Happy 20th Sega CD

scotland171 · Postby **scotland171** » October 18th, 2012, 8:19 am

What is the legacy of Sega's genesis boosting optical storage add on of 1992? If there had been no Sega CD, would Nintendo have worked with Sony about a SNES CD add on? Would there have been a Sony Playstation at all? Without the lessons learned from the Sega CD, would we look back on the Sony Playstation as that system with Full Motion Video games and a lot of shovelware? Or would the FMV experiment been the plague of the Saturn? Could Sega have made different business decisions that would have made the CD idea work for them in 1992 better than how it unfortunately went for them?

Pacman0001 · Postby **Pacman0001** » October 18th, 2012, 12:03 pm

We would see the CDi as the system with all the FMV games and shovelware. (Phillips was developing the standard before Nintendo got involved.)

If there was no Sega CD, Nintendo might not have wanted a CD expansion for the SNES. If they didn't (almost) partner with Sony, there would be no Playstation. Sony was interested in developing a game system, but could never justify the cost. After Nintendo left, they decided to get revenge.

Irenicus1 · Postby **Irenicus1** » October 18th, 2012, 12:43 pm

I read the Yahoo articles too.

Sut1 · Postby **Sut1** » October 31st, 2012, 5:09 pm

Sega should definitely focused more on titles like Silpheed, Final Fight CD, Batman Returns & Snatcher games that were different, better and couldn't be done anywhere else. If they focused the advertising on these games rather than the FMV rubbish and put restrictions on shovelware (If that's actually possible). The same shovelware issue killed the Amiga CD32 as well.

Pacman0001 · Postby **Pacman0001** » October 31st, 2012, 6:14 pm

I thought Commodore's patent troubles killed the CD32...

Sut1 · Postby **Sut1** » October 31st, 2012, 6:44 pm

I'm sure getting a supposedly 32-bit powerhouse and loading up the rather 8-bit looking IK+, whilst your friends with 16-bit systems were playing Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter 2 didn't help also.

Although to be honest if I could find one at a decent price I would pick one up mainly due to the many homebrew Amiga game compilation CD's.

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » October 31st, 2012, 7:28 pm

Part of the problem was that publishers started porting over their regular Genesis games to the Sega CD, using stereo sound or cut-scenes to justify it.

It was hard to justify buying a Sega CD when you could play the same games on the Genesis - with no load times!

Pacman0001 · Postby **Pacman0001** » October 31st, 2012, 7:30 pm

Oh man...Why'd you have to do that Sut? I had to look up IK+, find a video on YouTube, some of the comments were debating Atari ST/Amiga advantages, so I had to look up the Atari version, then I had to look up Atari ST Vs. Amiga, which is about like looking up Genesis vs. SNES, so now...

Ok, having said that, your right. Porting five year old games to your new system doesn't make it look good. Still, I feel that the CD32 would have lasted a bit longer if Commodore hadn't gone bankrupt; after all, the CD32 initially sold well. I don't think it could have competed with the PS1, Saturn, or the N64, however.

Sut1 · Postby **Sut1** » November 1st, 2012, 2:02 pm

Lol - Yes I'm a bit of an ST fanboy as well, so probably best we don't go there.

But back the Sega CD, it really does have some under appreciated games due to the level of dross it had to endure. Most of Core's games made great use of the hardware. Spend some time with Thunderhawk and Battlecorps and you'll see, they won't grab you instantly but are definitely growers.

I'm always bewildered why Sega never ported their scaler games to the Sega CD.

wyldephang1 · Postby **wyldephang1** » November 8th, 2012, 4:56 pm

[QUOTE=scotland17]What is the legacy of Sega's genesis boosting optical storage add on of 1992? If there had been no Sega CD, would Nintendo have worked with Sony about a SNES CD add on?[/QUOTE]

I wonder whether it was the Sega CD that spawned the Nintendo-Sony partnership, or the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) that influenced Nintendo's decision to explore optical media. In Japan, the PC Engine outsold the Sega Mega Drive and was a major player in the 16-bit market. If memory serves correctly, it was also the first home console to feature a CD add-on, which ran classics like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood in Japan. At the end of the day, I suppose both systems were influential to the Nintendo-Sony and disastrous Nintendo-Phillips partnerships. We cannot forget the legacy of the Sega CD, but let's have a round of applause for the ambitious efforts of NEC and their PC Engine.