Page 20 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #7

16-Bit Age
16-Bit Age

Welcome to the Next Level:

The History of the Sega CD

By Scott Alan Marriott of 1992’s Sol-Deace enhanced with
anime-style cut -scenes and a CD
The Sega CD was an interesting soundtrack. None were killer apps, of
yet risky experiment by a company try- course, though the excitement and
ing to build on its momentum at a criti- promise of the peripheral seemed to be was “instrumental” in developing the
cal time during the Genesis’ life cycle. It enough to spark sales. Sega CD. The X’Eye was ostensibly
was a ballsy move designed to not only After a year on the market, the aimed at the same upscale market as
trump competitors Nintendo and NEC, Sega CD was redesigned as a cheaper the Philips CD-i, and featured a custom
but to also address two key Genesis flip top model in late 1993 to fit along- designed sound chip and karaoke sup-
shortcomings in the process: limited side the company’s second, sleeker port along with an eclectic mix of bun-
cartridge space and inadequate sound. version of the Genesis. By removing dled software: Prize Fighter, Comp-
Unfortunately, the restrictive color the expensive motorized tray and ton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, and a
palette of the Genesis was still a prob- streamlining the design, Sega was able karaoke CD. At a price point of
lem, and to a lesser extent so was the to drop the price and put themselves in $499.99, however, the system hit a
number of onscreen sprites, though the a better market position when and if sour note with consumers.
Sega CD would attempt to offset these Nintendo went ahead with their pro- At around 160 titles released in the
flaws by adding hardware effects such posed $199 CD-ROM drive developed States alone, it’s hard to call the Sega
as scaling and rotation. At the time of by Sony. Of course, that never materi- CD an outright failure, but at the same
the add-on’s release, “multimedia” was alized, but Sega’s lower price point time there are precious few must-have
the talk of the industry, with compact ($229.99) and pack-in game (Sewer titles for those valuing quality over
discs starting to replace floppies as the Shark) was expected to keep the sys- quantity. Sega simply had its thumbs in
medium of choice. Would it render car- tem afloat. too many pies to adequately support all
tridges obsolete? of its endeavors, and it seemed that
While NEC was first out of the whatever Sega’s research and develop-
gate with a CD add-on for the Tur- ment team could cook up would be pro-
boGrafx-16, the Sega CD (released as duced without considering how it would
the Mega CD in Japan on December survive (Activator, Menacer, Sega 32X,
12, 1991) would differentiate itself in Nomad, CDX, and so forth).
terms of speed, design, and — it was By trying to manage multiple prod-
hoped — by strong third-party support. uct lines and diluting the market with
The $299.99 Sega CD launched in the several different platforms, Sega was in
States on October 16, 1992. The sys- The Sega CD also appeared in a effect sabotaging its development re-
tem fit snugly underneath the Genesis, few other guises to drum up appeal in sources and confusing its loyal fan
with an arm plugging different segments of the population. In base. When the books were closed on
into the console’s side April 1994, Sega shrunk the Sega CD the Sega CD in 1995, the system had
expansion port, and it and Genesis into a portable hybrid sold an estimated 1.5 million units, a
featured a front-loading called the CDX (Mega Multi-X outside number that represented only 10% of
motorized tray. of the U.S.), released at the wallet- Genesis owners. While there are many
The Sega CD came busting price of $399.99 with pack-in reasons why the Sega CD didn’t take
bundled with the follow- games Sonic CD, Ecco: The Tides of off, the lack of quality software was its
ing five discs: Sher- Time, and Sega Arcade Classics. An ultimate downfall.
lock Holmes Consult- add-on module was also available for
ing Detective, a game the high-end Pioneer LaserActive in
released a year prior late 1993, but interested Sega fans
on the TG-16 CD, a would have to pay a princely sum of
compilation disc of four $599.99 in addition to the laserdisc-
unaltered Genesis based console itself, which retailed for
games, two music sam- a whopping $969.99.
pler discs, one of which Another all-in-one device debuted
demonstrated the sys- in September 1994, the strangely titled
tem’s CD+G capability, X’Eye (Wondermega in Japan) from
and Sol-Feace, a port JVC Musical Industries, a company that

Classic Gamer Magazine July 2004 20