[muteKi]

I still find it fascinating that for such a short-lived console add-on, it has a surprisingly balanced library of games. If anything it's maybe a little short on platformers, go figure.

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

I'd say there's a glaring lack of JRPGs, lightgun-style games, and general "adventure" (whether LucasArts-style or Visual Novel, or simply a game in a more standard genre that's shifted more towards setpieces and cinematics) games.

[winterhell]

MarkeyJester, on 22 November 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

C'mon folks, owning a 32x but not owning Knuckles Chaotix is like some sort of sin!!

I know right?
I got EU and US 32x , and EU and Jap Chaotix.

[doc eggfan]

I still think that conceptually, the 32x was a smart idea, but almost immediately it was labeled as a stop-gap measure by the cynical gamer press at the time. If sega really wanted the 32x to work, they had to fully support it in a way to silence the critics. The only way they could have done this was to have the Saturn fully backwards compatible with 32x and mega drive software. Rebranding the 32x as Mars would also have helped, and rather than fragmenting the market, all sega software could have been sold with a Mars cartridge and a Saturn enhancememt disc included. Those of us with just a Mars upgrade could play a scaled down version of Panzer Dragoon on our aging mega drives, with lower resolution, and textureless polygons (maybe even with CD audio from the Saturn disc via the mega cd), dreaming of the day when we would finally purchase a Saturn to unlock the full experience. Those of us with Saturns could then also chose to play in "Mars" mode for faster loading times and a smoother experience. Delaying the Saturn would also have helped. There would have been a temporary hit from the successful playstation launch, but going too early without enough stock and a half-baked release of Daytona was a far worse reality.

Sent from my awesome Ubuntu Touch device using the Forum Browser app

[Black Squirrel]

I bought a 32X without a power supply nearly ten years ago. I still haven't bought that power supply. Hardcore.


Maybe its existence can be defended by the price you have to pay for one now, but back when it was new and you had to part with three figure sums to play its library of half-finished games... well yeah. Chaotix is a mess too - the game you're supposed to mention is Cosmic Carnage because Cosmic Carnage.

[GagaMan]

PAL 32X consoles and games are fucking expensive though, games like Chaotix and Koribli are now triple digit value on ebay. Would love to get mine modded (and working again) so I can buy the much cheaper US and Japanese games. PAL collecting is a joke. I own Virtua Racing, Cosmic Carnage and Star Wars boxed, and carts of Space harrier and completely cpu errored NBA JAM.

This post has been edited by GagaMan: 23 November 2014 - 11:07 AM

[Lambda]

I got mine at a yard sale for I think 50 bucks. Complete with box, cables, manuals, everything. The box was a little rough around the edges, but the unit looks like it's never been touched.
I had to open the 32X up once and re-seat the two white ribbon wires, but ever since it's run without a hitch.

I also got Chaotix used in-box with manual, and Doom new in-box (also with manual. I love those things). Opening up a shiny new cartridge made before I even owned a console was pretty awesome... even if it was Doom 32X. Haha

I completely understand why it failed, but honestly, I love it. :P
(Genesis reads carts better now too. I used to have to wrestle it to play certain games.)

[gold lightning]

You know, I meant to mention this but never did. http://en.wikipedia....vember_21,_2014

[winterhell]

gold lightning, on 23 November 2014 - 03:40 PM, said:

You know, I meant to mention this but never did. http://en.wikipedia....vember_21,_2014

All my what. I see a pattern here. Do we have someone in deep cover in Wikipedia management?

[Black Squirrel]

Wikipedia often keeps its page-of-the-day bit topical. For example, today's page is Franklin Pierce, who was born on this day (23 November) in 1804. It's not often as random as it once was.

[doc eggfan]

I bought my first 32x second hand from a senior at high school for about $200 with 3 games. About 6-9 months later, they were being sold new with a free game for $18 to clear the stock. I bought 2 more, but I should have bought dozens then and sold them now for like 1000% profit.

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 23 November 2014 - 06:40 PM

[Ashura96]

After seeing Space Harrier and After Burner, it would have been cool to see a 32X port of OutRun...but it wasn't meant to be.

[grap3fruitman]

MarkeyJester, on 22 November 2014 - 05:01 PM, said:

I believe the 32x as a machine is a wonderful piece of hardware, which (although not without its flaws) should not be blasted for the shit games that were passed with it.

But what measure does a hardware have, if not its software library?

[The Taxman]

doc eggfan, on 23 November 2014 - 07:57 AM, said:

I still think that conceptually, the 32x was a smart idea, but almost immediately it was labeled as a stop-gap measure by the cynical gamer press at the time. If sega really wanted the 32x to work, they had to fully support it in a way to silence the critics. The only way they could have done this was to have the Saturn fully backwards compatible with 32x and mega drive software. Rebranding the 32x as Mars would also have helped, and rather than fragmenting the market, all sega software could have been sold with a Mars cartridge and a Saturn enhancememt disc included. Those of us with just a Mars upgrade could play a scaled down version of Panzer Dragoon on our aging mega drives, with lower resolution, and textureless polygons (maybe even with CD audio from the Saturn disc via the mega cd), dreaming of the day when we would finally purchase a Saturn to unlock the full experience. Those of us with Saturns could then also chose to play in "Mars" mode for faster loading times and a smoother experience. Delaying the Saturn would also have helped. There would have been a temporary hit from the successful playstation launch, but going too early without enough stock and a half-baked release of Daytona was a far worse reality.

Sent from my awesome Ubuntu Touch device using the Forum Browser app

The technical challenges of getting 32X and Saturn's designs to play nicely with each other aside, I think Sega would still have been trumped by the enormous momentum the PS1 created for Sony. I think the Mega-CD was Sega's only chance to do an upgrade, before over saturating the market with too many choices.

Had the extension port on the Megadrive been designed so it was easy to incorporate graphics from a new VDP (instead of piping stuff as tiles into the MD's), and SOJ had waited a bit longer to design a more powerful Mega-CD system, we could have seen some wonderful arcade ports of various Super Scaler games, along with new games with hopefully less reliance on dodgy FMV to showcase the system's true potential. And of course the CDX/Multi-Mega would then basically serve the same purpose as the Neptune.

It'd still be hard to keep the momentum going once PS1 and N64 were announced, though. It's not like today when people think nothing of replacing hardware for the next model up on an almost yearly basis. So ultimately, money saved on not releasing add-ons would have been the best choice. But then we wouldn't have the wacky and colourful hardware history that makes Sega unique either :P

[ICEknight]

I never got my 32X to work properly with my PAL Mega Drive 1 for more than half an hour, or maybe one full hour at most. The picture would start shaking gradually until it was almost impossible to see a thing on screen.

Of course, I returned it and got another one. Same problem. =\

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 24 November 2014 - 04:28 AM