Why is the Genesis/Megadrive so downplayed these days?

[Steven Pendleton]

That reminds me that I need to go buy a Mega Modem eventually. Yes, it is completely useless, but my Mega Drive tower isn't complete without that. Don't remind me about the Mega-CD Karaoke, though. I don't even want to think about how expensive that thing is.

[Tanooki]

@Bloodreign So going by DC comics logic, it's BizarroInceptional(Kirk)   Both from the same likely place, both with a terminal case of fanboyheaduptheass-itis.

[Madwindoman]

5 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

That reminds me that I need to go buy a Mega Modem eventually. Yes, it is completely useless, but my Mega Drive tower isn't complete without that. Don't remind me about the Mega-CD Karaoke, though. I don't even want to think about how expensive that thing is.

[Rhomaios]

On 3/6/2024 at 12:36 PM, BillDMatt said:

be interesting to know what the age you and your group of friends were during this time.    I can see the under 15 crowd still  sticking with Nintendo during that era  but I can definitely say with confidence that the older kids and young males, it was all  Sega.   if you were older and got the SNES you got the Nelson Muntz   "Ha Ha"     I don't know why nintendo fans seem to want to rewrite history,   It's over 35 years ago,     I love Nintendo, have a ton of SNES games,  a ton of NES.. along with Sega and Atari games  we have the Switch       But facts are facts    Nintendo won the  war but it's just true, during the early to mid 90's, as I said before Sega was winning in that demorgraphics.   only the little kids and the parents wanted the SNES     

 

To honest I can give two sheets about console fanboy wars,  My love is the Atari,  I just wandered into this section because we have  Retro-Bit Trio  and lately my son after watching the Sonic movies, we started getting into the Sonic games , so I've been playing my old Sega games again.    I'm just telling you how it was during that time,   I was 20-22 during that time ,  I mean that's just how it was .   Oh well. 

Your experiences are just that: your own experiences. They definitely are not universal. I was a bit younger than you, but all my siblings are older. I, the young one, got the Genesis and this new game called Sonic. My eldest sister, on the other hand, who was also an adult during this time, bought herself the Super Nintendo instead. I distinctly remember my other sister's boyfriend, who was some guitarist in his late 20s (or 30s?), and all of his friends playing Jurassic Park on the Super Nintendo, next to a huge stack of games. No Genesis in sight. My older brother and I played Madden only on the SNES.

 

In fact, as I got older during this time, I grew out of the Genesis. The Genesis was the platform of colorful sprites: Sonic, Earthworm Jim, Mickey and the rest of the Disney licenses were ubiquitous. And it reeked of 'tude, which was seen as less cool as the 90s wore on, something that the corporations were trying to sell us. Meanwhile, the SNES had some classic-looking games: Castlevania IV, Contra III, Gradius III, and Super Metroid were definitely not childish, and these were some of my early staples. For every chibi Mega Man X, you also had Demon's Crest.

 

I will say that everyone played on the Genesis when Mortal Kombat was released, but by Super Street Fighter II, the benefits of the SNES pad was apparent.

 

This isn't to say that we were all actively participating in some console wars. I never remember anyone being "Team Nintendo" or "Team Sega" growing up. We just went to houses to play that kid's games. If one friend had Super Smash TV, we went to his house for it. When another friend got the Sega CD, we went to his house for it.

 

And then the Genesis started feeling a bit irrelevant. Sonic 3 + Knuckles was cool and all, but hey, have you heard of RPGs? I discovered there were even more complicated games than Zelda, like Final Fantasy II and Secret of Mana, and despite the graphics of the latter, it was much more interesting than what I owned on my Genesis. So by the time the PS1 and N64 were getting their releases, the Genesis was rarely played. But not for any reason than that's just where my interests lied. The N64 (with Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and especially Goldeneye) and PS1 (with Final Fantasy VII, Twisted Metal, and Oddworld) were the consoles to play (if we played any games at all -- most of the time, we did everything except play video games; I played football and band and was more interested in girls, bikes, and hanging out), and Sega was just forgotten, a relic of when we were young kids.

 

So yeah, your experiences might be true for you, but that doesn't mean they would have been shared by everyone else.

[BillDMatt]

On 3/8/2024 at 4:04 AM, Bloodreign said:

We were mostly in our late teens, to early 20's, a few of my friends were a little younger, we sure as heck weren't under 15. They outgrew the Genesis, moved on to the next big thing of the time, the SNES.

 

@Tanooki Yeah I watch my fair share of Sega Lord X videos, dude's a straight shooter on what he thinks is good or not (we often agree too), every now and again you'll see a Dean Satan in his, or other Sega lover's videos, along with an assortment of people with the name Sega in their usernames (you can feel the bias ooze off of them, or perhaps 1 person with multiple username accounts, and no life), this Dean guy is a certified loser, claiming there has never been a good SNES game, and that screen resolution matters if a game is good or not (I think he's from the UK, so that might explain some of his bias, the rest is ignorance on his part). Thank goodness browsers have extensions that allow you to actually block users like him, so you never see a comment of his ever again (works for Youtube channels as well, you never see anything from them again on your Youtube homepage, or in searches for games), they are very insufferable. He is not like a Sega Lord X (more like that VCDeicide gal), or some of SLX's regulars, who are open minded, and just love good video games, no matter the 16 bit console.

Well the next big thing at that time wasn't the SNES it was the Playstation , that came in what 95 or 96 and NOBODY  cared about the Genesis SNES consoles anymore,  the Saturn flopped , the N64 what?   It was the playstations world by then. 

 

  But I have a feeling you Nintendo fanboys will remember that era  differently as well  : /

Edited March 10 by BillDMatt

[Tanooki]

Hahaha we're fanboys because we don't agree with your generally unaccepted form of unreality...right.  It's not being a fanboy, you just have some chip on your shoulder for some sad reason.  As I said, it's local, and just because you happened to have if you are being honest that story for your area doesn't mean everyone else has the same one or they're fanboys.  Grow up.

[WavyGravy]

2 hours ago, BillDMatt said:

Well the next big thing at that time wasn't the SNES it was the Playstation , that came in what 95 or 96 and NOBODY  cared about the Genesis SNES consoles anymore,  the Saturn flopped , the N64 what?   It was the playstations world by then. 

 

  But I have a feeling you Nintendo fanboys will remember that era  differently as well  : /

Depends where you grew up, what you were reading, who you hung out with, etc. I'm sure that for you and your circle, the way you remember it is how it went. However, to say nobody cared about 4th gen systems in '95 and '96 is asinine. The PS1 didn't come out until September of that year, and both consoles (moreso the SNES, I would say) had some heavy hitters come out that year. 4th gen machines had the largest install base and were still the most relevant part of the market in '95 and likely even into '96. In Japan the SNES remained relevant into the late 90s, despite the Big Three's 5th gen stuff coming out about a year earlier in that region than it did anywhere else. You also have to keep in mind that supply constraints and the cost of moving to a new platform (especially at launch when the price is the highest it'll ever be) keep the majority of people on older platforms for a couple of years, which means they stay quite relevant.

Where I grew up, it was a pretty even split between SNES and Genesis during the 4th gen, and most of us had N64s for the 5th. I think only two people I knew had PS1s. In our circle, most people went from NES to either SNES or Genesis (Most people in my area didn't know about the Genesis until Sonic came out), not Genesis to SNES. I would never claim that because this is how it worked where I grew up that it must also be how everyone else progressed through the generations. Things were much more regional back then, so almost everyone is going to have a different experience.

[Bloodreign]

6 hours ago, BillDMatt said:

Well the next big thing at that time wasn't the SNES it was the Playstation , that came in what 95 or 96 and NOBODY  cared about the Genesis SNES consoles anymore,  the Saturn flopped , the N64 what?   It was the playstations world by then. 

 

  But I have a feeling you Nintendo fanboys will remember that era  differently as well  : /

So we don't share your opinion on things, and you call us Nintendo fanboys. Lord have mercy, we have the BizarroKirk right here in our midst. SNES WAS the next big thing in 1991, the PS1 was still years away from happening. Get over it Mr Genesis Fanboy (see we can use that logic for you) not everyone's group is like yours, but you claim your group was the norm, it clearly WAS NOT. It depended on where you grew up, and whom you grew up and were friends with.

 

SNES won, Genesis lost, history cannot be revised, yet these Genesis fanboys are still trying to do so. If I were such a fanboy, would I own 3 Sega made consoles (SMS, Genesis, Saturn? You lost the plot man, you are desperately grasping at straws. I'm a damned fan of the Sega Saturn (my favorite of Sega's consoles), yet somehow I'm a Nintendo fanboy.

 

Hey @Tanookiwe've been give a label by this guy, maybe we should throw any Sega consoles we got out, along with all the games. Just kidding, I need as many games to play as I can get.

Edited March 10 by Bloodreign

[BillDMatt]

7 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Hahaha we're fanboys because we don't agree with your generally unaccepted form of unreality...right.  It's not being a fanboy, you just have some chip on your shoulder for some sad reason.  As I said, it's local, and just because you happened to have if you are being honest that story for your area doesn't mean everyone else has the same one or they're fanboys.  Grow up.

Yes you get labeled a fanboy because you use fanboy language,  Sega Genesis owners were  "Frat Boys  Jocks"   "Chugged the Kool Aid"    that's fanboy talk.    and now you tell people to grow up?  OK 

[BillDMatt]

4 minutes ago, BillDMatt said:

.

 

Edited March 10 by BillDMatt

[BillDMatt]

3 hours ago, Bloodreign said:

So we don't share your opinion on things, and you call us Nintendo fanboys. Lord have mercy, we have the BizarroKirk right here in our midst. SNES WAS the next big thing in 1991, the PS1 was still years away from happening. Get over it Mr Genesis Fanboy (see we can use that logic for you) not everyone's group is like yours, but you claim your group was the norm, it clearly WAS NOT. It depended on where you grew up, and whom you grew up and were friends with.

 

SNES won, Genesis lost, history cannot be revised, yet these Genesis fanboys are still trying to do so. If I were such a fanboy, would I own 3 Sega made consoles (SMS, Genesis, Saturn? You lost the plot man, you are desperately grasping at straws. I'm a damned fan of the Sega Saturn (my favorite of Sega's consoles), yet somehow I'm a Nintendo fanboy.

 

Hey @Tanookiwe've been give a label by this guy, maybe we should throw any Sega consoles we got out, along with all the games. Just kidding, I need as many games to play as I can get.

it's not about sharing an opinion its just having this Blindspot for that era,  you two just seem to have this memory that once the SNES came in nobody cared about the Genesis and just "moved on"  It's completely delusional.  the first few years of the SNES Sega was still outselling Nintendo.   Look at the market demographics  nothing i said was wrong, nor was it regional or simply ancedotal   SNES sold well the vast majority of that demographics was parents buying them for their kids,  Sega was "taboo" to parents.    Sega sold well,   the vast majority of that demographics was older teens and young male adults   This wasn't  a case of "I guess where you grew up"    I've never argued which was the better system or who had more titiles   just the perception of the two consoles back during that time.   

It was no accident  Aladin didn't have the sword,   Mortal Kombat didn't have the blood and over the top finishing moves,  there was reason for the color scheme of the gray and soft purple.  It marketed itself to be the more family friendly console    When Senator Joe Lieberman mentioned Sega by name during those Congressional hearings that was pure Gold for Sega it cemented the image of the edgier cooler console.   but  You know what come to think of it, you're right soon as 91 came around nobody cared or bought the Genesis.   

Edited March 10 by BillDMatt

[BillDMatt]

7 hours ago, WavyGravy said:

Depends where you grew up, what you were reading, who you hung out with, etc. I'm sure that for you and your circle, the way you remember it is how it went. However, to say nobody cared about 4th gen systems in '95 and '96 is asinine. The PS1 didn't come out until September of that year, and both consoles (moreso the SNES, I would say) had some heavy hitters come out that year. 4th gen machines had the largest install base and were still the most relevant part of the market in '95 and likely even into '96. In Japan the SNES remained relevant into the late 90s, despite the Big Three's 5th gen stuff coming out about a year earlier in that region than it did anywhere else. You also have to keep in mind that supply constraints and the cost of moving to a new platform (especially at launch when the price is the highest it'll ever be) keep the majority of people on older platforms for a couple of years, which means they stay quite relevant.

Where I grew up, it was a pretty even split between SNES and Genesis during the 4th gen, and most of us had N64s for the 5th. I think only two people I knew had PS1s. In our circle, most people went from NES to either SNES or Genesis (Most people in my area didn't know about the Genesis until Sonic came out), not Genesis to SNES. I would never claim that because this is how it worked where I grew up that it must also be how everyone else progressed through the generations. Things were much more regional back then, so almost everyone is going to have a different experience.

I was being a bit facetious,   yes people still supported cared about the SNES and the Genesis in 95 and 96  but in all honestly it wasn't long at after the launch of the PS then it did take over the gaming market in such an impressive manner.     the N64 and the Saturn never stood a chance. n't

Edited March 10 by BillDMatt

[Tanooki]

@Bloodreign Yup, thanks.  You're right, and this has to be BizarroKirk, nothing else fits given the rampant fanboyism, gaslighting, rapid fire prattling posts about circular nonsense and deflection.  This checks so many boxes I'm wondering...is it?

 

I guess I just wasted the last hour or so because I need to get rid of my things, damn and I just got up to the 3rd or 4th town in Sword of Vermilion too, got the best armors and magics, then saved it, but hey not for me right?  Bill is a moron, I'm calling out a moron for acting like one writing as he has saying he's acting like he's deep in the kool-aid, and despite all the evidence around this site...something makes ME the fanboy here the sega hater and Nintendo fellater.... right.  You can't argue with stupid, and arguing with stupid makes you stupid as it drops your IQ points.  Maybe we should just ignore him, I mean, not like put it in a signature as a badge of dishonor, or even officially on the site because that's pointless with a troll as they'll keep going in circles anyway.  This is the way of the BizarroKirk.  Because we didn't live in his little bubble of a community that perhaps had his way of thought and reality over time, that makes us the enemy clearly.

[+Gemintronic]

We're still here?  What did I miss?

 

So far I got: Tanooki bad.  SNES good.  Genesis is old and stinky.

[Tanooki]

Close enough, left out a few people but that's good enough, we're all bad since we're not in agreement.  Join the naughty list, you know you want to.  It would be an inceptional thing to do.

[BillDMatt]

33 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

@Bloodreign Yup, thanks.  You're right, and this has to be BizarroKirk, nothing else fits given the rampant fanboyism, gaslighting, rapid fire prattling posts about circular nonsense and deflection.  This checks so many boxes I'm wondering...is it?

 

I guess I just wasted the last hour or so because I need to get rid of my things, damn and I just got up to the 3rd or 4th town in Sword of Vermilion too, got the best armors and magics, then saved it, but hey not for me right?  Bill is a moron, I'm calling out a moron for acting like one writing as he has saying he's acting like he's deep in the kool-aid, and despite all the evidence around this site...something makes ME the fanboy here the sega hater and Nintendo fellater.... right.  You can't argue with stupid, and arguing with stupid makes you stupid as it drops your IQ points.  Maybe we should just ignore him, I mean, not like put it in a signature as a badge of dishonor, or even officially on the site because that's pointless with a troll as they'll keep going in circles anyway.  This is the way of the BizarroKirk.  Because we didn't live in his little bubble of a community that perhaps had his way of thought and reality over time, that makes us the enemy clearly.

I Already conceded  you're right..... as soon as the SNES hit the shelves everyone dropped the Genesis and moved on, I'm so sorry to have doubted you, please accept my apology....  all those kool aid drinking, dumb frat boys all saw the light.    I'm just waiting to hear all about how Nintendo destroyed the Playstation and all those  stupid fratboy, Kool aid chugging former sega fanboys all reincarnated as Playstation fanboys.   because we all know in your World nothing every was considered better than Nintendo,   Playstation, Sega   just a bunch of kool aid drinkers.      Please Tanooki tell us all how everyone really bought the N64 over the PS   we all love a good bed time story.  

Edited March 11 by BillDMatt

[Tanooki]

Keep digging yourself deeper you don't need my help writing drivel like that, by all means continue as NO ONE SAID THAT but you.  That's the last comment you'll get from me to you as you're clearly unhinged and desperately seeking attention I'm not going to give any further.

 

I thought Kirk was bad, but you're on a whole other level of delusion.  At least he was just utterly lying and manipulating people to try and score developers for SNES development.  You're just making up stuff to get a rise, attention, something else?  No one said anything of that rambling crap fest you just posted.  No one said that Genesis was just dropped.  No one said that Nintendo crushed Sony.  No one said Sega kids became Sony kids.  No one (other than Kirk) said Nintendo was best and everything else wasn't.  You're insane, and the one I feel bad for truly bad for, if that is your image in that avatar is that kid having someone like you around who acts like that as I hope the kid learns better not to act like that to others around them as they grow up.  People like you end up as reddit stories on /entitledparents or something of the sort where the kids get fed up and they go low to no contact once they hit 18 for their own well being.  Seriously, get help.

[Razzie.P]

23 minutes ago, Gemintronic said:

We're still here?  What did I miss?

 

 

Internet pissing contest.  Sorry you missed it, but it's not really different than the many I'm sure you've already seen.   "My opinion is more better righter than your opinion and that's a fact!" repeated on loop.

[BillDMatt]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Keep digging yourself deeper you don't need my help writing drivel like that, by all means continue as NO ONE SAID THAT but you.  That's the last comment you'll get from me to you as you're clearly unhinged and desperately seeking attention I'm not going to give any further.

 

I thought Kirk was bad, but you're on a whole other level of delusion.  At least he was just utterly lying and manipulating people to try and score developers for SNES development.  You're just making up stuff to get a rise, attention, something else?  No one said anything of that rambling crap fest you just posted.  No one said that Genesis was just dropped.  No one said that Nintendo crushed Sony.  No one said Sega kids became Sony kids.  No one (other than Kirk) said Nintendo was best and everything else wasn't.  You're insane, and the one I feel bad for truly bad for, if that is your image in that avatar is that kid having someone like you around who acts like that as I hope the kid learns better not to act like that to others around them as they grow up.  People like you end up as reddit stories on /entitledparents or something of the sort where the kids get fed up and they go low to no contact once they hit 18 for their own well being.  Seriously, get help.

what the heck was all that rambling and  crazy pyschobabbling,?     go back and read your post again, all that ad hominem, personal insults , bringing someone elses kid into the conversation,  and you think I need help?   Wow  Just  WOW.     You take your love of Nintendo to a whole another level of fanboyism.  That's impressive.  but not in a good way. 

Edited March 11 by BillDMatt

[WavyGravy]

Respectfully, gentlemen:

 

What the hell are either of you on about? We're way, way off-topic here. We're rid of Kirk now, let's not let his specter loom over these forums anymore. Like Rare with the games he says he worked on, I'm quite happy to never mention or see him mentioned again.

 

Anyway, going back to the original topic.

One area where the Genesis isn't downplayed is in the homebrew community. Of the 4th gen consoles, the Genesis is Number One with a bullet. I think its commonality with a lot of other prominent machines of the time, particularly the Amiga and Atari ST, has led to a lot of cross-pollination. This has lead to a little Renaissance for the platform compared to its contemporaries, so again, I don't see it as being a downplayed machine.

[Bloodreign]

20 minutes ago, WavyGravy said:

Respectfully, gentlemen:

 

What the hell are either of you on about? We're way, way off-topic here. We're rid of Kirk now, let's not let his specter loom over these forums anymore. Like Rare with the games he says he worked on, I'm quite happy to never mention or see him mentioned again.

 

Anyway, going back to the original topic.

One area where the Genesis isn't downplayed is in the homebrew community. Of the 4th gen consoles, the Genesis is Number One with a bullet. I think its commonality with a lot of other prominent machines of the time, particularly the Amiga and Atari ST, has led to a lot of cross-pollination. This has lead to a little Renaissance for the platform compared to its contemporaries, so again, I don't see it as being a downplayed machine.

The homebrew community, and people fixing the mistakes some companies, like Konami and Capcom, made in the past. Fixing games color palettes, improving sound and music on other games that needed it, someone making Mortal Kombat on the Genesis far better than it originally was, or new stuff like Fantasy Zone, or Darius Extra. Not to mention other stuff I've seen, like a demo of Gradius II, or fixing up Ghouls N Ghosts to look more like an 8 meg cart, instead of the minimum that was used the first time (Sunset Riders is also another), or even remaking Final Fight for the Genesis.

[Tanooki]

Wavy it's fine my last post to him was the last as I'm done with that lunatic for the specific reason you said, the specter of he who should go unnamed's antics basically being redone here.  As you said, it's not a downplayed machine, you have to have something wrong with you basically to think otherwise.  If anything NES aside it's the most pandered to system on the aftermarket for doing high quality releases both unique, but also solid ports... ports that right wrongs (like Final Fight) or doing something incredible (Again final fight, but also metal slug, SOTN, and others.)  I could see buying some of these as they come out if the makers don't sell it, by some ali-express shill just to have it on a cart they're that good.

[r_chase]

Not gonna even try to add fuel to the fire, but I feel this guy is just looking for a fight...as obviously pointed out by so many people in this thread.

On the topic of homebrew, it does seem easier to develop for the Sega Genesis. I also say the same for the Z80-based Sega Master System. I personally think the SNES is more downplayed around here and that's because SNES just isn't that great hardware-wise. Library-wise although, it does have a nice and diverse commercial library, but homebrew is lacking by a tad much, however that could change, if the guys at NESMaker does a sideproject using what they learned from developing their NES game engine.

On a more personal note, I hope to develop for mostly Sega consoles and the Nintendo GameBoy line; the reason for including the latter because I think that's when Nintendo got their shit together...hardware-wise. Sure, the N64 was inferior to the PS1, the Jag, and the Saturn. Hell, even the GameBoy Advance has its fair share of flaws, but it's still easier to develop for than the SNES.

That being said, I also like my video game sounds to be gritty like the Amiga and earlier 8-bit predecessors. Thanks for coming to my TED talk(tm). :3

[Tanooki]

SNES homebrew is grossly lacking, but it just doesn't have I guess as many or user friendly tools as the Genesis which makes this topic even more of a joke when it popped up first calling IT the downplayed one which is some bizarro world bs.  SNES has a few though, and the few that are completed and of well made quality are quite well done like Neko Tako and HIND Strike, they set a nice bar in their own genres.  But for every one good SNES homebrew you probably have 5-10 for the Genesis/MD easily. 

 

Given the SNES is a variant of the 6502 the NES uses I do find it just a bit strange that shared aspects didn't make at least someone more often take a shot at seeing what they could do.

[roots.genoa]

2 hours ago, r_chase said:

Sure, the N64 was inferior to the PS1, the Jag, and the Saturn.

The N64 wasn't inferior to the Jaguar, are you crazy? 🤨 Also it may have been able to display less polygons that the PlayStation, but it had several advantages that were not necessarily used well back then. Just look at what people like Kaze Emanuar are doing these days; the N64 was way more powerful than it looked back then.