Difference between revisions of "Mega Drive consoles in North America"

From Sega Retro

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| soft1name=''[[Altered Beast]]''
 
| soft1name=''[[Altered Beast]]''
 
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{{ConsoleRelease
 
{{ConsoleRelease
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| front=MD2 CA Box Front Sonic2System.jpg
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| back=MD2 CA Box Back Sonic2System.jpg
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| square=yes
  
| name=Genesis: The Core System
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| hard1name=[[Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Control Pad]]
 
| hard1name=[[Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Control Pad]]
  
| soft1=NFLFootball94 MD US Cart.jpg
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| soft1=Notavailable.svg
| soft1name=''[[NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana]]''
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| soft1name=''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]''
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| soft2=EccoTheDolphin md us cover.jpg
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| soft2name=''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]''
 
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}}
  
 
{{ConsoleRelease
 
{{ConsoleRelease
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| back=MD2 CA Box Back Sonic2System.jpg
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| hard1name=[[Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Control Pad]]
 
| hard1name=[[Control Pad (Mega Drive)|Control Pad]]
  
| soft1=Notavailable.svg
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| soft1=NFLFootball94 MD US Cart.jpg
| soft1name=''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]''
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| soft1name=''[[NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana]]''
 
 
| soft2=EccoTheDolphin md us cover.jpg
 
| soft2name=''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]''
 
 
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Revision as of 15:02, 9 June 2014


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The Sega Mega Drive debuted in North America in August 1989, with a regionwide release in September of that year. Due to trademark issues, it was renamed the "Sega Genesis", and has always operated under this name under this region.

In the US, the console was distributed by Sega between 1989 and 1997. It was then passed to Majesco, who kept the system alive for an extra two years before it was shelved. In Canada, the Mega Drive was distributed by Irwin Toy in its early years, however Sega inevitably took back the distribution rights when the console proved successful. Many Canadian units and games were imported from the US.

All North American units output an NTSC signal.

United States

Genesis (with Altered Beast)

The first release of the Genesis console, which was bundled with the arcade conversion of Altered Beast, one of the more popular arcade titles of the time.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis with Altered Beast)
SgenAB US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSgenAB US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis (with Sonic the Hedgehog)

Like other regions, the Genesis was bundled with the first Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog)
SGenS1 US Box Back.JPGNospine-small.pngSGenS1 US Box Front.JPG
Cover

Genesis (Sonic System)

The above Sonic bundle must have been a success for Sega, as they decided to repackage the product under the name "Sonic System". It is currently unknown if there are any other changes.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis, "Sonic System")
MD US Box Back SonicSystem.jpgNospine-small.pngSGenTSS US Box Front.JPG
Cover

Genesis: The Core System

During 1991, Sega released a bare-bones bundle after the Altered Beast package. "The Core System" contains nothing but the console, cables and a controller.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis, "The Core System")
SGenTCS US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSGenTCS US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis (Fighting System)

A bundle containing Streets of Rage 2, which was released in early 1993.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis, "Fighting System")
SGenFightingSystem US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis 2 (The Core System)

When the redesigned Genesis 2 came into production, packaging for both consoles and games adopted the new red/black color scheme. As with the model 1, "The Core System" contains nothing but the console, cables and one controller.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2, "The Core System")
<div style="margin:auto; max-width:Expression error: Unexpected < operator.px"> 320x80px
Cover

Genesis 2 (with Sonic the Hedgehog 2)

A Genesis 2 bundle containing Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2, with Sonic the Hedgehog 2)
SGen2S2 US Box Back.JPGNospine-small.pngSGen2S2 US Box Front.JPG
Cover

Genesis 2 (Sega Sports System)

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2, "Sega Sports System")
MD2 US Box Front SegaSportsSystem.jpg
Cover
Genesis2.jpg
Console
Notavailable.svg
"Stadium Cusion"

Genesis 2 (NFL Pack)

A Genesis 2 bundle containing NFL '95. For many of these bundles, the standard core system box was used with added stickers.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2, "NFL Pack")
SGen2NFL US Box Front.JPG
Cover

Genesis 2 (with The Lion King)

A Genesis 2 bundle containing The Lion King.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2 with The Lion King)
MD2 US Box Front LionKing.jpg
Cover

Genesis 2 (with Sub-Terrania and Sonic the Hedgehog 3)

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2 with Sub-Terrania and Sonic the Hedgehog 3)
SGen2S3ST US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis 2 (with Sonic & Knuckles)

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2 with Sonic & Knuckles)
MD2 US Box Front SaK.jpg
Cover

Genesis 2 (with 6-Pak)

A bundle containing the 6-Pak compilation was released in 1995, during the latter part of the system's lifetime.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2 with 6-Pak, older)
MD2 US Box Back 6Pak Alt.jpgNospine-small.pngMD2 US Box Front 6Pak Alt.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2 with 6-Pak, newer)
SGen26Pak US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis 2 (The Core System; Majesco re-release)

After Majesco obtained the rights to distribute older Sega consoles in the US during 1997, they re-released this Core System bundle. It is almost identical to Sega's, though the back of the box talks about more recent games. The front of the box can be identified as one of Majesco's if the text reads "Great Games Available!". Original Core System bundles read "500+ Games Available!". It may have been foolish to claim 500+ Genesis games were still coming out of Sega's factories as late as 1997, although over 500 had been released up to that point.

Mega Drive, US (Genesis 2, "The Core System", Majesco re-release)
SGenTCS Majesco US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSGenTCS Majesco US Box Front.jpg
Cover

Genesis 3

Main Article: Genesis 3

Majesco also released a cut-down version of the console in 1998, titled the Genesis 3. Removal of certain lines on the cartridge port and the removal of the expansion port made it incompatible with many of the add-ons and as it was released so late, it failed to sell well.

Canada

Box Name Date & Price Console Hardware Software Documentation
MD CA Box Back AlteredBeast.jpgNospine-small.pngMD CA Box Front AlteredBeast.jpg
Genesis
Genesis1.jpg
??
MD2 CA Box Back Sonic2System.jpgNospine-small.pngMD2 CA Box Front Sonic2System.jpg
Genesis: Sonic 2 System
Genesis2.jpg
??
Genesis: The Core System
Genesis2.jpg
??


Sega Mega Drive
Topics Technical specifications (Hardware comparison) | History | List of games | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise | Cartridges | TradeMark Security System
Hardware Japan | North America | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | South America | Asia | South Korea | Australasia | Africa
EZ Games | Genesis 3 | LaserActive | Mega Jet | Mega PC | Mega Play | Mega-Tech System | Mega 6 | Nomad | Teradrive | Mega Drive Mini | Mega Drive Mini 2
New Mega Drive | Tianli VCD/DVD Players | "Consoles on a chip" | Licensed clones (Magic 2 | Mega Game II | Power Pegasus | Super Bitman)
Unlicensed clones
Add-ons Game Box | Power Base Converter | Mega-CD | 32X (Mega-CD 32X) | Mega Modem | Demo System DS-16
Cases Sega Genesis Nomad Carrying Case | System Carry Case
Controllers Control Pad | Six Button Control Pad | 6 Button Arcade Pad | Arcade Power Stick 6B | Konami Justifier | MK-1470
Action Chair | Activator | Arcade Power Stick | Keyboard | MegaFire | Mouse | Mega Stick | Menacer | Remote Arcade System | Ten Key Pad | Third Party Controllers
Accessories 4 Way Play | AC adaptor | Cleaning System | Control Pad Extension Cord | Game Factory | Genesis Speakers | Headset | HeartBeat Catalyst | Microphone | Region converter cartridges | Mega Terminal | Nomad PowerBack | RF Unit | SCART Cable | Stereo Audio Video Cable | Team Player | Video Monitor Cable | Third-party AC adaptors | Third Party Accessories
Network services Sega Channel | Sega Game Toshokan | Mega Anser | Mega Net | TeleBradesco Residência | XB∀ND
Development tools ERX 308P | ERX 318P | Sprobe | SNASM68K | SNASM2 (Mega Drive) | SNASM2 (32X) | PSY-Q Development System (Mega Drive) | PSY-Q Development System (32X) | 32X CartDev | Sega Mars Development Aid System | Sega 32X Development Target
Unreleased Edge 16 | Floppy Disk Drive | Mega Play 1010 | Sega VR | Teleplay System | Video Jukebox