genesis, with an upgraded color palette and a lower cost than the upcoming Saturn, as well as with some limited 3D capabilities thanks to integration of ideas from the development of the Sega Virtua Processor chip. Miller suggested an alternative strategy, citing concerns with releasing a new console with no previous design specifications within six to nine months. At the suggestion from Miller and his team, Sega designed the 32X as a peripheral for the existing Genesis, expanding its power with two 32-bit SuperH-2 processors. The SH-2 had been developed in 1993 as a joint venture between Sega and Japanese electronics company Hitachi. At the end of the Consumer Electronics show, with the basic design of the 32X in place, Sega Enterprises invited Sega of America to assist in development of the new add-on.
List of Sega video game consoles
In Brazil, where the Genesis never ceased production, Tectoy released a portable version of the Genesis with twenty built-in games on December 5, 2007. Another Tectoy variant of the console called "Mega Drive Guitar Idol", released in 2009 in Brazil, includes two six-button joypads and a guitar controller with five fret buttons. That year, AtGames began producing two new Genesis variants in North America and Europe: the Firecore, which can play Genesis cartridges as well as preloaded games; and a handheld console, the Sega Gopher, as well as a dedicated motion console, the Sega Zone, preloaded with 20 Genesis games. Companies such as Radica Games have released compilations of Genesis games in "plug-and-play" packages resembling the system's controller.
Sega Saturn
From 1993 to early 1996, although Sega's revenue declined as part of an industry-wide slowdown, the company retained control of 38% of the U.S. video game market (compared to Nintendo's 30% and Sony's 24%). 800,000 PlayStation units were sold in the U.S. by the end of 1995, compared to 400,000 Saturn units. In part due to an aggressive price war, the PlayStation outsold the Saturn by two-to-one in 1996, while Sega's 16-bit sales declined markedly. By the end of 1996, the PlayStation had sold 2.9 million units in the U.S., more than twice the 1.2 million Saturn units sold. The Christmas 1996 "Three Free" pack, which bundled the Saturn with "Daytona USA", "Virtua Fighter 2", and "Virtua Cop," drove sales dramatically and ensured the Saturn remained a competitor into 1997.
PlayStation Vita
The sales of the Vita started strong at launch, but then stalled and greatly underperformed. The Vita had a strong launch in Japan, selling over 300,000 units in its first week of availability, though figures shortly afterwards shrunk down 78% to under 73,000 sold in its second week, and then settled into about 12,000 sold per week in the following weeks. Similarly, in the United States, the system debuted with 200,000 units sold in the first month, before slinking down into an amount of about 50,000 a month. 1.2 million units were reported as sold as of February 26, 2012 – after it had launched in most regions. The system continued to get high-profile games over the course of 2012, including "Gravity Rush", "LittleBigPlanet PS Vita", "Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed", "Persona 4 Golden", "", and "". Despite this, the system still only managed to sell 4 million units worldwide in its first 10 months on the market, and estimated by analysts to only be at 6 million units sold after two years of availability. After 2012, Sony ceased releasing direct sales figures of the Vita, instead opting to release combined sales figures with it and the PSP. Still, the system under-performed; while Sony projected selling 16 million units of combined Vita and PSP systems, it had to slash its forecast twice in the same year—down to 12 and then 10 million units sold.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game)
Primarily because of its Genesis bundling, "Sonic the Hedgehog" contributed to the console's popularity in North America. During October–December 1991, the Genesis outsold the Super NES by two to one; at its January 1992 peak it had 65 percent of the market for 16-bit consoles. Although Nintendo eventually overtook Sega, it was the first time since December 1985 that Nintendo did not lead the console market.
Sega CD
Shortly after the release of the Genesis, Sega's Consumer Products Research and Development Labs led by manager Tomio Takami were tasked with creating a CD-ROM add-on for the system, which became the Sega CD. The Sega CD was originally intended to equal the capabilities of the TurboGrafx-CD, but with twice as much random-access memory (RAM), and sell for about JP¥20,000 (or US$150). In addition to relatively short loading times, Takami's team planned for the device to feature hardware scaling and rotation similar to that found in Sega's arcade games, which required the use of a dedicated digital signal processor (DSP). However, two changes made later in development contributed to the final unit's higher than expected price. Because the Genesis' Motorola 68000 CPU was too slow to handle the Sega CD's new graphical capabilities, an additional 68000 CPU was incorporated into the add-on. In addition, upon hearing rumors that NEC planned a memory upgrade to the TurboGrafx-CD, which would bring its available RAM from 0.5 Mbit to between 2 and 4 Mbit, Sega decided to increase the Sega CD's available RAM from 1 Mbit to 6 Mbit. This proved to be one of the greatest technical challenges during development since the CD's access speed was initially too slow to run programs effectively. The cost of the device was now estimated at $370, but market research convinced Sega executives that consumers would be willing to pay more for a state-of-the-art machine. Sega partnered with JVC, which had been working with Warner New Media to develop a CD player under the CD+G standard, to develop the Sega CD.
Sega Genesis
Late in the 16-bit era, Sega released a handheld version of the Genesis called the Genesis Nomad. Its design was based on the Mega Jet, a Mega Drive portable unit featured on airplane flights in Japan. As the only successor to the Game Gear, the Nomad operates on 6 AA batteries, displaying its graphics on a 3.25-inch (8.25-mm) LCD screen. The Nomad supports the entire Genesis library, but cannot be used with the Sega 32X, the Sega CD, or the Power Base Converter.
List of commercial failures in video gaming
Unveiled by Sega at June 1994's Consumer Electronics Show, the 32X was later described as the "poor man's entry into 'next generation' games." The product was originally conceived as an entirely new console by Sega Enterprises and positioned as an inexpensive alternative for gamers into the 32-bit era, but at the suggestion of Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the console was converted into an add-on to the existing Mega Drive/Genesis and made more powerful, with two 32-bit central processing unit chips and a 3D graphics processor. Despite these changes, the console failed to attract either developers or consumers as the Sega Saturn had already been announced for release the next year. In part because of this, and also to rush the 32X to market before the holiday season in 1994, the 32X suffered from a poor library of titles, including Mega Drive/Genesis ports with improvements to the number of colors that appeared on screen. Originally released at US$159, Sega dropped the price to $99 in only a few months and ultimately cleared the remaining inventory at $19.95. About 665,000 units were sold.
SG-1000
The SG-1000's launch did not prove to be successful. The three launch games, all of which were ported from Sega's VIC dual-arcade board, lacked the name recognition of Famicom launch games "Donkey Kong", "Donkey Kong Jr.", and "Popeye". Due in part to the SG-1000's steadier stream of releases (21 SG-1000 games by the end of 1983, as compared to only 9 Famicom games), and in part to a recall on Famicom units necessitated by a faulty circuit, the SG-1000 chalked up 160,000 units in sales in 1983, far exceeding Sega's projection of 50,000 units. Shortly after launch, Gulf and Western began to divest itself of its non-core businesses after the death of company founder Charles Bluhdorn, so Nakayama and former Sega CEO David Rosen arranged a management buyout of the Japanese subsidiary in 1984 with financial backing from CSK Corporation, a prominent Japanese software company. Nakayama was then installed as CEO of the new Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Following the buyout, Sega released another console, the SG-1000 II, on July 31, 1984 at JP¥15,000. The SG-1000 II has a different outer design from the original SG-1000, with the biggest difference being the replacement of the hardwired joystick with two detachable joypads that were connected through a pair of DE-9 ports on the back of the unit (the same controller ports that would later be used for the Master System and Genesis). Otherwise, it is functionally identical to the SG-1000 and is compatible with all the same software and peripherals.The lead designer of consumer hardware development at Sega, Hideki Sato, disliked the original cartridges, saying they looked like "small black tombstones" when inserted in the console, and later remarked that his proudest achievement of the SG-1000 era was replacing them with the "cheerier", pocket-sized Sega My Cards. Sega also employed popular owarai comedy duo Tunnels to provide celebrity endorsement for the console.
Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games video game)
The game sold 4 million copies worldwide at the time of its release, making it the third best-selling Sega Genesis game of all-time, after "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2".
Dreamcast
Released in 1988, the Sega Genesis (known as the Sega Mega Drive in Japan, Europe and Brazil) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles. Selling 30.75 million units worldwide, the Genesis was the most successful console Sega ever released. The successor to the Genesis, the Sega Saturn, was released in Japan in 1994. The Saturn was a CD-ROM-based console that displayed both 2D and 3D computer graphics, but its complex dual-CPU architecture made it more difficult to program for than its chief competitor, the Sony PlayStation. Although the Saturn debuted before the PlayStation in both Japan and the United States, its surprise U.S. launch—which came four months earlier than originally scheduled—was marred by a lack of distribution, which remained a continuing problem for the system. Moreover, Sega's early release was undermined by Sony's simultaneous announcement that the PlayStation would retail for US$299—compared to the Saturn's initial price of $399. Nintendo's long delay in releasing a competing 3D console and the damage done to Sega's reputation by poorly supported add-ons for the Genesis (particularly the Sega 32X) allowed Sony to establish a foothold in the market. The PlayStation was immediately successful in the U.S., in part due to a massive advertising campaign and strong third-party support engendered by Sony's excellent development tools and liberal $10 licensing fee. Sony's success was further aided by a price war in which Sega lowered the price of the Saturn from $399 to $299 and then from $299 to $199 in order to match the price of the PlayStation–even though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture and the PlayStation enjoyed a larger software library. Losses on the Saturn hardware contributed to Sega's financial problems, which saw the company's revenue decline between 1992 and 1995 as part of an industry-wide slowdown. Furthermore, Sega's focus on the Saturn over the Genesis prevented it from fully capitalizing on the continued strength of the 16-bit market.
Sega
Moore stated that the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in the U.S. by the end of 2000 to remain a viable platform, but Sega fell short of this goal with some 3 million units sold. Moreover, Sega's attempts to spur Dreamcast sales through lower prices and cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. In March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net loss of ¥51.7 billion ($417.5 million). While the PS2's October 26 U.S. launch was marred by shortages, this did not benefit the Dreamcast as much as expected, as many disappointed consumers continued to wait for a PS2. The PSone, a remodeled version of the original PlayStation, was the best-selling console in the U.S. at the start of the 2000 holiday season. Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 35 percent of the US video game market respectively, while Sega held only 15 percent.
Sega
Though the Dreamcast launch had been successful, Sony still held 60 percent of the overall market share in North America with the PlayStation at the end of 1999. On March 2, 1999, in what one report called a "highly publicized, vaporware-like announcement", Sony revealed the first details of its "next generation PlayStation", which Ken Kutaragi claimed would allow video games to convey unprecedented emotions. The same year, Nintendo announced that its next generation console would meet or exceed anything on the market, and Microsoft began development of its own console, the Xbox. Sega's initial momentum proved fleeting as U.S. Dreamcast sales—which exceeded 1.5 million by the end of 1999—began to decline as early as January 2000. Poor Japanese sales contributed to Sega's ¥42.88 billion ($404 million) consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 2000, which followed a similar loss of ¥42.881 billion the previous year and marked Sega's third consecutive annual loss. Although Sega's overall sales for the term increased 27.4%, and Dreamcast sales in North America and Europe greatly exceeded the company's expectations, this increase coincided with a decrease in profitability due to the investments required to launch the Dreamcast in Western markets and poor software sales in Japan. At the same time, increasingly poor market conditions reduced the profitability of Sega's Japanese arcade business, prompting the company to close 246 locations.
History of Sega
Sega experienced success with arcade games during the years it was supporting the Genesis. At the end of the 1980s, with the arcade game market once again in good shape, Sega was one of the most recognized brands in gaming. In the later part of the decade, it focused on releasing titles to appeal to diverse tastes, including racing games and side-scrollers. Some time after the release of "Power Drift", Sega realigned its arcade development divisions into the Amusement Machine Research and Development teams, or AM teams, which were strictly segregated and often had rivalries with each other and with the consumer development divisions. In 1992 and 1993, the new Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased Sega AM2's "Virtua Racing" and "Virtua Fighter" (the first 3D fighting game), which played a crucial role in popularizing 3D polygonal graphics. In particular, "Virtua Fighter" garnered praise for its simple three-button control scheme, with strategy coming from the intuitively observed differences between characters that felt and acted differently rather than the more ornate combos of two-dimensional competitors. Despite its crude visuals—with characters composed of fewer than 1,200 polygons—"Virtua Fighter"'s fluid animation and relatively realistic depiction of distinct fighting styles gave its combatants a lifelike presence considered impossible to replicate with sprites. The Model 1 was an expensive system board, and bringing home releases of its games to the Genesis required more than its hardware could handle. Several alternatives helped to bring Sega's newest arcade games to the console, such as the Sega Virtua Processor chip used for "Virtua Racing", and eventually the Sega 32X add-on.
Sega
Sales of the Master System in the United States were handicapped by ineffective marketing by Tonka, who marketed the console there on Sega's behalf. By early 1992, production had ceased in North America, having sold between 1.5 million and 2 million units, behind Nintendo and Atari, which controlled 80 percent and 12 percent of the market respectively. However, the Master System was eventually a success in Europe, where it outsold the NES by a considerable margin. As late as 1993, the Master System's active installed user base in Europe was 6.25 million units. The Master System has had continued success in Brazil, where new versions continue to be released, distributed by Sega's partner in the region, Tectoy. By 2016, the Master System had sold 8 million units in Brazil. Its continuing success there makes the Master System the longest-lived console in history.
List of best-selling Sega Genesis video games
This is a list of Sega Genesis/Mega Drive video games that have sold or shipped at least one million copies, sorted in order of copies sold.
Sonic Adventure
During the early 1990s, Sega was one of the most successful video game companies due to its Genesis console. Sales for the console were driven by the popularity of its flagship franchise of 2D platformers, "Sonic the Hedgehog". During this time, series co-creator Yuji Naka worked with Sega Technical Institute (STI) in the United States to develop "Sonic" games. After the completion of "Sonic & Knuckles" in 1994, Naka moved to work with Sonic Team in Japan. STI began developing "Sonic X-treme" for the Sega Saturn"," which would have been the first "Sonic the Hedgehog" game to feature full 3D gameplay. "X-treme" suffered a series of setbacks and was canceled in 1997. The cancellation is an important factor in the Saturn's commercial failure; without it, the system had no original "Sonic" platformer. Meanwhile, Naka and Sonic Team developed original Saturn games, such as "Nights into Dreams." Due to the series' relative lack of presence on the Saturn, according to "Retro Gamer", "[b]y mid-1997 Sonic had essentially been shuffled into the background... it was astonishing to see that just six years after his debut, Sonic was already retro."
Sega Genesis Collection
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Metropolis Street Racer
According to Martyn Chudley, "Metropolis Street Racer" sold approximately 120,000 units. The majority were sold in the US with 101,757 copies; in Europe, 13,297 copies were sold on the first two days meaning less than 5000 were sold in that territory post-launch. Chudley described the sales figures as "measly" and cited the Dreamcast's demise, the game's late arrival and the discovery of high-profile bugs after release as the reasons why. He also stated that Bizarre Creations had invested around £1 million of their own money into the game and they asked Sega about putting the game on Sony's PlayStation 2, however Sega declined. Edge Magazine commented during a preview for "Project Gotham Racing" that releasing MSR exclusively for Dreamcast was comparable to ""The Beatles exclusively selling The White Album on Mars"".
Sega CD
While the Sega CD became known for several well-received games such as "Sonic CD" and "", its game library contained a large number of Genesis ports and poorly-received FMV games. 2.24 million Sega CD units were sold by March 1996, after which Sega discontinued the system to focus on the Sega Saturn. Retrospective reception is mixed, with praise for individual games and additional functions, but criticism for its lack of deep games, high price, and support from Sega.
Ninja Gaiden (2004 video game)
46,307 units were sold of "Ninja Gaiden Sigma" in the first week of its release in Japan, making it the third highest selling game during that period. According to the NPD Group, in its first month "Sigma" sold 63,637 copies in the United States. "Next Generation" reported that as of April 2008, 470,000 copies of "Sigma" have been sold in Europe and North America. Tecmo announced that they have sold 500,000 units worldwide.
History of Sega
Within two days of its September 9, 1995 launch in North America, the PlayStation sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch, with almost all of the initial shipment of 100,000 units being sold in advance, and the rest selling out across the U.S. On October 2, 1995 Sega announced a Saturn price reduction to $299. Notwithstanding a subsequent increase in Saturn sales during the 1995 holiday season, new games were not enough to reverse the PlayStation's decisive lead. By 1996, the PlayStation had a considerably larger library than the Saturn, although Sega hoped to generate interest with upcoming exclusives such as "Nights into Dreams". Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire U.S. video game market. On the first day of the May 1996 E3 show, Sony announced a PlayStation price reduction to $199, a reaction to the release of the Model 2 Saturn in Japan at a price roughly equivalent to $199. On the second day, Sega announced it would match this price, though Saturn hardware was more expensive to manufacture.
Sega
In mid-1990, Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske to replace Katz as CEO of Sega of America. Although Kalinske knew little about the video game market, he surrounded himself with industry-savvy advisors. A believer in the razor and blades business model, he developed a four-point plan: cut the price of the console, create a U.S.-based team to develop games targeted at the American market, expand the aggressive advertising campaigns, and replace the bundled game "Altered Beast" with "Sonic the Hedgehog". The Japanese board of directors disapproved of the plan, but it was approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games made, and Sega's console finally became successful. In large part due to the popularity of "Sonic the Hedgehog", the Sega Genesis outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, in the United States nearly two to one during the 1991 holiday season. By January 1992, Sega controlled 65% of the 16-bit console market, making it the first time Nintendo was not the console leader since 1985. Sega outsold Nintendo four Christmas seasons in a row due to the Genesis' head start, lower price, and a larger library of games when compared to the Super Nintendo at its release.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Due to the popularity of its predecessor, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" already had an established fanbase anticipating its release. The game received critical acclaim and was a bestseller in the UK charts for 2 months. As of 2006, the game had sold over 6 million copies, making it the second best-selling game for the Sega Genesis (after the original "Sonic the Hedgehog").
Video game console
The Nomad was released in October 1995 in North America only. The release was five years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement and believes that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld. Sega was supporting five different consoles: Saturn, Genesis, Game Gear, Pico, and the Master System, as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's PlayStation, so Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to focus on the Saturn. By 1999, the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.
List of 32X games
Unveiled at June 1994's Consumer Electronics Show, Sega presented the 32X as the "poor man's entry into 'next generation' games." The product was originally conceived as an entirely new console by Sega of Japan and positioned as an inexpensive alternative for gamers into the 32-bit era, but at the suggestion of Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the console was converted into an add-on to the existing Genesis and made more powerful, with two 32-bit central processing unit chips and a 3D graphics processor. Despite these changes, the console failed to attract either developers or consumers as the Sega Saturn had already been announced for release the next year. In part because of this, and also to rush the 32X to market before the holiday season in 1994, the 32X suffered from a poor library of titles, including Genesis ports with improvements to the number of colors that appeared on screen. Originally released at US$159, Sega dropped the price to $99 in only a few months and ultimately cleared the remaining inventory at $19.95. At least 665,000 units were sold.
Sega Genesis
After the Genesis was discontinued, Majesco Entertainment released the Genesis 3 as a budget version in 1998. In 2009, AtGames began producing two new variations: the Firecore, which can play original Genesis cartridges as well as preloaded games, and a handheld console preloaded with 20 Genesis games. Companies such as Radica Games have released various compilations of Genesis and Mega Drive games in "plug-and-play" packages resembling the system's controller.
Sega Channel
In early 1995, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to end development on the Sega Genesis and its add-ons, the Sega CD and Sega 32X. This decision was made to support the Sega Saturn, which had been released in Japan already. This placed the release of the Sega Channel right at the height of the Genesis' decline from the market. At its peak, Sega Channel had over 250,000 subscribers, but by 1997, the number of subscribers had dropped to 230,000, two years after Nakayama made the decision to shift focus from the Genesis to the Saturn. Though Sega looked at options to bring the service to PCs, the service was eventually discontinued by July 31, 1998.
Sega Genesis Collection
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32X
The 32X was released on November 21, 1994, in North America, in time for the holiday season that year. As announced, it retailed for $159.99, and had a reasonably successful launch in the marketplace. Demand among retailers was high, and Sega could not keep up with orders for the new system. Over 1,000,000 orders had been placed for 32X units, but Sega had only managed to ship 600,000 units by January 1995. Launching at about the same price as a Genesis console, the price of the 32X was less than half of what the Saturn's price would be at launch. Despite Sega's initial promises, only six titles were available at its North American launch, including "Doom", "Star Wars Arcade", "Virtua Racing Deluxe", and "Cosmic Carnage". Although "Virtua Racing" was considered a "strong" title, "Cosmic Carnage" "looked and played so poorly that reporters made jokes about it." Games were available at a retail price of $69.95. Advertising for the system included images of the 32X being connected to a Genesis console to create an "arcade system". Japan received the 32X on December 3, 1994, at a cost of JP¥16,800. The system's PAL release came in January 1995, at a price of GB£169.99, and also experienced initial high demand.
List of Sega Saturn games
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation home video game console that was developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe as the successor to the successful Sega Genesis. The Saturn has a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, and its game library contains several arcade ports as well as original titles.
Sega
Sega released the Master System's successor, the Mega Drive, in Japan on October 29, 1988, though the launch was overshadowed by Nintendo's release of "Super Mario Bros. 3" a week earlier. Positive coverage from magazines "Famitsu" and "Beep!" helped establish a following, but Sega only shipped 400,000 units in the first year. The Mega Drive could not overtake the venerable Famicom and remained a distant third in Japan behind Nintendo's Super Famicom and NEC's PC Engine throughout the 16-bit era. For the console's launch in North America, where the console was renamed Genesis, Sega had no North American sales and marketing organization. After Atari declined an offer to market the console in the region, Sega launched the console through its own Sega of America subsidiary. Genesis was launched in a limited number of markets on August 14, 1989, and in the rest of North America later that year. The European version of the Mega Drive was released in September 1990.
Home video game console
To compete with emerging next gen consoles, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country which could display a wide range of tones (something common in fifth-generation games) by limiting the number of hues onscreen, and Star Fox which used an extra chip inside of the cartridge to display polygon graphics. Sega followed suit, releasing Vectorman and Virtua Racing (the latter of which used the Sega Virtua Processor). Sega also released the 32X, an add-on for the Genesis, while their Sega Saturn was still in development, and announced that they would replace the Genesis with the Neptune, a combination 32X and Genesis, and sell it as a budget console alongside their upcoming Saturn. Despite public statements from Sega claiming that they would continue to support the Genesis/32X throughout the next generation, Sega Enterprises quietly killed the Neptune project and forced Sega of America to abandon the 32X. The 32X's brief and confusing existence damaged public perception of the coming Saturn and Sega as a whole.
Genesis Nomad
The Nomad was released in October 1995 in North America only. The release was five years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. While Sega Technical Institute's "The Ooze" was originally planned to be a launch title for the handheld, it was not included. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement and believes that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld. Sega was supporting five different consoles: Saturn, Genesis, Game Gear, Pico, and the Master System, as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's PlayStation, so Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to focus on the Saturn, resulting in the end of support for the Genesis and Genesis-based products. Additionally, the Game Boy, Nintendo's handheld console which had been dominant in the market, became even more dominant with the release of "Pokémon Red" and "Blue". This meant the Nomad was not successful. By 1999, the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.
Sega Saturn
Worldwide Saturn sales include at least the following amounts in each territory: 5.75 million in Japan (surpassing the Genesis' sales of 3.58 million there), 1.8 million in the United States, 1 million in Europe, and 530,000 elsewhere. With lifetime sales of 9.26 million units, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure, although its install base in Japan surpassed the Nintendo 64's 5.54 million. Lack of distribution has been cited as a significant factor contributing to the Saturn's failure, as the system's surprise launch damaged Sega's reputation with key retailers. Conversely, Nintendo's long delay in releasing a 3D console and damage caused to Sega's reputation by poorly supported add-ons for the Genesis are considered major factors allowing Sony to gain a foothold in the market.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
In the United States, the game sold 500,000 units within two days of release, and 680,000 copies within five. By July 2006, it had sold 2 million copies and earned $85 million in the United States alone. "Next Generation" ranked it as the 16th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. In Japan, the game sold 400,000 units in its first day, in addition to its 600,000 pre-orders in that country. The game's PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It ultimately sold 7 million copies worldwide, making it the highest-selling game in the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Due to the success of "Sonic" games on the Sega Genesis, the series was introduced to the Master System and the Game Gear. Sega began by releasing "Sonic the Hedgehog", a 2D platform game, in 1991. The game featured Sonic's ability to run and to jump at high speeds like its Mega Drive/Genesis counterpart but with notably different level design and music. Sega later released "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" another 2D platform game, in 1992. The game differed from its Genesis counterpart with different levels and music and by not including a "spin dash" maneuver. It also featured a different storyline in which Doctor Robotnik kidnaps Tails, who is non-playable in the Master System/Game Gear version. "Sonic Chaos"/"Sonic and Tails" (Japan), released in 1993, was similar to the earlier two Sega Master System/Game Gear "Sonic" games, but featured Tails as a playable character. A sequel, "Sonic Triple Trouble"/"Sonic and Tails 2" (Japan), a 2D platform game, was released in 1994 for the Game Gear and introduced a new character, Nack the Weasel, who, along with Knuckles and Doctor Robotnik, raced to collect the Chaos Emeralds. One of the last games for the Sega Game Gear, "Sonic Blast", was released in 1996 and featured prerendered sprites.
Sega Genesis
Working with Sega Enterprises, JVC released the Wondermega on April 1, 1992, in Japan. The system was later redesigned by JVC and released as the X'Eye in North America in September 1994. Designed by JVC to be a Genesis and Sega CD combination with high quality audio, the Wondermega's high price ($500 at launch) kept it out of the hands of average consumers. The same was true of the Pioneer LaserActive, which requires an add-on known as the Mega-LD pack, developed by Sega, in order to play Genesis and Sega CD games. Although the LaserActive was lined up to compete with the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the combined price of the system and the Mega-LD pack made it a prohibitively expensive option for Sega players. Aiwa released the CSD-GM1, a combination Genesis/Sega CD unit built into a boombox. Several companies added the Mega Drive to personal computers, mimicking the design of Sega's TeraDrive; these include the MSX models AX-330 and AX-990, distributed in Kuwait and Yemen, and the Amstrad Mega PC, distributed in Europe and Australia.
Sega Genesis
On December 5, 2007, Tec Toy released a portable version of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive with twenty built-in games. Another version called "Mega Drive Guitar Idol" comes with two six-button joypads and a guitar controller with five fret buttons. The "Guitar Idol" game contains a mix of Brazilian and international songs. The console has 87 built-in games, including some from Electronic Arts based on the mobile phone versions.
History of Sega
After the release of the Sega Genesis in 1989, video game publisher Accolade began exploring options to release some of their PC games on the console. At the time, Sega had a licensing deal in place for third-party developers that increased the costs to the developer. According to Accolade co-founder Alan Miller, "One pays them between $10 and $15 per cartridge on top of the real hardware manufacturing costs, so it about doubles the cost of goods to the independent publisher." To get around licensing, Accolade chose to seek an alternative way to bring their games to the Genesis. As a result of piracy in some countries and unlicensed development issues, Sega incorporated a technical protection mechanism into a new edition of the Genesis released in 1990, referred to as the Genesis III. This new variation of the Genesis included a code known as the Trademark Security System (TMSS). Accolade successfully identified the TMSS file. It later added this file to the games "HardBall!", "Star Control", "Mike Ditka Power Football", and "Turrican". In response to the creation of these unlicensed games, Sega filed suit against Accolade in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on charges of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and copyright infringement. In response, Accolade filed a counterclaim for falsifying the source of its games by displaying the Sega trademark when the game was powered up. Despite winning an injunction in the initial district court case, as a result of Accolade's appeal, the Ninth Circuit overturned the district court's verdict and ruled that Accolade's decompilation of the Sega software constituted fair use. Ultimately, Sega and Accolade settled the case on April 30, 1993. As a part of this settlement, Accolade became an official licensee of Sega, and later developed and released "Barkley Shut Up and Jam!" while under license. The terms of the licensing, including whether or not any special arrangements or discounts were made to Accolade, were not released to the public. The financial terms of the settlement were also not disclosed, although both companies agreed to pay their own legal costs.
Sega CD
Released in 1988, the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Europe and Japan) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles. In mid-1990, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske developed a four-point plan for sales of the Genesis: cut the console's price, develop games for the American market with a new American team, continue aggressive advertising campaigns, and ship "Sonic the Hedgehog" with the Genesis as a pack-in game. The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games yet made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) decided to purchase a Genesis instead.
History of Sega
By 1991, compact discs had gained in popularity as a data storage device for music and software. PCs and video game companies had started to make use of this technology. NEC had been the first to include CD technology in a game console with the release of the TurboGrafx-CD add-on, and Nintendo was making plans to develop its own CD peripheral as well. Seeing the opportunity to gain an advantage over its rivals, Sega partnered with JVC to develop a CD-ROM add-on for the Genesis. Sega launched the Mega-CD in Japan on December 1, 1991, initially retailing at JP¥49,800. The CD add-on was launched in North America on October 15, 1992, as the Sega CD, with a retail price of US$299; it was released in Europe as the Mega-CD in 1993. In addition to greatly expanding the potential size of its games, this add-on unit upgraded the graphics and sound capabilities by adding a second, more powerful processor, more system memory, and hardware-based scaling and rotation similar to that found in Sega's arcade games. The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed the add-on's high launch price, it also suffered from a small software library; only two games were available at launch. This was due in part to the long delay before Sega made its software development kit available to third-party developers. Sales were more successful in North America and Europe, although the novelty of full motion video (FMV) and CD-enhanced games quickly wore off as many of the Sega CD's later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews.
Beggar Prince
An English translation of the Sega Genesis version was produced by the North American company Super Fighter Team. A prototype version was first shown to the public on August 20, 2005 at the Classic Gaming Expo in Burlingame, California. The completed game began shipping to pre-order customers on May 22, 2006, at the price of $40USD per copy. "Beggar Prince" was the first game for the Sega Genesis to be commercially released in North America since 1998.
Sega Sammy Holdings
During 1985, Sega released "Hang-On", the world's first force feedback game. Sega Enterprises was registered stock on over-the-counter (OTC) market. In 1988, Sega Listed stock on the second section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. Within this year, Sega released the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, a 16-bit home video game platform that solidified Sega’s presence in the console market. During this year, Sega also launched the R-360, the world's first amusement arcade cabinet could rotate 360 degrees in all directions. In 1991, Sega released "Sonic the Hedgehog" as a competitor mascot to represent Sega against Nintendo’s Mario, and with 15 million copies sold, Sonic the Hedgehog spawned multiple sequels over the years and became Sega’s flagship franchise.
Video game console
Sega scaled down and adapted their Sega System 16 (used to power arcade hits like Altered Beast and Shinobi) into the Mega Drive (sold as the Genesis in North America) and released it with a near arcade-perfect port of Altered Beast. Sega's console met lukewarm sales in Japan, but skyrocketed to first place in PAL markets, and made major inroads in North America. Propelled by its effective "Genesis does what Nintendon't" marketing campaign, Sega capitalized on the Genesis's technological superiority over the NES, faithful ports of popular arcade games, and competitive pricing. The arcade gaming company SNK developed the high end Neo Geo MVS arcade system which used interchangeable cartridges similar to home consoles. Building on the success of the MVS, SNK repackaged the NeoGeo as the Neo Geo AES home console. Though technologically superior to the other fourth-generation consoles, the AES and its games were prohibitively expensive, which kept sales low and prevented it from expanding outside its niche market and into serious competition with Nintendo and Sega. The AES did, however, amass a dedicated cult following, allowing it to see new releases into the 2000s. Fourth generation graphics chips allowed these consoles to reproduce the art styles that were becoming popular in arcades and on home computers. These games often featured lavish background scenery, huge characters, broader color palettes, and increased emphasis on dithering and texture. Games written specifically for the NES, like "Megaman", "Shatterhand", and "Super Mario Bros. 3" were able to work cleverly within its limitations. Ports of the increasingly detailed arcade and home computer games came up with various solutions. For example, when Capcom released "Strider" in the arcade they created an entirely separate Strider game for the NES that only incorporated themes and characters from the arcade.
Sega Genesis
In the early 1980s, Sega Enterprises, Inc., then a subsidiary of Gulf & Western, was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers active in the United States, as company revenues surpassed $200 million between July 1981 and June 1982. A downturn in the arcade business starting in 1982 seriously hurt the company, leading Gulf & Western to sell its North American arcade manufacturing organization and the licensing rights for its arcade games to Bally Manufacturing. The company retained Sega's North American R&D operation, as well as its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. With its arcade business in decline, Gulf & Western executives turned to Sega Enterprises, Ltd.'s president, Hayao Nakayama, for advice on how to proceed. Nakayama advocated that the company leverage its hardware expertise gained through years working in the arcade industry to move into the home console market in Japan, which was in its infancy at the time.
Console Wars (book)
Despite all this success, cracks begin to appear in Sega of America's fortunes. Kalinske works on a deal with Sony to collaborate on a new console that Nintendo had abandoned, but his superiors in Japan, believing the project to be wasteful, cancel it; the console is eventually released by Sony as the "Play Station". Sega of Japan begins producing a new 32-bit console, the Sega Saturn, and gradually discontinues support for the Genesis despite Kalinske's protests that the latter is still commercially viable; this, coupled with distribution and logistical issues as well as the Saturn's disappointing game library, lack of a "Sonic" title, and unpolished design, make it a commercial failure.
Genesis Nomad
The Sega Genesis represents Sega's entry into the 16-bit era of video game consoles. In Japan, Sega released the Mega Jet, a portable version of the Mega Drive designed for use on Japan Airlines flights. As a condensed version, the Mega Jet requires a connection to a television screen and a power source, and so outside of airline flights it is only useful in cars equipped with a television set and cigarette lighter receptacle. On planes, the Mega Jet was connected into armrest monitors. Despite the limited use of the Mega Jet, it did see a consumer release in 1994 into Japanese department stores, but did not see success.
Planning to release a new handheld console as a successor to the Game Gear, Sega originally intended to produce a system with a touchscreen interface, two years before the Game.com handheld by Tiger Electronics. However, such technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have a high cost. Sega chose to suspend the idea and instead release the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis. The codename used during development was "Project Venus". Sega's decision to base the Genesis Nomad around the hardware of the Sega Genesis was to capitalize on the home console's popularity in North America. Because the Genesis Nomad was capable of connecting to a television for play, it was the only handheld console capable of doing so at the time.
Segata Sanshiro
The Sega Saturn sold 5.75 million units in Japan, surpassing the 3.58 million units of its predecessor, the Mega Drive, in the country. This amount of sales also surpassed Nintendo's sales of 5.54 million units of the competitor Nintendo 64 and competed closely with Sony's PlayStation. The Segata Sanshiro advertisements are given credit for helping to establish those sales, though Sega had failed to make the Saturn as successful in other regions. As a result of the campaign, Segata Sanshiro achieved a cult following in Japan.
Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit home video game console developed and sold by Sega. The Genesis was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by North America as the Genesis in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tec Toy in Brazil. In South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Sega Genesis
The Genesis library was initially modest, but eventually grew to contain games to appeal to all types of players. The initial pack-in game was "Altered Beast", which was later replaced with "Sonic the Hedgehog" in 1991. Top sellers included "Sonic the Hedgehog", its sequel "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", and "Disney's Aladdin". During development for the console, Sega Enterprises focused on developing action games, while Sega of America was tasked with developing sports games. A large part of the appeal of the Genesis library during the console's lifetime was the arcade-based experience of its games, as well as more difficult entries such as "Ecco the Dolphin", and sports games such as "Joe Montana Football". Compared to its competition, Sega advertised to an older audience by hosting more mature games, including the uncensored version of "Mortal Kombat".
Majesco Entertainment
Later, Majesco arranged with Sega to manufacture a version of its Genesis (known as Mega Drive outside North America) 16-bit console, which had been superseded by the 32-bit Saturn. It released this in 1998 as the Genesis 3 and followed up with a version of the handheld Game Gear called the Game Gear Core System.
Sega Genesis
Following the launch of the next-generation 32-bit Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, sales of 16-bit hardware and software continued to account for 64% of the video game market in 1995. Sega underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis and did not have the inventory to meet demand for the product. Sega was able to capture 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. video game market and claimed to have sold more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, while Genesis software such as "Vectorman" remained highly successful, but Kalinske estimated that "we could have sold another 300,000 Genesis systems in the November/December timeframe." Nakayama's decision to focus on the Saturn over the Genesis, based on the systems' relative performance in Japan, has been cited as the major contributing factor in this miscalculation. By contrast, Nintendo concentrated on the 16-bit home console market, as well as its successful handheld, the Game Boy. As a result, Nintendo took in 42% of the video game market dollar share, without launching a 32-bit console to compete directly with the PlayStation or the Saturn. Following tensions with Sega Enterprises, Ltd. over its focus on the Saturn, Kalinske, who oversaw the rise of the Genesis in 1991, grew uninterested in the business and resigned in mid-1996.
Sega Genesis
Other companies assisted in distributing the console to various countries worldwide. Ozisoft handled the Mega Drive's launch and marketing in Australia, as it had done before with the Master System. In Brazil, the Mega Drive was released by Tectoy in 1990, only a year after the Brazilian release of the Master System. Tec Toy produced games exclusively for the Brazilian market and began a network service for the system called Sega Meganet in 1995. In India, Sega entered a distribution deal with Shaw Wallace in the spring of 1995 in order to circumvent an 80% import tariff, with each unit selling for INR₹18,000. Samsung handled sales and distribution in Korea, where it was renamed the "Super Gam*Boy" and retained the Mega Drive logo alongside the Samsung name. It was later renamed "Super Aladdin Boy".
Sega Saturn
In spite of the launch of the PlayStation and the Saturn, sales of 16-bit hardware/software continued to account for 64% of the video game market in 1995. Sega underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis, and did not have the inventory to meet demand for the product. Sega was able to capture 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. video game market and sell more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, but Kalinske estimated that "we could have sold another 300,000 Genesis systems in the November/December timeframe." Nakayama's decision to focus on the Saturn over the Genesis, based on the systems' relative performance in Japan, has been cited as the major contributing factor in this miscalculation.
Sega Genesis
The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed the add-on's high launch price, it also suffered from a tiny software library; only two games were available at launch. This was due in part to the long delay before Sega made its software development kit available to third-party developers. Sales were more successful in North America and Europe, although the novelty of FMV and CD-enhanced games quickly wore off as many of the system's later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews. In 1995, Sega announced a shift in focus to its new console, the Saturn, and discontinued all advertising for Genesis hardware, including the Sega CD. The add-on sold 2.24 million units worldwide.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The popularity of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" extends to its merchandising which exceeded $400 million within two years of its release. The series has established itself greatly on the Japanese market, developing a varied range of products for adult consumers, such as cell phones (including a special Nerv and MAGI-themed Sharp SH-06D smartphone released in 2012), laptop computers, many soundtracks, DVDs, action figures, and telephone cards. The stylized mecha design that would later earn praise for "Evangelion" was initially criticized by certain toy companies as being too difficult to manufacture, with some expressing concern that models of the Evangelions "would never sell." Eventually, Sega agreed to license all toy and video game sales. At the time of the release of the Japanese film "Death & Rebirth" and "The End of Evangelion", estimated sales of "Evangelion" merchandise topped $300 million, of which 70% derived from sales of video and laser discs, soundtrack CDs, single CDs, computer software and the three-volume manga. Multiple merchandising products were released during the "Renewal Project", such as CDs, video games, cel-art illustrations and collectible models.
Sega
In January 1994, Sega began to develop an add-on for the Genesis, the 32X, which would serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era. The decision was made by Nakayama and widely supported by Sega of America employees. The 32X would not be compatible with the Saturn, but Sega executive Richard Brudvik-Lindner pointed out that the 32X would play Genesis games. Sega released the 32X on November 21, 1994 in North America, December 3, 1994 in Japan, and January 1995 in PAL territories, and was sold at less than half of the Saturn's launch price. After the holiday season, however, interest in the 32X rapidly declined.
Sega released the Sega Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994, at ¥44,800. "Virtua Fighter", a faithful port of the popular arcade game, sold at a nearly one-to-one ratio with the Saturn console at launch and was crucial to the system's early success in Japan. Sega's initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day, and was more popular than the PlayStation in Japan. In March 1995, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would be released in the U.S. on "Saturnday" (Saturday) September 2, 1995. However, Sega of Japan mandated an early launch to give the Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation. At the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on May 11, 1995, Kalinske gave a keynote presentation in which he revealed the release price of US$399 (including a copy of "Virtua Fighter") and described the features of the console. Kalinske also revealed that Sega had shipped 30,000 Saturns to Toys "R" Us, Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, and Software Etc. for immediate release. The Saturn's release in Europe also came before the previously announced North American date, on July 8, 1995, at a price of ₤399.99. Within two days of the PlayStation's American launch on September 9, 1995, the PlayStation sold more units than the Saturn had in the five months following its surprise launch. Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the U.S. video game market. Sega also underestimated the continued popularity of the Genesis; sales of 16-bit games and consoles accounted for 64% of the market in 1995. Despite capturing 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. market and selling more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, Kalinske estimated that Sega could have sold another 300,000 if they had been prepared for the demand.
Sega Sammy Holdings
Sales
Sega Saturn
Released in 1988, the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Europe, Japan and Australia) was Sega's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles. In mid-1990, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as president and CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske developed a four-point plan for sales of the Genesis: lower the price of the console, create a U.S.-based team to develop games targeted at the American market, continue aggressive advertising campaigns, and sell "Sonic the Hedgehog" with the console. The Japanese board of directors initially disapproved of the plan, but all four points were approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." Magazines praised "Sonic" as one of the greatest games ever made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) decided to purchase a Genesis instead. However, the release of a CD-based add-on for the Genesis, the Sega CD (known as Mega-CD outside of North America), was commercially disappointing.
Sega Genesis
In 2018, Sega announced a miniature dedicated console version of the Genesis, the Mega Drive Mini. Similar to the NES and SNES Classic Editions, it will allow users to play a number of built-in Genesis games.
Rogue Galaxy
Prior to the release of the game, Sony Computer Entertainment corporate executive Masatsuka Saeki had hoped it would sell a million units. Although it was the top-selling video game in Japan during the week ending December 11, 2005, selling 237,631 units, by the end of 2006, the game had sold only 356,192 units. In 2007, "Rogue Galaxy: Director's Cut" sold a further 29,457 units.
Ninja Gaiden (2004 video game)
Consumers purchased 1.5 million copies of "Ninja Gaiden" and "Black" to August 2007, with the bulk of these sales going to North America and Europe. According to the NPD Group, in its first month "Ninja Gaiden" sold 362,441 copies in the United States. By August 2006, "Ninja Gaiden" had sold 550,000 copies and earned $27 million in that country. Between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 100th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube consoles in the United States. Combined sales of "Ninja Gaiden" and "Black" reached 800,000 units in the United States by August 2006. These sales figures reflect Tecmo's decision to target the non-Japanese market. Japanese gamers were not particularly excited—according to Itagaki, only 60,000 copies of "Ninja Gaiden" were sold in Japan in the four months following its release. The critical and commercial successes of "Ninja Gaiden" have led CNET and GameSpot Asia to induct the game into their halls of fame.
Dreamcast
The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999 at a price of $199—which Sega's marketing dubbed "9/9/99 for $199". Eighteen launch games were available for the Dreamcast in the U.S. Sega set a new sales record by selling more than 225,132 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning the company $98.4 million in what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history". Within two weeks, U.S. Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000. By Christmas, Sega held 31 percent of the North American video game marketshare. Significant launch games included "Soul Calibur", an arcade fighting game that was graphically enhanced for the system and went on to sell one million units, and Visual Concepts' high-quality football simulation "NFL 2K". On November 4, Sega announced it had sold over one million Dreamcast units. Nevertheless, the launch was marred by a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced defective GD-ROMs.
32X
The Sega Genesis, initially released in Japan as the Mega Drive in 1988, was Sega's entry into the 16-bit era of video game consoles. The console was then released as the Genesis in 1989 for the North American market, with releases in other regions following a year later.
Dreamcast
Moore stated that the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in the U.S. by the end of 2000 in order to remain a viable platform, but Sega ultimately fell short of this goal with some 3 million units sold. Moreover, Sega's attempts to spur increased Dreamcast sales through lower prices and cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. Instead of an expected profit, for the six months ending September 2000, Sega posted a ¥17.98 billion ($163.11 million) loss, with the company projecting a year-end loss of ¥23.6 billion. This estimate was more than doubled to ¥58.3 billion, and in March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net loss of ¥51.7 billion ($417.5 million). While the PS2's October 26 U.S. launch was marred by shortages—with only 500,000 of a planned 1 million units shipped due to a manufacturing glitch—this did not benefit the Dreamcast as much as expected, as many disappointed consumers continued to wait for a PS2—while the PSone, a remodeled version of the original PlayStation, was the best-selling console in the U.S. at the start of the 2000 holiday season. According to Moore, "the PlayStation 2 effect that we were relying upon did not work for us ... people will hang on for as long as possible ... What effectively happened is the PlayStation 2 lack of availability froze the marketplace". Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 35 percent of the US video game market, respectively, while Sega held only 15 percent. According to Bellfield, Dreamcast software sold at an 8-to-1 ratio with the hardware, but this ratio "on a small install base didn't give us the revenue ... to keep this platform viable in the medium to long term."
List of commercial failures in video gaming
The Dreamcast, released globally in 1999, was Sega's final console before the company focused entirely on software. Although the console was initially successful and management in the company improved significantly after harsh lessons were learned from the Sega Saturn fiasco, the console also faced stiff competition from the technically superior PlayStation 2 despite being in the market months ahead. The Dreamcast sold less than the Saturn, coming in at 9.13 million units compared to the Saturn's 9.5 million. The console's development was subject to further stress by an economic recession that struck Japan shortly after the console's release, forcing Sega, among other companies, to cut costs to survive.
Madden NFL
EA reverse engineered the console to sell the game without paying the standard $8 to $10 license fee per cartridge to Sega, then proposed a compromise of $2 per cartridge and a $2 million cap on the fee. The console maker agreed, afraid that EA would sell its reverse-engineered knowledge to other companies; the agreement saved EA $35 million over the next three years. As its own Joe Montana-endorsed football game would miss the 1990 Christmas shopping season, Sega asked EA to let it sell "Madden" with the Montana name. EA refused, but offered an inferior alternative that lacked "Madden"'s 3D graphics and most of its 113 plays. "Joe Montana Football" sold well despite shipping after Christmas 1990, and remained popular after BlueSky Software took over development. "John Madden Football" for the Genesis, however, became both the first hugely successful "Madden" game—selling 400,000 copies when the company expected 75,000—and the first killer app for EA and Sega, helping the console gain market share against the Super NES. From 1992 to 1994, "Mega" placed the game at #1 in their monthly Top 100 Mega Drive Games of All Time.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" sold over six million copies, making it the second-bestselling Genesis game behind the original "Sonic the Hedgehog". It received highly positive reviews from critics, who commended the game's level design and visuals, although its multiplayer mode was criticized. It has been rereleased on various platforms; a remastered version developed using the Retro Engine released on iOS and Android in December 2013. Two direct sequels, "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Sonic & Knuckles", were released in 1994.