Do you like the 32X?

[crazydean]

So, I was never interested in the Sega 32X, but one popped up here relatively cheap. Is it worth buying? I don't like sports games or fighting games. I don't want to buy this just to take up space in my game room.

[CGQuarterly]

Yeah, I think it's a pretty cool little device, and it certainly doesn't take up much room.  I would have been disappointed had I bought it brand new at full price back in the day, but a cheap 32X and an Everdrive is certainly good for quite a bit of fun these days.

[Johnpv]

There aren't a ton of great games on it, but there's a few really good, fun games on it.  Specially if you can get the system on the cheap, it's totally worth it then.

[crazydean]

Alright, well I went for it. Unfortunately, this thing STINKS like cigarettes and BO. Gonna try my best to clean it up. Any suggestions on a stinky console?

[xcrement5x]

Take the electronics out and soak the plastic in a 50/50 vinegar/water mix. 

Oh, and 32X is totally worth it, if only for the fact that it makes composite out of a stock genesis so much better.

[bartre]

Kolibri, tempo, and blackthorne are good.
outside of that, all the other really good games are available on other systems at varying quality.
the MK2 port is really good.

oh, and ignore what people say about knuckles chaotix, it's unfinished.
at mgc one year i saw the game make a little girl cry.

[BigusSchmuck]

Don't forget The Star Wars game for it. Oh yeah, there was a port of T-Mek, but pretty poorly done from what I understand..

[seieienbu]

Knuckles Chaotix is a lot of fun.  I also liked the ports of Afterburner and Space Harrier a lot.

[Dicer]

Almost bit on one today, will bide my time...

[SuperGrafx]

I bought one back in the day when they started packing in a copy of Doom with the unit.
I really wanted to play DOOM back then and a $2,000 PC just wasn't in the cards, so I was quite pleased with how the console port turned out.

Virtua Racing Deluxe is also well worth your time.  Very well done game.  The rest, not so much.

[SamIAm]

The 32X is one of those things that, in death, manages to be forgiven of its sins.

In 1995, it was utterly ridiculous, but these days, if you're a Genesis fan, picking up an old 32X and some games for cheap is a gateway to a hell of a weird and fun experience. Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix are the crowning games on the system thanks to their mid-90s Sega gaudiness that I honestly enjoy quite a lot.

In addition, Space Harrier is a rock-solid classic, Kolibri is a great game to show guests and go in for 2P simulteneous, Shadow Squadron is a surprisingly decent early 3D game with a nice framerate, and Blackthorne, while not my personal cup of tea, has its best port on the 32X.

Mortal Kombat II is arguably just as good or better on the SNES, though - better music, better backgrounds, and no loss in gameplay. The 32X port only has slightly nicer sprites and cleaner voice samples.

[GaijinD]

Not a big fan of the 32X, but I have to admit the Star Wars Arcade port is pretty good. Fun fact: John Brandstetter was a producer on the title.

[crazydean]

Well, took it apart and found some dead roaches, horay! Doing a nice clean-up now. I also didn't realize I don't have the right cable to connect it to my monitor, so it might be a few weeks before I actually get to play it.

Also, it came with the Star Wars game so that's cool, and I have a Mega Everdrive for the rest.

[CrackTiger]

I got a 32X at launch and was very happy with it. It was worth it for Doom and Virtua Racing DX alone. Virtua Fighter is very cool too, although by the time I got to play it, Virtua Fighter 2 for Saturn was old news.

Mortal Kombat II is arguably just as good or better on the SNES, though - better music, better backgrounds, and no loss in gameplay. The 32X port only has slightly nicer sprites and cleaner voice samples.

The 32X version only runs at 30fps. :/

[o.pwuaioc]

Virtua Racing and Kolibri are the only two games that are really worth it on the 32X, I think, and therefore the 32X isn't really worth it.

Doom is better on PC, for Virtua Fighter as Black Tiger said might as well go with the several superior versions on the Saturn. The rest of the library is only OK. Even Knuckles Chaotix is rather bland.

Some here will say get it for the sake of having it and playing maybe 1 or 2 decent games, but I say you're better off playing it for just a bit, not investing much into it, and passing it back on when you're tired of it. At least I never regretted it.

[geise]

Virtua Racing and Kolibri are the only two games that are really worth it on the 32X, I think, and therefore the 32X isn't really worth it.

Doom is better on PC, for Virtua Fighter as CrackTiger said might as well go with the several superior versions on the Saturn. The rest of the library is only OK. Even Knuckles Chaotix is rather bland.

Some here will say get it for the sake of having it and playing maybe 1 or 2 decent games, but I say you're better off playing it for just a bit, not investing much into it, and passing it back on when you're tired of it. At least I never regretted it.

Don't forget Space Harrier.  That game was amazing on the 32x.  I also felt VF1 on 32x was better than the Saturn version.  This is not comparing it to the Remix.

[CrackTiger]

Do people who dismiss non-exclusive games actually do the same for all platforms? The Sega-CD and 32X get criticized too often for having games available elsewhere and/or there being "better" versions out there.

I never hear people talk about Nintendo games like this. Usually it's just the opposite. Instead of saying that anything short of a Wii U VC version of Super Mario All Stars running in 1080p is a waste of time, people often say that they prefer the NES versions or that they're "the best".

Too often some of the same people who say that you should only play the "best" version of any game, also complain about game prices being too high and how hard it is to collect game sets. If you're only interested in the best version of any game, doesn't that exclude 90% of most libraries?

[CGQuarterly]

The 32X is one of those things that, in death, manages to be forgiven of its sins.

In 1995, it was utterly ridiculous, but these days, if you're a Genesis fan, picking up an old 32X and some games for cheap is a gateway to a hell of a weird and fun experience. Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix are the crowning games on the system thanks to their mid-90s Sega gaudiness that I honestly enjoy quite a lot.

In addition, Space Harrier is a rock-solid classic, Kolibri is a great game to show guests and go in for 2P simulteneous, Shadow Squadron is a surprisingly decent early 3D game with a nice framerate, and Blackthorne, while not my personal cup of tea, has its best port on the 32X.

This is a high-quality post.

[bartre]

Honestly, I kinda do.
I don't like having redundancy in my games.

Granted, I don't have every system, but I tend to only have the game in one format.
If I've got it in pcb, I'll sell the console version etc.
Really the only exception is when versions have something special about them like arrange modes.

[o.pwuaioc]

Do people who dismiss non-exclusive games actually do the same for all platforms? The Sega-CD and 32X get criticized too often for having games available elsewhere and/or there being "better" versions out there.

I never hear people talk about Nintendo games like this. Usually it's just the opposite. Instead of saying that anything short of a Wii U VC version of Super Mario All Stars running in 1080p is a waste of time, people often say that they prefer the NES versions or that they're "the best".

They do say this about Nintendo games. In fact, you should remember that!

Too often some of the same people who say that you should only play the "best" version of any game, also complain about game prices being too high and how hard it is to collect game sets. If you're only interested in the best version of any game, doesn't that exclude 90% of most libraries?

I totally think price should be factored into it. We all have to make sacrifices sometime, like getting a Neo Geo CD over an AES.

[SignOfZeta]

The 32X was a really really really dumb dumb dumb idea born in the heat of the ego filled SoA vs SoJ feud that never should have happened. It makes very little sense technically, has a terrible software selection, and did significant lasting harm to the company's image that probably contributed somewhat to its inevitable collapse. It's also hella crap looking. I would gladly have traded the entire existence of the 32X for three more months of 1st party Dreamcast support...and it may have actually cost us at least that much, it's probably impossible to say.

However, now that Sega is dead, fuck it. It does have like three good games and I'm not sure the price on one has gone up all that much since they hit the $10 basket at Toys R Us so if you have a Genesis you may as well get one.

That's the most positive thing I can say about the thing.

[geise]

they hit the $10 basket at Toys R Us

LOL.  That's when I got mine.  It has since been sold.  No desire to pick another one up.

[seieienbu]

they hit the $10 basket at Toys R Us

LOL.  That's when I got mine.  It has since been sold.  No desire to pick another one up.

I got mine back then too for $40 iirc but I held onto it.  I honestly thought I'd be able to play Saturn games if I had Sega CD and 32X along with my Genesis.  I swear I remember reading that but I looked back through my old magazines from back then and wasn't able to find much of anything.  Perhaps I was thinking about the Neptune or something but what I DO know is that my copy of Panzer Dragoon did not run even though I had the full sega 16 bit Tower of Power.

[xcrement5x]

they hit the $10 basket at Toys R Us

LOL.  That's when I got mine.  It has since been sold.  No desire to pick another one up.

I got mine back then too for $40 iirc but I held onto it.  I honestly thought I'd be able to play Saturn games if I had Sega CD and 32X along with my Genesis.  I swear I remember reading that but I looked back through my old magazines from back then and wasn't able to find much of anything.  Perhaps I was thinking about the Neptune or something but what I DO know is that my copy of Panzer Dragoon did not run even though I had the full sega 16 bit Tower of Power.

Lol, I made that mistake as well as a youngin.  I think the impression was that maybe it would work, but alas it just became a disaster and was abandoned.  I do think conceptually the 32X was a good idea, but there was just not enough demand/desire for it to fill the next generation hole that was there.

[Enternal]

The 32X is one of those things that, in death, manages to be forgiven of its sins.

In 1995, it was utterly ridiculous, but these days, if you're a Genesis fan, picking up an old 32X and some games for cheap is a gateway to a hell of a weird and fun experience. Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix are the crowning games on the system thanks to their mid-90s Sega gaudiness that I honestly enjoy quite a lot.

In addition, Space Harrier is a rock-solid classic, Kolibri is a great game to show guests and go in for 2P simulteneous, Shadow Squadron is a surprisingly decent early 3D game with a nice framerate, and Blackthorne, while not my personal cup of tea, has its best port on the 32X.

Mortal Kombat II is arguably just as good or better on the SNES, though - better music, better backgrounds, and no loss in gameplay. The 32X port only has slightly nicer sprites and cleaner voice samples.

Double agreed, good post.

The 32x is still dirt cheap for a "new platform" for someone to get into. I still see them unit only for 10-20. Before that was a pain because the link cable was running more than the system was on ebay but now that replicas are being made you can save $ by finding a bare unit. But you can still pull system with cords for 60.

I only have 16 of the 37 games, but outside of the commonly mentioned Star Wars Arcade, Kolibri, Knuckles Chaotix. The 32x ports of the 16 bit games are usually enhanced versions of their 16 bit counterparts. After Burner, Mortal Kombat II, NBA Jam, Blackthorne (has extra levels) Space Harrier, Star Trek Starfleet Academy. And while some of these games saw Saturn and Playstation releases, you don't get the load times.

And to answer the topic question.

I do like it, and SamIam's statement sums it up fairly well.

The allure of the 3d era was heavily being pushed when the system came out. Graphics were still a high priority for game quality, and hearing speech in a game was a treat. Sega was just coming off their prime Genesis years. And my friend and I rented a 32x along with Star Wars arcade from Blockbuster. It was one of those experiences you tried to force yourself to like, but knew in your heart wasn't that good. My nephew got one from Software Etc when they were marked down to like 29.99. And I still thought it was crap.

Years later, my perspective changed, like many others. I no longer judge the system against a Saturn, or Playstation, and Instead look at the games for what they are, Year one games on a patched together system made out 90's tech patched on to 1988 hardware. Now I see the library as being interesting and fairly decent overall. The 32x also addressed some of the criticism that the Genesis received, enhancing the sound and color palate capabilities.

It would have been interesting if 32x came out a few years earlier and was built into the Sega CD. Even some modern homebrew would be interesting to see.

Checkout what's been made on the Genesis (pales to the original PC, but very impressive for the genesis)

A Comparision, notable difference when youtube video is full screen.

[EvilEvoIX]

I Bought one new for $50 when it died and a stack of games for $5 each.  Totally worth it.  I loved VF and played the hell out of it.  Knuckles has amazing music and grafx, Tempo is a really good game.  Afterburner is Arcade Perfect.  So is Space Harrier.  The system just needed more support it was a very capable machine and with zero loading it could have been a great arcade game converter.  I tried to like the CD games, I guess Corpse Killer was my favorite.

[esadajr]

id buy that for a dollar

[synbiosfan]

My friends and I bought it when it was released. We played the hell out of Virtua Racing and it was pretty awesome to play Doom with a controller. It was a failure but it provided us with some great times.

[geise]

It was a failure but it provided us with some great times.

That's all that matters.

[BigusSchmuck]

Now if Sega had made the cartridge port on the back of the Saturn with the ability to play 32x games (like I thought they did back in the day) things might have turned out differently...

[esteban]

Do you like movies about gladiators?

[o.pwuaioc]

Do you like movies about gladiators?

The 32X was not nearly as entertaining as that movie.

[esteban]

Do you like movies about gladiators?

The 32X was not nearly as entertaining as that movie.

[Bloufo]

32X related, so kinda on topic,

/20k9hsj.jpg

[SignOfZeta]

Now if Sega had made the cartridge port on the back of the Saturn with the ability to play 32x games (like I thought they did back in the day) things might have turned out differently...

Yeah, the Saturn would have been even more expensive and less successful because of it and the legacy of the stupid ass 32x would have done even more damage to Sega.

[CrackTiger]

The only backwards compatibility that could have helped the Saturn early on is if it played at least Genesis carts. It was still a good time in history for backwards compatibilty and the Playstation had nothing it could use.

[Groover]

When it was out I was not a fan. I had a Sega CD and felt it wasn't getting the love it deserved. The 32X was gone so quick. I have a 32X I played Star Wars on it. I also have Night Trap CD32X. It works great in creating the Tower of Power.

[SamIAm]

There's an old proverb that goes:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

The 32X is kind of like Sega's nail, or lack thereof. Obviously, it's not the only reason they had trouble, just as the kingdom in the proverb probably had more issues than one horse with a bad shoe. However, if I could go back in time and reverse just one of Sega's decisions, this would be it. No 32X means the Saturn probably gets off to a better start, especially in the US, and you can take that right on out to the Dreamcast putting up a real fight against the Playstation 2 however you like to imagine it.

An add-on like the 32X seems like such a neat idea in so many ways. I get why people only wish it had been done differently, rather than done away with altogether. However, it really should never have made it off the drawing board. It's simply a matter of it being foolish to divide your consumers and your development resources. There was no way you could successfully turn the Genesis into a next-gen system and simultaneously launch another stand-alone next-gen system, period. Since the Genesis makes a lousy backbone for a next-gen system, Sega's choice should have been pretty obvious.

My two-cent armchair retrospect strategy for Sega in 1994 would be to can the 32X and the Saturn both. Sony's Playstation was just too well-designed to take on directly with anything, let alone the mess that the Saturn was. Instead, drop the price of the Genesis and the Sega CD as low as possible to ride out the storm until 1996, then release a system with the processing power of the N64 and the CD storage of the Playstation. And have a damn 3D Sonic game ready at the release.

[crazydean]

SamIAm, you make some good points, but hindsight is 20/20.

The 32X was quite ugly. I think the Genesis/Mega Drive was an attractive system. I think the power base converter looked good and matched up well with the system. The Sega CD looked good, too, even the model 2 system contoured pretty well. The 32X was clearly rushed. I just wish it looked better sitting next to my monitor and other consoles.

Other than aesthetics, is there any reason not to just leave the 32X unit on all the time?

[o.pwuaioc]

Other than aesthetics, is there any reason not to just leave the 32X unit on all the time?

You save a plug if you don't.

[VenomMacbeth]

Other than aesthetics, is there any reason not to just leave the 32X unit on all the time?

If you want to use a Power Base or play Virtua Racing (the normal MD version) then yes.  VRDX makes the latter sting a little less though.

[xcrement5x]

There's an old proverb that goes:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

The 32X is kind of like Sega's nail, or lack thereof. Obviously, it's not the only reason they had trouble, just as the kingdom in the proverb probably had more issues than one horse with a bad shoe. However, if I could go back in time and reverse just one of Sega's decisions, this would be it. No 32X means the Saturn probably gets off to a better start, especially in the US, and you can take that right on out to the Dreamcast putting up a real fight against the Playstation 2 however you like to imagine it.

An add-on like the 32X seems like such a neat idea in so many ways. I get why people only wish it had been done differently, rather than done away with altogether. However, it really should never have made it off the drawing board. It's simply a matter of it being foolish to divide your consumers and your development resources. There was no way you could successfully turn the Genesis into a next-gen system and simultaneously launch another stand-alone next-gen system, period. Since the Genesis makes a lousy backbone for a next-gen system, Sega's choice should have been pretty obvious.

My two-cent armchair retrospect strategy for Sega in 1994 would be to can the 32X and the Saturn both. Sony's Playstation was just too well-designed to take on directly with anything, let alone the mess that the Saturn was. Instead, drop the price of the Genesis and the Sega CD as low as possible to ride out the storm until 1996, then release a system with the processing power of the N64 and the CD storage of the Playstation. And have a damn 3D Sonic game ready at the release.

The other thing that Sega needed to do if they were dropping the 32X is better utilize the SVP enhancement chip or something similar to bring out a game with the visual pop of DKC. 

But honestly, their abandonment of the Genesis so early was a huge mistake like you said, and was almost like just leaving money on the floor. Sure the hardware was older in Japan but the US was still going strong with it, and if you look at titles near the end of the Genesis lifespan it's pretty neat what they were doing with just stock hardware still and no enhancement chips like the SuperFX. 

[CrackTiger]

The Genesis akready had more than enough processing power and chips like SVP don't enhance color. If Sega was going to make games like DKC, then they needed to get good dev teams wirking on good games and after that was secure, then coat it with fugly pretendered cgi. The games they did try towards the end with cgi didn't use it enough for animation or just weren't good games. If Sonic 3 or a new sequel with a subtitle like "Sonic World" that played the same, but had massive amounts of cgi animation, it would have been tge closeat thing to cgi-based DKC-killer. But they were all up against Toshinden and Ridge Racer and Nintendo only coasted by as long as they did because of their extremely loyal fan base who had no Nintendo alternative.

The kind of game that shows how ugly the DKC series is, is Monster World IV. Aside from looking better and being a great game, it's also technically impressive and features stuff like a Mode 7 cinematic. Since JRPG were rapidly becoming more popular, Surging Aura and Langrisser II would have been other good choices to bring over.

But nothing was going to be a magical fix that would keep Sega in the lead. Nintendo never recovered either.

[VestCunt]

Is it worth buying? I don't want to buy this just to take up space in my game room.

Considering the 32X can be had for the price of a pizza and fits on top of a Genesis, the question you should be asking yourself is: "Am I willing to hassle with another wall wart?"

Yeah. Fuck it. Who cares? Spend another ten for Doom and Virtual Racing. Have fun.

No one has suffered buyer's remorse over the 32X since 1994.

[SignOfZeta]

There's an old proverb that goes:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

The 32X is kind of like Sega's nail, or lack thereof. Obviously, it's not the only reason they had trouble, just as the kingdom in the proverb probably had more issues than one horse with a bad shoe. However, if I could go back in time and reverse just one of Sega's decisions, this would be it. No 32X means the Saturn probably gets off to a better start, especially in the US, and you can take that right on out to the Dreamcast putting up a real fight against the Playstation 2 however you like to imagine it.

An add-on like the 32X seems like such a neat idea in so many ways. I get why people only wish it had been done differently, rather than done away with altogether. However, it really should never have made it off the drawing board. It's simply a matter of it being foolish to divide your consumers and your development resources. There was no way you could successfully turn the Genesis into a next-gen system and simultaneously launch another stand-alone next-gen system, period. Since the Genesis makes a lousy backbone for a next-gen system, Sega's choice should have been pretty obvious.

My two-cent armchair retrospect strategy for Sega in 1994 would be to can the 32X and the Saturn both. Sony's Playstation was just too well-designed to take on directly with anything, let alone the mess that the Saturn was. Instead, drop the price of the Genesis and the Sega CD as low as possible to ride out the storm until 1996, then release a system with the processing power of the N64 and the CD storage of the Playstation. And have a damn 3D Sonic game ready at the release.

I agree with much of this.

I hope you guys really really love your 5th port of Space Harrior because that's the reason why Sakura Wars 4 is 25 minutes long and why Shenmue never got finished.

[Enternal]

My two-cent armchair retrospect strategy for Sega in 1994 would be to can the 32X and the Saturn both. Sony's Playstation was just too well-designed to take on directly with anything, let alone the mess that the Saturn was. Instead, drop the price of the Genesis and the Sega CD as low as possible to ride out the storm until 1996, then release a system with the processing power of the N64 and the CD storage of the Playstation. And have a damn 3D Sonic game ready at the release.

I agree that it was a bad business move to release the 32x. But holding out against the Playstation, probably wouldn't have worked. The added resources of not releasing the 32x could have aided a more 3d friendly Saturn design or at least a Sonic game on release. Further the Saturn did well against the Playstation early on in Japan.

Sega also had foothold in the gaming world with Sony being the newcomers. Sega led console sales in 1992 over Nintendo. Their demise was largely attributed to their own doing (see Atari 1983, Nintendo 1996, Sony 2006 E3) As much as I enjoy the Sega CD, and 32x, those combined with the rush release of the Saturn really hurt them during the 5th generation.



-Black Tiger (Nintendo did quite well 7th Gen winning home console sales overall with the wii, and they are still king of handhelds, the DS was even more successful than the Wii, selling more units than the Playstation 2 in the US.

[EvilEvoIX]

I've read that the Genesis sold more than 16 million state side?

http://segatastic.blogspot.com/2009/12/mega-drive-sales-figures-update.html?m=1

. There has been further research conducted into the Mega Drive's total sales figures within the Sega community, but this time more in-depth. This brings us closer to solving the dispute among retro gamers as to which console really did sell the most during the 16-bit console war.

Here is a list of sales figures compiled so far, including sources:
Genesis (North America) - 20 million
Mega Drive (Japan) - 4.3 million
Mega Drive (Europe) - 6.9 million
Mega Drive (Brazil) - 2 million+
Genesis 3 (North America) - 2 million
Nomad (North America) - 1 million
Mega Drive (Other Regions) - 3.5 million
This brings the total sold worldwide to around 39.7 million. The most widely-quoted figure of 29 million total units sold must therefore be inaccurate, as this new figure has been compiled from various sources rather than just one.

What the compiled figures do show is that the Mega Drive was the best-selling unit in the Americas. Nintendo's official sales figures quote that 23.35 million SNESs were sold in total, compared to the Mega Drive's 25 million.

The Mega Drive sold more than the SNES in "other regions" as well, which includes Europe - compare Sega's 10.4 million to Nintendo's 8.58 million.

These figures do miss out on one thing, however - there are no solid sales figures for the many variations of Mega Drives, such as the Wondermega and Multi-Mega. One website mentions that in North America 10,000 JVC X'Eyes may have been sold along with 5,000 CDXs.

If we take all of the figures gathered so far, we can safely assume that the Mega Drive sold almost 40 million units worldwide, a much more accurate figure than the previously assumed 29 million. We can also say that the Mega Drive outsold the SNES in the Western hemisphere.

It seems that Nintendo's huge sales of the SNES in Japan (17.7 million) have led to the general assumption that the Mega Drive was "beaten" everywhere, when in fact Japan was the only major market where this occurred. Japan's figures gave the total SNES sales a huge 49.1 million, compared to Sega's 39.7 million.

Aside from these sales figures, the community found some software and hardware revenue figures from Sega and Nintendo:
Sega - US Hardware and Software Revenue in millions of dollars (including Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Sega 32X, not including Sega Nomad, Sega CDX, JVC X'Eye, the Genesis 3 or software sold by Majesco in 1997-1999)

1989 - $182
1990 - $280
1991 - $586
1992 - $1,151
1993 - $1,938
1994 - $1,812 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,949)
1995 - $812
1996 - $294
1997 - $180
Total - $7,235

vs.

Super NES - US Hardware & Software Revenue in millions of dollars

1991 - $560
1992 - $1,733
1993 - $1,890
1994 - $1,471 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,654)
1995 - $823
1996 - $514
1997 - $243 (End of Sega Total: $7,234)
1998 - $137
1999 - $20
Total - $7,391
This shows that Sega was ahead (revenue-wise) of Nintendo from 1994, with Sega's cheaper hardware and software suggesting more units were sold. If we take into account Sega's hardware and software not included on the list then surely they made more revenue in total?

I will update the figures when more sources have been found. All this effort put in from the community shows that for many of us, the 16-bit war will rage for all eternity!

[Arkhan Asylum]

Kolibri and Machine Head are about all I care about.

and Blackthorne.

[VenomMacbeth]

Kolibri and Machine Head are about all I care about.

and Blackthorne.

Metal Head?  You mean you actually like it?  :3

[esteban]

I've read that the Genesis sold more than 16 million state side?

http://segatastic.blogspot.com/2009/12/mega-drive-sales-figures-update.html?m=1

. There has been further research conducted into the Mega Drive's total sales figures within the Sega community, but this time more in-depth. This brings us closer to solving the dispute among retro gamers as to which console really did sell the most during the 16-bit console war.

Here is a list of sales figures compiled so far, including sources:
Genesis (North America) - 20 million
Mega Drive (Japan) - 4.3 million
Mega Drive (Europe) - 6.9 million
Mega Drive (Brazil) - 2 million+
Genesis 3 (North America) - 2 million
Nomad (North America) - 1 million
Mega Drive (Other Regions) - 3.5 million
This brings the total sold worldwide to around 39.7 million. The most widely-quoted figure of 29 million total units sold must therefore be inaccurate, as this new figure has been compiled from various sources rather than just one.

What the compiled figures do show is that the Mega Drive was the best-selling unit in the Americas. Nintendo's official sales figures quote that 23.35 million SNESs were sold in total, compared to the Mega Drive's 25 million.

The Mega Drive sold more than the SNES in "other regions" as well, which includes Europe - compare Sega's 10.4 million to Nintendo's 8.58 million.

These figures do miss out on one thing, however - there are no solid sales figures for the many variations of Mega Drives, such as the Wondermega and Multi-Mega. One website mentions that in North America 10,000 JVC X'Eyes may have been sold along with 5,000 CDXs.

If we take all of the figures gathered so far, we can safely assume that the Mega Drive sold almost 40 million units worldwide, a much more accurate figure than the previously assumed 29 million. We can also say that the Mega Drive outsold the SNES in the Western hemisphere.

It seems that Nintendo's huge sales of the SNES in Japan (17.7 million) have led to the general assumption that the Mega Drive was "beaten" everywhere, when in fact Japan was the only major market where this occurred. Japan's figures gave the total SNES sales a huge 49.1 million, compared to Sega's 39.7 million.

Aside from these sales figures, the community found some software and hardware revenue figures from Sega and Nintendo:
Sega - US Hardware and Software Revenue in millions of dollars (including Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Sega 32X, not including Sega Nomad, Sega CDX, JVC X'Eye, the Genesis 3 or software sold by Majesco in 1997-1999)

1989 - $182
1990 - $280
1991 - $586
1992 - $1,151
1993 - $1,938
1994 - $1,812 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,949)
1995 - $812
1996 - $294
1997 - $180
Total - $7,235

vs.

Super NES - US Hardware & Software Revenue in millions of dollars

1991 - $560
1992 - $1,733
1993 - $1,890
1994 - $1,471 (End of 16-bit era Total: $5,654)
1995 - $823
1996 - $514
1997 - $243 (End of Sega Total: $7,234)
1998 - $137
1999 - $20
Total - $7,391
This shows that Sega was ahead (revenue-wise) of Nintendo from 1994, with Sega's cheaper hardware and software suggesting more units were sold. If we take into account Sega's hardware and software not included on the list then surely they made more revenue in total?

I will update the figures when more sources have been found. All this effort put in from the community shows that for many of us, the 16-bit war will rage for all eternity!

Thank you for sharing that info.

While I am intrigued by it, it remains very murky.

I don't have time to address everything, but, for starters:

Revenue is not a useful metric. It does not measure the financial health (profit) of a company. As we all know, Xbox and PlayStation have impressive revenue figures, but actual profit reveals a completely different story.

Revenue is tied to average price of hardware/software...so if Sega sells 2 million Model 3 Genesis units @ $50 versus 1 million SNES Jr.  units @$100, who is "winning"? *When* these items were sold is also vital: selling 1 million SNES Jr. 4 years before the platform is abandoned is BETTER than selling 2 million Model 3 Genesis units 2 years after Sega abandoned the platform.

Installed base sounds like a useful metric....unless profits are razor thin or non-existent. Or if a significant amount of installed base was sold at the tail-end of a console's "lifetime".

Installed base varies over time: totaling up numbers AFTER THE FACT is less useful than a chart comparing Sega vs. SNES installed base OVER TIME.

Also, when have you EVER JUDGED SUCCESS by installed base, revenue, profit, etc.?

Since I play games, I judge success by the breadth and scope of QUALITY GAMES that are READILY AVAILABLE over the course of a consoles lifetime. 

This is the most subjective aspect of judging a system, but please note that I would never dream of simply counting "third parties" or totaling up the number of software titles officially licensed and released.

It does me NO GOOD if the best games for a platform were released in the final six months of a platform's existence. OR IN ANOTHER REGION.

Sorry, only a handful of folks (percentage-wise) imported games during 16-bit era..so if a game wasn't READILY AVAILABLE to an average person, then should that really be  evaluated on the same level as a commonly available game? (This logic applies to domestic games that saw limited release, too).

My friend got Tengen Tetris on NES. It was so much fun, and better, than the Tetris experience that 9?% of NES players had. It wouldn't really be fair to treat each title as equivalents.

I could go on and on.

I would never, ever, look at total sums to determine the "reality" of video game console competition...I would certainly START there (assuming numbers were accurate), but BREAKING THE NUMBERS  down, over time and region, is VITAL.