The Story of the Sega Genesis! 16 Bit Power! - Video Game Retrospective

It's the Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega Drive if you prefer) Sega's 16 bit console that set the world on fire in the early 90s! The Mega Drive is a fantastic system with a library of great games! Let's discuss the history of the Sega Genesis. How Sega came to dominate the North American video game market (for a little while at\least), and how Sega used the phenomenon of Sonic the Hedgehog to sell MILLIONS of systems!
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#Asega #SegaGenesis #retrogaming

[@rockerteen8300]

The first version of the Genesis system design was undeniably much better looking than any of Nintendos 16 bit systems.

[@codydfwn]

i was gonna ask how many more did they have besides SNES? but you mean revisions/redesign-wise. I agree. All versions look better than the SNES redesigns even imo lol.

[@TheGingerburger]

The American version of the SNES model 1 is ugly as fuck and all the other versions look like like a toys from Fisher Price 😂

[@vembrace]

Sega could not use the "Mega Drive" name in the US, as another company held the trademark (a hard drive manufacturer).

[@johneygd]

Yes that’s true,btw if he didn’t talked about the history of sega and a bit of the nintendo nes,then he could,ve mentioned this and put more topics about it in just 1 video,hahaaa😁

[@frankyaeger675]

I was going to point that out but being late to the party by about a year I'm glad I looked in the comments

[@f.k.b.16]

I remember seeing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time and I was so geeked out by how awesome it looked! But my friends and I only had the NES at the time. Then I saw the commercial where Sonic was bundled with the Genesis and I got chills! My dad had asked me to help him run electrical wires in a huge house since doctor was building and finally the Genesis seemed in sight! That was one of my favorite memories as a kid!

[@blurvough]

The Mega Drive name change was due to copyright issues - there was a company in the US already using that name, and Sega couldn't secure rights to use it. That US company had a better claim to the name anyway, since they dealt with actual hard drives :)

[@TomDavidMcCauley]

Fake news!!!

[@MizfitZer0]

Best console of all time

[@danieldevito6380]

Agree 10000000000%

[@mojennith6427]

It's tied for 1st with the SNES for me.

[@Metal-Josh]

When the Genesis was new, I was instant fan boy, still am to this day. To this day, I still play, on the atGames Genesis Flashback, with SD card function. It’s better than great

[@danieldevito6380]

@@Metal-Josh Same here! I remember, when I was 6 or 7, my mom took me to one of her friends who happened to have a Sega Genesis. I remember playing Altered Beast and Sonic The Hedgehog and was hooked. After that, my mom took me to the video game shop that I grew up down the street from and got me a Sega and would constantly surprise me with new games. I have the same amount of love for the Game Gear also

[@MaxAbramson3]

Best console of its time. My brother bought me one just a couple of months after it came out.

[@allanrscott]

The Genesis was the best option for sports games. Joe Montana's Football killed it! Then the follow-up of NFL Football 94, staring Montana was even better.

[@frankyaeger675]

The faster processor made sports games better on Genesis for sure I had NHL 94 on Genesis and my bud had it for super Nintendo we both had 4 player adapters and we'd play 4 player tournaments on both I think 94 was the only year it felt good on super Nintendo.

[@Ottophil]

Sports are dumb

[@BillyBlaze7]

I still have my original sega genesis, bought it as soon as it came out, have around 10 games from way back

[@SUCRA]

This was fantastic, thanks for putting it together. 💜

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Better Bitter Blondes On Blacks

[@johneygd]

My favorite genesis model is mode 2,no bells & wistles on it,no (hardware) cuts,just plug & play that’s it. My favorite games are sonic 1,altered beast and golden axe etc,,,

[@UncleUncleRj]

The Sega Channel module on top of a 32x on top of a Genesis with a Sega CD on the side was the Ultra-Mega Zord of game consoles at the time.

[@Ricardo10092nd]

Actually the super nintendo outsold the sega genesis at the end.

[@NewsmakersGames]

Hey hey! Genesis or Mega Drive, Which do you prefer?

[@speedrobo99]

Genesis

[@supersexysega]

Genesis is the better name especially for the American market. Mega Drive sounds like a computer.

[@devingiles6597]

Definitely Sega Genesis,

[@MizfitZer0]

Mega Drive all day, every day

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Mega Drive, everywhere except North America seems to have used it. It also fits better with Master System, which was popular outside NA.

[@wawztzta8296]

exactly the video i was looking for, awesome job

[@chelious1973]

The Japanese arm of Sega should be required reading for any business student on what not to do in running a business.

[@CB3ROB-CyberBunker]

besides the stationary models there also is a handheld 'sega nomad'. also all of it includes mastersystem backwards compatibility (and as that's just a derivative of segas earlier models, most likely wll just as happily run colecovision roms too, possibly msx with some modifications and no keyboard ;)

[@jasonz7788]

Great work man! That was awesome

[@aarontsika1519]

I know Sonic pushed sales, but every GenXer had one for NHL Hockey...94 was the sweet spot for me.

[@mjallen1308]

My cousins had that as well. That and Tecmo Bowl.

[@Ricardo10091st]

What are you talking about? The snes actually outsold the genesis. The snes sold 49 million units while the genesis sold 30 million units. Don't mislead people.

[@benitosierrajr3958]

I think he’s extremely biased towards SEGA.

[@Sinn0100]

Interesting....while what you say is true, that's not really the entire story. Not by a longshot. You act as if this was a cut and dry as if the Snes dominated the generation, which is absolutely false. The Sega Genesis led the 4th generation from 1989- through the beginning of 1995. Nintendo "won" the second Sega of Japan decided to discontinue the Genesis in early 1995 (I was there). This essentially left Nintendo as the only company competing in the budget market with a fully supported system. They won the war by default....unless you wish to count total worldwide sales, which most don't. Did you know the Sega Mega Drive continued to sell in Brazil until well into 2004? ;)

[@Ricardo10091st]

@@Sinn0100 Snes outsold the genesis in the US by 1 million unit ;)

[@Sinn0100]

@Ricardo10091st More than that, actually. However, when you are the only one selling a budget console, that's not really all that great. Especially if you consider how badly Nintendo did after the 4th generation. If it wasn't for the GameBoy carrying the company, Nintendo would be a 3rd party publisher right now, just like Sega. Hell, if they keep pushing the Switch without any real changes, it may cost them dearly.

[@MaxAbramson3]

Total Mega Drive, Genesis, and Nomad sales were just slightly over 40 million. If you exclude Japan, Mega Drives outsold SNES almost everywhere, even though the latter was pushed until 1999. Genesis outsold the PlayStation in North America, 22-21 million.

[@stephenkostiak3929]

One of my favorite Sega games was the one with the slingshot, PAC-Man 2: The New Adventures.

[@damin9913]

The sega genesis still top any console!

[@jasonking3182]

The genesis is the Rolling Stones to the Super Nintendo being the Beatles.

[@JxstChillin]

Did anyone else notice Sonic's arms being blue in the thumbnail?

[@ThePeterCorne]

it wasnt called megadrive because the name was already taken

[@dmurphy1578]

I had a master system. It was fine. No one else had it. I got a NES.

[@ST2008X]

I like the "simulated 3D" Capabilities of the Sega Genesis. Games like Super Hang-On and Space Harrier II would have made better pack-ins for me...I still think of Sega as an Arcade game manufacturer. I really don't care about Sonic the Hedgehog, I don't care how successful Sonic Frontiers is, I want more Sega AGES games on Nintendo Switch. I want Galaxy Force II, Daytona USA, Turbo Outrun, Outrunners, Super Hang-On, Virtua-On, Afterburner III, Outrun 2 on Nintendo Switch.

[@thehumbleone1983]

Grew up and love the Sega Mega Drive 🕹👍

[@eigrp]

Wow, Atari had a shot at getting the Master System and decided to focus on the ST computer line? I can understand why but, in hindsight, it was probably a blunder. Add Atari's game catalog to the Master System and slap an Atari logo on it and that's got some legs. As it turned out, the ST computers got their butts handed to them by Commodore which, in turn, got their butts handed to them by IBM. Jack was simply computer crazy after the VIC and C64.

[@MaxAbramson3]

ATARI was approached by NINTENDO to distribute the NES!

[@mjallen1308]

I remember my mom got me a Sega Genesis for Xmas 93. We drove ALL THE WAY TO KING OF PRUSSIA to find one and then the car broke down on the way home. I was so afraid I’d have to give my Sega back to fix the car.

[@bryansteele832]

Its fascinating that over the course of video game history there was always two dominates (at least in the USA) that the public gravitated towards. Early 80's: Atari 2600 and Arcades (Intellevision and Colecovision barely made a dent) Late 80's: NES and Arcades (Master system was pretty much DOA, Atari was stuck in the past, home PC was still in infancy) Early 90s: Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo (Turbo grafx 16 didnt have a chance, Jaguar was a joke, PC was coming of age and it was all about Doom) Late 90s: Playstation and Nintendo 64 (I cannot remember seeing saturn in a store, dreamcast cool for about 7 months). Early 2000s: Playstation 2 and the Xbox (game cube had its moments) Late 2000s Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (convince me the Wii was not a 100 million unit selling paper weight)

[@jacobjones9071]

What a classic!

[@DarkZenith]

You forgot about the CDX and the Nomad. They really should have been in here.

[@JoshuaMLOVEoverall]

nice congrulations very intriguing🎱🎱

[@peteylang3401]

Mega Drive in the US wasn't an option due to copyright

[@mjallen1308]

0:03 OH NO! Wont someone PLEASE think of the children!

[@devingiles6597]

Hey, Newsmakers Games. Can you please do the story of Sonic the Hedgehog in a future video?

[@mervynstent1578]

I read somewhere the Sega Megadrive was based on an Amiga 500! In fact there is an early development Sega card for the A500 side card for software developers!

[@thepthepthep]

The only thing they have in common is the 68000 CPU, they are worlds apart otherwise

[@damin9913]

Sega genesis vs Super nintendo? For me Sega genesis!

[@TheCostascrete]

great video really like it

[@damin9913]

80s Nes took over but in the 90s Sega Genesis took over

[@amonster8mymother]

Ive got a model 1 inn my storage somewhere...

[@NewsmakersGames]

What are your favorite Genesis games?

[@speedrobo99]

Kid Chameleon

[@SUCRA]

I used to love ToeJam & Earl.

[@fcknkllr]

TJ&E, road rash and of course Madden.

[@Trialwolf]

Gaiares, Vapor Trail, Alisia Dragoon, RoadBlasters, Rolling Thunder 2&3.

[@devingiles6597]

My favorite Sega Genesis games I like are the following: Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Sonic & Knuckles Golden Axe Streets of Rage Streets of Rage 2 The Revenge of Shinobi Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

[@kanefields]

Nice channel

[@johnpen269]

great vid however the background music loop is way too distracting

[@rpoutlaw86]

I loved my genesis

[@amonster8mymother]

I wish there was an emulator that would play genesis roms on my g3 powerbook.

[@jaty1924]

I suggest to watching this video at speed 1.25. The narrator voice sounds much better.

[@SaigonBrit]

Dude.....its pronounced SEYYGA as in Jacob, or age or late (not Segga as in beggar or egg cup).

[@jamieoiler5690]

if it wasnt for sonic the genesis never would have did that well period,and when the sega saturn and dreamcast hit it sold poorly

[@jacobjones9071]

Sonic 3 (and knuckles) > Sonic 2 > Sonic 1 > Sonic CD

[@speedrobo99]

Watch yourself there partner.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

I would put CD higher than 1, but yes. Just having a save feature is enough to put 3 far above both its predecessors and the competition.

[@club_rock]

HELLO PLEASE DO VIDEOS HISTORY OF NEO GEO HISTORY OF PC ENGINE

[@retropalooza]

U still making videos

[@f.k.b.16]

I don't think he is... This is my first time on the channel and I subscribed anyway.

[@pharbath]

Hockey

[@damin9913]

American Sega genesis had way better advertisement that's why everyone went with the genesis and didn't hold back when it came too mature games the guy who was trying to make the genesis sell well was on the right track but japanese idiots didn't like the idea and didn't care for the genesis at all and wanted to be so damn greedy so it wasn't working at so well with them

[@Eyeyamgod]

I don't understand why people act like the name Genesis is less important than megadrive.... Mega drive wasn't nearly as successful as Genesis. It was sega of America who made sega a success. The name change, rearranging sonic, and making it a pack in game was their idea. After that Western ideas always won out. All of sega of Americas decisions WORKED, their choices of games, the marketing was incredible work. Sega of Japan is the reason for segas downfall because they were never successful. The GENESIS name deserves respect because it was the SEGA GENESIS from sega of America that beat Nintendo for some time. All the famous marketing were with the Genesis name. Genesis is above mega drive and it should be called Genesis first. It deserves that respect.

[@speedrobo99]

First

[@soulripper31]

Your sales numbers are all wrong lol. It only sold 30 million units yet if I add your numbers up I get 38.5 million.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Wikipedia isn't always right, and it seems wrong in this case, North America & Europe alone were seemingly about 30 million(which seems to be what some sites are using as the 'global' figure, possibly confusion is due to different distributors in different regions). It's likely higher than 38.5 million(though that doesn't include all areas anyway) globally, and was seemingly very similar to SNES global sales.

[@nacthenud]

As much as it gets ragged on today, Altered Beast was a great choice for the initial pack-in game. The game's graphics blew my mind when I first played it. Hard to believe graphics like that were even possible. Plus the digitized voices. It truly felt like I was playing something next generation over the NES.

[@jamieoiler5690]

in the end you wasnt

[@nacthenud]

@@jamieoiler5690 it was a good choice until Sonic came along - at which point the wisely switched the pack-in game.

[@fcknkllr]

Great video once again Jacob! Would love to watch more content on the attachments for the Genesis

[@CRAZYHORSE19682003]

That would take 439 more videos to cover all those lol.

[@ArcadeIsMyLife1]

Warning the narrator is cross-eyed.