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Sega 32X

With the release of the Super Famicom in Japan and the Super NES in North America, Sega needed to leapfrog Nintendo in the technological department. The Sega Mega-CD aka Sega CD hadn't worked as well as they wanted it to. Sega had various developments underway, named after planets. Some used System 16 technology like the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis did, as well as other arcade games.

The 32X was released in mid-November 1994 in North America for $150, Japan in December 1994, and Europe in January 1995 for £150.

The system cannot work by itself. The Sega 32X can only be used in conjunction with a Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis system; it is plugged in where the cartridge bay is. Besides playing its own cartridges, it also acted as a passthrough for Genesis games so it would be a permanent attachment. The 32X came with 10 coupons and several spacers, so it would work with all versions of the Genesis.

Most 32X games cannot be played on a different region than the one the console came from. A few games are not locked and can be played in any region (e.g. Fifa 96). Two games, Darxide and FIFA Soccer '96, were only released for the PAL 32X. The Darxide videogame had been awarded "Best 32X Game".

All but one of the games released for the Japanese market were released in the United States, albeit some had different names. The sole exception was "Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV".

In addition to regular cartridge-based 32X games, there were also a very small number 32X CD games. As the name suggests, these required both the 32X and Mega CD/Sega CD addons. The lack of a significant userbase due to the high cost of purchasing all three necessary components saw only five games released, only one of those developed by Sega, The most notable of these was a new version of the infamous Night Trap with 32,768 onscreen colours instead of the 64 found on the regular Mega CD/Sega CD version.

History

Development

On January 8, 1994, Hayao Nakayama, then CEO of Sega, ordered his company to make a 32-bit cartridge based console that would be in stores by Christmas 1994. This would at first be named "Project Jupiter", but after Sega found CD technology cheaper, they decided to modify it instead of dropping the cartridge project. Hideki Sato and some other Sega of Japan engineers came over to collaborate about the project with Sega of America's Joe Miller. The first idea was a new Sega Mega Drive with more colors and a 32-bit processor. Miller thought that an add-on to the Mega Drive would be a better idea, because he felt that gamers would not buy an improved version of the Mega Drive. And so, this project was codenamed Project Mars, and Sega of America was going to shape the project.

At the same time, however, Sega of Japan was working on the Sega Saturn, a CD-based 32-bit videogame system. Sega of America did not learn of this until Project Mars was already in progress.

Launch

The video-gaming public first got a glimpse at the Summer 1994 CES in Chicago, Illinois. Players highly anticipated the system, because it would make the Genesis superior to the Super Famicom/SNES. The console was unmasked as the 32X, with a price projection of $170 (USD), at a gamers' day, held by Sega of America on September 1994.

Only 500,000 consoles had been produced for North American consumption, yet orders were in the millions. Games had been rushed for the system, and they came with errors in programming. Many were complaining that their 32X was not working with their Mega Drive/Genesis or television. Sega was forced to give away adapters. What kept the console alive from 1994 to 1995 was Star Wars Arcade. Otherwise, the console would have gotten even less attention. The console allegedly had numerous mechanical problems.

Since this was an expensive add-on system, Sega decided to bundle in some video game systems with the console in Europe. However, the offer came in the form of rebate vouchers, which were difficult to take advantage of. Just like its North American counterpart, this console was initially popular. Orders exceeded one million, but not enough were produced, and shortage supply problems arose.

Decline

By, mid-1995 the time the Sega executives realized their blunder, it was too late. Developers and licensees had abandoned this console in favor of what they perceived to be a true 32-bit console, the Sega Saturn. Even though the 32X was a 32-bit system, the games didn't appear to take full advantage of 32 bit processing; many games were rushed and produced in 2D.

Due to successful marketing, customers perceived the Panasonic 3DO and the Sony PlayStation as the true next-generation consoles, due to their rich launch titles and 3D graphics. Also, customers percieved that that Sega abandoned the 32X despite promises to the contrary, due to the launch of the Sega Saturn.

Console makers, prior to the launch of Sony Playstation 2, would often adandon platforms and offer no backwards compatibility with older systems. For this reason Sega's 32X customers felt cheated because of the apparent lower quality of the game, and the inevitability of obsolence.

A rare Sega Neptune prototypeStore shelves became littered with unwanted Sega 32X systems, and prices for a new one dropped as low as $19.95. Sega planned a console named the Sega Neptune, which would have been a Genesis and 32X in one. However, by the time a prototype was developed, the Sega Saturn was going to be released, and Sega cancelled the Neptune.

The situation became so bad that the 32X was actually mocked on Saturday Night Live. The Sega 32X fiasco is now considered one of the most badly planned console releases ever.

The public in North America and Europe quickly grew disgusted with this console, and when they got word of the Sega Neptune, the public ran off. While a full prototype was completed, the system never was released to the market, although rumors exist that several Neptune units were released and sold in select European countries. These prototypes can sometimes be found on sale on eBay from time to time.

The last game made for the 32X in the US was Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996). The last ever 32X game was Darxide, which had been intended by Frontier Developments to be a launch title for the ill-fated Neptune. Both these games now command a high value from collectors—but especially Darxide due to its scarcity, reputation and auspicious creator (David Braben, co-writer of the groundbreaking game Elite). Nevertheless, it is exceeded in rarity—and possibly value—by the European PAL version of the game Primal Rage. For obscure reasons a mere handful of copies of this game are known to be in circulation.

For many years prior, console makers promised devices like the 32X (for consoles such as the Colecovision, Intellivision II, and some Atari systems) that would extend and enhance the original system. The 32X was the first product released that fundamentally altered the original console's abilities. However, deficient in software titles and lacking the 3D capabilities the gaming community demanded, the add-on represented a technological dead end, ultimately punishing early adopters. Ignorant of the idea that console systems' primary strength is in standardization, Sega had created three different platforms (the main console and the CD and 32X add-ons) all under the same banner, stealing valuable shelf space from itself and confusing both vendors and consumers in the process. The entire episode demonstrated that producing such add-ons is likely to have detrimental effects on a system's brand marketing strategy.

The system ended production in 1996 worldwide. Ultimately, Sega executives wanted an adapter to make the Genesis to be more powerful than the SNES, but failed to foresee the cost and limitations such a minor upgrade would bring. The 32X was one of the factors which contributed to Sega's eventual downfall.

Technical Specifications

• Processor: Twin Hitachi (SH2) 32 bit RISC processors with a clock speed of 23 MHZ 40 MIPS
• Co-processors: Linear framebuffers with support for RLE compression and an overdraw mode to simplify compositing objects with transparency. All scaling, rotation, and 3D operations are performed in software on the SH2 processors.
• Video: 32,768 simultaneous colours on screen at standard Mega Drive (Genesis) resolution. Video output can overlay Mega Drive graphics or vice versa.
• Memory: 256KB (2 MBit) program RAM and 2 128KB (1 MBit) framebuffers.
• Audio: Stereo 8-bit PWM (Pulse Wave Modulation) mixing with Mega Drive (Genesis) sound for a total of 12 audio channels of varying capability, 22 with the addition of a Sega Mega-CD.
• I/O: Same as Mega Drive (Genesis).
• Storage: 32X cartridges are fundamentally the same as Mega Drive (Genesis) cartridges with some small differences in the plastic casing. A few CD-ROM games were developed that also required a Sega Mega-CD.
• Compatibility: Compatible with Mega Drive (Genesis) models 1 + 2, and JVC Wondermega (X'Eye) Note: Despite assertions in the instruction manual, the 32X does work with the Multi-Mega (CDX), and the CD lid is designed to be able to open with it attached. The 32X does not work with the Mega Drive (Genesis) 3 which lacks some of the necessary interface logic.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sega 32X".

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