Which Sega 16-bit set up should I get?

[aaron]

It's amazing how many times that question pops up.

Does the 32X work with the CDX?

or

Does the Master System PBC work on the CDX?

The answer to both questions has always been 'YES'.

CDX- such a sweet, sweet system.

I know the 32X works with the CDX but I just hate the way it looks. One of the most aesthetically unappealing systems ever. The CDX looks so good and I hate throwing that monstrosity on top of it just to play a few decent games. Oh well...

[Thierry Henry]

^ ok I got ya now.
I thought (as did Breetai) that you were implying that the 32X, unless case modded, wouldn't fit/work on the CDX.
And yeah you're right- That mushroom shaped tumor isn't winning many prizes in the looks department.

[Breetai]

^ ok I got ya now.
I thought (as did Breetai) that you were implying that the 32X, unless case modded, wouldn't fit/work on the CDX.
And yeah you're right- That mushroom shaped tumor isn't winning many prizes in the looks department.

The entire 32X was a bad idea, as far as I'm concerned. They should have just added their SVP chip in some selected games and left it at that; focusing on the Saturn for their next hardware. Instead, Sega ended up with an add-on that never had a chance to reach its potential, spend a lot of money of promoting the thing that went almost nowhere, confused customers with too much hardware, confused and alienated developers, and took attention away from their next generation machine.

The 32X was a cool idea that never really had enough of a market to justify its existence.

[Xeogred]

Didn't the 32X allow some Genesis games to have a better (cleaner I guess?) output? Thought I heard something like that before.

But yeah, it looks stupid on just about any model.

[Hatta]

It's a little better on some setups. Not all composite video is created equally, and the encoder on the 32x appears to be better than some genesises. Unfortunately, the 32x doesn't generate s-video internally, so you can't do an s-video mod on it without adding another chip.

[Breetai]

Didn't the 32X allow some Genesis games to have a better (cleaner I guess?) output?

Sega advertised this at the time, but it was more marketing than anything. Overall, it doesn't make much difference. There is some slight "rainbow" blending on older Genesis models (similar to the Neo Geo AES, if you have ever used one), that the 32X corrects, but it's not really a big deal overall For those that it is, an s-video mod is a much better solution (as Hatta seemed to be getting at).

Here's a video explaining it and doing a comparison between a "hi def" model 1 Genesis and 32X:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbQuWGb7510

[Thierry Henry]

^ ok I got ya now.
I thought (as did Breetai) that you were implying that the 32X, unless case modded, wouldn't fit/work on the CDX.
And yeah you're right- That mushroom shaped tumor isn't winning many prizes in the looks department.

The entire 32X was a bad idea, as far as I'm concerned. They should have just added their SVP chip in some selected games and left it at that; focusing on the Saturn for their next hardware. Instead, Sega ended up with an add-on that never had a chance to reach its potential, spend a lot of money of promoting the thing that went almost nowhere, confused customers with too much hardware, confused and alienated developers, and took attention away from their next generation machine.

The 32X was a cool idea that never really had enough of a market to justify its existence.

I'm not sure what Sega were aiming for at the time.
I'm sure some of our more knowledgeable members will chip in with their opinions, but to my understanding the 32X was positioned as a type of "poor man's" entry to the 32 bit era, no?
It's a little hard to see the logic in that, though. I mean they must have thought that there would be two distinct markets regarding the 32X and the Saturn. And that each of those would not be eating into the sales of the other. And as you say, what it did end up doing was simply to confuse the consumer and damage Sega's standing within the market.

You mention that it would have been perhaps a more effective strategy for Sega to rather have the SVP chip placed in the games themselves and so negating the need for any extra hardware.
Correct me if I'm mistaken but didn't they kind of try that with Virtua Racing for the Genesis.
As I recall reading somewhere, the cost of a new game combined with the value of the SVP chip forced SEGA to price the game at around $100. That must have turned many consumers right off. If those were the kind of costs they were looking at with that type of strategy, then no way can something like that be even remotely cost effective.

A big problem with Sega, as I've understood it, was that the two divisions at the time- Sega of America and Sega of Japan, were simply out of sync or antipodal to each other in many ways.
The 32X debacle was just one example of that.

[Bradtemple87]

I dont think the 32x had the games worth really hooking it up, aside from Knuckles or Kolibri

[Breetai]

A big problem with Sega, as I've understood it, was that the two divisions at the time- Sega of America and Sega of Japan, were simply out of sync or antipodal to each other in many ways.
The 32X debacle was just one example of that.

That was exactly the problem, as I understand it. Sega of Japan was being way to hardheaded, arrogant and perhaps even racist. Sega of America was being bullied by SoJ at almost every corner.

Sega screwed itself, in other words.

[OmegaMaximum]

The Sega 32X was released in order to extend the life of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The way I understand it, they various add-ons for the Genesis/Mega Drive were supposed to be used like you upgrade your computer. Instead of buying a new console, you would just upgrade your old one. The Sega/Mega CD added larger games, but also much better Red Book audio. The 32X was supposed to be like a new graphics card for your Genesis/Mega Drive, allowing you to play newer, more detailed games. The problem is that when going off of old hardware, no matter how much you expand on it, if the base hardware is dated then the whole setup suffers. Add-ons proved to be too expensive and didn't add enough features to be worth buying. It was smarter in the long run to just wait for the next console to come out.

Anyway, back on topic. I would get the Model 2 setup. I like the styling of the units, and the better hardware design of the Model 2 Sega/Mega CD. If you can get a Wondermega, go for it, but if not I'd go with the Model 2.