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This isn't really anything amazing. Tec Toy originally released this system back in 1989. Granted that release only has 21 games built into it at the time. I belive they released a second one in the mid 90's that had a larger number of titles. This is the same hardware, just more games built in. For more info on the SMSIII, check SegaBase... scroll down the page about 1/2 way.

The most important thing about video games currently is how they look. In the old days, games balanced user interface and graphics. Some games might have bad graphics but have great UIs, and some games might have good graphics and lousy UIs, but generally speaking there was a level of balance. Then came the whole "3D era" (which I actually consider the polygon era) which was ushered in by Nintendo and Sony (Sega were late to the party, adding "3D" capability to their systems at the last minute). In this period, the most important thing about a game was that it used polygons, not how it played. The fact is, I have yet to play a platformer or Street Fighter type of fighting game that was actually better because it was done in polygons. I also wonder what the point of doing certain types of games, like RPGs, in polygons when they seemed to work so well with detailed sprite graphics (I also think that polygons are detrimental to the appearance of RPGs).

Part of this is taste. If you like sprite graphics you aren't going to like polygon graphics until they look just like sprite graphics. It's sort of like the difference between people who prefer traditional cel animation to something like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Marketing comes into this because the ability to push polygons and do math related to that became the benchmark that replaced bits. (It could have been worse, though, Sega wanted the benchmark to be how well a game system could do "Full Motion Video" see the large number of horrid FMV games for the Sega CD.) Even now, when people compare systems, they talk about things like polygon counts and bump mapping. (During the SNES/Genesis wars, bits and megaherz were the things people used, hence Sega's infamous "blast processing" marketing campaign.)

This is important because companies have been known to emphasize polygon games while giving short shrift to decent sprite based games. Sega suppressed Eternal Champions for Saturn because they didn't want that sprite based game to compete with Virtua Fighter. Sony has been known to suppress games that use sprite graphics in the US market for this reason. I'm not even sure if the N64 can do sprite based action games, although Ogre Battle seems to be sprite based.

Incidentally, I realize that some people (probably the majority) prefer polygon graphics to sprite graphics. It's a matter of taste, but I prefer sprite graphics. (Though there are a few polygon games I really like like Sacrifice and System Shock II.)

"From 1993 (year of greatest profit) to 1997, Sega had gone from a net yearly profit of about US$230 million (1993) to a net loss of about US$389 million (1997). This means that Sega had lost about US$620 million in five years, or about 1/5th of the company's entire net worth back in 1993. Sega would lose another US$450 million for fiscal year 1998, pushing that composite loss to US$1.07 billion - or about 1/3rd the company's net worth back in 1993, when it was at the height of its success. For those of you outside the United States., that's about ¥81.6 trillion in Japanese currency or 1.14 thousand million euros in the European common currency. "

The hardware itself is what I would consider the pinnacle of Innovative hardware development in video games. Unfortuantely it proved that expansions for video game consoles are never received well. Imagine that you own a SNES and a game you really want to play comes out for the 32X, on CD (say, Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp, which was never released). You don't just go off and buy a single console, you have to buy a Mega Drive first, then a 32X and a Mega CD. While upgrades really benefit existing owners, too many in a row before you pack all the features into one product will look out potential new owners.

The Neptune was cancelled -- it would have produced a 32X/Genesis all-in-one unit. The backwards compatibility for the Saturn that was considered ultimately proved too difficult to bring to market by the time it was obvious that 3D and the PSX had won.

However, if you actually look at what was done with a system that started as a pretty average 16 bit console, how the CD add-on suddenly gave developers 600 times more storage, plus some extra audio hardware and sprite scaling. If you look at how the 32X turned a 16 bit system into a 32 bit system, adding more colours, 3D, etc. If you look at how these upgrades all interacted, letting developers tap into whatever hardware they wanted. Then you see that Sega produced some superb hardware. Hardware that, when you look at the level of innovation involved, hasn't been equalled before or since.

For the history of the 32X, which is much more interesting than any of the games for it (with the possible exception of Kolibri), I recommend this site.

This site got me hooked on Sega.

"The gist of it was that EA would get to make as many games as it wanted - something Nintendo had not offered them - and a reduction in licensing fees. Sega said no. It planned to impose a restrictive contract on EA just as it had done its other licensees, one that echoed similar Nintendo arrangements. Hawkins had anticipated this, however, and pulled a one-two sucker punch on Sega. Acting on his direction, EA's negotiators brusquely informed Sega of America that it didn't have that kind of clout to throw around; furthermore, EA had already reverse engineered the console and knew how to manufacture its own unlicensed Sega cartridges."

". In response to EA's actions, Sega developed a new security system for the Genesis and quietly incorporated it into the system boot ROM starting with the 1991 production batches. Sega called this proprietary code the TradeMark Security System (TMSS). In essence, it was a simplified version of the 10NES lockout chip that Nintendo had used in the NES. Sega had elected not to go to the 10NES route because they felt that a complete lockout solution was needless overkill. Their solution, the TMSS, was based on very simple principles of intellectual property law. A piece of code burned into the Genesis boot ROM would look for a header code that was supposed to be part of every Genesis program stored in cartridge format. If the header code contained certain unique characteristics, then it was a legitimately licensed Sega product. If the TMSS did not find what it sought, then it would refuse to boot up the system. If the system booted correctly, then the TMSS would display the phrase PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD. on the screen for a few seconds before running the program contained inside the cartridge. Both pieces of code, the one in the TMSS and the correct cartridge header code, were copyrighted Sega property. The TMSS also generated a trademark display every time it was activated, that being the Sega name itself. In essence, the TMSS was a double tripwire for anybody trying to produce unlicensed Genesis cartridges. If you made an unlicensed cartridge that activated the TMSS, then you were in violation of both copyright and trademark law. If you could figure out a way to get your game running without tripping the TMSS, then you were legally in the clear."

I'm sorry, but as a huuuge Sega fan I can't possibly let this one go without some sort of defense for such an excellent console. Go to the following URL; take a few minutes out to read it and you'll soon agree that this has to be the most underrated console in existance:

www.atani-software.net/segabase/SegaBase-SegaCD.ht ml

Respects to the emulation sage - Sam Pettus.

You haven't played Lunar, Snatcher, Sonic CD, or the utterly fantastic Popful Mail - have you? If you had, I'm sure you'd think differently about this system. I just wish there were more out there developing for it - even for fun. I've spent hundreds of hours playing many Mega CD games, and I really believe they were hours very well spent (as well as the above Working Designs releases, Dungeon Explorer and Dune - not by WD - are also worth checking out).

Remember, this system was only released in 1993! Such complaints about the supposedly "awful" visual quality just doesn't stand up if you consider when Sega were releasing this console. I agree it was overpriced, but at least it could perform! (can't say the same for the 3DO or Sega's own underpowered and again, overpriced 32X)

chis:matrik | ambience&idm
www.matrik.ndo.co.uk