32x and what was Sega thinking?

[RCBH928]

Reading into retro consoles, I came to this 32X add-on...

if some one was old enough to remember this release, Can you tell me if this was exciting back then? It costed $150(I think, and that is in '95 $s ) and it had hardly better graphics.

I know it failed , but you have to be insane to release such a thing. I might be wrong but the 3DO which was released earlier than this by couple of years seemed to have better graphics.

Whats your opinion of this?
In a lot of ways, this is like releasing an add-on for the Dreamcast to match PS2 graphics ... its not really that big of a difference!

[Hobie-wan]

Actually the 32X was pretty powerful if you knew what you were doing with it. See this demo and think about if Star Fox 2 had actually been released about the same time with flat shaded choppy animation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOWZbydnlZE

The 3D0 was released a year earlier, but it was also released at $700. That's more than a Genesis and 32X together. The problem was that it was another expensive add on if you had already bought a Sega CD and then the Saturn came out in the US another 6 months later.

[pierrot]

I was only six (almost seven) years old when the 32X was released, so although I had a Genesis, I hardly knew the 32X existed.
That said, the 32X isn't entirely without it's tricks. It has some decent proficiency with rendering textured polygons for the time, and there are some decent games for it. Do I think it was worth the initial price tag when it was released? No; but it's kind of a cool add-on in hindsight.

Or: What Hobie said.

[Weekend_Warrior]

It's hard to tell exactly what they were thinking because it was such a HORRIBLE marketing decision to release it before the launch of the eagerly-anticipated Sega Saturn. It obviously confused a lot of the gaming community because nobody knew what to make of it. "If it's not as powerful as the Saturn then what the hell is the point?" And being that this add-on was proceeding their already failing Genesis add-on, the Sega CD, and really didn't have strong support from the jump... that should have been a prime indicator that it was going to flop!

The only reason that I can come up with, is that Sega got over-confident after the massive success of the Genesis and by chance had two concurrent ideas on the table at once - one being a new dedicated console, and the other being a more affordable Genesis add-on, and someone at Sega said "fuck it" and gave the green light for both. Also, 3D-styled games were gaining popularity in the arcades and there was an urgency to enter into the home market as soon as possible

[AppleQueso]

From what I understand, the US team developing the 32X wasn't actually aware that Japan was working on the Saturn until they were already too far along.

At one point, Sega USA was even working a Sega Jupiter that would compete with the Saturn. Why they thought that was a good idea is beyond me.

[Nemoide]

I was in middle school when it came out and I thought it was a really cool piece of hardware. I loved my Genesis and Sega CD, the thought of an add-on that could make it more powerful just seemed really cool to me. I liked the idea of getting every possible drop of Sega power out of my setup.

Of course, I also didn't buy a 32X until they were $20 (it didn't take long) and my collection of 32X games was pretty limited. I don't think I got a Saturn until I was a little older. In the real world, I'm sure it wasn't that much time, but to my child-self, it felt like they were decades apart.

But yeah, it really was a terrible, terrible marketing mistake to release that thing. I don't think it ruined the company, as the popular narrative goes, but it sure didn't help. Supposedly the reason it exists despite the potential competition from the Saturn is because Sega of America and Sega of Japan had really poor communication back in the 90s. I don't know if it's true or not, but I think SoA had to be an internal mess.

[retrosportsgamer]

And being that this add-on was proceeding their already failing Genesis add-on, the Sega CD...

Was the Sega CD deemed a commercial failure?

[AppliCotton]

http://www.eidolons-inn.net/tiki-index. ... e=segabase

Really in-depth, precise fan boy analysis of every bolt that ever went into a Sega console. 10 or so pages just on the 32x. Enjoy!

Having read up on it, I honestly think the head honcho at Sega hated Americans. They lost that landmark case that, among other things, made emulation if not legal, then at least semi-not-illegal. Look at how Samsung's recent beating in a US court has pissed off all of Korea and it's easy to understand why.

Apparently, the 32x was a diversion so the Sega America team wouldn't butt in on Saturn development.

And frankly, thank god. The Saturn is a love letter to Japanese gaming, a Wild Bunch-esque last stand before the gaming world began it's slow descent into FPSland.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

As far as I'm aware, it came out from a lack of communication between SoJ and SoA and, because the Genesis was doing so well here, SoA pushed it out anyway to try and squeeze every dollar they could get out of the tower of power.

And frankly, thank god. The Saturn is a love letter to Japanese gaming, a Wild Bunch-esque last stand before the gaming world began it's slow descent into FPSland.

Oh please.

[Breetai]

And being that this add-on was proceeding their already failing Genesis add-on, the Sega CD...

Was the Sega CD deemed a commercial failure?

No, it wasn't a failure. On other other hand, it wasn't as successful as was hoped.